Patent Application
20230122369
This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-171081 filed on Oct. 19, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a connector.
JP2019-125470A discloses a connector in which a shield shell is attached to a housing to prevent leakage of electromagnetic noise or the like.
In the connector of the type described above, in general, when a seal member such as a packing is disposed between the shield shell and the housing, relative movement between the shield shell and the housing is restricted as much as possible in order to stably enhance sealing performance for a long period of time. This is to avoid fluctuations in surface pressure of the seal member. Alternatively, the seal member is not provided, and the shield shell and the housing are in close contact with each other. However, when the displacement of each component is excessively restricted as described above, there is a possibility that the connectors cannot be properly fitted to each other due to manufacturing tolerances of the shield shell and the housing and manufacturing tolerance of a counterpart connector.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a connector using a seal member capable of maintaining sealing performance and absorbing manufacturing tolerances at the same time.
A connector including: a terminal fitting; an electric wire connected to the terminal fitting; a housing in which the terminal fitting is stored, the housing constituting a fitting part with a counterpart connector; a shield shell disposed so as to surround an outer periphery of the housing; and a seal member made of rubber and sandwiched between the housing and the shield shell, wherein the seal member has a rubber hardness of 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and wherein a value obtained by dividing a compressed height, which is a difference between a first height of the seal member before being sandwiched between the housing and the shield shell and a second height of the seal member when being sandwiched between the housing and the shield shell, by the first height is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less.
The present disclosure is briefly described as above. Further, details of the present disclosure will be further clarified by reading through an embodiment of the present disclosure to be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, a connector 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The connector 1 shown in
Hereinafter, for convenience of description, as shown in
As shown in
First, the terminal fitting 10 and the electric wire 20 will be described. The terminal fitting 10 is formed by performing pressing, bending and the like on a metal plate and has a shape extending in the front-rear direction. The terminal fitting 10 integrally includes an elongated flat plate-shaped terminal portion 11 (see
The electric wire 20 includes a conductor core wire made of metal and an insulating sheath covering the conductor core wire. At the end portion of the electric wire 20, the insulating sheath is removed to expose the conductor core wire, and the connection portion of the terminal fitting 10 is crimped and fixed to the exposed conductor core wire. Thus, the electric wire 20 connected to the terminal fitting 10 extends rearward from the connection portion of the terminal fitting 10.
Next, the housing 30 will be described. The housing 30 is a resin molded product. As shown in
In the housing 30, a pair of terminal insertion holes 35 (see
The pair of terminal fittings 10 to which end portions of the pair of electric wires 20 are connected are stored in the housing 30. Therefore, each terminal fitting 10 is inserted into the housing 30 from the rear side. As a result, the terminal portions 11 are inserted into the corresponding terminal insertion holes 35, and the connection portions are stored in the corresponding terminal storing chambers. In a state in which the terminal fittings 10 are completed inserted, front portions of the pair of terminal portions 11 protrude forward from the front end of the housing 30 (the front end of the fitting portion 32) (see
Next, the shield shell 40 and the seal member 50 will be described. As shown in
The seal member 50 has a function of sealing an annular gap between the insertion portion 33 of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40 externally inserted into the insertion portion 33. As shown in
The seal member 50 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the insertion portion 33 of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40 (see
When the shield shell 40 is mounted, the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 is pressed and sandwiched between the insertion portion 33 of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40. As a result, the main body portion 51 exerts a function of sealing the annular gap between the insertion portion 33 and the shield shell 40. In a state where the main body portion 51 is pressed and sandwiched between the insertion portion 33 and the shield shell 40, the annular lips 51a and 51b are compressed. Therefore, a height of the main body portion 51 in the radial direction (a distance between a distal end of the annular lip 51a and a distal end of the annular lip 51b) is reduced from a pre-assembly height H1 before being sandwiched between the insertion portion 33 and the shield shell 40 to a post-assembly height H2 (see
Next, a boot 60 will be described. As shown in
Next, the packing 70 will be described. As shown in
The assembled connector 1 is fitted to the counterpart connector. In order to fit the connector 1 and the counterpart connector to each other, a tubular counterpart fitting portion of the counterpart connector is externally inserted into the fitting portion 32 of the connector 1. As a result, the connector 1 can function as a relay connector that electrically connects the pair of electric wires 20 and the counterpart connector.
