JP2010102872A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector, preventing a fitting force between connector housings from increasing while ensuring high waterproof properties. <P>SOLUTION: The connector 5 includes: a first connector housing 1 mounted on a panel 4; a second connector housing 2 to be suitable for the first connector housing 1; and a grommet 3 mounted on the outer circumference of the second connector housing 2. The grommet 3 is disposed with a space from a hood part 21 of the second connector housing 2, and includes a second lip part 34 projecting toward the panel 4 and extending in a rib shape along the width direction X of the hood part 21 to be closely suitable for the panel 4. The protruding quantity at the center in the width direction X of the second lip part 34 is larger than that at both end portions thereof. The first connector housing 1 includes a pair of lock arms 10 inserted between the hood part 21 and both the end portions of the second lip part 34 and engagingly locked by the second connector housing 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector used for connection of electric wires.

  As a wire harness used in an automobile as a moving body, for example, there is one having a connector 105 shown in FIG. The connector 105 is attached after the first connector housing 101 is temporarily locked to the panel 104 provided with the hole 140 and the second connector housing 102 is fitted to the temporarily locked first connector housing 101. The connector housings 101 and 102 are slid toward the first connector housing 101 to be fully locked to the panel 104 for assembly (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, the connector 105 is provided with a lock arm 110 erected from the outer surface 106 of the first connector housing 101 and extending along the fitting direction Z of the connector 105, and the outer surface of the hood portion 107 of the second connector housing 102. The first connector housing 101 and the second connector housing 102 are kept in a fitted state by being engaged with the receiving portion 108 formed in a concave shape along the height direction Y of the connector 105.

  The lock arm 110 has its distal end portion 110a riding on the hood portion 107 when the connector housings 101 and 102 approach each other along the fitting direction Z, and further, when the connector housings 101 and 102 approach each other, the distal end portion 110a. Fits into the receiving portion 108 and is locked to the receiving portion 108. Further, the lock arm 110 is provided at the center in the width direction of the first connector housing 101, that is, at the center in the width direction of the connector 105. Further, the width direction of the first connector housing 101 and the width direction of the connector 105 are directions orthogonal to both the fitting direction Z and the height direction Y of the connector 105 described above.

  Further, the connector 105 includes a grommet 103 that is attached to the second connector housing 102 and waterproofs the connector housings 101 and 102. The grommet 103 includes an annular first lip portion 108 a surrounding the second connector housing 102, and a second lip portion 108 b disposed between the first lip portion 108 a and the hood portion 107. Yes. The second lip portion 108 b protrudes toward the panel 104 and extends in a rib shape along the width direction of the connector 105. The lip portions 108 a and 108 b are in close contact with the panel 104 in a state where the connector housings 101 and 102 are fitted to each other and are finally locked to the panel 104.

The connector 105 has a horizontally long shape in which the dimension in the width direction is larger than the dimension in the height direction Y. Therefore, the contact pressure on the panel 104 at the second lip portion 108b is the same as that in the width direction of the connector 105. It is high near both ends, and low near the center in the width direction of the connector 105. From this, in order to improve the water-stop property in the vicinity of the center portion of the connector 105 in the width direction, the second lip portion 108b is directed from both ends in the width direction of the connector 105 toward the center portion in the width direction of the connector 105. Accordingly, the projection amount is increased.
JP 2005-259554 A

