JP3228697B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector housing terminal fittings electrically connected to a mating terminal by abutment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a connector of this type, a terminal fitting to which an end of an electric wire is fixed is movably housed in a connector housing, and the terminal fitting is urged by an elastic member to a mating terminal fitting. They are configured to be electrically connected to each other with a contact pressure.

[0003]

By the way, the core wire of the electric wire fixed to the terminal fitting is exposed by peeling off the insulating coating at the end, and when the connector is wetted, the core wire is insulated along the core wire. Water could enter the inside of the coating and corrode the core wire. So, to prevent such a situation,
It is necessary to adopt a waterproof structure that prevents water from entering the connection between the terminal fitting and the electric wire. A general configuration for that purpose may be a structure in which a waterproof ring is arranged between the terminal housing of the connector housing and the terminal fitting. However, as described above, this type of connector has a structure in which the terminal fittings are moved.
There is a problem that the waterproof ring is worn and the waterproof function is deteriorated. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector capable of maintaining the connection between the terminal fitting and the electric wire in a good waterproof state even when the butting terminal fitting moves within the housing.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an electric wire is connected to a terminal fitting which is abutted against and electrically connected to a counterpart, which is movably housed in a connector housing, and which is accommodated by an elastic member. In a connector which is urged to the other side, the terminal fitting is provided integrally with a watertight structure provided with a cover for protecting a connection portion between the terminal fitting and the electric wire, and the terminal fitting is provided together with the watertight structure. It is characterized in that it moves within the connector housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the connector according to the first aspect, a spring receiving projection for receiving the urging force of the elastic member is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cover of the watertight structure. .

[0006]

According to the structure of the first aspect, the connection between the terminal fitting and the electric wire is kept waterproof by the watertight structure, and is protected by the cover provided on the watertight structure. And since this watertight structure is integrated with the terminal fitting, even if the terminal fitting moves in the connector housing, the connection portion is kept protected by the cover. Therefore, when the terminal fitting is moved, the watertight portion does not slide and wear in the connector housing, so that the waterproof state is maintained well.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cover of the watertight structure for waterproofing is provided with the urging force of the elastic member and the spring receiving projection, so that the entire connector can be made compact.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Connector 10 of the present embodiment
1 is entirely shown in FIG. 1 and includes a plurality of terminal fittings 20 inside a connector housing 11 (hereinafter, referred to as “housing 11”) fixed to a body B of an electric vehicle.

The housing 11 is provided with a hood 13 in front of the main body 12, and is mounted with the opening on the front side of the hood 13 facing the outside of the body B. Note that an opening of the hood 13 is provided with an opening / closing lid 18 for opening and closing the opening. A plurality of cavities 15 penetrating from the rear end surface of the housing 11 to the back surface 13A of the hood portion 13 are formed inside the main body portion 12, and the terminal fittings 20 are accommodated therein. A compression coil spring 16 is housed in the cavity 15 together with the terminal fitting 20, and the terminal fitting 20 is urged forward by the compression coil spring 16 as described later in detail. A holding lid 17 for preventing the coil spring 16 from falling out of the cavity 15 is attached.

The terminal fittings 20 accommodated in the housing 11 are of a type that is electrically connected to the terminal fittings on the mating side. This terminal fitting 20
As shown in FIG. 2, the connector includes a connecting portion 21, a flange portion 22, and an electric wire fixing portion 23 arranged coaxially from the front thereof.

[0010] The connecting portion 21 is formed in a columnar shape, and a distal end surface 24 of the connecting portion 21 is abutted against a mating terminal fitting to be electrically connected. An E-ring groove 25 for attaching an E-ring 26 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the connection portion 21 near the rear. Further, the electric wire fixing portion 23 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and an end of an electric wire D extending from a battery (not shown) mounted on the electric vehicle is inserted and fixed therein. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the insulation D1 of the electric wire D is peeled off from the end by a predetermined length to expose the core D2.
And the end surface of the insulating coating D1 is brought into contact with the rear end surface of the terminal fitting 20.
To fix the electric wire D and the terminal fitting 20 together.
The flange portion 22 plays a role in positioning the cover 30 described below.

