JP5754380B2 - Wire protector for connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wire protection member for a connector that protects electric wires of a connector provided in a wire harness of an automobile or the like, and more particularly to an electric wire protection member for a connector that protects an electric wire of a connector while maintaining the bent state.

  As is well known, in a car or the like, a wire harness is used to supply power from a battery to an electrical component or to electrically connect electrical components provided at various locations on a vehicle body. . At the end of these wire harnesses, an electrical connection box such as a junction box, or a connector for connecting to various loads or the like is provided.

  By the way, the connector connected to the electrical junction box may not be able to secure a sufficient space in the case of the electrical junction box as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-31254 (Patent Document 1). In such a case, the electric wire of the connector is greatly bent and disposed in the case. Therefore, if the bent state of the electric wire is not maintained, the electric wire may interfere with the case and be damaged.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-35811 (Patent Document 2) proposes an electric wire protection member for a connector having a plate portion that engages and holds the connector and guides the electric wire of the connector in a bent state. Yes. However, the electric wire protection member of the connector described in Patent Document 2 needs to be provided with a dedicated locking frame corresponding to the engaging portion provided in the electric wire protection member. Therefore, it is necessary to newly install a connector in accordance with the wire protection member, and it has been impossible to use the connector for a conventional connector. Moreover, since the electric wire protection member covers the side surface of the connector and protrudes toward the connection end surface side of the connector, there is a risk of hindering connector connection.

JP 2005-31254 A JP 9-35811 A

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved can be widely applied to connectors that have been used in the past, and the connection of the connector without obstructing the connection of the connector. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric wire protection member for a connector having a novel structure capable of protecting an electric wire in a bent state.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wire protection member for a connector that covers the wire of the connector and protects the wire while being bent, and the connector accommodates a connection terminal provided at an end of the wire. And a connector main body formed with a plurality of terminal receiving holes, and a retainer inserted into the connector main body to hold the connection terminals in the terminal receiving holes, and formed in the retainer. The retainer is fixed to the connector main body by fitting the fitted protrusion into a retainer fitting hole penetrating the connector main body, and a protection plate portion that covers the electric wire; , a pair of clamping pieces sandwiching the connector protrudes from both edges of the protective plate portion is formed to face, the pair of the at least one clamping piece is already in the form to the connector It has been engaged with the retainer fitting hole as existing recess that engaging claws to hold the connector is formed, characterized.

In the electric wire protection member of the connector structured according to the present invention, the connector is directly attached to the connector by engaging the engaging claw formed on the holding piece sandwiching the connector with the concave portion of the connector, and the connector and the protective plate portion. The connector wire can be accommodated in a bent state within the gap between the connector and the wire to protect it from interference with other components. In particular, since the engaging claw of the clamping piece is engaged with the existing recess formed in the connector from the beginning, there is no need for any special processing on the connector side, and it is widely applied to the connectors used conventionally. It can be applied.
Furthermore, in this aspect, for the connector having a split structure including the connector main body and the retainer, the wire protection member is used as the connector by skillfully utilizing the retainer fitting hole used for fixing the retainer to the connector main body. Can be attached. Thereby, an electric wire protection member can be attached to the connector provided with the connector main body and the retainer conventionally used, without requiring a special process.

  And since the electric wire protection member of the connector of this invention is directly attached to a connector, it can position with sufficient precision with respect to a connector. Thereby, the accommodation space of an electric wire can be stably ensured between a connector and an electric wire protection member, and the maintenance of the bending state of an electric wire and a protective effect can be acquired stably. Further, for example, even in a narrow space such as in the case of the electrical junction box, the possibility that the wire protection member is displaced with respect to the connector and interferes with other members can be reduced. Furthermore, the possibility that the electric wire protection member is displaced with respect to the connector and interferes with the connecting portion of the connector with the counterpart can be avoided, and the reliability of the connector connection can be ensured.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the engaging claw is formed on both of the pair of sandwiching pieces. According to this aspect, since the wire protection member is engaged on both sides of the connector, it can be more stably fixed to the connector.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the one described in the first or second aspect, at least one of the pair of sandwiching pieces is spaced apart from the protective plate portion in the protruding direction of the sandwiching pieces. An insertion amount restricting protrusion protruding in the opposing direction of the sandwiching piece is formed.