  However, the conventional connector 105 described above has the following problems. That is, since the lock arm 110 described above is provided at the center portion in the width direction of the connector 105, when the distal end portion 110a of the lock arm 110 rides on the hood portion 107, the distal end portion 110a has a protruding amount. There is a problem that a large frictional force is generated upon hitting the center portion of the large second lip portion 108b, and therefore, the fitting force between the connector housings 101 and 102 is increased.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can prevent the fitting force between connector housings from increasing while having high waterproofness.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a first connector housing mounted in a hole of a panel, a second connector housing fitted to the first connector housing, and the first connector housing. 2. A connector having a cylindrical grommet attached to the outer periphery of the connector housing, wherein the grommet is arranged at a distance from one outer wall of the second connector housing and protrudes toward the panel. And a lip portion extending in a rib shape along the width direction of the outer wall and closely contacting the panel, wherein the second connector housing is passed between the outer wall and the lip portion. A pair of lock arms that engage with the outer wall, and the lip portion protrudes from both ends in the width direction of the outer wall toward the center. Is formed so as to increase, the pair of lock arms is a connector which is characterized in that it is arranged in a position locating the center in the width direction of the outer wall between each other.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, the grommet is arranged at a distance from one outer wall of the second connector housing, protrudes toward the panel, and extends in the width direction of the outer wall. A pair of locking arms having a lip portion extending in a rib shape and closely contacting the panel, wherein the first connector housing is passed between the outer wall and the lip portion to be engaged with the second connector housing. And the lip portion is formed such that a protruding amount increases from the both end portions in the width direction of the outer wall toward the center portion, and the pair of lock arms are disposed between the outer walls. Since the lock arm is passed between the outer wall and the lip portion, the lock arm is passed directly under both ends of the lip portion having a small protruding amount. This makes it possible to reduce the frictional force generated between the lock arm and the lip portion compared to when the lock arm is passed directly under the center of the lip portion having a large protruding amount, and the fitting force between the connector housings. Can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide a connector that has a high waterproof property and can prevent the fitting force between the connector housings from increasing.

  A connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a connector having a first connector housing and a second connector housing according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the first connector housing and the second connector housing are fitted together. It is a figure which shows the state latched by the panel. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the first connector housing and the second connector housing shown in FIG. 1 are fitted. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the first connector housing shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first connector housing shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the grommet shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the grommet shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state where the first connector housing shown in FIG. 1 is temporarily locked to the panel. 8 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state in which the second connector housing is close to the first connector housing shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state in which the second connector housing is closer to the first connector housing shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state in which the first connector housing and the second connector housing shown in FIG. 9 are fitted and temporarily locked to the panel.

  The connector 5 shown in FIG. 1 etc. constitutes a wire harness routed in an automobile or the like. The connector 5 includes a first connector housing 1 and a second connector housing 2 which are fitted to each other in a state where a body panel (hereinafter referred to as a panel) 4 constituting a vehicle body is positioned between the connector 5 and the second connector. And a grommet 3 attached to the housing 2.

  The panel 4 is provided with a hole 40 penetrating the panel 4 as shown in FIG. The first connector housing 1 and the second connector housing 2 are inserted into the holes 40 of the panel 4 with the panel 4 positioned therebetween, and are fitted to each other.

  The first connector housing 1 is made of a synthetic resin and includes a main body portion 11, a pair of temporary locking portions 12, and a pair of lock arms 10.

  The main body 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape and has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 6 for accommodating male terminal fittings (hereinafter referred to as male terminals). The plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 6 are each formed in a straight line and are arranged in parallel to each other. In addition, when the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted to each other, the body portion 22 of the second connector housing 2 enters the body portion 11. As a result, the male terminal enters a female terminal fitting (hereinafter referred to as a female terminal) accommodated in the second connector housing 2, and the male terminal and the female terminal are electrically connected.

  In addition, the direction in which the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted together is referred to as “fitting direction” in the present invention, and is represented by an arrow Z. Of the two directions orthogonal to the fitting direction Z, the direction along the vertical direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as a “height direction” and is represented by an arrow Y. A direction orthogonal to both the fitting direction Z and the height direction Y is referred to as a “width direction” and is represented by an arrow X.

  The pair of temporary locking portions 12 are formed at positions facing each other along the width direction X on the outer surface of the main body portion 11 as shown in FIGS. The pair of temporary locking portions 12 are protrusions that protrude from the outer surface to the outside of the first connector housing 1 and are elastically deformable along the width direction X. Such a pair of temporary locking portions 12 abuts against the inner edge of the hole 40 of the panel 4 and presses the panel 4 in the direction of expanding the hole 40, thereby temporarily attaching the first connector housing 1 to the panel 4. Stop. Further, the pair of temporary locking portions 12 are pushed by the main body portion 22 as a later-described main body portion 22 of the second connector housing 2 enters the inside of the main body portion 11 of the first connector housing 1, and Elastically deforms inward. Then, when the pair of temporary locking portions 12 are elastically deformed toward the inside of the main body portion 11, the temporary locking of the first connector housing 1 to the panel 4 is released, and the first connector housing 1 is moved to the panel 4. It becomes a movable state with respect to.

