JPH0546072B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a waterproof connector for electrically connecting and disconnecting electronic circuits, devices, and the like.

[0002]

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8, male and female lead wires A1 and B1 coated with an airtight insulating material are connected to the male side of a waterproof connector AB while maintaining airtightness. In order to fix the housings A2, B2 on the female side, the male side and female side Waterproof rubber plug A4,
B4 was press-fitted.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] With the miniaturization of electronic devices, smaller diameter wires are being used for both lead wires A1 and B1, and as a result, it is necessary to Waterproof rubber stopper A
4. It has become necessary to reduce the diameter of the B4 through hole.

[0004] However, both waterproof rubber plugs A4,
Since B4 is manufactured by molding, a pin for making a through hole must be provided in the mold, and if the diameter of the through hole is small, the pin becomes thin and easily breaks. .

[0005] In addition, when making both waterproof rubber plugs A4 and B4 by extrusion molding, a tube-shaped one with a small diameter through-hole can be made, but it is difficult to pass a lead wire through the small-diameter through-hole of this tube. It was hot.

[0006] The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and provides a waterproof connector through which the lead wire can be easily inserted even when the diameter of the through hole of a waterproof rubber plug or the like through which the lead wire is passed is reduced. The purpose is to provide a manufacturing method for.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The invention of claim 1 to achieve the above object is characterized in that a lead wire whose surface is covered with an airtight insulating material is fixed in a cylindrical fixing member in a hole of a housing. A method for manufacturing a waterproof connector that is fixed to airtight the hole, the fixing member being formed of an elastic swelling material, and the fixing member being soaked in a swelling liquid to swell the through hole of the fixing member. widening the diameter of the through hole, inserting the lead wire into the widened through hole, and then drying the fixing member to narrow the diameter of the through hole,
The gist of the present invention is a method of manufacturing a waterproof connector, characterized in that the lead wire is closely fixed in the through hole.

[0008] Further, the invention of claim 2 summarizes the method for manufacturing a waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is a tube made of silicone rubber.

[0009] Furthermore, the invention of claim 3 is summarized as the method for manufacturing a waterproof connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the insulating material is polytetrafluoroethylene.

[0010] Here, the above-mentioned fixing member is a tube made of, for example, silicone rubber, which has the property of swelling when immersed in mineral oil-based gasoline, etc., and shrinking and returning to its original state when dried. The material is polytetrafluoroethylene (eg, Teflon (trade name)) or the like. Note that as a method of immersing the fixing member in mineral oil or the like, a method of placing the fixing member in mineral oil or a method of spraying mineral oil or the like can be adopted.

[0011] Furthermore, the housing may be made of a flexible material such as resin or a flexible material such as rubber. Further, the housing may be of an integral type or may be divided into a plurality of parts, or may be formed by press-fitting a flexible rubber cylinder into a flexible resin cylinder.

[0012]

[Operation] According to the present invention, the cylindrical fixing member is swollen by mineral oil-based gasoline, etc., and the lead wire covered with an airtight insulating material is inserted into the through hole that becomes wider. It can be done. As the fixing member dries and shrinks, this lead wire is pressed and comes into close contact with the fixing member, while the fixing member is press-fitted into the hole of the housing and comes into close contact with the inner peripheral surface thereof.

[0013] Therefore, the lead wire whose coating has airtightness and the fixing member are in close contact with each other, and the fixing member and the housing are also in close contact with each other to maintain airtightness, thereby fixing the lead wire in an airtight state. A waterproof connector is manufactured.

[0014] Here, it is particularly preferable that the fixing member is a silicone rubber tube or that the insulating material is polytetrafluoroethylene, since this facilitates the production of the waterproof connector.

【0015】

[Example] Next, a method of manufacturing a waterproof connector according to an example of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows a waterproof connector 1 according to the first embodiment, in which the male contacts 3 of the male connector 2 and the female contacts 5 of the female connector 4 are fitted together to form a male lead wire 6 and a female lead wire 8.
electrically connect with.

[0016] The male connector 2, as shown in FIG.
A male lead wire 6 is fixed in the through hole 12 of the male connector shell 10, and one end of the male lead wire 6 extending outward is connected to the output of a temperature sensor, oxygen sensor, etc. (not shown). connected to the terminal.

[0017] The male lead wire 6 has an outer diameter of 1.2
mm or less (for example, 1.0 mm), and is composed of a metal wire 16 made of one or more stainless steel wires, copper wires, etc. for transmitting output signals, and an insulator 18 coated on the outer periphery of the metal wire 16. There is.

[0018] The insulator 18 is made of a material such as Teflon (trade name), which is impermeable to gases and liquids and is resistant to heat. A tube 20 made of rubber such as silicone is tightly pressed against the insulator 18.

