This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese patent application No. 2010-048809, filed on Mar. 5, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirely by reference.
This invention relates to a waterproof connector and, in particular, relates to a waterproof connector that locks terminals using a retainer which is movable in a direction crossing terminal receiving holes.
JP-A-2000-173709 (Patent Document 1) discloses a waterproof connector of this type. The disclosed waterproof connector will be briefly described with reference to
In the waterproof connector disclosed in Patent Document 1, the retainer insertion position is located forward of a sealing surface provided by the seal ring 3. That is, the retainer insertion groove 4 is located forward of the seal ring 3 and, further, the window hole is formed corresponding to the retainer insertion groove 4. With such a structure in which the retainer insertion position and the sealing surface are offset in the front-rear direction, i.e. in a direction of fitting to a mating connector, it is not possible to avoid an increase in overall length of the waterproof connector.
It is therefore an exemplary object of this invention to provide a waterproof connector that solves the above-mentioned problem.
Other objects of the present invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waterproof connector comprising a housing including a fitting portion which is adapted to be fitted into a fitting hole of a mating connector in a fitting direction, the fitting portion having a terminal receiving hole which penetrates the fitting portion in the fitting direction, a terminal to be received in the terminal receiving hole, a retainer which is assembled in the fitting portion so as to be movable between a preset position and a set position in a direction crossing the terminal receiving hole, and a seal member which is attached to an outer periphery of the fitting portion and is adapted to be brought into close contact with an inner periphery of the fitting hole for sealing when the fitting portion is fitted to the fitting hole, wherein the retainer has a projection which retreats to a side of the terminal receiving hole to allow insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole when the retainer is at the preset position and which projects into the terminal receiving hole to engage with the terminal so as to hold the terminal in the terminal receiving hole when the retainer is at the set position, and the retainer and the seal member are provided at positions which overlap each other in the fitting direction.
With reference to the drawings, description will be made as regards a waterproof connector according to an exemplary embodiment of this invention.
Referring to
The housing 11 has a connector body 11a of a laterally long rectangular parallelepiped shape in which terminal receiving holes 11d each penetrating in a front-rear direction A1 are arranged side by side in two, upper and lower, rows and further has a hood portion 11b formed so as to surround the connector body 11a on its front end side. The front end side portion, surrounded by the hood portion 11b, of the connector body 11a forms a fitting portion 11c which is adapted to be fitted to a mating connector 2. The connector body 11a has a rear end face formed with a cable seal member mounting recess 11n. The cable seal member mounting recess 11n is formed over the entirety of the rear end face except at its peripheral portion and the terminal receiving holes 11d are opened at the bottom of the cable seal member mounting recess 11n.
A stepped-down mounting portion 11f is formed on an outer periphery of the fitting portion 11c on its front end side and the annular seal member 12 is tightly mounted around the seal member mounting portion 11f. Further, a locking arm 11g is formed so as to extend rearward from an upper surface of the fitting portion 11c. An upper wall portion of the hood portion 11b is bulged upward so as to surround the locking arm 11g.
Referring further to
As shown in
Referring further to FIGS. 5 and 7A-7B, the retainer 13 has a laterally long frame shape and is mounted in the retainer mounting recess portion 11i so that an upper frame portion 13a is located above the upper-row terminal receiving holes 11d, that a lower frame portion 13b is located between the upper-row terminal receiving holes 11d and the lower-row terminal receiving holes 11d, that a space 13c between the upper frame portion 13a and the lower frame portion 13b faces the upper-row terminal receiving holes 11d, and that a laterally long guide protrusion 13e formed on a rear face of the upper frame portion 13a is inserted into a laterally long guide groove 11j formed in the bottom surface of the retainer mounting recess portion 11i, thereby laterally guiding the retainer 13 between the preset position and the set position while the guide protrusion 13e is received in the guide groove 11j.
