JP2011003356A - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waterproof connector structured so that the inside of a cavity can be made waterproof, without fail, while preventing a rubber plug from breaking.SOLUTION: The waterproof connector 10 includes a rubber plug 30, having a caulking part 32 held between the insulation barrel piece 25 of a terminal fitting 20 and an insulating coating, and a sealing part 33 ranging toward the rear of the caulking part 32 to seal the opening part 13 of a cavity 12; the front end 32A of the caulking part 32 in the rubber plug 30 is contained within a range CA to be caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25; a visible annular rib 36 is provided in the caulking part 32; and the annular rib 36 is contained in the range CA to be caulked, and thereby, when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted in the cavity 12, the opening part 13 of the cavity 12 is sealed in a normal sealed state by the sealing part 33.

Description

  The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.

Generally, in the waterproof connector, the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity of the connector housing, and the opening of the cavity is sealed with a rubber plug, so that the inside of the cavity is waterproofed. (See Patent Document 1 below)
Here, the rubber plug has an electric wire insertion hole through which an electric wire is inserted, a crimped portion having a circular outer peripheral surface, and a seal portion that continues to the rear of the crimped portion and seals the opening of the cavity.

  Then, with the wire inserted into the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug, the terminal barrel and the rubber plug are connected by crimping the insulation barrel piece of the terminal metal fitting, and the terminal metal fitting is inserted into the cavity of the connector housing. Then, the seal part seals the opening.

JP 2004-288432 A

By the way, the position where the insulation barrel piece is caulked in the caulking portion of the rubber stopper is such that the front end of the caulking portion can be seen to some extent so that the operator can visually recognize that the caulking portion is sufficiently caulked. It was carried out at a position that protruded in front of.
However, when the front end portion of the caulking portion is positioned in front of the insulation barrel piece in this way, the caulking portion may be broken when the insulation barrel piece is caulked.

  On the other hand, in order to prevent the caulking portion from being broken, when the position of the rubber plug is retracted, the operator does not know how much the rubber plug should be retracted. If the crimped portion is caulked at an excessive position, the rubber plug seal portion may protrude from the opening of the cavity after the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity, and the inside of the cavity may not be reliably waterproofed.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector capable of reliably waterproofing the interior of the cavity while preventing the rubber plug from being broken.

  The waterproof connector according to the present invention includes a housing, a cavity formed in the housing, a wire barrel piece inserted into the cavity and caulking a core wire portion exposed at an end of the wire, and an electric wire behind the wire barrel piece. A terminal fitting having an insulation barrel piece for caulking the insulating coating portion, and a caulking portion and the caulking portion that are caulked by being inserted between the insulation barrel piece and the insulation coating. A rubber stopper having a sealing portion that is connected to the rear of the portion and seals the opening of the cavity, and the front end of the caulking portion is included in a caulking range that is caulked by the insulation barrel piece, The caulking portion is provided with a visually recognizable identification portion, and the identification portion is within the caulking range. The terminal fitting by being included when inserted into the cavity is characterized at the opening of the cavity in normal sealed state by the seal portion is sealed.

According to the above configuration, when the caulking portion of the rubber plug into which the electric wire has been inserted is caulked by the insulation barrel piece, the front end of the caulking portion is included in the caulking range, thereby preventing the caulking portion from being broken. be able to.
On the other hand, if the rubber plug is retracted too much to prevent the crimped portion from being broken, the rubber plug seal portion may protrude from the cavity when the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity, and the interior of the cavity may not be reliably waterproofed. There is.

  However, according to the above configuration, when the rubber stopper is moved backward too much and the identification portion is not included in the caulking range that is caulked by the insulation barrel piece, the identification portion is located behind the insulation barrel piece. Since it is exposed, the operator can easily recognize the caulking position error.

As a result, only terminal fittings that can be properly sealed can be inserted into the cavity, so that the cavity opening can be reliably waterproofed.
Therefore, the inside of the cavity can be reliably waterproofed while preventing the rubber plug from being broken.

In addition, it is good also as following structures.
(1) The said identification part is the annular rib provided in the outer periphery of the said rubber stopper.
If the annular rib is included in the caulking range, the annular rib is crushed by caulking the insulation barrel piece, so that the force with which the rubber plug is fixed between the electric wire and the insulation barrel piece can be increased. it can.
(2) The said identification part is formed in the color different from another part.
In this way, the identification unit can be easily viewed.
(3) The said identification part is formed so that visual recognition is possible by the embossing which forms an unevenness | corrugation in an outer surface.
If it does in this way, it will become possible to firmly fix a rubber stopper by the frictional force which arises in unevenness when it is caulked.

