Patent Grant
10333246
The present invention relates to a waterproof structure of a connector.
In the related art, a waterproof connector for connecting electric wires has been mounted on an automobile or the like. For example, a waterproof connector has been known which includes a female connector in which a tubular inner housing formed with a cavity for accommodating a female terminal and a tubular outer housing surrounding the inner housing are integrally formed, and a female connector having a tubular male housing in which a cavity for accommodating a male terminal is formed, and the a waterproof connector is formed by fitting both connectors.
In this type of waterproof connector, an annular rubber packing is mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the inner housing of the female connector. When both connectors are fitted together, the male housing is inserted into a gap between the inner housing and the outer housing of the female connector. The packing is brought into close contact with an outer circumferential surface of the inner housing and an inner circumferential surface of the male housing, respectively, thereby preventing water from entering the gap between the cavities.
However, this type of waterproof structure requires a space for mounting the packing inside the female connector. Therefore, the outer diameter size of the waterproof connector increases. Also, the male housing is inserted into the female housing, while pressing the packing. Therefore, the load upon insertion of the male housing is increased. Thus, as a waterproof structure which does not use packing, for example, a structure is known in which a disc-shaped elastic plate is provided on the inner surface on the back side of the female housing, and when both connectors are fitted together, the housing leading end in the fitting direction of the male housing inserted into the female housing is brought into contact with the sealing plate to prevent water from entering (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
[Patent Literature 1]: JP-A-2013-229168
However, in the waterproof structure disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when the male housing is brought into contact with the sealing plate, an excessive load may be generated on at least one of both housings. For example, when the axial length of one housing is formed at the upper limit of the tolerance or when the male housing is pressed against the seal plate in a state in which foreign matter or the like is caught in the gap between the male housing and the seal plate, the male housing exceeds the elastic limit and plastically deforms, and the waterproof performance may be deteriorated.
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a waterproof structure of a connector which can prevent deterioration of waterproof performance due to plastic deformation of a connector.
In order to solve the above problem, a waterproof structure of a connector of the present invention is a waterproof structure of a connector in which cavities respectively accommodating terminals are formed respectively in a pair of housings configured to be fitted to each other. In each of the pair of housings, an annular member surrounding an opening of the cavity is formed to protrude in a fitting direction. One of the annular members has a plurality of corner parts in which an outer circumferential surface is inclined so as to spread outward in a radial direction from a leading end to inward. The outer circumferential surface presses an inner circumferential surface of the other annular member in fitting, and in a cross section orthogonal to the fitting direction. The plurality of corner parts are positioned to be symmetrical with each other with respect to a central axis of the annular member. A curvature of the outer circumferential surface of the plurality of corner parts is larger than a curvature of the outer circumferential surface of other portions. An inclination angle of the outer circumferential surface of the corner part with respect to the fitting direction is larger than an inclination angle of the outer circumferential surface of other portions with respect to the fitting direction.
According to this configuration, the outer circumferential surface of one annular member is formed in a shape that presses the inner circumferential surface of the other annular member. Therefore, when the pair of housings is fitted to each other, the inner circumferential surface of the other annular member is elastically deformed by being pressed by the outer circumferential surface of the one annular member, and the outer circumference of the one tubular member is pushed by the restoring force of this elastic deformation. In this manner, since the annular members are pressed against each other over the entire circumference within the elastic limit, it is possible to prevent water from entering between the annular members. In this way, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the waterproof performance of the connector due to plastic deformation. Further, by bringing the annular members into direct contact with each other, there is no need for a space for providing the rubber packing inside the connector, and the outer diameter size of the connector can be reduced. As a result, miniaturization of the connector can be achieved.
Between the corner having a large curvature and the inner circumferential surface of the other annular member, a gap corresponding to the inclination angle of the corner having a large curvature is formed. That is, at the time of fitting the pair of housings, the timing at which the inner circumferential surface of the other annular member abuts against the corner part having a large curvature of the outer circumferential surface is later than the other portion of the outer circumferential surface. As a result, the amount of wrap between the outer circumferential surface and the inner circumferential surface of the corner part having a large curvature becomes relatively smaller than the other portions, and the strain generated in the corner part having a large curvature of the outer circumferential surface is dispersed. Accordingly, it is possible to alleviate the insertion load when one of the annular members is inserted into the other annular member, which makes it possible to reduce the insertion load at the time of fitting the pair of housings. As a result, assembly workability of the connector can be improved.
