JP2014078326A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent damage to a rubber plug.SOLUTION: A terminal fitting 60 has a cylindrical main body part 61. At the front end of the main body part 61, a plurality of split grooves 74 are formed almost along a longitudinal direction, and a plurality of projecting pieces 75 which can be resiliently narrowed between each split grooves 74 are formed. At the inner surface of a through hole 41 of a rear holder 40, an inclined surface 43 which can narrow the front end portion of each projecting piece 75 by slidably contacting with each projecting piece 75 when the main body part 61 is inserted into a through hole 41 is formed. The inner peripheral surface of a seal hole 34 is prevented from being damaged because the main body part 61 is inserted into the seal hole 34 of a sealing member 30 in a state where the front end portion of each projecting piece 75 is narrowed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  The connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a housing having a plurality of cavities, a seal member having a plurality of seal holes, a rear holder having a plurality of through holes, and a terminal fitting. A seal member is mounted on the rear end of the housing, and a rear holder is mounted on the rear end of the seal member. When these are mounted, each cavity, each seal hole, and each through hole communicate coaxially in the front-rear direction. It is supposed to be.

  The terminal fitting is connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire and has a rectangular tube-shaped main body at the front end. The terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity from the through hole through the seal hole. When the terminal fitting is properly inserted into the cavity, the electric wire extending from the terminal fitting is inserted in a liquid-tight manner inside the seal hole and inserted loosely inside the through-hole. ing.

JP 2011-18523 A

  By the way, in the above case, when the terminal fitting passes through the seal hole, the square portion of the main body slides while expanding the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole outward, so that the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole is formed by the square portion. There was a concern that the predetermined sealability could not be secured. In addition, there is a risk that the reliability of connection may be lost due to sticking of a rubber plug to the terminal fitting.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent damage to a rubber plug.

  The present invention includes a housing having a cavity, a seal member that is disposed so as to be in contact with a rear end portion of the housing, and has a seal hole at a position communicating with the cavity, and a rear end portion of the seal member. A cylindrical main body that is arranged in a position that communicates with the seal hole and is connected to a rear holder having a through hole and a terminal portion of an electric wire, and is inserted into the cavity from the through hole through the seal hole. The wire extending from the terminal fitting normally inserted into the cavity is inserted in a liquid-tight manner inside the seal hole, and is loosely inserted inside the through-hole. The front end of the main body is formed with a plurality of split grooves along the front-rear direction, and is elastically constricted and deformed between the split grooves. A projecting piece is formed on the inner surface of the through hole of the rear holder, and when the main body portion is inserted into the through hole, the main body portion is brought into sliding contact with the projecting piece. Before entering into the inside of the seal hole, a feature is that an inclined surface capable of constricting and deforming the front end portion of the projecting piece is formed.

  The front end portion of the projecting piece is constricted and deformed by the slope, so that the outer dimension of the front end portion of the main body portion is substantially reduced. Therefore, when the main body portion enters the seal hole of the seal member, the seal hole The inner peripheral surface of the main body portion is not suddenly greatly expanded by the front end portion of the main body portion. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole is prevented from being damaged by the main body portion.

It is sectional drawing which looked at the connector which concerns on Example 1 of this invention from the side view direction. It is sectional drawing which looked at the connector from the planar view direction. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the insertion operation of the terminal fitting has progressed from the state of FIG. 3 and the front end portion of each projecting piece is constricted and deformed along the slope. It is sectional drawing which looked at the terminal metal fitting from the planar view direction. It is a top view of a terminal metal fitting. It is a side view of a terminal metal fitting. It is a front view of a terminal metal fitting.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The main body portion has a quadrangular cross section, and the split groove is formed in a square portion of the main body portion. When the main body has a quadrangular cross section, there is a circumstance that the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole of the seal member is easily damaged by the square of the main body. However, according to this configuration, damage to the seal member is effectively prevented by the constriction and deformation of each protruding piece.

