JP2003234142A - Water proof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pushing type water proof connector in which only a part of a connection partner can be made waterproof, and a case to house the connection partner for the purpose of waterproofing is made unnecessary. <P>SOLUTION: A first sealing member is arranged between the outer peripheral face of the tip part 21a of a cable 21 and the inner peripheral face of a cable insertion-through hole 52a of an insulator 3, and a second sealing member 11 is arranged between the bottom face of the insulator 3 and an FPC 23 so as to surround a pressure-welding wire connecting part 7a and a contact part 7d of a contact 7 positioned in the inner space 51j of the insulator 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressing type waterproof connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a waterproof connector of this type, a connector disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-56170 is known.

This waterproof connector comprises a connector body, a cover, a plurality of contacts and a sealing member.

A plurality of contact accommodating chambers are formed in the connector body.

The cover houses the connector body. A plurality of cable insertion holes are formed in the cover, and a plurality of cable accommodation grooves communicating with the cable insertion holes are formed on the surface of the cover facing the contact accommodation chamber of the connector body. Cables are inserted into the respective cable insertion holes, and the tips of these cables are accommodated and positioned in the respective cable accommodation grooves.

Each contact is housed in a contact housing chamber. One end of each contact is a contact part that slightly protrudes from the connector body, and the other end is a pressure connection part. The contact part directly contacts the terminal part of the connection partner. The press-connecting connection portion is connected to the cable tip end portion accommodated in the cable accommodation groove of the cover.

Waterproofing is performed by a seal member filled in the recess of the cover.

[0008]

The contact of this waterproof connector directly contacts the terminal portion of the mating partner.

However, in order to waterproof the connection partner, this waterproof connector requires a case for accommodating the connection partner and fitting with the waterproof connector, and a seal member for sealing between the case and the waterproof connector. The waterproof structure was a big one. Therefore, conventionally, even if only a part of the connection partner has a waterproof structure, the entire connection partner has to be housed in the case.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a pressing type waterproof connector which can waterproof only a part of the connection partner and which does not require a case for accommodating the connection partner for waterproofing. Is to provide.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the waterproof connector according to the invention of claim 1 has an inner space for accommodating the distal end of the cable and a hole for guiding the distal end of the cable into the internal space. An insulator formed with, a contact having a contact portion that is held by the insulator and that contacts the terminal portion of the connection partner and the connection portion that is connected to the tip portion of the cable, and the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion of the cable and the Located between the inner peripheral surface of the hole of the insulator and the first sealing member that seals the internal space of the insulator, and the bottom surface of the insulator and the connection partner, and is located in the internal space of the insulator. A second seal member which is arranged so as to surround the connection portion and the contact portion of the contact and seals the internal space of the insulator; Characterized in that it comprises.

As described above, the first seal member, which is disposed between the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the cable and the inner peripheral surface of the hole of the insulator, seals the internal space of the insulator, and the bottom surface of the insulator and the connection partner. Between the insulator and the cable, there is a second seal member that is disposed so as to surround the connecting portion and the contact portion of the contact located in the inner space of the insulator and seals the inner space of the insulator. The first seal member seals the space between the terminal peripheral portion of the connection object and the insulator by the second seal member.

A waterproof connector according to a second aspect of the present invention is the waterproof connector according to the first aspect, wherein the insulator comprises a housing that holds the contact and a cover that houses the housing, and the housing has the cable. A first clamp part for pressing the cable to the cover, the cover holding a cable holding part for holding the tip part of the cable, and a second clamp part for cooperating with the first clamp part to clamp the cable. And the connection part of the contact is a pressure connection part connected to the cable held by the cable holding part.

As described above, the insulator is composed of the housing and the cover, the housing has the first clamp portion, the cover has the cable holding portion and the second clamp portion, and the connection portion of the contact is pressure connection wire. When the housing is housed in the cover, the pressure connection portion is connected to the cable, and the cable is clamped by the first and second clamp portions.

A waterproof connector according to a third aspect of the present invention is the waterproof connector according to the second aspect, wherein a temporary fixing position at which the cable can be arranged in the cable holding portion and the press-connecting connection portion are connected to the cable. Further, it is characterized by further comprising locking means capable of locking the housing at two positions, a final locking position where the cable is clamped by the first and second clamp portions.