In this case, one of the pair of housings is inserted into the other housing formed into a tubular shape, and the outer circumferential surface of one housing has at least three protruding parts for pressing the inner circumferential surface of the other housing, and the protruding parts are preferably spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction.
According to configuration, since one housing inserted into the other housing is supported on the inner circumferential surface of the other housing via each protruding part, it is possible to prevent rattling of one housing, and it is possible to improve the waterproof property by satisfactorily maintaining the contact state (for example, contact angle) between the annular members. In addition, according to this, since one housing can be supported with a simple structure, the connector structure is simplified and the miniaturization of the waterproof connector is facilitated.
Further, the protruding part may be formed on the inner circumferential surface of the other housing, rather than the outer circumferential surface of the one housing. That is, the inner circumferential surface of the other housing has at least three protruding parts which presses the outer circumferential surface of one housing, and the protruding parts can be configured to be disposed apart from each other in the circumferential direction.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a waterproof structure for a connector that prevents degradation in waterproof performance due to plastic deformation of the connector. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a waterproof structure of a connector which enables miniaturization of the connector. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a waterproof structure of the connector which improves the assembling workability of the connector due to the small insertion load of the housing.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a waterproof structure of a waterproof connector to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The male connector 13 has a male housing 17 formed in a tubular shape with an insulating synthetic resin, and a male terminal 21 accommodated in the male housing 17 from the rear part. As illustrated in
The hood portion 35 is formed in a tubular shape having a circumferential wall continuous with the circumferential wall of the base part 31, and a cross section orthogonal to the front-rear direction is an oval shape in which a width direction is a longitudinal direction. As illustrated in
The respective male terminal accommodating chambers 29 are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the male housing 17 and is formed to be partitioned by partition walls (not illustrated), and each of the male terminal accommodating chambers 29 is engaged with a male terminal 21 (not illustrated) extending inward, thereby holding (locking) the respective male terminals 21 at the setting position. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the lock arm 53, the front end portion of the arm portion 61 is displaced upward in the front-rear direction with the base end portion 59 as a fulcrum. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
On the other hand, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The female housing 19 has a pair of protruding parts 83 (
As illustrated in
Next, the configurations of the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 will be described in detail with reference to
The male side annular member 51 is a resinous tubular member extending in a tubular shape from the periphery of the opening 47 of the base part 31 of the male housing 17, and a cross section in a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction is formed in a substantially oval shape in which the width direction is a longitudinal direction (
The female side annular member 81 is a resinous tubular member extending in a tubular shape from the periphery of the opening 77 of the base part 71 of the female housing 19, and the cross section in the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction is a substantially oval shape in which the width direction is the longitudinal direction, and is substantially similar to the cross section of the inner circumferential surface 51b of the male side annular member 51. An outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81 is inclined in a direction in which the thickness dimension (thickness) between the inner circumferential surface 81b extending in the front-rear direction increases from the front end (leading end) to the back (rear). In other words, the outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81 is inclined so as to spread outward in the radial direction from the front end (leading end) to the back (rear). The female side annular member 81 having the inclined outer circumferential surface 81a in this manner has a shape in which the outer circumferential surface 81a on the back side is pressed against the inner circumferential surface 51b of the male side annular member 51. That is, the female side annular member 81 is formed into a truncated cone shape inclined inwardly in a tapered manner with respect to the front-rear direction over the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface 81a.
Here, the cross-sectional shape of the annular members 51 and 81 orthogonal to the front-rear direction of both the annular members will be described by taking the outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81 as an example. As illustrated in
On the other hand, the cross-sectional shape of the inner circumferential surface 51b of the male side annular member 51 is substantially similar to the cross-sectional shape of the outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81. Since the male side annular member 51 has elasticity and is elastically deformed along the outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81, even if the male side annular member 51 can press the inner side of the outer circumferential surface 81a over the entire circumferential direction, it is not limited to a similar figure.
In the present embodiment, as illustrated in
In the present embodiment, when the female side annular member 81 is inserted into the male side annular member 51, the female side annular member 81 moves, while the outer circumferential surface 81a thereof is pressed against the inner circumferential surface 51b of the male side annular member 51. At this time, the curvature of the corner parts 109a to 109d of the outer circumferential surface 81a is set to be larger than the other portions, and the strength is relatively high. Therefore, when the outer circumferential surface 81a is pressed against the inner circumferential surface 51b, the stress is concentrated on the corner parts 109a to 109d which are less likely to be elastically deformed than the other portions, and the insertion load of the female side annular member 81 increases.
