WO2007106562A1

WO2007106562A1 - Sealed plug connector

Info

Publication number: WO2007106562A1
Application number: PCT/US2007/006542
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yutaka Kojima; Yuichi Hasegawa; Akinori Mizumura; Masanori Yagi
Original assignee: Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex LLC
Priority date: 2006-03-15
Filing date: 2007-03-15
Publication date: 2007-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 2008-09-15
Also published as: JP4632978B2; JP2007250332A

Abstract

An improved moisture impervious connector utilizes a molded body portion that has conductive terminals plated thereon in order not to create any spaces within any sort of terminal-receiving cavities. A flexible sealing member is supported by the body portion crosswise to the terminals to provide a seal to the connector for an opening into which it is inserted.

Description

SEALED PLUG CONNECTOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a plug connector and more particularly, to a sealed plug connector and a manufacturing method thereof, in which the plug connector includes a housing formed in a tightly closed structure to prevent dust, water, or other things from entering the connector through a terminal mounting portion where the terminal is fitted in the housing.

In a conventional connector, a terminal comprised of metallic pin-like members is press-fitted and fixed into a through-hole formed in a housing formed of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin or plastic material, (i.e. Japanese Patent Application

Laid-open (Kokai) No. 9-223531). FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional connector showing a plug, which is a male side thereof.

In this case, a terminal 312 is fit into in a terminal passage 311 formed in a housing 310 of the electrical connector so the terminal penetrates through the housing

310. A space 313 is formed in this passage 311. There is a demand that neither water nor detergent come inside the connector and the equipment through the housing 310 of the connector during washing of the equipment. Therefore, it is preferable that the space 313 be made as small as possible, or eliminated altogether, to become a tightly closed structure.

However, a connector utilizing a conductive plating layer formed on the surface of a member formed of an insulating material, has been proposed for a terminal without using a physical terminal or pin, i.e. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No.

2-78171.

FIGS. 1OA and 1OB are perspective views showing a manufacturing method of such a plated conventional connector. First of all, an insulating substrate 301 as shown in FIG. 1OA is formed by an injection molding technique using a non-plating grade PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) resin which is an insulator. The insulating substrate 301 has an insert portion 302 which is inserted into an opposing connector (not shown) and a band-shaped groove 303 formed with a predetermined pitch in respective portions corresponding to contact areas of the opposing connector.

Subsequently, the insulating substrate 301 is fitted in a second molding die and a plating grade PPS resin, is injection-molded in the groove 303 by using a double-molding technique, resulting in the second molded portions 306 being formed as shown in FIG 1 OB. In this case, since the second molding die is a molding die of a multiple-point gate type, the respective gate portions 305 and the runner part 304 are connected to the second molding part 306.

Thereafter, the gate portions 305 and the runner part 304 are employed as plating electrodes to plate a conductive layer copper onto the second molding portions 306. In this case, plating current can be easily supplied to the second molding portions 306 by applying an electric, voltage to the gate portions 305 and the runner portion 304.

Then, the connector has a plated layer formed on each of the second molding portions 306 that serves as a terminal. These plated layers of the insert portion 302 function as contacts that mate with the terminals of the opposing connector, and the plated layers provided at the bottom of the substrate 301 function as mounting portions with the wires of a cable or a conductive trace of the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Nevertheless, the conventional connector as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No.2-78171 is provided with no member capable of partitioning a section functioning as the contact portions for the terminal and a portion functioning as the junction portion. When this connector is utilized in equipment where the contact portion side of the terminal is exposed to liquids or the like, it is impossible to be impervious to extraneous materials such as a liquid and the like which might enter into the junction side of the terminal.

Therefore, with a view to solving the problems of the conventional connectors, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof plug and a manufacturing method thereof, in which a conductive layer is formed on a surface of a base comprised of an insulating material to make a terminal portion, a partitioning member extends in a direction laterally crossing the terminal portion between opposite ends of the terminal portion being formed to be as one integral part with the base, so thereby, the opposite ends of the terminal portion can be mutually partitioned to be impervious to water, and any liquid can be surely prevented from intruding from one end of the terminal portion into the other end.

