JP5654412B2 - Cover for horizontal connector - Google Patents

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cover for a lateral connector, and more specifically, it is attached to a so-called lateral connector that is bent out in one direction to pull out a group of wires connected to the connector, thereby suppressing a sudden bending of the outer peripheral wire. It is.

  In many cases, a connector connected to a terminal of a wire harness to be wired in an automobile is fitted and connected to a connector housing portion of an electrical component, and the electric wire is bent in one direction from the connector and pulled out in an L shape. It is called the outgoing connector. The lateral connector may be laterally extended depending on the wiring direction of the wire harness, or may be laterally extended to interfere with an external interference material when the electric wire is drawn straight from the connector. Before connecting to this type of horizontal connector, the cable should be extended from the connector in advance before being routed to the automobile. Often attached to the wire insertion side.

  As a cover for this type of connector, the present applicant has proposed a connector 210 to which a cover 200 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is attached in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-127813. The cover 200 connects the main body cover 202 and the lid 203 with a hinge 201, and after bending the electric wire W along the inside of the main body cover 202, the lid 203 is closed and locked.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-127813

As shown in FIG. 8A, when the external interference material X is positioned in the vicinity of the connector 210, the height H of the cover 200 attached to the connector 210 needs to be lowered. When the height of the cover 200 is low, the electric wire W drawn out from the connector 210 and laterally bent is bent sharply from the electric wire insertion port of the connector and drawn out from the electric wire outlet 200a of the cover 200. Thus, the electric wire W is bent suddenly, and the electric wire straight portion cannot be secured at the portion in contact with the electric wire insertion port of the connector. When the connector 210 is disposed in the flooded area, the waterproof rubber plug 220 is attached to the electric wire W at the electric wire insertion position into the connector 210 as shown in FIGS. In that case, when the electric wire W is bent suddenly, the waterproof rubber plug 220 is loaded and deformed. As a result, a gap is generated between the waterproof rubber plug 220 and the electric wire W, and there is a risk of water in the connector 210.
From the above-described problems, it is required to secure a straight portion of the electric wire at a portion where the electric wire is inserted into the connector and suppress the electric wire from being bent suddenly.

  This invention was made in view of the said problem, and when there exists a possibility that the electric wire pulled out from a connector may be abruptly bent laterally, a straight part of an electric wire can be secured by restricting an acute bending with a cover attached to the connector. The challenge is to do so.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
A connector cover to be connected to the wire connection side of the horizontal connector,
The main body cover and the lid cover are inclined from the bottom side which is a connection side to the wire insertion side end surface of the lateral connector and the outer end of the bottom side, respectively. A hypotenuse and an inner end projecting from the inner end of the bottom side, and projecting a peripheral wall from the hypotenuse and the inner end side, and providing a wire outlet between the projecting end of the hypotenuse and the inner end side,
A lock part and a locked part are provided on the peripheral wall of the oblique side of the main body cover and the lid cover, and a guide rib is provided on the inner surface of the main body cover to secure a straight portion of the electric wire. Providing a fitting hole into which the protruding tip of the guide rib is inserted ,
The guide rib provided on the main body cover is provided above the drawing position of the electric wire on the outer peripheral side in the electric wire group drawn out from the lateral connector, and the guide rib is a linear portion perpendicular to the end surface on the electric wire insertion side. A cover for a lateral connector is provided, which has a J shape with a curved portion at the tip, and has a wire straight portion secured along the wire along the guide rib .

  In the cover of the present invention, the main body cover is set on the lateral connector, an electric wire is routed along the guide rib, a straight portion is secured, then laterally bent, and then the cover cover is placed on the guide rib. The lock part and the locked part are configured to be locked and connected in a state of being inserted into the fitting hole.

Since the cover of the present invention is attached to the lateral connector where the external interference material is close, the height of the cover is low on the outer peripheral side in the electric wire drawing direction, and the outer shape is substantially a right triangle as described above. Is.
Specifically, before Symbol bottom and oblique upper end and the distance H3 of the perpendicular line connecting between the length L1 of the base is a low profile cover is H3 <L1.
When pulling out the electric wire by bending it in one direction through such a cover, the outer peripheral electric wire tends to be bent suddenly, so a guide rib is provided on the main body cover, and the outer peripheral electric wire is bent through the protruding end of the guide rib. The wire straight part is secured by this to prevent sudden bending. Thereby, when the waterproof rubber plug is attached to the electric wire, it is possible to prevent the waterproof rubber plug from being deformed and causing water in the connector.

