Patent Application
20230101222
The present disclosure relates to a terminal module.
Patent Document 1 describes a first sub-connector (hereinafter, referred to as a terminal module). The terminal module includes a casing and a pair of terminals to be accommodated into a pair of terminal receiving spaces of the casing. The respective terminals are connected to a twisted pair cable via fixing portions formed in end parts. The terminal module of Patent Document 1 has no waterproof function. It is considered to apply waterproofing techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 2 to 5 as a means for providing the waterproof function to the terminal module.
However, the waterproofing techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 2 to 5 relate to a structure in which a cover member is mounted on a rear side of a main part (casing part) for accommodating terminals and a rubber plug and the like are held by the cover member. Thus, if the waterproofing techniques of Patent Documents 2 to 5 are applied to the terminal module of Patent Document 1, the terminal module may be enlarged.
Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to provide a terminal module capable of avoiding enlargement.
The present disclosure is directed to a terminal module with a terminal fitting to be connected to an end part of a cable, a rubber plug to be held in close contact with an outer periphery of the cable, a housing for supporting the terminal fitting, and a cover to be mounted on the housing to cover the terminal fitting, the rubber plug being sandwiched and held between the housing and the cover.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a terminal module capable of avoiding enlargement.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure are listed and described.
(1) The terminal module of the present disclosure is provided with a terminal fitting to be connected to an end part of a cable, a rubber plug to be held in close contact with an outer periphery of the cable, a housing for supporting the terminal fitting, and a cover to be mounted on the housing to cover the terminal fitting, the rubber plug being sandwiched and held between the housing and the cover. According to this configuration, the cover is mounted on the housing, the terminal fitting is covered by the cover, and the rubber plug is sandwiched and held between the housing and the cover. Thus, the housing and the cover can have a function of holding the terminal fitting and a function of holding the rubber plug. As a result, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated cover member or the like for holding the rubber plug, an entire configuration can be simplified and enlargement can be avoided.
(2) The rubber plug may include a seal lip projecting along a circumferential direction on an outer periphery and the seal lip may be arranged to be exposed outside the housing and the cover. According to this configuration, when the terminal module is inserted into a module accommodating portion of a main housing, the seal lip is held in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the module accommodating portion to seal the inside of the main housing in a liquid-tight manner.
(3) Preferably, the rubber plug includes a flange portion projecting along a circumferential direction on an outer periphery, and the housing and the cover include groove portions into which the flange portion is fit. According to this configuration, a structure for holding the rubber plug between the housing and the cover can be easily realized. Particularly, since a part for locking an insulation barrel of the terminal fitting can be, for example, utilized as the flange portion of the rubber plug, a large design change of a conventional rubber plug structure is not necessary. In some cases, a conventional rubber plug may be used as it is.
(4) At least one of the housing and the cover may be provided with an opening, and the flange portion may be visually confirmable through the opening. According to this configuration, the disposed position and state of the flange portion can be confirmed through the opening. As a result, the rubber plug can be prevented from being improperly held between the housing and the cover.
(5) The housing and the cover may include fixing portions and escaping portions arranged side by side in the circumferential direction of the rubber plug in the groove portions, the fixing portions may be in the form of projections for locking the outer periphery of the rubber plug and the escaping portions may be in the form of recesses escaping from the outer periphery of the rubber plug. According to this configuration, by locking the projection-like fixing portions to the outer periphery of the rubber plug, the rubber plug is compressed and deformed parts of the compressed rubber plug can enter the escaping portions. In this way, the rubber plug can be prevented from being shifted in the circumferential direction between the housing and the cover. Further, since the fixing portions are provided in the groove portions, a state where the flange portion is fit in the groove portions can be satisfactorily maintained.
A specific example of a terminal module of the present disclosure is described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these illustrations and is intended to be represented by claims and include all changes in the scope of claims and in the meaning and scope of equivalents.
As shown in
Note that, in this specification, an arrangement direction of the cover 15 and the housing 14 is defined as a “vertical direction”. A side where the cover 15 is located with respect to the housing 14 is referred to as an upper side, and an opposite side is referred to as a lower side. Further, an arrangement direction of the housing 14 and a projecting part of the rubber plug 13 projecting from the housing 14 is defined as a “front-rear direction”. A side where the projecting part of the rubber plug 13 is located with respect to the housing 14 is referred to as a rear side, and an opposite side is referred to as a front side. Further, a direction intersecting, specifically, orthogonal to both the “vertical direction” and the “front-rear direction” is defined as a “width direction”. In the drawings, a rightward direction along the width direction is expressed as an “X direction”, an upward direction is expressed as a “Y direction” and a forward direction is expressed as a “Z direction” when the terminal module 10 is viewed from front.