Therefore, a waterproof plug according to the present invention includes a base comprised of an insulative base and a conductive layer formed on at least one surface of the base, and has a contact portion for contacting a terminal of an opposing connector, a terminal portion providing a junction portion connected to other conductive members, and a partitioning member comprised of an insulating material formed as one integral part with the base, and extending in a direction laterally crossing the terminal portion between the contact portion and the junction portion.

In a waterproof plug according to another embodiment of the present invention, the metallic layer is formed by plating, vacuum deposition or a sputtering technique.

In a waterproof plug according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a seal member is further provided between the base and the partitioning member.

In a waterproof plug according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the terminal portion is further formed in recessed portions formed on the surface of the base. ^■

In a waterproof plug according to a still further embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the terminal portion is mounted to be flush with the surface of the base except for the recessed portions.

In a waterproof plug according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the base further includes a core portion composed of a plating grade resin and a surface- layer portion composed of a non-plating grade resin and over-molded to selectively cover a surface of the core portion, and the terminal portion formed of a metallic layer applied onto a portion of the surface of the core portion that is not covered with the surface-layer portion.

In a waterproof plug according to a still further embodiment of the present invention, the partitioning member is further over-molded to provide the periphery of the base with a covering formed in a plane lying in a cross-section crossing the terminal portion.

A manufacturing method of a waterproof plug according to the present invention includes a step of forming a base of an insulating material, forming a terminal portion which is made of a metallic layer and is provided with a contact portion for contacting a terminal of an opposing connector and a junction portion connected to other conductive member, and a step of forming a partitioning member extending in a direction laterally crossing the terminal portion between the contact portion and the junction portion, the partitioning member being made of an insulating material to be integral with the base.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the step of forming the base includes a step of forming a core composed of a plating grade resin, and then over- molding a non-plating grade resin to selectively cover portions of the core, and then forming the terminal by plating a conductive layer on an exposed surface of the core portion in the base.

The step of forming the base may include forming a substrate of a plating-grade resin and providing it with a recessed portion in a predetermined shape, and then applying a mask onto the substrate portion thereby allowing the recessed portion to be exposed, and subsequently forming the terminal layer in the exposed recessed portion. In accordance with the present invention, a waterproof plug and a manufacturing method thereof includes a configuration, such that the conductive layer, or terminal, is formed on a surface of the base, and the partitioning member extending in the direction laterally crossing the terminal portion between both ends of the said terminal is formed intergrally with the base. Hence, both ends of the terminal portion can be mutually partitioned in a watertight manner so that any liquid can be prevented from intruding from one end of the terminal portion into the other end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the front side of a waterproof plug connector of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 2 is a perspective view showing the rear side of the waterproof plug connector of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A through 3C are a plan view, a front elevation view, and a side view of the waterproof plug connector of FIG 1 ;

FIG 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line Y-Y in FIG 3 A, showing the waterproof plug connector of FIG 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line Z-Z in FIG 3A, showing the waterproof plug connector of FIG 1; FIGS. 6A and 6B are first perspective views showing the manufacturing steps of making the waterproof plug connector;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are perspective views showing subsequent manufacturing steps of the waterproof plug connector of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A through 8D are perspective views showing the steps of a second manufacturing method of a waterproof plug connector of the present invention;

FIG 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a plug which is a male side of a conventional connector; and FIGS. 1OA and 1OB are perspective views showing a manufacturing method of another conventional connector.

DESCRIPTION OFTHE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference numeral 10 generally designates a waterproof plug according to the present embodiment and used for a connector. The waterproof plug 10 has a base 11 formed from an insulating material such as synthetic resin material or a plastic, etc. It supports terminal portions 12 each being a conductive layer formed, on at least one surface of the base 11, and it includes a partitioning member 13, (shown as a wall) formed of an insulating material that is formed integrally with the base 11, and it further includes a sealing member 14 disposed between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13.

In the present embodiment, it should be understood that the expressions indicating the direction such as up, down, left, right, front, rear, etc., which are used for explaning the configuration and the operation of each portion and part of the waterproof plug 10 are not absolute but relative. Thus, they are suitable in the case when each part of the waterproof plug 10 is arranged in the positions shown in the drawing figures, but they should be interpreted according to a change of the position and posture thereof when such position and posture are changed. Moreover, in the resin molding techniques, a coinjection molding (multiple-injection molding), usually referred to as a double molding technique, and an outsert molding technique, etc., are herein referred to as "an over- molding" techniques.