  It is possible to provide a waterproof connector capable of reliably waterproofing the interior of the cavity while preventing the rubber plug from being broken.

Side sectional view of waterproof connector according to Embodiment 1 The figure showing the state where the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity of the housing The figure which shows the state where the caulking part of the rubber stopper was caulked with the insulation barrel piece Side view of rubber stopper Side view of rubber plug The figure showing the rubber stopper of the waterproof connector which concerns on Embodiment 2. The figure which shows the state where the caulking part of the rubber stopper was caulked with the insulation barrel piece The figure showing the rubber stopper of the waterproof connector which concerns on Embodiment 3.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The waterproof connector 10 is a female type and is fitted with a mating male waterproof connector (not shown). In the following, the vertical direction will be described with reference to FIG. 1, and the longitudinal direction will be described with the left side of FIG. 1 as the front and the right side as the rear.

The waterproof connector 10 includes a housing 11 made of synthetic resin, a female terminal fitting 20 connected to the end of the electric wire 40 and attached to the housing 11, and a rubber plug that seals an extension portion of the electric wire 40 in the housing 11. 30.
In the housing 11, a plurality of cavities 12 into which the terminal fittings 20 are inserted are formed side by side in the width direction (only one cavity is shown in FIG. 1 and other cavities are omitted).
The cavity 12 is a circular hole formed horizontally over almost the entire length of the housing 11, and the rear end portion is an opening 13 into which the terminal fitting 20 is inserted. A taper is formed on the entire periphery of the edge of the opening 13.

A front end portion of the cavity 12 is closed by a front stop wall portion 14. A male terminal insertion hole 15 through which a male terminal of the mating connector is inserted is formed in the front stop wall portion 14.
The upper wall of the cavity 12 is provided with a lance 16 that protrudes forward in a cantilevered manner. When the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 12, the lance 16 makes the terminal fitting 20 elastic. It is designed to be locked.

Further, the housing 11 is provided with a retainer insertion hole 17 at an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction. When the retainer 18 is inserted into the retainer insertion hole 17, the box-shaped terminal connection portion 21 of the terminal fitting 20 is moved backward. It is locked from and is prevented from coming off.
The housing 11 is configured by combining an inner housing 11A and a hood-like outer housing 11B on which the inner housing 11A is mounted, and a connecting portion of both housings 11 is sealed with an annular rubber packing 19. Has been.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal fitting 20 includes a box-shaped terminal connection portion 21 and a wire connection portion 22 connected to the terminal connection portion 21 and connected to the electric wire 40.
The terminal connection portion 21 is a female terminal fitting 20, and electrical connection is achieved by inserting a male terminal of a mating connector (not shown) into the insertion hole. A lance locking projection 21A is formed at the front end of the upper surface of the terminal connection portion 21, and a retainer locking projection 21B is formed at the rear end of the upper surface.
The electric wire connecting portion 22 includes a bottom plate portion 23 on which the electric wire 40 is placed, a core wire connecting portion 24 connected to the core wire, and an insulation barrel piece 25 that holds the electric wire 40 by caulking the rubber plug 30 from above. Have.
The bottom plate portion 23 has a semi-cylindrical shape that is curved so that the central portion in the width direction is lowered.

The core wire connecting portion 24 includes a pair of wire barrel pieces 24A and 24A that are extended from both side portions of the bottom plate portion 23.
The wire barrel pieces 24 </ b> A and 24 </ b> A caulk the core wire portions exposed at the terminal portions of the electric wires 40.

The insulation barrel piece 25 includes a first barrel piece 26 and a second barrel piece 27 arranged so as to be connected to the rear of the first barrel piece 26, and the first barrel piece 26 is on one side of the bottom plate portion 23. The second barrel piece 27 is raised from the other edge of the bottom plate portion 23.
In the first barrel piece 26, the front end 25A is raised substantially perpendicularly to the axial direction, while the rear end side is raised slightly inclined to the front side with respect to the axial direction. The barrel piece 26 is slightly tapered toward the tip side. The second barrel piece 27 is provided so as to be continuous with the first barrel piece 26, and the front end side is raised slightly rearward with respect to the axial direction, while the rear end 25B is raised with respect to the axial direction. It is launched almost vertically.
Thus, the caulking range BA to which the insulation barrel piece 25 is caulked is caulked so that the first barrel piece 26 wraps around the front side, and the second barrel piece 27 is caulked so as to wrap around the rear side.

