JP4392145B2 - Waterproof structure for earth - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a waterproof structure for grounding.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In automobile engine rooms, etc., connect a grounding terminal to the other end of the wire connected to the electrical component via a connector, and secure it to the grounding part of the body. I have to. Generally, the terminal fitting for grounding includes a mounting portion fixed to the grounding portion with a bolt or the like, and a barrel portion to which the end portion of the electric wire is connected, and the barrel portion is exposed from the covered portion of the electric wire. The core wire part is caulked.
[0003]
In such a configuration, since the connector connected to the electric wire has a waterproof structure, the inside is in an airtight state, and the inside may become a negative pressure due to a temperature change or the like. Therefore, when water adheres to the terminal portion of the electric wire, the water may be sucked into the electric wire through the gaps between the core wires.
[0004]
Conventionally, a measure using a heat-shrinkable tube as a countermeasure is described in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-23061. In this device, a tube having heat shrinkability is placed on a barrel portion crimped to a terminal portion of an electric wire, and the tube is adhered to and covered with the terminal portion by heating. As another method, there is a method in which the entire barrel portion is soldered to cover the core portion, and two methods may be used in combination.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the heat-shrinkable tube does not have sufficient adhesion to the terminal fittings, and the solder is difficult to penetrate into the gaps between the core wires. The reliability of the function was not enough.
This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective is to provide the waterproof structure for earth | grounds which can improve the reliability of a waterproof function.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A grounding waterproof structure according to the invention of claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems is a terminal fitting including a wire connecting portion connected to a terminal portion of a covered electric wire, and an attaching portion fixed to a grounding portion. , accommodates the wire connecting portion of the terminal portion and the terminal fitting of the covered electric wire, a housing having a gel receiving chamber, and a rubber plug which the are attached to the covered wires close the gap between the housing, the gel accommodating A gel-like sealing material that is accommodated in a chamber and penetrates the terminal fitting into and out of the housing and closes a gap between the terminal fitting and the housing; and covers the gel-receiving chamber that contains the gel-like sealing material. And a lid having a terminal insertion hole through which the terminal fitting is inserted .
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the terminal according to the first aspect, the terminal metal fitting is formed in a flat plate shape at a portion penetrating the gel-shaped sealing material, and is in close contact with the gel-shaped sealing material. 2. The waterproof structure for grounding according to claim 1, wherein the portion has the largest width dimension among the portions penetrating the gel-like sealing material. However, it has characteristics.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the terminal fitting includes an electric wire side terminal fitting provided with the electric wire connecting portion, a plurality of connection portions connectable to the electric wire side terminal fitting, and the attachment. A plurality of wire-side terminal fittings corresponding to each connecting portion of the ground-side terminal fittings. In addition, one of the terminal fittings on both the electric wire side and the ground side is characterized in that it is connected to the other terminal fitting through the gel sealing material. .
[0009]
Operation and effect of the invention
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal fitting is accommodated by the gel-like sealing material that accommodates the terminal portion of the covered electric wire in the housing, closes the gap between the covered electric wire and the housing by the rubber plug, and penetrates the terminal fitting inward and outward. By closing the gap between the housing and the housing, the terminal portion of the covered electric wire is kept in a watertight state, and the reliability of the waterproof function can be improved. In addition, if the terminal metal fitting is made to penetrate through another rubber plug instead of the gel seal material and the gap between the terminal metal fitting and the housing is closed by the rubber plug, the work to penetrate the terminal metal fitting through the rubber plug At this time, the rubber plug may be cut at the edge portion of the terminal fitting. However, in the present invention, the terminal fitting is made to penetrate the gel-like sealing material, so that such a situation is avoided.
[0010]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal fitting has a flat plate-shaped portion that is penetrated by the gel seal material, and the gel contact portion has the largest width dimension among the portions that are penetrated by the gel seal material. Therefore, when the terminal fitting is passed through the gel seal material, no gap is formed between the gel contact portion and the gel seal material, and waterproofness can be ensured.
[0011]
According to invention of Claim 3, a some electric wire side terminal metal fitting is accommodated in a housing, and a several earthing | grounding electric wire can be earth-connected at a time in a waterproof state by connecting to one earth side terminal metal fitting.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
<First Embodiment>
Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the waterproof structure for grounding of the present embodiment is attached to the terminal fitting 20 connected to the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10, the housing 30 that houses the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10, and the covered electric wire 10. And a gel-like sealing material 60 accommodated in the housing 30. In the following description, the direction in which the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the housing 30 (the right side in FIG. 3) is the front.
