JPH08227752A - Protecting structure of connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve a terminal so that no conductive foreign matter or dust is penetrated into the positioning hole of a terminal to prevent a short-circuit accident between terminals, and improve the reliability of a connector. CONSTITUTION: A terminal 51 is supported by a connector housing 52 having a positioning hole 52. A protecting cover 7 has a substantially U-shaped sectional form so as to cover the positioning hole 52 extended through over both the surfaces of the connector housing 53 from both the surfaces.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a connector used for a rotary connector device for an air bag of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a technique for deploying an airbag to protect an occupant from an impact in the event of a car accident has been put into practical use. In this airbag, particularly in the airbag provided on the pad portion of the steering handle, it is necessary to supply power from the vehicle body side to the inflator of the airbag of the pad portion via the rotating portion of the steering handle. As means for supplying electric power, there are mainly one using a slip ring and one using a flexible cable wound in a spiral shape. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-54714 discloses a technique using a flexible cable. This type of rotary connector device uses a connector for electrically connecting a flexible cable housed inside a housing and an external electric wire, but in order to save the life of an occupant, the rotary connector is of course used. High reliability is required for each component of the device. In the case of forming the above connector, for example, the terminal is first sandwiched between molding dies for positioning, and then molten resin is injected into the mold to mold the connector housing, thereby supporting the terminal with the connector housing. Had formed the connector.

[0003]

However, a mold mark for positioning the terminal, that is, a positioning hole remains in the connector housing, and the terminal is exposed from this positioning hole. Therefore, for example, if a conductive foreign substance enters the positioning hole, a short-circuit accident may occur between the terminals, resulting in a significant decrease in reliability.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and has been improved so that conductive foreign matter does not enter the positioning holes to prevent short-circuit accidents between terminals and to improve reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide a protective structure for a connector with improved performance.

The present invention provides the following means in order to achieve the above object. That is, in a connector including a terminal and a connector housing that supports the terminal and has a positioning hole for the terminal, a connector protective structure including a protective cover that covers the positioning hole is provided. To do.

Further, as an embodiment of the above invention, there is provided a connector protective structure in which the protective cover is formed of a resin film material.

Further, as an embodiment of the above invention, the protective cover has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the protective cover covers the positioning holes penetrating both the front and back of the connector housing from the front and back. To provide a protective structure for the connector.

Further, as an embodiment of the above invention, there is provided a connector protection structure characterized in that the connector housing is provided in a rotary connector device.

[0009]

1 is a front view of a connector 5, FIG. 2 is a side view in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 is a top view in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is the connector 5 shown in FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a rotary connector device in which is mounted. In the figure, 1 is a stator housing, 2 is a rotor housing, 3 is an attachment, 4 is a flexible cable, 5 and 6 are connectors, and 7 is a protective cover, which will be described below.

First, the stator housing 1 is a portion fixed to a combination switch (not shown) of an automobile, for example, and is equipped with a connector 5 described later. The rotor housing 2 is a portion that is rotatably mounted on the stator housing 1 and is connected to a steering handle (not shown) by a connecting pin 21. The attachment 3 connects the housings 1 and 2.

As the flexible cable 4, for example, a so-called flat cable having a structure in which a conductive wire is sandwiched between resin films is used. The flexible cable 4 is housed in a doughnut-shaped space formed by the stator housing 1 and the rotor housing 2. One end of the flexible cable 4 is a terminal 51 of the stator housing 1 side connector 5, and the other end is the rotor housing 2. The terminals of the side connectors 6 are electrically connected to each other.

Next, the connector 5 will be described. The connector 5
Includes a metal terminal 51 and a connector housing 53 that supports the terminal 51. The connector housing 53 has a positioning hole 52. The positioning hole 52 is a mark of a molding die that holds the terminal 51 when the connector housing 53 is molded, and penetrates the front and back of the connector housing 53. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, a part of the terminal 51 is exposed from the positioning hole 52. Therefore, when a conductive foreign substance enters the positioning hole 52, there is a risk of causing a short circuit accident between the exposed terminals 51.

In the present invention, the positioning hole 52 is covered by the protective cover 7. The protective cover 7 is formed by bending a resin film material having appropriate rigidity so as to have a substantially U-shaped cross section.
It has holes 71 and 72 and an insertion piece 73.

Incidentally, the connector housing 53 is provided with first and second protrusions 54 and 55 corresponding to the first and second holes 71 and 72 of the protective cover 7, and the insertion piece 73 of the protective cover 7 is also provided. The insertion hole 56 is provided corresponding to the first and second protrusions 54 and 55, and the first and second holes 71 and 72 of the protective cover 7 are fitted to protect the insertion hole 56. The insertion piece 73 of the cover 7 is inserted. As a result, the protective cover 7 is attached to the connector housing 53, and the positioning hole 52 is covered from the front and back of the connector housing 53 to prevent foreign matter and dust from entering the positioning hole 52. The protective cover 7 can be firmly fixed to the connector housing 53 by crimping the first or second protrusions 54 and 55.

[0015]

Since the present invention has the above-described function, it has the following effects. That is, in a connector that includes a terminal and a connector housing that supports the terminal and has a positioning hole for the terminal, since a protective cover that covers the positioning hole is provided,
The conductive foreign matter does not enter the positioning hole, and a short-circuit accident due to the foreign matter or dust does not occur between the terminals exposed in the positioning hole, so that reliability is improved. In particular, since the protective cover is made of a resin film material and has a substantially U-shaped cross section, it is possible to cover the positioning holes penetrating the front and back of the connector housing from the front and back. Further, since it has high reliability, it is suitable as a connector of a rotary connector device that supplies power to an air bag of an automobile.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a connector showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rotary connector device equipped with the connectors shown in FIGS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Stator housing 2 Rotor housing 3 Attachment 4 Flexible cable 5,6 Connector 7 Protective cover 51 Terminal 52 Positioning hole 53 Connector housing 54 First protrusion 55 Second protrusion 56 Insert hole 71 First hole 72 Second hole 73 Insert

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A connector housing (53) having a terminal (51) and a positioning hole (52) for supporting the terminal (51) and having the terminal (51).
A protective structure for a connector, comprising: a connector (5) including a protective cover (7) covering the positioning hole (52). 2. The protective structure for a connector according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover (7) is formed of a resin film material. 3. The invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective cover (7) has a substantially U-shaped cross-section, and a positioning hole (52) penetrating both sides of the connector housing (53). ) Is covered from the front and back by the protective cover (7), the protective structure of the connector. 4. The connector protection structure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the connector housing (53) is provided in a rotary connector device.