  The rubber plug 30 has a cylindrical shape having a wire insertion hole 31 and, as shown in FIG. 4, a caulking portion 32 that is caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25, and an opening portion of the cavity 12 that extends from the caulking portion 32 to the rear side. 13, and a extending portion 34 that extends rearward of the sealing portion 33 and protrudes from the cavity 12.

The seal portion 33 is formed with a lip portion 35 that protrudes outward over the entire circumference.
Two lip portions 35 are formed side by side in the axial direction, and the lip portion 35 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cavity 12 over the entire circumference, so that the cavity 12 is sealed. ing. The electric wire insertion hole 31 has a recess corresponding to the lip 35 (FIG. 5).
This seal portion 33 is also slightly larger in outer diameter than the lip portion 35 than the caulking portion 32, thereby forming a stepped portion 37 at the boundary portion between the caulking portion 32 and the seal portion 33. Has been.

The caulking portion 32 has a substantially cylindrical shape, is formed with a substantially constant thickness, and has a tapered outer surface whose diameter on the tip side is slightly shortened.
On the outer periphery of the caulking portion 32, an annular rib 36 (an example of the “identification portion” of the present invention) that protrudes outward is formed over the entire periphery.
The annular rib 36 is formed at a predetermined position in the axial direction in the caulking portion 32.

  This predetermined position is at a position where the annular rib 36 is caulked to the insulation barrel piece 25, and when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the normal position of the cavity 12, the seal portion 33 is in a normal seal state and the waterproof effect is sufficiently exerted. It is a position to be done. In other words, when the annular rib 36 is located behind the rear end 25B of the insulation barrel piece 25 (exposed behind the insulation barrel piece 25), the seal portion 33 is removed from the normal seal state and sufficiently waterproof. It is a position that can not be.

  The normal seal state is a state in which all the lip portions 35 are in close contact with the cavity 12 and the opening 13 of the cavity 12 can be sufficiently waterproofed. This means that the lip portion 35 is not closely attached to the cavity 12 and is exposed to the outside through the opening 13.

  In this embodiment, the position of the annular rib 36 is such that when the annular rib 36 is caulked at the portion of the rear end 25B of the insulation barrel piece 25 (state of FIG. 3), as shown in FIG. When 20 is inserted into the normal position in the cavity 12, the position of the seal part 33 is the position that is the rearmost end of the positions in the normal seal state (the lip 35 on the rear side is locked to the opening edge of the cavity 12. Position).

Here, in the caulking portion 32, the range where the insulation barrel piece 25 is caulked is, as shown in FIG. 3, between the front end 32A of the caulking portion 32 and the annular rib 36 (the rear end of the annular rib 36). The caulking range CA is used, and the insulation barrel piece 25 is caulked so that the entire caulking range CA is included.
Thereby, the front end 32 </ b> A of the caulking portion 32 is caulked by the first barrel piece 26, and the portion of the annular rib 36 is caulked by the second barrel piece 27.
On the other hand, when the entire caulking range CA is not caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25, for example, when the annular rib 36 is caulked to a position exposed behind the insulation barrel piece 25, the rear lip There is a possibility that the portion 35 protrudes from the opening 13 of the cavity 12 and a sufficient sealing effect cannot be exhibited.
The position where the annular rib 36 is caulked is not limited to the rear end 25B of the insulation barrel piece 25 described above, but is a range where the entire caulking range CA is caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25 (front end 32A of the caulking portion 32). Is not exposed to the front of the insulation barrel piece 25), the rubber plug 30 may be disposed on the front side of the above-described position and caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the present embodiment, the front end 32A of the caulking portion 32 is within the caulking range CA when the caulking portion 32 of the rubber plug 30 into which the electric wire 40 is inserted is caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25. Since it is included, it is possible to prevent the crimping portion 32 from being broken.
On the other hand, if the rubber plug 30 is retracted too much to prevent the crimping portion 32 from being torn, the seal portion 33 of the rubber plug 30 protrudes from the cavity 12 when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 12. There is a possibility that the inside of 12 is not reliably waterproofed.

However, according to the present embodiment, when the rubber plug 30 is retracted too much and the annular rib 36 (identification part) is not included in the caulking range CA that is caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25, this annular plug Since the rib 36 is exposed behind the insulation barrel piece 25, the operator can easily recognize an error in the caulking position.
As a result, only the terminal fitting 20 that can be properly sealed can be inserted into the cavity 12, so that the opening 13 of the cavity 12 can be reliably waterproofed.
Therefore, the inside of the cavity 12 can be reliably waterproofed while preventing the rubber plug 30 from being broken.