[0019] Furthermore, on the outer periphery of this tube 20,
A cylindrical waterproof rubber plug 24 made of silicone rubber and having a plurality of brim portions 22 formed therein is tightly fitted onto the outside. The waterproof rubber plug 24 has a length of 7.8 mm and an outer diameter of 6.5 mm.
mm, and the inner diameter is 0.8 mm, as shown in Figure 4 A and B.
The outer side consists of three large-diameter brim portions 22a to 22c and one small-diameter brim portion 22b, while the inner through-hole 25 has two smaller diameters. The flange portion 22 is pressed into close contact with the inner circumferential surface 12a of the through hole 12 of the male connector shell 10 to maintain airtightness.

[0020] Furthermore, the male contact 3 connected to the metal wire 16 inside the through hole 12 is a conductor made of metal, and is fastened to the outer periphery of the end of the tube 20 of the male lead wire 6. There is. This male contact 3 has an insulator fastening part 28 that fastens itself to the male lead wire 6, and a wire fastening part that is fastened to the outer periphery of the metal wire 16 to establish electrical continuity between the metal wire 16 and the male contact 3. 30, a plate-shaped insertion portion 32 that is fitted into the female contact 5 (FIG. 3), and the insertion portion 3
A base 3 that supports 2 and has a hole 36 formed in the center position.
It consists of 4.

[0021] The male connector shell 10 is made of resin (for example, nylon resin, etc.), and on the side to which the male lead wire 6 is connected, there is a male first outer diameter part 38 with a small outer diameter, and a (female Connector 4 (Figure 3)
(internally fitted) male side second outer diameter part 4 with a large outer diameter
Consists of 0.

[0022] Also, inside the male connector shell 10, there is a male side first inner diameter part 42 into which the collar part 22 of the waterproof rubber plug 24 is airtightly fitted, and a step 44 between this male side first inner diameter part 42 and a step 44. a second inner diameter part 46 on the male side which has a small diameter through which the insulator fastening part 28 of the male contact 3 is loosely fitted; and a male contact holding part 48 which holds the base part 34 of the male contact 3;
A third inner diameter portion 52 on the male side in which the insertion portion 32 of the male contact 3 is disposed, and a fourth inner diameter portion 56 having a larger diameter via the third inner diameter portion 52 on the male side and a step 54 are formed. .

[0023] A protrusion 58 parallel to the insertion portion 32 of the male contact 3 is formed inside the third male inner diameter portion 52. Furthermore, a protrusion (not shown) that fits into the hole 36 of the male contact 3 is formed inside the male contact holding part 48, and by inserting the male contact 3 into the male connector shell 10, the male contact can be removed. 3
The protrusion fits into the hole 36 of the male contact 3.
cannot be removed from the male connector shell 10.

[0024] A method of manufacturing the male connector 2 of the waterproof connector 1 described above will be described based on FIG. 2. First, the tube 20 made of silicone rubber is swollen with mineral oil-based gasoline or the like, and the male lead wire 6 is passed through the through hole 20a expanded by the swelling.

[0025] Next, the tube 20 is dried to shrink, and the tube 20 and the male lead wire 6 are
and bring them into close contact. Then, by press-fitting the tube 20 into the through hole 25 of the waterproof rubber stopper 24, the tube 20
is fixed to the waterproof rubber stopper 24, and the space between the tube 20 and the waterproof rubber stopper 24 is airtight.

[0026] Furthermore, the exposed metal wire 16 of the male lead wire 6
is crimped by the wire fastening part 30 of the male contact 3, and also by the insulator fastening part 28. This male contact 3 is inserted into the through hole 12 of the male connector shell 10, and is fitted into the male contact holding portion 48 and fixed.

[0027] At the same time, the waterproof rubber plug 24 is inserted into the through hole 12.
The collar portions 22a to 22d are press-fitted to the inner circumferences of the first and second inner diameter portions 42 and 46. Thereby, the male lead wire 6 is fixed to the male connector shell 10 while maintaining airtightness.

[0028] Next, the female connector 4 will be explained using FIGS. 5 and 6. Similarly to the male lead wire 6, the female lead wire 8 of the female connector 4 is coated with an insulator 61 such as Teflon. In order to fix the female lead wire 8 to the female connector shell 62 and make it airtight, the female lead wire 8 is inserted through a tube 64 made of silicone rubber that has swelling properties, similar to the male connector 2. has been done.

[0029] A waterproof rubber plug 66 made of silicone rubber is fitted around the outer periphery of the tube 64, and the waterproof rubber plug 66 is press-fitted into the through hole 68 of the female connector shell 62. .

[0030] The female contact 5 held within the through hole 68 is a metal conductor connected to the male contact 3, and is fastened to the outer periphery of the insulator 61 of the female lead wire 8. The female contact 5 includes an insulator fastening part 72 that fixes itself to the female lead wire 8, and a wire fastening part 76 that is fastened to the outer periphery of the metal wire 74 to establish electrical continuity between the metal wire 74 and the female contact 5. , an inserted portion 78 into which the male contact 3 is inserted, and a base portion 80 that supports the inserted portion 78.

