JP5637099B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector used for electrical coupling of cables.

  Connectors used for electrical connection of cables are used in various places. The connector is made on the assumption that it is attached / detached, but if the attachment / detachment is repeated a number of times, the connector is exhausted, causing contact failure or conversely causing a short circuit. Therefore, cable protection is an important factor for connectors.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a connector that provides an insulating portion between a cylindrical connector main body and an electric wire, and prevents a short circuit between the connector main body and the electric wire even if the covering of the electric wire is peeled off.

JP 2006-4755 A

  If the cable is extremely bent at the rear end of the connector (the side of the connector that is connected to the cable), the cable strongly hits the edge of the rear end of the connector body, and the cable may be damaged. The cable is usually laid out with a margin so that it does not bend excessively, but for example, in the case of a cable of equipment mounted on a vehicle, the frame deforms when the vehicle collides with an obstacle, Devices may be extremely close together and cables may be strongly pushed and bent. In such a case, the cable is strongly pressed against the edge of the rear end of the connector body, and the cable may be damaged. This specification was created in view of the above problems. The present specification provides a connector that can prevent damage to the cable even if the cable is strongly bent at the rear end of the connector.

The connector disclosed in the present specification includes a cylindrical connector body, a cable clasp, and a protective ring. The cable clasp is a member for fastening the cable to the connector main body. The cable is inserted therethrough and the outer peripheral surface is in close contact with the cylinder inner surface of the connector main body. The protection ring has a cable inserted therein and is positioned on the rear end side of the connector with respect to the cable retaining rubber plug. The protection ring has a drum shape with a narrowed central portion in the axial direction. The cable clasp is fixed to the connector body, but the guard ring can move with the cable. The guard ring is typically made of rubber or resin. The cable is passed through the corrugated tube. The protection ring is between the connector body and the corrugated tube, and is attached to the cable so that when the cable is bent, it moves together with the cable and comes into contact with the edge of the rear end of the connector body.

  In the above connector, the drum-shaped protection ring protects the cable. Specifically, when the cable is extremely bent, the cable is prevented from directly hitting the rear end edge of the connector. The reason why the protective ring has a drum shape is that the protective ring itself is easily bent and does not prevent the cable from being bent.

  The axial length L of the protective ring is preferably equal to or greater than the radius of the rear end of the connector. With such a length, when the cable is bent, the protective ring is surely brought into contact with the outermost periphery of the rear end of the connector, so that the cable can be reliably protected. The cable may be provided with a tape for fastening the protective ring so that the protective ring is not separated from the cable stopper.

It is a typical sectional view of a connector. It is a perspective view of a protection ring. It is a schematic diagram which shows a mode when a cable bends. It is a partial schematic diagram of the front compartment of an electric vehicle.

  A connector 10 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In general, the connector 10 is a component that is attached to the tip of the cable 6 and is connected to a mating connector and electrically connects the cable 6 to a cable in the mating connector.

  The connector main body 2 is a cylindrical member through which a cable 6 passes. The cable 6 is locked to the main body 2 by a spacer 12 and a cable retaining rubber plug 13. The spacer 12 is made of resin. The cable 6 passes through the center of the spacer 12 and the cable retaining rubber plug 13, and the outer periphery is in close contact with the cylinder inner surface of the main body 2. The cable retaining rubber plug 13 is press-fitted into the cylinder of the main body 2 and is firmly fixed to the inner surface of the cylinder by the compression force. The compressive force also squeezes the cable 6 so that it does not come out. A metal terminal 14 is attached to the tip of the cable 6. The metal terminal 14 is fixed by crimping the cable 6 at the rear end portion 14a.

  A shell cover 3 is fitted to the outside of the main body 2. The outside of the shell cover 3 is covered with a shield 8 that covers the outside of the cable 6 and extends together with the cable, and the fastening ring 4 surrounds the outside. The retaining ring 4 is crimped on the outer periphery, and is crimped to the shell cover 3 with the shield 8 interposed therebetween. The retaining ring 4 serves to fix the shield 8 covering the cable 6 on the outer periphery of the connector body 2.

  The cable 6 is composed of a conductive member that is a collection of fine metal wires and a covering material such as vinyl covering the outside. The outer side of the cable 6 is further covered with a shield 8, and the outer side of the shield 8 is covered with a corrugated tube 7. The shield 8 is a braided metal fine wire made of stainless steel or the like, and protects a signal flowing through the cable 6 from magnetic noise or the like. The corrugated tube 7 protects the cable 6 from physical impact such as sliding with other objects, and is made of, for example, polypropylene or polyamide.