As illustrated in
Next, an example of assembling method and fitting operation of both housings will be described. First, as illustrated in
In this state, as illustrated by an arrow in
When the female housing 19 is inserted into the back of the male housing 17, the lock arm 53 is moved along the inclined surface 89 of the locking portion 87 of the female housing 19 so that the lock portion 63 climbs over the locking portion 87, and the arm portion is bent and deformed upward. When the lock portion 63 climbs over the locking portion 87, the arm portion 61 elastically returns. As a result, the locking portion 87 is locked to the lock portion 63, and both the housings are locked in a proper fitted state.
On the other hand, when the female housing 19 is inserted to a predetermined position of the male housing 17, insertion of the female side annular member 81 into the male side annular member 51 is started. The female side annular member 81 inserted inward along the inclined surface 99 of the male side annular member 51 moves, while the outer circumferential surface 81a presses the inner circumferential surface 51b of the male side annular member 51 and rests in a manner of pushing the inner circumferential surface 51b over the entire circumference. That is, the inner circumferential surface 51b and the outer circumferential surface 81a of the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 are pressed against each other over the entire circumferential direction, so that the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 are in watertight contact with each other, and water is prevented from entering the opening 47 of the male connector 13 and the opening 77 of the female connector 15, respectively. When the housings 17 and 19 are fitted to each other, the leading end surface of the male side annular member 51 is disposed away from the front end surface 75 of the female housing 19, and the leading end surface of the female side annular member 81 is disposed to be spaced apart from the front end surface 45 of the male housing 17.
In the present embodiment, when the male connector 13 and the female connector 15 are fitted together, the male side annular member 51 is pressed from the inside by the female side annular member 81 and is pushed out within the elastic limit, so that the gap between the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 is sealed. Therefore, entry of water into the openings 47 and 77 can be prevented. As a result, it is possible to improve the waterproof property of the connector 11. Further, by bringing the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 into direct contact with each other to form a waterproof structure, a rubber packing or the like for waterproofing becomes unnecessary, and the outer diameter size of the connector 11 can be reduced. As a result, miniaturization and cost reduction of the connector 11 can be achieved.
Further, in the present embodiment, since the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 are in contact with each other within the elastic limit, for example, when the connector 11 vibrates, since the male side annular member 51 and the female side annular member 81 integrally expands and contracts, it is possible to absorb vibrations with each other. Therefore, it is possible to prevent degradation over time of the connector 11 and deterioration of waterproof property due to repetition of vibration.
Further, in the present embodiment, the inclination angle of the corner parts 109a to 109d on the outer circumferential surface 81a of the female side annular member 81 is set to be larger than the inclination angle of the other portion in the circumferential direction. As a result, the amount of lap between the corner parts 109a to 109d and the inner circumferential surface 51b becomes relatively small, and the strain of the corner parts 109a to 109d is dispersed. Therefore, the insertion load when inserting the female side annular member 81 into the male side annular member 51 is reduced, and it is possible to reduce the insertion load at the time of fitting the pair of housings. As a result, the assembling workability of the connector 11 can be improved.
Further, in this embodiment, when the female housing is inserted into the male housing 17, the pair of protruding parts 83 are guided to the first notched portion 41 of the male housing 17, respectively, and the stepped part 85 is guided along the guide groove 37. Thus, the insertion direction of the female housing 19 with respect to the male housing 17 is restricted, and while bringing the female side annular member 81 into contact with the set position of the male side annular member 51 at an appropriate angle, the waterproof property of the two annular members 51, 81 can be stably maintained.
The pair of protruding parts 83 and the stepped part 85 have a function of guiding the female housing 19 to a predetermined position of the male housing 17 and positioning the female housing 19 accommodated in the male housing 17, respectively. Neither presses the inner circumferential surface of the male housing 17 nor can completely prevent rattling of the female housing 19 accommodated in the male housing 17.
In this respect, in this embodiment, as illustrated in
According to this, the female housing 19 inserted into the male housing 17 is supported at three positions in the circumferential direction on the inner circumferential surface of the male housing 17 via the respective protruding portions 115, 117, and 119. For this reason, the rattling of the female housing 19 is suppressed, and the contact state between the annular members 51 and 81 is maintained satisfactorily. Further, since the female housing 19 is supported by an extremely simple structure, miniaturization of the connector 11 is facilitated. At least three protruding parts may be provided, and more protruding parts may be formed if necessary. However, when the number of protruding parts increases, the frictional resistance at the time of insertion of the female housing 19 into the male housing 17 increases, and the insertion load increases. Therefore, it is preferable that the number of protruding parts is three. Similarly, the cross section orthogonal to the front-rear direction of each protruding part is not particularly limited, but in order to reduce the frictional resistance with the male housing 17, it is preferable to have a circular arc shape.
