JP2011082028A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector which can prevent degradation of retention force for maintaining engagement of a connector housing with a connector cover even when external force acts from any direction. <P>SOLUTION: A projection wall part 52 projecting outward is formed on an outer wall of the connector housing 50. The projection wall part 52 is supported by a cover body 20 and a fixing body 40 from a longitudinal direction of the connector housing 50 when the cover body 20 is assembled on the connector housing 50 and the fixing body 40 is assembled on the cover body 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector in which a connector housing is protected by covering at least a main part of the connector housing with a cover body.

  Conventionally, the thing made from rubber is known as a connector cover used for this kind of connector. This connector cover will be described with reference to FIG. A lock arm 101 is provided on the upper surface of the connector 100 and can be engaged with a mating connector (not shown) to hold both connectors in a retaining state. For example, when the connector 100 is used for wiring in an engine room of an automobile, a countermeasure has been taken such as attaching a rubber connector cover 102 to protect it from a stepping stone while traveling.

  The connector cover 102 is formed in a hollow shape so as to enclose the entire connector 100 including the lock arm 101. Further, since it is desirable that the lock arm 101 can be operated while the connector cover 102 is attached, the connector cover 102 is made of rubber and is soft, and a portion facing the lock arm 101 (reference numeral “A” in FIG. 8). When the button is pressed, the lock arm 101 can be released.

  By the way, in addition to the above-mentioned countermeasures against the impact of flying stones, connectors used in automobiles have recently been required to take countermeasures against impacts from high-pressure washing water associated with car washing.

  However, it has been found that the conventional rubber connector cover 102 can prevent the impact of flying stones but cannot withstand the impact of the high pressure washing water with the hardness of the rubber. Therefore, it was considered to make a connector cover with synthetic resin instead of rubber. However, when a synthetic resin is simply used, it can withstand high-pressure washing water, but the hardness is too high to operate the lock arm with the connector cover attached. Accordingly, a connector cover that can withstand strong impacts from flying stones and the like and that can easily operate the lock arm of the connector has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the connector cover 200 is formed of a hard synthetic resin and is attached to the rear end portion of the female connector 300. The female connector 300 is provided with a lock arm 310 (see FIG. 10B) formed so as to be able to be pressed, and engages with a mating connector (not shown) to connect the male and female connectors. It is designed to hold it in a retaining state. In FIG. 10B, reference numeral 400 denotes a terminal to which the electric wire W is crimped, and H denotes a tube coated for protecting the electric wire W.

  In addition, a cantilever-like arm protection wall 320 that protects the operation portion 311 of the lock arm 310 from above is provided at a position on the connector cover 200 corresponding to the pressing operation portion of the lock arm 310. Since the arm protection wall 320 is integrally formed of a soft synthetic resin and is easily bent, when the female connector 300 is detached from the mating connector, arm protection is performed with the connector cover 200 attached. It is only necessary to push down the piece 320.

  When the female connector 300 is detached from the mating connector by the connector cover 200, the following operation is performed. That is, the arm protection piece 320 is pressed with the connector cover 200 attached to the female connector 300. As described above, since the arm protection piece 320 is made of a soft synthetic resin, the arm protection piece 320 can be easily bent to press the operation portion 311 of the lock arm 310, and the lock is released to detach the female connector 300 from the mating connector. Can be made.

JP-A-10-32037

  However, in such a state where the connector cover 200 is engaged with the female connector 300, an external force from a direction in which the engagement state is released acts on either of the two, and the engagement margin of the locking portion is increased. If it decreases, there arises a problem that a required engagement force cannot be secured. In particular, when an external force from the horizontal direction is applied to the engaging portion, the locking force is significantly reduced, which is a serious problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a decrease in holding force that maintains the engagement between the connector housing and the connector cover even when an external force is applied from any direction. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (3).
(1) a connector housing in which terminals connected to electric wires are accommodated;
A cover body that can be assembled to the connector housing so as to cover the outer wall of the connector housing;
An electric wire cover connected to the cover main body, covering the electric wires extending from the rear of the connector housing when the cover main body is assembled to the connector housing;
A fixed body that can be assembled to the cover body so as to cover the outer wall of the connector housing;
With
The outer wall of the connector housing is formed with a protruding wall portion protruding outward.
The protruding wall portion is sandwiched by the cover body and the fixed body from the front-rear direction of the connector housing when the cover body is assembled to the connector housing and the fixed body is assembled to the cover body.
thing.
(2) A connector configured as described in (1) above,
The projecting wall is formed with an engagement hole drilled from the front side to the rear side of the projecting wall.
The cover main body slidably assembled from the front side to the rear side of the connector housing is formed with an engagement protrusion that engages with the engagement hole.
thing.
(3) A connector configured as described in (1) or (2) above,
The electric wire cover includes two halves that, when combined, form a hollow cylinder,
When the two halves are combined in a state where one end of the corrugated tube containing the electric wire is arranged inside, the presser protrusions formed on the inner walls of the halves fit into the side surface of the corrugated tube, The locking means provided in each of the split bodies locks to the locking means of the other half-split body,
thing.