As described above, the guide rib provided on the main body cover is provided above the drawing position of the electric wire on the outer peripheral side in the electric wire group drawn out from the lateral connector, and the guide rib is perpendicular to the end surface on the electric wire insertion side. a straight portion J shape to a curved portion provided at the end of, and secured the wire straight portion and along the wire to the guide ribs. It is preferable that a gap is provided between the electric wire having the tip end portion of the guide rib as a bending fulcrum of the electric wire and the peripheral wall of the oblique side of the main body cover.

  Since the length of the straight portion of the electric wire is regulated by the length of the straight portion of the guide rib, it is preferable that the length of the straight portion of the guide rib is larger. However, since there is an external interference material, the straight portion of the guide rib Length is regulated. Further, it is preferable that the curved portion has a large curvature.

  Further, a restriction wall is projected on the inner surface of the inner end side continuous with the wire outlet of the main body cover, and the electric wire bent on the inner peripheral side is detoured along the restriction wall to suppress the sudden bending of the electric wire. It is preferable.

  The main body cover and the lid cover are provided with uneven portions that fit with the peaks and valleys of the corrugated tube sheathed on the electric wire at the portion in contact with the electric wire outlet, and on the inner and outer edges of the electric wire insertion side end surface of the lateral connector. It is preferable that a concave portion that fits with the protruding convex portion is provided on the side of the connecting side.

  A waterproof rubber plug is attached to the end of the electric wire connected to the electric wire of the wire harness arranged in the flooded area of the vehicle and adjacent to the connector connection terminal at the end of the electric wire connected to the horizontal output connector. In this case, the waterproof rubber stopper is surrounded on the connecting side.

  As described above, in the cover for a lateral connector according to the present invention, the external interference material is located close to the position of the lateral connector. However, since the straight portion of the electric wire is secured by the guide rib, rapid bending is suppressed, and the waterproof rubber plug attached to the electric wire is not deformed, so that it is possible to reliably prevent water from entering the connector. .

It is a front view which shows the state which attached the cover of embodiment of this invention to the horizontal connector. (A) is a schematic front view which shows the state which connected the electric wire to the said horizontal connector, (B) is a schematic plan view by the side of the electric wire insertion of a horizontal connector, (C) is drawing which shows the electric wire terminal connected to a connector. is there. It is drawing which shows the said cover. It is a partial sectional view of the cover. It is a principal part inner surface figure of the main body cover among the said covers. It is drawing which shows the state which set the said main body cover to a horizontal connector and bends an electric wire sideways. (A) (B) is drawing which shows a prior art example. (A) (B) is drawing which shows the problem of a prior art example.

Embodiments of a cover for a lateral connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cover 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a waterproof laterally extending connector 2 (hereinafter abbreviated as a connector 2) connected to the terminal of each electric wire 51 of a wire harness 50 arranged in an automobile. It is attached by connecting to the wire connection side. The connector 2 is fitted into a connector housing portion of a device (not shown) such as in an engine room which is a flooded area of the automobile.

  As shown in FIG. 2, terminals 53 connected to the terminals of a plurality of electric wires 51 constituting the wire harness 50 are connected to each terminal accommodating chamber from a terminal insertion port 3 b provided on the electric wire insertion side end surface 3 a of the housing body 3 of the connector 2. (Not shown) is inserted and locked, and a waterproof rubber plug 4 fitted on the electric wire 51 is tightly fitted through the terminal insertion port 3b. That is, the waterproof rubber plug 4 protrudes outward from each terminal insertion port 3b. Further, cover fitting convex portions 3c and 3c are projected from both side portions of the wire insertion side end surface 3a. These cover fitting convex portions 3 c and 3 c are provided at positions protruding from the front end surface 3 e-1 of the hood portion 3 e surrounding the outer surface of the housing body 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cover 1 includes a main body cover 10 and a lid cover 11 which are resin molded products having a substantially right triangle shape. The main body cover 10 and the lid cover 11 are respectively connected to the wire insertion side end face 3a of the connector 2 at the bottom sides 10a and 11a, the oblique sides 10b and 11b inclined from the outer ends of the bottom sides 10a and 11a, and the bottom side 10a, Inner end sides 10c and 11c projecting substantially at right angles from the inner end of 11a are provided. The reason why the cover 1 has a substantially right triangle shape as described above is that the external interference material X is positioned close to the hypotenuses 10b and 11b.
In addition, the part which contact | connects the upper surface of the electric wire insertion side end surface 3a of the connector 2 is made into base 10a, 11a, and the lower end parts 10u and 11u which cover the side surface of the electric wire insertion side end surface 3a protrude from these bases 10a, 11a.

