JPH10112347A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector almost perpendicularly bending an electric wire in the vicinity of the rear surface of a housing and drawing it out, and having high waterproof performance. SOLUTION: A rubber plug presser foot 25 projecting to a cavity 2 is formed in the position, facing an opening of the cavity 2 in the rear part of a housing 1, of a cover fixed so as to cover the rear part of the housing 1. When the cover is fixed to the housing 1, the tip part of the rubber plug presser foot 25 enters the cavity 2, and the edge surface 25A faces a rear end surface 7A of a rubber plug 7. An electric wire 3 is stretched, the rubber plug 7 stays within the cavity 2 by the rubber plug presser foot 25 even if a terminal fitting 4 is moved in the rear, springing out of the rubber plug 7 to the outside is prevented, and waterproofness is ensured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector of this type is disclosed in
What is described in -53155 is known.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. In addition to the terminal fitting, a waterproof rubber plug is fixed to the end of the electric wire a, and the terminal fitting is inserted into a cavity provided in the connector housing b, and the waterproof rubber plug is inserted. Is fitted to the entrance of the cavity to provide a seal, and a pair of covers c is provided on the rear side of the connector housing b so as to be openable and closable. By closing and locking the cover c, the wire a
And is drawn out of the housing b in a straight direction.

[0003]

By the way, after the cover is attached, an external pulling force sometimes acts on the electric wire. In this case, the above-mentioned cover is merely provided for the purpose of, for example, avoiding direct water exposure to the lead-out portion of the electric wire, and no countermeasure against the pulling of the electric wire is specifically taken. Of course, the wire is prevented from coming off inside the connector housing (actually, it is prevented from coming off the terminal fittings). However, it is difficult to complete the waterproof connector in the following situations.

[0004] In order to prevent the wire from coming off, a retainer has conventionally been used. In a connector that does not particularly require waterproofing, a type in which a retainer insertion hole is formed in the side surface of the connector housing and the retainer inserted from the hole is directly engaged with the terminal fitting may be employed. However, in a connector of a type that requires waterproofness, a hole cannot be provided in the side surface of the housing, and a connector called a front type must be used. This penetrates into a flexing area of a so-called lance (a locking piece that flexibly deforms and elastically engages with the terminal fitting) formed inside the housing, and prevents the lance from elastically deforming in the disengaging direction. This is a type in which the terminal fitting is indirectly prevented by blocking. This front-type retainer has sufficient holding power for the terminal fittings in normal use, but retains the same level as the retainer that directly engages the terminal fittings when strong pulling force is applied to the wires. It was necessary to increase the force to maintain the sealing property. The present invention has been completed based on the above demands, and provides a connector that can be bent at a substantially right angle in the vicinity of a rear surface of a housing and can be pulled out, and has excellent waterproof performance. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

<Invention of Claim 1> According to the invention of claim 1, a terminal plug fixed to an end of an electric wire is inserted into a cavity provided in the connector housing, and a waterproof plug fixed behind the terminal plug. Is a connector in which a seal is provided by being fitted to the entrance of the cavity,
The connector is characterized in that a cover for covering the lead-out side of the electric wire is attached to the connector housing, and the cover is provided with a waterproof plug retainer capable of abutting against the waterproof plug.

<Invention of Claim 2> According to the invention of Claim 2, a drawer for drawing out an electric wire in a predetermined direction is provided between the connector housing and the cover,
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof plug retainer is formed outside a wiring angle range in which an electric wire related to the waterproof plug can be pulled out from an opening area of the outlet. 3.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the cover is provided integrally with the connector housing via a hinge.
Or a connector according to claim 2.

[0008]

Function and Effect of the Invention

<Invention of Claim 1> According to the invention of claim 1, when the cover is attached to the connector housing, the waterproof plug retainer can be brought into contact with the waterproof plug attached to the corresponding electric wire. Therefore, even when an excessive pulling force acts on the electric wire, the displacement of the waterproof plug is regulated by the waterproof plug retainer, and the waterproof plug is held at the proper position. Therefore, the sealing property is maintained.

<Invention of claim 2> According to the invention of claim 2, the direction in which the electric wire is pulled out is determined by the outlet, and the waterproof plug retainer does not protrude within the range in which the wire can be pulled out. In addition, the waterproof stopper and the electric wire do not interfere with each other. Therefore, the electric wire can be easily pulled out from the outlet, and the wiring work of the electric wire is simplified.

<Invention of Claim 3> According to the invention of Claim 3, since the cover and the connector housing are connected by a hinge and are integrated, product management is easy.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a female waterproof connector is illustrated. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a connector housing (hereinafter, simply referred to as a housing 1), which is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, and has three cavities in an upper stage and two cavities in a lower stage, for a total of five cavities. 2 are formed. In each cavity 2, electric wire 3
The female terminal fitting 4 fixed to the terminal is inserted from the rear side (the front side in FIG. 1) and locked by the lances 5 provided in the respective cavities 2 so that the female terminal fitting 4 is housed in a retaining state. (See FIG. 4). In addition, the insulation barrel 4A on the rear end side of the female terminal fitting 4 includes:
A rubber plug 7 inserted through the electric wire 3 is crimped together with the electric wire 3, and is tightly fitted into the entrance of the cavity 2 to provide a seal.