[0013]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the terminal fitting 20 is integrally formed by cutting a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and then bending it. A barrel portion 21 (corresponding to the “wire connection portion” of the present invention) to which the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is connected is provided at the rear portion of the terminal fitting 20, and the barrel portion 21 caulks and connects the covered portion 11. It is comprised from the insulation barrel 22 and the wire barrel 23 which caulk-connects the core wire part 12 exposed from the coating | coated part 11. FIG. In addition, an elongated flat plate portion 24 is formed in the front portion of the terminal fitting 20 along the front-rear direction. A mounting portion 25 having a screw insertion hole 25A is formed at the front end of the flat plate portion 24. A shaft portion of a bolt or the like (not shown) is inserted into the screw insertion hole 25A and a grounding portion (such as an automobile body) ( (Not shown) can be fixed with screws. Further, a square lance locking hole 26 capable of locking a lance 35 described later is provided at the rear portion of the flat plate portion 24. The flat plate portion 24 has a substantially semicircular shape with the edge on the mounting portion 25 side along the screw insertion hole 25A, and the right and left side edges 24A are inclined so that the width dimension increases toward the rear. Yes. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a substantially center in the front-rear direction of the flat plate portion 24 is a gel contact portion 27 that is in close contact with the gel-like sealing material 60 in the assembled state. The portion on the 25th side corresponds to the “portion penetrated by the gel-like sealing material” in the present invention, and the gel contact portion 27 has the largest width dimension (see FIG. 2) among the “portions penetrated by the gel-like sealing material”. (Indicated by reference numeral A) (the width dimension A is larger than the width dimension (reference numeral B) of the mounting portion 25, for example).
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the housing 30 is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape that is opened back and forth by a synthetic resin material, and a terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is accommodated therein. A storage chamber 31 is provided. An opening on the rear side of the storage chamber 31 is a rectangular electric wire insertion hole 32. The pair of side walls 33 of the storage chamber 31 has a shape in which the front portion protrudes inward from the rear portion, and the ceiling wall 34 of the storage chamber 31 has a shape in which the front portion protrudes downward. In addition, there is a portion that protrudes slightly upward in the approximate center in the front-rear direction of the bottom surface of the storage chamber 31, and a cantilever lance 35 extends forward therefrom. The tip of the lance 35 can be flexed and deformed up and down, and a locking projection 35A is provided on the upper surface of the lance 35, and the locking projection 35A is locked in the lance locking hole 26 of the terminal fitting 20 as described above. The metal fitting 20 can be retained. In addition, a pair of horizontal plate-like support walls 36 project from the left and right side walls 33 on the front side of the lance 35, and the terminal metal fitting 20 is sandwiched between the support wall 36 and the ceiling wall 34 so as to sandwich the flat plate portion 24. 20 is positioned vertically.
[0015]
At the front end of the housing 30, a rectangular parallelepiped gel storage chamber 38 that is enlarged in the height direction and the width direction than the opening in front of the storage chamber 31 is recessed, and the gel-like sealing material 60 is tightly fitted here. By being accommodated, the front surface of the accommodation chamber 31 can be closed in a watertight manner. In addition, the front surface of the housing 30 can be covered with a lid body 39, and the lid body 39 can be integrally rotated via a thin-walled hinge portion 40 formed along the upper edge of the front end portion of the housing 30. It is provided to be movable. A pair of arm portions 41 that can be bent and deformed extend from the left and right side portions of the lid body 39, and the lid body 39 has a gate shape as a whole. On the other hand, a pair of locking projections 43 project from both side surfaces of the housing 30, and the lid 39 is closed so as to straddle the housing 30 from side to side, and each locking projection 43 is attached to each arm portion 41. It is held by being locked in the provided locking hole 41A. A terminal insertion hole 44 through which the flat plate portion 24 of the terminal fitting 20 can be inserted is formed in the center of the front surface of the lid 39.
[0016]
The rubber plug 50 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with a rubber material having appropriate elasticity, and the covered electric wire 10 is tightly inserted into the through-hole 51 provided penetrating in the front-rear direction so that the terminal fitting 20 It is mounted on the rear side. The rubber plug 50 can be fitted inside the electric wire insertion hole 32, and a plurality of lips 52 formed on the outer periphery of the rubber plug 50 are brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the storage chamber 31 while being deformed. The rear side is closed in a watertight manner.
[0017]
The present embodiment has the above configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.
