WO2018082094A1

WO2018082094A1 - Waterproof assembly, housing for assembling with the same and waterproof kit

Info

Publication number: WO2018082094A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/104886
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaogang Song
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2016-11-07
Filing date: 2016-11-07
Publication date: 2018-05-11

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a waterproof assembly, a housing for assembling with the same and a waterproof kit. The waterproof assembly (100) configured to be assembled with a housing (200) of a product. It includes a waterproof member (10); and at least one sealing member (20) configured to cooperate with the waterproof member (10). The waterproof member (10) comprises at least two body sections (4, 6) thereon and at least one step section (8) between two adjacent ones of the at least two body sections (4, 6), and the at least one sealing member (20) is disposed to surround the waterproof member (10) against at least one step face (14) of the least one step section (8).

Description

WATERPROOF ASSEMBLY， HOUSING FOR ASSEMBLING WITH THE SAME AND WATERPROOF KIT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to waterproof technology， and more particularly to a waterproof assembly， a housing of a product configured to assemble with the waterproof assembly and a waterproof kit comprising the waterproof assembly and the housing assembled together.

BACKGROUND

In a structure design of waterproof， it is typically necessary to achieve the waterproof of a housing of a product by a threaded connection， for example with a screw. Thus， it means that a through hole (i.e.， a screw hole) for receiving the screw is provided onto the housing and penetrated through the housing. There is a requirement about sealing and waterproof of the housing， in order to avoid foreign matters such rain water or dust particles entering into an inner volume of the housing， and to improve a reliability of the product. This is just the case for communication and electronic products or outdoor equipments.

The existing waterproof solutions typically include the following two kinds. The first one is to use a waterproof coating (or a waterproof adhesive) ， which is coated or daubed around the screw hole after the screw is tightened into the screw hole， while the coating or adhesive is permeated and glued， so that a gap between the screw hole and the screw can be sealed. The first waterproof solution at least has one of the following drawbacks： (1) if there are many screw holes in the housing， the corresponding assembling process becomes very complex； (2) a long time is needed to dry the adhesive or coating； (3) normally， because the adhesive or the coating is made of non environmentally friendly material， this enables it not suitable for civilian products； and (4) it is easy to become aged if the product is used outdoors and under sunlight.

The second one is to use a washer installed below a cap of the screw， which is made of a flexible material and assembled between the cap of the screw and the screw hole. After the screw has been tightened and the flexible washer has been squeezed therebetween， the gap between the screw hole and the screw can be sealed. The second waterproof solution at least has one of the following drawbacks： (1) because the washer is usually made of the flexible material， there is no hard contact or touching between the screw and the screw hole and thus the reliability of waterproof is very low； (2) the flexible washer is easy to be deformed， tends to reduce the tightening force after a period of time， and always has a lower torque； and (3) only a limited tightening torque can be applied to the washer and thus there are always some difficulties in the assembly process， since too much high tightening force tends to cause the washer to be broken and a low tightening force is easy to cause the waterproof failure.

Summary

In view of the foregoing， an object of the present disclosure is to overcome or at least mitigate at least one of above shortcomings in the prior art solution. Herein， the present disclosure proposes out a new waterproof technical solution (i.e.， a waterproof assembly of the present application) for waterproofing the housing of the product， so as to improve the waterproof reliability， reduce the assembling difficulty and simplify the assembling procedures.

Further， another object of the present disclosure is to provide a housing of the product which can be assembled with the waterproof assembly of the present application， and a waterproof kit comprising the waterproof assembly and the housing assembled together.

In accordance with one aspect of the present application， it provides a waterproof assembly configured to assemble with a housing of a product， comprising：

a waterproof member； and

at least one sealing member configured to cooperate with the waterproof member；

wherein the waterproof member comprises at least two body sections thereon and at least one step section between two adjacent ones of the at least two body sections， and the at least one sealing member is disposed to surround the waterproof member against at least one step face of the least one step section.