  A contact portion that contacts the mating terminal fitting is disposed inside the main body portion, and the contact portion is connected to a portion of the main body portion that does not receive the deformation force of the protruding piece. Thereby, the position fluctuation | variation of the contact part resulting from deformation | transformation of a protrusion piece is suppressed, and the connection reliability with respect to a mating terminal metal fitting can be maintained.

<Example 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector according to the first embodiment includes a housing 10, a seal member 30, a rear holder 40, and a terminal fitting 60.

  The housing 10 is made of synthetic resin, and has a block-shaped housing body 11 and a tubular fitting tube portion 12 surrounding the housing body 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A fitting space 13 in which a mating housing (not shown) can be fitted from the front is opened between the housing body 11 and the fitting cylinder portion 12.

  A seal ring 15 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 11. When the two housings are properly fitted, the seal ring 15 is elastically compressed between the housing body 11 and the mating housing so that the two housings are sealed in a liquid-tight manner. In addition, a lever 20 that can be engaged with the mating housing is pivotally supported on the inner surface of the fitting cylinder portion 12 so that the fitting operation of both housings can be reduced by a cam mechanism based on the turning operation of the lever 20. It is designed to proceed with operating force.

  A housing recess 16 capable of housing the seal member 30 is formed at the rear end of the housing body 11 so as to open rearward. The housing body 11 is formed with a plurality of cavities 17 penetrating in the front-rear direction. The rear ends of the cavities 17 are open to the back surface of the housing recess 16. A deflectable lance 18 is formed on the upper surface of the inner wall of the cavity 17 so as to protrude forward. A terminal fitting 60 is inserted into each cavity 17 from the rear, and the normally inserted terminal fitting 60 is elastically locked by the lance 18 and is prevented from coming off in the cavity 17.

  The seal member 30 is made of rubber such as silicon rubber, and has a flat mat-like seal body 31 as shown in FIGS. When the seal member 30 is properly inserted into the housing recess 16, the front surface of the seal body 31 is disposed in close contact with the back surface of the housing recess 16 (the rear surface of the housing body 11). .

  A plurality of outer peripheral lips 32 are formed around the outer peripheral surface of the seal body 31. The outer peripheral lips 32 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction, and when the seal member 30 is inserted into the housing recess 16, the outer peripheral lips 32 are elastically adhered to the inner peripheral surface of the housing recess 16 so that the inside of the housing 10 is Plays the role of liquid-tight sealing.

  Further, the seal body 31 is formed with a plurality of seal holes 34 penetrating in the front-rear direction. In a state where the seal member 30 is assembled to the housing 10, each seal hole 34 communicates with each cavity 17 coaxially in the front-rear direction. A plurality of inner peripheral lips 33 are formed around the inner peripheral surface of each seal hole 34. Each inner peripheral lip 33 is arranged side by side in the front-rear direction with substantially the same phase as each outer peripheral lip 32, and elastically adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 90 extending from the terminal fitting 60, so that the periphery of the electric wire 90 is liquid tight Play the role of sealing. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the guide surface 35 which diameter-expands toward back is formed in the rear-end part of the internal peripheral surface of the seal hole 34. As shown in FIG.

  The rear holder 40 is made of a synthetic resin and has a flat block shape with a shorter front-rear length than the seal body 31 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The rear holder 40 is inserted into the housing recess 16 of the housing 10 following the seal member 30, and at the time of regular insertion, the front surface of the rear holder 40 is disposed in close contact with the rear surface of the seal member 30.

  A plurality of through holes 41 are formed in the rear holder 40 so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction. In a state in which the housing 10 is assembled to the rear holder 40, each through hole 41 communicates with each seal hole 34 and each cavity 17 coaxially in the front-rear direction. Further, the electric wires 90 are inserted into the through holes 41 of the rear holder 40 in a loosely fitted state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of inclined surfaces 43 are formed on both side surfaces of the through hole 41 of the rear holder 40. As shown in FIG. 1, the two inclined surfaces 43 are located at a substantially front half portion of the through hole 41 and at a substantially central portion in the height direction, and as shown in FIG. It is set as the taper-shaped form which inclines so that it may mutually approach toward. The through hole 41 is narrowest at the portion corresponding to the front end position of the both slopes 43, and the width dimension of this portion is smaller than the width dimension of the main body 61 in a natural state to be described later.

