JP6978672B2 - In-vehicle camera module connector and in-vehicle camera module - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connector for an in-vehicle camera module and an in-vehicle camera module.

In recent years, in the field of in-vehicle cameras, large-capacity data transmission has become necessary with the improvement of safe driving and sensing technology, and the transmission data is also shifting from analog to digital. Along with this, the amount of heat generated on the circuit increases, so heat dissipation measures are required. However, since the in-vehicle camera needs to be attached to the outside of the vehicle, it is required to be miniaturized so as not to be conspicuous in consideration of the appearance of the vehicle. For this reason, it is difficult to add a heat dissipation mechanism such as a heat sink or a heat dissipation fan.

As a heat dissipation measure for such an in-vehicle camera, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 below, a method of directly contacting an outer conductor of a coaxial cable with a heating element is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-142249 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-11711 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-83617

However, the configuration in which the outer conductor of the coaxial cable is in direct contact with the heating element as in each of the above patent documents causes an increase in the number of parts and an increase in size, so that it is difficult to adopt it in an in-vehicle camera that requires miniaturization. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a connector for an in-vehicle camera module and an in-vehicle camera module capable of efficiently dissipating heat generated inside the camera case and being miniaturized can be provided. The purpose is to provide.

The connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention includes an external terminal provided on the tip end side of a cable having an external conductor and connected to a mounting board side in a camera case made of a conductive material. Is made of a conductor material and includes an outer conductor connecting portion connected to the outer conductor and a fixing portion fixed in contact with the camera case.

An external terminal is provided on the tip side of the cable, and the mounting board side in the camera case and the cable are electrically connected via this external terminal. The external terminal and the external conductor are electrically and thermally connected via the external conductor connection portion. The external terminal and the camera case are thermally connected via a fixed portion that is fixed in contact with the camera case.
The heat generated in the camera case is transferred to the camera case made of a conductive material, transferred to the external terminal body via the fixing portion of the external terminal, and guided to the external conductor via the external conductor connecting portion, and the cable. The heat is dissipated to the outside.
In this way, heat can be dissipated to the outside via an external conductor only by providing an external terminal provided at the tip of the cable, so that miniaturization can be realized without increasing the number of parts.
Examples of the cable include a coaxial cable, a multi-core wire such as a four-core wire, and the like.

Further, in the connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention, a cover portion having insulating properties and accommodating the external terminal inside, a fixing screw for fixing the cover portion to the camera case, and a fixing screw. The fixing portion includes a flange portion sandwiched between the cover portion and the camera case by fastening the fixing screw.

The external terminal is fixed to the camera case via the cover portion by a fixing screw in a state of being housed inside the cover portion having an insulating property. As the fixing part of the external terminal, it was decided to provide a flange part sandwiched between the cover part and the camera case by fastening the fixing screw. Thereby, by fastening the fixing screw, the external terminal can be stably brought into contact with the camera case, and heat transfer between the external terminal and the camera case can be suitably secured.

Further, in the connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention, the outer conductor connecting portion includes a cylinder that surrounds the outer periphery of the outer conductor, and the cylinder is caulked and fixed to the outer conductor. It is said to be a caulking part.

The outer conductor connecting portion is a cylinder that surrounds the outer circumference of the outer conductor, and this cylinder is caulked and fixed to the outer conductor to form a caulked portion. As a result, it is possible to connect to the external conductor by using a cylinder integrally provided at the external terminal, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simplified to realize miniaturization.

Further, in the connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention, an opening is formed in the peripheral wall of the tubular body, and fillers are provided on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the tubular body through the opening. Has been done.

An opening is formed in the peripheral wall of the cylinder, and a filler (for example, hot melt) is provided on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the cylinder through the opening. As a result, the external terminal, the cable, and the cover portion can be securely fixed, and the waterproof property can be improved.

Further, the connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention is provided with a shield member that closes the opening.

By providing the shield member that closes the opening, it is possible to suppress the leakage of noise through the opening.

Further, the in-vehicle camera module according to one aspect of the present invention includes an image pickup element, a camera case accommodating the image pickup element, a mounting substrate housed in the camera case and driving the image pickup element, and any of the above. It is equipped with a connector for an in-vehicle camera module described in.

Since the above-mentioned connector for the in-vehicle camera module is provided, it is possible to realize a compact in-vehicle camera module having excellent heat dissipation.

According to the present invention, by contacting the external terminal provided at the tip of the cable with the camera case made of metal, it is possible to effectively dissipate heat from the cable to the outside via the external conductor, so that miniaturization is realized. can do.

It is a perspective view which showed the appearance of an in-vehicle camera module. It is a vertical sectional view of the vehicle-mounted camera module shown in FIG. 1. It is a vertical sectional view which showed the connector for an in-vehicle camera module. It is a perspective view which showed the external terminal. It is a vertical sectional view of the external terminal of FIG. It is an exploded perspective view of the vehicle-mounted camera module of FIG. It is a side view which showed the modification.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the vehicle-mounted camera module 1. The vehicle-mounted camera module 1 includes a camera case 2 and a cover portion 5 fixed to the upper surface of the camera case 2. The coaxial cable 6 is pulled out from the upper end portion, which is one end of the cover portion 5.

