JPH0617141U - Waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a waterproof connector which is excellent in workability of assembly, has a small number of parts, and can reduce manufacturing cost. [Structure] The waterproof connector 2 includes an insulating housing 6 into which a male contact 4 is press-fitted and held, and a pressure contact type connector 8 housed in a connector housing chamber 12 of the insulating housing 6. After the pressure contact type connector 8 is accommodated in the connector accommodating chamber 12, the sealing material 40 is filled, so that the inside of the insulating housing 6 can be waterproofed. The waterproof property between the case 78 and the insulating housing 6 is obtained by the waterproof body 28. Since the insulating housing 6 and the pressure contact type connector 8 can be integrally handled and assembled into a device, the workability of assembling is good.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a waterproof connector, and more particularly to a waterproof connector attached to the case of a device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In equipment such as gas meters installed outdoors, waterproof connectors have been conventionally used to prevent water droplets and the like from entering the equipment from the outside. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the conventional example.

A connector 100, which is connected to a measuring instrument or the like (not shown), is attached to a mounting portion 104 projecting from an inner wall 102 inside the device, which is reluctant to invade water droplets and the like. A connector 108 that fits with the connector 100 is fixed by a screw (not shown) to the outside of the case 106 that separates the inside of the device from the outside. The connector 108 has a first tab portion 110 that contacts a female contact (not shown) of the connector 100 at one end and a second tab portion 110 that contacts a female contact (not shown) of the connector 112 at the other end. (Not shown) and a male contact 114 is housed and held. The first tab portion 110 of the male contact 114 projects into the device through the opening 116 of the case 106, and the two connectors 100, 112 are interconnected via the male contact 114.

The connector 108 has an annular waterproof body 118 on one end surface thereof so as to be liquid-tightly attached to the case 106. At the other end of the connector 108, an annular waterproof body (not shown) for liquid-tightly fitting with the connector 112 is housed along the inner wall of the housing opening (not shown) of the connector 112. There is. Each female contact insertion opening (not shown) of the connector 112 accommodates a waterproof plug (not shown) that makes liquid tight between the electric wire 120 connected to the female contact and the female contact insertion opening. ing. The waterproof body and the waterproof plug prevent water droplets and the like from entering the inside of the device and the connectors 108 and 112.

Assembling of these connectors is performed in the following procedure. That is, first, the connector 100 is attached to the attachment portion 104 inside the device. Next, the connector 108 is fitted into the connector 100, and the connector 108 is fixed to the case 106 with a screw. Subsequently, the connector 112 that accommodates the female contact crimped to the electric wire 120 is attached to the attachment portion 124 of the outer case 122. Finally, by fixing the outer case 122 to the case 106, the connector 112 is fitted to the connector 108.

[0006]

【Problems to be solved】

 In the connector 108 of the connectors, it is necessary to insert an annular waterproof body along the inner wall of the connector accommodating opening. If this waterproof body is not inserted in the specified position, the waterproof function will be impaired, so the insertion work has to be done carefully and the workability is poor.

In addition, in the connector 112, a waterproof plug corresponding to the number of the electric wires 120 (or female contacts) is prepared, and the electric wires 120 and the waterproof plugs are crimped to individual female contacts to form female contact insertion openings. Need to be inserted into. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of parts is large and it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector that solves the above-mentioned problems, that is, a waterproof connector that has excellent workability in assembly, has a small number of parts, and can reduce manufacturing costs.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The waterproof connector of the present invention is attached to a case of a device, and has an insulating housing for accommodating and holding a male contact having a first contact portion protruding from one end and a second contact portion protruding into the connector accommodating chamber at the other end. A pressure contact type connector that is housed in the connector housing chamber and electrically connected to the second contact portion, and after housing the pressure contact type connector in the connector housing chamber, seal the connector housing chamber with a sealing material. It is characterized by having stopped.

[0010]

[Action]

 Since the connection between the connector housed in the connector housing chamber of the insulating housing and the electric wire is performed by pressure welding, connection workability is extremely good.

[0011] Furthermore, after the pressure contact type connector is housed in the contact accommodating chamber, the sealing property of the single sealing material allows the waterproof property between the insulating housing and the pressure contact type connector and between the pressure contact type connector and each electric wire. As a result, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0012]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the waterproof connector of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view, (B) sectional view, and (C) side view showing a waterproof connector of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a second connector that fits with the waterproof connector of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a fitted state of the waterproof connector of FIG. 1 and the connector of FIG.

In FIG. 1, the waterproof connector 2 includes an insulating housing 6 for housing a plurality of (six in this embodiment) male contacts 4 and a first pressure contact type connector 8. The male contact 4 includes a first contact portion 10 that protrudes from one end of the insulating housing 6 and is fitted with a female contact 58 (FIG. 2) of the second pressure contact type connector 56, and a connector housing at the other end of the insulating housing 6. It has a second contact portion 14 protruding into the chamber 12, and is press-fitted and held in a hole 16 of the insulating housing 6. A taper surface 18 is formed in the hole 16 of the insulating housing 6 to facilitate insertion of the male contact 4 from the other end side.

At one end of the insulating housing 6, guide arms 20 and 22 are formed which extend substantially parallel to the male contact 4 and are longer than the exposed length of the male contact 4. These guide arms 20 and 22 protect the male contact 4 when inserting one end side of the insulating housing 6 into the opening 80 (FIG. 3) of the case 78 of the device, and guide holes 60 of the second connector housing 52. It has a function of fitting with 62 (FIG. 2) and guiding the fitting between the male contact 4 and the female contact 58 of the second pressure contact type connector 56 housed in the second connector housing 52. A locking hole 24 is formed in one of the guide arms 20, and by locking with a locking protrusion 64 (FIG. 2) formed facing the guide hole 60 of the second connector housing 52, the waterproof connector 2 and the 2 The mated state of the connector 50 is maintained.