  Next, the terminal fitting 60 will be described. The terminal fitting 60 is made of a conductive metal plate, and has a shape elongated in the front-rear direction as a whole as shown in FIGS. Specifically, the terminal fitting 60 has a main body portion 61 positioned on the front end side and barrel portions 62 and 63 positioned rearward thereof. The barrel portions 62 and 63 are positioned at the rear of the wire barrel 62 and the open barrel-shaped wire barrel 62 that is crimped to the core wire 92 exposed by the removal of the covering 91 at the terminal portion of the electric wire 90. And an insulation barrel 63 in the form of an open barrel that is pressure-bonded to the cover 91 in FIG.

  The main body 61 has a rectangular tube shape with a rectangular cross section, and includes a base plate 64 continuous from the wire barrel barrel 62, a pair of side plates 65 falling from both ends in the width direction of the base plate 64, and both sides as shown in FIG. The plate 65 includes a counter plate 66 that is bridged from one of the plates 65 to the other and faces the base plate 64. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, an elastic contact piece 67 that is folded back from the front end of the base plate 64 is disposed inside the main body 61. The elastic contact piece 67 can be bent and deformed with its front end as a fulcrum. A contact portion 68 is formed on the elastic contact piece 67 so as to protrude toward the counter plate 66, and a contact position 69 is provided on the top of the contact portion 68. A male tab of a mating terminal fitting (not shown) is inserted inside the main body 61, and the normally inserted male tab is brought into elastic contact with the contact portion 68 of the elastic contact piece 67 at the contact position 69. The metal fitting is electrically connected. As shown in FIG. 5, the front end of the elastic contact piece 67 is positioned so as to be retracted more backward than the front ends of the both side plates 65 and the opposing plate 66.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the base plate 64 is formed with a lance receiving portion 71 into which the lance 18 can be locked. The counter plate 66 has a double plate structure, and a stabilizer 72 is cut and raised on the outer plate portion. When the terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the cavity 17, the stabilizer 72 enters the guide groove 28 (see FIG. 1) formed along each of the cavity 17 and the through hole 41, so that the terminal fitting 60. The terminal fitting 60 is prevented from being inserted into the cavity 17 in an unauthorized posture. Further, a receiving portion 73 capable of elastically holding the male tab between the contact portion 68 is formed on the inner plate portion of the counter plate 66 by knocking inward (see FIG. 8).

  Now, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the rectangular portion 77 of the main body portion 61 is formed with a slit-shaped split groove 74 that is cut backward from the front end thereof. The width dimensions of the front end portions of the counter plate 66 and the base plate 64 described above are in a natural state described later (a state in which a projecting piece 75 described below is not deformed by deformation) by the split grooves 74 at both ends in the width direction. It is smaller than the overall width dimension of the main body 61. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the rear end of each split groove 74 is positioned forward of the contact position 69 of the contact portion 68 and the stabilizer 72.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, a pair of projecting pieces 75 are formed at the front end portions of the side plates 65 so as to be capable of elastically bending inward between the upper and lower split grooves 74. ing. That is, the two projecting pieces 75 can be bent and deformed in a direction in which the front ends approach each other and are narrowed with the rear end as a fulcrum. In addition, sliding protrusions 76 that can slide on the inclined surface 43 are formed on both protruding pieces 75. As shown in FIG. 5, the sliding protrusion 76 has a shape formed by bending an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of the protruding piece 75 outward in a substantially U shape. In the case of the present embodiment, the groove edge of the split groove 74, the front end edge of both projecting pieces 75, and the front end edge of the opposing plate 66 are rounded so that the edge does not stand up.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described.
The terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the cavity 17 of the housing 10 while being connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire 90. In this case, the terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the cavity 17 from the through hole 41 through the seal hole 34, but when passing through the seal hole 34, the square portion 77 at the front end of the main body 61 is formed into the seal hole. Since the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole 34 is pushed and expanded by sliding on the inner peripheral surface of the seal member 34, there is a concern that the seal member 30 may be damaged.