In accordance with another aspect of the present application， it provides a housing of a product， configured to assemble with the waterproof assembly as described above， wherein the housing of the product has an accommodating hole， and the waterproof assembly is installed into the accommodating hole from outside to inside or from inside to outside.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present application， it provides a waterproof kit， comprising： a waterproof assembly as described above； and a housing of a product as described above； wherein the at least one sealing member of the waterproof assembly is disposed within the accommodating hole of the housing for implementing waterproof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These aspects and/or other aspects as well as advantages of the present application will become obvious and readily understood from the description of the preferred embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings below， in which

Fig. 1 is a schematic view for showing structures of a waterproof member in a waterproof assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present application；

Fig. 2 is a schematic view for showing structures of a sealing member in the waterproof assembly in accordance with the embodiment of the present application；

Fig. 3 is a schematic view for showing structures of the waterproof member and the sealing member respectively shown in Figs. 1 and 2 after being pre-assembled together；

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view for schematically showing details of a part of a housing of a product where the waterproof assembly is assembled， in accordance with another embodiment of the present application；

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the waterproof assembly and the housing during assembly；

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a waterproof kit incorporating the waterproof assembly and the housing being fully assembled together； and

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of a variant of a waterproof kit in accordance with a further embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the discussion that follows， specific details of particular embodiments of the present techniques are set forth for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other embodiments may be employed apart from these specific details.

Furthermore， in some instances detailed descriptions of well-known methods， structures， and devices are omitted so as not to obscure the description with unnecessary detail.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2， they show details of a waterproof member 10 and a sealing member 20 of a waterproof assembly 100. The waterproof assembly 100 is used to assemble with a housing 200 of a product (as shown in Fig. 4 and later described) .

In one embodiment， the waterproof assembly 100 at least includes the waterproof member 10 and at least one sealing member 20 for cooperating with the waterproof member 10. Typically， the waterproof member 10 includes at least two

body sections

4， 6 thereon and at least one step section 8 between two adjacent ones of the at least two

body sections

4， 6. The at least one sealing member 20 is disposed to surround the waterproof member10 against at least one step face 14 (shown in Fig. 3) of the at least one step section 8.

In one example， the at least two

body sections

4， 6 each is cylindrical， rectangular， square， oval， or elliptical. In fact， the shapes of the body sections are not limited in the present application， and they can have any suitable or desired shapes， as long as it is capable to be inserted or assembled with the housing 200. The at least two

body sections

4， 6 are integral parts of the waterproof member 10 or separated parts of the waterproof member 10. As shown in Fig. 1， it only depicts the waterproof member 10 having two body sections， and the two body sections are integrally formed on the same body. It should be appreciated that the waterproof member 10 can have more than two body sections and they can be manufactured by any other suitable means. As such， when the waterproof member 10 has a plurality of body sections， there are more than one step sections 8， since it is possible to dispose one step section 8 between any two adjacent body sections. The number of the body sections and step sections can be selected by a user according to actual requirements. In another example， although there can be a plurality of body sections， only one step section is provided between the desired two adjacent body sections. For simple illustration， Fig. 1 only shows one step section 8， which only has one step face 14 as shown in Fig. 3. It is apparent that the step section 8 can be provided with any number of the step faces.

In one illustrative example， the waterproof member 10 is made of a stainless steel. Of course， any other suitable material such as plastics， resins， or polymers can be used to make the waterproof member 10.

It should be understood that the waterproof member 10 is assembled with the housing 200 by any one selected from a group consisted of a threaded fit， a snap fit， a key fit， an adhesive and welding， or any combination thereof. The threaded fit is taken as one example for explaining the principle and operation thereof. Since the other remaining installing methods are known in the art， we did not repeatedly discuss them herein， and the person skilled in the art can select any other suitable installing method for connecting the waterproof assembly 100 and the housing 200， in the light of the disclosure of the present application.

