Patent Application
20250183585
The present disclosure relates to a shield connector.
Patent Document 1 discloses a shield connector provided with a terminal fitting including a terminal connecting portion to be connected to a mating terminal, a wire connected to a wire connecting portion of the terminal fitting and a shield shell made of metal for covering the wire connecting portion of the terminal fitting and the wire, the wire connecting portion and the shield shell being integrated by an insert-molded insulating resin portion. In this shield connector, the wire connecting portion of the terminal fitting is integrated with the shield shell by being closely covered by the insulating resin portion filled to fill up an air layer in the shield shell by insert molding. Thus, heat generated in an electrically conductive path is quickly transferred from the insulating resin portion to the shield shell made of metal without via the air layer and dissipated, wherefore the heat dissipation of the shield connector can be improved.
In the shield connector described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility of reducing desired heat dissipation performance if short shots or voids (gaps) occur due to resin fluidity at the time of molding the insulating resin portion. Further, since the insulating resin portion and the shield connector and the terminal fitting made of metal have different linear expansion coefficients, there is also a possibility of reducing heat dissipation performance due to the generation of an air layer (gap) between contact surfaces of the insulating resin portion and the shield connector and the terminal fitting made of metal caused by an ambient temperature change during use. Further, since a part of the terminal fitting to be contacted by the insulating resin portion is the wire connecting portion, there has been also an inherent problem that a distance from the terminal connecting portion where heat is generated most in the electrically conductive path to the shield shell, which is a heat dissipating part, is long and thermal resistance is large.
Accordingly, a shield connector of a novel structure is disclosed which can stably exhibit desired heat dissipation performance in a shorter heat dissipation path by suppressing a reduction in heat dissipation performance due to an ambient temperature change.
The present disclosure is directed to a shield connector with a terminal fitting including a terminal connecting portion to be connected to a mating terminal, an insulating housing for accommodating the terminal fitting, a shield shell for covering an outer surface of the housing, an insulating heat dissipation member having a connecting portion side contact surface to be held in contact with the terminal connecting portion and a shell side contact surface to be held in contact with the shield shell by being exposed through a first opening of the housing, and a spring member for applying a resilient force to a pressure receiving surface of the terminal fitting, the terminal connecting portion being pressed against the connecting portion side contact surface of the heat dissipation member and the shell side contact surface of the heat dissipation member being pressed against the shield shell by the resilient force of the spring member applied to the pressure receiving surface of the terminal fitting.
According to a shield connector of the present disclosure, desired heat dissipation performance can be stably exhibited in a shorter heat dissipation path by suppressing a reduction in heat dissipation performance due to an ambient temperature change.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure are listed and described.
According to the shield connector of the present disclosure, the insulating heat dissipation member having the connecting portion side contact surface to be held in contact with the terminal connecting portion of the terminal fitting and the shell side contact surface to be held in contact with the shield shell by being exposed through the first opening of the housing is adopted instead of the insulating resin portion molded to fill a gap between the shield shell and the terminal fitting in the conventional structure. That is, since the separate heat dissipation member is used instead of the molded insulating resin portion in a heat dissipation path, it is possible to reduce a possibility of reducing desired heat dissipation performance due to possible occurrence of short shots and voids during molding. Further, the terminal connecting portion is pressed against the connecting portion side contact surface of the heat dissipation member and the shell side contact surface of the heat dissipation member is pressed against the shield shell by applying the resilient force of the separate spring member to the pressure receiving surface of the terminal fitting and pressing the pressure receiving surface. In this way, even if an ambient temperature changes during use, the heat dissipation member interposed between the terminal connecting portion and the shield shell can be stably held in a state in contact with the terminal connecting portion and the shield shell utilizing the resilient force of the spring member. In addition, since a part of the terminal fitting to be contacted by the heat dissipation member is the terminal connecting portion, the terminal connecting portion where heat is generated most in an electrically conductive path can be directly brought into contact with the shield shell via the heat dissipation member. As a result, the heat dissipation path can be shortened and desired heat dissipation performance can be stably exhibited as compared to the conventional structure.
