JPH1074556A - Water-proof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water-proof connector which stabilizes fastening precision and easily mountes/demountes a gromet cover thereon/therefrom. SOLUTION: A pair of female and male housings 22, 23 are inserted from the surface 21a side and the back 21b side of a mounting panel 21 and engaged with each other, the housing 22 on the surface 21a side is covered with a gromet 25, both housings 22, 23 are joined together with a bolt 26 inserted from the gromet 25 side and the peripheral end of the gromet 25 is covered with a gromet cover 27 for the gromet 25 to be fastened by mounting on a cover main body 27a a fastening strip 27e which can be engaged with the cover main body 27a in disengageable manner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pair of male and female housings inserted from the front side and the rear side of a mounting panel, respectively, which are joined together by bolts, and the front side housing is grommeted to ensure waterproofness. Related to a waterproof connector covered with.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a door panel (mounting panel) of an automobile is provided with a waterproof connector for electrically connecting various switches and the like provided on the door panel to a power source and a driving device on the vehicle body. Have been.

As a waterproof connector to be mounted on a door panel of such an automobile, a connector as shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 is known (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-32873).

In FIGS. 10 and 11, a waterproof connector 2 mounted on a mounting panel 1 includes a male housing 3 inserted from the back side of the mounting panel 1 and a female housing 4 inserted from the front side of the mounting panel 1. A grommet 5 covering the female housing 4, a bolt 6 inserted from the grommet 5 side to connect the male and female housings 3, 4, and a grommet cover 7 covering the peripheral end surface of the grommet 5 as shown in FIG. Have.

A panel engaging projection 3a is formed on one side of the male housing 3 located above the vehicle body, and the panel engaging projection 3a and a panel holder 8 provided on one side located below the vehicle body are attached to a mounting panel. The male housing 3 is temporarily held on the mounting panel 1 by engaging with the mounting panel 1 in a penetrating state. Further, the male housing 3 is provided with a washer 9 which engages with an annular groove 6 a formed in the shaft of the bolt 6 to prevent the bolt 6 from coming off. Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
There is also a type in which the plate 10 is inserted into the male housing 3 instead of the washer 9 (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-41078).

The female housing 4 is inserted through the opening 3b of the male housing 3 and is joined to each other by tightening bolts 6 passing through a bolt penetrating cylinder 4a fitted to the female housing 4.

The grommet 5 includes a lead portion 5a covering the end surface of the female housing 4 located on the front surface side of the mounting panel 1 from the peripheral surface to a peripheral surface thereof, and a pipe body communicating with the lead portion 5a to guide a harness (not shown). The portion 5b is formed integrally with synthetic rubber or the like.

The open end of the lead-out portion 5a elastically contacts the mounting panel 1 by tightening the bolt 6, thereby ensuring the sealing property inside the connector. Also, on the cover 5a,
A lip portion 5c which is held in the axial direction of the bolt 6 by a part of the male and female housings 3 and 4 located at the upper part of the vehicle body;
a.

The grommet cover 7 is provided with holes 7a, 7a,... Which engage with a plurality of projections 5d, 5d, ... protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the grommet 5, and the hole 7a covers the outer peripheral surface of the grommet 5. , 7a are engaged with the projections 5a, 5a to be held on the grommet 5, and at the same time, the grommet 5 is tightened from the outside, thereby ensuring the hermeticity of the female housing 4 by the grommet 5 and the grommet 5
From the female housing 4 is prevented.

In such a configuration, after inserting a plurality of terminals (not shown) into the male housing 3, the mounting panel 1 temporarily holds the male housing 3, and covers the female housing 4 with the grommet 5 and the grommet 5. Is covered with the grommet cover 7, the female housing 4 is engaged with the male housing 3, and the bolt 6 is inserted from the bolt insertion tube portion 5 e of the grommet 5 to provide the female screw member 11 provided on the male housing 3. The male and female housings 3 and 4 are joined by being screwed into the housing.

