The present invention relates to a connector unit which is used in a vehicle to route an electric wire.
In a vehicle, an electric wire is routed which transmits power from a battery or a control signal from a control device, to an electronic device. When the electric wire is routed, it is necessary to regulate a routing path where the electric wire is routed and to protect the electric wire for preventing damage of the electric wire. As a few examples,
As illustrated in
Further, the description will be given about the connector cover 10.
In the routed state illustrated in
As illustrated in
Further, as another the related art different from the connector unit, a connector is disclosed which has a shape of retracting in the direction to avoid the interference with the aligned electric wire in a case where the housing of the connector is displaced, that is, which is provided with a first tilted surface and a second tilted surface in the housing, and release parts, which avoids the interference with the electric wire, on both side edges (for example, see Patent Literature 3).
[Patent Literature 1]: JP-A 2015-103312
[Patent Literature 2]: JP-A 2015-103314
[Patent Literature 3]: JP-A 2015-35391
In the connector unit of the related art illustrated in
At that time, the connector cover 10 which acts on the electric wire 80 to regulate the path of the electric wire 80 receives a reaction from the electric wire 80 naturally. As a result, the connector cover 10 is twisted and displaced with respect to the female connector 20 which is fitted in the male connector to be fixed in the male connector. The twist and displacement with respect to the female connector 20 of the connector cover 10 increase as the number of the electric wires 80 inserted into the electric wire insertion port 17 increases. Incidentally, the female connector 20 is also twisted and displaced due to the twist and displacement of the connector cover 10.
As described above, when the connector cover 10 receives the action from the electric wire 80 to be twisted and displaced with respect to the female connector 20, the stress concentrates on any one or plural engaging margins of the locking protrusions 24 positioned in the four corners of the female connector 20 and the locking holes 15 positioned in the four corners of the connector cover 10. As a result, an excessive stress acts on the locking protrusion 24 or the locking hole 15 to impose a burden thereon or to cause deformation.
Specifically, as the connector cover 10 into which the electric wire 80 having the corrugated shape is inserted is illustrated in
The connector described in Patent Literature 3 has a configuration in which the housing and a cover part are integrated or are integrated by fitting protrusion parts to each other as illustrated in FIG. 3 of Patent Literature 3. For this reason, the fitting part of the housing and the cover part is solid, and additionally, although the stress is applied from the electric wire to the cover part, it is prevented that the stress causes the deformation of the housing and the cover part.
As understood from the above description, inconvenience such as deformation due to a load on the connector cover from the electric wire can occur irrespective of whether the connector cover is mounted to a female connector or a male connector.
The invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and an object thereof is to provide a connector unit capable of preventing deformation of an engaging part between the connector and the connector cover due to a stress applied to the connector cover from the electric wire.
In order to achieve the object, the connector unit according to the invention is characterized as the following (1) to (3).
a connector; and
a connector cover mounted to one end of the connector,
wherein the connector is capable of holding an electric wire so as to extend from the one end and includes a locking part at the one end,
wherein the connector cover includes an upper wall and a bottom wall that sandwich the one end of the connector and that have a locked part engaged with the locking part at a position corresponding to the locking part and side walls connecting the upper wall and the bottom wall, and forms a hollow space surrounded by the connector, the upper wall, the bottom wall, and the side walls when being mounted to the connector, and
wherein the connector cover includes notch parts capable of receiving the electric wire at any one end of both ends of the upper wall and both ends of the bottom wall corresponding to both opening ends of the hollow space.
wherein the notch parts are formed at one position corresponding to one opening end of the hollow space out of the both ends of the upper wall and one position corresponding to the other opening end of the hollow space out of the both ends of the bottom wall.
wherein the notch parts are formed at the both ends of the upper wall and the both ends of the bottom wall.
According to the connector unit having the configurations (1) to (3), the electric wire enters the notch part, so as to suppress that the electric wire interferes with the inner edge of the upper wall or the bottom wall of the connector cover. Even if there is interference, the interference of the inner edge of the upper wall or the bottom wall with respect to the electric wire is little. For this reason, the stress which the connector cover receives from the electric wire is lessened. As a result, the stress which concentrates on the engaging margin between the locking protrusion and the locking hole is lessened to prevent the deformation of the locking hole or the locking protrusion.
According to the invention, the stress which the connector cover receives from the electric wire is lessened. As a result, the stress which concentrates on the engaging margin between the locking protrusion and the locking hole is lessened to prevent the deformation of the locking hole or the locking protrusion.
Hereinbefore, the invention has been described simply. Further, an embodiment carried out to implement the invention (hereinafter, referred to as an embodiment.) will be described with reference to the drawings, and the detail of the invention will be further clarified.