Note that an arbitrary shape can be adopted for the spring member if the spring member can apply a resilient force to the pressure receiving surface of the terminal fitting. Similarly, an arbitrary shape can be adopted for the terminal fitting if the terminal fitting includes the terminal connecting portion having the pressure receiving surface for receiving the resilient force of the spring member and the connecting portion side contact surface to be pressed against the heat dissipation member by the resilient force of the spring member transferred from the pressure receiving surface. Further, an arbitrary shape can be adopted for the heat dissipation member if the heat dissipation member can press the shell side contact surface of the heat dissipation member against the shield shell by the resilient force of the spring member transferred to the connecting portion side contact surface.
Since the resilient force of the single spring member can be applied to the pressure receiving surfaces of the pair of terminal fittings covered by the single shield shell, the compact bipolar shield connector can be provided with a small number of components by commonly using the spring member. Further, the pair of terminal fittings are arranged with the pressure receiving surfaces facing each other, and the respective pressure receiving surfaces are pressed toward the heat dissipation members and the shield shell arranged on mutually opposite sides by the single spring member arranged between the pressure receiving surfaces. Therefore, forces for pressing the two terminal fittings against the heat dissipation members can be made uniform by the principle of action and reaction and a variation of heat dissipation performance can be suppressed.
Specific examples of a shield connector of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to these illustrations, but is represented by claims and intended to include all changes in the scope of claims and in the meaning and scope of equivalents.
Hereinafter, a shield connector 10 of a first embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
The shield connector 10 of the first embodiment is provided with terminal fittings 16 each including a terminal connecting portion 14 to be connected to a mating terminal 12, insulating housings 18 for accommodating the terminal fittings 16, a shield shell 20 for covering the outer surfaces of the housings 18, insulating heat dissipation members 22 and spring members 26 for applying resilient forces to pressure receiving surfaces 24 of the terminal fittings 16. Particularly, in the first embodiment, a pair of the terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b are provided side by side in a lateral direction, and the shield connector 10 includes a pair of the terminal fittings 16a, 16b respectively including the terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b. Further, the shield connector 10 includes a pair of the housings 18a, 18b for respectively accommodating the terminal fittings 16a, 16b.
The shape of the mating terminal 12 is not limited, but in the form of a substantially flat tab in the first embodiment. Note that, in the first embodiment, a mating terminal arrangement portion 28 is provided inside the terminal connecting portion 14 as described later and the mating terminal 12 is inserted into a mating terminal insertion hole 62 provided in the housing 18. The mating terminal 12 arranged in the mating terminal arrangement portion 28 and the terminal connecting portion 14 of the terminal fitting 16 accommodated in the housing 18 contact and are conductively connected. That is, in the first embodiment, the mating terminal 12 is a male terminal and the terminal connecting portion 14 is a female terminal. Particularly, in the first embodiment, the pair of terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b are provided, and the mating terminals 12a, 12b are respectively inserted into these terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b.
In the first embodiment, the pair of terminal fittings 16a, 16b are provided side by side in the lateral direction. Since these are bilaterally symmetrically shaped, the shape of one (right) terminal fitting 16a is described. As also shown in
Upper end parts of these outer and inner wall portions 32, 34 are coupled in both end parts in the front-rear direction, thereby configuring the terminal connecting portion 14 having the substantially rectangular tube shape. Further, the outer and inner wall portions 32, 34 are not coupled in an intermediate part in the front-rear direction of an upper end part of the terminal connecting portion 14, thereby providing an upper opening 36 open upward. As a result, the mating terminal arrangement portion 28, which is an internal space of the terminal connecting portion 14, and an outside space communicate with each other through the upper opening 36. Note that, as described later, the outer surface (the left end surface of the inner wall portion 34 in the right terminal fitting 16a, the right end surface of the inner wall portion 34 in the left terminal fitting 16b) of the inner wall portion 34 is the aforementioned pressure receiving surface 24, to which a resilient force is applied from the spring member 26.
Such a terminal fitting 16a is formed, for example, by bending a metal flat plate having a predetermined shape into the above shape, and the respective upper end parts of the outer and inner wall portions 32, 34 can be coupled by crimping. Further, in the terminal fitting 16a, the outer wall portion 32 extends further rearward than the inner wall portion 34, and a wire 38 is fixed and connected to a rear end part of the outer wall portion 32 extending further rearward than the inner wall portion 34. That is, the rear end part of the outer wall portion 32 is a wire connecting portion 40, and the terminal connecting portion 14 is provided in a front part and the rear end part serves as the wire connecting portion 40 in the terminal fitting 16a.
