JP5673383B2 - Rubber stopper - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a rubber plug.

  A conventional rubber stopper is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is provided with a rubber plug main body formed by penetrating a plurality of electric wire insertion holes, and is accommodated in an accommodation recess formed in a rear end portion of the connector housing. In a state where the rubber plug body is housed in the housing recess of the connector housing, each wire insertion hole is disposed in communication with each cavity formed in the connector housing. Then, when the terminal fitting is inserted from the rear into the cavity of the connector housing through the wire insertion hole, the electric wire connected to the terminal fitting is brought into close contact with the electric wire insertion hole of the rubber plug, thereby taking a seal around the electric wire. It is like that. On the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug, a plurality of lips that can be brought into close contact with the wire are formed to protrude, and an opening facing the opening side of the lip located on the opening side of the wire insertion hole of each lip A frustoconical slope that expands toward the opening side is continuously formed on the peripheral surface. The terminal fitting is inserted into the wire insertion hole while being guided by the slope.

JP 2010-27231 A

  By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional rubber plug, since the inclination angle of the opening peripheral surface of the lip is steeper than the inclination angle of the inclined surface, the terminal fitting inserted into the wire insertion hole slides on the opening peripheral surface of the lip. However, there was a concern that the sliding resistance (insertion resistance) would be excessive. As a result, workability when inserting the terminal fitting into the electric wire insertion hole may be deteriorated.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at improving workability | operativity at the time of inserting a terminal metal fitting in the electric wire insertion hole of a rubber stopper.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a rubber plug body formed by penetrating an electric wire insertion hole, and an inner peripheral surface of the electric wire insertion hole of the rubber plug body is provided with: A plurality of lips projecting from the lip, and a cone that expands toward the opening side of the lip located on the opening side of the wire insertion hole and facing the opening side of the lip. A trapezoidal slope is formed continuously, and a terminal fitting is inserted into the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug body while being guided by the slope, and after the terminal fitting has passed, it is connected to the terminal fitting. A rubber plug that takes the seal around the electric wire when the lip is in close contact with the electric wire, and extends from the opening side of the electric wire insertion hole to the opening peripheral surface of the lip on the inclined surface of the rubber plug main body, The terminal inserted into the wire insertion hole Again and again it has a feature where the rib slides is formed.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, a plurality of the ribs are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the slope.

  The invention of claim 3 is the one according to claim 2, wherein the terminal fitting has a terminal body having a square cross section, and in the process of inserting the terminal fitting into the wire insertion hole, The terminal body is characterized by being arranged so as to be slidable at four corners of the terminal body.

  The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 2 or 3, a groove is formed between each rib on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug body.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the groove portion is formed by cutting between the ribs on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug main body, and the terminal fitting has a terminal main body having a square cross section. In the process of inserting the terminal fitting into the electric wire insertion hole, the groove is located at a position corresponding to each of the four corners of the terminal body .

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the rib is formed on the slope of the rubber plug body and the rib extends from the opening side of the wire insertion hole to the opening peripheral surface of the lip, the lip gradually expands as the terminal fitting slides on the rib. Will be opened. Therefore, unlike the conventional case where the terminal fitting interferes with the peripheral surface of the opening and the lip is suddenly expanded, the sliding resistance (insertion resistance) of the terminal fitting does not rise rapidly, and the terminal fitting insertion workability Is improved.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since a plurality of ribs are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the inclined surface, the lip is more smoothly expanded by sliding the terminal fitting with each rib.

<Invention of Claim 3>
Since each rib is arranged so as to be slidable at each of the four corners of the terminal body, the terminal fitting is inserted into the wire insertion hole with a good balance.

<Invention of Claim 4>
Since the groove is formed by cutting between the ribs on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug main body, the groove is widened by sliding the terminal fitting with each rib, and the lip is expanded more smoothly.

<Invention of Claim 5>
Since the groove is located at a position corresponding to each of the four corners of the terminal body, excessive sliding resistance is avoided between the corner of the terminal body and the rubber plug body, and the wire insertion hole The insertion resistance of the terminal fitting to be inserted can be further reduced.

