JP2011175775A - Connector device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector device, capable of improving connection reliability between terminal fittings, by preventing sliding of the terminal fitting by preventing the shaking of an electric wire. <P>SOLUTION: The connector device includes a connector housing 20 with a plurality of terminal housing chamber, a female terminal fitting to which an electric wire Y is connected, a sealing member which is inserted into each of the terminal housing chambers to seal between the electric wire Y and the terminal housing chamber, and a seal retainer for preventing coming off of the sealing member from the connector housing 20. The seal retainer is provided with an electric wire fixing part for fixing the electric wire Y. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector provided with a seal retainer.

  Conventionally, what was described in patent document 1 is well-known as a connector attached to the terminal of an electric wire. This connector is constructed by inserting a terminal fitting, which is crimped to the tip of an electric wire, into the cavity of the connector housing from the rear. And this terminal metal fitting prevents the front end face in the cavity of the connector housing from coming forward by the front stopper provided in the housing, and the engaging part provided in the terminal metal fitting is provided inside the electric wire side housing. It is prevented from coming off backward by being locked by a flexible lance.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-219758

  However, since the terminal fitting is mounted in the cavity of the connector housing as a separate part, there is a clearance between the inner wall of the cavity and it is inevitable that the terminal fitting is slightly rattled in the cavity. On the other hand, for example, when a connector is used in a wire harness mounted on a vehicle, the electric wire and the connector housing vibrate as the vehicle travels. Therefore, even after the connector is mated with the mating connector, the terminal fitting rattles back and forth in the cavity, and as a result, the connecting portion between the terminal fittings slides and wears between the terminal fittings. Connection reliability may be reduced.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and can prevent the sliding of the terminal fittings by preventing the wobbling of the electric wires and improve the connection reliability between the terminal fittings. It is an object to provide a connector that can be used.

As means for achieving the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a connector housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, a terminal fitting to which an electric wire is connected and inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from the rear thereof, A sealing member made of an elastic material that is inserted into a rear end portion of the terminal accommodating chamber and seals between the electric wire and the terminal accommodating chamber, and is attached to the connector housing at a position behind the sealing member and penetrates the electric wire. A connector having a plurality of wire insertion holes to be provided and a seal retainer that prevents the sealing members from coming off, and the seal retainer includes an electric wire that fixes the wire passing through the wire insertion hole to the seal retainer. It is characterized in that the fixing portion is provided.
According to the connector having such a configuration, since the electric wire is fixed to the electric wire fixing portion of the seal retainer attached to the connector housing, sliding of the terminal fitting due to the play of the electric wire can be prevented.

The following configuration is desirable as an embodiment of the present invention.
The wire fixing portion includes a wire insertion tube that extends from a peripheral edge of the wire insertion hole along the lead-out direction of the wire and can tighten the wire, and a tightening member that tightens the wire insertion tube. Also good. According to such a configuration, the electric wire can be securely fixed by covering the electric wire in a cylindrical shape and tightening the electric wire insertion tube.
It is good also as a structure which the annular rib which bites into the outer peripheral surface of the said electric wire at the time of the clamping | tightening by the said clamping member is protrudingly provided in the inner peripheral surface part of the said electric wire penetration cylinder. According to such a structure, an electric wire can be more reliably fixed in an electric wire penetration cylinder because an annular rib bites into the outer peripheral surface of an electric wire.

The seal retainer is configured in a two-part type including a receiving member and a pressing member that sandwich the electric wire, and the electric wire insertion cylinder may be configured to unite a half cylinder formed on the receiving member and the pressing member, respectively. Good.
According to such a configuration, when the electric wire is passed through the electric wire insertion hole of the seal retainer, the seal retainer can be easily attached to the electric wire by being sandwiched between the receiving member and the pressing member.

The electric wire fixing portion includes an electric wire receiving portion that has an electric wire receiving groove that is connected to the electric wire insertion hole of the seal retainer and receives the electric wire, and an electric wire that has an electric wire holding groove that is connected to the electric wire insertion hole of the seal retainer and holds the electric wire. The holding part is integrally formed with the seal retainer, and the connector housing is provided with a fixing piece protruding in the lead-out direction of the electric wire, and the electric wire receiving part and the electric wire holding part are bolts formed on the fixing piece. It is good also as a structure fastened together by the said fixing piece with the fixing volt | bolt which penetrates an insertion hole.
According to such a configuration, the terminal fitting can be prevented from sliding more reliably by fastening together with the fixing piece of the connector housing and directly fixing the wire fixing portion to the connector housing.