The wire 38 is a coated wire, and an insulation coating 44 made of synthetic resin is externally fit to a core wire 42. The insulation coating 44 is stripped in a tip part of the wire 38 to expose the core wire 42, and the wire 38 and the terminal fitting 16a are conductively connected by fixing the exposed core wire 42 to the rear end part (wire connecting portion 40) of the terminal fitting 16a by crimping, welding or the like. Note that an annular waterproof rubber 46 having a substantially rectangular outer shape is externally mounted on a part of the wire 38 behind the exposed core wire 42.
In each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b, terminal spring portions 48 are provided on the facing inner surfaces of the outer and inner wall portions 32, 34. The terminal spring portions 48 are substantially in the form of rectangular plates as a whole, made of metal good in electrical conductivity and fixed to the respective inner surfaces of the outer and inner wall portions 32, 34. In the terminal spring portion 48, parts raised into a substantially chevron shape project laterally inward, i.e. toward the inside of the mating terminal arrangement portion 28. A plurality of the parts raised into the substantially chevron shape are provided and aligned and arranged in a vertical direction and the front-rear direction. When the mating terminal 12 is inserted and arranged in the mating terminal arrangement portion 28 as described later, the substantially chevron-shaped projecting parts of the terminal spring portions 48 are pressed by the mating terminal 12 and resiliently deformed to reduce a projecting height.
In the first embodiment, the pair of housings 18a, 18b are provided side by side in the lateral direction. Particularly, in the first embodiment, each housing 18a, 18b includes a housing body 49a, 49b, a holding member 68 to be assembled with a first opening 56 to be described later and an insulating cover 78 to be assembled with a second opening 58. Since these housings are bilaterally symmetrically shaped, the shape of one (right) housing 18a is described. As also shown in
The housing body 49a is provided with a substantially rectangular front wall portion 50 corresponding to a bottom wall in a front end part and a substantially tubular peripheral wall portion 52 projecting rearward from a peripheral edge part on four sides of the front wall portion 50. Accordingly, the peripheral wall portion 52 includes an upper wall portion 54a on an upper side, a lower wall portion 54b on a lower side and left and right wall portions 54c, 54d on both left and right sides. The outer shape of the peripheral wall portion 52 varies in the front-rear direction, and a front part of the peripheral wall portion 52 has a substantially rectangular shape having a vertical dimension larger than a lateral dimension. Further, a rear part of the peripheral wall portion 52 has a larger lateral dimension than the front part, and the lateral dimension and a vertical dimension are substantially equal or the vertical dimension is slightly larger than the lateral dimension. In this way, the rear part of the peripheral wall portion 52 has a substantially square outer shape. That is, an internal space of the housing body 49a is larger in the rear part than in the front part.
The right wall portion 54d is provided with the first opening 56 penetrating in a thickness direction (lateral direction) of the right wall portion 54d for exposing the heat dissipation member 22 from the housing body 49a when the heat dissipation member 22 to be described later is assembled with the housing body 49a. The first opening 56 is provided from a front end part of the right wall portion 54d to a part where the lateral dimension is made larger in the rear part than in the front part, and the internal space of the housing body 49a and an outside space communicate with each other through the first opening 56.
The left wall portion 54c is provided with the second opening 58 penetrating in a thickness direction (lateral direction) of the left wall portion 54c for exposing the pressure receiving surface 24 of the terminal fitting 16a from the housing body 49a when the terminal connecting portion 14a (terminal fitting 16a) to be described later is assembled with the housing body 49a. The second opening 58 is provided from a front end part of the left wall portion 54c to a part where the lateral dimension is made larger in the rear part than in the front part, and the internal space of the housing body 49a and the outside space communicate with each other through the second opening 58.
Note that since the right and left housing bodies 49a, 49b are bilaterally symmetrically shaped, the first opening 56 is provided in the left wall portion 54c and the second opening 58 is provided in the right wall portion 54d in the left housing body 49b. Further, by providing these first and second openings 56, 58 in the housing body 49a, the housing body 49a is shaped such that the upper and lower wall portions 54a, 54b are coupled by the left and right wall portions 54c, 54d only in the rear part.