  The hypotenuses 10b and 11b include a projecting-side steep inclined portion a, an intermediate gentle inclined portion b, and an intermediate gentle inclined portion b and a drawer-side inclined portion d provided with a step c. The intermediate gentle inclined portion b is a portion through which an electric wire drawn out from the outer peripheral side of the electric wire insertion side end face 3a is inserted. The height H2 of the intermediate point bp of the intermediate gentle inclined portion b is an external interference material as shown in FIG. Since X is located, it is lowered.

  Moreover, the electric wire outlet 12 which becomes circular opening in the state which joined the projecting end of the oblique sides 10b and 11b and the inner end sides 10c and 11c is provided. Further, semi-cylindrical corrugated tube outer fitting portions 10e, 11e provided with uneven portions alternately from the projecting ends of the oblique sides 10b, 11b and the inner end sides 10c, 11c are projected and joined to form a cylindrical shape. The corrugated tube outer fitting portions 10e and 11e are fitted to the ridges and valleys of the corrugated tube 55 to be sheathed on the electric wire 51 so that the corrugated tube 55 can be connected and held.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, peripheral walls 10d and 11d are projected from both edges of the oblique sides 10b and 11b, the inner end sides 10c and 11c, and the bottom sides 10a and 11a, and projecting end surfaces of the peripheral walls 10d and 11d are formed. The electric wire insertion space S into which a plurality of electric wires 51 connected to the connector 2 can be inserted in parallel is formed. That is, the thickness of the electric wire insertion space S is set slightly larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire 51 having the maximum diameter, and the electric wire insertion space S is set to a size that cannot be inserted when the electric wires overlap.

  A lock claw 15 and a lock frame 16 that engages with the lock claw 15 are provided on the outer surface of both sides of the bottom side of the peripheral walls 10d and 11d and the outer surface of the oblique side. In addition, connector locking recesses 17 and 18 project from the inner surfaces of both sides of the bottom. Furthermore, a restriction wall 19 is provided on the inner surface of the inner end side 10 c of the main body cover 10, and the electric wire 51 a connected to the inner peripheral side IN of the electric wire insertion side end face 3 a of the connector 2 is connected to the electric wire outlet 12 by the restriction wall 19. The sudden bending of the inner peripheral side electric wire 51a is suppressed by turning the cable toward the outside.

Assuming that the height between the bottom sides 10a, 11a of the cover 1 to be brought into contact with the wire insertion side end surface 3a of the connector 2 and the wire outlet 12 is H1, the intermediate point of the intermediate gently inclined portion b of the oblique sides 10b, 11b. Since the perpendicular distance H2 connecting bp and the bases 10a and 11a is low, the relationship of H2 <H1 × 2 is established.
As described above, when the height H2 of the oblique sides 10b and 11b of the cover 1 is low, the electric wire 51b connected to the outer peripheral side OUT of the electric wire insertion side end surface 3a of the connector 2 is abruptly bent and easily pulled out from the electric wire outlet 12. . In order to prevent this sudden decrease and to forcibly provide the straight portion on the electric wire 51b, a single guide rib 20 is protruded at a position corresponding to the intermediate gently inclined portion b of the inner surface 10i of the main body cover 10.
Before SL cover 1 hypotenuse 10b, low height of 11b, the relationship between the hypotenuse 10b, 11b of the top and bottom 10a, a vertical line connecting the 11a height H3 and base 10a, 11a of lengths L1, H3 <L1 It is a relationship.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 5, the guide rib 20 has a substantially inverted J having a straight portion 20a perpendicular to the base 10a and a curved portion 20b projecting toward the wire outlet 12 above the straight portion 20a. It has a shape. The straight portion of the electric wire is secured by wiring the electric wire along the straight portion 20a. A gap is provided between the upper end of the guide rib 20 and the peripheral wall 10d of the oblique side 10b so that the electric wire 51b bent along the upper end of the guide rib 20 is not brought into contact with the inner surface of the peripheral wall 10d. When the electric wire is bent along the upper end surface of the bending portion 20b of the guide rib 20, the electric wire can be bent with a large curvature of 3 mm or more.