At the present stage, although the described waterproof plug connector 10 may be used for, for instance, medical equipment, it may be used for any application and is particularly suited for exposure to moisture or other fluids. In addition, a portion of each of the terminal portions 12 that protrude in the backside direction (i.e., in the upper direction in FIG. 3A) from the partitioning member 13, namely, the backside of the terminal portion 12 functions as a junction portion capable of being firmly and electrically connected by a securing means such as welding or the like to other conductive members such as wires of a cable and a conductive trace or traces of a substrate, etc. Moreover, a portion of each of the terminal portions 12 that protrudes in the front side direction of the terminal portion 12 (i.e., in the lower direction in FIG 3A) from the partitioning member 13, namely, the front side of each terminal portion 12 functions as a contact portion which comes in contact with a terminal of an opposing connector. Then, the partitioning member 13 is disposed between both ends of the respective terminal portions, that is, between the junction portion and the contact portion so as to partition, in a watertight manner, the junction portion from the contact portion. As a result, the partitioning member 13 prevents any liquid such as a cleaning solvents, moisture, contaminants or the like from intruding into the side of the joint portion from the side of the contact portion of the respective terminal portions 12, even when the fitting portion side of the waterproof plug 10 is washed and cleaned.

Although the base 11 is shown as a rectangular plate-shaped member, it may be any shape.

As shown in FIG 4, the base 11 provides a core portion 11a disposed at the center of the base 11 and a surface portion lib appearing at the periphery of the core portion 11a. The core portion 11a is an insulative material which can be plated, for instance, a plating grade resin, and the surface portion lib is comprised of an insulating material which cannot be plated, for instance, a non-plating grade resin. The surface portion lib is formed as one part with the core portion 11a by over-molding it and selectively covering the surfaces of the core portion 11a. At this stage, the surfaces of the core portion 11a that are not covered with the surface portion lib define a plurality of band-like recessed portions extending in the vertical direction in FIG. 3A, and, when a conductive metal is deposited there in by plating, the terminal portions 12 are formed by these conductive layers. The part of the core portion that is covered with the surface portion lib becomes a plurality of band-like raised portions located between the adjoining terminal portions 12. Therefore, the adjoining terminal portions 12 are mutually insulated by the surface portions 1 Ib.

In the present embodiment, the core portion lla is molded by using a plating grade resin, and the surface portion 1 Ib is molded by using a non-plating grade resin lib. In some case, the plating grade resin may have slightly inferior flow properties than an ordinary non-plating grade resin, in order to acquire conductivity. In the present case, it is preferable to use a non-plating grade resin since when a later-described recessed portions lie of the core portion lla are filled with a resin for over-molding, the resin must be filled into fine groove portions.

In the example shown in the drawing figures, although the terminal portions 12 are formed, respectively, on the surfaces of both sides of the base 11 (both right and left side faces in FIG 5), they may be formed on only one surface of either side of the base 11. Moreover, although the terminal portions 12 are arranged side by side in such a manner that, for instance, twenty five terminal portions on each surface are arranged at a pitch of about 1.2 [mm], the pitch and the number is a matter of design. Although each terminal portion 12 has the shape of a straight line from the junction portion to the contact portion, and the neighboring terminal portions 12 are mutually arranged in parallel while keeping an equal pitch, the pitch may be changed on the way from the junction to the contact part. The terminal portions 12 are arranged, preferably, to have a uniform width from the junction portion to the contact portion, but the width may be varied from the joint to contact portion. Moreover, it is not mandatory that the terminal portions 12 are linear, but they may take the shape of a curved line. Namely, if each terminal portion 12 is provided with a contact portion contacting the counter-terminal of a counter-connector and a junction portion connected to another conductive member, any shape and any arrangement may be acceptable for the respective terminal portions 12. In the illustrated embodiment in the drawing figures, the partitioning member 13 is shown as a rectangular plate-shaped member. However, any shape of member may be employed if the member extends in a direction laterally crossing the terminal portions 12 and surrounds the periphery of the base 11 as shown in FIG 3B. Moreover, as shown in the drawing figures, a step portion is formed around the periphery of the partitioning member 13. The step portion provides a tight-seal performance by cooperating with the sealing member, such as packing or the like disposed at a position where the waterproof plug connector 10 is mounted on a member belonging to a medical instrument and other diverse equipment. However, such step portion may be omitted. In other words, the external dimensions and shape of the partitioning member 13 may be appropriately varied in response to the dimensions and the shape of the member by means of which the waterproof plug connector 10 is mounted on a medical instrument or other equipment.