A cover 30 is fitted to the terminal fitting 20, and a watertight structure according to the present invention is constituted by the cover 30 and a pair of waterproof rings 31, 32 described later disposed therein. . As shown in FIG. 2, the cover 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a tapered distal end and has a front wall 33 at the distal end, and the front wall 33 can penetrate only the connecting portion 21 of the terminal fitting 20. A through hole 34 is formed. As shown in FIG. 3, in the internal space of the cover 30, a waterproof ring accommodating portion 35 expanded stepwise behind the through hole 34, and a terminal positioning portion further expanded stepwise behind the through hole 34. 36, the rear portion of the terminal positioning portion 36 is further expanded and extended to the rear end. Then, the terminal fitting 20 is inserted through the rear opening of the cover 30.
Is inserted, the flange 22 of the terminal fitting 20 is abutted against the terminal positioning portion 36 to be positioned, and the connecting portion 21 of the terminal fitting 20 projects forward of the cover 30 through the through hole 34. . In this state, the E-ring 26 is attached to the E-ring groove 25, and the cover 30 is fixed to the terminal fitting 20. The inner peripheral diameter of the terminal positioning portion 36 is substantially the same as the outer peripheral diameter of the flange portion 22, and the cover 30 and the terminal fitting 20 are positioned in the radial direction. Further, the rear end side of the cover 30 extends to a position covering the insulating coating D1 of the electric wire D.

At the front and rear ends of the inside of the cover 30,
As shown in FIG. 3, waterproof rings 31 and 32 are arranged. The waterproof ring 31 on the front end side is a so-called O-ring, and is crushed between the inner peripheral surface of the waterproof ring housing portion 35 and the outer peripheral surface of the connection portion 21 of the terminal fitting 20 to form a water-tight surface, The launch from the front end side of the cover 30 is prevented. On the other hand, the waterproof ring 32 on the rear end side is a wide rubber ring as shown in FIG. 2, and is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the rear end of the cover 30 and the outer peripheral surface of the insulating coating D1 of the electric wire D. The cover 30 is crushed to prevent water from flowing from the rear end side of the cover 30. As a result, a waterproof space 30A (see FIG. 3) is formed in an intermediate portion of the cover 30, and the wire fixing portion 23 of the terminal fitting 20 is arranged inside the waterproof space 30A.

An outwardly projecting spring receiving flange 37 is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the cover 30 near the front of the intermediate portion, and the compression coil spring 16 is pressed against the rear end surface of the spring receiving flange 37. Cover 30 is terminal fitting 2
It is in a state of being urged forward by 0 every time. Then, the terminal fitting 20 connects the connecting portion 21 to the housing 11.
The electric wire D fixed to the electric wire fixing portion 23 is housed in the cavity 15 in a state of protruding from the inner surface 13A of the hood portion 13 and extending rearward from the rear end surface of the housing 11.

On the other hand, the distal end 42 of the mating connector 40 is shown on the right side of FIG. 1, and the distal end 42 is fitted and inserted into the hood 13.
This connector is connected to an end of a charging cable extending from an external charger at a portion not shown in FIG. 1, and a charging-side terminal fitting 45 fixed to a terminal of the cable is housed in the distal end portion 42. I have. The charge side terminal fitting 45
A columnar connecting portion 43 similar to the terminal fitting 20;
It is fixed to the housing 41 in an arrangement corresponding to the terminal fitting 20. A lock lever 46 is provided in the housing 41, and both connectors 10, 40 are provided.
When the lock lever 46 is properly fitted, the lock lever 46 is connected to the hood 13 of the connector 10 fixed to the body B.
Is engaged with the engagement hole 19 formed at the bottom.