As described above, since the locking means capable of locking at the two positions of the temporary fixing position and the final locking position is provided,
In the temporary fixing position, the cable can be arranged on the cable holding member, and in the final locking position, connection of the contacts and clamping of the cable are performed.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a connected state of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a housing and contacts of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4 is a front view of the contacts of the waterproof connector, FIG. 4 shows the housing of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4A is a front view, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 5 is a side view of the cover of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 7, and FIG.
7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state in which the FPC that is the mating partner of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG.

This waterproof connector is an FPC to be connected.
(Flexible Printed Circuit) 23 pad (terminal part) 2
3a is directly connected, and the pad 23a and its peripheral portion are waterproofed. In addition, this waterproof connector is a holder 15
Is used to connect to the FPC 23. This waterproof connector includes an insulator 3, a contact 7, a first seal member 9 and a second seal member 11.

The insulator 3 is composed of a housing 4 and a cover 5.

The housing 4 has a box-shaped portion 4 as shown in FIG.
1 and a pair of engaging pieces 42 and a cable holding piece (first clamp portion) 43.

The box-shaped portion 41 has a box shape with an open upper surface.
A groove 41b is formed on the outer surface of the front wall portion 41a of the box-shaped portion 41. A partition wall 41c is formed on the inner surface of the front wall portion 41a of the box-shaped portion 41. Partition wall 41c and box-shaped portion 41
The contact press-fitting groove 41e is formed at the front end of both side wall portions 41d.
Are formed. A hole 41 is formed in the bottom surface 41f of the box-shaped portion 41.
g is formed.

The pair of engaging pieces 42 are formed on the upper surface of the side wall portion 41d. The engagement piece 42 has a claw 42a.

The cable holding piece 43 is formed on the upper surface of the rear wall portion 41h of the box-shaped portion 41. Both ends of the cable holding piece 43 are cut to form cut portions 43a.

The cover 5 is a cover body 5 as shown in FIG.
1 and a lid 52.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cover body 51 includes a cable holding groove (cable holding portion) 51a, a housing housing chamber 51b, a contact housing recess 51c, a holding piece housing recess 51d, a locking recess 51e, and a guide groove 51f. Have. The cable holding groove 51 a is provided at the tip portion 21 of the cable 21.
Accept and hold a. A cable receiving concave portion (second clamp portion) 51g is formed in the cable holding groove 51a. The cable receiving recess 51g faces the side surface of the cable holding piece 43 of the housing 4. The housing accommodating chamber 51b is formed below the cable holding groove 51a and accommodates the housing 4. The contact accommodating recess 51c is formed so as to be orthogonal to the cable holding groove 51a, and receives the press-connecting connection portion 7a of the contact 7, which will be described later. The contact receiving recess 51c has a contact guide groove 51h. The holding piece receiving recess 51d has two cable holding grooves 51.
a cable clamping piece 43 of the housing 4 formed between
Accept the top edge of. The locking recess 51e is the cover body 5
It is formed on the upper part of the inner wall surface of 1. The locking recess 51e faces the engagement piece 42 of the housing 4. This locking recess 5
A locking piece 51i is laid across the opening of 1e along the longitudinal direction of the cover body 51. The claw 42a of the engagement piece 42 of the housing 4 is engaged between the lower end of the locking recess 51e and the lower end of the locking piece 51i. In this state, the cut portion 43a of the cable gripping piece 43 of the housing 4 has the cable receiving recess 5
Only the upper end of the press-connecting connection portion 7a of the contact 7, which will be described later, is inserted into the contact accommodating recess 51c. That is, in this state, the housing 4 is in the temporary fixing position. At the temporary fixing position, the cable 21 can be arranged in the cable holding groove 51a. When the housing 4 is pushed further toward the cover 5 from the temporary fixing position,
The claw 42a of the engagement piece 42 of the housing 4 is engaged between the upper end of the locking recess 51e and the upper end of the locking piece 51i. In this state, the housing 4 is locked by the cover 5. In this state, the housing 4 is in the final locking position. At the final locking position, the contact 7 is connected and the cable 21 is clamped. In this way, the locking recess 51e and the locking piece 51i serve as locking means that can lock the housing 4 at two positions, the temporary fixing position and the final locking position. The guide groove 51f is formed below the locking recess 51e. The guide groove 51f guides the engagement piece 42 of the housing 4 to the locking recess 51e. The cable holding groove 51a, the housing accommodating chamber 51b, the contact accommodating recess 51c, the sandwiching piece accommodating recess 51d, the locking recess 51e, and the guide groove 51 described above.
An internal space 51j is formed with f.