Further, as illustrated in
Although the embodiment to which the present invention is applied has been described above, this is merely a representative example, and the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist thereof.
Here, features of the waterproof structure of the connector and the embodiment of the waterproof connector according to the present invention described above are summarized briefly in the following (1) to (3).
(1) A waterproof structure of a connector (11) in which cavities (29, 69) respectively accommodating terminals (21, 23) are formed respectively in a pair of housings (17, 19) configured to be fitted to each other,
wherein in each of the pair of housings, an annular member (51, 81) surrounding an opening of the cavity is formed to protrude in a fitting direction,
wherein one of the annular members (81) has a plurality of corner parts (109a to 109d) in which an outer circumferential surface (81a) is inclined so as to spread outward in a radial direction from a leading end to inward,
wherein the outer circumferential surface presses an inner circumferential surface of the other annular member (51) in fitting, and in a cross section orthogonal to the fitting direction,
wherein the plurality of corner parts are positioned to be symmetrical with each other with respect to a central axis of the annular member,
wherein a curvature of the outer circumferential surface of the plurality of corner parts is larger than a curvature of the outer circumferential surface of other portions, and
wherein an inclination angle of the outer circumferential surface of the corner part with respect to the fitting direction is larger than an inclination angle of the outer circumferential surface of other portions with respect to the fitting direction.
(2) The waterproof structure of the connector according to the above (1),
wherein one housing (19) of the pair of housings is configured to be inserted into the other housing (17) formed in a tubular shape,
wherein the outer circumferential surface of one housing has at least three protruding parts (115, 117, 119) pressing the inner circumferential surface of the other housing, and
wherein the protruding parts are disposed to be spaced from each other in a circumferential direction.
(3) The waterproof structure of the connector according to the above (1),
wherein one housing (19) of the pair of housings is configured to be inserted into the other housing (17) formed in a tubular shape,
wherein the inner circumferential surface of the other housing has at least three protruding parts (123, 125, 127) pressing the outer circumferential surface of the one housing, and
wherein the protruding parts are disposed to be spaced from each other in a circumferential direction.
While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-1896) filed on Jan. 7, 2016.
According to the waterproof structure of the connector of the present invention, it is possible to prevent deterioration of waterproof performance due to plastic deformation of the connector, to miniaturize the connector, and to reduce the insertion load of the housing, thereby improving assembling workability of the connector. The present invention which exerts this effect is useful in the technical field of connectors.
11: Waterproof connector (connector)
13: Male connector
15: Female connector
17: Male housing (other housing)
19: Female housing (one housing)
21: Male terminal
23: Female terminal
29: Male terminal accommodating room (cavity)
47, 77: Opening
51: Male side annular member
69: Female terminal accommodating chamber (cavity)
81: Female side annular member
109
a to 109d: Corner part
115, 117, 119, 123, 125, 127: Protruding part
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-001896 | Jan 2016 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2016/089060 | 12/28/2016 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2017/119387 | 7/13/2017 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3562696 | Barnhart et al. | Feb 1971 | A |
| 8016603 | Tsai et al. | Sep 2011 | B1 |
| 9755352 | Hamada | Sep 2017 | B2 |
| 20080009186 | Hiramatsu | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20160248193 | Hamada | Aug 2016 | A1 |
| 20170033493 | Hamada et al. | Feb 2017 | A1 |
| 20180191099 | Hamada | Jul 2018 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1767274 | May 2006 | CN |
| 101714720 | May 2010 | CN |
| 101882719 | Nov 2010 | CN |
| 101950902 | Jan 2011 | CN |
| 1 492 204 | Dec 2004 | EP |
| 2 454 358 | May 2009 | GB |
| 2002-198127 | Jul 2002 | JP |
| 2008-16262 | Jan 2008 | JP |
| 2013-229168 | Nov 2013 | JP |
| 2016-157594 | Sep 2016 | JP |
| 2011076601 | Jun 2011 | WO |
| 2015166928 | Nov 2015 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| English language Written Opinion of the International Search Report for PCT/JP2016/089060 dated Apr. 4, 2017. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion of the International Search Report for PCT/JP2016/089060 dated Apr. 4, 2017. |
| The extended European search report for the related European patent application No. 16883886.0 dated Dec. 19, 2018. |
| Chinese Office Action for the related Chinese Patent Application No. 201680077687.6 dated Mar. 5, 2019. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190020146 A1 | Jan 2019 | US |