  Each of the pair of lock arms 10 is erected from the outer surface 11a located on the upper side in FIG. 7 of the outer surface of the main body 11 and extends toward the second connector housing 2 along the fitting direction Z. A plate-like arm portion 10a, and a lock portion 10b provided at the tip of the arm portion 10a.

  As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 and the like, the arm portions 10a of the pair of lock arms 10 are spaced apart from each other along the width direction X of the outer surface 11a, and externally between each other. It arrange | positions in the position which positions the center part of the width direction X of the surface 11a. That is, the pair of lock arms 10 are disposed at positions where a center portion 21b in the width direction X of a hood portion 21 described later of the second connector housing 2 is positioned between each other. Moreover, the arm part 10a positions the below-mentioned hood part 21 of the 2nd connector housing 2 between the outer surfaces 11a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 9, FIG. 10 and the like, the lock portion 10b includes a drop-off prevention portion 13 protruding from the outer surface of the arm portion 10a to the upper side in the height direction Y in the drawing, and the arm portion 10a. And an engaging portion 14 projecting downward in the height direction Y in the drawing. In the process of fitting the second connector housing 2 from the state where the first connector housing 1 is temporarily locked to the panel 4, the drop-off prevention portion 13 is positioned outside the hole 40 as shown in FIG. 9. This prevents the first connector housing 1, whose temporary locking to the panel 4 has been released, from falling off the panel 4. Further, the locking portion 14 fixes the first connector housing 1 and the second connector housing 2 by being locked to a receiving portion 20 described later of the second connector housing 2.

  The second connector housing 2 is made of synthetic resin, and has a main body portion 22, a flange portion 23, a pair of main locking portions 24, a hood portion 21, and a pair of receiving portions 20. ing.

  The main body 22 is formed in a box shape and has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 7 for accommodating female terminals. The main body 22 enters the main body 11 of the first connector housing 1 along the longitudinal direction of the female terminals when the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted together.

  The flange portion 23 is connected to an end portion of the main body portion 22 away from the first connector housing 1 and is formed in a hook shape along a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the female terminal.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pair of main locking portions 24 are formed at positions facing each other along the width direction X on the outer surface of the main body portion 22, and are connected to the second connector from the outer surface. Projecting to the outside of the housing 2. Such a pair of final locking portions 24 are positioned at the final locking position shown in FIG. 1 by sliding the connector housings 1 and 2 in the fitted state along the fitting direction Z toward the first connector housing 1 side. As a result, the connector housings 1 and 2, that is, the connector 5 are permanently locked to the panel 4 by abutting against the inner edge of the hole 40 of the panel 4 and pressing the panel 4 in the direction of expanding the hole 40.

  As shown in FIG. 7 and the like, the hood portion 21 is an outer wall facing the outer surface located on the upper side in the height direction Y of the main body portion 22 with a gap along the height direction Y. As described above, the hood portion 21 is positioned between the arm portion 10 a and the outer surface 11 a of the main body portion 11 when the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted to each other.

  The pair of receiving portions 20 are depressions formed in a concave shape from the outer surface of the hood portion 21 toward the main body portion 22 side, and the locking portion 14 of the lock arm 10 is disposed inside the connector housings 1 and 2 in a fitted state. Position. That is, the receiving part 20 is locked to the locking part 14. In addition, the pair of receiving portions 20 are arranged at intervals along the width direction X of the hood portion 21, and are arranged at positions where the central portion 21 b of the hood portion 21 in the width direction X is positioned between them. Has been. That is, the pair of receiving portions 20 are located at both end portions 21 a and 21 c in the width direction X of the hood portion 21, respectively. Therefore, the pair of locking portions 14 locked to the pair of receiving portions 20, that is, the lock arm 10 positions the central portion 21 b in the width direction X of the hood portion 21 between them. Further, since the pair of locking portions 14 are locked to the pair of receiving portions 20, the connector housings 1, 2 are prevented from being displaced along the fitting direction Z and the width direction X, and the connector housing 1. , The fitting state between the two is maintained.