When the waterproof member 10 has a cylindrical cross section as shown in Fig. 1， at least one of the at least two

body sections

4， 6 of the waterproof member 10 is provided with an outer thread 16， 18 (as shown in Fig. 3) ， for connecting with the housing 200. In order to not obscure description of the present embodiment， the case that the waterproof member 10 only has a front end section 4 and a back end section 6， is used as one example. Specifically， the front end section 4 and the back end section 6 both are provided with the

outer thread

16， 18 respectively.

In addition， the waterproof member 10 includes a cap 2 at one end thereof， and is used to make a hard contact 230 (shown in Fig. 6) with the housing 200. The back end section 6 is located adjacent to the cap 2. Generally， the back end section 6 has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the front end section 4.

Further with reference to Fig. 3， the back end section 6 has a diameter D4 larger than that D3 of the front end section 4， and has a same thread pitch and a same thread direction as those of the front end section 4.

In one example， at least a part of the front end section 4 is shaped as a screw， a shaft， or a guide pin for connecting or cooperating with another attachment 240 of the product (which will be described later) . Herein， the front end section 4 is selected to have a shape similar to a screw.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3， they show more details about the sealing member 20. The at least one sealing member 20 is an O-ring， a washer or a gasket. It is apparent that the number of the sealing member 20 can be selected depending on the number of sealing face to be formed or the step face of the step section. In other words， if they are two step faces provided on the waterproof member or it is desired to form two sealing faces， then two sealing members 20 are typically necessary. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that only one sealing member (i.e.， the O-ring) is depicted for simple description.

Further with reference to Fig. 6， the at least one sealing member 20 is sandwiched and squeezed between the at least one step face 14 and the housing 200 so as to form a sealing face. In one example， the at least one sealing member 20 is selected to be annular， rectangular， square， oval or elliptical， so as to correspond to shapes of the at least two

body sections

4， 6. The at least one sealing member 20 is made of a silica gel material. Of course， any other suitable materials such as plastics， resins， or polymers can be used to make the sealing member 20.

It should be noted that in order to match with the front end section 4， the sealing member or O-ring 20 should be shaped similar to that of the front end section 4. Since the front end section 4 and the back end section 6 are cylindrical， the at least one sealing member 20 is annular-shaped， and has an inner diameter D1 equal to or slightly larger than the diameter D3 of the front end section 4 and an outer diameter D2 equal to or less than the diameter D4 of the back end section 6.

Fig. 4 shows details of a housing 200 of a product. The product can be communication and electronic devices， especially any type of outdoor products. A part of the housing 200 is used to assemble with the waterproof assembly 100， and can be manufactured by any other materials， such as plastics， steel metal or the like， which is not limited in the present application. The housing 200 of the product has an accommodating hole 210， and the waterproof assembly 100 is installed into the accommodating hole 210 from outside to inside or from inside to outside. Figs. 5 and 6 show the case that the waterproof assembly 100 is installed into the accommodating hole 210 from outside to inside； whereas Fig. 7 shows an alternative case that the waterproof assembly 100 is installed into the accommodating hole 210 from inside to outside. In other words， Fig. 7 shows a variant to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Since there is only a little difference in terms of installation direction， the same or similar structures are not described again.

Below， the case shown in Figs. 5 and 6 will be described in detail. The accommodating hole 210 has a fully open end 212 for receiving the waterproof assembly 100 and a partially closed end 214 opposite to the fully open end 212. The partially closed end 214 has a matching step section 216 for matching the at least one step section 8 and supporting the at least one sealing member 20， and the partially closed end 214 is further provided with an opening 218 for allowing a part of the waterproof member 10 to pass through.

The accommodating hole 210 has a shape matched with that of the waterproof assembly 100， and has such a depth that the cap 2 of the waterproof member 10 makes a hard contact 230 with a surface 220 of the housing 200 and the at least one step face 14 is placed against a matching step face of the matching step section 216 via the at least one sealing member 20.