Further, a positioning protrusion 60 projecting rightward is provided in a front end part of the upper wall portion 54a. Further, the substantially rectangular mating terminal insertion hole 62 penetrating in a thickness direction (vertical direction) is provided in a front part of the upper wall portion 54a. In the upper wall portion 54a, an insulating cover engaging protrusion 64 for assembling the insulating cover 78 to be described later and a holding member engaging protrusion 66 for assembling the holding member 68 are provided apart from each other in the front-rear direction in a part of the upper wall portion 54a behind the mating terminal insertion hole 62. Further, in the lower wall portion 54b, two insulating cover engaging protrusions 64 and one holding member engaging protrusion 66 are provided apart from each other in the front-rear direction and each insulating cover engaging protrusion 64 is located in front of the holding member engaging protrusion 66.
The shape and material of the heat dissipation member 22 are not limited if the heat dissipation member has an insulating property, but the heat dissipation member 22 has a substantially flat plate shape in this embodiment. Further, the heat dissipation member 22 only has to have a larger thermal conductivity than air, but is preferably excellent in thermal conductivity. In this embodiment, the heat dissipation member 22 is made of ceramic. This heat dissipation member 22 is assembled to cover the first opening 56 in each housing body 49a, 49b, and the heat dissipation member 22 is fixed to each housing body 49a, 49b by assembling the holding member 68 for holding the heat dissipation member 22 with each housing body 49a, 49b from the outside of the heat dissipation member 22.
When the shield connector 10 is assembled, one surface (inner surface) in a plate thickness direction of each heat dissipation member 22 contacts the corresponding terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and constitutes the connecting portion side contact surface 70. Further, the other surface (outer surface) in the plate thickness direction of each heat dissipation member 22 is exposed on the outer surface of each housing body 49a, 49b through the first opening 56 of each housing body 49a, 49b and contacts the shield shell 20 covering the outer surface of each housing body 49a, 49b. That is, a shell side contact surface 72 is constituted by the other surface in the plate thickness direction of the heat dissipation member 22.
The holding member 68 covers a rear end part of each first opening 56 by being assembled with a rear end part of each first opening 56 in each housing body 49a 49b. That is, each holding member 68 includes a substantially plate-like holding member body 74 corresponding to the shape of the first opening 56. Engaging frame bodies 76 projecting toward each assembled housing body 49a, 49b to be assembled are provided in both vertical end parts of each holding member body 74, and engaged with the respective holding member engaging protrusions 66 provided on each housing body 49a, 49b. By assembling the holding member 68 with each housing body 49a, 49b, each heat dissipation member 22 is held from outside by a front end part of each holding member 68 and each heat dissipation member 22 covers each first opening 56.
The insulating cover 78 is assembled with the second opening 58 in each housing body 49a, 49b. As also shown in
The cover body 80 in each insulating cover 78 is provided with contact ribs 84 and an engaging rib 86 projecting inwardly of each housing body 49a, 49b in a state assembled with the second opening 58 in each housing body 49a, 49b.
The contact ribs 84 project toward the pressure receiving surface 24 of each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b (each terminal fitting 16a, 16b) accommodated inside each housing body 49a, 49b in the assembled state of the shield connector 10. When each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b (each terminal fitting 16a, 16b) is assembled with each housing 18a, 18b as described later, the projecting tips of the respective contact ribs 84 and the pressure receiving surface 24 contact each other. In the first embodiment, three contact ribs 84 are provided in each cover body 80 and provided apart from each other in the front-rear direction. By bringing the respective contact ribs 84 in each insulating cover 78 into contact with the pressure receiving surface 24 in this way, the spring member 26 applies a resilient force to the pressure receiving surface 24 via each insulating cover 78 when the resilient force of each spring member 26 acts as described later.
