JP2008235087A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small waterproofing means excelling in sealing performance. <P>SOLUTION: Since a seal member 21 is composed of a plurality of divided rubber plugs 22, the number of through-holes 24 formed at each divided rubber plug 22 is reduced, and the degradation of sealing performance caused by forming multiple through-holes 24 on one seal member 21 can be avoided. Since the plurality of divided rubber plugs 22 are arranged in a state that the divided rubber plugs adjacent to one another are brought into a form displaced on the front side and the back side to shift the positions of the divided rubber plugs 22 adjacent to one another in a direction for making them adjacent to one another in a direction for superposing them on one another in the arrangement direction thereof, the size of the seal member is prevented from being increased in the arrangement direction of the divided rubber plugs 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector having a waterproof function.

Patent Document 1 discloses a housing (cavity) from the rear in a connector in which terminal fittings are respectively inserted into a plurality of cavities formed in a housing and electric wires connected to the terminal fittings are led out from the rear end surface of the housing. As a means for preventing water from entering inside, a structure is disclosed in which a seal member called a batch rubber plug having a plurality of through holes is attached to the rear end of the housing, and an electric wire is passed through each through hole.
JP 2005-317385 A

In the above connector, when the electric wire is sequentially passed through the plurality of through holes, the seal member is deformed so that the center of the non-through hole adjacent to the electric wire is eccentric with respect to the cavity every time the electric wire is penetrated. This eccentric deviation will be accumulated as the number of wires penetrated increases.
If the through-holes are decentered in this way, the wires are forcibly bent between the cavity and the through-holes, so that part of the hole edges of the through-holes are widened, resulting in a decrease in sealing performance. Concerned.
As a means for solving this problem, there is a method of fitting one rubber plug to one electric wire. However, when such individual rubber plugs are used, the adjacent rubber plugs are partitioned by partition walls, so that the number of partition walls is increased, and the entire housing is enlarged accordingly.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a waterproof means that is small and has excellent sealing performance.

  As a means for achieving the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of cavities arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction are formed in a connector housing, and a terminal fitting inserted into the cavity is provided. An electric wire is connected to a rear end, and the electric wire is penetrated through a through hole of a seal member attached to a rear end portion of the connector housing and led out to the rear of the connector housing, and the seal member The plurality of divided rubber plugs are adjacent to each other and have the through-holes and are arranged so as to be aligned in one or both of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. It is characterized by the fact that they are displaced from each other in the front-rear direction.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rubber plug holding member is assembled to the rear end portion of the connector housing according to the first aspect, and the divided rubber plug is attached to the rubber plug holding member from the front side. It is characterized in that a front storage chamber that can be stored and a rear storage chamber that can store the divided rubber plug from the rear surface side and that is located rearward of the front storage chamber are formed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the one according to the second aspect, the plurality of through holes are formed in the divided rubber plug, and the rubber plug holding member is disposed behind the front housing chamber. A plurality of rear communication chambers partitioned by a partition so as to correspond to the plurality of through holes of the divided rubber plugs accommodated in the front housing chamber, and disposed in front of the rear housing chamber, A feature is that a plurality of front communication chambers defined by partition walls are formed so as to correspond to the plurality of through holes of the divided rubber stopper accommodated in the accommodation chamber.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the through holes are arranged in two in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or in the vertical direction. It is characterized in that it is formed by any one of two forms arranged in both the left and right directions.

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the seal member is constituted by a plurality of divided rubber plugs, the number of through holes formed in one divided rubber plug is reduced, and the seal is caused by a large number of through holes formed in one seal member. Performance degradation can be avoided.
In this case, since the plurality of divided rubber plugs are arranged so that the adjacent ones are displaced from each other in the front-rear direction, the positions of the divided rubber plugs adjacent to each other are shifted toward or close to each other in the arrangement direction. And an increase in size in the direction in which the divided rubber plugs are arranged can be avoided.

<Invention of Claim 2>
The rubber plug holding member can accommodate the divided rubber plug located on the front side from the front side and the divided rubber plug located on the rear side from the rear side. The stroke is small and the installation work is easy.