  On the other hand, an inverted J-shaped fitting hole 21 into which the protruding end of the guide rib 20 is fitted is provided in the inner surface 11 i of the lid cover 11. The fitting hole 21 also serves as a monitoring hole for checking whether or not the electric wire 51 is riding on the guide rib 20 while the cover cover 11 is put on the main body cover 10. Further, when the tip end portion of the guide rib 20 is not fitted into the fitting hole 21, the lock frame 16 of the lid cover 11 cannot be fitted and locked (locked) to the lock claw 15 of the main body cover 10. In this manner, the lock cannot be performed, so that it is possible to detect a problem that the electric wire 51 is straddling the guide rib 20. Further, the body cover 10 and the lid cover 11 are provided with a drain hole 22 in front of the electric wire outlet 12.

Next, a method for using the cover 1 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the terminal 53 is connected to the terminals of the plurality of wires 51 of the wire harness 50, and the waterproof rubber plug 4 is attached to the wire 51 continuously at the terminal connection position. Yes. This electric wire 51 is inserted and locked into each terminal accommodating chamber from the terminal insertion port 3b of the connector 2, and the waterproof rubber plug 4 fitted to the electric wire 51 is tightly fitted through the terminal insertion port 3b to penetrate each terminal insertion port 3b. The waterproof rubber stopper 4 protrudes outward. The electric wire 51 protruding from the terminal insertion port 3b protrudes upward from the electric wire insertion side end surface 3a of the connector 2 in the figure.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the main body cover 10 of the cover 1 is brought into contact with the rear side portion of the wire insertion side end face 3a of the connector 2 with the bottom side 10a serving as a connecting side, and the connector is provided on both inner and outer side edges of the bottom side 10a. The stopper recesses 17 and 18 are fitted to the cover fitting projections 3c and 3c of the connector 2 to be positioned and held.

  In this state, the electric wire 51 drawn upward from the electric wire insertion side end surface 3 a of the connector 2 is bent so as to be accommodated in the peripheral wall 10 d of the main body cover 10 and drawn out through the electric wire outlet 12. In that case, the electric wire 51a which becomes the inner peripheral side on the electric wire outlet 12 side is drawn out from the electric wire outlet 12 along the regulation wall 19 in a large-turn state. Moreover, the two electric wires 51b used as the outer peripheral side of the opposite side are along the straight part 20a of the said guide rib 20, and the straight part 51s is ensured in the electric wire 51b. And it pulls out to the electric wire outlet 12 side along the upper end of the guide rib 20, and this suppresses that the electric wire 51b of an outer peripheral side is bent rapidly.

  The electric wire 51 connected to the connector 2 has an exterior corrugated tube 55 and the corrugated tube 55 is retracted so as not to come into contact with the cover 1. After being drawn through, the corrugated tube 55 is passed through the corrugated tube outer fitting portion 10e to fit the uneven portion.

Next, the lid cover 11 is put on the main body cover 10 with the electric wires 51 sandwiched therebetween. Thus, before covering the cover cover 11, it is checked whether the electric wire 51 b is pulled to the electric wire outlet 12 so as to straddle the guide rib 20, and when the electric wire 51 b is positioned on the guide rib 20, the upper end of the guide rib 20 The electric wire 51b is moved to the normal position between the peripheral wall 10d and the peripheral wall 10d.
With the lid cover 11 covering the main body cover 10, the inside can be monitored from the fitting hole 21 of the lid cover 11 to finally check whether the electric wire 51 b is on the guide rib 20.

  After covering the lid cover 11 and checking the inside by the fitting hole 21 to confirm that the electric wire 51 b is not on the guide rib 20, the lock frame 16 of the lid cover 11 is locked to the lock claw 15 of the main body cover 10. Then, the lid cover 11 is lock-coupled to the main body cover 10 to obtain the state shown in FIG. Thus, the electric wires 51 are arranged in parallel without overlapping each other in the electric wire insertion space S surrounded by the lid cover 11 and the main body cover 10, and the inner peripheral side electric wire 51 a is the restriction wall 19 and the outer peripheral side electric wire 51 b. Is pulled out from the wire outlet 12 in a state where a straight portion is secured by the guide rib 20 and rapid bending is prevented. Further, the corrugated tube 55 sheathed on the electric wire 51 is positioned and held by the corrugated tube outer fitting portions 10e and 11e connected to the electric wire outlet 12, and is fitted.