Moreover, although the partitioning member 13 is arranged closer to the junction portion from the center of a longitudinal line of each terminal portion 12 in the example as shown in the drawing figures, it may be arranged anywhere between the junction portion and the contact portion. Although the base 11 is provided, at the side faces thereof on both sides in the width direction, with a raised positioning portion lie by which the partitioning member 13 and the sealing member 14 are arranged in position, the raised positioning portion lie may be omitted.

The partitioning member 13 is also insulative and formed as synthetic resin or plastic, as one part with the base 11 by over-molding, and encloses the periphery of the base 11 in a plane extending across the terminal portions. Therefore, no gap is defined between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13, so that any liquid such as a cleaning solution, etc. is prevented from intruding into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of every terminal portion 12 during cleaning operation of the fitting side of the waterproof plug 10. The material for the partitioning member 13 preferably has an almost equal coefficient of linear expansion to that of the materials of the core portion 11a and the surface portion lib of the base 11. As a result, generation of any gap caused by a difference in the coefficient of linear expansion between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13 can be prevented, even if a change in a temperature in the operating environment of the waterproof plug 10 occurs. The sealing member 14 is shown as a flexible insulative material such as rubber or the like and it is disposed between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13. Since each terminal portion 12 is a conductive layer, there might be a possibility that the tight- seal performance decreases between the partitioning member 13 and the surface of the terminal portions 12, even if the partitioning member 13 is molded as one part with the base 11 by using over-molding. Thus, when a sealing member 14 with a shape that encloses the periphery of the base 11 is arranged between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13, as shown in FIG 3B, the tight-seal performance can be improved between the base 11 together with the surface of the terminal portions 12 and the partitioning member 13, and as a result, moisture is reliably prevented from intruding into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of the terminal portion 12. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sealing member 14 should be desirably arranged such that the base 11 and the partitioning member 13 enclose the periphery of the sealing member 14. When the tight-seal performance between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13 can be sufficiently high without interposition of the sealing member 14, such sealing member 14 may be omitted.

A manufacturing method of a waterproof plug connector 10 of the invention will now be provided.

Firstly, the core portion 11a of the base 11 as shown in FIG 6 A is formed by injection molding a plating grade resin, for instance, a plating grade polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin. The core portion 11a may be formed as a rectangular plate member, and it is preferred that the strip-shaped recessed portion Ilk and the strip-shaped convex portion Hj extending in the direction in parallel with the short sides of the rectangle are alternately formed in groups on the surface of both sides thereof. The carrier part lid which is used for transportation, and holding of the component will be cut off in a later step and is connected as one part at one end in the direction of the short side of the rectangle of the core portion 11a (the upper right side end in FIG 6A). Hi denotes a borderline between the core portion 11a and the carrier portion Hd and extends in the long side direction of the rectangle.

Next, the core portion 11a is placed in a mold cavity, and insert molding is carried out so that the core portion 11a is over-molded by the surface layer portion lib, resulting in acquirement of the member as shown in FIG 6B. The surface layer portion lib is formed from a non-plating grade resin, for instance, a non-plating grade PPS resin, and it selectively covers the surface of the core portion 1 Ia to be as one part with the core portion 11a. The recessed portions formed on the surface of both sides of the core portion 11a are covered with a surface layer portion 1 Ib. On the other hand, the surface of the convex portion 1 Ij part is not covered with the surface layer portion lib and thus becomes the strip-shaped portions in which the core portion 11a is exposed. In this case, the interior of the recessed portions Ilk are filled with the surface layer portion lib and the surface of the surface layer portion lib becomes the strip-shaped portions of the core portion 11a.

