JP6170780B2 - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.

A waterproof connector is known in which a space between an electric wire led out from a housing in which a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal is accommodated and the housing is sealed in a watertight manner (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
As shown in FIG. 8, the waterproof connector 501 is provided with a mounting hole 507 serving as an inlet of each cavity (terminal accommodating chamber) 505 on the rear end side of the female housing 503. A batch rubber plug (mat seal) 509 is fitted into the mounting hole 507, and the batch rubber plug 509 is held by the female housing 503 with a rubber plug press 511. The female terminal 515 fixed to the end of the electric wire 513 passes through the collective rubber plug 509 and is inserted into the cavity 505 from the rear. When the female terminal 515 is inserted to the proper position, the female terminal 515 is locked by the lance 517 and is prevented from coming off. The outer peripheral lip 525 of the collective rubber plug 509 is in close contact with the inner surface of the mounting hole 507, and the inner peripheral lip 523 provided on the inner surface of each through hole (wire insertion hole) 519 is in close contact with the outer periphery of the electric wire 513. The inlet of the cavity 505 is sealed. A seesaw-like lock arm 521 that can be engaged with a lock projection (not shown) on the male housing side is provided on the upper surface of the female housing 503.

JP 2003-297479 A

  However, in the conventional waterproof connector 501 described above, for example, when the electric wire 513 is bent in a predetermined direction immediately after being led out from the rear of the female housing 503, the through hole 519 of the batch rubber plug 509 Between the outer periphery of the electric wire 513, the inner peripheral lip 523 is in a non-uniform compressed state in the circumferential direction. That is, the electric wire 513 bent immediately after being led out from the female housing 503 is inclined, and the compressive force to the inner peripheral lip 523 is increased inside the bend. On the other hand, the electric wire 513 on the outer side of the bend moves in a direction away from the inner peripheral lip 523, and the compressive force to the inner peripheral lip 523 is reduced. As a result, there is a concern that the watertightness between the outer periphery of the electric wire 513 and the inner peripheral lip 523 is lowered. Further, with the small-sized electric wire 513, the inner peripheral lip 523 is not compressed, and there is a possibility that watertightness cannot be achieved. Furthermore, if the terminal posture is inclined when the female terminal 515 fixed to the end of the electric wire 513 is inserted into the through hole 519, the inner peripheral lip 523 may be damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector that can reduce the non-uniform compression state in the wire insertion hole of the mat seal due to the inclination of the wire and ensure water tightness.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A housing having a seal accommodating portion provided continuously with the terminal accommodating chamber, a mat seal accommodated in the seal accommodating portion, an electric wire in which a terminal attached to a terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, A wire lead-out portion connected to the wire lead-out side of the wire insertion hole of the mat seal and having an opening width larger than an inner peripheral lip of the wire lead-through hole, and a protrusion projecting on the inner wall surface of the wire lead-out portion, An inclination restricting protrusion that is clamped so as to restrict the position of the electric wire in the center of the wire insertion hole, and the inclination restricting protrusion is formed between the bent inner side and the bent outer side in the predetermined bending direction of the electric wire led out from the electric wire lead-out portion. A protruding connector is formed by a pair of rib protrusions facing each other in parallel .

  According to the waterproof connector having the above configuration (1), the portion of the electric wire inserted into the electric wire insertion hole of the mat seal is regulated at the center of the electric wire insertion hole by the inclination regulating protrusion. Sandwiched between. Therefore, the electric wire bent in a predetermined direction immediately after being led out from the rear of the housing is restricted from being displaced (inclined) in the bending direction in the electric wire insertion hole by the inclination restricting protrusion. The electric wire whose inclination is suppressed by the inclination restricting projection is suppressed from causing a difference in compressive force between the inner peripheral lip and the inner bent side. As a result, the uneven compression state in the wire insertion hole of the mat seal is reduced. Further, when the terminal is inserted into the wire insertion hole of the mat seal, the terminal posture is restricted by the inclination restricting protrusion, so that damage to the inner peripheral lip due to the insertion inclination of the terminal can be prevented.