The connector 10 according to the present embodiment operates as follows. When water is applied to the connector 10, the cover 30 and the terminal fitting 20 and the space between the cover 30 and the electric wire D are watertight by the waterproof rings 31 and 32, so that the waterproof space 30 </ b> A of the cover 30 ( Water does not reach the wire fixing portion 23 accommodated in the inside (see FIG. 3). Therefore, the insulating coating D is transmitted along the exposed core wire D2.
There is no possibility that water enters inside 1 and corrodes the core wire D2.

In order to connect the connector 10 and the mating connector 40, the open / close lid 18 of the housing 11 is opened and the mating connector 40 is pushed into the hood 13. When the mating connector 40 is pushed halfway through the hood 13,
The distal end surfaces of the terminal fittings 20 and 45 of both connectors 10 and 40 are in contact with each other. When the mating connector 10 is further pushed into the hood 13, the terminal fitting 20 is pushed by the charge-side terminal fitting 45 and moves rearward of the cavity 15. Then, the cover 30 is also pushed backward by the E-ring 26 attached to the terminal fitting 20, and the terminal fitting 2
The cover 3 is moved rearward integrally with the cover 3 and the cover 3 and the waterproof ring 31 and 32 inside the cover 30 are kept watertight.
0 and the terminal fitting 20. That is, the waterproof rings 31 and 32 do not slide due to the movement of the terminal fitting 20, and the waterproof function does not deteriorate due to wear. When the cover 30 moves rearward, the space between the flange 37 provided on the cover 30 and the receiving plate 17 narrows, and the compression coil spring 16 is compressed. Then, the terminal metal 20 together with the cover 30 is pushed toward the charge-side terminal metal 45 by the reaction force of the coil spring 16, and the distal end surfaces of both the terminal metal 20 and 45 are brought into an electrical connection state with a contact pressure. In this state, the lock lever 46 and the engagement hole 19 are engaged to lock both connectors 10 and 40, and the charging operation is performed. When the mating connector 40 is pulled out after charging is completed, the terminal fitting 20 is pushed back to the front of the cavity 15 by the restoring force of the compression coil spring 16 and returns to the original state.

As described above, according to the connector 10 of the present embodiment, the cover 30 that can move integrally with the terminal fitting 20 is provided.
Since the waterproof rings 31 and 32 are arranged inside the
The waterproof rings 31, 32 do not receive friction,
The waterproof function can be maintained in a good state for a long time.
In addition, since the cover 30 has a structure that also has the flange 37 that receives the spring force of the coil spring 16, the whole connector can be made compact.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
In addition to the following, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the present embodiment, the waterproof rings 31 and 32 are provided in the cover 30 for waterproofing. For example, the inside of the cover 30 is filled with resin to form a watertight structure. Is also good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a terminal fitting and a watertight structure.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing details of an assembled state of a housing and a terminal fitting.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector 11 ... Connector housing 16 ... Compression coil spring (elastic member) 20 ... Terminal fitting 23 ... Wire fixing part (connection part) 30 ... Cover (watertight structure) 31 ... Waterproof ring (watertight structure) 32 ... Waterproof ring ( (Watertight structure) 37 ... Flange (spring receiving protrusion)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazunori Chikada 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Harness Research Institute, Inc. 20-2 Asahi Metal Seiko Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-10-312850 (JP, A) JP-A-7-296882 (JP, A) JP-A-7-6814 (JP, A) 2-90478 (JP, A) JP-A-1-161682 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/52

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector in which an electric wire is connected to a terminal fitting which is abutted against and electrically connected to a counterpart, which is movably housed in a connector housing, and which is biased toward the counterpart by an elastic member. The terminal fitting is provided integrally with a watertight structure provided with a cover for protecting a connection portion between the terminal fitting and the electric wire, and the terminal fitting moves in the connector housing together with the watertight structure. A connector characterized in that: 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a spring receiving protrusion receiving the urging force of the elastic member is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cover of the watertight structure.