According to the connector having the configuration (1), the protruding wall portion protruding from the outer wall of the connector housing is sandwiched between the cover body assembled to the connector housing and the fixed body assembled to the cover body. Therefore, the connector housing can prevent a decrease in holding force that maintains the engagement between the connector housing and the cover body regardless of the external force applied from any direction.
According to the connector having the above configuration (2), the cover body can be more firmly fixed to the connector housing by engaging the engagement hole of the protruding wall portion with the engagement protrusion of the cover body.
According to the connector having the configuration (3), it is possible to prevent the corrugated tube from coming out.

  According to the connector of the present invention, the protruding wall portion protruding from the outer wall of the connector housing is sandwiched between the cover body assembled to the connector housing and the fixed body assembled to the cover body. Therefore, the connector housing can prevent a decrease in holding force that maintains the engagement between the connector housing and the cover body regardless of the external force applied from any direction. As a result, the connector can be held in a stable state against high-pressure washing water accompanying the impact of a stepping stone or a car wash.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The disassembled perspective view which shows the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention A perspective view of a cover body and a fixed body in the connector (A) is a perspective view of the connector, (B) is a perspective view of the connector viewed from the opposite direction. (A) is a plan view of the connector, and (B) is a bottom view of the connector. (A) is a front view of the connector, (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along line VB-VB of (A). (A) is a side view of the connector, (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIB-VIB in (A). FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIA-VIIA of the connector cover of FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIIB-VIIB of FIG. A perspective view showing a conventional connector cover An exploded perspective view showing another conventional connector cover (A) is a perspective view showing the assembled state of the connector cover of FIG. 9, (B) is a cross-sectional view thereof

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a connector cover 10 constituting a connector of the present invention and a connector housing 50 whose outer wall is covered thereby. The connector cover 10 includes a cover main body 20, a pair of left and right electric wire covers 30 that are rotatably connected to the cover main body 20, and a fixed body 40 that is integrally fixed to the cover main body 20 and the electric wire cover 30. Yes.

  The connector housing 50 includes a projecting wall portion 52 projecting outward from left and right outer walls near the middle or base end (the end surface on the back side in FIG. 1) of a substantially box-shaped housing 51, and a lock provided on the upper portion. The arm 53 includes an opening 54 that opens to the tip (an end on the near side in FIG. 1), and a terminal 55 that is accommodated in the opening 54. The protruding wall portion 52 protrudes in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the connector housing 50. For this reason, the protruding wall portion 52 includes a front surface in the longitudinal direction of the connector housing 50 (front side in FIG. 1, hereinafter referred to as “first surface”) 52A and a rear surface in the longitudinal direction (rear side in FIG. 1). Part side, hereinafter referred to as “second surface”) 52B.

  When the connector housing 50 is assembled to the cover body 20 and the fixed body 40 of the connector cover 10, the first surface 52 </ b> A of the protruding wall portion 52 contacts the inner surface 20 </ b> A of the cover body 20 and the second surface of the protruding wall portion 52. The surface 52B is accommodated in the connector cover 10 in a state of being sandwiched so as to abut one end surface (hereinafter referred to as “tip surface”) 43 of the fixed body 40 (see FIG. 7). Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the connector housing 50 is accommodated in the connector cover 10 with the upper surface and the lower surface in contact with the ceiling surface 22B of the cover body 20 and the upper surface 41 of the fixed body 40, respectively. .