As shown in FIG. 4, a front type retainer 9 is mounted on the front side of the housing 1 via a rubber ring 10, and a protrusion 11 provided on the retainer 9 is provided. , Deformation space 12 of lance 5
, The bending deformation of the lance 5 is restricted, and the female terminal fitting 4 is double-locked. A lock piece 13 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 1 so as to extend the distal end engaging portion 13A into a notch of the hood portion 22, and the engaging portion 13A is fitted with a male connector housing (not shown). It can be locked in the state. The upper portion of the engaging portion 13A is protected by a protective wall 22B that bridges the notch of the hood portion 22 in an arch shape (see FIGS. 2 to 5).

At the rear of the housing 1, each cavity 2
A cover 15 is provided to cover the electric wire 3 drawn from the cable. The cover 15 is integrally formed on both sides of the upper surface rear side of the housing 1 via hinge portions 17 and 17 and is rotatable between an open state shown in FIG. 1 and a closed state shown in FIG. It has become.

The shape of the cover 15 will be described in more detail. The cover 15 is, as shown in FIG.
Flat base 16 having a shape substantially matching the rear shape of the base 16
Is provided with three protruding pieces that project toward the rear of the housing 1 in a closed state (see FIG. 5) and are locked to the rear of the housing 1. The protruding pieces include side protruding pieces 18 and 18 protruding toward the upper surface of both sides of the housing 1 in a cover closed state, and a central protruding piece 19 protruding toward the lower edge of the housing 1. The side projections 18, 18 are provided with projections 20, 20 extending along the corners on the upper surface side.
7, 17 are provided. The side projecting piece 18 and the central projecting piece 19 are formed with engaging holes 18A and 19A (see FIG. 1) which engage with the projections 21 on the outer peripheral surface of the housing 1, so that when the cover 15 is closed, The protruding pieces 18 and 19 bend over the respective projections 21 so that the engagement holes 18A and 19A and the projections 21 are engaged with each other.
Is locked.

Since the hinge portion 17 is formed on the side projecting piece 18, no force is applied to the hinge portion 17 itself to lock the cover 15 to the housing 1. Therefore,
Even if the hinge portion 17 is broken, there is no problem in locking the cover 15 to the housing 1.

Further, in order to keep the distance between the cover 15 and the housing 1 in this locked state, each of the projections 18, 19
And the rear end surface 22A of the hood portion 22 of the housing 1 abuts, and the receiving portion projecting from the rear surface of the housing 1 abuts on the base portion 16 for positioning. The receiving portion is closed, and the side receiving portions 23, 23 projecting from the rear surface of the housing 1 so as to overlap the inside of the side projecting piece 18, and the center projecting from the rear surface of the housing 1 so as to overlap the inside of the central projecting piece 19. Receiving part 24
It consists of

The cover 15 positioned in the closed state is
As shown in FIG. 4, the electric wire 3 facing the rear portion of the housing 1 through a gap (reference numeral L in FIG. 4), and the electric wire 3 extended from the cavity 2 passes through the gap, and It is pulled out to the side from two places (corresponding to the "drawing-out opening" of the present invention) between the side protruding pieces 18 (see FIG. 5).

On the surface of the base 16 facing the housing 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the “waterproof stopper” of the present invention is opposed to each of the five cavities 2. A corresponding rubber stopper 25 is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the rubber stopper 25 is formed in a gutter shape having a U-shaped cross-section opening toward the center protruding piece 19 and is protruded from the base 16. As shown in FIG. In this state, the tip portion has a length that enters the cavity 2.

With this configuration, when the cover 15 is attached to the housing 1, the rubber stopper 25 can be brought into a state in which each rubber stopper 25 can abut the end face 25 A against the rubber stopper 7 in the corresponding cavity 2. Therefore, even when an excessive pulling force acts on the electric wire 3, the displacement of the rubber plug 7 is regulated by the rubber plug retainer 25, and the electric wire 3 is held at a regular position. Therefore, the sealing performance at the entrance of the cavity 2 is maintained.

This embodiment has the above-described structure,
Subsequently, the procedure of the assembling will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the cover 15 is opened, and the female terminal fittings 4 and the waterproof rubber plug 7 fixed to the ends of the electric wires 3 are provided in the five cavities 2 of the housing 1 on the rear surface. Insert from the side and house in a retaining state. Subsequently, the retainer 9 is mounted on the front surface of the housing 1 and double-locked.