(Housing)
The housing 14 is made of synthetic resin and has a shape long in the front-rear direction as shown in
The third housing portion 18 is composed of a pair of bridge portions 19 linking the first and second housing portions 16, 17. The front ends of the respective bridge portions 19 are coupled to both end parts in the width direction of the first housing portion 16 and the rear ends of the respective bridge portions 19 are coupled to both end parts in the width direction of the second housing portion 17.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The second housing portion 17 includes a wall portion 27 partitioning between the cable supporting portion 25 and the third housing portion 18 in a front end part. The wall portion 27 has supporting surfaces 28 in the form of concave curved surfaces for positioning and supporting rear end parts (supporting pieces 54 to be described later) of the respective terminal fittings 12 in an upper end surface.
As shown in
Further, the housing-side groove portion 29 includes an opening 33 penetrating from the upper surface (inner surface) to the lower surface (outer surface) between the respective recessed surfaces 31 on a central side in the width direction. A front part of the opening 33 has an arcuate shape. A rear part of the opening 33 has a rectangular shape and communicates with the front part. The housing-side groove portion 29 includes a housing-side fixing portion 34 behind the opening 33. As shown in
As shown in
(Cover)
The cover 15 is made of synthetic resin and, as shown in
The first cover portion 37 is shaped to cover the front mounting portion 22 of the first housing portion 16. The first cover portion 37 includes the pair of front lock holes 41 (only one is shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The second cover portion 38 includes a curved bottomed cover-side groove portion 46 dented from surrounding surfaces in the lower surface (inner surface) of a rear side. An upper half of the rubber plug 13 corresponds to and is disposed in the cover-side groove portion 46. As shown in
The cover-side groove portion 46 includes a pair of cover-side fixing portions 47 on both sides in the width direction of a rear part. Each cover-side fixing portion 47 is in the form of a projecting base and located in the rear end of the cover 15. The tip surface (lower surface) of each cover-side fixing portion 47 in a projecting direction is formed into a curved recess. The respective cover-side fixing portions 47 are arranged at positions corresponding to the respective housing-side fixing portions 34. The cover-side groove portion 46 includes a cover-side escaping portion 48 between the respective cover-side fixing portions 47 on a central side in the width direction of a rear part. The cover-side escaping portion 48 is open in the rear end of the cover 15. As shown in
(Terminal Fittings)
The terminal fitting 12 is formed into a shape elongated in the front-rear direction, such as by bending an electrically conductive metal plate. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the terminal fitting 12 includes a tubular body portion 51 and a barrel portion 52 to be crimped and connected to a later-described conductor portion 58 of the cable 11 behind the body portion 51. The upper wall of the body portion 51 is provided with the deflectable and deformable locking lance 53 by cutting and raising. The locking lance 53 projects obliquely to an upper rear side and is shaped to be deflectable and deformable. A tab of an unillustrated mating terminal fitting is inserted into the body portion 51 from front to be connected. The body portion 51 includes the supporting piece 54 projecting obliquely to a lower rear side in a rear end part.
(Cable)
As shown in
(Rubber Plug)
The rubber plug 13 is made of rubber such as silicone rubber and formed into a tubular shape long in the front-rear direction as shown in
The rubber plug 13 includes a flange portion 61 projecting over an entire periphery in the circumferential direction. A lower half of the flange portion 61 is fit into the housing-side groove portion 29 and an upper half of the flange portion 61 is fit into the cover-side groove portion 46 (see
The rubber plug 13 includes a plurality of seal lips 62 projecting over the entire periphery in the circumferential direction. Three seal lips 62 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction (axial direction) on the outer periphery of a rear part of the rubber plug 13. A radial projection dimension of each seal lip 62 is larger than that of the flange portion 61. Further, the rubber plug 13 includes a thin portion 63 between the flange portion 61 and the respective seal lips 62. The thin portion 63 has a smaller radial thickness than the other parts of the rubber plug 13.
(Assembling Structure of Terminal Module)
The cable 11 is inserted through the sealing hole 59 of the rubber plug 13 and the respective terminal fittings 12 are connected to the respective paired wires 55 of the cable 11. In this way, a terminal unit 70 with rubber plug shown in
Subsequently, the respective terminal fittings 12 of the terminal unit 70 with rubber plug are inserted into the respective cavities 21 of the housing 14 from behind. The locking lances 53 of the respective terminal fittings 12 are fit into the respective lance holes 23 of the housing 14 and the respective terminal fittings 12 are retained and locked in the cavities 21 (see
Further, a lower half of the flange portion 61 of the rubber plug 13 is fit into the housing-side groove portion 29. In particular, the lower half of the flange portion 61 is disposed on the respective recessed surfaces 31 and facing the opening 33. A lower half of the thin portion 63 of the rubber plug 13 is disposed on the housing-side fixing portion 34.