<Invention of Claim 3>
The split rubber plug pushed into the front storage chamber from the front side is restricted from being pushed further by contacting the partition wall of the rear communication chamber, and the split rubber plug pushed into the rear storage chamber from the rear side is Since further pressing is restricted by contacting the partition wall of the partial communication chamber, the divided rubber plug can be reliably positioned in the front-rear direction.

<Invention of Claim 4>
When three through holes are arranged, the eccentric displacement of the through hole located in the center is larger than the two through holes on both sides, but in the present invention, the number of through holes arranged is two, The eccentric deviation can be reduced.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. A female connector 10 (corresponding to the connector of the present invention) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a connector housing 11 made of synthetic resin, a rubber plug holding member 16, a seal member 21, a rear holder 26, a female terminal fitting 30, and the like. It is configured with.

  In the connector housing 11, a plurality of cavities 12 (32 in the present embodiment, but may be more or less than this) are arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions. The cavities 12 are arranged in four rows in the up-down direction and in eight rows in the left-right direction. On the outer periphery of the connector housing 11, a first seal ring 13 for sealing a gap between a fitting peripheral surface with a male connector 40 to be described later in a liquid-tight manner is a front holder 14 fitted on the front end portion of the connector housing 11. It is attached in a state in which it is restricted from coming out forward.

A housing space 15 corresponding to the formation region of all the cavities 12 is formed in the rear end portion of the connector housing 11 so as to open to the rear end surface of the connector housing 11. A rubber plug holding member 16 and a second seal ring 17 are housed in the housing space 15.
The rubber stopper holding member 16 is made of a synthetic resin and has a block shape as a whole. The rubber stopper holding member 16 includes eight front housing chambers 18F that form a horizontal rectangle with the front surface recessed, and eight chambers that form a horizontal rectangle with the rear surface of the rubber stopper holding member 16 recessed. A rear housing chamber 18R is formed. The eight front storage chambers 18F are staggered on the front surface of the rubber plug holding member 16. On the other hand, the eight rear housing chambers 18R are staggered at eight locations on the rear surface of the rubber plug holding member 16 where the front housing chamber 18F is not disposed. That is, the front storage chamber 18F and the rear storage chamber 18R are arranged so as to be alternately arranged in the vertical direction, and at the same time, are arranged so as to be alternately arranged in the horizontal direction. Further, in the front-rear direction, the rear end (back end) of the front storage chamber 18F is positioned slightly ahead of the front end (back end) of the rear storage chamber 18R.

The rubber plug holding member 16 has a total of eight rear communication chambers 19 </ b> R that individually communicate with each of the front storage chambers 18 </ b> F and that are partitioned by the partition wall 20 to form a pair. It is formed in the form which opens in. The rear communication chamber 19R is disposed behind the front housing chamber 18F, and the vertical dimension of the rear communication chamber 19R is set to be smaller than the vertical dimension of the front housing chamber 18F communicating therewith. Similarly, the rubber plug holding member 16 has a total of eight front communication chambers 19 </ b> F that individually communicate with each of the rear housing chambers 18 </ b> R and that are divided by the partition wall 20 to form a pair. It is formed in the form which opens in. The front communication chamber 19F is disposed in front of the rear storage chamber 18R, and the vertical dimension of the front communication chamber 19F is set smaller than the vertical dimension of the rear storage chamber 18R communicating therewith. The eight pairs of front communication chambers 19F and the eight pairs of rear communication chambers 19R are staggered in the same manner as the front storage chamber 18F and the rear storage chamber 18R.
In other words, on the front surface of the rubber stopper holding member 16, eight front housing chambers 18F and eight pairs of front communication chambers 19F are arranged in a staggered manner so as to be alternately adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions. On the rear surface of the rubber stopper holding member 16, eight rear housing chambers 18 </ b> R and eight pairs of rear communication chambers 19 </ b> R are arranged in a staggered manner so as to be alternately adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  The rubber stopper holding member 16 is assembled with a seal member 21 composed of a total of 16 divided rubber stoppers 22 accommodated in each front storage chamber 18F and each rear storage chamber 18R. The divided rubber plug 22 has a block shape as a whole, and an outer peripheral lip portion 23 is formed on the outer periphery for sealing a gap with the inner periphery of the storage chambers 18F and 18R in a liquid-tight manner. Further, the split rubber plug 22 is formed with a pair of through holes 24 penetrating in the front-rear direction. The cross-sectional shape of the through hole 24 is circular, and an inner peripheral lip portion 25 for sealing a gap between the inner periphery of the through hole 24 and the outer periphery of the electric wire 31 described later in a liquid-tight manner on the inner periphery of the through hole 24. Is formed.