[0011]

The grommet 5 is covered by a single grommet cover 7 in the waterproof connector 2 constructed as described above. Since the grommet 7 depends only on the formed shape, the grommet cover 7 having an inner shape smaller than the outer shape of the grommet 5 must be attached.

Accordingly, there is a problem that not only the fastening accuracy is not stable due to a molding error between the grommet 5 and the grommet cover 7, but also the work of attaching and detaching the grommet cover 7 to and from the grommet 5 is difficult and complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can realize stabilization of tightening accuracy.
An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector in which a grommet cover can be easily attached and detached.

[0014]

In order to achieve the object, according to the present invention, a pair of male and female housings respectively inserted from the front side and the back side of the mounting panel are engaged with each other, and The housing on the side is covered with a grommet, the respective housings are joined together by bolts inserted from the grommet side, and a part of the grommet cover is covered by a waterproof connector in which a peripheral end surface of the grommet is covered by a grommet cover. The gist is separated from the main body, and the separated part is detachably engaged with the cover main body, and the cover main body is configured to fasten the grommet by attaching the part.

[0015]

Next, an embodiment of the waterproof connector of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3, a waterproof connector 20 is shown.
The female housing 22 inserted from the front surface 21a side of the mounting panel 21 (only shown in FIG. 1), the male housing 23 inserted from the back surface 21b side of the mounting panel 21, and the female housing 22 A wire cover 24 for bending a harness connected to a terminal (not shown) held in the terminal holding holes 22b, 22b... To secure the bent state with the female housing 22, and a flange portion of the female housing 22; Grommet 2 covering 22a
5 and male and female housings 2 inserted from grommets 25
A grommet cover 27 is fitted to the grommet 25.

The mounting panel 21 is, for example, a thin metal panel constituting a part of a door panel of an automobile, and the male housing 23 is engaged with an opening 21c formed at a predetermined position. In the following, each of the directions “up” and “down” means the same direction as the up-down direction of the vehicle body.

The female housing 22 is provided with a comb-shaped female retainer 28 (shown only in FIG. 3). The female housing 22 has a large number of terminal holding holes 22 penetrating in the front and back directions of the mounting panel 21 and formed in a substantially aligned state vertically and horizontally.
, 22b, and a cylindrical portion 22c through which the shaft 26a of the bolt 26 passes.

The terminal holding hole 22 of the female housing 22
The grommet 2 introduced from the vehicle body side into b, 22b.
5 are inserted into the harness, and the female retainer 28 is attached in this state to prevent the terminals from being removed from the terminal holding holes 22b.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the flange portion 22a.
As shown in (a) and (b), an overhang portion 22d protruding from the peripheral end toward the mounting panel 21 side is formed. As shown in FIG. 3, engagement recesses 22e, 22e... Which engage with the legs 24a, 24a.

A cylindrical guide wall 22f which is open to the projecting end and expands toward the open end is formed in the cylindrical portion 22c.
Are formed. In addition, this guide wall 22f is a cylindrical portion 22c.
Is communicated with the bolt through hole 22g. The cylindrical portion 22
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a holder insertion hole 22 h communicating with the bolt through hole 22 g is formed in the side wall of “c”. As shown in FIG. 5, a bolt holder 29 is rotatably and detachably mounted in the holder insertion hole 22h.

As shown in FIG. 6, the bolt holder 29 has a bolt engaging recess 29a extending in a substantially circular
Hole 22i formed on the back surface of 2c (see FIG. 5A)
The bolt holder 29 is positioned by engaging with a projection 29b for a rotation fulcrum that engages with the hole 22j formed on the back surface of the cylindrical portion 22c before the bolt 26 is inserted (FIG. 5A,
The positioning protrusion 29c for ((b)) and the flange portion 29d for rotating operation are formed by press-molding one thin metal plate. When the bolt holder 29 is rotated and buried in the female housing 22 with the protrusion 29b as a fulcrum, the bolt 26 is engaged with the annular groove 26b formed in the shaft portion 26a of the bolt 26 to prevent the bolt 26 from coming off. At the same time, the projection 29c is engaged with a hole (not shown) similar to the hole 22j to be positioned.