Next, each electric wire 3 extending from the rear surface of each cavity 2 is connected to the right side receiving portion 23 and the central receiving portion 24.
, Or between the left side receiving portion 23 and the central receiving portion 24 so as to be routed in advance to the left and right, and the cover 15 is closed. When the engagement holes 18A, 19A of the projections 18, 19 engage with the projections 21 of the housing 1, the cover 15 is fixed in a state separated from the rear surface of the housing 1. Then, the electric wire 3 extending from the cavity 2 is held by the base 16 and is held in a state of being bent in a direction substantially orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction between the gap between the housing 1 and the cover 15.

When the cover 15 is attached, the tip end of the rubber stopper 25 provided on the base 16 penetrates into the cavity 2 and its U-shaped end face 25A is attached to the rear end face 7A of the rubber stopper 7. Is brought into a state of facing. Accordingly, even if the electric wire 3 is strongly pulled and the female terminal fitting 4 moves inside the cavity 2 toward the insertion port, the female terminal fitting 4 comes into contact with the rubber stopper 25 and does not move further backward.

In this way, the electric wire 3 can be bent at a substantially right angle near the rear surface of the housing 1 and pulled out, and the rubber plug 7 can be retained in the cavity 2 even when a tensile force acts on the electric wire 3. , The waterproof function can be secured. Also, as in the present embodiment, the rubber stopper 2
By making the 5 into a U-shaped cross section, the rear end face 7A of the rubber plug 7 can be pressed in a wide range other than the direction in which the electric wire 3 is bent, and the rubber plug 7 can be stably pressed in the cavity 2. it can.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the rubber stopper. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description of the structure, operation, and effects is omitted. Each rubber stopper 26 corresponding to each cavity 2
6 comprises a pair of protruding pieces facing each other in a pair in the left-right direction.
It is configured so that it can be held at a location. With this configuration, the electric wire 3 can be pulled out and bent from the vertical direction of the rubber stopper 26, so that the degree of freedom of the electric wire arrangement is increased and the operation of the electric wire 3 is facilitated.

<Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the rubber stopper. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description of the structure, operation, and effects is omitted.

The electric wire 3 drawn out of each cavity 2
As described in the first embodiment, is extended to the outside from between the side receiving portion 23 and the central receiving portion 24 while being divided into left and right sides on the back surface of the housing 1. When viewed from the relationship with the cover 15 in the direction in which the electric wire is drawn out, as shown in FIG. The range (corresponding to the “wiring angle range” of the present invention) is determined (for example, “H1”, “H2”, etc. in FIG. 7).
And the cavity 2 in a range other than the bendable range of the electric wire 3
It is formed so as to project toward. A rib 28 for reinforcement is provided on the fixed end side of each rubber stopper 27.
Is provided.

According to this configuration, the degree of freedom in the wiring of the wires is increased, and even if the cover 15 is closed in a state where the wires 3 are bent, there is no wire press 27 in the range where the wires are bent. Wire 3 between the housing and housing 1
There is no risk of being pinched, and workability is improved.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, one cover 1
Although the case where the cover 5 is used is illustrated, the cover 15 is a type in which a pair of double doors 15 are swingably supported on both sides of the housing 1 and their free ends are engaged with each other and closed. You may. (2) In the above-described embodiment, the connector in which the electric wires 3 are drawn out of the two cavities 2 in the upper and lower stages is exemplified. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a type in which the electric wires are drawn out in one or three or more stages. It is possible. (3) The present invention is not limited to the case in which the wires 3 are drawn out on both sides as in the above-described embodiment, and the same is true for a type in which the wires 3 are drawn out together. (4) Further, the present invention is not limited to the female waterproof connector exemplified in the above embodiment, but can be similarly applied to a male waterproof connector.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the connector with a cover closed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the connector according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of a connector according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view thereof.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a conventional cover in an open state.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the cover in a closed state.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a tensile force acts on the electric wire.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector housing 2 ... Cavity 3 ... Electric wire 4 ... Terminal fitting 7 ... Rubber stopper (waterproof stopper) 15 ... Cover 16 ... Base 17 ... Hinge 25 ... Rubber stopper holder (waterproof stopper holder) 26 ... Rubber stopper holder (waterproof stopper holder) 27: rubber stopper (waterproof stopper) 7A: rear end surface H1, H2: wiring angle range

Claims (3)

[Claims] A terminal provided in a terminal housing of a wire is inserted into a cavity provided in a connector housing, and a waterproof plug fixed to the rear of the terminal is fitted into an entrance of the cavity. The connector housing is provided with a seal, and a cover for covering the lead-out side of the electric wire is attached to the connector housing, and the cover is provided with a waterproof plug retainer capable of abutting the waterproof plug. A connector characterized by being made. 2. A draw-out opening for drawing out an electric wire in a predetermined direction is provided between the connector housing and the cover, while the waterproof plug retainer is configured such that the electric wire related to the waterproof plug has an opening area of the draw-out opening. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is formed outside a wiring angle range that can be pulled out from the connector. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the cover is provided integrally with the connector housing via a hinge.