It is preferred that the surface of the strip-shaped portions of the surface layer portion lib are convex, which are slightly raised higher than the surface of the strip- shaped portion of the core portion 11a and thus, the strip-shaped portions of the core portion 11a are in effect, recessed portions lie. Since the terminal portions 12 are formed by depositing a conductive layer in the recessed portions lie in the process described later, the surface of the terminal portions 12 is formed to be flush with the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the surface layer portion lib by raising it from the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the surface layer portion lib only by an amount of dimension corresponding to the thickness of the terminal portions 12, resulting in the surface of the base 11 finally obtained being flattened.

Moreover, the surface of the carrier portion Hd is not covered with the surface layer portion lib, and it becomes a state as it is. Moreover, formation of the positioning raised portion lie is carried out simultaneously with the formation of the surface portion lib. Next, a metallic base or furring layer comprised of a conductive material such as copper, nickel or the like can be formed by applying electroless plating to the member as shown in FIG 6B. In this case, the metallic base layer is not applied to the surface of the surface layer portion lib and the positioning raised portion lie but it is formed in each strip-shaped recessed portion lie in. which the platable core 11a is exposed and on the surface of the carrier portion Hd. Specifically, the non-platable surface layer portion lib functions as a mask during electroless plating.

Next, by further applying plating to the member as shown in FIG 6B, a surface layer using palladium, nickel, and gold, etc. can be formed on the metallic base layer. In this case, the metallic surface layer is not formed on the surface of the non-platable surface layer portion lib but it is formed on the surface of the metallic base layer inside each recessed portion l ie. Since the metallic base layer is also formed on the surface of the carrier portion Hd, the metallic surface layer is formed thereon.

It is preferable that the electroless plating and electroplating be applied so as to make the total thickness of the metallic base layer and the metallic surface layer be the same as the dimension where the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the surface layer portion lib is raised high above the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the core portion 11a. Therefore, the surface of the terminal portions 12 may be formed flush with the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the surface layer portion lib, resulting in the surface of the base 11 being flattened. For instance, although the thickness of the metallic base layer is about 2 to 5 [μm] or more, it can be arbitrarily set.

Next, as shown in FIG 7 A, the sealing member 14 is attached to the base 11. A metallic layer is formed in the respective recessed portions lie of the base 11 as the terminal portions 12 by applying plating to the member as shown in FIG 6B. The metallic layer is acquired from forming the metallic surface layer onto the surface of the metallic base layer inside the respective recessed portions He. Furthermore, the sealing member 14 is flexible such as a rubber, elastoner or the like and it has an endless elliptical shape and it is fitted so as to surround the periphery of the base 11. In this case, the sealing member 14 can be mounted in position with respect to the longitudinal direction of the terminal portions 12 by bringing one end of the sealing member 14 to be abutted against the positioning raised portion lie of the base 11.

Next, insert molding is carried out again by arranging the base 11 on which the sealing portion 14 is mounted as shown in FIG 7A in the cavity of the molding die and filling the cavity with a molten resin, resulting in the base 11 being over-molded by the partitioning member 13. Consequently, as shown in FIG 7B, the waterproof plug connector 10 can be obtained, in which the insulative partitioning member 13 is formed as an integral part with the base 11. In this case, the thickness of the partitioning member 13 is preferably controlled to be of a dimension where the sealing member 14 is not exposed outside due to the periphery thereof being surrounded by the base 11 and the partitioning member 13. Moreover, the position of the partitioning member 13 with respect to the longitudinal direction of the terminal portions 12 is arranged so that the partitioning member 13 overlaps at least a portion of the positioning raised portion lie. Finally, the carrier portion Hd is cut out, and as a result, the manufacture of the waterproof plug connector 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is completed.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the terminal portions 12 are made by forming conductive layers on the surface of the insulative base 11 and the partitioning member 13 extending in the direction crossing the terminal portions 12 between the respective contact portions and the junction portions of the terminal portions 12 is formed to be integral with the main part 11, resulting in the waterproof plug connector 10 being obtained.

Therefore, the region between the contact portion and the junction portion of each terminal portion 12 can be partitioned in a watertight manner. For instance, in the case when it is utilized for a medical instrument, a liquid such as a cleaning solution, etc. is securely prevented from intruding into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of the terminal portion 12 by the partitioning member 13 during the cleaning operation of the fitting side of the waterproof plug connector 10. Moreover, since the metallic layer is formed by plating, the thickness of the terminal part 12 can be thinner and the terminal portion 12 is not raised high above the surface of the base 11. Therefore, a space is not created easily between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13, so that no liquid intrudes into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of the terminal portion 12.