A female screw member 30, which is screwed with the screw portion 26c of the bolt 26, is mounted on the male housing 23 by insert molding. The male housing 23 has a comb-shaped male side retainer 31 (shown only in FIG. 3) that engages with the male housing 31 to prevent the terminal from coming off.
There is provided a panel holder 32 that engages with the lower side of 1c. This male side retainer 31 is provided by
The detailed description is omitted because it is the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 67-67. As shown in FIG. 7, a large number of terminal holding holes 23a, 23a,... Penetrating through the male housing 23 and formed substantially vertically and horizontally, and a screw portion 26c of a bolt 26 are inserted into the male housing 23. As shown in FIG. 4, a projection 23b, a panel holder 32, a hole 23c in which the panel holder 32 is detachably mounted, an engagement groove 23d which engages with the upper part of the opening 21c of the mounting panel 21, and an engagement groove. 23d is opening 21c
And a waterproof projection 23e located on the front surface 21a side of the mounting panel 21 when engaged with the mounting panel 21.

The terminal holding hole 23 of the male housing 23
The harness terminals (both not shown) connected to various switches and a drive system provided on the door panel side are inserted into a, 23a... A fall is made. Also, the terminal holding holes 23a, 23a,.
Opposes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wire cover 24 has a pair of pillars 24b, 24b having legs 24a, 24a formed on both upper and lower ends, respectively, and a support wall 24c provided between the pillars 24b, 24b. And a concave portion 24d formed in the support wall portion 24c and through which the cylindrical portion 22c penetrates.
By attaching the wire cover 24 to the female housing 22 through the legs 24a, 24a, the harness is held between the two ends while being bent.

The panel holder 32 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, a seat portion 32a, an engagement protrusion 32b projecting from the male housing 23 and engaging with the mounting panel 21;
A pair of leaf spring portions 32c and 32d that are biased in directions away from each other so as to elastically contact the inner wall surface of the hole portion 23c to prevent backlash of the panel holder 32 are integrally formed. The panel holder 32 is detachably mounted in the hole 23c of the male housing 23 described above.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the grommet 25 has a bellows-like tubular portion 25a having a part or the entire length.
And an introduction portion 25b located at one end (on the vehicle body side) and integral with the tube portion 25a, and a lead-out portion 25c located at the other end (on the mounting panel 21 side) and integral with the tube portion 25a, By inserting a number of harnesses drawn out of the vehicle body from the introduction portion 25b into the tube portion 25a and pulling out from the lead-out portion 25c, protection of the harness and sealing performance between the vehicle body and the mounting panel 21 are ensured. is there.

The lead-out portion 25c has a seal portion 25 along the open peripheral portion and in contact with the surface 21a of the mounting panel 21.
d and a cylindrical portion 25e through which the shaft portion 26a of the bolt 26 passes.
And a bolt seal portion 25f protruding along the axial direction of the bolt 26 so as to surround the cylindrical portion 25e and abutting against the head 26d of the bolt 26, and at the time of being attached to the female housing 22 extended from the seal portion 25d. Overhang part 2
A folded portion 25g that surrounds 2d in the cross-sectional direction, a lip portion 25h extending downward from the tip of the folded portion 25g located above, and a groove formed in each corner located near the seal portion 25d. Of the recesses 25i.

The grommet cover 27 is made of a hard resin material and has a substantially rectangular shape as viewed from the front as a whole.
As shown in FIG. 3, the cover body 27a is in contact with the upper peripheral surface of the lead-out part 25c and the left and right peripheral wall surfaces, and is in contact with the lower part of the lead-out part 25c by engaging with both ends of the cover main body 27a; And a tightening operation piece 27e for bringing the both ends of the cover main body 27a closer to each other.