  A metal nut may be attached to the wire receiving portion, and a metal collar through which the fixing bolt is inserted may be attached to the wire holding portion and the fixing piece. According to such a configuration, deformation of the housing due to tightening of the fixing bolt can be prevented, and loosening of the bolt tightening due to resin sag after a lapse of time can be prevented.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector which can prevent the sliding of a terminal metal fitting by preventing the play of an electric wire and can improve the connection reliability between terminal metal fittings can be provided.

The rear perspective view which shows the state before mounting the seal retainer concerning Embodiment 1 to a connector housing. Rear perspective view of seal retainer Rear perspective view showing a state after the seal retainer is mounted on the connector housing The top view which shows the state after attaching a seal retainer to a connector housing VV line sectional view of FIG. Sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. The rear perspective view which shows the state which attached the tie wrap band to the seal retainer which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. Rear view Plan view Side view Cross-sectional side view Side sectional view showing the seal retainer attached to the connector housing

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the connector according to the first embodiment includes a female terminal fitting W corresponding to a terminal fitting to which an electric wire Y is connected, a connector housing 20 having a terminal accommodating chamber 21, and a connector housing 20. And a synthetic resin seal retainer 40 that prevents a sealing member 29 made of an elastic material that seals between the electric wire Y and the terminal accommodating chamber 21 from being removed. In the following description, the mating connector side (not shown) is the front, the lead-out side of the electric wire is the rear, and the vertical and horizontal directions are based on the vertical and horizontal directions in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the connector housing 20 accommodates three substantially cylindrical terminals that linearly extend from the front end surface of the cylindrical portion 23 having a substantially oval cross section toward the fitting direction. The portion 24 is arranged side by side, and a terminal accommodating chamber 21 in which the female terminal fitting W is accommodated and the rear opening is circular is formed therein.
A positioning rib 25 for positioning the insertion direction extends linearly in the front-rear direction from the front end surface to the approximate center of the terminal accommodating portion 24 when the terminal accommodating portion 24 is fitted to a mating connector (not shown) on the outer surface thereof. Is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the shield shell 22 has an oblong and short cylindrical shape, and an attachment piece 26 for fastening a bolt to a device case (not shown) is provided on the outer edge of the front side. It has been.
The attachment piece 26 is extended from two places, the upper right and the lower left of the outer edge of the shield shell, and a bolt through hole 26A is formed at the tip thereof.
Engaging claws 22 </ b> A are formed at four positions on the inner surface in the longitudinal direction of the shield shell 22, and the connector housing 20 is inserted from the front side and provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical portion 23 of the connector housing 20. The shield shell 22 is attached to the connector housing 20 by engaging the engaging claw 22A with the joint portion 23A.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the seal retainer 40 has a configuration in which three cylindrical annular portions 41 are arranged at equal intervals and are connected by a plate-like flat plate portion 42. A hinge portion 43 is provided at one end of the seal retainer 40 in the left-right direction, and can be opened and rotated up and down around the hinge portion 43. The seal retainer 40 is closed inside each annular portion 41. When it rotates, the electric wire insertion hole 28 is formed and the electric wire Y is inserted | pinched. A pressing portion 44 is formed in front of the annular portion 41, and the pressing portion 44 is made of an elastic material that is inserted from behind the terminal accommodating chamber 21 to prevent water from entering between the electric wire Y and the terminal accommodating chamber 21. The substantially cylindrical sealing member 29 is pressed from behind to prevent it from coming off. The outer surface of the annular portion 41 is formed with a widened portion 45 that is widened by one step from the center toward the attachment direction to the connector housing 20, and an engaging protrusion 45A is formed on the outer surface. The engagement protrusion 45A engages with an engagement recess 21A provided on the inner surface of the rear portion of the terminal accommodating chamber 21 when the seal retainer 40 is inserted rearward of the terminal accommodating chamber 21, so that the seal retainer 40 is connected to the connector housing. 20 to be mounted.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seal retainer 40 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped electric wire fixing portion 46 that extends straight from the rear of the annular portion 41 toward the lead-out direction of the electric wire Y and is long in the left-right direction. Is provided. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the connector housing 20 has a plate-like fixing piece 27 that extends straight from the position located in the middle of the openings of the adjacent terminal accommodating chambers 21 toward the rear. The fixing piece 27 has a semicircular shape with its tip chamfered in an R shape, and is arranged so as to overlap with the upper surface of the flat plate portion 42 and the wire fixing portion 46 of the seal retainer 40. The