As shown in FIG. 6, a seal member accommodating chamber 51k is formed in the rear portion of the cover body 51. An annular groove 51m is formed on the bottom of the cover body 51.

As shown in FIG. 5, protrusions 51q and 51r are formed on the upper side surface of the cover body 51. Also,
An engagement piece 51s is formed at the center of the side surface of the cover body 51. A claw 51t is formed at the upper end of the engagement piece 51s.

The lid 52 is attached to the cover body 51 by a hinge 53 so as to open and close the seal member accommodating chamber 51k. The lid 52 is formed with a cable insertion hole 52a for allowing the tip portion 21a of the cable 21 to pass through the internal space 51j.

As shown in FIG. 3, the contact 7 includes a press-connecting connection portion (connection portion) 7a, a press-fitting portion 7b, a spring portion 7c, and a contact portion 7.
d and. The pressure connection portion 7a has a slit e.
The press-fitting portion 7b is continuously provided to the press-connecting connection portion 7a, and the housing 4
Is press-fitted into the contact press-fitting groove 41e. This press fitting part 7
The contact 7 is fixed to the housing 4 by press fitting b. The spring portion 7c is connected to the press-fitting portion 7b. The contact portion 7d is connected to the spring portion 7c. The contact portion 7d is provided on the bottom surface 41f of the housing 4 through the hole 41g of the housing 4.
And directly contacts the pad 23a of the FPC 23.

The first seal member 9 is accommodated in the seal member accommodating chamber 51 of the cover body 51, and isolates the internal space 51j of the insulator 3 from the outside of the insulator 3.

The second seal member 11 is housed in the annular groove 51m of the cover body 51 and shuts off the internal space 51j of the insulator 3 and the outside of the insulator 3.

Next, the holder 15 used when connecting the waterproof connector to the FPC 23 will be described.

The holder 15 holds the FPC 23 and keeps the waterproof connector pressed against the FPC 23.

The holder 15 has a substrate portion 151 and a side plate portion 152 as shown in FIG.

The substrate portion 151 has a positioning protrusion 151a. The positioning protrusion 151a engages with the positioning hole 23b of the FPC 23 to position the FPC 23.

Projections 152a, 152b, 152c and 152d are formed on the upper edge of the inner surface of the side plate portion 152. A guide surface 152e is formed on the convex portion 152b. A lateral groove 152f is formed at the upper edge of the side plate portion 152. The lateral groove 152f extends parallel to the upper surface of the substrate 151.

The groove 1 is provided between the convex portion 152a and the convex portion 152b.
It is 52g. The groove 152g allows the protrusion 51q of the cover body 51 to pass through the lateral groove 152f. Convex portion 152b and convex portion 1
A recess 152h is formed between the groove 52c and 52c. Recess 152
The h locks the claw 51t of the engagement piece 51s of the cover body 51. A groove 152i is formed between the convex portion 152c and the convex portion 152d. The groove 152i is the protrusion 51r of the cover body 51.
Through the lateral groove 152f.

Next, an example of the assembling work of this waterproof connector will be described.

First, the first seal member 9 is attached to the cover body 51.
The second seal member 11 is accommodated in the annular groove 51m of the cover body 51 in the seal member accommodation chamber 51k.