The cover main body 27a has an upper surface contact portion 27b in contact with the upper surface of the lead-out portion 25c, and a lower surface of the lead-out portion 25c from between the tube portion 25a and the lead-out portion 25c. Lower surface contact portions 27c, 27c to be in contact
And tongue pieces 27d, 2 inserted into the recesses 25i, 25i.
7d are formed.

The tightening operation piece 27e is connected to one end of the cover main body 27a by a thin piece 27f, and a shaft engaging portion 27h engaging with a shaft portion 27g formed at one end thereof;
A coupling portion 27j that engages with a coupling protrusion 27i formed at the other end of the cover main body 27a.

In the above configuration, the male housing 23
After the terminal on the door panel side (not shown) is inserted into the male housing 23, the male side retainer 31 and the panel holder 32 are inserted into the male housing 23.
And the male housing 23 is assembled.

Next, the harness led out from the vehicle body side is inserted from the lead-in portion 25b into the tube portion 25a, and the lead-out portion 25c
From the female housing 22
After that, the wire cover 24 is attached to the female housing 22 as shown in FIG. 1, and the bolt holder 29 is attached to the holder insertion hole 22h. In this state, the bolt holder 29 is not engaged with the bolt 26, that is, the state shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

Further, the lead-out portion 25c of the grommet 25 is mounted on the flange portion 22a of the female housing 22, and
The tongue pieces 27d of the grommet cover 27 are
After fitting into 5i, 25i, etc., FIGS.
As shown in (c), the shaft engagement portion 27h is engaged with the shaft portion 27g, and the coupling portion 27j is engaged with the coupling protrusion 27i, and the grommet cover 27 is mounted on the lead-out portion 25c.

At this time, the grommet cover 27 is inserted from above the grommet 25 while widening the both ends thereof, and the one located above the tongue pieces 27d, 27d, etc. is fitted into the recesses 25i, 25i from above to below. After that, the tongue pieces 27d, 2
7d are fitted into the recesses 25i, 25i, and the fastening operation piece 27e is engaged with both ends thereof.

Therefore, the grommet cover 27 can easily be attached to and detached from the lead-out portion 25c while holding the female housing 22 from the front and back via the grommet 25. Similarly, the operability of attachment / detachment is improved while being one. In addition, by adopting a method of tightening the cover main body 27a by attaching the tightening operation piece 27e,
Regardless of the molding error of the grommet 25 and the grommet cover 27, the fastening accuracy of the grommet cover 27 can be stabilized.

Further, as shown in FIGS.
By fitting the d, 27d... into the recesses 25i, 25i..., not only can the grommet cover 27 be prevented from falling off from the grommet 5, but also
b, 27c in cooperation with the flange portion 2 of the female housing 22.
Since the configuration is such that the grommet 2a and the grommet 5 are sandwiched from the front and back, it is possible to prevent the lead-out portion 25c from being separated or detached from the female housing 22. The recesses 25i, 25i
Are engagement recesses for enclosing the four corners of the flange portion 22a of the male housing 22 because the grommet 25 is not an opening with a cut.

Next, the bolt 26 is connected to the cylindrical portion 25e from the front side.
Then, the bolt 26 is prevented from coming off by rotating the bolt holder 29 and engaging the bolt engaging recess 29a with the annular groove 26b. In addition, the annular groove 2
6b is a bolt 2 by tightening the bolt 26 thereafter.
6 has a predetermined width to allow displacement in the direction along the axis.

At this time, since the bolt holder 29 is of a rotary type with the projection 29b shown in FIG. 6 as a fulcrum, the rotation fulcrum maintains a fixed position and is easy and stable to operate. It is smaller than the plate 10 shown in the related art, and can reduce the material cost.