When assembling, first, a gel-like sealing material 60 having a volume slightly larger than the size thereof is attached to the gel containing chamber 38, and the lid 39 is rotated around the hinge portion 40 so that the front surface of the housing 30 is moved. Cover. Then, the gel-shaped sealing material 60 is pressed against the side wall 33, the ceiling wall 34, etc. around the gel storage chamber 38 and is in close contact while being slightly deformed, and the front surface of the storage chamber 31 is closed in a watertight manner.
[0018]
Next, the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the accommodation chamber 31 through the wire insertion hole 32. When the tip of the terminal fitting 20 abuts against the locking projection 35A of the lance 35, the lance 35 is pressed downward and deformed. Subsequently, the tip of the terminal fitting 20 is pressed against the gel seal material 60 to penetrate, and the attachment portion 25 is passed through the terminal insertion hole 44 and exposed to the outside of the housing 30. At this time, since the flat plate portion 24 has a shape in which the width dimension increases toward the rear, both side edges 24A of the flat plate portion 24 gradually cut the gel sealing material 60 as the terminal fitting 20 is advanced.
[0019]
When the terminal fitting 20 is inserted to the proper position with respect to the housing 30, the lance 35 is restored and deformed, and the locking projection 35A is locked in the lance locking hole 26, so that the terminal fitting 20 is in a retaining state. . On the rear side of the storage chamber 31, the rubber plug 50 enters the inside of the electric wire insertion hole 32, and each lip 52 comes into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the storage chamber 31 with bending deformation. Further, on the front side of the storage chamber 31, the outer periphery of the gel contact portion 27 of the flat plate portion 24 is in close contact with the gel seal material 60. Thereby, the inside of the storage chamber 31 is in a watertight state, and water from the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 can be prevented.
Finally, the attaching portion 25 is screwed and fixed to the grounding portion with a bolt or the like, whereby the ground connection operation of the covered electric wire 10 is completed.
[0020]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is accommodated in the housing 30, the gap between the covered electric wire 10 and the housing 30 is closed by the rubber plug 50, and the terminal fitting 20 is moved in and out. By closing the gap between the terminal fitting 20 and the housing 30 with the gel-like sealing material 60 that penetrates, the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is kept in a watertight state, and the reliability of the waterproof function can be improved. In addition, if the terminal metal fitting is made to penetrate through another rubber plug instead of the gel seal material and the gap between the terminal metal fitting and the housing is closed by the rubber plug, the work to penetrate the terminal metal fitting through the rubber plug In this case, the rubber plug may be cut at the edge portion of the terminal fitting. However, in the present invention, the terminal fitting 20 is made to penetrate the gel-like sealing material 60, so that such a situation is avoided. .
[0021]
Further, in the terminal fitting 20, a portion that penetrates through the gel seal material (a portion of the flat plate portion 24 on the side of the attachment portion 25 from the gel close contact portion 27) has a flat plate shape, and the gel close contact portion 27 has a gel seal material 60. Therefore, when the terminal fitting 20 is passed through the gel-like sealing material 60, no gap is generated between the gel contact portion 27 and the gel-like sealing material 60. Waterproofness can be ensured.
Further, since the terminal fitting 20 is integrally provided with the barrel portion 21 and the mounting portion 25, an increase in the number of components can be suppressed as compared with the case where both portions are provided in separate components.
[0022]
Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, the waterproof structure for ground according to the present embodiment includes a wire-side terminal fitting 70 connected to the terminal portion of the covered wire 10 and a ground-side terminal fitting 80 fixed to a grounding portion (not shown). And a housing 90 that houses the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10, a rubber plug 100 that is attached to the covered electric wire 10, and a gel-like sealing material 60 that is housed in the housing 90 . In the present embodiment, the member corresponding to the “terminal fitting” of the present invention is composed of two bodies of the electric wire side terminal fitting 70 and the ground side terminal fitting 80. Moreover, in the following description, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure similar to 1st Embodiment, and the overlapping description is partially abbreviate | omitted.
[0023]
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the wire-side terminal fitting 70 is integrally formed by cutting a conductive metal plate material into a predetermined shape and then bending it. A barrel portion 71 (corresponding to the “wire connection portion” of the present invention) to which the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is connected is provided at the rear portion of the wire side terminal fitting 70, and the barrel portion 71 is connected to the covered portion 11. An insulation barrel 72 for caulking and connecting one end of the rubber stopper 100 fitted thereto, and a wire barrel 73 for caulking and connecting the core portion 12 exposed from the covering portion 11 are configured. A square tube portion 74 that opens to the front is provided at the front portion of the wire-side terminal fitting 70, and the tab portion when the tab portion 82 of the ground-side terminal fitting 80 described later is inserted from the front opening. An elastic contact piece 75 that can elastically contact with 82 is formed. Further, a lance locking hole 76 that can be locked to a lance 93 described later is opened on the bottom surface of the rectangular tube portion 74.