[0031] The female connector shell 62 is made of resin similar to the male connector shell 10, and includes a first female outer diameter portion 82 with a small outer circumference on the side to which the female lead wire 8 is connected, and a first female outer diameter portion 82 with a small outer circumference diameter on the side to which the female lead wire 8 is connected. Step 8 from the outer diameter part 82
2 through the male connector shell 1
The second female outer diameter section 86 is fitted into the fourth inner diameter section 56 of the male connector shell 10, and the second outer diameter section 86 is made smaller in diameter than the second outer diameter section 86 of the female side through a step 88. It consists of a female side third outer diameter part 90 that is fitted into the side third inner diameter part 52.

[0032] A groove 92 is formed in the middle part of the outer periphery of this female side third outer diameter part 90, and the groove 92 has a
An O-ring 94 made of elastic material such as synthetic rubber is fitted onto the outside. Further, the wire fastening portion 76 of the female contact 5 is fitted into the through hole 68 of the female connector shell 62, and the base portion 80 of the female contact 5 is fitted inside the through hole 68 of the female connector shell 62.
a female-side first inner diameter portion 96 that holds a female-side third inner diameter portion 96;
While holding the inserted portion 78 of the female contact 5 inside the outer diameter portion 90, the male connector shell 10
A female-side second inner diameter portion 98 is formed to fit the protrusion 58 (FIG. 1) therein.

[0033] Furthermore, the tube 6 of this female connector 4
The main parts of the manufacturing method using swelling etc. in No. 4 are almost the same as those for the male connector 2 described above, so a description thereof will be omitted. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, since the tubes 20 and 64 made of silicone rubber are used, the male and female lead wires 6 and 8 can be easily connected while swollen with mineral oil-based gasoline. If the tubes 20 and 64 are allowed to pass through and dry, the tubes 20 and 64 can press both lead wires 6 and 8 into close contact with each other to maintain airtightness.

[0034] Furthermore, if the tubes 20, 64 are used, there is no need to reduce the diameter of the through hole 25 of the waterproof rubber plugs 24, 64 that are fitted onto the tubes, so the waterproof rubber plugs can be made by molding. It has the advantage that the mold is less likely to be damaged during the process, and in addition, it is possible to use conventionally manufactured pins (0.8 mmφ) as they are without using small diameter pins. It has the advantage of being extremely easy to manufacture.

[0035] Moreover, since the tubes 20 and 64 can be manufactured by extrusion molding, the tubes 20 and 64 can be manufactured by extrusion molding.
0.64 can also be easily made.

[0036] Next, an example using the waterproof connector 1 described above will be described. (Example) In this experiment, the first inner diameter part 42 side of the male connector 2 was placed in water, air was sent from the fourth inner diameter part 56, and it was confirmed whether an airtight state could be maintained. The results are shown in Table 1 below. Note that the waterproof connector 1 has no practical problems as long as no air leaks when a pressure of 0.5 to 1.0 kg/cm ² is applied.

【0037】

[Table 1] ■■■ Turtle shell [0010] ■■■

[0038] As can be seen from this experiment, in this example, practically sufficient airtightness can be maintained. In addition, in the above embodiment, both connector shells 10,
62 and the waterproof rubber plugs 24 and 66 correspond to a housing, but in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the waterproof rubber plug and the connector shell 102 are integrated to form a housing. In this case, lead wire 1
In order to fix the connector 00 in an airtight manner, it is sufficient to simply use the tube 104, and this can be used when manufacturing a waterproof connector even smaller than that of the first embodiment. Note that the connector shell may be made of not only resin but also rubber.

【0039】

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, by expanding the through hole by swelling the fixing member, a thin lead wire can be easily passed through the through hole. Further, by drying and shrinking the fixing member, the lead wire and the fixing member are brought into close contact with each other, so that airtightness can be maintained sufficiently.

[0040] Furthermore, by using this fixing member, there is no need to reduce the diameter of the through hole of the waterproof rubber plug,
Therefore, when making a waterproof rubber stopper by molding, there is no need to make the pins of the mold corresponding to the through holes thinner, so the pins do not break and the manufacturing work becomes very easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a male connector of a waterproof connector according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a male connector of the waterproof connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the connection of the waterproof connector.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the front and cross section of the waterproof rubber stopper.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a female connector of the waterproof connector.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a waterproof connector of a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing a waterproof connector of a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the connection of a conventional waterproof connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Waterproof connector 2...Male connector 3...male contact 4...Female connector 5...Female connector 6...Male side lead wire 8...Female side lead wire 10...male connector shell 18, 61...Insulator 20,64,104...Tube 62...Female connector shell 102...Connector shell 100... Lead wire.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a waterproof connector in which a lead wire whose surface is coated with an airtight insulating material is fixed in a hole of a housing with a cylindrical fixing member to make the hole airtight, comprising: The fixing member is made of a swelling material having elasticity, and the fixing member is immersed in a swelling liquid to swell to enlarge the diameter of the through hole of the fixing member, and the lead wire is inserted into the enlarged through hole. and then drying the fixing member to narrow the diameter of the through hole,
A method for manufacturing a waterproof connector, characterized in that the lead wire is closely fixed within the through hole. 2. The method of manufacturing a waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is a silicone rubber tube. 3. The method for manufacturing a waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the insulating material is polytetrafluoroethylene.