  According to this aspect, the approaching amount of the connector to the protection plate can be defined by bringing the connector into contact with the insertion amount regulating protrusion. Thereby, the clearance dimension of the connector used as the electric wire accommodation space and the protective plate portion can be ensured more reliably and stably.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the one described in any one of the first to third aspects, a misconnection prevention notch is formed in at least one of the pair of sandwiching pieces.

  In this aspect, the connector can be inserted between the sandwiching pieces only in the direction corresponding to the misconnection preventing cutout. Thereby, the insertion of the connector in the wrong direction can be prevented, and the engagement between the existing recessed portion of the connector and the engaging claw of the holding piece can be performed more easily. Further, by causing the protruding portion of the connector to protrude out of the holding piece through the misconnection prevention notch, the facing distance between the pair of holding pieces can be made smaller than the maximum width dimension of the connector. Thereby, size reduction of an electric wire protection member can also be achieved.

  In the present invention, a holding piece that protrudes from the protective plate portion that covers the electric wire of the connector to sandwich the connector is formed, and an engaging claw that engages with the existing recess of the connector is provided on the holding piece. Thereby, an electric wire can be protected in a bending state between a connector and a protection board part. And by utilizing the existing recess formed from the beginning in the connector and engaging the locking claw with the existing recess, it can be widely applied to the connector used conventionally without requiring special processing. I can do it. Further, since it is directly attached to the connector, it can be accurately positioned on the connector. Accordingly, it is possible to stably maintain the gap dimension with the connector serving as the housing space for the electric wire, and to reduce the possibility of hindering the connection of the connector due to misalignment, thereby ensuring the connection reliability of the connector. I can do it.

The perspective view which shows the attachment state to the connector of the electric wire protection member as one Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view of an electric wire protection member. The top view of an electric wire protection member. The perspective view of a connector. Cross-sectional explanatory drawing for demonstrating the connection state to the electrical-connection box of the connector with which the electric wire protection member was attached.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows an assembled state of a protector 10 as an electric wire protection member as an embodiment of the present invention to a connector 14 provided in a wire harness 12. The protector 10 is attached to the connector 14 so as to cover a plurality of electric wires 16 extending from the connector 14, and the protector 10 maintains the electric wires 16 in a bent state and protects them from contact with other members. It is like that.

  2 and 3 show the protector 10. The protector 10 is an integrally molded product made of a synthetic resin. The protector 10 has a shape in which a pair of sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b protrude from both end portions in the width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) of the protective plate portion 18 that extends in a straight line with a substantially U-shaped cross section. .

The sandwiching pieces 20 a and 20 b are formed so as to protrude from both edge portions in the width direction of the protection plate portion 18, and are opposed to each other in the width direction of the protection plate portion 18. The facing distance D between the sandwiching pieces 20a, 20b is substantially equal to the length dimension L _s (see FIG. 4) in the short side direction of the connector 14 excluding the protrusion 51 described later. Further, the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b are formed with a length dimension L that covers the entire length of the protective plate 18 in the longitudinal direction (left and right direction in FIG. 3). The length dimension L of the protection plate portion 18 and the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b is substantially equal to the length dimension L _l in the long side direction of the connector 14 (see FIG. 4).

  Engaging claws 24a and 24b are formed on the inner surfaces 22a and 22b facing the other of the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b, respectively. The engaging claws 24a and 24b are formed at positions corresponding to retainer fitting holes 50 as existing recesses to be described later of the connector 14 inserted between the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b. Further, an insertion amount regulating projection 25 is formed on the inner surface 22b of the sandwiching piece 20b. The insertion amount restricting protrusion 25 protrudes from the inner surface 22b toward the holding piece 20a, and has a rib shape extending over a predetermined length in the protruding direction from the protective plate 18 of the holding piece 20b on the inner surface 22b. Yes. Thereby, the protrusion front-end | tip part of the insertion amount control protrusion 25 from the protection board part 18 is located at a predetermined distance from the protection board part 18. FIG.

  Further, on the inner surfaces 22a and 22b, tapered surfaces 26 and 26 are formed at the projecting tip portions from the protective plate portion 18, so that the connector 14 can be easily inserted between the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b. Further, one end edge portion of the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b in the longitudinal direction (right edge portion in FIG. 3 in this embodiment) is opposed to the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b at right angles to the inner surfaces 22a and 22b. Positioning wall portions 28 and 28 projecting in the direction are formed.