As we have described above， in order to simplify the description of the embodiment， the waterproof member 10 is only provided with one step section 8， and the step section 8 has only one step face 14， thus correspondingly， the matching step section 216 is selected to be one and to have only one matching step face. That is， it is necessary to keep the step section 8 and the matching step section 216 to be matched with each other. It is apparent that there can be a plurality of the matching step sections and each of them can be provided with at least one matching step face.

Back with reference to Figs. 2-4， and 6， a depth L4 of the accommodating hole 210 is equal to a sum of the lengths L2， L1 of the back end section 6 and the sealing member 20 subtracting a compression amount of the sealing member 20 when the waterproof member 10 and the at least one sealing member 20 are assembled into the accommodating hole 210. An inner surface of the accommodating hole 210 has a diameter D5 matched with that D4 of the back end section 6. The accommodating hole 210 is provided with an inner thread 222 having a screw pitch as that of the back end section 6 and a matched thread direction with that of the back end section 6.

Please be noted that the accommodating hole 210 in one specific example can be designed as a thread hole.

With reference to Figs. 6 and 7 and as described above， a further embodiment of the present application also provides a waterproof kit 300. It includes the waterproof assembly 100 and the housing (200) assembled together. The at least one sealing member 20 is disposed within the accommodating hole 210 of the housing 200 for implementing waterproof.

In addition， as shown in Figs. 6 and 7， another attachment 240， for example a necessary attachment or component for the product can be provided within the housing 200. In one example， the attachment 240 has a receiving hole within an inner thread， which is used to connect with the outer thread of the front end section 4. Of course， when the attachment 240 is not fixed with the front end section 4 for example by the thread fit， a part of the front end section 4 can be inserted into the receiving hole of the attachment 240. That is， sometimes the part of the front end section 4 can function as a guiding role， a connection role and/or a fixing role.

One specific design example about the waterproof kit 300 including the waterproof member 10， the sealing member 20 and the accommodating hole 210 of the housing 200 is given out for better understanding the present application. As shown in Fig. 7，a top surface of the cap 2 can be disposed with a tightening structure， for example a cross groove， in order to facilitating the fixing.

The waterproof kit 300 can be obtained by the following steps：

Step 1： providing or designing the waterproof member 10. As shown in Fig. 1 or 3， the diameter D3 of the front end section 4 is equal to 6 mm， and the thread pitch thereof is 1 mm. Further， the front end section 4 has a length L2 of 10 mm. The diameter D4 of the back end section 6 is equal to 8 mm， and the thread pitch thereof is also 1 mm. In addition， the back end section 6 has a length L3 of 8 mm. It should be noted that if it is not required to finish the assembly once time， the front end section 4 and the back end section 6 can also have different thread pitches. In other words， the waterproof assembly 100 can be firstly threaded into the housing 200， and the another attachment 240 is fixed onto the part of the front end section 4 by for example the thread fit.

Step 2： providing or designing the sealing member 20. In this example， the sealing member 20 is an O-ring. Specifically， the inner diameter D1 of the sealing member 20 is 6 mm， the outer diameter D2 thereof is 7.5 mm， and athickness ora length L1 of the sealing member 20 is 1.5 mm.

Step 3： pre-assembling the sealing member 20 onto the step face 14 of the step section 8， until the sealing member 20 is placed against the step face 14.

Step 4： providing or designing the accommodating hole 210 of the housing 200. In this example， if the compression amount (abbreviated herein as CA) of the sealing member 20 is predetermined to be 0.5 mm， the depth L4 of the accommodating hole 210 is obtained by： L4＝L2 (8mm) +L1 (1.5mm) -CA (0.5mm) ＝9mm. The diameter D5 of the inner thread (i.e.， the nominal diameter) is equal to 8 mm. Furthermore， the opening 218 is provided to be a bottom hole， which has a diameter of 6.2 mm and a length of 2 mm. Alternatively， the opening 218 can be disposed to be a hole having an inner thread at the end of the accommodating hole 210， with a diameter of 6 mm， a thread pitch of 1 mm and a length of 2 mm.

