JP3417663B2 - Flat cable terminal waterproof structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat cable used for conducting connection to electric equipment mounted on an automobile or the like, and particularly to a connector used at a place where waterproofness is required. The present invention relates to a terminal waterproof structure of a flat cable suitable for.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a flat cable (FFC) which is easy to handle and lightweight when a plurality of electric wires can be simultaneously wired.
Is often used. As a connector used for conductively connecting this flat cable, an actual open flat 6-152
The connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 83 etc. has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 10A, a conductor exposed portion 11 is formed at the end of the flat cable 10, and a flat plate-shaped holder 13 is attached to the backside of the conductor exposed portion 11 via an intermediate metal fitting 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 10B, the conductor exposed portion 11 is inserted from the insertion opening 15 on one side of the box-shaped connector housing 14 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a housing), and the housing 1
The locking member 17 is fitted and inserted into the housing 14 from the opening 16 of No. 4, and is locked to the housing 14. This allows the flat cable 1
0 is fixed in the housing 14 to form the connector 1.

[0003]

However, since the connector 1 has a large number of parts, the number of assembling steps is increased and the productivity is deteriorated. In addition, in the configuration like this connector 1, there is a problem that the number of parts is further increased to provide a waterproof structure to the conductor exposed portion 11 of the flat plate-shaped flat cable 10, resulting in an increase in cost.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable capable of ensuring a waterproof property while reducing the number of parts with a simple structure. is there.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The above object of the present invention is to:
A flat cable terminal structure in which a strip-shaped flat cable having a plurality of exposed conductors is inserted into the terminal from an insertion port of a box-shaped connector into which a plurality of electric wires are inserted and which is conductively connected to the electric wire of the connector And a plurality of exposed conductors are held on a flat plate-like holding plate, and then a waterproof packing made of an elastic material is integrally formed around each exposed conductor leaving the exposed conductors. Can be achieved by the cable waterproof structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof packing that covers the rear end of the conductor exposed portion over the entire circumference thereof, and partitions the conductor exposed portion from an annular packing that adheres to the inner peripheral wall of the housing of the connector. A partition packing that closely adheres to the wall surface, and side end packing that covers both end parts of the exposed conductor part,
This can be achieved by comprising a front end packing that covers the front end of the exposed conductor portion.

Further, for the above-mentioned object, a protrusion which is elastically deformed is provided at the contact portion of the partition packing with the inner wall surface of the housing over the entire length of the partition packing, and the elastic material forming the waterproof packing is silicone. It can be achieved by using rubber.

[0008]

In the terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable according to the present invention, a waterproof packing made of an elastic material is provided around the conductor exposed portion after the conductor exposed portion is held on the flat holding plate. It is integrally molded. Further, waterproof packing, an annular packing that covers the rear end of the conductor exposed portion over the entire circumference, a partition packing that partitions the conductor exposed portion, and side end packing that covers both end portions of the conductor exposed portion, The front end packing covers the front end of the exposed conductor portion.

Thus, when the cable end is inserted into the mating housing, the outer peripheral surface of the annular packing comes into close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing, and the upper end surface of the partition packing comes into close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing. Further, the lower end surface of the front end packing is in close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing, and the side surface and the lower end surface of the side end packing are in close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing. Therefore, the conductor exposed portion of the flat cable is fitted into the inner wall of the housing in a watertight state, so that intrusion of water or the like can be prevented. Further, each partition packing surely insulates each conductor exposed portion, and also acts as an insertion guide for a connection terminal that is inserted into the housing when it is inserted into the other housing.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of a flat cable terminal waterproof structure of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view showing the terminal waterproof structure of the flat cable of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state before formation of the waterproof packing in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an A- in FIG.
A sectional view, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a housing to which the flat cable end is fitted and inserted, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connection terminal that is conductively connected to the flat cable, and FIG. 6 is a flat cable inserted and inserted in the housing. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the connection terminal is conductively connected, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 6, and FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the waterproof packing 20, the insulating coating film 18 at the tip of the flat cable 10 is peeled off so that the exposed conductor portion 11 is exposed. Is formed by molding an elastic material. In this waterproof packing 20, an annular packing 21 is formed over the entire circumference of the rear end of the conductor exposed portion 11. In addition, a partition packing 22 for partitioning each conductor exposed portion 11 to perform waterproof insulation between adjacent conductor exposed portions 11.
Extends from the annular packing 21 along the tip of the conductor exposed portion 11. Further, side end packings 23 extend from the annular packing 21 along both ends of the conductor exposed portion 11 along the tip of the conductor exposed portion 11. Further, a front end packing 24 is formed at the front end of the conductor exposed portion 11, and the front ends of the partition packing 22 and the side end packing 23 are integrally connected.