  The split rubber plug 22 is assembled so as to be pushed into the front housing chamber 18F from the front of the rubber plug holding member 16, and is pushed into the rear housing chamber 18R from the rear of the rubber plug holding member 16. It is assembled. The split rubber plug 22 housed in the front housing chamber 18F has a pair of upper and lower steps due to a dimensional difference in the vertical direction between the front housing chamber 18F and the rear communication chamber 19R. It is positioned in the front-rear direction by abutting against the front end edge of the partition wall 20 defining the paired rear communication chamber 19R. Similarly, the split rubber plug 22 accommodated in the rear storage chamber 18R has a pair of upper and lower ends at the front end surface (front end surface in the pushing direction) due to the vertical dimension difference between the rear storage chamber 18R and the front communication chamber 19F. Is positioned in the front-rear direction by abutting against the rear end edge of the partition wall 20 defining the paired front communication chambers 19F.

  Further, the substantially first half portion of the outer periphery of the rubber plug holding member 16 is larger than the substantially second half portion in a stepped shape, and in the substantially first half portion, the outer periphery of the rubber plug holding member 16 and the housing space of the connector housing 11 are provided. A second seal ring 17 is attached for sealing a gap between the inner periphery of the fluid seal 15 in a liquid-tight manner.

  The rubber stopper holding member 16, the divided rubber stopper 22 and the second seal ring 17 are assembled in the accommodation space 15 from the rear. In the assembled state, the split rubber plug 22 housed in the front housing chamber 18F has its front end brought into contact with the opening edge on the rear end side of the cavity 12 (the back end surface of the housing space 15), thereby Stopped. After the rubber plug holding member 16 is assembled, the rear holder 26 is assembled to the connector housing 11 from the rear, and the rear holder 26 regulates the rearward removal and movement of the rubber plug holding member 16 and the rear housing chamber 18R. The rearward withdrawal and movement of the divided rubber plug 22 accommodated therein is restricted. Further, the rear holder 26 is formed with a communication hole 27 communicating with the rear storage chamber 18R and the rear communication chamber 19R of the rubber plug holding member 16 so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction. Furthermore, an electric wire cover 28 is assembled to the rear holder 26 from the rear. The rear holder 26 is supported by a lever 29 in a form in which a pair of upper and lower arms are connected by an operation unit so as to be rotatable about an axis in the vertical direction.

  A female terminal fitting 30 is attached to the female connector 10. The female terminal fitting 30 has a well-known shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and an electric wire 31 is connected to the rear end portion of each female terminal fitting 30 by crimping. The female terminal fitting 30 is inserted into the cavity 12 from the rear through the communication hole 27 with the wire cover 28 removed. During insertion, the female terminal fitting 30 that has passed through the communication hole 27 passes through the rear communication chamber 19R and the through hole 24 of the divided rubber plug 22 in the front storage chamber 18F in order, and the rear storage chamber 18R. The split rubber plug 22 passes through the through hole 24 and the front communication chamber 19F in order, and reaches the cavity 12 through one of the paths. In a state in which the female terminal fitting 30 is correctly inserted into the cavity 12, the electric wire 31 connected to the rear end of the female terminal fitting 30 communicates with the through hole 24 of the divided rubber plug 22 in the front housing chamber 18F and the rear communication. The rear holder 26 (connector housing 11) passes through one of a path that passes through the chamber 19R in order and a path that passes through the front communication chamber 19F and the through hole 24 of the divided rubber plug 22 in the rear housing chamber 18R in order. And is turned substantially at a right angle inside the wire cover 28 and led laterally to the outside of the female connector 10.