  Further, a misconnection preventing cutout 30 is formed in the sandwiching piece 20a. The misconnection prevention notch 30 has a notch shape that opens at the leading edge of the sandwiching piece 20a protruding from the protective plate 18. The misconnection prevention notch 30 in the present embodiment is formed with a size capable of accommodating the protrusion 51 at a position corresponding to the protrusion 51 of the connector 14 described later. Note that such a misconnection prevention notch 30 is not formed in the sandwiching piece 20 b, and is formed continuously in the longitudinal direction of the protection plate portion 18.

Further, auxiliary guide plate portions 32 a and 32 b are formed at both edge portions in the longitudinal direction of the protection plate portion 18. The auxiliary guide plate portions 32 a and 32 b are continuously extended from the protective plate portion 18 and extended outward in the longitudinal direction of the protective plate portion 18. The extending directions of the auxiliary guide plate portions 32 a and 32 b are appropriately set according to the wiring manner of the wire harness 12. The auxiliary guide plate portions 32a and 32b in the present embodiment are inclined and extended with respect to the longitudinal direction of the protective plate portion 18 (the left-right direction in FIG. 3). The width dimension of the inner surface of one of the auxiliary guide plate 32a: W _1, while being equal to the width dimension of the inner surface of the protective plate 18, the width dimension of the inner surface of the auxiliary guide plate 32 b: W ₂ is width of the inner surface of the auxiliary guide plate 32a: is smaller than W _1.

  Such a protector 10 is attached to the connector 14 of the wire harness 12. As the connector 14, those having various shapes conventionally used can be widely used. FIG. 4 shows an example of the connector 14 to which the protector 10 of this embodiment is attached. The connector 14 includes a connector main body 36 in which a plurality of terminal accommodating holes 34 are formed, and a retainer 38 that is assembled to the connector main body 36.

  The connector main body 36 has a block shape made of synthetic resin, and has a plurality of terminal accommodating holes 34 formed therein. A retainer 38 is inserted into the connector main body 36. The retainer 38 is an integrally molded product formed from a synthetic resin. The retainer 38 has a frame shape surrounding the plurality of terminal receiving holes 34 formed in the connector main body 36, and a guide piece 39 formed in the front (downward in FIG. 4) in the connector insertion direction is a connector main body. By being inserted through 36, the connector can be slid in the connector insertion direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4). A pair of pressing plate portions 40a and 40b are connected via a hinge portion 42 to the rear of the retainer 38 in the connector insertion direction (upward in FIG. 4). A plurality of pressing protrusions 44 corresponding to the terminal receiving holes 34 are formed in parallel on the pressing plate portions 40a and 40b.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the connection terminal 46 provided at the end of the electric wire 16 is in the rear of the connector insertion direction (FIG. 4 (a) ) The terminal is inserted into each terminal receiving hole 34 from the upper side. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the pair of pressing plate portions 40a and 40b are closed in a direction approaching each other by the hinge portion 42, and the entire retainer 38 is inserted into the connector main body 36. Each pressing protrusion 44 formed on the pressing plate portions 40 a and 40 b is inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating hole 34.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (b), a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) fitting protrusions 48 (FIG. 4 (b)) are formed on the surfaces of the holding plate portions 40a, 40b located outside the connector 14. In FIG. 5, only one pressing plate portion 40a is formed). On the other hand, a retainer fitting hole 50 is formed in the connector body 36 so as to penetrate the connector body 36. The retainer fitting hole 50 is a concave existing recess that is formed in advance from the time of molding the connector 14 and opens to the outer surface of the connector main body 36. Although illustration is omitted, in this embodiment, two fitting projections 48 are also formed on the surface of the pressing plate portion 40b located outside the connector 14, and the pressing plate portion 40a and the pressing plate portion 40b. Thus, the formation positions of the fitting protrusions 48 are different, and the formation positions of the retainer fitting holes 50 are also different on both surfaces of the connector main body 36 correspondingly. When the retainer 38 is inserted into the connector main body 36, the fitting protrusion 48 of the retainer 38 is fitted into the corresponding retainer fitting hole 50 of the connector main body 36, and the retainer 38 is inserted into the connector main body 36. Fixed in state. Thereby, each pressing protrusion 44 formed on the pressing plate portions 40a and 40b is held in a state of being inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating hole 34. As a result, the connection terminal 46 inserted into the terminal receiving hole 34 is pressed from behind (in FIG. 4B, the upper side) in the connector insertion direction by the pressing protrusion 44, and stored in the terminal receiving hole 34. Kept in a state. The electric wires 16 connected to the connection terminals 46 are extended to the outside of the connector 14 from the gap between the terminal accommodation hole 34 and the pressing projection 44.