[0024]
The ground terminal fitting 80 is integrally formed by cutting a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and then bending it. A mounting portion 81 having a screw insertion hole 81A is formed at one end of the ground side terminal fitting 80, and a shaft portion such as a bolt (not shown) is inserted into the screw insertion hole 81A and fixed to the grounding portion with screws. Can be done. The other end of the ground side terminal fitting 80 is raised in a stepped manner with respect to the mounting portion 81, and a pair of tab portions 82 (corresponding to the “connection portion” of the present invention) are arranged side by side. It is projecting at. The tab portion 82 is formed in a flat plate shape with a uniform width as a whole, and a gel contact portion 83 in which a portion slightly closer to the base end from the center is in close contact with the gel-shaped sealing material 60 is formed. In the present embodiment, the portion of the tab portion 82 on the tip side from the gel contact portion 83 corresponds to the “part penetrating the gel seal material” of the present invention, and the gel contact portion 83 has the maximum width. Have dimensions.
[0025]
The housing 90 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped by a synthetic resin material, and the inside of the housing 90 corresponds to the pair of tab portions 82 of the ground side terminal fitting 80 and is connected to the terminal portions of the pair of covered wires 10. A pair of storage chambers 91 for storing the electric wire side terminal fittings 70 are provided side by side. The opening on the rear side of the storage chamber 91 is a circular electric wire insertion hole 92. A cantilever lance 93 extends forward from the center of the bottom surface of the storage chamber 91. The tip of the lance 93 can be flexed and deformed up and down, and a locking projection 93A is provided on the upper surface. The locking projection 93A is locked in the lance locking hole 76 of the square tube portion 74 described above. The side terminal fitting 70 can be secured.
[0026]
A rectangular parallelepiped gel storage chamber 94 communicating with each of the storage chambers 91 is recessed at the front end of the housing 90, and the gel-like sealing material 60 is tightly received therein, so that the front surfaces of both storage chambers 91 are watertight. It can be blocked. The front surface of the housing 90 can be covered with a lid 96, and a pair of terminal insertion holes 97 into which the tab portion 82 of the ground side terminal fitting 80 can be inserted are formed in the lid 96. ing.
[0027]
The rubber plug 100 is formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole by a rubber material having an appropriate elasticity, and the covering portion 11 of the covered electric wire 10 is tightly inserted into the through hole 101 penetrating in the front-rear direction, and one end portion of the rubber plug 100 is It is attached to the rear side of the electric wire side terminal fitting 70 by being caulked to the insulation barrel 72. In addition, a plurality of formed lips 102 are formed on the outer periphery thereof, and these lip 102 are closely attached to the inner peripheral surface of the storage chamber 91 while being bent and deformed, so that the rear side of the storage chamber 91 is closed in a watertight manner. It has become.
[0028]
The present embodiment has the above configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.
In assembling, first, the gel-like sealing material 60 is attached to the gel containing chamber 94, the lid 96 is closed, and the front surface of the housing 90 is covered. As a result, the gel-shaped sealing material 60 is pressed against the wall surface around the gel storage chamber 94 and comes into close contact while being slightly deformed, and the front surfaces of both the storage chambers 91 are closed in a watertight manner.
Next, the pair of electric wire side terminal fittings 70 is inserted into the accommodating chambers 91 through the electric wire insertion holes 92, respectively. When the wire-side terminal fitting 70 is inserted to the proper position, the locking projection 93A of the lance 93 is locked in the lance locking hole 76 of the rectangular tube portion 74, and the wire-side terminal fitting 70 is in a retaining state. Further, the lip 102 of the rubber stopper 100 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the storage chamber 91, and the rear surface of the storage chamber 91 is closed in a watertight manner.
