JP2849896B2 - Waterproof 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 waterproof connector suitable for connection of, for example, a wire harness for an automobile, and more particularly, to a packing locking structure for ensuring waterproofness when fitting between connector housings. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional waterproof connector will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, the waterproof connector 1 is used to connect a wire harness for an automobile, and the male connector housing 2 and the female connector housing 3 are fitted to each other to establish electrical connection. Done.
In order to prevent intrusion of water or the like from the fitting portion, a packing 4 is interposed in a gap between the fitting portions of the female and male connector housings 3 and 2 to ensure waterproofness between the connector housings. Have been. The female / male connector housings 3 and 2 are injection-molded products made of synthetic resin having excellent insulation properties, and the packing 4 is a molded product made of synthetic rubber or the like which is easily elastically deformed.

The male connector housing 2 has an inner cylinder portion 7 in which a terminal accommodating chamber 6 for accommodating and holding connection terminals (not shown) is provided, and a skirt-like projection is provided on the outer periphery of the inner cylinder portion 7. And an outer cylinder portion 8. A plurality of rib-shaped packing support protrusions 9 extending along the fitting direction of the housing are provided on the outer periphery of the inner cylindrical portion 7 at a plurality of locations at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. Further, a packing locking hole 10 is provided at two places in a base end portion of the outer cylindrical portion 8. The female connector housing 3
The housing fitting insertion portion 12 is a substantially cylindrical housing fitting portion 12 that houses and holds a connection terminal (not shown) connected to the connection terminal in the terminal housing chamber 6 and that covers the periphery of the inner cylindrical portion 7 when fitted.
Is provided.

The packing 4 fills a gap between the inner cylindrical portion 7 and the housing fitting portion 12 to prevent water from entering the fitting portion between the female and male connector housings 3 and 2. . The packing 4 is provided with a tubular portion 14 that fits tightly on the outer peripheral surface of the inner tubular portion 7, and protrudes radially outward from the base end side of the tubular portion 14. When the inner cylinder portion 7 is fitted to a predetermined position,
And a projection 16 which is provided around the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 14 and is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the housing insertion portion 12.
Is provided. The inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 14 has an engagement groove 1 into which the packing support protrusion 9 is fitted.
7 are provided.

[0005] As shown in FIG.
First, the packing 4 is fitted into the male connector housing 2, and the housing fitting portion 12 of the female connector housing 3 is fitted into the gap 18 between the packing 4 and the outer cylindrical portion 8, so that the wire is formed. The harness is electrically connected. The engaging groove 17 extends from the base end side of the cylindrical portion 14 to the vicinity of the ridge 16, and is fitted until the tip of the packing supporting protrusion 9 contacts the end of the engaging groove 17. You. Accordingly, when the housing fitting portion 12 of the female connector housing 3 is fitted into the inner cylindrical portion 7, the tip of the housing fitting portion 12 comes into contact with the tip of the tubular portion 14 to deform the ridge portion 16. It is deterred from getting lost.

[0006]

By the way, when the female connector housing 3 fitted to the male connector housing 2 is removed, the female connector housing 3 is pulled into the male connector housing 2 when the female connector housing 3 is pulled. Since the ridge 16 is in close contact with the insertion portion 12, a tensile force acts on the packing 4. As shown in FIG. 9, in the conventional waterproof connector 1, a locking claw 15 for locking after the packing 4 is fitted to the male connector housing 2 is a projection piece having a substantially uniform wall thickness. The tubular portion 14 is easily bent when pulled, and when the female connector housing 3 is pulled out, the locking claw 15 is bent and detaches from the packing locking hole 10, causing inconvenience such as the packing 4 falling off. Was.