The annular packing 21, partition packing 22, side end packing 23, and front end packing 24 are provided.
Is formed by integrally molding the peripheral portion of the conductor exposed portion 11 with silicone rubber or the like having excellent heat resistance.

As shown in FIG. 2, a cable holding plate 25 is attached to the back side of the exposed conductor portion 11 of the flat cable 10 before molding, and molding is performed in this state. The cable holding plate 25 is formed longer than the conductor exposed portion 11 by an appropriate dimension,
A plate-shaped pad portion 26 is provided on the side end portion thereof, and the pad portion 26 is provided with a locking projection 27 for fitting and locking with a mating housing. Further, a plurality of positioning pins 28 are provided on one surface of the cable holding plate 25 so as to project into the positioning holes 29 provided at predetermined positions of the conductor exposed portion 11 on the flat cable 10 side.
As a result, the cable holding plate 25 is attached to the back side of the flat cable 10 and molded.

As shown in FIG. 3, the partition packing 22 is
It has an appropriate height H, and the base end portion is formed with a width W so that no gap is formed between the base end portion and the conductor exposed portion 11. The partition packing 22 has a width gradually narrowing toward the tip, and an arcuate groove 30 is provided at the tip along the longitudinal direction of the exposed conductor portion 11. As a result, a pair of deformable protrusions 31 is formed at the upper end of the partition packing 22.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mating connector 4 is a box-shaped housing 41, and a side wall 42 of the housing 41 has a locking projection 27 of a cable holding plate 25.
A locking hole 43 for locking (see FIG. 2) is provided near the cable insertion port 44. A plurality of electric wires 46 are inserted into the rear end of the housing 41 via a ring-shaped packing 45. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a connection terminal 47 is connected to the tip of the electric wire 46 inside the housing 41. An elastically deformable folded portion 48 is provided at the tip of the connection terminal 47.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the end of the flat cable 10 is inserted into the housing 41 of the mating connector 4, the end face of the annular packing 21 comes into contact with the stepped portion 49 of the housing 41 and stops. At this time, the annular packing 21
The outer peripheral surface of is closely attached to the inner peripheral surface of the housing 41. As a result, even if water or the like enters from the insertion opening 44 side of the housing 41, it is blocked by the annular packing 21 and does not enter the conductor exposed portion 11 in the housing 41. Further, even if water or the like tries to enter along the electric wire 46, the packing 45 prevents the water from entering the housing 41.

Then, the conductor exposed portion 1 in the housing 41
The folded-back portion 48 of the connection terminal 47 on the other side elastically deforms and abuts on 1. At this time, the folded portion 48 is guided on the conductor exposed portion 11 by the base end portions of the partition packings 22 on both sides. Further, since the connection terminal 48 is pressed against the conductor exposed portion 11 by the restoring force, the electric wire 46 and the flat cable 10 are surely conductively connected.

As shown in FIG. 7, the partition packing 22 is
The upper end is in close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing 41. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the projection 31 of the partition packing 22 is crushed by the housing 41, and is wider than the width at the time of molding and abuts on the housing 41. Therefore, the friction with the housing 41 is reduced as compared with the case where the upper end of the partition packing 22 is flat, so that the insertability into the housing 41 is improved and the waterproof property between the conductor exposed portions 11 is improved. Reserved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the front end packing 24 is
The lower end surface of the side end packing 23 is in close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing 41, and the side surface and the lower end surface of the side end packing 23 are in close contact with the inner wall surface of the housing 41, as shown in FIG. As a result, the waterproofness between the conductor exposed portions 11 is ensured, and the conductors can be inserted into the mating connector 4 as they are. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a special housing as in the conventional case, and the number of parts can be significantly reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the flat cable terminal waterproof structure of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, for example, two flat cables 1
Nos. 0 and 10 are superposed on each other via a cable holding plate 25, and each of them is connected to a plurality of electric wires. That is, each flat cable 10, 1
0 of the conductor exposed portions 11 and 11 is the cable holding plate 25.
Can be mounted on both sides of.