Further, at the lower edges of the upper and lower frame portions 13a and 13b of the retainer 13, projections 13d are formed at the same pitches as those of the upper- and lower-row terminal receiving holes 11d, respectively. As best shown in
In the middle of the upper frame portion 13a of the retainer 13, an operating portion 13i for the operation of laterally moving the retainer 13 is formed so as to project forward.
As shown in
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In this event, as shown in
Thereafter, the retainer 13 is laterally moved to the set position from the preset position by operating the operating portion 13i from the front side of the front cap 14. Then, as shown in
In this manner, the terminals 17 are double locked to the housing 11 and thus are firmly held in the come-off preventing state. Further, in this event, an inner periphery of each cable insertion hole 15a of the cable seal member 15 is brought into tight or close contact with an outer periphery of the cable 18 inserted into the cable insertion hole 15a and, as described above, the sealing protrusions 15b on the outer periphery of the cable seal member 15 are in tight or close contact with the inner periphery of the cable seal member mounting recess 11n, thereby sealing between the cables 18 and the housing 11. In this manner, the waterproof connector 1 is completed.
Referring to
When the fitting tubular portion 21a of the mating connector 2 is inserted into a space between the fitting portion 11c and the hood portion 11b of the waterproof connector 1, the fitting portion 11c of the waterproof connector 1 enters the fitting hole 21b of the mating connector 2 so that the pin terminals 22 enter the box-shaped contact portions 17a of the terminals 17 in the fitting portion 11c through the mating terminal insertion holes 14c so as to be in contact with the terminals 17, thereby electrically connecting the waterproof connector 1 and the mating connector 2 to each other. Further, sealing protrusions 12a of the seal member 12 disposed on the outer periphery of the fitting portion 11c are brought into tight or close contact with an inner periphery of the fitting tubular portion 21a, thereby achieving waterproofing between the waterproof connector 1 and the mating connector 2. Further, a locking hole 21d provided in the locking piece 21c of the mating connector 2 engages with a locking projection 11h of the locking arm 11g of the waterproof connector 1, thereby locking the fitting state of the connectors 1 and 2.
In this modification, a locking dowel 11q is formed at the bottom of a retainer mounting recess portion 11i on its right end side while a laterally long groove space 13j where the locking dowel 11q enters is formed in a rear face of a right frame portion 13f of a retainer 13 and a locking arm 13I extending laterally, being vertically flexible, and having a locking projection 13k at its upper surface is formed in the groove space 13j. With this structure, when the locking projection 13k is moved, due to lateral movement of the retainer 13, selectively to the right and to the left of the locking dowel 11q while bending the locking arm 13l downward, so as to engage with the locking dowel 11q, the retainer 13 is positioned and held selectively at the preset position and at the set position.
According to the waterproof connector 1 described above, since the outer periphery of the fitting portion 11c has no opening for inserting the retainer 13, the retainer 13 and the seal member 12 can be disposed at positions overlapping each other in the front-rear direction A1 and therefore the overall length of the waterproof connector 1 can be made short.
In the conventional waterproof connector, since the outer periphery of the fitting portion has the opening for inserting the retainer, there is no alternative but to mount the seal member on the outer periphery of the fitting portion at the position rearward of the opening so that the overall length of the connector is prolonged correspondingly. In particular, generally, in order to provide a double locking mechanism of terminal holding by a resin lance (primary locking) and terminal holding by a retainer (secondary locking), male and female connectors should each have a retainer insertion opening forward (i.e. on the mating connector side) of a waterproof range which is involved in waterproofing between both housings. Therefore, when a slide-type preset retainer is applied to the conventional waterproof connector, the position of the waterproof surface should be retreated corresponding to the thickness of the retainer and thus the overall length of the connector is prolonged correspondingly.