Next, the engaging piece 42 of the housing 4 is inserted into the guide groove 51f of the cover body 51, and the engaging recess 51e is formed.
Between the lower end of the engaging piece 42 and the lower end of the locking piece 51i.
Lock 2a. In this state, as described above, the cut portion 43a of the cable holding piece 43 of the housing 4 faces the cable receiving concave portion 51g, and only the upper end portion of the pressure connection portion 7a of the contact 7 is inserted into the contact accommodating concave portion 51c. . In this state, the tip portion 23a of the cable 23 is inserted into the internal space 51j through the cable insertion hole 52a and the first seal member 9. At this time, the tip of the cable 23 is made to abut the tip of the cable holding groove 51a. Whether the tip of the cable 23 is inserted to the specified position,
Looking through the groove 41b of the housing 4, the cable 23
Check the mounting position of.

After confirmation, the housing 4 is pushed further into the housing accommodating chamber 51b. Then, the locking recess 51
The claw 42a of the engaging piece 42 is locked between the upper end of e and the upper end of the locking piece 51i. As a result, the housing 4 is fixed to the cover 5. At this time, the press-connecting connection portion 7a of the contact 7 is inserted into the contact receiving recess 51c up to a predetermined position while being guided by the contact guide groove 51h, and at the same time, the press-connecting connection portion 7a of the contact 7 is connected to the cable 2
1 coating is torn and electrically connected to a conductor (not shown). Further, at this time, the cable holding piece 43 of the housing 4
The upper end of the cable holding piece 4 is inserted into the holding piece receiving recess 51d of the cover body 51, and as shown in FIG.
The cable 21 is sandwiched and fixed between the side surface of the cable 3 and the cable receiving recess 51g of the cover body 51. Thus, by simply pushing the housing 4 into the cover 5, the fixing of the housing 4, the connection of the contacts 7 and the clamping of the cable 21 are simultaneously performed, and the assembling work is completed.

Next, the work of connecting the waterproof connector will be described.

First, the FPC 23 is locked to the holder 15 in advance. Next, the protrusions 51q and 51r of the waterproof connector are inserted into the grooves 152g152i of the holder 15, respectively.

Next, the waterproof connector is pressed against the board portion 151 against the elastic force of the second seal member 11. Then,
The projections 51q and 51r of the waterproof connector enter the lateral groove 152f, the claws 51t of the engagement piece 51s of the waterproof connector ride on the guide surface 152e of the convex portion 152b of the holder 15, and the engagement piece 51s bends. In this state, attach the waterproof connector to
When it is moved to the left in, the protrusions 51q and 51r are located below the protrusions 152b and 152d, respectively, and the claw 51t of the engaging piece 51 is caused by the elastic force of the engaging piece 51 to cause the holder 1 to move.
It snaps into the recess 152h of No. 5. As a result, the waterproof connector is locked to the holder 15. In this state, the contact portion 7d of the contact 7 contacts the pad 23a of the FPC 23. Further, in this state, the inner space 51j of the waterproof connector is kept watertight by the first and second seal members 9 and 11.

To release the connection between the waterproof connector and the FPC 23, the claw 51t of the engaging piece 51s is pushed out from the recess 152h with a driver or the like, and the waterproof connector is pulled in this state.
At 0, the protrusions 51q and 51r are moved to the right and the groove 1
It is located below 52g and 152i. Then, the elastic force of the second seal member 11 pushes up the waterproof connector, and the projections 51q and 51r enter the grooves 152g and 152i. After that, the waterproof connector may be taken out from the holder 15.

Next, the effect of this waterproof connector will be described.

In this waterproof connector, the lead-out portion of the cable 21 is waterproofed by the first sealing member 9 and the waterproof connector and the FPC 23 are waterproofed by the second sealing member 11, so that the connection is made for waterproofing as in the conventional case. You don't need a case to house your opponent.

Further, the second seal member 11 directly causes the FP
Since waterproofing with respect to C23 is performed, it is possible to waterproof only the portion of the FPC 23 that requires waterproofing, that is, the portion where the pad 23a is exposed.

FIG. 11 shows a modification of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1 and is a sectional view of the same portion as FIG.

In this example, the pushing amount of the cable 21 by the cable holding piece 43 is made smaller than that of the prevention connector shown in FIG. 1, and instead, the surface of the cover body 251 facing the cable holding piece 43 is made flat. .

FIG. 12 shows another modification of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1 and is a sectional view of the same portion as FIG.