  As described above, the cover 1 including the body cover 10 provided with the guide rib 20 and the lid cover 11 provided with the fitting hole 21 into which the protruding portion of the guide rib 20 is fitted is used as a bending fulcrum for lateral bending. In the electric wire 51b which is low in height and is likely to be bent rapidly, the straight portion of the electric wire can be secured by the guide rib. Therefore, the electric wire 51b is not abruptly bent from the end surface of the connector 2 on the electric wire insertion side. Therefore, the waterproof rubber plug 4 attached to the electric wire 51b is not deformed, a gap is not formed between the waterproof rubber plug 4 and the electric wire W, and water intrusion into the connector 2 can be reliably prevented. Further, the lid cover 11 can be covered while checking from the fitting hole 21 so that the electric wire 51 b does not straddle the guide rib 20. Furthermore, if the electric wire 51b is positioned on the guide rib 20, the lid cover 11 cannot be locked and coupled to the main body cover 10, and a final check can be performed.

The cover for a lateral connector according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the guide rib provided on the main body cover may be provided with a plurality of guide ribs spaced apart when the lateral connector is multipolar and horizontally long.
Further, the shape of the guide rib is not limited to the inverted J shape, and may be a straight shape not provided with the arc portion at the upper end, as long as the straight portion can be secured by placing the electric wire along the straight guide rib. Good.
Furthermore, although the main body cover and the lid cover are provided separately, a hinge-like connecting portion is provided and integrated on the near side of the hypotenuse, and the hinge-like connecting portion is attached after the main body cover is attached to the connector and the electric wire is restricted. The lid cover may be put on the main body cover and connected by rotating.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cover 2 Connector 3 Housing main body 3a Electric wire insertion side end surface 4 Waterproof rubber stopper 10 Main body cover 11 Lid cover 19 Restriction wall 20 Guide rib 21 Fitting hole

Claims (5)

A connector cover to be connected to the wire connection side of the horizontal connector,
The main body cover and the lid cover are inclined from the bottom side which is a connection side to the wire insertion side end surface of the lateral connector and the outer end of the bottom side, respectively. A hypotenuse and an inner end projecting from the inner end of the bottom side, and projecting a peripheral wall from the hypotenuse and the inner end side, and providing a wire outlet between the projecting end of the hypotenuse and the inner end side,
A lock part and a locked part are provided on the peripheral wall of the oblique side of the main body cover and the lid cover, and a guide rib is provided on the inner surface of the main body cover to secure a straight portion of the electric wire. Providing a fitting hole into which the protruding tip of the guide rib is inserted ,
The guide rib provided on the main body cover is provided above the drawing position of the electric wire on the outer peripheral side in the electric wire group drawn out from the lateral connector, and the guide rib is a linear portion perpendicular to the end surface on the electric wire insertion side. A cover for a side-by-side connector, characterized in that it has a J shape with a curved portion at the tip, and a straight wire portion is secured by running an electric wire along the guide rib . Before SL base and the hypotenuse upper end and the distance H3 of the perpendicular line connecting between the length L1 of the base is horizontal out cover for connector according to claim 1, wherein the H3 <L1. Cover for Side connection connector according to claim 1 or claim 2 has a configuration that a clearance is provided between the hypotenuse of the peripheral wall of the front SL guide rib tip bending fulcrum to wires and the body cover has the electric wire .   A restriction wall is projected on the inner surface of the inner end side continuous with the wire outlet of the main body cover, and the electric wire bent on the inner peripheral side is detoured along the restriction wall to suppress sudden bending of the electric wire. The cover for a horizontal connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   A waterproof rubber plug is attached to the end of the wire connected to the wire connector of the wire harness routed in the flooded area of the vehicle, and adjacent to the connector connection terminal at the end of the wire connected to the side connector. The cover for a lateral connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the waterproof rubber plug is surrounded by a connecting side.

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