  The grommet 3 waterproofs the connector housings 1 and 2 which are fitted to each other and positioned at the final locking position shown in FIG. 1, that is, the main locking to the panel 4, and is made of synthetic rubber or the like. ing. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, the grommet 3 is formed in a bellows cylinder shape, and includes an electric wire housing portion 30 for housing an electric wire (not shown) connected to the female terminal, and the electric wire housing portion 30. A cylindrical housing accommodating portion 31 which is continuous and attached to the second connector housing 2.

  The housing accommodating portion 31 is located on the side farther from the wire accommodating portion 30 than the attaching portion 32, and the attaching portion 32 attached to the second connector housing 2 so as to cover the flange portion 23 of the second connector housing 2. An annular first lip portion 33 surrounding the second connector housing 2 and a second lip portion 34 (corresponding to the lip portion in the claims) disposed between the first lip portion 33 and the hood portion 21. ), And a third lip portion 35 disposed between the first lip portion 33 and the main body portion 22 and facing the second lip portion 34 along the height direction Y.

  The lip portions 33, 34, and 35 are in close contact with the outside of the hole 40 of the panel 4 in a state where the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted to each other and are fully locked to the panel 4. Prevents intrusion.

  The second lip portion 34 is arranged at a distance from the hood portion 21, protrudes from the wire housing portion 30 side toward the panel 4, and extends in a rib shape along the width direction X of the hood portion 21. Yes. Further, the second lip portion 34 is formed so that the protruding amount increases from the end portion 21a, 21c side in the width direction X of the hood portion 21 toward the central portion 21b side. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the protruding amount of the central portion 34 b in the width direction X of the second lip portion 34 is formed larger than the protruding amounts of the both end portions 34 a and 34 c in the width direction X. Then, both end portions 34a and 34c in the width direction X of the second lip portion 34 are gradually inclined in a direction away from the panel 4 as the distance from the center portion 34b increases. Further, the pair of lock arms 10 described above is passed between the hood portion 21 and both end portions 34 a and 34 c of the second lip portion 34 and locked to the receiving portion 20.

  As described above, in the present invention, when the pair of lock arms 10 are passed between the hood portion 21 and the second lip portion 34, they are directly below the both end portions 34 a and 34 c, which have a smaller protrusion amount than the central portion 34 b. Therefore, the frictional force generated between the lock arm 10 and the second lip 34, that is, the hook, is compared with the case where the pair of lock arms 10 is passed directly below the central portion 34b having a large protrusion amount. And the fitting force between the connector housings 1 and 2 can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the fitting force between the connector housings 1 and 2 from being increased while having high waterproofness. Moreover, since the lock arm 10 is provided in a pair, rattling of the first connector housing 1 with respect to the panel 4 can be reduced.

  The third lip portion 35 has the same configuration as the second lip portion 34, is spaced apart from the main body portion 22, protrudes from the wire housing portion 30 side toward the panel 4, and is formed on the main body portion 22. It extends in a rib shape along the width direction X. Further, the third lip portion 35 is formed so that the protruding amount increases from the end portion 21a, 21c side in the width direction X of the hood portion 21 toward the central portion 21b side. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the protruding amount of the central portion 35b in the width direction X of the third lip portion 35 is formed larger than the protruding amounts of the both end portions 35a and 35c in the width direction X. Then, both end portions 35a, 35c in the width direction X of the third lip portion 35 are gradually inclined away from the panel 4 as the distance from the center portion 35b increases.

  Further, since the connector 5 has a horizontally long shape in which the dimension in the width direction X is larger than the dimension in the height direction Y, the contact pressure of the second lip portion 34 and the third lip portion 35 to the panel 4 is Is high in the vicinity of both end portions in the width direction X and low in the vicinity of the central portion. From this, in order to improve the water-stop property in the vicinity of the central portion of the connector 5 in the width direction X, the second lip portion 34 and the third lip portion 35 are formed from both ends in the width direction X of the connector 5 as described above. The protrusion is formed so as to increase toward the center side.

