JP6117632B2 - Connector structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector structure, and relates to a structure in which a male connector having male terminals and a female connector having female terminals are fitted.

  For example, a connector structure for connecting wiring of various devices such as an automobile engine room, an automatic transmission, a fuel tank, etc. (for example, connecting a wiring inside and outside the device through the device partition wall) has a plurality of male terminals. A male connector and a female connector that has a plurality of female terminals that are electrically connected to each male terminal and that can be freely fitted to the male connector (hereinafter referred to as connector fitting) are combined. The structure is known.

  In such a connector structure in which a plurality of terminals (a plurality of male terminals and a plurality of female terminals) are electrically connected, contamination or the like does not enter between the male connector and the female connector. For example, it is required to suppress a short circuit phenomenon between terminals adjacent to each other (for example, a short circuit phenomenon due to the presence of contamination between adjacent male terminals).

As a technique for suppressing the short circuit phenomenon, for example, in a connector housing of a female connector (hereinafter referred to as a female housing), a protruding portion is provided between adjacent terminal receiving chambers (receiving chambers for receiving male terminals). In the connector housing of the male connector (hereinafter referred to as a male housing), the connector is fitted by providing a groove (for example, a groove that can be fitted with the protruding portion) between adjacent male terminals. There is known a method of increasing the creepage distance between adjacent terminals (for example, Patent Document 1) .

JP 2010-27507 A

  The inventor of the present application has paid attention to the following problems in the connector structure in which the male connector and the female connector are combined with the background art as described above. That is, it is possible to suppress the short-circuit phenomenon by increasing the creepage distance between adjacent terminals while suppressing the interval between adjacent terminals from becoming large.

  The connector structure according to the present invention is a creation that can solve the above-described problems. Specifically, one aspect of the connector structure according to the present invention includes a connector housing having a bottomed cylindrical partition wall and a bottomed cylindrical partition wall. A male connector, which is a terminal held on the bottom wall and integrated with a plurality of male terminals extending from the bottom wall toward the front side of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall, is used. In addition, a cylindrical fitting partition that is detachably fitted into the bottomed cylindrical partition through the bottomed tubular partition, and a partition wall that extends in the axial direction in the fitting partition A connector housing having a plurality of terminal receiving chambers each receiving a terminal distal end side of each male terminal by fitting the bottomed tubular partition wall and the fitting partition wall, A female type terminal integrated in a terminal receiving chamber, and a plurality of female type terminals each electrically connected to each male type terminal by fitting with a bottomed cylindrical partition wall and a fitting partition wall Use a connector. And it is the connector structure which combined these male connector and female connector, Comprising: On the outer peripheral side of each male terminal in the bottom wall of a bottomed cylindrical partition, from the said outer peripheral side to the outer peripheral surface of a male terminal An extension portion extending along each of the terminal receiving chambers is formed, and a covering portion that covers the extension portion at the time of the electrical connection is formed on each receiving port side in each terminal receiving chamber. .

  According to the connector according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress a short-circuit phenomenon by increasing a creepage distance between adjacent terminals while suppressing an interval between adjacent terminals from increasing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic explanatory drawing which shows an example of the male connector of the connector structure which concerns on this embodiment ((A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view, (B) is an enlarged view of the X section of (A)). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic explanatory drawing which shows an example of the female connector of the connector structure concerning this embodiment ((A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view, (B) is an enlarged view of the Y section of (A)). The schematic explanatory drawing which shows an example of the connector fitting of the connector structure concerning this embodiment ((A) is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view, (B) is an enlarged view of the Z section of (A)). Schematic explanatory drawing (schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a male connector) which shows the modification of the connector structure of FIGS. 1-3. The schematic sectional drawing which shows an example of a general connector structure. The schematic sectional drawing which shows the other example of a general connector structure.

  In the connector structure according to the embodiment of the present invention, for example, a female housing provided with a protruding portion (for example, a protruding portion protruding to the male connector side) between adjacent terminal receiving chambers is applied or adjacent. Rather than using a male housing with a groove (for example, a groove that can be fitted to the protruding portion) between each male terminal, the bottom wall in the male housing (holds each male terminal) An extending portion extending from the outer peripheral side of the male terminal along the outer peripheral surface of the male terminal, and receiving holes of the terminal receiving chambers of the female housing. Each side is formed with a covering portion, and the male terminal is received in the terminal receiving chamber while covering the extension portion with the covering portion, so that the connector can be fitted, and the creeping surface between adjacent terminals The distance is longer.