The engaging rib 86 is located behind the inner wall portion 34 constituting each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and provided behind the respective contact ribs 84 in each cover body 80 in the assembled state of the shield connector 10. The engaging rib 86 has a larger projecting height from the cover body 80 than the respective contact ribs 84, and is in contact with or slightly separated from the rear end surface of the inner wall portion 34 constituting each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b in the assembled state of the shield connector 10. In this way, also when an external force in a pull-out direction is applied to the wire 38 from each housing 18a, 18b in the assembled state of the shield connector 10, the engaging rib 86 contacts and is engaged with the inner wall portion 34, whereby each terminal fitting 16a, 16b is prevented from coming out from each housing 18a, 18b.
Then, the terminal fitting 16a fixed to the wire 38 at the wire connecting portion 40 is inserted into the housing body 49a through a rear opening of the housing body 49a and the heat dissipation member 22 is overlapped on the outer wall portion 32 in the terminal fitting 16a, and the holding member 68 and the insulating cover 78 are fixed to the first and second openings 56, 58 of the housing body 49a, whereby one (right) terminal side assembly 88a is configured as shown in
The shield shell 20 is made of metal excellent in heat dissipation. The shield shell 20 is provided with a pair of accommodating tube portions 90a, 90b, into which the respective terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b are inserted and accommodated, and this pair of accommodating tube portions 90a, 90b are arranged side by side in the lateral direction. That is, the shield shell 20 has a substantially bottomed tube shape open rearward as a whole and includes a substantially rectangular front end wall portion 92 and a tubular wall portion 94 projecting rearward from a peripheral edge part on four sides of the front end wall portion 92. Accordingly, the tubular wall portion 94 includes an upper end wall portion 96a on an upper side, a lower end wall portion 96b on a lower side and left and right end wall portions 96c, 96b on both left and right sides. Further, a partition wall portion 98 extending in the front-rear direction is provided in a lateral center of the tubular wall portion 94, and an internal space of the shield shell 20 is partitioned into left and right accommodating tube portions 90a, 90b by this partition wall portion 98. A pair of accommodating portions 100, 100 open laterally outward are provided in a front end part of this partition wall portion 98, and these accommodating portions 100 communicate with internal spaces of the respective accommodating tube portions 90a, 90b. The spring member 26 is accommodated into each accommodating portion 100 as described later.
A front part of the upper end wall portion 96a of the shield shell 20 is formed with a through window 102 penetrating in a thickness direction (vertical direction), and a front part of each accommodating tube portion 90a, 90b and an outside space communicate with each other through the through window 102. The through window 102 has a substantially rectangular shape with round corners having a lateral dimension larger than a dimension in the front-rear direction, and each accommodating portion 100 provided in the partition wall portion 98 is open upward through this through window 102. Further, a substantially annular inner peripheral supporting portion 104 extending substantially over an entire periphery in a circumferential direction and a substantially annular outer peripheral receptacle 106 projecting upward on an outer peripheral side of the inner peripheral supporting portion 104 are integrally formed to the shield shell 20 on a peripheral edge part of the through window 102 in the upper end wall portion 96a of the shield shell 20.
An insulating cap 108 is assembled with the through window 102 in this shield shell 20. The insulating cap 108 has a substantially bottomed rectangular tube shape as a whole and is provided with a bottom plate portion 110 having a substantially rectangular shape with round corners, which is substantially the same shape as the through window 102, and a hollow cylindrical portion 112 projecting upward from an outer peripheral edge part of the bottom plate portion 110. Further, a substantially annular flange-like portion 114 projecting toward an outer peripheral side is integrally formed in an upper end part of the hollow cylindrical portion 112. In the assembled state of the shield connector 10, the bottom plate portion 110 is formed with substantially rectangular mating terminal insertion holes 116 at positions corresponding to the respective mating terminal insertion holes 62 in the respective housings 18a, 18b. In this way, the internal space (each mating terminal arrangement portion 28) in the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b in each housing 18a, 18b communicates with the outside space through each mating terminal insertion hole 62 and each mating terminal insertion hole 116.
Note that a partitioning portion 118 laterally partitioning an internal space of the insulating cap 108 is provided in a lateral intermediate part of the insulating cap 108 and has a predetermined lateral dimension. This partitioning portion 118 overlaps the partition wall portion 98 of the shield shell 20 in the vertical direction when the insulating cap 108 is assembled with the shield shell 20. In this way, when the insulating cap 108 is assembled with the shield shell 20, the respective accommodating portions 100 provided in the partition wall portion 98 are covered from above by the partitioning portion 118. As a result, the respective spring members 26 accommodated in the respective accommodating portions 100 are hindered from coming out upward by the partitioning portion 118 and, in the first embodiment, a spring member cover portion is formed by this partitioning portion 118.
