JP4278846B2 - Shield connector for device connection - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a shield connector for connecting, for example, a shielded wire used for in-vehicle wiring of an electric vehicle to an electric device or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 3 shows a conventional shield connector. This shield connector is used, for example, for watertight connection of the shielded electric wire 12 to the electric device 10 installed inside the automobile. The shield connector includes a male connector 14 and a female connector 16 that can be fitted to each other. The male connector 14 is attached to the electric device 10 and the female connector 16 is attached to the end of the shielded electric wire 12. The main body (not shown) of the electric device 10 is accommodated in a shield case 10a made by aluminum die casting or the like. The shielded electric wire 12 has a core wire 12a, an insulating layer 12b, a shield layer 12c, and a sheath 12d.
[0003]
The male connector 14 has a male housing 18 made of an engineering plastic such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate). A thin plate made of a conductive metal such as a copper alloy is formed in a cylindrical shape on the inner surface of the male housing 18. The shield pipe 20 is firmly fixed. The shield pipe 20 has an elastic piece 20a which is widened so as to come into contact with the shield case 10a on the rear end side. A terminal holder 22 made of an engineering plastic such as PBT is firmly fixed to the rear end side of the shield pipe 20, and a male terminal 24 formed of a plate made of copper alloy or the like is firmly held on the terminal holder 22. ing. The male housing 18 has a flange portion 18a on the rear end side, and a seal ring 26 made of silicone rubber or the like is attached to the end surface of the flange portion 18a.
[0004]
The male connector 14 configured as described above is fixed to the electrical device 10 by screwing a bolt (not shown) with the bolt hole 18b of the flange portion 18a aligned with the female screw hole 10b of the shield case 10a. The As a result, the shield pipe 20 and the shield case 10a are electrically connected via the elastic piece 20a, and the male housing 18 and the shield case 10a are sealed watertight by the seal ring 26.
[0005]
Next, the female connector 16 will be described in the order of assembly. A ring-shaped wire seal member 28 made of silicone rubber or the like and a ring-shaped retainer 30 made of an engineering plastic such as PBT are inserted on the shield wire 12 in advance. The wire seal member 28 and the retainer 30 are slidable in the longitudinal direction of the shielded wire 12. Next, a shield ring 32 made of a conductive metal such as brass is crimped onto the shield layer 12c exposed at the end of the shielded electric wire 12, and a female terminal 34 is crimped to the core 12a.
[0006]
Thereafter, the female terminal 34 is inserted into the female housing 36. Then, the female terminal 34 is locked inside the female housing 36 by the housing lance 36a. A cylindrical shield pipe 38 made of a conductive metal such as a copper alloy is integrally provided in the female housing 36 by an insert mold. When the female terminal 34 is inserted into the female housing 36, the outer peripheral portion of the shield ring 32 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the shield pipe 38. As a result, the shield layer 12 c of the shielded electric wire 12 and the shield pipe 38 of the female housing 36 are electrically connected via the shield ring 32.
[0007]
Next, the wire seal member 28 inserted through the outer periphery of the wire is pulled back and disposed at the position shown in the figure, and the retainer 30 is pulled back and attached to the female housing 36. This attachment is performed by hooking the lock arm 30a of the retainer 30 to the locking projection 36b of the female housing 36. Thereby, the space between the shielded electric wire 12 and the female housing 36 is sealed in a watertight manner. Thus, the assembly of the female connector 16 is completed. The female housing 36 is provided with a ring-shaped housing seal member 40 that seals the space between the male housing 18 and the male housing 18 in a watertight manner.
[0008]
When the female connector 16 configured as described above is fitted to the male connector 14 attached to the shield case 10a as described above, the lock arm 36c of the female housing 36 is caught by the locking projection 18c of the male housing 18. The female connector 16 cannot be pulled out. Thus, the space between the female housing 36 and the male housing 18 is sealed by the housing seal member 40. Further, the shield pipe 38 of the female housing 36 and the shield pipe 20 of the male housing 18 come into contact with each other, and the female terminal 34 and the male terminal 24 are fitted. As a result, the shield layer 12c of the shielded electric wire 12 is electrically connected to the shield case 10a of the electric device 10, and the shielded electric wire 12 is connected to the electric device 10 in a watertight manner.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional shield connector, the shield layer 12c of the shielded electric wire is connected to the shield case 10a of the electrical device through the shield ring 32, the female shield pipe 38, and the male shield pipe 20 in this order. Among the connection points between these parts, the connection point between the shield ring 32 and the female shield pipe 38 and the connection point between the female shield pipe 38 and the male shield pipe 20 are included in the other pipe. A slightly smaller diameter pipe is inserted and connected by rubbing. Both pipes have external dimensions and internal dimensions, regardless of whether the shape is cylindrical or rectangular. Must be made precisely. If there is an error in these dimensions, it will be impossible to insert or a gap will be formed between the pipes, resulting in poor contact. Further, since the conventional shield connector has a large number of parts, the cost is increased.
[0010]
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a shield connector for equipment connection that can reliably connect a shield system and reduce the number of parts to reduce the cost. is there.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention comprises a female connector having a female terminal crimped to a core wire of a shielded electric wire, and a male connector having a male terminal connected to the female terminal, wherein the male connector is A device housing comprising a male housing fixed to the device, a shield pipe fixed to the inner surface of the male housing and contacting the shield case of the device, and a terminal holder for holding the male terminal in the shield pipe For shielded connectors,