In the waterproof connector shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the cable 23 is fixed to the cover body 5 by the cable holding pieces 43 and 243.
Although the cable 23 is fixed by pressing it against 1, 251, the cable 21 is fixed by bending the cable 21 by the cable holding piece 343 and the cable receiving recess 351g of the cover body 351 in this example.

Although the holder 15 is used in the above-described embodiment, the holder 15 is not always necessary.
For example, when the connection partner has rigidity such as a printed circuit board, an L-shaped hook is provided on the printed circuit board, the projections 51q and 51r of the waterproof connector are hooked by this hook, and the waterproof connector is locked on the printed circuit board. Good.
Instead of the L-shaped hook, a protrusion having an L-shaped groove may be provided on the printed board.

Further, in the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, the connection part of the contact 7 is a pressure connection part, but the connection part is not limited to this.

Further, in the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, the insulator 3 is composed of the housing 4 and the cover 5, but the insulator is not limited to this, and it may be an integral one or composed of three or more members. It doesn't matter.

[0057]

As described above, according to the waterproof connector of the invention of claim 1, the inner space of the insulator for accommodating the connection part between the cable and the contact and the contact part between the terminal part of the connection partner and the contact is provided. It is possible to seal with the first and second sealing members, and a case for accommodating the entire connection partner becomes unnecessary.

According to the waterproof connector of the invention of claim 2,
When the housing is housed in the cover, the pressure connection portion is connected to the cable, and the cable is clamped by the first and second clamp portions, so that the contact connection and the cable clamping can be easily performed.

According to the waterproof connector of the invention of claim 3,
The cable can be arranged on the cable holding member at the temporary fixing position, and the contact wiring and the cable clamping are performed at the final locking position. Therefore, the cable arrangement, the contact wiring and the cable clamping are divided into two stages. It can be done reliably and easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing a connected state of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a housing and contacts of the waterproof connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of contacts of the waterproof connector shown in FIG.

4 shows a housing of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, where FIG. 4 (a) is a front view and FIG. 4 (b) is the same as FIG.
It is a sectional view taken along line BB.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the cover of the waterproof connector shown in FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 7.

7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG.

8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG.

9 is a plan view of a state in which an FPC, which is a connection partner of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1, is held by a holder.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1 at the same portion as FIG.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing another modified example of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1 at the same portion as FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Insulator 4 Housing 5 Cover 7 Contact 7a Press-connecting connection part (connecting part) 7d Contact part 9 1st sealing member 11 2nd sealing member 21 Cable 21a Tip part 23 FPC (connection partner) 23a Pad (terminal part) 43, 243 343 Cable gripping piece (first clamp portion) 51a Cable holding groove (cable holding portion) 51e Locking recess (locking means) 51g, 351g Cable receiving recess (second crank part) 51i Locking piece (locking means) 51j Internal space 52a Cable insertion hole (hole)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An inner space for accommodating a tip portion of a cable, and an insulator having a hole for guiding the tip portion of the cable into the inner space, and an insulator held by the insulator and connected to the tip portion of the cable. And a contact having a contact portion that comes into contact with a terminal portion of a connection partner, and is arranged between the outer peripheral surface of the tip portion of the cable and the inner peripheral surface of the hole of the insulator, and seals the inner space of the insulator. And a first seal member, which is disposed between the bottom surface of the insulator and the connection partner so as to surround the connection portion and the contact portion of the contact located in the internal space of the insulator, and seals the internal space of the insulator. And a second sealing member for controlling the waterproof connector. 2. The insulator comprises a housing for holding the contact and a cover for housing the housing, the housing having a first clamp portion for pressing the cable against the cover, and the cover. A cable holding part that holds the tip of the cable; and a second clamp part that clamps the cable in cooperation with the first clamp part. The connection part of the contact is held by the cable holding part. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof connector is a press-connecting connection portion that is connected to the cable. 3. A temporary fixing position where the cable can be arranged on the cable holding portion, connection of the press-connecting connection portion to the cable, and clamping of the cable by the first and second clamp portions are performed. The waterproof connector according to claim 2, further comprising locking means capable of locking the housing at two positions including a final locking position.