Hereinafter, one embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The female connector 20 includes a box-shaped housing 21 which is formed with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 22 therein. In each of the terminal accommodating chambers 22, one terminal 35 is accommodated. The female connector 20 has a box shape as a whole, and an engaging convex part 23 to be engaged in an engaging recess part 41 of the male connector 40 is provided in the top surface of the housing 21. The female connector 20 and the male connector 40 are locked by engaging the engaging convex part 23 and the engaging recess part 41 at the time of fitting. A plurality of male terminals (not illustrated) electrically connected with the terminal 35 are accommodated in the male connector 40. When the female connector 20 and the male connector 40 are fitted, both terminals are connected electrically. The electric wire 80 which extends from the terminal 35 is drawn from one end which is positioned on the side of the connector cover 10 of the housing 21. In other words, the female connector 20 can hold the electric wire 80 so as to extend from one end side.
In the female connector 20, a locking protrusion 24 (a locking part) is formed in the tip (in other words, one end side described above) positioned on the side of the connector cover 10. In detail, in the box-shaped housing 21, the locking protrusions 24 engaged in the locking holes 15 (locked part) of the connector cover 10 are formed in four corners positioned on the side of the connector cover 10 to protrude from the outer surface of the housing. The locking protrusion 24 is formed in each of four corners to have the same shape. The tip side provided with the locking protrusion 24 in the housing 21 has a symmetrical shape in a vertical direction (an upper and lower direction in
As illustrated in
Particularly, as illustrated in
Hereinbefore, the detail description will be given about the structure of the connector cover 10 and the female connector 20 configuring the connector unit 30. When the connector cover 10 and the female connector 20 are assembled, first, each of the plural terminals 35 provided in the electric wire 80 is inserted into a predetermined terminal accommodating chamber 22 in a predetermined female connector 20. Thereafter, the connector cover 10 is assembled with the female connector 20 into which all the necessary terminals 35 are inserted. At that time, when the fitting part 11 of the connector cover 10 is mounted in the tip positioned on the side of the connector cover 10 of the housing 21, the locking hole 15 of the connector cover 10 is engaged with the locking protrusion 24 of the female connector 20, and the connector cover 10 is locked in the female connector 20. The assembly of the connector cover 10 is performed with respect to all the female connectors which need to be assembled, thereby completing a series of assembly.
Thus, as illustrated in
Incidentally, if the notch part 60 is not formed in the connector cover 10, when the electric wire 80 contacts the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 and the connector cover 10 is twisted and displaced with respect to the female connector 20, the stress concentrates on any one or a plurality of (for example, two positioned diagonally) engaging margins of the locking protrusions 24 positioned in the four corners of the female connector 20 and the locking holes 15 positioned in the four corners of the connector cover 10, and a load can be applied onto the locking protrusion 24 or the locking hole 15.
However, according to the connector unit 30, since the notch part 60 is formed in the connector cover 10, even when the connector cover 10 and the female connector 20 are rotated by the angle α with respect to the vertical direction H as illustrated in FIG. 3, the electric wire 80 enters the notch part 60, whereby the electric wire 80 is prevented from coming in contact with the inner edge of the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 of the connector cover 10. Furthermore, even if the electric wire 80 is in contact with the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14, the force exerted by the electric wire 80 on the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 is smaller (compared with the case where the notch part 60 does not exist). Thus, as illustrated in
On the other hand, as illustrated in
According to the connector unit 30 having the above configuration, the electric wire 80 enters the notch part 60, so as to suppress that the electric wire 80 interferes with the inner edge of the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 of the connector cover 10. Even if there is interference, the interference of the inner edge of the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 with respect to the electric wire 80 is little. For this reason, the stress which the connector cover 10 receives from the electric wire 80 is lessened. As a result, the stress which concentrates on the engaging margin between the locking protrusion 24 and the locking hole 15 is lessened to prevent the deformation of the locking hole 15 or the locking protrusion 24.
When the effect of the invention is described, the description is given under such a viewpoint that suppresses that the electric wire 80 interferes with the inner edge of the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 of the connector cover 10 having the above configuration. However, another effect may be described below. That is, in the connector cover 10, the notch part 60 is provided so that the rigidity of the connector cover 10 with respect to the twist is smaller as the width dimension of the portion, which accommodates the electric wire 80, of the upper wall 13 and the bottom wall 14 is smaller than the same dimension of the connector cover 10 in the related art. That is, the connector cover 10 is easily twisted. When it is considered that the stress transmitted by the twist and displacement to the engaging margin between the locking protrusion 24 and the locking hole 15 is larger as the rigidity with respect to the twist is larger, the connector cover 10 in which the rigidity is small with respect to the twist is formed so that the stress transmitted to the engaging margin between the locking protrusion 24 and the locking hole 15 is lessened. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the locking hole 15 or the locking protrusion 24.