  If contamination or the like enters between the male connector and female connector (for example, the connector structure is applied in an environment such as oil), adjacent terminals are likely to cause a short circuit due to contamination. According to the structure in which the creepage distance is increased as in the embodiment, the short-circuit phenomenon is suppressed.

  The connector structure of the present embodiment may be configured so that the male terminal can be received in the terminal receiving chamber and the connector can be fitted while the extension portion is covered with the covering portion as described above. It is possible to make appropriate changes by applying techniques generally known in various fields such as the field, connector field, and electric wire field, and specific examples shown below are given as an example.

<Example of connector structure>
Hereinafter, an example of the connector structure according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 is a male connector having a plurality of male terminals 3 held on the bottom wall of a bottomed cylindrical partition wall (details will be described later), as shown in FIG. 2 and, in particular, as shown in FIG. 2, a female connector having a plurality of female terminals 6 housed in each terminal receiving chamber 7 in the fitting partition wall 51 and electrically connected to each male terminal 3 respectively. 50, and a connector fitted as shown in FIG.

  The male connector 20 is obtained by integrating a plurality of male terminals 3 with the male housing 2 by an insert molding method, a press-fitting method, or the like. The male housing 2 has a cylindrical housing portion 21, and a partition wall 22 extending in a direction crossing the internal space is formed at the central portion of the internal space of the housing portion 21. Two bottomed cylindrical partition walls 21a and 21b having the partition wall 22 as a bottom wall are configured.

  The male terminal 3 is a pin-shaped terminal that is electrically connected to the female terminal 6 of the female connector 50, and a plurality of male terminals 3 penetrate the partition wall 22 and extend along the axial direction of the housing 21. The terminal central portion 3a is held by the partition wall 22, and the terminal front end portion 3b side protrudes from the partition wall 22 toward the front ports 2a and 2b in the bottomed cylindrical partition walls 21a and 21b, respectively. Yes. On the outer peripheral side of each male terminal 3 in the partition wall 22, an extending portion 41 extending from the outer peripheral side to the terminal tip portion 3 b side along the outer peripheral surface of the male terminal 3 is formed. 41 also holds the male terminal 3.

  In the female connector 50, the female terminal 6 is integrated with the female housing 5 by an insert molding method, a press-fitting method, or the like. The female housing 5 has a cylindrical fitting partition wall 51 that is detachably fitted into the bottomed cylindrical partition wall 21a through the opening 2a of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall 21a. Inside the fitting partition wall 51, a long hole that is partitioned by a partition wall 52 extending in the axial direction of the fitting partition wall 51 and can receive each male terminal 3 (received by connector fitting). A plurality of terminal receiving chambers 7 having a receiving port 71 on one end side in the shape are formed.

  Each terminal receiving chamber 7 accommodates a female terminal 6 electrically connected to the received male terminal 3. On the receiving port 71 side in the terminal receiving chamber 7, the extension portion is covered when the male terminal 3 and the female terminal 6 are electrically connected (when the connector is fitted) (for example, as shown in FIG. 3) A covering portion 72 having a shape that can be covered is formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, one end side of the wiring 53 is connected to each female terminal 6, and the other end side of each wiring 53 is led out in the direction opposite to the receiving port 71 in the terminal receiving chamber 7 (in FIG. 2). In FIG.

  The shape of the male housing 2 in which the extending portion 41 is formed in this way and the shape of the female housing 5 in which the covering portion 72 is formed are not particularly limited. It can be considered that the female housing 5 does not interfere with each other when the connector is fitted. For example, the male housing is such that the edge surface of the receiving port 71 of the female housing 5 comes close (or abuts) to the connector fitting with the surface of the partition wall 22 of the male housing 2 on the side of the opening 2a. 2 and the housing 5 for female type | molds are mentioned suitably.