Furthermore, according to the waterproof connector having the configuration (1 ), the portion of the electric wire inserted into the electric wire insertion hole of the mat seal is led from the bent inner side and the bent outer side in the predetermined bending direction, respectively. A pair of rib protrusions in contact with each other are sandwiched by projecting tip surfaces parallel to each other, but a gap is formed in a direction perpendicular to the bending direction between the projecting tip surfaces parallel to each other. Therefore, the protruding front end surfaces of the pair of rib protrusions that are parallel to each other can be expanded when the terminal is inserted while holding the wire led out from the wire lead-out portion and restricting the displacement (tilt) in the bending direction. There is no loss of insertability of the terminal into the insertion hole.

  According to the waterproof connector of the present invention, it is possible to reduce a non-uniform compression state in the wire insertion hole of the mat seal and to ensure water tightness.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

It is a disassembled perspective view of the waterproof connector which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the waterproof connector shown in FIG. 1 before the electric wire with a terminal can be inserted. It is an enlarged view of the A section in FIG. (A) is a principal part enlarged view in the rear surface of the mat seal | sticker shown in FIG. 1, (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a). (A) is the horizontal sectional view of the waterproof connector which shows the state where the electric wire derived | led-out from the back of the housing was bent, (b) is an enlarged view of the B section in (a). (A) is a horizontal sectional view of the waterproof connector at the time of terminal insertion, (b) is an enlarged view of the C section in (a). (A) is a rear view of the annular rib according to the modified example of the inclination restricting protrusion, and (b) is a rear view of the annular rib according to another modified example of the inclined restricting protrusion. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional waterproof connector.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a waterproof connector 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 13, a mat seal cover 15, a mat seal 17 that is an elastic seal material, and an electric wire 21 with a terminal. Have.

  The synthetic resin housing 13 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 29 for accommodating the terminals 27 attached to the ends of the electric wires 51. A lance 31 for locking the terminal 27 protrudes into the terminal accommodating chamber 29 (see FIG. 2). A seal accommodating portion 33 for accommodating the mat seal 17 and the mat seal cover 15 is connected to the terminal accommodating chamber 29 at the rear of the housing 13. In the present specification, the waterproof connector 11 will be described with the fitting side with a mating connector (not shown) as the front and the opposite side as the rear.

  On the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 13, two pairs of housing-side locking projections 35 for locking the mat seal cover 15 are projected. The inner peripheral wall of the seal housing portion 33 on which the mat seal 17 is mounted is a smooth sealing surface that is in close contact with the outer peripheral lip 37 of the mat seal 17.

  The mat seal 17 is sandwiched between the housing 13 and the mat seal cover 15 and accommodated in the seal accommodating portion 33. The mat seal 17 is made of an elastic material such as silicon rubber, for example, and has a plurality of wire insertion holes 39 vertically and horizontally penetrating the front and back formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. On the inner peripheral surface of the electric wire insertion hole 39, a plurality of inner peripheral lips 45 in which the large diameter portions 41 and the small diameter portions 43 shown in FIG. On the outer peripheral surface of the mat seal 17, a pair of outer peripheral lips 37 project in an annular shape.

  The mat seal cover 15 is made of a synthetic resin material, and is disposed in the seal housing portion 33 in close contact with the rear surface of the mat seal 17. The mat seal cover 15 is provided with a plurality of electric wire through holes 47 through which the electric wires 21 with terminals are inserted vertically and horizontally. On the upper and lower surfaces of the mat seal cover 15, two frame-shaped mat cover side locking portions 49 are formed. The mat cover side latching portion 49 is latched by a housing side latching protrusion 35 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the housing 13.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal-attached electric wire 21 has a terminal 27 connected to the end of the electric wire 51. The terminal 27 is provided with an electric wire crimping portion 53, and the terminal 27 is connected and fixed to the end of the electric wire 51 by the electric wire crimping portion 53. The terminal 27 in the present embodiment is a female terminal having a box-shaped electrical contact portion 55. A lance locking portion 57 that locks the lance 31 is formed outside the electrical contact portion 55. In the terminal-attached electric wire 21, the terminal 27 is sequentially inserted into the electric wire through hole 47 of the mat seal cover 15, the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17, and the terminal accommodating chamber 29 of the housing 13 and locked to the lance 31. In addition, the structure which accommodates a male terminal instead of a female terminal may be sufficient as the waterproof connector which concerns on this embodiment.