Step 5： assembling the waterproof member 10 which has been pre-assembled with the sealing member 20， into the accommodating hole 210 of the housing 200. Normally， the waterproof member 10 will be tightened into the accommodating hole 210 until the cap 2 makes a hard contact 230 with the surface 220 of the housing 200. Of course， alternatively， the waterproof member 10 can be tightened into the accommodating hole 210 with an exact predetermined torque force.

After completing the above five steps， the sealing member 20 is sandwiched between the step face 14 and the matching step face of the matching step section 216 with a compression amount of 0.5 mm as described above， and the sealing face is formed therebetween.

It can be seen from the above that the waterproof assembly， the housing and the waterproof kit of the various embodiments of the present application are used to achieve one kind of inner waterproof， that is， the sealing face or the sealing position is designed in the middle of the accommodating hole or within the housing. This concept can be widely used in any suitable electronic and industrial product， and not limited to the above listed examples.

The waterproof solution or arrangement as described in any embodiment of the present application can at least achieve one of the following advantages：

1. A hard contact or touching is obtained between the cap of the waterproof member and the housing， while the waterproof is achieved. This can effectively avoid a soft contact in the prior art， especially the stress relief of the soft contact， and improve the reliability of the corresponding product.

2. The present application employs a technical solution of inner waterproof， rather than the outer waterproof. Thus， the aging problem of the seal member can be completely eliminated or at least partly eliminated， because the sealing member is located within the housing of the product， and the cap of the waterproof member can protect it from ultraviolet light and chemical dust. This also prolongs service life of the product.

3. The present application also has solved the limitation to the tightening force during the assembling process. Even if a tightening force is less than actually required force， this does not lead to the waterproof failure； and even if a too large tightening force is applied， this does not cause the sealing member broken. Therefore， the waterproof assembly， the housing and the waterproof kit are applicable within a wider range of assembling conditions than those in the prior art.

4. Compared with the technical solution of using the adhesive or washer， the technical solution of the present application has a lower manufacturing cost， a simpler process， and a higher efficiency， and is more friendly to the environment than those in the prior art.

5. Compared with the technical solution of outer waterproof， due to reduction of the outer implementing material or the outer components， it becomes more compact， has a good appearance and is very beneficial to the environment protection.

The present disclosure is described above with reference to the embodiments thereof. However， those embodiments are provided just for illustrative purpose， rather than limiting the present disclosure. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the attached claims as well as equivalents thereof. Those skilled in the art can make various alternations and modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure， which all fall into the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

A waterproof assembly (100) configured to assemble with a housing (200) of a product， comprising：

a waterproof member (10) ； and

at least one sealing member (20) configured to cooperate with the waterproof member (10) ；

wherein the waterproof member (10) comprises at least two body sections (4， 6) thereon and at least one step section (8) between two adjacent ones of the at least two body sections (4， 6) ， and the at least one sealing member (20) is disposed to surround the waterproof member (10) against at least one step face (14) of the at least one step section (8).
The waterproof assembly (100) according to claim 1， wherein

the waterproof member (10) further comprises a cap (2) at one end thereof， configured to make a hard contact (230) with the housing (200) .
The waterproof assembly (100) according to claim 1 or 2， wherein

the waterproof member (10) is assembled with the housing (200) by any one selected from a group consisted of a threaded fit， a snap fit， a key fit， an adhesive and welding， or any combination thereof.
The waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-3， wherein

the at least one sealing member (20) is an O-ring， a washer or a gasket， and

the at least one sealing member (20) is sandwiched and squeezed between the at least one step face (14) and the housing (200) so as to form a sealing face.
The waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-4， wherein