Next, rubber hardness and a compression ratio of the seal member 50 will be described. As described above, the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 exerts a function of sealing the annular gap between the insertion portion 33 and the shield shell 40 by being pressed and sandwiched between the insertion portion 33 of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40. A size of the annular gap between the insertion portion 33 and the shield shell 40 may vary depending on manufacturing tolerances of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40. Therefore, it is preferable that the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 has a characteristic capable of appropriately absorbing such a change in the size of the annular gap due to the manufacturing tolerance and maintaining airtightness of the annular gap. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a value obtained by dividing the compressed height (ΔH=H1−H2), which is a difference between the pre-assembly height H1 and the post-assembly height H2, by the pre-assembly height H1 is defined as a “compression ratio”.
According to tests and considerations by the inventor, it has been found that, as compared with other cases, when rubber hardness of the seal member 50 is 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and the compression ratio is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less, the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 can appropriately absorb the change in the size of the annular gap due to the manufacturing tolerances of the housing 30 and the shield shell 40, and can also maintain the airtightness of the annular gap. Here, a value of the rubber hardness can be measured, for example, in accordance with a test method defined in JIS K 6253, where JIS is Japan Industrial Standards.
Specifically, assuming that a variation width in size of the annular gap due to the manufacturing tolerance is 1.2 mm (±0.6 mm), the airtightness is determined to be “passed” when the airtightness of the annular gap is 50 kPa or more, and the airtightness is determined to be “failed” when the airtightness of the annular gap is less than 50 kPa. When the rubber hardness of the seal member 50 is 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and the compression ratio is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less, the airtightness is “passed” regardless of the size of the annular gap within the range of the variation width. On the other hand, in a case where the rubber hardness of the seal member 50 is not 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, or in a case where the compression ratio is not 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less, the airtightness is “failed” when the size of the annular gap is a certain value within the range of the variation width.
<Functions and Effects>
As described above, according to the connector 1 of the present embodiment, when the rubber hardness of the seal member 50 is 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and the value obtained by dividing the compressed height, which is the difference between the pre-assembly height H1 of the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 before being sandwiched between the housing 30 and the shield shell 40 and the post-assembly height H2 of the main body portion 51 of the seal member 50 when being sandwiched between the housing 30 and the shield shell 40, by the pre-assembly height H1 is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less, it is possible to appropriately absorb the manufacturing tolerance and to maintain the airtightness. Therefore, it is possible to provide the connector 1 using the seal member 50 capable of appropriately maintaining the sealing performance.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be appropriately modified, improved or the like. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement position or the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are optional and are not limited as long as the present disclosure can be achieved.
In the above-described embodiment, the seal member 50 includes the tubular main body portion 51 extending in the front-rear direction and the annular protrusion 52 protruding inward in the radial direction from the front end of the main body portion 51. Alternatively, the seal member 50 may be formed of only the tubular main body portion 51 extending in the front-rear direction.
Here, the connector 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure described above will be briefly summarized and listed in [1] below.
[1] A connector (1) including:
a terminal fitting (10);
an electric wire (20) connected to the terminal fitting (10);
a housing (30) in which the terminal fitting (10) is stored, the housing (30) constituting a fitting part (32) with a counterpart connector;
a shield shell (40) disposed so as to surround an outer periphery of the housing (30); and
a seal member (50) made of rubber and sandwiched between the housing (30) and the shield shell (40),
wherein the seal member (50) has a rubber hardness of 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and
wherein a value obtained by dividing a compressed height (ΔH), which is a difference between a first height (H1) of the seal member (50) before being sandwiched between the housing (30) and the shield shell (40) and a second height (H2) of the seal member (50) when being sandwiched between the housing (30) and the shield shell (40), by the first height (H1) is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less.
According to tests and considerations by the inventor, as in the connector having the configuration of above [1], when rubber hardness of the seal member is 30 degrees or more and 50 degrees or less, and a value obtained by dividing the compressed height, which is the difference between the first height of the seal member before being sandwiched between the housing and the shield shell and the second height of the seal member when being sandwiched between the housing and the shield shell, by the first height is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less, airtightness can be maintained while manufacturing tolerance can be appropriately absorbed. Therefore, it is possible to provide the connector using the seal member capable of appropriately maintaining the sealing performance. A value of the rubber hardness described above can be measured, for example, in accordance with a test method defined in JIS K 6253.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-171081 | Oct 2021 | JP | national |