The camera case 2 is composed of a first case 3 and a second case 4 fitted and fixed to the first case 3. The camera case 2 may be divided into two or three or more as in the present embodiment. A accommodation space S (see FIG. 2) is formed between the first case 3 and the second case 4, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) type or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) is formed in the accommodation space S. ) An image sensor such as a mold is arranged.

The second case 4 is made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy and is formed by, for example, die casting. As shown in FIG. 2, a mounting board 9 for driving an image pickup device or the like is installed in the accommodation space S formed in the second case 4. A mounting board side connector 11 is fixed to the mounting board 9, and a vehicle-mounted camera module connector 10 is detachably connected to the mounting board side connector 11.

The cover portion 5 is made of resin in this embodiment, and has a cable side end portion 5a into which the coaxial cable 6 is inserted and a fixed side end portion 5b fixed to the second case 4. There is. The cover portion 5 is fixed to the upper surface of the second case 4 by two fixing screws 7 inserted into the fixing side end portion 5b. The number of fixing screws 7 may be 3 or more.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle-mounted camera module connector 10 includes a cover portion 5 and an external terminal 14 housed in the cover portion 5.

The external terminal 14 is made of a conductive metal and is integrally formed by die casting, machining, or the like. A board-side terminal portion 15 is provided at one end of the external terminal 14 on the mounting board 9 (see FIG. 2) side, and a cable-side terminal portion (cable-side terminal portion) is provided at the other end of the external terminal 14 on the coaxial cable 6 side. External conductor connection portion: tubular body) 16 is provided. In this embodiment, the board-side terminal portion 15 and the cable-side terminal portion 16 are both formed in a cylindrical shape, but the substrate-side terminal portion 15 and the cable-side terminal portion 16 are interconnected to each other (connector 11 or coaxial). It suffices to have a function of guiding and holding the connection with the cable 6), and may be a cylindrical shape such as a square tubular shape or a tubular shape having a split groove formed. Further, the board side terminal 15 and the cable side terminal 16 may be formed and connected as separate bodies instead of being integrated.

The board-side terminal portion 15 and the cable-side terminal portion 16 have a common central axis. A flange portion (fixed portion) 17 enlarged in the radial direction is provided between the board-side terminal portion 15 and the cable-side terminal portion 16.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the flange portion 17 is further provided with a protruding portion 17a that protrudes in the radial direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the projecting portions 17a are provided at two positions facing each other by 180 ° when viewed in a plan view from above. The protrusion 17a is used as a detent to prevent the external terminal 14 from rotating around the central axis. However, the number of protrusions 17a installed may be three or more.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral edge of the flange portion 17 has a thickness thinner than that of the inner peripheral side, and a step 17b is formed in the thickness direction. The O-ring 20 is installed in the space formed by the step 17b. The O-ring 20 is sandwiched between the lower surface of the flange portion 17 and the second case 4 and deformed to seal the O-ring 20. As a result, the waterproof property inside the camera case 2 is ensured.

The flange portion 17 is sandwiched between the cover portion 5 and the second case 4 by the pressing force of the fixing screw 7. As a result, the lower surface of the flange portion 17 is pressed against the upper surface of the second case 4 made of metal, so that a desired thermal contact can be obtained. The contact region between the flange portion 17 and the second case 4 may be surface-treated so as to reduce the thermal resistance.

A contact 23 is fixed to the substrate-side terminal portion 15 of the external terminal 14 via a resin fixing member 22. The contact 23 is made of a conductive metal and extends on the central axis of the substrate-side terminal portion 15. The free end (lower end) side of the contact 23 is inserted into the mounting board side connector 11 shown in FIG. 2, so that conduction can be obtained with the mounting board 9. The base end (upper end) side of the contact 23 is fixed to the core wire 6a of the coaxial cable 6.

The tip of the coaxial cable 6 is inserted along the central axis into the inside of the cable side terminal portion 16 of the external terminal 14 on the free end (upper end) side. At the tip of the coaxial cable 6, the sheath portion 6d is removed inside the cover portion 5, and the braided wire (outer conductor) 6c is exposed. In this embodiment, the braided wire 6c is folded back with the insulator 6b left on the tip side. In this folded region, the braided wire 6c is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the cable-side terminal portion 16. Specifically, the free end portion of the cable side terminal portion 16 is deformed so as to have a reduced diameter to form the caulked portion 16a, so that the free end portion 16 is made conductive with the braided wire 6c of the coaxial cable 6. The braided wire 6c does not have to be folded back.

An opening 16b is formed on the base end (lower end) side of the cable side terminal portion 16. By injecting hot melt through the opening 16b, the filler 25 is filled up to the inside of the cable side terminal portion 16. The filler 25 is filled inside the cover portion 5, and is filled inside and outside the cable side terminal portion 16 without gaps. The filler 25 ensures waterproofness inside the cover portion 5.