  When assembling the connector 5 having the above-described configuration, first, as shown in FIG. 7, the pair of temporary locking portions 12 (see FIG. 1) is brought into contact with the inner edge of the hole 40 of the panel 4. 1 The connector housing 1 is temporarily attached to the panel 4. That is, the first connector housing 1 is temporarily locked to the panel 4. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the second connector housing 2 is brought close to the first connector housing 1, and the main body portion 22 of the second connector housing 2 is inserted into the main body portion 11 of the first connector housing 1.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the pair of lock portions 10 b ride on the hood portion 21, the arm portion 10 a bends, and the drop-off prevention portion 13 is positioned outside the hole 40 of the panel 4. Further, by inserting the main body portion 22 of the second connector housing 2 into the main body portion 11 of the first connector housing 1, as described above, the pair of temporary locking portions 12 is pushed by the main body portion 22 and the main body portion 22 is pressed. It is elastically deformed toward the inside of the portion 11 and the temporary locking of the first connector housing 1 to the panel 4 is released. Further, after the temporary locking of the first connector housing 1 to the panel 4 is released, the drop-out preventing portion 13 is positioned outside the hole 40 of the panel 4, so that the second connector housing 2 is connected to the first connector housing 1. The first connector housing 1 is prevented from dropping from the panel 4 by the drop-off preventing portion 13 until it is completely fitted.

  In this state, the main body portion 22 of the second connector housing 2 is further inserted into the main body portion 11 of the first connector housing 1, so that the pair of lock portions 10 b are connected to both ends of the hood portion 21 and the second lip portion 34. The pair of locking portions 14 fall into the pair of receiving portions 20 through the passages 34a and 34c, and the pair of locking portions 14, that is, the pair of lock arms 10 and the pair of receiving portions 20 are locked simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 10, the connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted together. Further, by pressing the second connector housing 2 toward the panel 4, the first connector housing 1 and the second connector housing 2, that is, the connector 5 in the fitted state are moved along the fitting direction Z in the first connector housing 1. The pair of main locking portions 24 (see FIG. 1) are brought into contact with the inner edge of the hole 40 of the panel 4, and the connector 5 is finally locked to the panel 4 as shown in FIG. . At this time, the lip portions 33, 34, and 35 are in close contact with the outside of the hole 40 of the panel 4. Thus, the connector 5 is assembled.

  Further, the above-described embodiments are merely representative forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a top view which shows the connector which has the 1st connector housing which shows one embodiment of this invention, and the 2nd connector housing, and the 1st connector housing and the 2nd connector housing fit, and these are this to a panel It is a figure which shows the state which latched. It is a perspective view which shows the state which the 1st connector housing shown by FIG. 1 and the 2nd connector housing fitted. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a first connector housing shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first connector housing shown in FIG. 1. It is a top view of the grommet shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the grommet shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the state which the 1st connector housing shown by FIG. 1 temporarily latched to the panel. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating a state in which a second connector housing approaches the first connector housing illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state where the second connector housing is further closer to the first connector housing shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state where the first connector housing and the second connector housing shown in FIG. 9 are fitted and temporarily locked to the panel. It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional connector.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st connector housing 2 2nd connector housing 3 Grommet 4 Panel 5 Connector 10 Lock arm 21 Hood part (outer wall)
21a, 21c End portion 21b Center portion 34 Second lip portion (lip portion)
40 holes X width direction

Claims (1)

In a connector having a first connector housing attached in a hole of a panel, a second connector housing fitted to the first connector housing, and a cylindrical grommet attached to an outer periphery of the second connector housing ,
A lip that is spaced apart from one outer wall of the second connector housing and protrudes toward the panel and extends in a rib shape along the width direction of the outer wall so that the grommet is in close contact with the panel Part
The first connector housing has a pair of lock arms that are passed between the outer wall and the lip portion and locked to the second connector housing;
The lip portion is formed so that the protruding amount increases as it goes from the both end portions in the width direction of the outer wall toward the center portion,
The connector, wherein the pair of lock arms is disposed at a position for positioning a central portion in the width direction of the outer wall between each other.

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