Incidentally, the stress which concentrates on the engaging margin of the locking protrusion 24 and the locking hole 15 is lessened more as the depth of the notch part 60 is larger, that it, as the width dimension of the portion, which accommodates the electric wire 80, of the upper wall 13 and the bottom wall 14 is smaller. However, on the other hand, from a viewpoint of a protecting member which protects the electric wire 80, it is also important that the connector cover 10 has strength in a certain degree. For this reason, the notch part 60 is preferably formed to have such a depth that does not hinder the strength required for the connector cover 10.
Incidentally, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The above-described embodiment may be modified or improved variously within the technical scope of the invention.
For example, in the embodiment described above, the notch parts 60 are formed in a total of four places on both sides of the upper wall 13 and the bottom wall 14. With such a configuration, although the connector cover 10 is turned upside down with respect to the female connector 20 to be assembled, it is suppressed that the electric wire 80 interferes with the inner edge of the upper wall 13 or the bottom wall 14 of the connector cover 10, which is advantageous. However, if the notch part 60 is formed in at least one place (for example, one place of P portion of
Further, if the notch part is formed in Q portion on P diagonal line of
Furthermore, the connector cover 10 including the notch part 60 is mounted to the female connector 20 in the embodiment described above. However, the connector cover 10 may be mounted to the male connector, or may be mounted to both the male connector and the female connector, as necessary.
Herein, the features of the embodiment of the connector unit according to the invention will be simply summarized as the following (1) to (3).
a connector (20); and
a connector cover (10) mounted to one end of the connector,
wherein the connector is capable of holding an electric wire (80) so as to extend from the one end and includes a locking part (24) at the one end,
wherein the connector cover includes an upper wall (13) and a bottom wall (14) that sandwich the one end of the connector and that have a locked part (15) engaged with the locking part at a position corresponding to the locking part and side walls (16) connecting the upper wall and the bottom wall, and forms a hollow space (electric wire insertion port 17) surrounded by the connector, the upper wall, the bottom wall, and the side walls when being mounted to the connector, and
wherein the connector cover includes notch parts (60) capable of receiving the electric wire at any one end of both ends of the upper wall corresponding to both opening ends of the hollow space and both ends of the bottom wall.
wherein the notch parts (60) are formed at one position corresponding to one opening end of the hollow space out of the both ends of the upper wall (13) and one position corresponding to the other opening end of the hollow space (17) out of the both ends of the bottom wall (14).
wherein the notch parts (60) are formed at the both ends of the upper wall (13) and the both ends of the bottom wall (14).
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-022909, filed Feb. 9, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
According to the connector unit of the present invention, it is possible to prevent deformation of the engagement portion of the connector and the connector cover due to stress exerted by the electric wire on the connector cover. The present invention which exerts this effect is useful for a connector unit.
10: Connector cover
11: Fitting part
13: Upper wall
14: Bottom wall
15: Locking hole (locked part)
16: Side wall
17: Electric wire insertion port (hollow space)
20: Female connector (connector)
24: Locking protrusion (locking part)
30: Connector unit
60: Notch part
80: Electric wire
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2016-022909 | Feb 2016 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2017/004549 | 2/8/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/138556 | 8/17/2017 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
9130283 | Lin | Sep 2015 | B1 |
9698552 | Kitamura | Jul 2017 | B2 |
10211566 | Nagayama | Feb 2019 | B2 |
20140242819 | Suzuki | Aug 2014 | A1 |
20140242820 | Suzuki | Aug 2014 | A1 |
20140242821 | Suzuki | Aug 2014 | A1 |
20140242822 | Suzuki | Aug 2014 | A1 |
20160190755 | Kitamura et al. | Jun 2016 | A1 |
20160322741 | Nagayama et al. | Nov 2016 | A1 |
20170279218 | Nagayama et al. | Sep 2017 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2669413 | Jan 2005 | CN |
202076527 | Dec 2011 | CN |
104009313 | Aug 2014 | CN |
2015-35391 | Feb 2015 | JP |
2015-103312 | Jun 2015 | JP |
2015-103314 | Jun 2015 | JP |
Entry |
---|
English language Written Opinion of the International Search Report for PCT/JP2017/004549 dated Mar. 7, 2017. |
International Search Report and Written Opinion of the International Search Report for PCT/JP2017/004549 dated Mar. 7, 2017. |
Japanese Office Action for the related Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-022909 dated May 8, 2018. |
Chinese Office Action for the related Chinese Patent Application No. 201780009612.9 dated Apr. 10, 2019. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20190052013 A1 | Feb 2019 | US |