  In the connector 14 having such a structure, the electric wires 16 are bundled in the wire harness 12 as shown in FIG. And the protector 10 is put on the connector 14 from the electric wire 16 side. Accordingly, the connector 14 is inserted between the pair of sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b of the protector 10, and is sandwiched from both sides by the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b. The protective plate portion 18 has a U-shaped cross section, and the protruding base end portions of the holding pieces 20a and 20b from the protective plate portion 18 have a curved shape. , 20b is advantageously ensured. Further, the insertion amount of the connector 14 is defined by the connector 14 coming into contact with the insertion amount regulating protrusion 25 formed on the sandwiching piece 20b. Then, the engaging claws 24 a and 24 b formed on the holding pieces 20 a and 20 b engage with the retainer fitting holes 50 opened on the outer surface of the connector 14, so that the connector 14 is held by the protector 10. . Further, the auxiliary guide plate portion 32a of the protector 10 is covered with the wire harness 12a before the connector 14 is branched, while the auxiliary guide plate portion 32b is covered with the wire harness 12b after the connector 14 is branched. It is supposed to be. And since the width dimension of the auxiliary guide plate portion 32b is smaller than the width size of the auxiliary guide plate portion 32a, the wire harness 12a having a large diameter before the connector 14 is branched, It is possible to cover each of the wire harnesses 12b whose diameter is reduced by branching the connector 14 with high dimensional accuracy.

  The connector 14 is formed with protrusions 51, 51 protruding outward only on one side surface (the surface shown in FIG. 1). Thereby, when the connector 14 is in the normal position where the ridges 51, 51 are located on the clamping piece 20a side, the ridges 51, 51 are accommodated in the misconnection preventing cutout 30 of the clamping piece 20a. The protector 10 can be attached. On the other hand, if the protector 10 is to be attached with the protrusions 51 and 51 positioned on the other sandwiching piece 20b side by mistake in the direction of the connector 14, an erroneous connection preventing notch 30 is formed in the sandwiching piece 20b. Therefore, the connector 14 cannot be inserted between the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b, and erroneous assembly can be prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the protector 10 is attached to the connector 14, and the protection plate portion 18 is positioned with a gap with respect to the connector 14 and is placed on the electric wire 16. As a result, an electric wire housing space 52 is formed between the protective plate portion 18 and the connector 14, and the plurality of electric wires 16 extending from the connector 14 are maintained in a bent state in the electric wire housing space 52, and other members Protected from contact etc. Such a connector 14 is accommodated in a case 56 of an electrical connection box 54 such as a mission case or a junction box in a state where the protector 10 is attached, and a female connector or the like provided in the electrical connection box 54. Are connected to the connecting portion 58.

  In the protector 10 having the structure according to the present embodiment, the retainer fitting hole 50 formed in advance in the connector 14 is used as an existing recess, and the retainer fitting hole 50 has the engaging claws 24a, 20b of the holding pieces 20a, 20b. It can be directly fixed to the connector 14 by engaging 24b. Thereby, the protector 10 can be attached to the connector 14 used conventionally without requiring any special processing for the connector 14. And since it is the attachment structure which attaches the protector 10 directly to the connector 14, the attachment state to the connector 14 of the protector 10 can be stably maintained also with respect to the vibration etc. at the time of vehicle travel. Further, by directly attaching the protector 10 to the connector 14, it is possible to accurately position the connector 14 with respect to the connector 14, and the protruding dimension H of the connector 14 from the protector 10 can be stably maintained. As a result, the reliability of connector connection can be ensured without obstructing the connection of the connector 14 with the mating connection portion 58. In particular, since the end of the connector 14 on the connection side (the end opposite to the electric wire 16) is exposed to the outside of the protector 10 over the entire circumference, the protector 10 is connected when the connector 14 is connected to the connection 58. Without interfering with each other, and the connector 14 can be easily connected.

