JP2009301968A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector having a structure in which air bubbles hardly stay in a housing when filling a potting agent. <P>SOLUTION: The connector has electrical connections including a printed-circuit board 11 sealed in a housing 12 by filling and solidifying a potting agent in the housing 12 through an opening 12-3 for filling the potting agent. The housing 12 has an inner wall with a taper shape 12-5 which becomes narrower at top end as it comes near the opening, thereby air bubbles generated in the potting agent filled accompanied with filling of the potting agent is led to the opening 12-3, and can be certainly discharged out of the housing without staying in the housing 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a connector in which a printed circuit board or the like is accommodated in a housing and a potting agent is filled and solidified to seal the printed circuit board or the like in the housing.

  This type of connector is provided with functions such as waterproofing and dustproofing by sealing a printed circuit board or the like in a housing with a potting agent, that is, a resin, and is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

  An example of this type of connector will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 8A, the connector 80 has a printed circuit board 81 and a housing 82 for housing and mounting it. A flexible cable 83 is connected to the printed circuit board 81. The housing 82 has a box shape with a large opening on one surface, and the opening is closed by a lid member 84 after the printed circuit board 81 is mounted.

  In this example, a plurality of pin terminals 82-1 are implanted on the inner wall of the housing 82, particularly on the inner wall facing the printed circuit board 81. The printed circuit board 81 is provided with a plurality of through holes 81-1 through which a plurality of pin terminals 82-1 can be inserted and also for electrical connection. Each through hole 81-1 is connected to a conductor (not shown) of the flexible cable 83 via a conductive pattern on the printed circuit board. The inner wall of the housing 82 is also provided with a plurality of support portions 82-2 for supporting the printed circuit board 81 in a state separated from the inner wall of the housing when the printed circuit board 81 is mounted. Although not shown, such a plurality of support portions 82-2 are also provided at locations close to the pin terminal 82-1. The pin terminal 82-1 passes through the housing 82, is led out of the housing, and is connected to a socket or the like (not shown) outside the housing.

  After the printed circuit board 81 is mounted in the housing 82, a liquid potting agent is filled and solidified. An opening 82-3 is provided on the surface of the housing 82 adjacent to the surface covered with the lid member 84 in order to lead the flexible cable 83 out of the housing 82. The printed circuit board 81 is also made slightly smaller in outer shape than the shape defined by the inner wall of the housing 82 for the reason described later.

  In this connector 80, after mounting a printed circuit board 81 with a flexible cable 83 in a housing 82 with the opening on the side closed by the lid member 84 (hereinafter referred to as a main opening) facing upward, a potting agent is applied from the main opening. Filled (injected). Here, the printed board 81 is separated from the inner wall of the housing by the support portion 82-2, a plurality of the support portions 82-2 are provided at intervals, and the size of the printed board 81 is defined by the inner wall of the housing 82. The reason for making it a little smaller is to facilitate diffusion of the potting agent throughout the potting agent. After the filled potting agent is solidified, the main opening of the housing 82 is closed with a lid member 84.

JP 2001-357919 A

  However, in the above-described connector, the potting agent may not completely reach the back surface (the surface opposite to the potting agent injection side) of the printed circuit board 81, and the potting agent is insufficiently filled. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, when filling the potting agent, a damming jig 85 for preventing leakage of the potting agent from the opening 82-3 for leading out the flexible cable 83 is necessary. .

  A method proposed to solve the above problems will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 9, in a state where the printed circuit board 81 is mounted in the housing 82 and the main opening of the housing 82 described in FIG. 8 is closed with the lid member 84 (FIG. 8), the housing 82 is rotated 90 degrees to open the opening 82 − Turn 3 upward. A liquid potting agent is injected into the housing 82 through the opening 82-3 in a state where the housing 82 and the lid member 84 are in a cocoon shape. When injecting the potting agent, as shown in FIG. 9, the injection nozzle 90 is inserted close to the bottom surface of the housing 82 (the surface opposite to the surface on the opening 82-3 side of the housing 82), and the bottom side of the housing 82 is inserted. So that the potting agent is filled.

  According to such a method, compared to the method described with reference to FIG. 8B, the potting agent is easily diffused throughout the housing 82, and no damming jig is required to prevent the potting agent from leaking. It is.

  However, this method also has the following problems.

  When the potting agent is filled, the air in the housing 82 rises toward the ceiling side, that is, the surface on the opening 82-3 side, as shown in FIG. However, when the air in the housing 82 rises toward the ceiling, the air (bubbles) easily accumulates at the corners inside the housing 82 on the ceiling side and portions close thereto (indicated by arrows 88). Accordingly, the potting agent may not be sufficiently filled in the housing 82, that is, the connector, and the potting agent may be cured while air (bubbles) remains. In such a case, since the potting agent is not completely filled in the connector, the airtightness may be impaired.

