JP2012069473A - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waterproof connector capable of improving sealability of a seal member between a set of housings, and reliably mounting the housings to each other and holding them.SOLUTION: A waterproof connector 1 comprises a lock arm 21 made of a columnar body extending along a mounting direction A1, having flexibility and having a lock part 23 at a tip on at least any one of an outer housing 3 and an inner housing 2; an engagement part 31 formed on the other of the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 2 engageably with the lock part 23; and a seal member 4 nipped between the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 2. The lock part 23 of the waterproof connector 1 is formed into a recess-shaped part formed on an outer periphery of the columnar portion of the lock arm 21.

Description

  The present invention relates to a waterproof connector provided with a seal member that prevents water from entering a housing.

  Conventionally, a waterproof connector described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 5, the waterproof connector 100 includes a seal member 103 sandwiched between a connector housing 101 and a rear holder 102, and the rear holder 102 is inserted into a through hole 104 of the seal member 103, thereby being engaged with the connector housing 101. A pair of lock arms 105 to be stopped are integrally formed, and the seal member 103 is closely attached to the outer periphery of an electric wire (not shown) to seal between the electric wire and the connector housing 101, and a mating connector. A connector seal portion 107 that seals between the two connector housings when fitted to the housing is integrally formed.

  In the above configuration, when the rear holder 102 is attached to the connector housing 101 with the seal member 103 sandwiched between the connector housing 101 and the rear holder 102, the pair of lock arms 105 of the rear holder 102 are inserted into the through holes of the seal member 103. 104 are respectively inserted into the connector housing 101 and locked.

JP 2001-110504 A

  By the way, in the conventional waterproof connector 100 described above, because the lock arm 105 of the rear holder 102 has a structure, it is necessary to form the lock arm 105 with a pair of dies that are overlapped in the vertical direction. As a result of the formation of a stepped portion in the sealing area of the electric wire seal portion 106 due to the formation of a convex matching portion due to the mating surface of the mold, there was a problem that the sealing performance deteriorated.

  In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention can improve the sealing performance of a seal member interposed between a pair of housings and securely hold the pair of housings attached to each other. An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lock arm comprising a flexible columnar body extending along the mounting direction in at least one of the outer housing and the inner housing, and having a locking portion at the tip. A waterproof connector comprising: an engaging portion formed on the other of the outer housing and the inner housing so as to be engageable with a locking portion; and a seal member sandwiched between the outer housing and the inner housing The locking portion is formed of a concave portion formed on the outer periphery of the columnar body portion of the lock arm.

  The invention of claim 2 is the waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the columnar body portion of the lock arm is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lock arm formed integrally with one of the housings when the other of the housings is attached to one of the housings with the seal member sandwiched between the outer housing and the inner housing. The seal members are inserted into the housings and locked to the housings. Accordingly, the outer housing and the inner housing can be reliably held in a state where they are attached to each other. Further, the lock arm is composed of a columnar body extending in the mounting direction of the housing, and the locking portion of the lock arm is recessed inward from the outer periphery of the columnar body, that is, the locking portion does not protrude from the outer periphery of the columnar body. When forming the lock arm by injection molding, the mold of the columnar body portion can be pulled out along the mounting direction of the housing. Therefore, in contrast to the conventional case where a pair of molds are overlapped in the vertical direction to form a lock arm, the lock arm of the present invention does not have a streak-like burr along the mounting direction. The degree of adhesion between the body part and the sealing member is improved, and the sealing performance of the sealing member can be improved.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, since the lock arm is formed in a columnar shape, no protrusions are formed along the mounting direction. The degree of adhesion with the seal member is further improved, and the sealing performance around the lock arm can be further improved.

It is explanatory drawing of a waterproof connector which shows one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view of an inner housing according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of this invention and demonstrates the process of shape | molding a lock arm. It is a perspective view of the metal mold | die which shows one Embodiment of this invention and shape | molds a lock arm. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the conventional waterproof connector.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a waterproof connector, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an inner housing, FIG. 3 is a view explaining a process of forming a lock arm, and FIG. It is a perspective view of the metal mold | die which shape | molds a lock arm.

  The waterproof connector 1 of this embodiment includes an inner housing 2, an outer housing 3 that accommodates the inner housing 2, and a seal member 4 that is sandwiched between the inner housing 2 and the outer housing 3.

  The inner housing 2 has a large number of terminal accommodating chambers (not shown) that respectively accommodate terminal fittings (not shown). These terminal accommodating chambers are stacked, for example, in six stages in the vertical direction and 10 in the horizontal direction. Are provided in parallel. The front end of the inner housing 2 is provided with a terminal insertion port (not shown) that communicates with each terminal accommodating chamber and into which a mating male terminal is inserted. The rear end of the inner housing 2 is provided with an electric wire insertion port 20 through which the electric wires (not shown) are inserted, and a total of four lock arms 21 formed in a column shape. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, four lock arms 21 are provided near the left and right ends of the inner housing 2, and a total of four lock arms 21 are provided, and a base end 21 a is a flexible columnar body at the rear end of the inner housing 2. Is cantilevered and extends along the mounting direction of the outer housing 3 (the direction indicated by the arrow A1 in FIG. 3). A tapered portion 22 that is set obliquely with respect to the mounting direction A1 is formed at the distal end 21b of the lock arm 21, and in the vicinity of the distal end of the outer periphery of the lock arm 21, a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction A1 of the outer housing 3 ( A locking portion 23 is provided which is a concave portion that is recessed in the direction indicated by the arrow A2 in FIG. Each locking portion 23 can be locked to the engaging portion 31 on the inner periphery of the insertion hole 30 of the outer housing 3.