Then, as shown in FIG.
e and the panel holder 32 are
The male housing 23 is inserted from the back surface 21b side of the mounting panel 21 so as to protrude from c toward the front surface 21a side, and the male housing 23 is temporarily held on the mounting panel 21. Thereafter, the female housing 22 is inserted from the front surface 21 a side of the mounting panel 21 and engaged with the male housing 23.

Further, the female housing 22 and the male housing 23 are connected by screwing the screw portion 26c to the female screw member 30, and at the same time, the terminals of the female housing 22 and the male housing 23 are electrically connected. Connected.

At this time, the inner wall surface of the lead-out portion 25c abuts on the support wall portion 24c, whereby the tightening amount and the displacement amount in the depth direction of the bolt 26 are regulated, and the head portion 26d and the bolt seal portion 25f are connected. Is secured.

Also, due to the approach between the male and female housings 22 and 23 due to the tightening of the bolt 26, the seal portion 25d is formed.
Is tightly adhered to the mounting panel 21 to ensure the sealing performance, and furthermore, the overhang portion 22d and the waterproof projection 23e sandwich the folded portion 25g and the flange portion 22a and the waterproof projection 23e sandwich the lip portion 25h to make the crank-shaped waterproof. A path is formed, thereby ensuring that water droplets transmitted from the upper part through the mounting panel 21 to the outlet 25c are sealed.

Further, by tightening the bolt 26,
The load in the rotation direction is generated in the cylindrical portion 25e and acts as if the cylindrical portion 25e is twisted.
Is inserted into the guide wall 22f.
Since the cylindrical portion 25e is gradually brought into close contact with the shaft portion 26a simultaneously with the tightening of the bolt 26 due to the slash shape of 2f, there is a gap between the shaft portion 26a and the cylindrical portion 25e due to the occurrence of twisting due to the rotation of the bolt 26. No water droplets are generated, and the penetration of water droplets from the head 26d of the bolt 26 into the outlet portion 25c is prevented. Further, the base of the cylindrical portion 25e is connected to the head 26d and the cylindrical portion 22.
By holding the cylindrical portion 25c between the cylindrical portion 25e and the distal end of the cylindrical portion 25e, the overall twisting action of the cylindrical portion 25e can be suppressed.

[0045]

As described above, in the waterproof connector of the present invention, a part of the grommet cover is separated from the cover body, and the separated part is detachably engaged with the cover body. In addition, by attaching the part, the cover body tightens the grommet, so that the fastening accuracy can be stabilized, and the grommet cover can be easily attached and detached.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a main part, similarly.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the female housing.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the female housing as viewed from the back, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view of the female housing as viewed from the front.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the bolt holder.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the male housing.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged plan view of a panel holder.
(B) is an enlarged side view of the panel holder, and (c) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the panel holder along the line AA in (a).

FIG. 9A is a plan view of a grommet cover,
(B) is a side view of the grommet cover, and (c) is a cross-sectional view of the grommet cover.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a conventional waterproof connector.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the main part.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship between the grommet and the grommet cover.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a main part showing a conventional waterproof connector provided with a bolt retaining plate on a housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Waterproof connector 21 ... Mounting panel 21a ... Front surface 21b ... Back surface 22 ... Female housing 23 ... Male housing 25 ... Grommet 26 ... Bolt 27 ... Grommet cover 27a ... Cover main body 27e ... Tightening operation piece

Claims (3)

[Claims] A pair of male and female housings respectively inserted from the front side and the rear side of the mounting panel are engaged with each other, the housing on the front side is covered with a grommet, and each of the housings is inserted by a bolt inserted from the grommet side. In a waterproof connector in which housings are connected to each other and a peripheral end surface of the grommet is covered with a grommet cover, a part of the grommet cover is separated from a cover body, and the separated part is detachably attached to the cover body. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein said cover main body is tightened to said grommet by attaching said part. 2. An end of the part is detachably supported by the cover main body, and the other end of the part is engaged with the cover main body after the part is rotated with the one end as a pivot point. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof connector is provided. 3. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the part is connected to the cover body via a thin piece.