  The male connector 40 is fitted into the female connector 10 described above. The male connector 40 has a form in which a hood portion 42 is extended forward from the terminal holding portion 41 in a rectangular tube shape, and a tab at the front end of the male terminal fitting 43 penetrating the terminal holding portion 41 is surrounded by the hood portion 42. ing. When the male connector 40 and the female connector 10 are fitted, the hood portion 42 is fitted on the connector housing 11 and the lever 29 is rotated, and the cam follower 44 on the outer periphery of the hood portion 42 and the arm portion of the lever 29 are operated. The two connectors 10 and 40 are brought close to each other by the cam action by the engagement with the cam groove 33.

  As described above, the female connector 10 of the present embodiment forms a plurality of cavities 12 aligned in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the connector housing 11, and the rear end of the female terminal fitting 30 inserted into the cavity 12. The electric wire 31 connected to is penetrated through the through-hole 24 of the seal member 21 attached to the rear end portion of the connector housing 11 and led backward, and the seal member 21 is moved in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The plurality of divided rubber plugs 22 are arranged so as to be lined up in both directions, and the plurality of divided rubber plugs 22 are arranged so that adjacent ones are displaced in the front-rear direction.

  According to the present embodiment, since the seal member 21 is constituted by a plurality of divided rubber plugs 22, the number of through holes 24 formed in one divided rubber plug 22 is reduced, and a large number of one seal member 21 is provided. Decrease in sealing performance due to the formation of the through holes 24 (when the electric wires 31 are sequentially passed through the plurality of through holes 24, the center of the non-through holes 24 with respect to the cavity 12 is Eccentricity can be avoided, and the electric wire 31 is forcibly bent between the eccentric through-hole 24 and the cavity 12 to cause a part of the hole edge of the through-hole 24 to widen, resulting in a reduction in sealing performance.

  Further, since the plurality of divided rubber plugs 22 are arranged so that adjacent ones are displaced from each other in the front-rear direction, the positions of the divided rubber plugs 22 adjacent to each other are set in the arrangement direction (in this embodiment). Shifting in the direction of approaching or overlapping each other in the vertical direction) is realized. In other words, the partition wall between the front storage chamber 18F and the front communication chamber 19F is shifted to the front communication chamber 19F without reducing the wall thickness, and the rear storage chamber 18R and the rear communication chamber 19R The partition wall between the two is shifted toward the rear communication chamber 19R without reducing the wall thickness. This avoids an increase in size in the direction in which the divided rubber plugs 22 are arranged (vertical direction).

  Further, a front housing chamber 18F capable of housing the split rubber plug 22 from the front side and a rear rubber plug 22 from the rear side at the rear end of the connector housing 11 and behind the front housing chamber 18F. The rubber stopper holding member 16 formed with the rear housing chamber 18R located at the position is assembled. Assembling of the divided rubber plug 22 to the rubber plug holding member 16 can be carried out by sorting from the front side and from the rear side, so that the push-in stroke when accommodating the divided rubber plug 22 is small, and the installation work is simple. is there.

Also, the split rubber plug 22 is formed with two through holes 24, and the rubber plug holding member 16 is disposed behind the front housing chamber 18 </ b> F, and the divided rubber plug 22 received in the front housing chamber 18 </ b> F. The two rear communication chambers 19R partitioned by the partition wall 20 so as to correspond to the two through holes 24 are formed, and the divided rubber is disposed in front of the rear storage chamber 18R and stored in the rear storage chamber 18R. Two front communication chambers 19 </ b> F partitioned by the partition wall 20 are formed so as to correspond to the two through holes 24 of the plug 22.
According to this configuration, the split rubber plug 22 pushed into the front housing chamber 18F from the front side is restricted from being pushed further by contacting the partition wall 20 of the rear communication chamber 19R, and the rear housing chamber is pushed from the rear side. Since the divided rubber plug 22 pushed into 18R is further pushed by contacting the partition wall 20 of the front communication chamber 19F, the divided rubber plug 22 can be positioned in the front-rear direction.