[0029]
Subsequently, a shaft portion such as a bolt is inserted into the screw insertion hole 81A of the ground side terminal fitting 80, and the mounting portion 81 is fixed to the grounding portion with screws. Then, the housing 90 is advanced toward the ground-side terminal fitting 80, and the tab portions 82 are inserted into the terminal insertion holes 97, respectively. And the front-end | tip of the tab part 82 is abutted and penetrated to the gel-shaped sealing material 60, and is inserted in the square cylinder part 74 of the wire side terminal metal fitting 70 in the storage chamber 91. FIG. Then, the elastic contact piece 75 in the rectangular tube portion 74 is elastically contacted with the tab portion 82 and the both terminal fittings 70 and 80 are electrically connected. Thus, the ground connection work for the pair of covered electric wires 10 is completed.
[0030]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the terminal portions of the pair of covered electric wires 10 are accommodated in the housing 90, and the gap between the covered electric wire 10 and the housing 90 is closed by the rubber plug 100. By closing the gap between the ground-side terminal fitting 80 and the housing 90 with the gel-like sealing material 60 that penetrates the inside and outside 80, the terminal portion of the covered electric wire 10 is kept in a watertight state, and the reliability of the waterproof function is improved. be able to.
[0031]
In addition, the ground side terminal fitting 80 of the pair of terminal fittings 70 and 80 has a flat plate-like portion that penetrates the gel sealing material 60 (portion on the distal end side from the gel contact portion 83 in the tab portion 82). Further, since the gel contact portion 83 has the largest width dimension among the portions penetrated by the gel seal material 60, the gel contact portion 83 and the gel are formed when the ground side terminal fitting 80 is passed through the gel seal material 60. No gap is formed between the sealing material 60 and the water-proof sealing material 60, and waterproofness can be ensured.
[0032]
Furthermore, by housing the pair of wire-side terminal fittings 70 in the housing 90 and connecting them to one earth-side terminal fitting 80, the pair of covered wires 10 can be grounded at a time in a waterproof state.
[0033]
The technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiments, and, for example, those described below are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the said 2nd Embodiment, although the earth side terminal metal fitting showed what was equipped with a pair of connection part (tab part), according to this invention, the number of the connection parts with which the earth terminal metal fitting is provided is 1 or 3 or more may be sufficient.
(2) In the second embodiment, the earth side terminal fitting penetrates the gel-like sealing material and is connected to the wire side terminal fitting in the housing. However, according to the present invention, the wire side terminal fitting is You may make it penetrate a gel-like sealing material and connect with a ground side terminal metal fitting outside the housing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is an exploded perspective view showing a ground waterproof structure according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a terminal fitting. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state before the terminal fitting is assembled to a housing. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the terminal fitting assembled to the housing. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the grounding waterproof structure of the second embodiment. FIG. Sectional view [Fig. 8] Side sectional view showing the state after assembly [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Coated electric wire 20 ... Terminal metal fittings 21, 71 ... Barrel part (electric wire connection part)
25, 81 ... mounting portions 27, 83 ... gel adhesion portions 30, 90 ... housing 50, 100 ... rubber plug 60 ... gel-like sealing material 70 ... electric wire side terminal fitting 80 ... ground side terminal fitting 82 ... tab portion (connection portion)

Claims (3)

A terminal fitting provided with a wire connecting portion connected to the terminal portion of the covered wire, and an attachment portion fixed to the grounding portion;
While housing the terminal portion of the covered wire and the wire connecting portion of the terminal fitting, a housing having a gel housing chamber,
A rubber plug that is attached to the covered electric wire and closes a gap with the housing;
A gel-like sealing material that is accommodated in the gel accommodating chamber and penetrates the terminal fitting into and out of the housing and closes a gap between the terminal fitting and the housing;
A lid that covers the gel housing chamber in which the gel seal material is housed and has a terminal insertion hole through which the terminal fitting is inserted;
A grounding waterproof structure characterized by comprising:   In the terminal fitting, a portion that penetrates through the gel-like sealing material is formed in a flat plate shape, and a gel contact portion that is in close contact with the gel-like sealing material is the largest of the portions penetrated by the gel-like sealing material. The waterproof structure for ground according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof structure has a width dimension of The terminal fitting is formed of two bodies: an electric wire side terminal fitting provided with the electric wire connecting portion, a plurality of connecting portions connectable to the electric wire side terminal fitting, and an earth side terminal fitting provided with the mounting portion. The housing is capable of accommodating a plurality of the wire-side terminal fittings corresponding to the respective connecting portions of the ground-side terminal fittings, and includes both terminal fittings on the wire side and the ground side. 2. The grounding waterproof structure according to claim 1, wherein one of the terminal fittings is connected to the other terminal fitting through the gel-like sealing material.

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