As also shown in
A pressing portion 124 projecting outward in a facing direction (outward in the lateral direction) is provided in an intermediate part of each flat plate-like portion 120. A lateral dimension between the projecting tips of the respective pressing portions 124 in a single state before being assembled as shown in
Next, a specific example of an assembly process of the shield connector 10 is described. Note that the assembly process of the shield connector 10 is not limited to that described below.
First, the metal flat plate having a specific shape and fixed to the terminal spring portions 48 is, for example, bent to form each terminal 16a, 16b including the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b. Thereafter, each wire 38 is fixed to the wire connecting portion 40 in each terminal fitting 16a, 16b. Note that the waterproof rubber 46 is externally fit and mounted on the wire 38 at an arbitrary timing. The terminal fitting 16a, 16b fixed to the wire 38 is inserted into each housing body 49a, 49b, the heat dissipation member 22 is overlapped on the contact surface 35, which is the outer surface of the outer wall portion 32 constituting the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b, from outside, and the holding member 68 is fixed to each housing body 49a, 49b from the outside of the heat dissipation member 22. Further, the insulating cover 78 is assembled with each housing body 49a, 49b. In this way, each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b is completed.
Thereafter, each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b is inserted through the rear opening of each accommodating tube portion 90a, 90b in the shield shell 20, and the waterproof rubber 46 is press-fit into the rear opening in each accommodating tube portion 90a, 90b. Subsequently, each spring member 26 is press-fit, inserted and accommodated into each accommodating portion 100 in the shield shell 20 through the through window 102 from above. Then, the flange-like portion 114 in the insulating cap 108 is overlapped on the inner peripheral supporting portion 104 in the shield shell 20 and the hollow cylindrical portion 112 is fit into the inner peripheral supporting portion 104. The insulating cap 108 is fixed to the inner peripheral supporting portion 104 by unillustrated convex-concave fitting or lock structure, whereby the through window 102 is covered by the insulating cap 108. In this way, the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment is completed.
In the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment manufactured as described above, the respective terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b are biased in the directions separating from the partition wall portion 98 by resilient restoring forces of the respective spring members 26 as described above, and the heat dissipation members 22 exposed on the outer surfaces of the respective terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b are pressed against the inner surfaces of the shield shell 20 located on outer sides (i.e. the inner surfaces of the right and left end wall portions 96d, 96c). Specifically, the resilient force of each spring member 26 is applied to each terminal fitting 16a, 16b (each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b) via the insulating cover 78. The contact surface 35 of the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b pressed by each spring member 26 is pressed into contact with the connecting portion side contact surface 70 of each heat dissipation member 22 and the shell side contact surface 72 of each heat dissipation member 22 pressed in this way is pressed against the inner surface of the shield shell 20 on the outer side.
In this state, each mating terminal 12a, 12b is inserted from above through the mating terminal insertion hole 116 in the insulating cap 108, the mating terminal insertion hole 62 in each housing 18a, 18b and the upper opening 36 in each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b. As shown in
Since the wire connecting portion 40 to be fixed to the core wire 42 of the wire 38 is provided in the rear end part of each terminal fitting 16a, 16b in the first embodiment, not only heat generated in a contact point portion of each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and each mating terminal 12a, 12b, but also heat generated in a connected part of each wire connecting portion 40 and each core wire 42 can be dissipated via each heat dissipation member 22. That is, since heat generated in the connected part of each wire connecting portion 40 and each core wire 42 where a relatively large amount of heat is generated is dissipated via each heat dissipation member 22 and the shield shell 20 in addition to heat generated between each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and the mating terminal 12, satisfactory heat dissipation is exhibited.