In addition, when three through holes 24 are formed side by side in one divided rubber plug 22, the eccentric deviation of the through hole 24 located in the center is larger than the two through holes 24 on both sides. In the embodiment, since two through holes 24 formed in one divided rubber plug 22 are arranged in the left-right direction, the eccentric deviation of the through holes 24 can be reduced.
Further, when any one through hole 24 is damaged by dividing the sealing member 21 into a plurality of divided rubber plugs 22, only the divided rubber plug 22 in which the damaged through hole 24 is formed is used. Since the replacement is sufficient, the cost can be reduced.
Further, since the split rubber plug 22 is disposed so as to be displaced forward and backward, the distance from the crimping portion of the female terminal fitting 30 with the electric wire 31 to the position where the electric wire 31 is bent at the rear end surface of the rear holder 26 is small. It is getting longer. Therefore, the elastic restoring force of the bent electric wire 31 does not easily reach the crimping portion with the female terminal fitting 30, and the contact reliability between the female terminal fitting 30 and the electric wire 31 is excellent.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The plurality of divided rubber stoppers may be arranged in the horizontal direction only in the vertical direction, or arranged in the horizontal direction only in the vertical shape.
(2) The number of through holes formed in one divided rubber plug may be one or three or more.
(3) Adjacent divided rubber plugs are not limited to being arranged in two front and rear, but may be arranged in three or more places in the front and rear direction.
(4) The divided rubber plug may be directly assembled to the connector housing without using the rubber plug holding member.
(5) In the above embodiment, the rubber plug holding member and the divided rubber plug are separate parts. However, according to the present invention, the rubber plug holding member and the divided rubber plug may be integrated into two parts by two-color molding. .

Sectional drawing showing the state which has not inserted the female terminal metal fitting in the connector housing in Embodiment 1 Sectional view showing how the female terminal fitting is inserted into the connector housing and mated with the male connector Front view of rubber stopper holding member with split rubber stopper attached The perspective view seen from the front side of the rubber stopper holding member The perspective view seen from the back side of a rubber stopper holding member Front view of rubber stopper holding member Cross section of split rubber stopper

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Female connector (connector)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Connector housing 12 ... Cavity 16 ... Rubber plug holding member 18F ... Front part accommodation chamber 18R ... Rear part accommodation room 19F ... Front part communication room 19R ... Rear part communication room 20 ... Septum 21 ... Seal member 22 ... Divided rubber stopper 24 ... Through Hole 30 ... Terminal fitting 31 ... Electric wire

Claims (4)

A plurality of cavities aligned in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are formed in the connector housing, and an electric wire is connected to the rear end of the terminal fitting inserted into the cavity, and the electric wire is connected to the rear end of the connector housing. A connector that is led through the through hole of the seal member attached to the part and led out of the connector housing,
The seal member has the through-hole, and is constituted by a plurality of divided rubber stoppers arranged so as to be aligned in one direction or both directions in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction,
The plurality of divided rubber plugs are arranged such that adjacent ones are displaced from each other in the front-rear direction. A rubber stopper holding member is assembled to the rear end of the connector housing,
The rubber plug holding member includes a front storage chamber that can store the divided rubber plug from the front side, and a rear portion that can store the divided rubber plug from the rear side and is located behind the front storage chamber. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a housing chamber is formed. A plurality of the through holes are formed in the divided rubber stopper,
In the rubber stopper holding member,
A plurality of rear communication chambers arranged behind the front housing chamber and partitioned by partition walls so as to correspond to the plurality of through holes of the divided rubber plugs housed in the front housing chamber;
A plurality of front communication chambers, which are arranged in front of the rear housing chamber and are partitioned by partition walls so as to correspond to the plurality of through holes of the divided rubber plugs housed in the rear housing chamber, are formed. The connector according to claim 2. The through-holes are formed by either a form in which two through holes are arranged in any one of the up-down direction and the left-right direction, or a form in which two through-holes are arranged in both the up-down direction and the left-right direction. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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