The electric wire fixing portion 46 includes an electric wire receiving portion 47 formed integrally with the seal retainer 40 and an electric wire holding portion 48 attached to the electric wire receiving portion 47 so as to cover the electric wire receiving portion 47 from above. When the lock pieces 48 </ b> A provided on both side surfaces of the wire pressing portion 48 are locked to the lock claws 47 </ b> A provided on the wire holding portion 48, the wire holding portion 48 is assembled to the wire receiving portion 47.
The electric wire receiving portion 47 is provided with three substantially semi-cylindrical electric wire receiving grooves 49 extending straight rearward from the electric wire insertion hole 28 and slightly narrower than the electric wire insertion hole 28, and the electric wire holding portion 48 has the electric wire receiving groove 48. Three substantially semi-cylindrical wire holding grooves 50 are provided to hold the wire Y that extends straight rearward from the wire insertion hole 28 and slightly narrower than the wire insertion hole 28 corresponding to 49. Further, since the wire retainer 48 is formed to be slightly thinner than the wire receiver 47, the outer surface of the wire retainer groove 50 of the wire retainer 48 has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape that rises along the shape of the wire Y. ing. When the electric wire Y is arranged in the electric wire receiving portion 47 and the electric wire holding portion 48 is assembled, the electric wire receiving groove 49 and the electric wire holding groove 50 are integrated into a cylindrical shape so as to sandwich the electric wire Y.
Further, the wire receiving portion 47 is provided with a nut mounting hole 52 penetrating in the thickness direction of the wire receiving portion 47 at an intermediate position between the respective wire receiving grooves 49, and a metal nut 53 is provided in the nut mounting hole 52. It is press-fitted.

The nut 53 is screwed with a fixing bolt Z that passes through bolt insertion holes 54 and 55 provided in the electric wire holding portion 48 and the fixing piece 27 of the connector housing 20, and the electric wire receiving portion 47 and the electric wire holding member are fixed to the fixing piece 27. The part 48 is fastened together and fixed.
The bolt insertion hole 54 provided in the wire holding portion 48 is formed to have a slightly larger diameter than the bolt insertion hole 55 provided in the fixed piece 27, and the bolt insertion holes 54 and 55 correspond to the respective sizes. A cylindrical metal collar 56, 57 having flanges 56A, 57A is press-fitted.
The collar 56 attached to the wire retainer 48 is set to have the same length as the thickness of the wire retainer 48 except for the length of the cylindrical portion except for the flange 56A. 47 and the wire pressing portion 48. Therefore, the flange 56A slightly protruding from the lower surface of the wire retainer 48 is housed in a flange housing groove 47B provided above the nut 53 of the wire receiving portion 47, and the opening edge on the opposite side where the flange 56A is provided is the wire. The upper surface of the presser portion 48 is flush with the upper surface.
The collar 57 mounted on the fixed piece 27 is set to have the same length as the thickness of the fixed piece 27 except for the flange 57A, and is press-fitted into the fixed piece 27 from above. Therefore, the flange 57A slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the fixed piece 27, and the opening edge on the opposite side where the flange 57A is provided is flush with the lower surface of the fixed piece 27.

  As described above, when the seal retainer 40 temporarily locked to the electric wire Y is attached to the connector housing 20, the nut 53, the collar 56 of the electric wire holding portion 48, and the collar 57 of the fixing piece 27 overlap each other to form one passage. Since the bolt insertion hole 55 of the fixing piece 27, the bolt insertion hole 54 of the wire holding portion 48, and the nut 53 of the wire receiving portion 47 are connected in a straight line, the bolt insertion holes 54, 55 are formed. The fixing bolt Z penetrating the screw is screwed into the nut 53 without deforming and damaging the synthetic resin connector housing 20 and the synthetic resin electric wire fixing portion 46, and the electric wire fixing portion 46 is fastened to the fixing piece 27 together. And can be fixed.

