JPH0244466Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] Industrial applications The present invention relates to a waterproof connector for electrical connections.

Prior Art When a male connector is inserted and coupled to a female connector, an annular sealing member is provided between the outer surface of the male connector housing and the inner surface of the female connector housing in order to prevent rainwater from entering between the two connectors. It is known to seal the gap between housings by using

As such a known connector, there is a connector having a waterproof structure as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, for example. When the female connector housing 10 and the male connector housing 20 are inserted and connected, a lock 21 is engaged with a stopper 11. An annular groove 13 is provided in the inner wall surface 12 of the female housing 10, into which an annular seal member 9 made of, for example, rubber is fitted so as not to easily fall off. Female housing 1 like this
The outer wall surface 22 of the male housing 20 inserted into the
is designed to be sealed by contacting the annular sealing member 9, but sealing begins when the sealing surface of the sealing member 9 and the tip 23 of the male housing come into contact, and then the lock 21 is engaged with the stopper 11. During this time, the air inside the connector housing is compressed and there is friction between the sealing surface of the seal member 9 and the outer surface 22 of the male housing, so extra force is required to connect the connector. Become.

In addition, the connectors combined in this way are
During use, the pressure inside and outside gradually equalizes, but generally the environmental temperature is high during use, so air leaks outside, and when you stop use and perform maintenance etc., the temperature will drop. This causes the air inside to contract and become depressurized, and a large force is required to disconnect the connector. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the tip 22 of the male housing tries to separate from the seal member 9, the seal member 9 tries to rise from the annular groove 13 due to frictional force (S ), a force R that twists the seal member 9 acts due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the housing, and the annular groove 1
Failures such as the annular seal member 9 coming off from the holder 3 were likely to occur.

Problems to be Solved The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional waterproof connector as described above, and has been improved so that the connector can be easily attached and detached, and failures such as the sealing member lifting up during attachment and detachment are less likely to occur. The aim is to provide a waterproof connector.

Means for Solving the Problems The waterproof connector that is the object of the present invention is configured to seal between the outer surface of the male connector housing and the inner surface of the female connector housing by an annular sealing member. A locking portion for attaching the annular seal member is provided on the surface of one connector housing, and a distal end edge is provided on the surface of the other connector housing beyond the area to be sealed with the annular seal member. It has a configuration in which one or more vertical grooves are provided.

The waterproof connector structure of the present invention will be further explained with reference to examples.

Embodiment FIGS. 1 and 2 show examples of waterproof connectors having the structure of the present invention.

1 is a female connector, a terminal 2 is housed inside a female connector housing 30, and a rear opening is sealed with a plug 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes a male connector, and a terminal 5 is housed inside a male connector housing 40, the rear opening of which is sealed with a plug 6.

When the female connector housing 30 and the male connector housing 40 are combined, the female housing 3
A lock 41 provided on the male connector 40 is engaged with a stopper 31 provided on the male connector 40. An annular groove 33 is provided in the inner wall surface 32 of the female housing 30, into which an annular seal member 7 made of a soft elastic material such as rubber is fitted so as not to easily fall off. On the other hand, the outer wall surface 42 of the male housing 40 inserted into the female housing 30 is designed to be in contact with the annular seal member 7 and sealed, but the outer wall surface 42 of the male housing 40 that is inserted into the female housing 30 is designed to be sealed in contact with the annular seal member 7. A vertical groove 44 is provided from a position close to the edge 43 to the tip edge 43. The number of such vertical grooves 44 is not limited to one, and the number of vertical grooves 44 is not limited to one.
It is preferable to provide a plurality of them in the circumferential direction.

In the waterproof connector having such a structure, the female housing 30 is the same as the conventional one, and only the male housing 40 has a different shape. When attempting to connect such connectors, as shown in FIGS.
Since there is a gap left in the part, air compression does not occur during the insertion process, and the lock 41 is eventually attached to the stopper 31.
The wall surface 42 without the vertical groove 44 immediately before engaging
The sealing is completed.

Furthermore, when attempting to disconnect the connector, when the male housing 40 is first pulled out slightly, the pressure on the inside and outside of the housing is equalized, so that the annular seal member 7 recovers from its deformation due to its own elasticity (FIG. 2B).
In the subsequent extraction process, only tensile deformation occurs due to friction. Therefore, when the housing tip edge 43 separates from the annular seal member 7, the annular groove 3
Failures such as the seal member 7 coming off and coming off from the seal member 3 do not occur.

Furthermore, another example of a waterproof connector having the structure of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this example, the inner wall surface 52 of the female connector housing 50 is provided with a vertical groove 54 near its leading edge 53, while the outer wall surface 62 of the male connector housing 60 is provided with an annular groove 63. An annular seal member 8 is housed within 63. Note that 61 is a lock provided on the male housing 60, and 51 is a stopper provided on the female housing 50 for locking the lock 61.

In the connector of this example, the annular groove 63 and the longitudinal groove 54 for accommodating the annular seal member 8 are provided in the housing on the opposite side, respectively, replacing those in the previous embodiment, but their functions are exactly the same. It is.

Effects of the invention In the waterproof connector structure of the invention, a vertical groove extending to the tip edge is provided on the surface of the housing in front of the area sealed by the sealing member on the side of the housing where the annular sealing member is not provided. Therefore, there is no air compression at that time, so insertion and removal can be performed with a light force, and there is no problem of failure due to displacement or bulging of the sealing member.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an example of a connector equipped with the waterproof connector structure of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C are diagrams showing the waterproof connector according to the present invention in the middle of detachment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another example of the waterproof connector of the present invention. Fifth
This figure is an external perspective view of a conventional connector, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view thereof. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the state of the sealing member when the conventional connector is detached.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a waterproof connector in which the outer surface of the male connector housing and the inner surface of the female connector housing are sealed by an annular seal member, a locking portion for attaching the annular seal member to the surface of one of the connector housings. and one or more vertical grooves extending to a distal end edge on a surface of the other connector housing beyond a portion sealed by the annular seal member.