4 and 5, an opening larger than the inner peripheral lip 45 of the wire insertion hole 39 is formed on the wire lead-out side (mat seal cover 15 side) of the wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 of the present embodiment. A wire lead-out portion 23 having a width is continuously provided.
In addition, a pair of rib protrusions 25 that are inclination restricting protrusions that clamp the electric wire 51 so as to restrict the position of the electric wire 51 at the center of the electric wire insertion hole 39 protrude from the left and right inner wall surfaces 63 of the electric wire outlet portion 23. The pair of rib protrusions 25 are bent inside (right side of FIG. 4B) and bent outside (FIG. 4B) in a predetermined bending direction (right direction of FIG. 4A) of the wire 51 led out from the wire lead-out portion 23. The projecting front end surfaces 65 of the left side of b) face each other in parallel.
Therefore, a gap 61 is formed in a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4A) perpendicular to the bending direction between the parallel projecting tip surfaces 65, and an opening having a vertically long rectangular shape is formed between the pair of rib protrusions 25. ing. The pair of rib protrusions 25 are formed in the wire insertion hole 39 of the electric wire 51 that is bent to the left or right as the protruding tip surfaces 65 abut against the outer periphery of the inner side and outer side of the electric wire 51 in the predetermined bending direction. Regulate the tilt of

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the magnitude | size relationship between the electric wire penetration hole 39 and the electric wire 51 is as follows, as shown in FIG.5 (b), the opening width W of the electric wire derivation | leading-out part 23, the outer diameter D of the electric wire 51, and the inner peripheral lip 45. The inner diameter d of the pair and the gap S between the pair of rib protrusions 25 are set in order of decreasing (W> D> d> S). Note that the gap S between the pair of rib protrusions 25 is not necessarily smaller than the inner diameter d of the inner peripheral lip 45. If the inclination of the electric wire 51 can be suppressed, the gap S between the rib protrusions 25 may be the same as or slightly larger than the inner diameter d of the inner peripheral lip 45.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 5B, the pair of rib protrusions 25 are bent inside and bent outside in a predetermined bending direction of the wire 51 led out from the wire lead-out portion 23. The projecting tip surfaces 65 are arranged so as to face each other in parallel. That is, the pair of rib protrusions 25 are provided on the left and right in FIG. Therefore, for example, when the predetermined bending direction of the electric wire 51 led out from the electric wire lead-out portion 23 is the vertical direction in FIG. 4A, the pair of rib protrusions 25 sandwich the electric wire 51 and move up and down in FIG. Is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a lever 19 is attached to the housing 13 so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 67 so that the connector can be connected and disconnected with a small insertion force and removal force. An arc cam groove 71 is formed in the side plate portion 69 of the lever 19. On the other hand, an engagement pin (not shown) that engages with the cam groove 71 protrudes from the housing of the mating connector. The engaging pin is located in the end portion of the cam groove 71 of the lever 19 in the initial fitting of the waterproof connector 11 and the mating connector. When the lever 19 is rotated from this state, the two housings are drawn by the engagement between the engagement pin and the cam groove 71. Thereby, the waterproof connector 11 can be coupled to the mating connector with a low insertion force by the lever action of the lever 19.

Next, the operation of the waterproof connector 11 having the above configuration will be described.
In the waterproof connector 11 according to this embodiment, the mat seal 17 accommodated in the seal accommodating portion 33 of the housing 13 is sandwiched between the housing 13 by the mat seal cover 15 attached to the housing 13. The mat seal cover 15 is fixed to the housing 13 with the mat cover side locking portion 49 shown in FIG.