FIG. 6 shows an exploded perspective view of the vehicle-mounted camera module 1 described above. As shown in the figure, the mounting board 9 is assembled so as to be accommodated between the first case 3 and the second case 4. The external terminal 14 is assembled to the second case 4 so as to be connected to the mounting board side connector 11 provided on the mounting board 9. The in-vehicle camera module connector 10 is assembled to the camera case 2 by inserting the fixing screw 7 into the cover portion 5 and screwing it into the second case 4.

According to this embodiment, the following effects are exhibited.
An external terminal 14 is provided on the tip end side of the coaxial cable 6, and the mounting board 9 side in the camera case 2 and the coaxial cable 6 are electrically connected via the external terminal 14. The external terminal 14 and the braided wire 6c are electrically and thermally connected via the cable-side terminal portion 16. The external terminal 14 and the camera case 2 are thermally connected via a flange portion 17 which is fixed in contact with the second case 4.
The heat generated in the camera case 2 is transmitted to the metal camera case 2, transmitted to the main body of the external terminal 14 via the flange portion 17 of the external terminal 14, and the braided wire via the cable side terminal portion 16. It is guided to 6c and radiated from the coaxial cable 6 to the outside.
In this way, heat can be dissipated to the outside via the braided wire 6c simply by providing the external terminal 14 provided at the tip of the coaxial cable 6, so that miniaturization can be realized without increasing the number of parts. ..

The external terminal 14 is fixed to the second case 4 via the cover portion 5 by the fixing screw 7 in a state of being housed inside the cover portion 5 having an insulating property. As a fixing portion of the external terminal 14, a flange portion 17 sandwiched between the cover portion 5 and the second case 4 by fastening the fixing screw 7 is provided. As a result, by fastening the fixing screw 7, the external terminal 14 is stably brought into contact with the second case 4, and heat transfer between the external terminal 14 and the second case 4 is suitably secured. be able to.

The cable-side terminal portion 16 connected to the braided wire 6c is a cylindrical body surrounding the outer circumference of the braided wire 6c, and this cylindrical body is caulked and fixed to the braided wire 6c to form a caulked portion 16a. did. As a result, it is possible to connect to the braided wire 6c using the cable-side terminal portion 16 integrally provided with the external terminal 14, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the configuration can be simplified to realize miniaturization. can do.

An opening 16b is formed in the peripheral wall of the cable-side terminal portion 16, and a filler 25 is provided on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the cable-side terminal portion 16 through the opening 16b. As a result, the external terminal 14, the coaxial cable 6, and the cover portion 5 can be securely fixed, and the waterproof property can be improved.

Although the coaxial cable 6 has been described as an example of the cable in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention has an external conductor such as a braided wire instead of the coaxial cable 6. It can be applied even if it is a multi-core wire such as a core wire.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a ring-shaped shield member 27 may be arranged so as to close the opening 16b formed in the external terminal 14. The shield member 27 closes the opening 16b by caulking and fixing the shield member 27 so as to reduce the diameter from the state shown in FIG. A protrusion 16c is provided at a position avoiding the opening 16b so that the shield member 27 is deformed so as to surely close the opening 16b when the shield member 27 is caulked and fixed. As a result, it is possible to prevent noise from leaking through the opening 16b.

1 In-vehicle camera module 2 Camera case 3 1st case 4 2nd case 5 Cover 5a Cable side end 5b Fixed side end 6 Coaxial cable (cable)
6a Core wire 6b Insulator 6c Braided wire (outer conductor)
6d Sheath 7 Fixing screw 9 Mounting board 10 In-vehicle camera module connector 11 Mounting board side connector 14 External terminal 15 Board side terminal part 16 Cable side terminal part (external conductor connection part; cylinder)
16a caulking part 16b opening 17 flange part (fixing part)
20 O-ring 22 Fixing member 23 Contact 25 Filler 27 Shielding member

Claims (6)

It is provided on the tip side of a cable with an external conductor, and has an external terminal connected to the mounting board side inside the camera case made of a conductive material.
The external terminal is made of a conductor material, has an external conductor connecting portion connected to the external conductor, and a fixed portion fixed in contact with the camera case.
A cover portion that has insulating properties and houses the external terminals inside,
Equipped with
The fixing portion is a connector for an in-vehicle camera module including a flange portion that is pressed and sandwiched between the cover portion and the camera case. Connector-vehicle camera module according to claim 1, the front Symbol cover portion and a retaining screw for fixing to said camera case. The outer conductor connecting portion includes a cylinder that surrounds the outer circumference of the outer conductor.
The connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylinder is a caulked portion fixed to the outer conductor by caulking. An opening is formed in the peripheral wall of the cylinder.
The connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to claim 3, wherein fillers are provided on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the tubular body through the opening. The connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to claim 4, wherein a shield member for closing the opening is provided. Image sensor and
A camera case that houses the image sensor and
A mounting board housed in the camera case and driving the image sensor,
The connector for an in-vehicle camera module according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
In-vehicle camera module equipped with.

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