It is sectional drawing showing the state by which the rubber plug which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention was mounted | worn with the connector housing, and the electric wire was inserted in the electric wire insertion hole of a rubber plug main body. It is sectional drawing showing the state in the middle of inserting a terminal metal fitting in the electric wire insertion hole of a rubber plug main body. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2. It is an enlarged front view of the electric wire insertion hole of a rubber plug main body. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a front view of a rubber stopper main body. It is an enlarged front view of the electric wire insertion hole of the rubber stopper which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The rubber plug 10 according to the first embodiment is attached to the connector housing 60.

  The connector housing 60 is made of a synthetic resin and has a block shape, and a plurality of cavities 61 are formed therein as shown in FIG. The connector housing 60 can be fitted to a mating connector housing (not shown). On the inner wall of each cavity 61 in the connector housing 60, a deflectable lance 62 is formed protruding forward. A terminal fitting 50 with an electric wire 80 is inserted into each cavity 61 from the rear, and the normally inserted terminal fitting 50 is elastically retained by a lance 62.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a housing recess 63 capable of housing the rubber plug 10 is formed in the rear end portion of the connector housing 60 so as to open to the rear surface. After the rubber stopper 10 is inserted into the housing recess 63, the holding holder 90 is inserted. The holding holder 90 is made of synthetic resin and has a plate shape, and a plurality of wire insertion holes 91 into which the wires 80 can be loosely inserted are formed through the holding holder 90. The holding holder 90 is formed with a plurality of locking portions 92 that protrude. Each retaining portion 92 is elastically fitted to a retaining receiving portion 63 formed in the connector housing 60, so that the holding holder 90 is held in the housing recess 63.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 50 is made of a conductive metal, and has a rectangular tubular terminal main body 51 having a quadrangular cross section and a barrel portion 52 connected to the rear of the terminal main body 51. The barrel portion 52 is connected by crimping to the terminal portion of the electric wire 80. A mating terminal fitting (not shown) mounted on the mating connector housing is inserted into the terminal main body 51 and connected thereto. A lance receiving portion 53 that is locked to the lance 62 is formed on the outer surface of the terminal body 51.

  The rubber plug 10 is made of rubber such as silicon rubber, and includes a rubber plug main body 11 having a substantially rectangular mat shape as shown in FIGS. A plurality of electric wire insertion holes 12 into which the electric wires 80 can be inserted are formed through the rubber plug main body 11. A plurality of outer lips 13 protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the rubber plug body 11. A plurality of strips of lips 14 project from the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole 12 of the rubber plug body 11. Each lip 14 is arranged side by side in the middle part in the front-rear direction of the wire insertion hole 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, among the lips 14, those located on both the opening sides before and after the wire insertion hole 12 are a pair of opening and closing lips 14 </ b> A. The opening-side lip 14A is formed in a U-shaped cross section, and the surface of the outer peripheral surface that is obliquely cut toward the opening side is the opening peripheral surface 14C.
As shown in FIG. 5, the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole 12 in the rubber plug body 11 is continuous with the opening peripheral surface 14 </ b> C, and the opening peripheral surface 14 </ b> C extends from both opening ends before and after the wire insertion hole 12. A frustoconical slope 15 is formed which is gradually reduced in diameter. In short, the slope 15 of the rubber plug main body 11 is configured to expand toward both the opening sides before and after the wire insertion hole 12. In this case, with respect to the inclination angle with respect to the front-rear direction (axial direction), the inclined surface 15 is made gentler than the opening circumferential surface 14C.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a plurality of ribs 16 project from the inclined surface 15 of the rubber plug body 11 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each rib 16 has a rectangular block shape extending from both front and rear opening ends of the wire insertion hole 12 to the opening peripheral surface 14C of the opening-side lip 14A, and is formed in the height direction (vertical direction) and the width direction (horizontal direction). In contrast, they are arranged at four positions on the diagonal line shifted by about 45 degrees. In the case of this embodiment, each rib 16 has a point-symmetric positional relationship with respect to the center of the wire insertion hole 12.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a guide surface 16 </ b> A that is inclined with respect to the front-rear direction is cut out and formed inside the open end of each rib 16. Further, the inner side surface of each rib 16 is a flat surface 16B along the front-rear direction, and the back end thereof is cross-connected to the opening peripheral surface 14C of the opening-side lip 14A. And both the side surfaces of each rib 16 are arrange | positioned along the radial direction substantially.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a groove portion 17 is cut and formed between the ribs 16 on the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole 12 in the rubber plug body 11. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, each groove portion 17 is cut in a cruciform shape when viewed from the front side in the radial direction, and is arranged at four positions on the diagonal along the height direction and the width direction. Yes. Each groove portion 17 is cut into the inner peripheral surface of the slope 15 and the lip 14. In the case of this embodiment, the rubber plug 10 has a generally symmetrical shape in the front-rear direction as a whole.