  Further, the air accumulated in the connector expands and contracts due to the influence of heat during use, so that the close contact portion between the housing 82 and the lid member 84 may be broken, and the waterproof and dustproof properties may be impaired. Further, since the potting agent is not completely filled, the holding strength of each component in the connector (in the above example, the substrate 81, the pin terminal 82-1, etc.) may be reduced. In addition, when performing defoaming work after filling the potting agent into the housing 82 in order to eliminate these air traps, the degassing work is performed with the housing 82 filled with the potting agent. There was a risk of stress. Furthermore, if the harness is large, a large defoamer is required. For these reasons, the conventional connector manufacturing with the filling of the potting agent is not good in workability and reliability.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a structure in which air (bubbles) hardly accumulates in a housing when a potting agent is filled.

  The connector according to the present invention is a connector that seals an electrical connection portion in the housing by filling the housing with a potting agent through an opening for filling the potting agent and solidifying the housing, and as the housing approaches the opening. It has an inner wall with a tapered portion that tapers.

  In the connector according to the present invention, the electrical connection portion includes a printed circuit board accommodated and sealed in the housing, and a cable is connected to the printed circuit board and led out of the housing through the opening for filling the potting agent. The printed board also preferably has a tapered portion at a location corresponding to the tapered portion of the inner wall of the housing.

  In the connector according to the present invention, the housing has a box shape in which one surface is largely opened and the opening is closed with a lid member, and the other surface adjacent to the one surface covered with the lid member is filled with the potting agent. An opening is formed, and a portion corresponding to a corner of the end of the other surface is formed into the tapered portion connected to the opening edge for filling the potting agent, from the tapered portion to the opening for filling the potting agent It is desirable that the angle to reach is an obtuse angle.

  The connector according to the present invention has a taper-shaped portion that tapers toward the opening in the inner wall portion of the housing near the opening for filling the potting agent. Air bubbles) can be easily guided to the opening for filling the potting agent, and air (air bubbles) can be reliably discharged out of the housing without staying in the housing.

  Thereby, the reliability of the sealing structure in the connector can be improved. In addition, since it is not necessary to perform the defoaming operation when filling the potting agent, the workability of potting agent injection can be improved.

  Embodiments of a connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The connector described below also has functions such as waterproofing and dustproofing by sealing a printed circuit board or the like in a housing with a potting agent, that is, a resin, and preferred embodiments thereof are shown in FIGS. Will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 2A, the connector 10 has a printed circuit board 11 and a housing 12 for housing and mounting it. A flexible cable 13 is connected to the printed board 11. The housing 12 has a box shape with a large opening on one surface, and the opening is closed by a lid member 14 after the printed circuit board 11 is mounted.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of pin terminals 12-1 are implanted on the inner wall of the housing 12, particularly on the inner wall facing the printed circuit board 11 (hereinafter referred to as the facing wall). The printed circuit board 11 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 11-1 through which a plurality of pin terminals 12-1 can be inserted and also electrically connected. Each through hole 11-1 is connected to a conductor (not shown) of the flexible cable 13 via a conductive pattern (not shown) on the printed board 11. The opposing wall of the housing 12 is also provided with a plurality of support portions 12-2 for supporting the printed circuit board 11 while being separated from the inner wall of the housing when the printed circuit board 11 is mounted. As shown in FIG. 4, such a plurality of support portions 12-2 are also provided at locations near the pin terminals 12-1. The pin terminal 12-1 penetrates the housing 12, is led out of the housing, and is connected to a socket or the like (not shown) outside the housing. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the housing 12 has a facing wall with a raised bottom and a space 12-6 formed outside. And the pin terminal 12-1 protrudes from the inside of the housing 12 in this space 12-6, and electrical connection becomes possible between the socket etc. which are fit in the space 12-6.

  After the printed circuit board 11 is mounted in the housing 12, a liquid potting agent is filled and solidified. An opening 12-3 is provided on the surface of the housing 12 adjacent to the surface to be closed by the lid member 14 in order to fill the potting agent and lead the flexible cable 13 out of the housing 12.

  The structure as described above is almost the same as the structure of the connector 80 described in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the housing 12 has an inner wall with a tapered portion 12-5 that tapers as it approaches the opening 12-3 for filling the potting agent. Such a tapered portion 12-5 is formed by closing a portion of the housing 12 near the opening 12-3, here, two corners of the end of the surface forming the opening 12-3. be able to. Furthermore, the housing 12 may be formed so as to have the tapered portion 12-5 from the beginning, or may be realized by adding triangular prism-shaped members to the two corners of the housing 12. . In any case, the tapered shape portion 12-5 has an obtuse angle from the opening 12-3 to the opening 12-3, and is slightly lower than the edge of the opening that is closed by the lid member 14, A step is formed between the edges. This is due to the following reason. As shown in FIG. 2B, the lid member 14 has a protrusion 14-1 that fits into the inner wall of the housing 12 on the surface that is joined to the housing 12. For this reason, the step of the tapered portion 12-5 is made equal to the thickness of the projection 14-1, so that the lid member 14 can be closely fitted to the housing 12.