In this state, the cover 15 is put on the housing 14 from above. Here, the first cover portion 37 is overlapped on the front mounting portion 22 of the first housing portion 16, and the second cover portion 38 is arranged in close contact with the upper half of the rubber plug 13. After the side wall parts of the respective first and second cover portions 37, 38 are deflected and deformed, the respective front lock portions 24 and the respective rear lock portions 36 are fit into the respective front lock holes 41 and the respective rear lock holes 49, whereby the cover 15 is held in the housing 14 with separation restricted (see
With the cover 15 held on the housing 14, the respective projecting pieces 45 of the second cover portion 38 are fit into the respective recesses 26 of the second housing portion 17, thereby preventing the cover 15 from being shifted in position with respect to the housing 14. Further, the partitioning portion 43 of the third cover portion 39 is inserted between the barrel portions 52 adjacent in the width direction, thereby preventing the respective terminal fittings 12 from being short-circuited (see
With the cover 15 held on the housing 14, the lower half of the flange portion 61 of the rubber plug 13 is fit into the cover-side groove portion 46 (see
Further, the thin portion 63 is strongly compressed between the housing-side fixing portion 34 and the respective cover-side fixing portions 47, thereby being largely resiliently deformed radially inwardly (see
In the above way, the rubber plug 13 is held positioned in the front-rear direction and circumferential direction with respect to the housing 14 and the cover 15. By holding the rubber plug 13 by the housing 14 and the cover 15, the terminal module 10 is completed. As shown in
Thereafter, the terminal module 10 is inserted into the module accommodating portion of the unillustrated main housing. A resin locking lance of the unillustrated module accommodating portion is fit into between the respective bridge portions 19 of the third housing portion 18, whereby the terminal module 10 is retained in the main housing. In this state, each seal lip 62 is held in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the module accommodating portion to seal the inside of the main housing in a liquid-tight manner.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the cover 15 is mounted on the housing 14, the terminal fittings 12 are covered by the cover 15 and the rubber plug 13 is sandwiched and held between the housing 14 and the cover 15. Thus, the housing 14 and the cover 15 can have both a function of holding the terminal fittings 12 and a function of holding the rubber plug 13. As a result, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated cover member or the like for holding the rubber plug 13, an entire configuration can be simplified and enlargement can be avoided.
Further, by fitting the flange portion 61 of the rubber plug 13 into the housing-side groove portion 29 and the cover-side groove portion 46, the rubber plug 13 can be prevented from being shifted in the front-rear direction (axial direction) with respect to the housing 14 and the cover 15 by a simple configuration. Since an existing structure for locking insulation barrels of the terminal fittings 12 can be utilized as the flange portion 61 of the rubber plug 13, a large design change of a conventional rubber plug structure is also not necessary.
Further, since the disposed position and state of the flange portion 61 can be visually confirmed through the opening 33 of the housing 14, the rubber plug 13 can be prevented from being improperly held between the housing 14 and the cover 15.
Furthermore, since the rubber plug 13 is compressed and the deformed parts of the rubber plug 13 can enter the respective housing-side escaping portions 32 and the cover-side escaping portion 48 by locking the housing-side fixing portion 34 and the respective cover-side fixing portions 47 to the outer periphery of the rubber plug 13, the rubber plug 13 can be prevented from being shifted in the circumferential direction between the housing 14 and the cover 15.
The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered illustrative in all aspects, rather than restrictive.
Although the flange portion of the rubber plug is fit into the housing-side groove portion and the cover-side groove portion in the case of the above embodiment, the rubber plug may be configured to be locked by projections or the like on the housing side and the cover side without including the flange portion or the like as another embodiment.
Although the outer peripheries of the paired wires are surrounded by the resin portion in the cable in the case of the above embodiment, the cable may be a coated wire in which the outer periphery of a core wire is merely covered with a coating as another embodiment.
Although the flange portion of the rubber plug is compressed and resiliently deformed between the housing and the cover in the case of the above embodiment, the flange portion of the rubber plug may be maintained in a natural state without being compressed between the housing and the cover as another embodiment.
Although the opening is provided in the housing in the case of the above embodiment, an opening may be provided in the cover or openings may be provided in both the housing and the cover as another embodiment.
Although the housing is provided with the lock portions (front lock portions and rear lock portions) and the cover is provided with lock holes (front lock holes and rear lock holes) as a locking structure for the housing and the cover in the case of the above embodiment, the housing may be provided with lock holes and the cover may be provided with lock portions, contrary to the above embodiment, as another embodiment. Further, the numbers and arrangements of the lock holes and the lock portions are arbitrary and can be appropriately changed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-038708 | Mar 2020 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2021/007696 | 3/1/2021 | WO |