  Of the four lock arms 21 in total, the upper two tapered portions 22 and the locking portions 23 in the figure are respectively arranged upward, while the lower two tapered portions 22 and the locking portions 23 in the drawing are , Each is arranged downwards.

  The seal member 4 integrally includes a mat-shaped wire seal portion 40 that seals a penetration portion of an electric wire and a connector seal portion 41 that seals a fitting portion of the inner housing 2 and the outer housing 3. The portion 40 is formed with a plurality of wire insertion holes (not shown) through which the wires inserted into the wire insertion port 20 of the inner housing 2 are inserted. The outer housing 3 is also formed with a plurality of electric wire insertion holes through which electric wires are inserted. In addition, the lock arm 21 is inserted into four corresponding portions of the seal member 4, and arm holes 42 that are in close contact with the outer periphery of the lock arm 21 are formed.

  In the above configuration, the mold for molding the lock arm 21 is composed of a main mold 5 for molding the outer shape of the lock arm 21 and an auxiliary mold 6 for molding the locking portion 23, as shown in FIG. ing. The main mold 5 is formed with a circular slot for forming a cylindrical columnar body portion, and the side of the main mold 5 is opened so that the auxiliary mold 6 can be inserted and removed along a direction A2 orthogonal to the mounting direction A1. Auxiliary holes 51 are provided. The auxiliary mold 6 is inserted into the auxiliary hole 51 of the main mold 5 and protrudes into the main mold 5 to form the locking portion 23.

  In order to mold the lock arm 21, first, a material is injected into the molds 5 and 6 in a state where the main mold 5 and the auxiliary mold 6 are combined. Next, when the material is cooled and hardened, the auxiliary mold 6 is pulled out along the orthogonal direction A2, and the main mold 5 is pulled out along the mounting direction A1, thereby completing the lock arm 21.

  After the lock arm 21 is formed integrally with the inner housing 2 as described above, the lock arm 21 is inserted into the seal member 4 with the seal member 4 sandwiched between the outer housing 3 and the inner housing 2. While the seal member 4 is compressed by the outer housing 3, the engaging portion 23 is bent and deformed to be engaged with the engaging portion 31 on the inner periphery of the insertion hole 30 of the outer housing 3, and the inner housing 2 is fixed to the outer housing 3. Install inside.

  As described above, according to the waterproof connector 1 of the present embodiment, the lock arm 21 formed integrally with the inner housing 2 is engaged with the outer housing 3 while being inserted into the arm holes 42 of the seal member 4. The inner housing 2 and the outer housing 3 can be reliably held while being attached to each other. The lock arm 21 is formed of a columnar body extending in the mounting direction A1 of the housings 2 and 3, and the locking portion 23 is recessed inward from the outer periphery of the columnar body, that is, the locking portion 23 protrudes from the outer periphery of the columnar body. Therefore, after forming the lock arm with a mold, the mold of the columnar body portion can be pulled out in one direction. Therefore, in contrast to the conventional case where a pair of molds having mating surfaces along the mounting direction are overlapped to form the lock arm, the configuration of the present application has a streak-like shape along the mounting direction in the lock arm 21. Since no burr is formed, the degree of adhesion between the columnar body portion and the seal member 4 is improved, and the sealing performance of the seal member 4 can be improved.

  Moreover, according to the said structure, since the lock arm 21 was formed in the column shape, the convex strip along mounting direction A1 is not formed, Therefore The contact | adherence degree between a columnar body part and the sealing member 4 further improves. Thus, the sealing performance around the lock arm 21 can be further improved.

  In addition, in the said embodiment, although the case where the lock arm 21 penetrated by the sealing member 4 and latched by the outer housing 3 was provided in the inner housing 2, this invention is not limited to this, The outer housing may be provided with a lock arm that is inserted into the seal member and locked to the inner housing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Waterproof connector 2 ... Inner housing 3 ... Outer housing 4 ... Seal member 21 ... Lock arm 23 ... Locking part 31 ... Engagement part A1 ... Mounting direction A2 ... Direction orthogonal to mounting direction

Claims (2)

A lock arm comprising a columnar body having flexibility extending along the mounting direction on at least one of the outer housing and the inner housing, and having a locking portion at the tip;
An engaging portion formed on the other of the outer housing and the inner housing so as to be engageable with a locking portion;
In a waterproof connector provided with a seal member sandwiched between the outer housing and the inner housing,
The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the locking portion is a concave portion formed on an outer periphery of a columnar body portion of the lock arm. The waterproof connector according to claim 1,
A waterproof connector in which a columnar body portion of the lock arm is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape.

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