JPH11345647A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector enabling to inspect dirt of a terminal metal fitting easily and surely. SOLUTION: A square tubular hood part 31 is formed at an upper part of a partition 11 and two tabs are provided side by side in a protruding manner from a bottom face in a fitting space 40 in it, and hence a connector part 30 is constructed. A filling space 42 for a sealing compound (S) is formed at a bottom part of a fitting space 40. A relatively large space 34 is provided between one of the tabs 21A and one of side walls 33 and a nozzle (N) faces the filling space 42 through the inspection space 34. A window hole 50 for inspection is opened at a position on the side wall 33 facing a root part 23 of the tab 21A. When the sealing compound (S) is injected, if its viscosity is high, it is observed that the sealing compound (S) up at first in a mountain-like manner around a nozzle (N) and then becomes flat. In connection with this phenomenon, it is likely that the sealing compound (S) sticks at a position of the root part 23 of the tab 21A and remains as it is as dirt. Whether this dirt exists or not can be inspected by visual observation through a window hole 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided with a function for easily inspecting the base of a terminal fitting for contamination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional valve socket, as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 4-106865, a sealant is provided at the back of a connector to prevent water from entering the connector from the valve side. Filled ones are known. Specifically, as shown in FIG.
A fitting recess c is formed on the other side of the main body a provided on one side, and a tab e of a terminal fitting d attached to the valve insertion hole b projects through the partition wall f into the fitting recess c. As a result, a connector portion g is formed, and a sealing agent h such as an epoxy resin is filled in the inner side of the fitting concave portion c to form a tab e.
The seal of the penetrating part is taken. The filling of the sealant h is performed by injecting the nozzle a from the nozzle j, which has the main body a with the fitting concave portion c facing upward and the base of the tab e is pushed to the side of the tab e (see FIG. 10).

[0003]

When the sealant h is injected, the viscosity and injection pressure of the sealant h are controlled, and usually, the liquid level i becomes gradually higher while maintaining a substantially flat state. As a result, the predetermined filling position k at the base of the tab e is reached. However, the viscosity of the sealant h tends to change under the influence of the temperature. For example, when the injection operation is performed when the ambient temperature is low, the viscosity of the sealant h increases and the fluidity deteriorates. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the liquid level i of the injected sealant h once rises in a mountain shape on the side where the nozzle j is inserted, and then gradually becomes flat toward the expected filling position k. . That is, the liquid level i of the sealing agent h is at the expected filling position k at the base of the tab e.
The sealing agent h which has once reached a higher position and has adhered to the portion beyond the scheduled filling position k remains as dirt. If the viscosity of the sealing agent h is high, the spherical sealing agent h may remain at the tip of the nozzle j after the injection. When the nozzle j is pulled out from the fitting concave portion c in this state, the spherical sealing agent h may adhere to the tab e, and in some cases, adhere to the contact portion that comes into contact with the terminal of the mating connector, and as dirt. Sometimes remained.

[0004] If this dirt is overlooked, there is a possibility that poor contact between the terminal fittings may be caused when the terminal fitting is fitted with the mating connector. It was difficult to confirm the presence or absence of such a part, and an effective countermeasure was eagerly sought. The present invention has been completed based on the above-mentioned demands, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily and surely inspect a terminal fitting for dirt.

[0005]

As a means for achieving the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a housing is formed with a fitting concave portion into which a mating connector is fitted. In a connector in which a terminal fitting is projected through the bottom surface and filled with a sealant by a nozzle inserted into the fitting recess around the base of the terminal fitting, a side wall of the fitting recess is provided. A characteristic feature is that a window for inspection of the sealant is opened at a position corresponding to a side surface portion of the terminal fitting. A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the invention, the window hole is provided at a position corresponding to a base portion of the terminal fitting. The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the window hole is provided at a position corresponding to a contact portion of the terminal fitting with a terminal of a mating connector. .

[0006]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> When the nozzle is inserted into or removed from the fitting recess or when the sealing agent is filled, the sealing agent may adhere to the side surface of the terminal fitting and remain as dirt. . However, since a window hole is opened at a position corresponding to the side surface portion of the terminal fitting, the presence or absence of dirt can be reliably inspected through the window hole by visual observation, image processing, or the like. <Invention of Claim 2> When the sealing agent is filled by inserting the nozzle, the liquid level of the sealing agent temporarily rises in a mountain shape due to an excessively high viscosity or the like, and is more than necessary at the root portion of the terminal fitting. There is a possibility that the sealant adheres to a high position and remains as dirt. However, since the side wall of the fitting recess is provided with a window hole at a position corresponding to the base of the terminal fitting, the presence or absence of dirt can be reliably inspected through the window hole by visual observation, image processing, or the like. <Invention of claim 3> After filling the sealant, a spherical sealant may remain at the tip of the nozzle due to an excessively high viscosity or the like. In some cases, the sealant adheres to the contact portion of the terminal fitting with the terminal of the mating connector and remains as dirt. However, since the side wall of the fitting recess is provided with a window hole at a position corresponding to the contact portion of the terminal fitting, the presence or absence of dirt can be reliably inspected through the window hole by visual observation, image processing, or the like. .