The connector according to the present embodiment has the above-described structure. Next, the operation of assembling the seal retainer 40 to the connector housing 20 and the operation and effect thereof will be described.
First, the three electric wires Y extending from the connector housing 20 are sandwiched between the annular portion 41 and the widened portion 45 of the seal retainer 40. Subsequently, after all the wires Y are arranged in the wire receiving grooves 49 of the wire receiving portion 47, the wires Y are connected by the wire holding portion 48 from above so that the positions of the wires Y and the wire holding grooves 50 of the wire holding portion 48 overlap. The lock claw 47A of the wire receiving portion 47 and the lock piece 48A of the wire holding portion 48 are engaged and locked. At this time, the wire receiving portion 47 and the wire pressing portion 48 are temporarily locked with respect to the wire Y, and the seal retainer 40 is slidably attached along the wire Y.

  Subsequently, the seal retainer 40 is slid so that the seal member 29 attached to the terminal accommodating chamber 21 is prevented from coming off from the terminal accommodating chamber 21, and the seal member 29 is pressed forward by the pressing portion 44 of the seal retainer 40. At the same time, the engagement protrusion 45 </ b> A is engaged with the engagement recess 21 of the terminal accommodating chamber 21, and the seal retainer 40 is attached to the connector housing 20. When the seal retainer 40 is mounted, the bolt insertion hole 55 of the fixing piece 27, the bolt insertion hole 54 of the wire holding portion 48, and the nut 53 of the wire receiving portion 47 are connected in a straight line, and the nut 53 and the collar of the wire holding portion 48 are connected. 56 and the collar 57 of the fixed piece 27 are overlapped to form a single passage. Then, the fixing bolt Z is inserted into this passage and screwed into the nut 53 to fix the electric wire fixing portion 46 together with the fixing piece 27. Thus, in addition to the work conventionally performed, only the work of fastening the fixing bolt Z to the seal retainer 40 is added, and the electric wire Y is fastened and fixed at the electric wire fixing part 46 and the electric wire fixing part 46 of the seal retainer 40 is fixed. Can be fixed to the connector housing 20 without rattling, and as a result, the terminal fitting in the cavity can be fixed to prevent the connection portion between the terminal fittings from being worn.

<Embodiment 2>
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the connector of the second embodiment, the fixing piece 27 extending from the connector housing 20 of the first embodiment is not provided, and the seal retainer 40 has a different configuration.
At the rear of the annular portion 41 of the seal retainer 40, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, a substantially cylindrical electric wire insertion cylinder 58 extending rearward from the opening edge of the electric wire insertion hole 28 is provided in the seal retainer 40. And is integrally formed.

The wire insertion tube 58 of the seal retainer 40 is composed of a receiving member 59 and a pressing member 60 that can be opened and rotated in two directions, with the hinge portion 43 as a fulcrum, and the wire insertion tube 58 has a semicircular cross section. The electric wire Y is sandwiched between the half cylinders 59A and 60A formed.
In addition, the wire insertion tube 58 is formed with two slits 61 formed on both sides of the receiving member 59 and the pressing member 60 which are close to each other and turned together to be slightly separated from each other. Yes.
A loop-shaped attachment groove 58A for attaching a synthetic resin tie wrap band 62 corresponding to a fastening member is provided on the outer surface of the wire insertion tube 58, and after the wire Y is sandwiched between the receiving member 59 and the pressing member 60. The electric wire Y can be fixed to the seal retainer 40 by tightening the electric wire insertion cylinder 58 with the tie wrap band 62 in the mounting groove 58A.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a semi-circular annular rib 63 protruding slightly is formed on the inner surface of the wire insertion cylinder 58, and the annular rib is divided into half cylinders at substantially equal intervals. 59A and 60A are alternately provided. And when the electric wire penetration cylinder 58 is fastened with the tie wrap band 62, it will bite into the coating | coated part of the electric wire Y from an up-down direction, and will clamp the electric wire Y more reliably. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same effects are obtained.