  Further, since the engaging claws 24a and 24b are formed on both of the holding pieces 20a and 20b, the holding pieces 20a and 20b can be engaged with the connector 14 on both sides of the connector 14, and the protector 10 can be engaged. It can be fixed more stably. Further, since the insertion amount restricting projection 25 is provided on the holding piece 20b, the amount of insertion of the connector 14 into the holding pieces 20a and 20b is defined, and the engaging claws 24a and 24b are inserted into the retainer fitting holes 50. By positioning, it can be more stably and reliably engaged, and the size of the electric wire accommodating space 52 formed between the connector 14 and the protection plate portion 18 can be maintained more stably. The electric wire 16 in the electric wire housing space 52 can be more reliably protected.

  Furthermore, the connector 14 can be positioned in the longitudinal direction of the protection plate 18 by the positioning walls 28 and 28 of the sandwiching pieces 20a and 20b, and can be held more stably. In addition, since the protruding portion 51 of the connector 14 is locked to the edge portion of the misconnection preventing cutout 30, a more excellent positioning effect can be obtained in cooperation with the positioning wall portion 28. Furthermore, since the protruding portion 51 partially protruding in the connector 14 protrudes to the outside of the holding piece 20a through the misconnection preventing cutout 30, the facing distance between the holding pieces 20a and 20b can be reduced. Further, the protector 10 can be downsized.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by the specific description. For example, the number and formation position of the engaging claws provided on the wire protection member and engaged with the existing recesses of the connector are arbitrarily set according to the number and formation positions of the existing recesses of the connector. Therefore, the engaging claws may be formed only on one of the pair of sandwiching pieces. In addition, the misconnection prevention notch is set in an arbitrary shape according to the shape of the connector.For example, the misconnection prevention notch is formed on both of the pair of sandwiching pieces, or a plurality of misconnections are formed on one sandwiching piece. A prevention notch may be formed. Further, although the insertion amount restriction projection is not necessarily required, the insertion amount restriction projection is not limited to the protrusion connected to the protection plate portion, and for example, a predetermined distance from the protection plate portion on the inner surface of the clamping piece. You may make it the projection shape which protrudes in the position spaced apart.

  In addition, as the existing recesses of the connector with which the engaging claws are engaged, various recesses formed in advance on the connector can be adopted as appropriate, and the retainer fitting holes into which the retainers as in the above embodiments are engaged are not necessarily used. It is not limited to. Therefore, the connector is not limited to the one provided with the retainer, and it is of course possible to attach the wire protection member of the present invention to a conventionally known integrally molded connector or the like.

10: protector (electric wire protection member), 12: wire harness, 14: connector, 16: electric wire, 18: protective plate, 20a, b: clamping piece, 24a, b: engagement claw, 25: insertion amount regulating protrusion 30: Misconnection prevention notch, 34: Terminal receiving hole, 36: Connector main body, 38: Retainer, 46: Connection terminal, 48: Fitting protrusion, 50: Retainer fitting hole (existing recess), 52: Electric wire receiving space 54: Electrical connection box 56: Case 58: Connection part

Claims (4)

In the electric wire protection member of the connector that is covered with the electric wire of the connector and protects the electric wire while maintaining the bent state,
The connector has a connector main body formed with a plurality of terminal receiving holes for receiving connection terminals provided at the ends of the electric wires, and is inserted into the connector main body to hold the connection terminals in the terminal receiving holes. And a structure in which the retainer is fixed to the connector main body by fitting a fitting protrusion formed on the retainer into a retainer fitting hole penetrating the connector main body. And
A protective plate portion that covers the electric wire, and a pair of holding pieces that protrude from both edge portions of the protective plate portion and sandwich the connector are formed to face each other,
At least one of said pair of holding pieces, and wherein the engagement claw for holding the connector engages with the retainer fitting hole as existing recess formed in already on the connector is formed Wire protection member for connectors. The electric wire protection member for a connector according to claim 1, wherein the engaging claws are formed on both of the pair of holding pieces.   At least one of the pair of sandwiching pieces is formed with an insertion amount regulating projection that is spaced from the protective plate in the projecting direction of the sandwiching piece and projects in the opposing direction of the sandwiching piece. The electric wire protection member of the connector according to 2. The electric wire protection member for a connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an erroneous connection preventing cutout is formed in at least one of the pair of sandwiching pieces.

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