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment shows a case where the present invention is applied to a valve socket for a wedge base valve having a connector portion. As shown in FIG. 1, a wedge base bulb 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a bulb 1) has a flat base 3 formed at the bottom of a cylindrical light emitting section 2. The contact wire is provided by folding a lead wire drawn from the filament arranged in the above.

The main body 10 of the valve socket is formed of a synthetic resin material. A valve housing 13 is provided on one side (the left side in FIG. 1) of the partition 11 and a connector 30 is provided on the other side. The valve housing 13 has a cylindrical peripheral wall 14.
The inside thereof is a valve insertion hole 15 into which the base end side of the valve 1 is inserted, and a base insertion groove 16 into which the base of the valve 1 is inserted is formed at the bottom side.

In the base insertion groove 16, a pair of terminal fittings 20 are housed side by side. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 20 has a shape in which a pair of contact tongue pieces 22 arranged opposite to each other on the rear end side of the tab 21 are integrally formed. On the other hand, an insertion hole 12 through which a tab 21 of a terminal fitting 20 can be inserted is formed in a bottom surface of the base insertion groove 16 so as to open in a fitting space 40 of a connector portion 30 described later.

That is, both terminal fittings 20 are inserted into the base insertion groove 16 from the tab 21 side, and the tab 21 is inserted into the insertion hole 12.
When the bent portion of the base of the contact tongue piece 22 hits the bottom surface, the pushing is stopped. Thereby, the pair of contact tongue pieces 22 of each terminal fitting 20 are accommodated in both ends of the base insertion groove 16 so as to be elastically deformable, and each tab 21 is fitted with the connector section 30 as shown in FIG. It will be in the state protruded by a predetermined amount in line with the joint space 40.

Then, when the base 3 of the bulb 1 is inserted into the base insertion groove 16, the contact tongue 22 of each terminal fitting 20 is formed.
Are elastically sandwiched between both surfaces of the base 3, hold the valve 1 in a retaining state, and come into contact with the contacts of the base 3. A disk-shaped flange 17 is formed at the base end of the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 14 of the valve accommodating portion 13, and locking projections 18 are formed at a plurality of locations in front of the disk-shaped flange 17. The socket body 10 can be attached to the panel by sandwiching the front and rear edges of the mounting hole of the panel between the two.

The above-described connector portion 30 has a rectangular tubular hood portion 31, and the inside thereof is a fitting space 40 into which a connector on the power supply side can be fitted. The bottom of the fitting space 40 is formed in a stepped shape with its inner peripheral surface protruding over the entire circumference, and the inside of the fitting space 40 is a filling space 42 for a sealant S such as epoxy resin. This filling space 4
2, the insertion hole 12 of the terminal fitting 20 is provided as described above.
Are formed side by side, but their formation position is shifted from the center in the direction in which the long side walls 32, 33 on the long side of the hood portion 31 face each other to a position close to one side wall 32.
Therefore, between the tab 21 and the opposite side wall 33,
A relatively wide insertion space 34 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the filling operation of the sealant S is performed by inserting the tip of the nozzle N connected to the dispenser into the insertion space 34 formed in front of one of the tabs 21A (the right side in FIG. 3). And into the filling space 42.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, rectangular window holes 50 and 51 are provided in the side wall 33 of the hood portion 31 where the nozzle N is inserted. One of the windows 50 is located in the filling space 4.
This is a position slightly above the position 2 and corresponding to the outside of one of the tabs 21A, that is, a position where the root portion 23 of the one of the tabs 21A can be viewed straight from the outside. The position of the other window hole 51 is the same as that of the window hole 5 described above.
Above 0, it is a position that can be visually observed straight from the contact portion 24 of the tab 21A that contacts the terminal fitting of the power supply side connector.

This embodiment has the above-described structure, and its operation will be described below. In order to fill the filling agent 42 into the filling space 42 of the connector part 30, as shown in FIG. 3, the valve socket is set up so that the open side of the connector part 30 is upward, and then one of the tabs 21A. The nozzle N is inserted into an insertion space 34 formed between the sealing agent S and the side wall 33, and the tip of the nozzle N faces the filling space 42.
Inject.