Moreover, since the sealing member 14 is arranged between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13, the tight-seal performance is improved between the base 11 together with the surface of the terminal portions 12 and the partitioning member 13, whereby, a liquid is surely prevented from intruding into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of the terminal portion 12.

Moreover, the respective terminal portions 12 are formed in the recessed portions lie fabricated on the surface of the base 11, and the surface of the terminal portions 12 is formed to be formed to be almost flush with the surface of the base 11 except for the recessed portion lie, that is, the surface of the strip-shaped portion of the surface layer portion lib. Therefore, the surface of the base 11 together with the terminal portions 12 becomes flattened and the tight-seal performance between the base

11 and the partitioning member 13 can be further improved.

The base 11 includes the core part 11a comprised of a plating grade resin and provides the surface layer portion 1 Ib comprised of a non-plating grade resin and over- molded to selectively cover the surface of the core portion 11a, and the terminal portions

12 is comprised of a metallic layer formed on the surface of the core portion 11a which is not covered with the surface layer portion 1 Ib. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a mask for plating, and accordingly the plating process can be simplified, so that a reduction in the manufacturing cost of the waterproof plug connector can be achieved. Moreover, since the partitioning member 13 is over-molded to cover the periphery of the base 11 in a plane extending to cross-section the terminal portions 12, no gap is formed between the base 11 and the partitioning member 13, and accordingly a liquid is surely prevented from intruding into the junction portion side from the contact portion side of each terminal portion 12.

Next, a description of the second embodiment will be provided hereinbelow. It should be noted that same or like portions and elements having structures similar to those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and, the explanation thereof will be omitted for the simplicity sake. Moreover, the explanation of the same operation and effects as exhibited by the first embodiment will also be omitted.

FIGS. 8A through 8D are perspective views showing each step of the manufacturing method of a waterproof plug of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the explanation of the structural configuration of the waterproof plug connector 10 is omitted because it is quite similar to that of the first embodiment, and only the manufacturing method of the waterproof plug connector 10 will be described.

First of all, the substrate portion Hf of the base 11 as shown in FIG 8 A is molded by a molding method, such as injection molding or the like, by using a plating grade resin, for instance, a plating grade polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin. The substrate portion Hf is a rectangular plate-shaped member, and are formed, on the respective surfaces of both sides thereof, with a plurality of strip-like recessed portions llg extending in a direction along the long sides of the rectangle, respectively, and at a predetermined pitch between the neighboring ones. Herein, the bottom of each of the recessed portion llg is concaved by a predetermined amount of depth from the surface of the substrate portion Hf. Since each of the terminal portions 12 is formed by depositing a conductive metal on the bottom of such each recessed portion llg during a later- described step of the manufacturing method, the surface of ₍the respective terminal portions 12 is formed to be flush with the surface of the substrate portion 1 If by recessing the bottom of the respective recessed portions llg only by an dimensional amount corresponding to the thickness of each terminal portion 12, and as a result, the surface of the base 11 eventually produced can be flat. Next, a member, as shown in FIG 8B, where a metallic base layer 12a comprised of a metallic material such as copper and nickel or the like is formed by putting a mask Hh on the substrate portion Hf and by applying electroless plating on the same portion Hf. The mask Hh has a plurality of apertures which correspond to the respective recessed portions 11 g and is placed on each of the surfaces of both sides of the substrate portion llf in a manner such that the apertures of the mask Hh are positioned above the recessed portions Hg. Then, the portions of the surfaces of both sides of the substrate portion llf except for the recessed portions Hg are covered with the mask Hh. Therefore, the metallic base layer 12a is not deposited on the portions covered with the mask lib. and the metallic base layer 12a is formed on the bottom of each recessed portion Hg.

Next, by applying electroplating to the member from which the mask llh has been removed, the base 11 as shown in FIG. 8C can be acquired, which is provided with the terminal portions 12 formed by applying a metallic surface layer comprised of a metallic material such as palladium, nickel, and gold, etc. onto the metallic base layer 12a.

In this case, it should be understood that the metallic surface layer is not formed on the surface of the substrate part llf and the metallic surface layer is formed only on the surface of the metallic base layer 12a.