Further, for example, the extension portion 41 is covered with the covering portion 72 when the connector is fitted, so that the extension portion 41 has a dimension in the extending direction and a width direction (a direction along the surface of the partition wall 22). It is desirable to appropriately set the dimensions and the like in the radial direction and the depth direction (axial center direction of the terminal receiving chamber 7) of the covering portion 72 as well. Further, on the receiving port 71 side of the covering portion 72, for example, a pick-up shape (for example, a pick-up shape having a tapered surface 72a as shown in FIG. 3B) may be adopted, and the male terminal 3 can be easily received in connector fitting. It becomes easy to cover the extension part 41.

The creeping distance between adjacent terminals when the connector structure 1 of FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 is fitted is not a mere space between terminals, but as shown in FIG. 3, for example, two male terminals 3 adjacent to each other. Between the tip position of the extension part 41 formed on one of them and the tip position of the extension part 41 formed on the other of the extension part 41 along the surface of the cylindrical partition wall 52. The distance is L ₀ (thick solid line in FIG. 3).

Here, the creeping distance at the time of connector fitting of the structure having no extension part 41, the covering part 72, etc. of the present embodiment, for example, the connector structure as shown in FIG. A distance L ₁ (bold solid line in FIG. 5) extending linearly between the two male terminals 3 is obtained. Compared to this distance L ₁ , it can be seen that the distance L ₀ which is the creeping distance of the connector structure 1 of FIGS. 1 to 3 is longer.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, a projection 52 a is formed between the two adjacent terminal receiving chambers 7 so as to protrude toward the male connector 20, and is formed between the adjacent male terminals 3. In the case of the structure having the groove portion 22a that can be fitted to the protruding portion 52a, the creepage distance at the time of connector fitting is a non-linearly extending distance including the fitting surface between the protruding portion 52a and the groove portion 22a. The distance L ₂ is longer than L ₁ (thick solid line in FIG. 6). However, for example, in order to form the protruding portion 52a and the groove portion 22a, the adjacent terminal receiving chambers 7 are compared with the structure having the extending portion 41 and the covering portion 72 as in the connector structure 1 of FIGS. It is necessary to ensure a large gap between the terminals and between the male terminals 3, which becomes a factor that hinders downsizing of the connector structure.

Therefore, according to the connector structure 1 according to the present embodiment, as compared with the structure as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the distance between the adjacent female terminals 6 and the male terminals 3 is suppressed so as not to increase. The creepage distance between the terminals can be increased. And it becomes possible to suppress a short circuit phenomenon and to contribute to size reduction of a connector structure, and it can be said that there exists a useful effect.

<Modification>
1-3, the structure which formed the extension part 41 with respect to the surface by the side of the frontage 2a of the partition wall 22 was shown, For example, the extension part 41 was formed in the surface by the side of the frontage 2b in the partition wall 22 A structure may be used, and a female connector having a covering portion 72 is connector-fitted (connector-fitting as in FIGS. The same effect as the connector structure 1 is obtained.

  Further, the partition wall 22 is not formed with an extending portion, and is coated in a layered manner on the surface of the partition wall 22 (on the side of the frontage 2a in FIG. 4), for example, like a male connector 20 shown in FIG. Even if it has a structure in which a coating layer (for example, a coating layer that imparts sealing properties) 4 through which the male terminal 3 passes is provided, and an extending portion 41 is formed on the outer peripheral side of each male terminal 3 in the coating layer 4. good. Even when the male connector 20 and the female connector 50 in which the extending portion 41 is formed in the covering layer 4 are connector-fitted (connector fitting similarly to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3), FIG. Thus, the same effects as those of the connector structure 1 shown in FIG.

  For example, a notch (not shown) extending along the circumferential direction of the male terminal 3 may be formed inside the extending portion 41 on the outer peripheral side of the male terminal 3. By forming the notch portion in this way, the extension portion 41 is fitted to the notch portion, and therefore, for example, movement of the male terminal 3 in the axial direction is suppressed (FIG. 1 and the like). Then, the movement of the male terminal 3 in the downward direction in the figure is suppressed).