In contrast, according to the embodiment of this invention, the overall length of the waterproof connector, having the waterproofing seal member disposed on the outer periphery of the fitting portion and having the terminal-locking lateral slide-type retainer incorporated in the fitting portion, can be designed to be short. That is, the retainer is incorporated so as to be operable from the front end face of the fitting portion, no opening is provided for incorporating the retainer from the outer periphery of the fitting portion, and the seal member and the retainer are disposed at the positions overlapping each other in the fitting direction, thereby enabling shortening of the overall length of the connector.
Further, by incorporating the retainer inward of the waterproof surface of the housing and projecting only the portion, for manually performing the slide operation of the retainer, forward (on the mating connector side) of the waterproof range, no retainer incorporation opening is required at the outer periphery of the housing. Therefore, the layout of the positions of the important functions such as the waterproof range and the locking mechanism can be freely carried out.
Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be enumerated in the following items 1-12.
1. A waterproof connector 1 comprising:
a housing 11 including a fitting portion 11c which is adapted to be fitted into a fitting hole 21b of a mating connector 2 in a fitting direction, the fitting portion having a terminal receiving hole 11d which penetrates the fitting portion in the fitting direction;
a terminal 17 to be received in the terminal receiving hole;
a retainer 13 which is assembled in the fitting portion so as to be movable between a preset position and a set position in a direction crossing the terminal receiving hole; and
a seal member 12 which is attached to an outer periphery of the fitting portion and is adapted to be brought into close contact with an inner periphery of the fitting hole for sealing when the fitting portion is fitted to the fitting hole;
wherein the retainer has a projection 13d which retreats to a side of the terminal receiving hole to allow insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole when the retainer is at the preset position and which projects into the terminal receiving hole to engage with the terminal so as to hold the terminal in the terminal receiving hole when the retainer is at the set position, and the retainer and the seal member are provided at positions which overlap each other in the fitting direction.
2. The waterproof connector according to item 1, further comprising:
a retainer mounting recess portion 11i which is formed in a front end face of the fitting portion; and
a front cap 14 which is formed with an additional terminal receiving hole 14b communicating with the terminal receiving hole of the fitting portion and is attached to the front end face of the fitting portion,
wherein the retainer is received in the retainer mounting recess portion and sandwiched between a bottom of the retainer mounting recess portion and the front cap.
3. The waterproof connector according to item 2, wherein the retainer comprises an operating portion 13i which is exposed at a front end face of the front cap through a retainer operating portion insertion hole 14g provided in the front cap, thereby allowing operation for lateral movement of the retainer.
4. The waterproof connector according to item 3, further comprising a positioning mechanism for positioning and holding the retainer selectively at the preset position and at the set position.
5. The waterproof connector according to item 4, wherein the positioning mechanism comprises:
a locking dowel 13h provided at one of the retainer mounting recess portion and the retainer; and
a locking arm 13l provided at the other of the retainer mounting recess portion and the retainer,
wherein the locking arm is moved to elastically ride over the locking dowel due to lateral movement of the retainer so as to be locked on both sides of the locking dowel, respectively.
6. The waterproof connector according to item 5, further comprising a stepped-down mounting portion 11f formed on the outer periphery of the fitting portion at its front end portion, wherein the seal member is mounted on the stepped-down mounting portion and held so as to be sandwiched between a rear stepped face of the seal member mounting portion and a rear face peripheral edge portion of the front cap.
7. The waterproof connector according to item 1, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
8. The waterproof connector according to item 2, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
9. The waterproof connector according to item 3, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
10. The waterproof connector according to item 4, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
11. The waterproof connector according to item 5, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
12. The waterproof connector according to item 6, wherein the terminal has a locking hole 17c, the terminal receiving hole has an inner periphery which is provided with a lance 11e, the terminal is primarily locked by engagement of the lance into the locking hole caused by insertion of the terminal into the terminal receiving hole, and the terminal is secondarily locked by moving the retainer from the preset position to the set position.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2010-048809 | Mar 2010 | JP | national |