Next, the operation of the rubber plug 10 according to the first embodiment will be described.
When the rubber plug 10 is assembled, the rubber plug main body 11 is inserted into the housing recess 63 of the connector housing 60 from the rear, and then the holding holder 90 is inserted into the housing recess 63 from the rear. The rubber plug main body 11 is held in the housing recess 63 by the holding holder 90 to prevent it from coming off. Moreover, each cavity 61, each electric wire insertion hole 12, and each electric wire insertion hole 91 communicate in the front-back direction, and are arrange | positioned in parallel. Since the rubber plug 10 has a symmetric shape in the front-rear direction, the front-rear identification is not required when the rubber plug 10 is inserted into the housing recess 63.

  Next, the terminal fitting 50 with the electric wire 80 is inserted into the cavity 61 of the connector housing 60 from the rear. At this time, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the cavity 61 from the wire insertion hole 91 through the wire insertion hole 12. As shown in FIG. 2, when the front end of the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the entrance of the wire insertion hole 12 of the rubber plug main body 11, the front end corners (four corners at the front end) of the terminal main body 51 become ribs. 16 and slides on the guide surface 16A, the opening side lip 14A is gradually expanded. At this time, the sliding resistance between the terminal body 51 and each rib 16 is reduced by increasing the groove width of the groove portion 17. When the front end portion of the terminal body 51 slides on the flat surface 16B of each rib 16, the opening-side lip 14A greatly falls to the adjacent central-side lip 14B side, and the central-side lip 14B is slightly moved in the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 50. Both are tilted and deformed. Thus, as the insertion depth of the terminal fitting 50 increases, the tilting operation of the opening side lip 14A and the center side lip 14B is induced. The terminal body 51 passes through the wire insertion hole 12 with almost no contact with the opening peripheral surface 14C of the lip 14.

  When the terminal fitting 50 passes through the electric wire insertion hole 12, subsequently, the electric wire 80 is inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 12, as shown in FIG. Then, the lip 14 is displaced in the return direction and elastically adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 80, whereby the periphery of the electric wire 80 is sealed in a liquid-tight manner. Further, the outer lip 13 of the rubber plug main body 11 is elastically brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the housing recess 63, whereby the inside of the connector housing 60 is also sealed fluid-tight. Even when the terminal fitting 50 is pulled out from the connector housing 60 due to maintenance or other reasons, the rear end corner of the terminal fitting 50 slides on the guide surfaces 16A of the ribs 16 so that the opening side lip 14A is similar to the above. Are expanded and tilted.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the rib 16 is formed on the slope 15 of the rubber plug body 11, and the rib 16 extends from the opening side of the wire insertion hole 12 to the opening peripheral surface 14C of the opening side lip 14A. Therefore, when the terminal fitting 50 slides on the rib 16, the lip 14 is gradually expanded. Therefore, unlike the conventional case where the terminal fitting 50 interferes with the opening peripheral surface 14C and the lip 14 is suddenly expanded, the sliding resistance (insertion resistance) of the terminal fitting 50 does not rise rapidly, and the terminal fitting. The insertion workability of 50 is improved.

  Further, since a plurality of ribs 16 are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the inclined surface 15, the lip 14 is expanded more smoothly by sliding the terminal fitting 50 with each rib 16.