  The cover body 20 is assembled to the connector housing 50 so as to cover the outer wall of the connector housing 50. When the cover body 20 is assembled to the connector housing 50, the outer wall of the connector housing 50 is placed along the fitting hole 21 </ b> A constituting the opening formed in the cover body 20, and the front and rear (Y) with respect to the longitudinal direction of the connector housing 50. Slide in the direction and insert. The cover body 20 is formed with an inner surface 20 </ b> A that contacts the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50. When the inner surface 20 </ b> A contacts the protruding wall portion 52, the cover body 20 is inserted into the connector housing 50. Is completed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the cover body 20 is formed in a substantially box shape in which the base end (the end surface on the back side in FIG. 1) portion and the wall surface of the lower surface portion are missing. 22 and both side portions (however, most of the lower part is absent) 23.

  The front end surface portion 21 has the above-described fitting hole 21A that is largely opened at the center portion, and the fitting hole 21A has a substantially square columnar tube on the front end (end surface on the front side in FIG. 1) side of the housing 51. A cylindrical portion (hereinafter, cylindrical portion 51A) is inserted and protrudes. Inside the cylindrical portion 51A, which is the distal end portion of the connector housing 50 protruding from the fitting hole 21A, is a terminal that is an electrical connection means with the mating connector housing in the vicinity of the opening portion 54 and facing the opening portion 54 55 is installed.

  Further, in the inner wall surface (the portion corresponding to the aforementioned inner surface 20A) of the distal end surface portion 21, an engagement hole 52C formed in the first surface 52A of the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50 toward the second surface 52B. An engaging protrusion 21B (see FIGS. 5 and 7) to be inserted is formed.

  The upper surface portion 22 has a notch 22 </ b> A that is greatly cut out, and a lock arm 53 that is a mechanical fitting means with the mating connector housing is provided on the upper portion of the connector housing 50 facing the notch 22 </ b> A. It is supposed to be exposed.

  The side surface 23 is formed with a recess 23A that is recessed in a groove shape, and a fixing projection 23B is formed in the recess 23A. A locking piece 42 (described later) of the fixed body 40 is elastically engaged with the wall surface portion of the side surface portion 23 where the concave portion 23A is formed. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a fastening hole 42 </ b> A opened at the upper part of the locking piece 42 of the fixed body 40 is locked to the fixing protrusion 23 </ b> B formed in the recess 23 </ b> A.

  The wire cover 30 is composed of a pair of left and right attached to the cover body 20 via a hinge member H so as to be rotatable (openable / closable). Each wire cover 30 includes a base 30A and a base 30A. , And a half body 30B. Among these, the base portion 30 </ b> A is connected to the side surface portion 23 of the cover body 20 so as to be rotatable about the hinge portion H through the hinge member H. On the other hand, the halved body 30B is configured to have a hollow cylindrical shape when closed, and a corrugated tube C (with an unillustrated electric wire having one end connected to the terminal 55 of the connector housing 50 therein ( The one end side of FIG. 3 (A) is accommodated in a retaining state. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 5B, presser protrusions 31 having a required shape are formed at a plurality of positions at regular intervals on the inner surface of the half body 30B as retaining means. It is designed to enter the concave portion of C. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (B), the half-divided body 30B is closed by engaging with the other side in a closed state at the upper and lower symmetrical positions where the phases of the outer peripheral surfaces are shifted from each other by 180 degrees. Locking means 32 for maintaining the state is formed.

  The fixed body 40 is attached to the missing part in the both side surface portions 23 of the cover body 20 from below. For this reason, a part of the outer wall of the connector housing 50 is covered with the fixed body 40. The fixed body 40 is attached to the cover main body 20 in a state of being attached to the connector housing 50. When the fixed body 40 is assembled to the cover body 20, the front end surface 43 of the fixed body 40 comes into contact with the second surface 52 </ b> B of the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50. The fixed body 40 of the present embodiment includes a base portion 40A and side wall portions 40B that stand upright on both sides of the base portion 40A.

  The base portion 40A is configured such that the lower surface of the connector housing 50 contacts the upper surface 41. As shown in FIG. 2, the side wall portion 40 </ b> B includes a locking piece 42 erected while standing on the outer surface, and a protruding wall of the connector housing 50 accommodated in the cover body 20 by using a thick side wall. And a distal end surface 43 that is brought into contact with the second surface 52B of the portion 52 in a close contact state.