Further, when the packing 4 is inserted into the outer cylindrical portion 8, it is difficult to align the cylindrical portion 14 with the inner cylindrical portion 7, and the flat front end surface of the locking claw 15 is There has been a problem that it is difficult to fit and fit in contact with the distal end surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is easy to position and fit a packing in a connector housing, and it is possible to reliably prevent the packing from coming off when a connector is removed. It is to provide a waterproof connector.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an internal cylinder having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating a plurality of connection terminals therein and a packing member formed outside the internal cylinder. A connector housing comprising an outer cylinder portion having a stop hole, a tubular portion fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylinder portion of the connector housing and closely fitted thereto, and a locking claw engaged with the packing locking hole.
A cylindrical waterproof packing made of an elastic material having :
In the waterproof connector having a locking pawl of the packing is extended from the base end of the cylindrical portion to be fitted direction, fitted on
The waterproof connector is provided with a wedge-shaped reinforcing portion having a tapered surface inclined outwardly from the front end in the direction .

[0010]

In the waterproof connector having the above-mentioned structure according to the present invention, a wedge-shaped reinforcing portion is provided in which the locking claw of the packing extends from the base end of the tubular portion in the fitting direction, and the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion is fitted. The tapered surface of the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion is brought into contact with the distal end of the outer cylindrical portion of the connector housing when the packing is fitted on the inner cylindrical portion of the connector housing by providing the tapered surface inclined in the outward direction from the distal end of the connector housing. Thereby, the positioning of the packing can be easily and accurately performed. In addition, the locking claw of the packing can be easily fitted and inserted into the outer cylindrical portion by the tapered surface of the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion.

Further, when removing another fitted connector housing from the state where the locking claw of the packing is engaged with the packing locking hole of the connector housing, the base end of the cylindrical portion is formed by the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion. Because of the reinforcement, the locking claw is hardly bent. Therefore, even if a force in the direction of pulling out acts on the cylindrical portion of the packing, the bending of the locking claw is small, so that the locking claw does not come off from the packing locking hole of the connector housing and the packing does not fall off.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a waterproof connector according to the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof connector showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of a packing in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a front view of a male connector housing in FIG. 5 and 5 are cross-sectional views showing a state where the packing is engaged with the male connector housing, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the female / male connector housing is removed from the fitted state. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the waterproof connector 20 includes a male connector housing 22 and the male connector housing 2.
The connector housing 2 includes a female connector housing 3 fitted and connected to the connector housing 2 and a packing 24 interposed between connecting portions of the connector housings to prevent intrusion of water or the like from the connecting portions.

The male connector housing 22 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the inner cylindrical portion 7 has a terminal housing chamber 6 for housing and holding a plurality of connection terminals therein, and an outer cylindrical portion 8 which protrudes in a skirt shape on the outer periphery of the inner cylindrical portion 7. . Rib-shaped packing support protrusions 9 extending along the fitting direction are provided at six locations on the outer periphery of the inner cylindrical portion 7 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. Further, a packing locking hole 26 is provided at two locations facing the base end side of the outer cylindrical portion 8. The packing engagement hole 26 has a shape that opens in the outer direction of the outer tubular portion 8 and also opens in the fitting direction of the packing 24. The female connector housing 3 is completely the same as the conventional connector housing shown in FIG.

The packing 24 is elastically deformable as in the prior art.
It is made of synthetic rubber which is easy to form, and fills a gap between the inner cylindrical portion 7 and the housing fitting portion 12 to prevent water or the like from entering the connecting portion between the female and male connector housings 3, 22. It is. As shown in FIG. 3, the packing 24 has a cylindrical portion 14 that fits tightly on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion 7.
A locking claw 27 protruding radially outward on the distal end side of the cylindrical portion 14; and a protruding portion provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 14 and in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the housing fitting portion 12. It is configured to have the ridge portion 16. An engagement groove 17 into which the packing support protrusion 9 is fitted is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 14.

A locking claw 27 of the packing 24 extends in a fitting direction from a locking surface 29 suspended from the cylindrical portion 14 and a base end of the cylindrical portion 14 and extends from a distal end in the fitting direction. And a wedge-shaped reinforcing portion 31 having a tapered surface 33 inclined outward. The locking surface 29 is formed so that the packing 24 is fitted on the inner cylindrical portion 7 and the locking claw 27 is formed in the packing locking hole 26.
Is locked to the opening edge 28 of the packing locking hole 26 when it comes into
Further, the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion 31 is fitted on the inner cylindrical portion 7 and comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 30 of the inner cylindrical portion 7 so that the locking surface 2
9 to suppress bending in the fitting direction