  Furthermore, since the ribs 16 are arranged so as to be slidable at the four corners of the terminal fitting 50, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the wire insertion hole 12 in a well-balanced manner.

  Moreover, since the groove portions 17 are formed by cutting between the ribs 16 on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug main body 11, the groove portions 17 are widened by sliding the terminal fitting 50 with the ribs 16, and the lip 14 is formed. It can be expanded more smoothly.

<Embodiment 2>
7 and 8 show Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the internal structure of the rubber plug 10E is different from that of the first embodiment.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the rubber plug 10E includes a rubber plug main body 11E, and an electric wire insertion hole 12 is formed through the rubber plug main body 11E. In addition, on the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole 12 of the rubber plug body 11E, as in the first embodiment, the lip 14 including the opening side lip 14A and the center side lip 14B, the rib 16E, the groove portion 17E, the inclined surface 15, and the opening periphery A surface 14C is formed. However, the rib 16E and the groove portion 17E are arranged at positions where the rib 16E and the groove portion 17E of Embodiment 1 are angularly displaced by about 45 degrees with the center of the wire insertion hole 12 as the center. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, each rib 16E is arranged at four positions on the diagonal along the height direction and the width direction, and each groove portion 17E is about 45 in the height direction and the width direction. They are arranged at four positions on the diagonal line shifted by degrees. In addition, the shapes of the connector housing 60 and the terminal fitting 50 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  When the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the wire insertion hole 12 of the rubber plug main body 11E, the four side surfaces of the terminal main body 51 come into contact with the rib 16E and slide on the guide surface 16A, with the widening of the groove portion 17E. The opening side lip 14A is gradually expanded. During this time, the four corners of the terminal body 51 are located at positions corresponding to the grooves 17E, and interference with the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole 12 can be avoided. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the occurrence of excessive sliding resistance between the corner portion of the terminal main body 51 and the rubber plug main body 11E is avoided, and the terminal fitting 50 inserted into the wire insertion hole 12 can be prevented. The insertion resistance can be further reduced.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The rib may extend obliquely as a whole from the opening end of the wire insertion hole to the opening peripheral surface of the opening-side lip.
(2) The terminal body may have a circular cross section.
(3) The terminal body may slide with the opening peripheral surface of the opening side lip in the process of inserting the terminal fitting into the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug body.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10E ... Rubber stopper 11, 11E ... Rubber stopper main body 12 ... Electric wire insertion hole 14 ... Lip 14A ... Opening side lip (lip located in the opening side of electric wire insertion hole)
14C ... Opening surface 15 ... Slope 16, 16E ... Rib 17, 17E ... Groove 50 ... Terminal fitting 51 ... Terminal body 60 ... Connector housing 80 ... Electric wire

Claims (5)

A rubber plug body formed by penetrating the wire insertion hole, and a plurality of lips projecting from the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug body; A frustoconical slope that expands toward the opening side is continuously formed on the opening peripheral surface facing the opening side of the lip located on the opening side of the wire insertion hole,
A terminal fitting is inserted into the wire insertion hole of the rubber plug main body while being guided by the slope, and after the terminal fitting has passed, the lip is brought into close contact with the electric wire connected to the terminal fitting. A rubber stopper that takes a seal around,
A rib that extends from the opening side of the wire insertion hole to the opening peripheral surface of the lip and slides on the terminal fitting inserted into the wire insertion hole is formed on the slope of the rubber plug body. A rubber stopper characterized by that.   The rubber plug according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the ribs are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction of the slope.   The terminal fitting has a terminal body having a square cross section, and the ribs are slidable on four corners of the terminal body in the process of inserting the terminal fitting into the wire insertion hole. The rubber stopper according to claim 2, wherein the rubber stopper is disposed on the surface.   The rubber plug according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a groove is formed by cutting between the ribs on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug main body. Between the ribs on the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug main body, a groove is formed by cutting, the terminal metal fitting has a square-shaped terminal main body, and the terminal metal fitting is inserted into the wire insertion hole. The rubber plug according to claim 2 , wherein the groove is located at a position corresponding to each of the four corners of the terminal body.

Images