  However, in the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, when the main body 61 passes through the through hole 41 of the rear holder 40, the sliding projections 76 of the both projecting pieces 75 are in line contact with the inclined surface 43. Thus, the front end portions of the two projecting pieces 75 are elastically constricted and deformed in a direction approaching each other. Therefore, when the main body 61 passes through the through hole 41, the width dimension at the front end of the main body 61 is substantially reduced, and the main body 61 enters the seal hole 34 of the seal member 30 in this state. It will be. For this reason, even if the front end of the main body 61 is inserted into the seal hole 34, the front end of the main body 61 does not strongly press the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole 34, and the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole 34 is damaged. Is avoided. In addition, while the main-body part 61 is inserted in the inside of the through-hole 41, the opposing board 66 and the baseplate 64 are maintained in the natural state, without deform | transforming.

  Thereafter, when the main body 61 passes through the seal hole 34, the two projecting pieces 75 are elastically returned to each other, and the both side plates 65 return to the original state extending substantially along the front-rear direction. The lance receiving portion 71 of the main body portion 61 is elastically locked to the lance 18.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the front end portion of the projecting piece 75 is constricted and deformed by the inclined surface 43, so that the width dimension of the front end portion of the main body portion 61 is substantially reduced. When 61 enters the inside of the seal hole 34 of the seal member 30, the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole 34 is not suddenly greatly expanded by the front end of the main body 61. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the seal hole 34 is prevented from being damaged by the main body portion 61.

  In addition, since the elastic contact piece 67 is connected to the base plate 64 that is not deformed in the insertion process, the position variation of the contact portion 68 formed on the elastic contact piece 67 is suppressed, and the connection reliability to the mating terminal fitting is maintained. be able to.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following aspects are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The elastic contact piece may be configured to extend forward from the rear end portion of the base plate. If it carries out like this, since the elastic contact piece is hard to receive the influence of a deformation | transformation of a protrusion, the smoothness of the bending operation of an elastic contact piece is ensured.
(2) Four inclined surfaces are formed at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction, or are formed over the entire circumference, and the projecting pieces are disposed at the front end portions of the side plates, the front end portions of the base plates, and the like through the split grooves. Each of the four projecting pieces may be bent and deformed by the inclined surface.
(3) In addition to the inclined surface, the protruding piece may be deformed more greatly by sliding on the guiding surface inside the seal hole.
(4) The terminal fitting may be a male terminal fitting having a male tab protruding forward from the front end of the cylindrical main body.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing 17 ... Cavity 30 ... Sealing member 34 ... Seal hole 40 ... Rear holder 41 ... Through-hole 43 ... Slope 60 ... Terminal metal fitting 61 ... Main-body part 67 ... Elastic contact piece 68 ... Contact part 69 ... Contact position 74 ... Split groove 75 ... Projection 77 ... Square 90 ... Electric wire

Claims (3)

A housing having a cavity;
A seal member disposed so as to be capable of contacting the rear end of the housing and having a seal hole at a position communicating with the cavity;
A rear holder that is disposed so as to be able to contact the rear end of the seal member and has a through hole at a position communicating with the seal hole;
A terminal fitting connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire, inserted into the cavity from the through hole through the seal hole, and having a cylindrical main body portion;
A connector in which the electric wire extending from the terminal fitting normally inserted in the cavity is inserted in a liquid-tight manner inside the seal hole, and is loosely inserted inside the through-hole. Because
A plurality of split grooves are formed along the front-rear direction at the front end of the main body, and a projecting piece that is elastically constricted and deformable between the split grooves is formed.
The inner surface of the through hole of the rear holder is in sliding contact with the projecting pieces when the main body portion is inserted into the through hole, so that the main body portion enters the inside of the seal hole. In addition, an inclined surface capable of constricting and deforming a front end portion of each of the protruding pieces is formed.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion has a quadrangular cross section, and the split groove is formed in a square portion of the main body portion.   The contact portion that contacts the mating terminal fitting is disposed inside the main body portion, and the contact portion is connected to a portion of the main body portion that does not receive the deformation force of the protruding piece. The connector according to 1 or 2.

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