Similar to the above-mentioned structure, an annular packing 21 is formed over the entire circumference of the rear end portion of the conductor exposed portion 11, and a partition packing 22 for partitioning each conductor exposed portion 11 of each flat cable 10 is formed. . Furthermore, both conductor exposed portions 11,
A side end packing 23 (not shown) is formed on the side of 11 and a front end packing 24 that connects the ends of the partition packings 22 is formed. These packings 21 to 24 are integrally formed, for example, by molding silicone rubber.

The electric wire 46 is fitted and inserted into the housing 51 of the mating connector 5 via the packing 45, and the connection terminal 47 is attached to the tip of the electric wire 46 in the housing 51. The connection terminal 47 is provided with a folded portion 48, which is pressed by the opposing exposed conductive portion 11 by a restoring force so that the flat cable 10 and the electric wire 46 are surely electrically connected. Further, each packing 21 to 24 has a housing 51.
It is possible to ensure waterproofness by closely adhering to the inner wall surface of the, and it is not necessary to use a conventional housing, and it is possible to reduce the number of parts.

[0023]

As described above, in the terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable of the present invention, the conductor exposed portion is held on the flat plate-like holding plate, and then the conductor exposed portion is left and elastic around the conductor exposed portion. A waterproof packing made of material is integrally molded. Further, waterproof packing, an annular packing that covers the rear end of the conductor exposed portion over the entire circumference, a partition packing that partitions the conductor exposed portion, and side end packing that covers both end portions of the conductor exposed portion, The front end packing covers the front end of the exposed conductor portion.

As a result, the waterproofness of the end portion of the flat cable is ensured with a simple structure, and since it is not necessary to use a special connector housing or the like, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Further, a projecting portion which is elastically deformed is provided at the contact portion of the partition packing with the inner wall surface of the housing over the entire length of the partition packing, and the elastic material forming the waterproof packing is silicone rubber. This facilitates the insertion work into the mating connector housing and eliminates rattling between the end portion of the flat cable and the inner wall surface of the connector housing, thereby improving the reliability of electrical connection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state before attaching the cable holding plate in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mating connector into which the flat cable of the present embodiment is inserted.

5 is a perspective view showing a connection terminal in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of the flat cable of the present embodiment and a mating connector.

7 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a conventional waterproof structure for a terminal of a flat cable.

[Explanation of symbols]

4, 5 mating connector 10 flat cable 11 Conductor exposed part 20 waterproof packing 21 Annular packing 22 Partition packing 23 Side end packing 24 Front end packing 25 cable retention plate 26 Patch 28 Positioning pin 29 Positioning hole 30 groove 31 Projection 41,51 Connector housing 46 electric wire 47 connection terminal

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Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flat cable in which a strip-shaped flat cable having a plurality of exposed conductors is inserted into a terminal from an insertion port of a box-shaped connector into which a plurality of electric wires are inserted and which is conductively connected to the electric wires of the connector. Oite the terminal structure, said plurality of waterproof packing the exposed conductor portion made of an elastic material to each conductor exposed portion near leaving the conductor exposed portion was held on a flat holding plate are integrally molded Features a flat cable terminal waterproof structure. 2. The waterproof packing covers the rear end portion of the conductor exposed portion over the entire circumference thereof, and partitions between the conductor exposed portion and an annular packing that adheres tightly to the inner peripheral wall of the connector housing of the connector, It is composed of a partition packing that adheres closely to the inner wall surface of the connector housing, side end packing that covers both end portions of the conductor exposed portion, and front end packing that covers the front end portion of the conductor exposed portion. The terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable according to claim 1. 3. The flat according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion that elastically deforms is provided at a contact portion of the partition packing with the inner wall surface of the connector housing, over the entire length of the partition packing. Cable terminal waterproof structure. 4. The terminal waterproof structure for a flat cable according to claim 1, wherein the elastic material forming the waterproof packing is silicone rubber.