  The wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 mounted on the housing 13 and the wire through hole 47 of the mat seal cover 15 are arranged in the same straight line with respect to the terminal accommodating chamber 29. As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 27 of the terminal-attached electric wire 21 is sequentially inserted into the electric wire through hole 47, the electric wire insertion hole 39, and the terminal accommodating chamber 29 and is locked to the lance 31.

  The electric wire 51 in which the terminal 27 of the terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 29 is inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17, thereby forming an annular inner peripheral lip 45 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the electric wire insertion hole 39. However, it closely contacts the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 51 in the circumferential direction. The electric wire 51 inserted through the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 is led out of the housing 13 from the electric wire through hole 47 of the mat seal cover 15. The wire through hole 47 is larger than the outer diameter of the wire 51.

  At this time, the position of the terminal 27 is regulated at the center of the electric wire insertion hole 39 by being sandwiched between the pair of rib protrusions 25 as shown in FIG. Since the terminal 27 is moved to the center and the terminal posture is restricted, damage to the inner peripheral lip 45 due to the diagonal insertion of the terminal 27 can be prevented.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the electric wires 51 inserted through the electric wire insertion holes 39 of the mat seal 17 are also paired even when the electric wires 51 are bent in a predetermined direction immediately after being led out from the rear of the housing 13. The rib protrusion 25 restricts the displacement (inclination) in the bending direction within the wire insertion hole 39. In other words, the pair of rib protrusions 25 projecting from the left and right inner wall surfaces 63 in the wire lead-out portion 23 of the wire insertion hole 39 are deformed when the protruding tip surface 65 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the wire 51, and the wire insertion The position is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the hole 39. Thereby, the electric wire insertion hole 39 and the electric wire 51 are arrange | positioned in the same center, and an inclination does not arise in the electric wire 51. FIG.

  The electric wire 51 whose inclination is suppressed by the pair of rib protrusions 25 is suppressed from causing a difference in compressive force of the inner peripheral lip 45 between the bent inner side and the bent outer side. As a result, the uneven compression state in the wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 is reduced. Further, when the terminal 27 is inserted into the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17, the terminal posture is regulated by the pair of rib protrusions 25, so that damage to the inner peripheral lip 45 due to the insertion inclination of the terminal 27 can be prevented. Furthermore, even if the electric wire 51 is bent behind the housing 13, the electric wire 51 in the electric wire insertion hole 39 is less likely to be tilted, so that the terminal 27 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 29 is also less likely to be biased.

  In addition, according to the waterproof connector 11 according to the present embodiment, the wire 51 inserted into the wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 has a portion led out from the wire lead-out portion 23 at the bent inner side and the bent outer side in a predetermined bending direction. The pair of rib protrusions 25 that are in contact with each other are sandwiched between the protruding front end faces 65 parallel to each other, but a gap 61 is formed in a direction perpendicular to the bending direction between the parallel protruding front end faces 65, and the pair of rib protrusions Between 25, it is an opening of a vertically long rectangular shape. Accordingly, the protruding front end surfaces 65 of the pair of rib protrusions 25 that are parallel to each other may be widened when the terminal is inserted while holding the wire 51 led out from the wire lead-out portion 23 and restricting the displacement (tilt) in the bending direction. Therefore, the insertion property of the terminal 27 into the wire insertion hole 39 is not impaired.

Next, a modification of the waterproof connector 11 according to the above embodiment will be described.
7A includes an annular rib 73 having a wire holding hole 79 concentric with the wire insertion hole 39, and a plurality of slits 75 extending radially outward from the wire holding hole 79. As shown in FIG. And is formed by. The diameter of the electric wire holding hole 79 may be larger or smaller than the electric wire insertion hole 39 or the same.

  According to the waterproof connector having the annular rib 73, the part of the electric wire 51 inserted through the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 is sandwiched by the electric wire holding hole 79 of the annular rib 73. The Accordingly, the position of the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 51 can be regulated at the center of the electric wire holding hole 79, and positioning with higher accuracy can be achieved. In addition, since the plurality of slits 75 extending radially outward from the electric wire holding hole 79 are formed in the annular rib 73, the insertability of the terminal 27 into the electric wire insertion hole 39 is not impaired.