The female connector includes a female housing that accommodates the female connector and can be inserted into the shield pipe, and a rear case coupled to a rear end side of the female housing. A spring contact member having a first contactor that contacts an outer peripheral surface of a conductive ring mounted on a shield layer, and a second contactor that contacts an inner peripheral surface of the shield pipe of the male connector; a rear case; An electric wire seal member for sealing between the shield wires in a watertight manner and a housing seal member for sealing between the rear case and the male housing in a watertight manner are incorporated.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is an electrical device, 12 is a shielded wire, 14 is a male connector, and 16 is a female connector. In the male connector 14, the shield pipe 20 is longer than the conventional one, the rear end protrudes inside the shield case 10a, and an elastic piece 20a is formed in the middle of the shield pipe 20 in the longitudinal direction. Although it is different from the prior art, the rest is substantially the same as the prior art, so the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
[0013]
This shield connector is characterized by the structure of the female connector 16. The female connector 16 includes a female housing 42 sized to be inserted into the shield pipe 20 of the male connector 14 and a rear case 44 coupled to the rear end side of the female housing 42. A spring contact member 48 for electrically connecting the conductive ring 46 attached on the shield layer 12c of the shielded electric wire 12 and the shield pipe 20 of the male connector 14 is attached to the rear case 44. An electric wire seal member 50 for sealing between the cases 44 in a watertight manner and a housing seal member 52 for sealing between the rear case 44 and the male housing 18 in a watertight manner are incorporated.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 2, the spring contact member 48 is a substantially tapered cylindrical body made of a metal plate having spring elasticity, and a large number of cuts are made on the small diameter end side and the large diameter end side to provide a large number of elasticity. Contacts 48a and 48b are formed. The spring contact member 48 may be divided into a plurality in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the spring contact member 48 is held by the rear case 44 as shown in FIG. 1, and the first contactor 48a on the small diameter end side makes contact with the outer peripheral surface of the conductive ring 46 by applying spring pressure. The second contact 48b on the radial side is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the shield pipe 20 by applying spring pressure.
[0015]
The female connector 16 is assembled as follows. First, the conductive ring 46 is attached by winding and crimping a conductive metal band such as brass on the shield layer 12c exposed at the end of the shielded electric wire 12. The conductive ring 46 is formed so that the outer diameter is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the shielded electric wire 12. Next, a rear case 44 made of engineering plastic such as PBT is inserted on the shielded electric wire 12. As described above, the spring contact member 48, the electric wire seal member 50, and the housing seal member 52 are attached to the rear case 44. In this state, the rear case 44 can slide in the longitudinal direction of the shielded electric wire 12.
[0016]
Next, the female terminal 34 is crimped to the core wire 12 a at the end of the shielded electric wire 12. Thereafter, the female terminal 34 is inserted into the female housing 42. When inserted to the end, the female terminal 34 is locked in the female housing 42 by the housing lance 42a. Thereafter, when the rear case 44 inserted through the shielded electric wire 12 is pulled back to the position shown in the drawing, the lock arm 44a of the rear case 44 is caught by the locking projection 42b of the female housing 42, and the female housing 42 and the rear case 44 are Combined. In this state, the shield wire 12 and the rear case 44 are sealed in a watertight manner by the wire seal member 50. Thus, the assembly of the female connector 16 is completed.
[0017]
When the female connector 16 assembled as described above is fitted to the male connector 14 attached to the shield case 10a, the lock arm 44b of the rear case 44 is caught by the locking projection 18c of the male housing 18, and the female connector 16 is engaged. Can no longer be pulled out. FIG. 1 shows this state. In this state, the rear case 44 and the male housing 18 are sealed by the housing seal member 52. Further, the second contact 48 b of the spring contact member 48 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the shield pipe 20 of the male housing 18, and the conductive ring 46 and the shield pipe 20 are electrically connected via the spring contact member 48. Further, the female terminal 34 and the male terminal 24 are fitted and electrically connected. As a result, the shield layer 12c of the shielded electric wire 12 is electrically connected to the shield case 10a of the electric device 10, and the shielded electric wire 12 is connected to the electric device 10 in a watertight manner.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the conductive ring on the shield layer and the shield pipe on the male connector side are connected via the spring contact member, the dimensional accuracy of the conductive ring and shield pipe is somewhat improved. Even if it is lowered, the electrical connection can be reliably performed. Moreover, since the shield pipe on the female connector side can be omitted, the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a shield connector for connecting devices according to the present invention.
2 is a perspective view showing a spring contact member used in the shield connector of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional shield connector for connecting devices.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Electrical equipment
10a: Shield case
12: Shielded wire
14: Male connector
16: Female connector
18: Male housing
24: Male terminal
34: Female terminal
42: Female housing
44: Rear case
46: Conductive ring
48: Spring contact member
48a: First contact
48b: second contactor
50: Wire seal member
52: Housing seal member

Claims (1)

A female connector having a female terminal crimped to the core wire of the shielded wire, and a male connector having a male terminal connected to the female terminal;
The male connector includes a male housing fixed to the device, a shield pipe fixed to the inner surface of the male housing and in contact with the shield case of the device, and a terminal holder for holding the male terminal in the shield pipe. In the shield connector for device connection
The female connector includes a female housing that accommodates the female connector and can be inserted into the shield pipe, and a rear case that is coupled to a rear end side of the female housing. A spring contact member having a first contactor that contacts an outer peripheral surface of a conductive ring mounted on a shield layer, and a second contactor that contacts an inner peripheral surface of the shield pipe of the male connector; a rear case; A shield connector for connecting devices, wherein a wire seal member for watertightly sealing between shielded wires and a housing seal member for watertightly sealing between a rear case and the male housing are incorporated.

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