According to the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment structured as described above, each heat dissipation member 22 is provided in a heat dissipation path from the heat generating part due to energization between each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and each mating terminal 12a, 12b to outside via the shield shell 20, and each heat dissipation member 22 relatively low in thermal resistance (excellent in thermal conductivity) is adopted for each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b instead of a resin member relatively high in thermal resistance. Thus, good heat dissipation is exhibited. Particularly, since the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment is not insert-molded like the conventional structure, but assembled, the formation of an air layer in a heat dissipation path due to the occurrence of short shots or voids is avoided and a reduction in heat dissipation performance is prevented. Further, there has been a possibility that a gap (air layer) is formed between members different in material due to a difference in linear expansion coefficient in the conventional structure, for example, if an ambient temperature largely changes, but each spring member 26 for pressing the heat dissipation member 22 against the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and pressing the heat dissipation member 22 against the shield shell 20 is provided with the mating terminal 12a, 12b arranged in each mating terminal arrangement portion 28 in the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment. In this way, even if the ambient temperature largely changes, the formation of gaps between each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and each heat dissipation member 22 and between each heat dissipation member 22 and the shield shell 20 is suppressed and a reduction in heat dissipation performance is prevented.
Further, each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b easily getting hot due to heat generation associated with energization with each mating terminal 12a, 12b can be brought into contact with the shield shell 20 via each heat dissipation member 22 and a short heat dissipation path can be set. Thus, heat dissipation performance can be improved. Since an improvement in heat dissipation performance is achieved as described above, the shield shell 20 in charge of heat dissipation to outside can be reduced in size and, consequently, a size reduction of the entire shield connector 10 and a cost reduction by reducing the amount of a necessary material are achieved.
Each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b has the rectangular tube shape, and the inside of each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b is the mating terminal arrangement portion 28, into which each mating terminal 12a, 12b is inserted. Further, in the outer and inner wall portions 32, 34, which are the pair of facing wall portions in each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b, the outer surface of the inner wall portion 34 is the pressure receiving surface 24 for receiving a resilient force of each spring member 26, and the outer surface of the outer wall portion 32 is the contact surface 35 to be held in contact with the connecting portion side contact surface 70 of each heat dissipation member 22. That is, the pressure receiving surface 24 and the contact surface 35 can be provided on the separate wall portions, and each surface 24, 35 can be formed to have a sufficiently large area. Therefore, heat generated in association with energization between each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and each mating terminal 12a, 12b can be more reliably transferred by each heat dissipation member 22 while the resilient force of each spring member 26 is more reliably received.
Further, since each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b has the rectangular tube shape and the terminal spring portions 48 are provided inside the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b, the deformation of the terminal spring portions 48 due to the contact of another member with the terminal spring portions 48 is avoided also when each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b and the shield connector 10 is manufactured by assembling each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b, and a contact state of each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and each mating terminal 12a, 12b can be more reliably realized.
Each housing 18a, 18b (each housing body 49a, 49b) includes the second opening 58 for exposing the pressure receiving surface 24 of the terminal fitting 16a, 16b, and the insulating cover 78 is assembled with each second opening 58. In this way, even if each spring member 26 is made of metal as in the first embodiment, the resilient force of each spring member 26 can be applied to the pressure receiving surface 24 via the insulating cover 78 while insulation between each spring member 26 and each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b is ensured.
Particularly, each insulating cover 78 is provided with the contact ribs 84, and the contact ribs 84 and the pressure receiving surface 24 come into contact when each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b is assembled. Since the plurality of (three in the first embodiment) contact ribs 84 are provided in each insulating cover 78, each contact rib 84 is formed to be relatively small and the influence of, for example, resin sinks and the like can be reduced. As a result, the respective contact ribs 84 and the pressure receiving surface 24 can be more reliably brought into contact, and the resilient force of each spring member 26 can be more reliably applied to the pressure receiving surface 24 in each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b via each insulating cover 78.
Each insulating cover 78 includes the engaging rib 86 for hindering the terminal fitting 16a, 16b from coming out from the housing 18a, 18b by being engaged with the terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b. Specifically, in the assembled state of the shield connector 10, the inner wall portion 34 in each terminal connecting portion 14a, 14b and the engaging rib 86 are in contact or slightly separated, and each terminal fitting 16a, 16b can be hindered from coming out from the housing 18a, 18b by the inner wall portion 34 and the engaging protrusion 86 contacting and engaging each other also when an external force in the pull-out direction from the housing 18a, 18b is applied to the wire 38. In this way, the assembled state of the shield connector 10 can be stably maintained.