  A protective ring 20 is attached on the rear end side of the cable retaining rubber plug 13 and adjacent to the spacer 12. The protective rubber ring 20 is preferably made of rubber, but may be made of resin. The cable 6 passes through the center of the protection ring 20. A perspective view of the protective ring 20 is shown in FIGS. 2 (A) and 2 (B). The protection ring 20 has a drum shape with a constricted central portion in the axial direction. The protection ring 20 can be divided into a first enlarged diameter portion 20a at one end, a second enlarged diameter portion 20c at the other end, and a constricted portion 20b between them. A hole 20d through which the cable passes is provided in the center of the protective ring 20. The diameter of the 1st enlarged diameter part 20a is larger than the diameter of the 2nd enlarged diameter part 20c. As shown in FIG. 1, the smaller diameter expansion portion (second diameter expansion portion 20c) is closer to the cable retaining rubber plug 13, and the larger diameter expansion portion (first diameter expansion portion 20a) is the cable retaining rubber. The protective ring 20 is arranged so as to be on the side far from the stopper 13. The protective ring 20 is separate from the cable retaining rubber plug 13 and the spacer 12 and can move according to the movement of the cable 6.

  A tape 5 is wound around the cable 6 at the rear end side of the protective ring 20 so that the protective ring 20 is not displaced. The axial length L of the protective ring 20 is slightly larger than the connector radius R at the rear end of the connector 10. The length L may be equal to or greater than the radius R at the rear end of the connector 10.

  The purpose of the protection ring 20 will be described. The protection ring 20 has the cable 6 directly connected to the rear edge of the connector 10 (for example, the rear edge EG1 of the retaining ring 4 or the rear edge EG2 of the shell cover 3 as shown in FIG. 1). Prevent hitting. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, even when the cable 6 is extremely bent, the protection ring 20 hits the edge and protects the cable 6 (the place indicated by the symbol C in FIG. 3). The reason why the length L in the axial direction of the protection ring 20 is greater than or equal to the radius R at the rear end of the connector is to ensure that the protection ring 20 contacts the (outermost) edge of the rear end of the connector.

  Further, the protective ring 20 is arranged so that the end portion having the larger diameter (the first enlarged diameter portion 20a) is located on the side far from the cable retaining rubber plug 13. This is to prevent the cable 6 from being bent any further when the large diameter portion abuts against the edge of the rear end of the connector. In other words, it is to prevent the cable 6 from being bent tightly immediately after the connector. The reason why the central portion of the protective ring 20 is constricted is to prevent free bending of the cable within a predetermined range.

  A preferred application example of the connector 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the layout of some devices in the front compartment of the electric vehicle. FIG. 4 shows a layout of an inverter 52 and a reserve tank 53 for supplying AC power to two motors. In FIG. 4, the X axis indicates the front of the vehicle, and the Z axis indicates the upper side. Both the inverter 52 and the reserve tank 53 are fixed to the frame 54. The inverter 52 is connected to a cable 6 for receiving power from the motor (at the time of regeneration) and for supplying power to the motor. Two cables are connected to the inverter 52 corresponding to each of the two motors. A connector 55 for connecting the cable 6 to the inverter 52 has the same structure as the connector 10 of the embodiment described above. That is, the connector 55 has a protective ring at the rear end. The connector 55 is located at the rear end of the inverter 52 and is sandwiched between the inverter 52 and the reserve tank 53. In such a layout, when the vehicle collides with an obstacle, the frame 54 bends, the inverter 52 and the reserve tank 53 come close to each other, and sometimes the two collide with each other. Then, the cable 6 is strongly pressed against the inverter 52 in the vicinity of the connector 55 and is bent extremely. The guard ring can protect the cable 6 from the rear edge of the connector in such a situation.

  Specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, but these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology exemplified in this specification or the drawings can achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical usefulness by achieving one of the objects.

2: Connector body 3: Shell cover 4: Retaining ring 5: Tape 6: Cable 7: Corrugated tube 8: Shield 10: Connector 12: Spacer 13: Cable clasp 14: Metal terminal 20: Protective ring 20a: First expansion Diameter portion 20b: Constriction portion 20c: Second enlarged diameter portion L: Protection ring length R: Connector rear end radius

Claims (1)

A cylindrical connector body;
Cable and cable cut rubber stopper outer peripheral surface is in close contact with the cylindrical inner surface of the connector body with is inserted,
Said cable is inserted, said a protective ring which is arranged on the connector rear end of the cable cut rubber plug, a drum-shaped protective ring central portion in the axial direction is constricted,
Equipped with a,
The cable is passed through a corrugated tube;
The protection ring is between the connector body and the corrugated tube, and is attached to the cable so that when the cable is bent, the protection ring moves together with the cable and comes into contact with the edge of the rear end of the connector body. Yes,
A connector characterized by that.

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