  In the present embodiment, the printed circuit board 11 is also formed with tapered portions 11-2 at two locations corresponding to the tapered portion 12-5. The overall shape of the printed circuit board 11 is made slightly smaller than the shape defined by the inner wall including the tapered portion 12-5 of the housing 12, as in the example described with reference to FIG.

  In the connector 10 according to the present embodiment, the printed circuit board 11 is mounted in the housing 12, and the housing 12 is rotated 90 degrees with the lid member 14 pressed against the housing 12, as shown in FIG. The opening 12-3 is set to the ceiling side (upper side) so as not to leak from -3. In this manner, with the housing 12 and the lid member 14 in the state of a ridge, as shown in FIG. 6, the potting agent injection nozzle 20 is inserted through the opening 12-3 to put the potting agent into the housing 12. inject. As shown in FIG. 5, the opening 12-3 is preferably as narrow as possible in order to suppress the movement of the potting agent when the force is applied to the flexible cable 13. When injecting the potting agent into the housing 12, as shown in FIG. 6, the potting injection nozzle 20 is inserted close to the bottom surface of the housing 12 (surface opposite to the surface on which the opening 12-3 is formed). The potting agent is filled from the side.

  Here, when the potting agent is filled into the housing 12 through the opening 12-3, the air in the housing 12 becomes a bubble as shown in FIG. come. At that time, in order to prevent the bubbles 30 from collecting and being prevented from falling out at the corner of the surface of the housing 12 where the opening 12-3 is formed, the housing 12 is tapered toward the opening 12-3 as described above. By forming the corner portion into the tapered shape portion 12-5, the bubbles 30 can be reliably discharged to the outside of the housing 12, that is, the connector through the opening 12-3 without accumulating the bubbles 30 in the housing 12.

  The potting agent filled in the housing 12 is usually a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin or a silicone resin. For this reason, the potting agent in the housing 12 is cured by various heating methods. As a heating method, for example, a method of heating the lid member 14 with some heating means (for example, a heater) or a method of placing the housing 12 and the lid member 14 in an atmosphere for heating can be considered, but any method may be used.

  The connector according to this embodiment has the following effects.

  During the potting agent filling operation, a taper-shaped portion is provided at the corner of the surface on the ceiling side in the housing where air (bubbles) easily collect, so that when the potting agent is filled, Even if air (bubbles) rises toward the ceiling surface, the taper (inclined surface) that faces the opening for pouring agent injection at the corner on the ceiling side allows air (bubbles) to move toward the taper (inclined surface). It can be transferred to the outside of the housing through the potting agent injection opening.

  This effect improves the reliability of the sealing structure in the connector. In addition, since the connector according to the present embodiment does not need to be defoamed, the workability of potting agent injection is improved.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 1 (FIG. A) and a view of the lid member from the lower surface side. FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the work before the potting agent injection. FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the potting agent injection method subsequent to FIG. 3, and is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. Drawing 5 is a figure for explaining flexible cable derivation of a connector concerning an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a potting agent injection operation to the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of the tapered portion of the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional connector (FIG. A) and a perspective view for explaining the filling of a potting agent. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a potting agent injection operation proposed to solve the problem of the connector shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a problem in the potting agent injection shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 80 Connector 11, 81 Printed circuit board 11-1, 81-1 Through hole 12, 82 Housing 12-1, 82-1 Pin terminal 12-5 Tapered shape part 13, 83 Flexible cable 14, 84 Cover member

Claims (3)

In a connector for sealing an electrical connection in the housing by filling the potting agent through an opening for filling the potting agent in the housing and solidifying the potting agent,
The connector is characterized in that the housing has an inner wall with a tapered portion that tapers as it approaches the opening.   The electrical connection portion includes a printed circuit board accommodated and sealed in the housing, and a cable is connected to the printed circuit board and led out of the housing through the opening for filling the potting agent, and the printed circuit board is also connected to the housing. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising a tapered portion at a position corresponding to the tapered shape portion of the inner wall.   The housing has a box shape in which one side is largely opened and the opening is closed with a lid member, and an opening for filling the potting agent is formed on the other side adjacent to the one side covered with the lid member, The portion corresponding to the corner of the end of the other surface is the tapered portion connected to the opening edge for filling the potting agent, and the angle from the tapered portion to the opening for filling the potting agent is an obtuse angle. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that

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