Next, the work of assembling the seal retainer to the connector housing of Embodiment 2 and the effects thereof will be described.
First, the three electric wires Y extending from the female terminal fitting W mounted on the connector housing 20 are arranged on the receiving member 59 of the seal retainer 40, and the electric wires Y are sandwiched by the pressing member 60. Subsequently, the seal retainer 40 is slid so that the seal member 29 made of an elastic material previously attached to the electric wire Y is prevented from coming off from the terminal accommodating chamber 21, and the seal retainer 40 is engaged with the engaging recess 21 </ b> A of the terminal accommodating chamber 21. The protrusion 40A is locked and the seal retainer 40 is mounted.
Subsequently, the wire insertion tube 58 is tightened with the tie wrap band 62, and the annular rib is bitten into the covered portion of the wire to fix the wire Y to the seal retainer 40. As a result, in addition to the conventional work, it is very easy and simple to securely fix the electric wire Y to the seal retainer 40 and to wear the connecting portion between the terminal fittings only by performing the tightening work with the tie wrap band 62. Can be prevented.

<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.
(1) In this embodiment, the metal shield shell 22 is attached to the connector housing 20, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and the shield shell is not attached to the connector housing 20. It can also be applied to connectors.
(2) In the present embodiment, the connector housing 20 is provided with the three terminal accommodating chambers 21. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, two or four or more are provided. The terminal accommodating chamber 21 may be provided.

(3) In the first embodiment, the electric wire fixing portion 46 is configured by two members of the electric wire receiving portion 47 and the electric wire holding portion 48 formed integrally with the seal retainer 40, but the present invention is in such an aspect. For example, the wire receiving portion 47 and the wire pressing portion 48 may be integrally formed by providing a hinge at one end.
(4) In the second embodiment, the synthetic resin tie wrap band 62 is used for tightening the electric wire insertion tube 58. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. The electric wire insertion cylinder 58 may be tightened with a tie wrap band or the like.
(5) In the present embodiment, the annular rib 63 is provided on the inner surface of the electric wire insertion cylinder 58, but the present invention is not limited to such an aspect, and the annular rib is provided on the inner surface of the electric wire insertion cylinder 58. It does not have to be provided.

20: Connector housing 21: Terminal accommodating chamber 27: Fixing piece 28: Electric wire insertion hole 29: Seal member 40: Seal retainer 46: Electric wire fixing portion 47: Electric wire receiving portion 48: Electric wire holding portion 49: Electric wire receiving groove 50: Electric wire retainer Groove 53: Nut 54, 55: Bolt insertion hole 56, 57: Collar 58: Electric wire insertion tube 59: Receiving member 59A, 60A: Half cylinder body 60: Holding member 62: Tie wrap band (clamping member)
63: annular rib W: female terminal fitting (terminal fitting)
Y: Electric wire Z: Fixing bolt

Claims (6)

A connector housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, a terminal fitting connected to an electric wire and inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from behind, and the electric wire inserted into a rear end of each terminal accommodating chamber; Each sealing member having a sealing member made of an elastic material that seals between the terminal accommodating chambers and a plurality of electric wire insertion holes that are attached to the connector housing so as to be positioned behind the sealing member and penetrate the electric wires A connector having a seal retainer for preventing
The connector, wherein the seal retainer is provided with an electric wire fixing portion for fixing the electric wire penetrating the electric wire insertion hole to the seal retainer. The electric wire fixing portion includes an electric wire receiving portion that has an electric wire receiving groove that is connected to the electric wire insertion hole of the seal retainer and receives the electric wire, and an electric wire that has an electric wire holding groove that is connected to the electric wire insertion hole of the seal retainer and holds the electric wire. A pressing piece is integrally formed with the seal retainer, and a fixing piece extending in the lead-out direction of the electric wire protrudes from the connector housing,
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the wire receiving portion and the wire holding portion are fastened together with the fixing piece by a fixing bolt penetrating a bolt insertion hole formed in the fixing piece.   3. A metal nut is attached to the wire receiving portion, and a metal collar through which the fixing bolt is inserted is attached to the wire holding portion and the fixing piece. Connector.   The electric wire fixing portion includes an electric wire insertion cylinder that extends from a peripheral edge of the electric wire insertion hole along the lead-out direction of the electric wire and can tighten the electric wire, and a tightening member that tightens the electric wire insertion cylinder. The connector according to claim 1.   The connector according to claim 4, wherein an annular rib that protrudes into the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire when protruding by the tightening member is provided on the inner peripheral surface portion of the electric wire insertion tube.   The seal retainer is configured in a two-part type including a receiving member and a pressing member that sandwich the electric wire, and the electric wire insertion cylinder is configured by combining a half-cylinder formed on the receiving member and the pressing member, respectively. The connector according to claim 4 or 5.

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