An inclination regulating projection according to another modification shown in FIG. 7B is formed by an annular rib 77 having a wire insertion hole 39 and a concentric wire holding hole 79. The inner diameter of the electric wire holding hole 79 of the annular rib 77 may be larger or smaller than the electric wire insertion hole 39 or the same.
According to the waterproof connector having the annular rib 77, the part of the electric wire 51 inserted through the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 is sandwiched by the electric wire holding hole 79 of the annular rib 77. The Accordingly, the position of the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 51 can be regulated at the center of the electric wire holding hole 79, and positioning with higher accuracy can be achieved.
In addition, when the diameter of the electric wire holding hole 79 in the annular rib 77 is the same as or smaller than that of the electric wire insertion hole 39, the insertability of the terminal 27 into the electric wire insertion hole 39 is lower than that of the annular rib 73 in which the slit 75 is formed. . However, since the annular rib 77 does not maintain watertightness with the outer peripheral surface of the electric wire 51 unlike the inner peripheral lip 45, it is not necessary to consider the damage at the time of terminal insertion on the inner peripheral surface of the annular rib 77.

Here, the features of the embodiment of the waterproof connector according to the present invention described above will be briefly summarized below.
[1] A housing 13 having a seal accommodating portion 33 continuously provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 29, a mat seal 17 accommodated in the seal accommodating portion 33, and a terminal 27 attached to a terminal are provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 29. An electric wire 51 to be accommodated; an electric wire outlet portion 23 connected to the electric wire outlet side of the electric wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 and having an opening width W larger than an inner peripheral lip 45 of the electric wire insertion hole 39; A waterproof connector comprising: an inclination regulating protrusion (rib protrusion) 25 that protrudes from an inner wall surface 63 of the lead-out portion 23 and clamps the electric wire 51 so as to restrict the position of the electric wire 51 to the center of the electric wire insertion hole 39. 11.
[2] The waterproof connector 11 having the above-described configuration [1], wherein the inclination restricting protrusion is formed between the bent inner side and the bent outer side in the predetermined bending direction of the wire 51 led out from the wire lead-out portion 23. The waterproof connector 11 is characterized in that the protruding tip surface 65 is formed by a pair of rib protrusions 25 facing in parallel.
[3] The waterproof connector 11 having the configuration of [1], wherein the inclination restricting protrusion has an annular rib 73 having a wire holding hole 79 concentric with the wire insertion hole 39, and a radius from the wire holding hole 79. The waterproof connector 11 is formed by a slit 75 extending outward in the direction.

  Therefore, according to the waterproof connector 11 according to the present embodiment, the uneven compression state in the wire insertion hole 39 of the mat seal 17 due to the wire inclination can be reduced, and water tightness can be ensured.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Waterproof connector 13 ... Housing 17 ... Matt seal 21 ... Electric wire 23 with a terminal ... Electric wire extraction part 25 ... Rib protrusion (tilt control protrusion)
27 ... Terminal 29 ... Terminal accommodating chamber 33 ... Seal accommodating portion 39 ... Electric wire insertion hole 45 ... Inner peripheral lip 51 ... Electric wire 63 ... Inner wall surface 65 ... Protruding tip surface

Claims (1)

A housing having a seal housing portion connected to the terminal housing chamber;
A mat seal housed in the seal housing section;
An electric wire in which a terminal attached to the terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber;
An electric wire lead-out portion connected to the electric wire lead-out side of the electric wire insertion hole of the mat seal and having an opening width larger than an inner peripheral lip of the electric wire insertion hole;
An inclination restricting protrusion that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the wire lead-out portion and holds the wire so as to restrict the position of the wire at the center of the wire insertion hole;
Equipped with a,
The inclination restricting protrusion is formed by a pair of rib protrusions whose protruding front end faces are parallel to each other between the bent inner side and the bent outer side in a predetermined bending direction of the electric wire led out from the electric wire lead-out part. Waterproof connector.

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