<Example of material>
The material applied to the male housing 2, the female housing 5, the male terminal 3, the female terminal 6 and the like is not particularly limited as long as it is used in the field of connectors, for example. Examples include materials that can impart characteristics (insulation, waterproofness, weather resistance, corrosion resistance, conductivity, impact resistance, etc.) according to the purpose. As a specific example, an insulating material such as a thermosetting resin is applied to the male housing 2 and the female housing 5, and a conductive material such as copper is applied to the male terminal 3 and the female terminal 6. To do.

  The covering layer 4 is not particularly limited as long as it can be formed on the surface of the partition wall 22. For example, the covering layer 4 is a material that can be formed by a potting method or the like, and includes the surface of the partition wall 22 and the male terminal 3. Various materials having adhesiveness, sealing properties, insulation properties, etc. can be applied as appropriate, and various resin materials such as epoxy resins and silicone resins are listed as examples.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail only for the specific examples described above, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. It is natural that such changes and the like belong to the scope of the claims.

Here, the technical ideas other than the claims that can be grasped from the respective embodiments and the like described above will be described below.
<I> The cutout portion extending along the circumferential direction of the male terminal is formed on the inner side of the extending portion on the outer peripheral side of the male terminal. Connector structure as described in 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector 2, 5 ... Connector housing 21a, 21b ... Bottomed cylindrical partition wall 22 ... Partition wall (bottom wall)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 ... Male type terminal 4 ... Covering layer 41 ... Extension part 51 ... Fitting partition wall 52 ... Partition wall 6 ... Female type terminal 7 ... Terminal receiving chamber 71 ... Receiving port 72 ... Covering part 72a ... Tapered surface (pickup shape)

Claims (3)

A connector housing having a bottomed cylindrical partition;
A plurality of male terminals which are terminals held on the bottom wall of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall and extend from the bottom wall toward the front side of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall;
A male connector that integrates
The bottomed cylindrical partition wall is partitioned by a cylindrical fitting partition wall that is detachably fitted into the bottomed cylindrical partition wall, and a partition wall that extends in the axial direction within the fitting partition wall. A connector housing having a plurality of terminal receiving chambers each receiving a terminal tip side of each male terminal by fitting the bottomed cylindrical partition wall and the fitting partition wall;
A plurality of female terminals, each of which is a terminal housed in each terminal receiving chamber and electrically connected to each male terminal by fitting with a bottomed cylindrical partition wall and a fitting partition wall;
An integrated female connector,
A connector structure that combines
On the outer peripheral side of each male terminal on the bottom wall of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall, an extending portion extending from the outer peripheral side along the outer peripheral surface of the male terminal is formed, respectively.
Each terminal receiving chamber, has a receiving opening at one end in each long hole shape, the receptive opening side of the terminal receiving chamber, the capsule covering portion for covering wrapping the extending portion when the electrical connection respectively A connector structure characterized by being formed. A connector housing having a bottomed cylindrical partition;
A plurality of male terminals which are terminals held on the bottom wall of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall and extend from the bottom wall toward the front side of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall;
A male connector that integrates
The bottomed cylindrical partition wall is partitioned by a cylindrical fitting partition wall that is detachably fitted into the bottomed cylindrical partition wall, and a partition wall that extends in the axial direction within the fitting partition wall. A connector housing having a plurality of terminal receiving chambers each receiving a terminal tip side of each male terminal by fitting the bottomed cylindrical partition wall and the fitting partition wall;
A plurality of female terminals, each of which is a terminal housed in each terminal receiving chamber and electrically connected to each male terminal by fitting with a bottomed cylindrical partition wall and a fitting partition wall;
An integrated female connector,
A connector structure that combines
A coating layer that is covered in a layered manner with respect to the surface of the bottom wall of the bottomed cylindrical partition wall and through which the male terminal penetrates,
On the outer peripheral side of each male terminal in the coating layer, an extending portion extending from the outer peripheral side along the outer peripheral surface of the male terminal is formed, respectively.
Each terminal receiving chamber, has a receiving opening at one end in each long hole shape, the receptive opening side of the terminal receiving chamber, the capsule covering portion for covering wrapping the extending portion when the electrical connection respectively A connector structure characterized by being formed.   3. The connector structure according to claim 1, wherein the front side in each terminal receiving chamber has a pick-up shape.

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