  The locking piece 42 is provided with a fastening hole 42 </ b> A opened at the upper end portion, and by engaging the fastening hole 42 </ b> A with the fastening projection 23 </ b> B of the cover body 20, the fixed body 40 is attached to the cover body 20. It is designed to be assembled securely.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 6B, the locking piece 42 of the present embodiment is erected through a slit (or may be cut) 44 having a very narrow gap in the side wall portion 40B, and is flexible. Property or elasticity. By adopting such a configuration, the locking piece 42 is deformed into a bow shape with respect to the fastening hole 42A so as to surely get over the fastening projection 23B, and the fastening hole 42A can be secured to the fastening projection 23B. be able to.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the front end surface 43 abuts on both corner portions of the lower portion of the second surface 52 </ b> B of the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the connector housing 50 according to the present embodiment includes an inner surface 20A of the cover body 20 that abuts on the first surface 52A of the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50, and the protruding wall portion 52. The front end surface 43 of the fixed body 40 that contacts the second surface 52B cooperates with each other to sandwich the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50 from both sides. With such a configuration, the connector housing 50 can be firmly fixed and held on the cover body 20 without rattling in the cover body 20.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the connector cover 10 is attached to the connector housing 50 and the connector housing 50 is accommodated in the connector cover 10, as shown in FIG. The first surface 52 </ b> A and the second surface 52 </ b> B are both sandwiched between the inner surface 20 </ b> A of the cover body 20 and the distal end surface 43 of the fixed body 40 in the connector cover 10. That is, the first surface 52A is held in contact with the inner surface 20A of the cover body 20 and the second surface 52B is held in contact with the distal end surface 43 of the fixed body 40.

  Therefore, the connector housing 50 is firmly held in the connector cover 10 in a stable state. For this reason, the connector cover 10 does not easily come off and the connector housing 50 does not pop out no matter which direction the impact of the flying stones or the impact of the high pressure washing water accompanying the car wash acts on the outside of the connector cover 10. is there.

  In addition, in this embodiment, the engagement wall 52C is formed in the protruding wall portion 52 of the connector housing 50, and the engagement protrusion 21B that engages with the engagement hole 52C is formed on the inner surface 20A of the cover body 20. For this reason, when the connector cover 10 is attached to the connector housing 50, these engage with each other inside the connector cover 10.

  Accordingly, the connector cover can maintain a reliable and stable cover state regardless of the direction of the impact of the stepping stone or the pressure of the high-pressure washing water accompanying the car wash from any direction. 10 greatly improves the holding force of the connector housing 50.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimension, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Connector cover 20 Cover main body 20A Inner surface 21A Fitting hole 21B Engaging protrusion 23A Recessed part 23B Recessing protrusion 30 Electric wire cover 30B Half split body 31 Pressing protrusion 32 Locking means 40 Fixed body 42 Locking piece 42A Fastening hole 43 Front end surface 44 Slit 50 Connector housing 52 Projecting wall 52A First surface 52B Second surface 52C Engagement hole 54 Opening 55 Terminal C Corrugated tube H Hinge member

Claims (3)

A connector housing in which terminals connected to electric wires are housed;
A cover body that can be assembled to the connector housing so as to cover the outer wall of the connector housing;
An electric wire cover connected to the cover main body, covering the electric wires extending from the rear of the connector housing when the cover main body is assembled to the connector housing;
A fixed body that can be assembled to the cover body so as to cover the outer wall of the connector housing;
With
The outer wall of the connector housing is formed with a protruding wall portion protruding outward.
The protruding wall portion is sandwiched between the cover main body and the fixed body from the front-rear direction of the connector housing when the cover main body is assembled to the connector housing and the fixed body is assembled to the cover main body.
A connector characterized by that. The projecting wall is formed with an engagement hole drilled from the front side to the rear side of the projecting wall.
The cover main body slidably assembled from the front side to the rear side of the connector housing is formed with an engagement protrusion that engages with the engagement hole.
The connector according to claim 1. The electric wire cover includes two halves that, when combined, form a hollow cylinder,
When the two halves are combined in a state where one end of the corrugated tube containing the electric wire is disposed inside, the presser protrusion formed on the inner wall of the halved body fits into the side surface of the corrugated tube, The locking means provided in each of the split bodies locks to the locking means of the other half-split body,
The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

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