(2) By providing the annular rib 36 on the rubber plug 30, the annular rib 36 is crushed by caulking the insulation barrel piece 25, and the rubber plug 30 is fixed between the electric wire 40 and the insulation barrel piece 25. Can strengthen the power.

<Embodiment 2>
Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
The rubber plug 30 of the first embodiment is configured to visually recognize whether or not it is caulked within the caulking range CA by the annular rib 36, but the rubber plug 60 of the second embodiment colors the caulking portion 32. Thus, it is visually confirmed whether or not it is caulked within the caulking range CA. Hereinafter, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the caulking portion 32 includes an identification portion 50 that is formed in a color different from other portions. The identification unit 50 is formed over the entire circumference.
As shown in FIG. 7, the entire identification portion 50 is a caulking range CA that is caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25.

The identification unit 50 is colored by two-color molding. For example, the part of the identification part 50 is molded by injecting resin into the mold, and then the part of the identification part 50 previously molded is arranged in another mold, and the other part is placed in this mold. The rubber plug 60 can be molded by injecting a resin of the color.
In this way, the identification unit 50 is formed in a color different from that of the other parts, so that the identification unit 50 can be easily viewed.

<Embodiment 3>
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
The rubber plug 30 according to the second embodiment is different from the other portions in the color of the identification unit 50, but the rubber plug 61 according to the third embodiment is configured such that the identification unit 51 can be visually recognized by embossing. is there.
As shown in FIG. 8, the caulking part 32 has an identification part 51 that has been subjected to crimping.
The identification part 51 is formed in the entire caulking range CA.
The method of forming the identification portion 51 (texture) is, for example, by forming irregularities by etching in the portion of the mold where the identification portion 51 is to be formed, and pouring a resin into the mold, thereby The identification part 51 (texture) can be formed on the outer surface.

  Thus, since the identification part 51 is formed so that it can be visually recognized by the embossing which forms an unevenness | corrugation in an outer surface, it is possible to firmly fix the rubber plug 61 by the frictional force generated in the unevenness when it is caulked. become.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
(1) In the first embodiment, the annular rib 36 is provided in the caulking portion 32. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a protruding portion that protrudes outward is provided in the entire caulking range CA (the entire caulking range CA). May be made thicker).
In the second and third embodiments, the identification units 50 and 51 are formed in the entire caulking range CA. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the rear end portion of the caulking range CA is formed. Also good.

  (2) The position where the insulation barrel piece 25 caulks the front end 32A of the caulking portion 32 is not limited to the position of the above-described embodiment. For example, the front end 32A of the caulking portion 32 is located at the front end 25A of the insulation barrel piece 25. It may be caulked to do.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the identification portions 36, 50, 51 are formed over the entire circumference of the crimping portion 32. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a protrusion that protrudes along the axial direction. The caulking range CA to be caulked by the insulation barrel piece 25 may be visually recognized by providing a groove along the axial direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Waterproof connector 11 ... Housing 12 ... Cavity 13 ... Opening 20 ... Terminal metal fitting 24A, 24A ... Wire barrel piece 25 ... Insulation barrel piece 26 ... First barrel piece 27 ... Second barrel piece 30, 60, 61 ... Rubber Plug 32 ... Caulking part 32A ... Front end 33 ... Sealing part 35 ... Lip part 36 ... Annular rib (identification part)
40 ... covered wire 50, 51 ... identification part BA ... caulking range CA ... caulking range

Claims (4)

A housing;
A cavity formed in the housing;
A terminal fitting having a wire barrel piece that is inserted into the cavity and caulked at a core wire portion exposed at an end of the electric wire, and an insulation barrel piece that caulks a portion of the insulation coating of the electric wire behind the wire barrel piece;
The electric wire is inserted inside, and has a caulking portion that is clamped between the insulation barrel piece and the insulating coating, and a seal portion that seals the opening of the cavity connected to the rear of the caulking portion. A rubber stopper,
The front end of the caulking portion is included in a caulking range caulked by the insulation barrel piece,
The caulking portion is provided with a visually recognizable identification portion, and when the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity, the identification portion is included in the caulking range so that the seal portion properly A waterproof connector, wherein the opening of the cavity is sealed in a sealed state. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the identification portion is an annular rib provided on an outer periphery of the rubber plug. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the identification portion is formed in a color different from that of other portions. The waterproof connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the identification portion is formed so as to be visible by embossing that forms irregularities on an outer surface.

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