Here, the viscosity and injection pressure of the sealant S are controlled. Normally, when the sealant S is injected from the nozzle N, the sealant S spreads almost uniformly in the filling space 42,
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the liquid is filled so that the liquid level gradually rises while keeping the liquid level 43 almost flat. When the injection is performed in such an amount that the filling space 42 is filled, the injection is stopped, whereby the sealing performance of the penetrating portion of the terminal fitting 20 is ensured.

Incidentally, the viscosity of the sealant S tends to change under the influence of the ambient temperature. For example, when the ambient temperature is low when performing the pouring operation, the viscosity of the sealant S increases and the fluidity deteriorates. When injection work is performed in such a state,
The sealant S injected from the tip of the nozzle N does not immediately spread to the entire area of the filling space 42, and as shown in FIG.
The liquid surface 43 once rises in a mountain shape with the portion around the nozzle N as the vertex, and then the liquid surface 43 gradually falls to a flat state as shown in FIGS.

In this process, the apex of the liquid surface 43 of the sealant S once rises above the filling space 42 around the nozzle N, as shown in FIG. On the surface on the side where the sealing agent S is attached, the sealant S adheres to the root portion 23 of the portion protruding above the filling space 42, which may remain as dirt.

If the viscosity of the sealant S is high as described above, the sealant S may remain in a spherical shape at the tip of the nozzle N after the injection, as shown in FIG. If it is attempted to pull out the nozzle N from the fitting space 40 while the sealant S remains in a spherical shape, the tab 21A
In some cases, the sealant S adheres to the contact portion 24 of the tab 21A and remains as dirt.

The presence of such dirt on the tab 21A may cause poor contact with the mating terminal fitting when the connector on the power supply side is fitted into the connector section 30.

Therefore, when the injection and solidification of the sealant S are completed, the above-mentioned inspection for the presence or absence of dirt is performed. In that case, FIG.
As shown in (2), the inside is visually observed through window holes 50 and 51 opened in the hood portion 31 while holding the valve socket. Since the root portion 23 and the contact portion 24 of the tab 21A, which are liable to be stained by the sealant S, face the window holes 50 and 51, the presence or absence of the stain can be accurately confirmed. Those with confirmed dirt are removed as defective.
Also, instead of performing a visual inspection as described above,
From the position perpendicular to the window holes 50 and 51, the root portion 23 and the contact portion 24 of the tab 21A are formed using an image processing device.
Can also be inspected for dirt.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
In the hood section 31 of the connector section 30, the fitting space 40
Base portion 23 and contact portion 2 of tab 21A projecting inward
Since the window holes 50 and 51 are provided at the positions corresponding to the position No. 4, the window holes 50 and 51 are used for visual observation or image processing.
The presence or absence of the sealant S on the root portion 23 and the contact portion 24 of the tab 21A can be easily and reliably inspected.

<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) The present invention can be similarly applied to a valve socket for a mouthpiece type valve for applying a sealant to a connector portion, and can be widely applied to all types of connectors in which a base portion of a terminal fitting is filled with a sealant. (2) In addition, the present invention can be similarly applied to a terminal fitting mounted by insert molding. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the window hole is provided only on one surface of the opposing side wall is shown, but it may be provided on both surfaces.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a valve socket according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a connector unit.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state where a nozzle is inserted into a filling space.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which a sealant is properly injected.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which a sealant is properly injected.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state during the injection when the viscosity of the sealant is high.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing a process in which a sealant adheres to a tab.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a case where dirt on the tab is detected from the window hole.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a connector part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Socket main body 11 ... Partition wall 12 ... Insertion hole 20 ... Terminal metal fittings 21, 21A ... Tab 23 ... Root part 24 ... Contact part 30 ... Connector part 31 ... Hood part 33 ... Side wall 34 ... Insertion space 40 ... Fitting space (fitting) Joint recess) 42: Filling space 50: Window hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing has a fitting recess into which a mating connector is fitted. A terminal fitting projects through a bottom surface of the fitting recess into the fitting recess. In a connector filled with a sealant by a nozzle inserted into the fitting recess, a window for a sealant inspection is opened at a position corresponding to a side surface portion of the terminal fitting on a side wall of the fitting recess. A connector characterized by being made. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said window hole is provided at a position corresponding to a base portion of said terminal fitting. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the window hole is provided at a position corresponding to a contact portion of the terminal fitting with a terminal of a mating connector.