Moreover, it is preferable that the electroless plating and electroplating be applied so as to make the sum of the thickness of the metallic base layer 12a and the metallic surface layer be the same as the thickness dimension where the bottoms of the recessed portions Hg are respectively concaved from the surface of the substrate portion Hf. Hence, the surface of the terminal portions 12 may be made flush with the surface of the substrate portions Hf lying between the neighboring terminal portions 12, and as a result, the surface of the base 11 can be flattened. For instance, although the thickness of the metallic base layer 12a is approximately 2 through 5 [μm], and that of the metallic surface layer is approximately 0.5 [μm] or more in the described embodiment, both thicknesses may be set arbitrarily as required. Since the substrate portion 11 f is formed to be a plurality of strip-shaped portions and arranged between the neighboring terminal portions 12, the neighboring terminal portions 12 are insulated from each other by the substrate portions Hf comprised of an insulating material.

Next, the base 11 as shown in FIG. 8 C is placed in the cavity of the molding die and insert molding is carried out by filling a molten resin in the cavity, resulting in the base 11 being over-molded by the partitioning member 13. As a result, the waterproof plug connector 10 as shown in FIG 8D can be obtained, in which the partitioning member 13 comprised of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin material and the like, for instance, a PPS resin, is formed to be one part with the base 11. Similarly to the first embodiment, the base 11 may be over-molded by the partitioning member 13 after mounting the sealing member 14 on the base 11.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the mask Hf is employed for the application of plating when a metallic layer is formed in the respective recessed portions Hg, which are formed in the surface of the substrate portion Hf to thereby obtain the terminal portions 12. Therefore, it is not necessary to produce the base 11 by using a plurality of kinds of resin materials, so that the manufacturing process can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be curtailed. Explanations are omitted about the effects of other points since they are similar to the first embodiment.

The case where the metallic base layer 12a is formed with electroless plating was explained in this embodiment. However, the metallic base layer 12a may be fabricated by a metallic thin film deposition technique such as vacuum deposition and sputtering techniques, etc. other than the plating. Moreover, the metallic surface layer also can be formed with a metallic thin film deposition technique such as vacuum deposition and sputtering techniques, etc. other than plating. The present invention is not intended to be limited to the described embodiments.

Thus, many modifications and variations to these embodiments may occur based on the scope and spirit of the present invention, and those are not excluded from the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A moisture impervious connector comprising: a base of an insulative material; a terminal portion including a metallic layer formed on a surface of the base, the terminal portion including a contact portion for contacting an opposing terminal of a mating connector, and a junction part connected to another conductive member; a partitioning member extending laterally across said terminal portion between said contact portion and said junction portion, the positioning member being made of an insulative material molded and formed as part of the base.

2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the metallic layer is formed by plating, vacuum deposition, or sputtering.

3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a sealing member is disposed between said base and said partitioning member.

4. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said terminal portion is formed in a recessed portion formed in the surface of said base.

5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein the surface of said terminal portion is formed flush with the surface of said base except for the recessed portion.

6. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said base is provided with a core portion made of a platable resin and a surface layer portion made of a non-platable resin, the surface layer portion selectively covering parts of said core portion surface, and wherein said terminal portion is formed of a metallic layer produced by plating on said core portion surface that is not covered with said surface layer portion.

7. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said partitioning member is over-molded to cover a periphery of said base in a cross-section plane laterally crossing said terminal portion.

8. A method of making a waterproof plug connector comprising the steps of: forming a connector base from an insulative material; forming a terminal portion on at least one surface of the base by depositing a conductive layer on the surface, the terminal portion including a contact portion for contacting an opposing connector and a mounting portion for connecting the connector to another member; and, forming a partition that extends across the terminal portion between the contact and junction portions thereof, the partition being formed of an insulative material as one part with the base.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step forming said base includes the steps of: forming a core portion composed of a plating grade resin; and over-molding a non-plating grade resin to cover selected areas on a surface of the core portion, and wherein the forming step of the base further comprises the step of: forming a terminal portion made of the metallic layer on an exposed surface of the core part in the base.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the forming step of said base includes: forming said base portion from a platable resin and providing recesses therein of a predetermined shape; applying masking to thereby expose the predetermined shape of recessed portion; and forming a terminal portion, made of a metallic layer in the exposed recessed portion.