As shown in FIG. 5, a packing 24 is fitted on the inner cylindrical portion 7 of the male connector housing 22. At this time, first, the distal end of the locking claw 27 is inserted into the outer cylindrical portion 8, and the tapered surface 33 of the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion 31 contacts the distal end of the outer cylindrical portion 8 of the male connector housing 22. The positioning of the packing 24 and the inner cylinder 7 can be facilitated. In addition, since the tapered surface 33 of the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion 31 abuts on the distal end of the outer cylindrical portion 8, the locking claw 27 can be easily inserted into the outer cylindrical portion 8, which is synergistic with the above-described positioning. Thus, the packing 24 can be quickly fitted to the inner cylindrical portion 7 of the male connector housing 22. Then, the locking surface 29 of the locking claw 27 protrudes into the packing locking hole 26 and is locked to the opening edge 28 of the packing locking hole 26, thereby preventing the packing 24 from coming off. At this time, since the locking surface 29 is reinforced by the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion 31,
Bending of the locking surface 29 in the fitting direction is suppressed. afterwards,
When the housing fitting insertion portion 12 of the female connector housing 3 is fitted into the gap 18 between the packing 24 and the outer cylindrical portion 8, the fitting connection between the female and male connectors is completed.

When the female connector housing 3 is detached from the male connector housing 22 as shown in FIG.
A force in the direction of pulling out acts on the cylindrical portion 14 of the packing 24 via the protruding ridge portion 16 that is in contact with. However, as described above, since the bending of the locking claw 27 in the fitting direction is suppressed, the locking claw 27 is not connected to the male connector housing 2.
The disadvantage that the packing 24 comes off from the second packing locking hole 26 and falls off can be avoided.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In this embodiment, two locking claws 27 are provided at opposing positions. However, three or more locking claws 27 may be provided at arbitrary positions. It is.

[0019]

As described above, according to the waterproof connector of the present invention, the locking claw provided on the base end side of the packing is
A wedge-shaped reinforcing portion is provided extending from a tubular portion fitted to the inner tubular portion of the connector housing in a fitting direction and having a tapered surface inclined outward from a distal end. This allows
Since the tapered surface of the wedge-shaped reinforcing portion abuts against the distal end surface of the outer cylindrical portion, the packing can be easily aligned with the inner cylindrical portion, and the locking claw can be easily fitted into the outer cylindrical portion. . Therefore, the operation of fitting the packing to the connector housing is remarkably improved. Further, when another connector housing fitted from the connector housing is removed, since the locking claw is configured to be hardly bent in the fitting direction, the inconvenience that the packing comes off from the connector housing and falls off does not occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the packing in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the male connector housing in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the packing in FIG. 2 is fitted to the male connector housing.

6 is an operation explanatory view showing a state when the female connector housing in FIG. 5 is removed from the male connector housing.

FIG. 7 is an exploded sectional view of a conventional waterproof connector.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a state in which the packing in FIG. 7 is fitted to the male connector housing.

9 is an operation explanatory view showing a state when the female connector housing in FIG. 8 is removed from the male connector housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Female Connector Housing 6 Terminal Housing 7 Inner Tube 8 Outer Tube 12 Housing Insertion Portion 16 Protrusion 20 Waterproof Connector 22 Male Connector Housing (Connector Housing) 24 Packing 26 Packing Lock Hole 27 Lock Claw 28 Opening edge 29 Locking surface 30 Outer peripheral surface 31 Wedge-shaped reinforcing part 33 Tapered surface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An internal cylinder portion having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating and holding a plurality of connection terminals, and an external cylinder portion formed outside the internal cylinder portion and having a packing engagement hole. A tubular waterproof body made of an elastic material having a connector housing, a tubular portion fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the inner tubular portion of the connector housing and closely fitted thereto , and a locking claw engaged with the packing locking hole. And a locking claw of the packing extending in a fitting direction from a base end of the tubular portion and inclining outward from a tip in the fitting direction.
A waterproof connector comprising a wedge-shaped reinforcing portion having a paper surface .