the at least two body sections (4， 6) each is cylindrical， rectangular， square， oval， or elliptical，

the at least two body sections (4， 6) are integral parts of the waterproof member (10) or separated parts of the waterproof member (10) ； and

the at least one sealing member (20) is selected to be annular， rectangular， square， oval or elliptical， so as to correspond to shapes of the at least two body sections.
The waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-5， wherein

the waterproof member (10) is made of a stainless steel；

the at least one sealing member (20) is made of a silica gel material.
The waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-6， wherein

in a case that the waterproof member (10) has a cylindrical cross section， at least one of the at least two body sections (4， 6) of the waterproof member (10) is provided with an outer thread (16， 18) ， for connecting with the housing (200) .
The waterproof assembly (100) according to claim 7， wherein

the waterproof member (10) only has a front end section (4) and a back end section (6) ， which both are provided with the outer thread (16， 18) ， and the back end section (6) is located adjacent to the cap (2) ，

wherein the back end section (6) has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the front end section (4) .
The waterproof assembly (100) according to claim 8， wherein

the back end section (6) has a diameter (D4) larger than that (D3) of the front end section (4) ， and has a same thread pitch and a same thread direction as those of the front end section (4) ；

at least a part of the front end section (4) is shaped as a screw， a shaft， or a guide pin for connecting or cooperating with another attachment (240) of the product.
The waterproof assembly (100) according to claim 9， wherein

the at least one sealing member (20) is annular-shaped， and has an inner diameter (D1) equal to or slightly larger than the diameter (D3) of the front end section (4) and an outer diameter (D2) equal to or less than the diameter (D4) of the back end section (6).
A housing (200) of a product， configured to assemble with the waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-10， wherein

the housing (200) of the product has an accommodating hole (210) ， and the waterproof assembly (100) is installed into the accommodating hole (210) from outside to inside or from inside to outside.
The housing (200) of the product according to claim 11， wherein

the accommodating hole (210) has a fully open end (212) for receiving the waterproof assembly (100) and a partially closed end (214) opposite to the fully open end (212) ，

wherein the partially closed end (214) has a matching step section (216) for matching the at least one step section (8) and supporting the at least one sealing member (20) ， and the partially closed end (214) is provided with an opening (218) for allowing a part of the waterproof member (10) to pass through.
The housing (200) of the product according to claim 12， wherein

the accommodating hole (210) has a shape matched with that of the waterproof assembly (100) ， and has such a depth that a cap (2) or the cap (2) of the waterproof member (10) makes a hard contact (230) with a surface (220) of the housing (200) and the at least one step face (14) is placed against a matching step face of the matching step section (216) via the at least one sealing member (20) .
The housing (200) of the product according to claim 13， wherein

in a case that the waterproof member (10) only has a front end section (4) ， a back end section (6) and one step section (8) having only one step face (14) between the front end section (4) and the back end section (6) ， a depth (L4) of the accommodating hole (210) is equal to a sum of the lengths (L2， L1) of the back end section (6) and the at least one sealing member (20) subtracting a compression amount of the at least one sealing member (20) when the waterproof member (10) and the at least one sealing member (20) are assembled into the accommodating hole (210) .
The housing (200) of the product according to claim 14， wherein

an inner surface of the accommodating hole (210) has a diameter (D5) matched with that (D4) of the back end section (6) ，

the accommodating hole (210) is a thread hole and provided with an inner thread (222) having a screw pitch as that of the back end section (6) and a matched thread direction with that of the back end section (6) ， and

the opening (218) is a bottom hole or a hole with an inner thread.
A waterproof kit (300) ， comprising：

a waterproof assembly (100) according to any of claims 1-10； and

a housing (200) of a product according to any of claims 11-15；

wherein the at least one sealing member (20) of the waterproof assembly is disposed within the accommodating hole (210) of the housing (200) for implementing waterproof.