A waterproof body accommodating groove 26 is formed on the outer periphery of the substantially center of the insulating housing 6, and an annular waterproof body 28 is accommodated therein. When the waterproof connector 2 is attached to the case 78 (FIG. 3) of the device, the waterproof body 28 comes into close contact with the outer surface of the case 78 and water droplets from the outside pass through the opening 80 (FIG. 3) of the case 78. Prevent it from getting inside the equipment.

The first pressure contact type connector 8 accommodated in the connector accommodation chamber 12 at the other end of the insulation housing 6 includes an insulation housing 30 and a U-shaped pressure contact slot (not shown) with an insulation coating wire 36. And a contact 38 having a contact portion 34 that comes into contact with the second contact portion 14 of the male contact 4. The first pressure contact type connector 8 is collectively pressure contact connected to the plurality of electric wires 36 together with another pressure contact type connector (not shown) connected to the other end of the plurality (six in this embodiment) of the electric wires 36. Therefore, the harness including the first pressure contact type connector 8 and the electric wire 36 can be manufactured extremely easily and with high productivity.

After inserting the first pressure contact type connector 8 into the connector housing chamber 12 of the insulating housing 6 in which the male contact 4 is press-fitted and held, the inside of the connector housing chamber 12 is filled with a sealing material 40 such as an epoxy resin. The sealing material 40 ensures the waterproof property and also has a function of preventing the first press-connecting type connector 8 from coming off. Since the single sealing member 40 can provide the same or more functions as the waterproof body and the waterproof plug in the conventional example, the number of parts can be reduced, and as a result, the manufacturing cost of the waterproof connector can be reduced.

In FIG. 2, the second connector 50 fitted with the waterproof connector 2 is composed of a second connector housing 52 and a second pressure contact type connector 56 housed in the connector housing chamber 54. The second pressure contact type connector 56 is connected to a circuit (not shown) inside the device via an electric wire 66. The second pressure contact type connector 56 is the same as the first pressure contact type connector 8, and therefore its detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 3, the connector accommodating chamber 54 of the second connector housing 52 is formed larger than the size of the second pressure contact type connector 56. Therefore, the work of inserting the second pressure contact type connector 56 into the connector accommodating chamber 54 is easy. The second press-connecting connector 56 is fixedly held in the housing chamber 54 by the latch arm 68 after being inserted into the connector housing chamber 54.

A slight gap is formed between the mounting portion 70 inside the device and the outer peripheral surface 72 of the second connector housing 52, and the second connector housing 52 is mounted on the mounting portion 70 in a floating state. . As a result, the second connector housing 52 can be moved in the direction in which the male contact 4 and the second pressure contact type connector 56 are correctly fitted together with the fitting of the guide arms 20, 22 and the guide holes 60, 62. .

Next, a process of incorporating the waterproof connector 2 and the second connector 50 into a device will be described. First, the second connector 50 accommodating the second pressure contact type connector 56 is attached to the mounting portion 70 in the device. Separately from this mounting step, the waterproof connector 2 accommodating the first pressure contact type connector 8 is integrally press-fitted into the mounting portion 76 of the outer case 74. Finally, by attaching the outer case 74 to the case 78, the male contact 4 and the female contact 58 in the second connector 50 are fitted through the opening 80 of the case 78. Since the waterproof connector 2 is formed by integrating the insulation housing 6 and the first pressure contact type connector 8, the waterproof connector 2 is excellent in assembling into a device. Further, since the step of previously screwing the insulating housing 6 to the case 78 in the conventional example is not required, the number of assembling steps can be reduced.

Although the preferred embodiment of the waterproof connector of the present invention has been described above in detail, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, in this embodiment, the sealing material 40 is filled from the connector housing chamber 12 of the insulating housing 6 to the press-fitting portion of the male contact 4, but the first press-connecting connector 8 is press-fitting portion of the male contact 4. It is not always necessary to fill the space up to with the sealing material 40.

[0023]

[Effect of device]

 According to the waterproof connector of the present invention, since the press-connecting connector is used as the connector housed in the insulating housing, it is possible to manufacture the harness including the electric wire and the press-connecting connector with extremely high productivity. Have. In addition, since the pressure contact type connector is housed in the connector housing chamber of the insulating housing and the connector housing chamber is sealed with a sealant, the insulating housing and the pressure contact type connector can be handled integrally, so It has an advantage that the workability of assembling the waterproof connector is excellent. Furthermore, since the waterproof function is obtained by filling a single sealing material, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost of the waterproof connector can be reduced, which is a significant advantage in practical use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a waterproof connector of the present invention, each (A)
A front view, a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of (B) and (A),
(C) It is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a second connector that fits with the waterproof connector of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of the waterproof connector of FIG. 1 and a second connector of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional waterproof connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Waterproof connector 4 Male contact 6 Insulation housing 8 Pressure contact type connector 10 1st contact part 12 Connector accommodating chamber 14 2nd contact part 40 Sealing material 78 Case

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An insulating housing which is attached to a case of a device and which accommodates and holds a male contact having a first contact portion protruding from one end and a second contact portion protruding into the connector accommodating chamber at the other end, and the connector. A pressure contact type connector housed in the housing chamber and electrically connected to the second contact portion, the pressure contact type connector being housed in the connector housing chamber, and the connector housing chamber being sealed with a sealing material. Waterproof connector characterized by.