The holding member 68 for holding the heat dissipation member 22 is assembled with the first opening 56 in each housing 18a, 18b. That is, in the first embodiment, each terminal fitting 16a, 16b fixed to the wire 38, each housing body 49a, 49b, each heat dissipation member 22, each holding member 68 and each insulating cover 78 are assembled to configure each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b in assembling the shield connector 10. Thus, the detachment of each heat dissipation member 22 from the terminal side assembly 88a, 88b is prevented by providing the holding member 68 for holding the heat dissipation member 22. Therefore, it is possible not only to improve the manufacturing efficiency of each terminal side assembly 88a, 88b and consequently the shield connector 10, but also to stably maintain good heat dissipation of the shield connector 10.
The shield shell 20 is provided with the respective accommodating portions 100 for accommodating the respective spring members 26. In the first embodiment, since the respective accommodating portions 100 are provided in the partition wall portion 98 partitioning between the left and right accommodating tube portions 90a, 90b in the shield shell 20. Thus, the respective accommodating portions 100 can be provided with good space efficiency and the shield shell 20 and, consequently, the shield connector 10 can be reduced in size.
Particularly, each spring member 26 is inserted into each accommodating portion 100 through the through window 102 from above. The insulating cap 108 including the spring member cover portion (partitioning portion 118) is assembled with this through window 102. In this way, each spring member 26 is prevented from coming out from each accommodating portion 100. Further, the insulating cap 108 is provided with the mating terminal insertion holes 116. That is, parts enabling the insertion of the respective mating terminals 12a, 12b and parts preventing the respective spring members 26 from coming out are provided in the same member (insulating cap 108), and an increase in the number of components is avoided as compared to the case where these parts are provided in separate members.
Next, a shield connector 130 of a second embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
That is, similarly to the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment, a pair of terminal fittings 16a, 16b are respectively accommodated in a pair of housings 18a, 18b and each of the housings 18a, 18b includes a heat dissipation member 22 in the shield connector 130 of the second embodiment. Further, pressure receiving surfaces 24 in terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b are arranged to face each other in terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b, and these terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b are covered by a single shield shell 20.
The pair of spring members 26, 26 are provided in the first embodiment, but the single spring member 132 is adopted here as shown in
The spring member 132 shaped as just described is arranged over a part formed with accommodating portions 100 in a partition wall portion 98. That is, the respective flat plate-like portions 120 are inserted into the respective accommodating portions 100 and the coupling portion 134 is located above the partition wall portion 98. In the spring member 132 of the second embodiment, a lateral dimension between the projecting tips of the respective pressing portions 124 in a single state before being assembled is larger than a lateral dimension between the inner surfaces of the respective terminal side assemblies 88a, 88b laterally facing each other (surfaces of respective insulating covers 78 on sides opposite to surfaces where contact ribs 84 project in cover bodies 80 of the respective insulating covers 78) as shown in
In this way, the resilient force of the spring member 132 is applied to the respective pressure receiving surfaces 24 of the pair of terminal fittings 16a, 16b, the respective terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b are pressed against connecting portion side contact surfaces 70 of the respective heat dissipation members 22, and shell side contact surfaces 72 of the respective heat dissipation members 22 are pressed against the shield shell 20. As a result, also in the shield connector 130 of the second embodiment, effects similar to those of the shield connector 10 of the first embodiment can be exhibited. Particularly, since the single spring member 132 is adopted in the second embodiment, the number of components can be reduced and pressing forces against the respective heat dissipation members 22 via the respective left and right terminal connecting portions 14a, 14b can be made substantially equal, whereby a variation in heat dissipation performance can be suppressed. Further, an arrangement space for the spring member 132 can be reduced, for example, as compared to the case where the pair of spring members 26, 26 are provided as in the first embodiment, and the shield shell 20 and, consequently, the shield connector 130 can be reduced in size.
The technique described in this specification is not limited by the above described and illustrated embodiments. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the technique described in this specification.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-039429 | Mar 2022 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2023/008018 | 3/3/2023 | WO |
