Connector
09673563 ยท 2017-06-06
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H01R13/5205
ELECTRICITY
Y10S439/901
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
International classification
Abstract
A connector (10A) is provided with a housing (20) including a tube (22) and a seal (80) to be fit in the tube (22) in a liquid-tight manner. A holder (60) has a peripheral wall (62) fit externally on the tube (22) and a rear wall (61) configured to prevent the seal (80) from coming out backward. A wire cover (50) is mounted on the housing (20) by being fit externally on the peripheral wall (62) when the wire cover (50) is arranged to cover wires (100) pulled out from the holder (60) and the peripheral wall (62) is disposed in a proper posture on the tube (22). However, the wire cover (50) interferes with the holder (60) and cannot be mounted on the housing (20) when the peripheral wall (62) is in an improper posture inclined with respect to the tube (22).
Claims
1. A connector, comprising: a terminal fitting to be connected to a wire; a housing including a housing main body with opposite front and rear ends and formed with a cavity into which the terminal fitting is inserted from behind, and a tube projecting back from the housing main body, holder locks projecting out from the tube; a seal fit into the tube in a liquid-tight manner and formed with a seal hole into which the wire is insertable in a liquid-tight manner at a position communicating with the cavity; a holder including a rear wall configured to prevent the seal from coming out backward and formed with a through hole into which the wire is loosely inserted at a position of the rear wall communicating with the seal hole, a deflectable peripheral wall outward of the rear wall and being deflected out by the holder locks of the housing as the holder is being mounted on the housing, the peripheral wall including lock receiving portions that align with the holder locks when the holder is mounted properly on the housing thereby permitting the deflected peripheral wall to return to an undeflected posture and into engagement with the holder locks; and a wire cover mounted on the housing by being fit externally on the peripheral wall of the holder and covering the wire extending from the holder when the holder has been mounted properly on the housing so that the peripheral wall of the holder has returned to an undeflected posture, and the peripheral wall of the holder interfering with the wire cover to prevent mounting of the wire cover onto the housing when the peripheral wall of the holder remains deflected out with respect to the tube due to improper mounting of the holder on the housing.
2. The connector of claim 1, wherein a cover lock is provided on an outer surface of the tube, a fitting groove is provided on the holder for receiving the cover lock and the wire cover includes a housing lock to be locked by the cover lock.
3. The connector of claim 1, wherein the housing has resilient locks projecting back on the housing at positions outward from the tube, the wire cover having lock receiving portions that engage the resilient locks when the holder and the wire cover are mounted properly.
4. The connector of claim 3, wherein the housing further comprises a coupling projecting out from the tube at a position substantially between the tube and the housing main body, the resilient locks projecting back from the coupling.
5. The connector of claim 3, wherein the lock receiving portions are formed in covering portions of the wire cover, the covering portions being fittable between the peripheral wall and the resilient locks when the peripheral wall of the properly mounted holder has returned resiliently into engagement with the holder locks so that the lock receiving portions can engage the resilient locks, the covering portions being incapable of fitting between the peripheral wall and the resilient locks when the peripheral wall remains outwardly deflected due to improper mounting of the holder on the tube.
6. The connector of claim 5, wherein the cover lock is in proximity to a first longitudinal end of the housing, and wherein the holder locks and the resilient locks are in proximity to a second longitudinal end of the housing.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(8) As shown in
(9) The mating housing 200 is made of synthetic resin and includes a base wall 201 in the form of a flat plate extending along the width direction, as shown in
(10) As shown in
(11) The connectors 10A, 10B are provided to correspond individually to the receptacles 202 and have mutually different widths. Unless otherwise mentioned, the larger connector 10A is described below out of the larger and smaller connectors 10A, 10B having different widths. Further, regardless of a difference in size and the like between the connectors 10A, 10B, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference signs.
(12) The housing 20 is made of synthetic resin and includes, as shown in
(13) As shown in
(14) Further, as shown in
(15) As shown in
(16) Further, as shown in
(17) The terminal fitting 90 is formed integrally by applying bending and the like to an electrically conductive metal plate and includes, as shown in
(18) The tube 22 is substantially rectangular and includes, as shown in
(19) The seal 80 is made of rubber, such as silicon rubber, and is a mat sized to cover the rear surface of the main body 21 by being fit into the tube 22. As shown in
(20) As shown in
(21) As shown in
(22) As shown in
(23) Protection walls 44 stand at positions corresponding to the resilient locks 41 on the rear surface of the coupling 23 and cover the resilient locks 41 from the outside, as shown in
(24) The holder 60 is made of synthetic resin and defines a cap, as shown in
(25) Substantially circular through holes 65 penetrate the rear wall 61 of the holder 60 in the front-back direction at positions corresponding to and communicating with the respective seal holes 82, as shown in
(26) As shown in
(27) As shown in
(28) The wire cover 50 is made of synthetic resin and defines a cap mounted on the housing 20 to cover the holder 60 from behind. As shown in
(29) As shown in
(30) As shown in
(31) Further, the wire cover 50 is provided with a mounting portion 59 having a substantially U-shaped cross-section and projecting toward the one widthwise end side in a part extending from the lateral edge portions 57 of the opening 55 to the back plate portion 51. A pair of ribs 71 are provided at a distance from each other in the front-back direction on the outer surface of the mounting portion 59. A binding band 75 such as a tie band for collectively binding the respective wires 100 is substantially positioned and mounted between the two ribs 71.
(32) Two vertically spaced resilient lock receiving portions 72 are provided at positions of the covering portions 53 proximate to the opening 55, as shown in
(33) The wire cover 50 is held in a state where separation is regulated by the housing 20 by fitting the cover lock 39 to the housing lock 73 and fitting the lock projections 43 of the resilient locks 41 into the resilient lock receiving portions 72. With the wire cover 50 mounted on the housing 20, a front part of the wire cover 50 is fit externally on the peripheral wall 62 of the holder 60 and the covering portions 53 and the closing portion 52 are arranged along the outer surface of the peripheral wall 62, as shown in
(34) In the case of this connector 10A, as shown in
(35) In assembling, the seal 80 is inserted into the tube 22 of the housing 20 from behind (see
(36) Subsequently, the thick portion 63 of the rear wall 61 of the holder 60 is fit into the tube 22 of the housing 20 from behind and the peripheral wall 62 of the holder 60 is fit externally onto the tube 22 from behind. When the holder 60 is mounted properly on the housing 20, each holder lock 38 of the tube 22 is fit resiliently into each holder lock receiving portion 67 of the holder 60 to hold the holder 60 on the housing 20 in a state where separation is regulated (see
(37) Further, in the process of mounting the holder 60, the cover lock portion 39 is inserted into the fitting groove 68 of the holder 60 to guide a mounting operation of the holder 60. On the other hand, if a mounting posture of the holder 60 is oriented to face in a direction different from the proper one with respect to the housing 20, such as by assuming a reverse posture in the width direction, the peripheral wall 62 of the holder 60 interferes with the cover lock 39 and the mounting of the holder 60 on the housing 20 is prevented. Thus, the cover lock 39 also functions as an erroneous mounting preventing portion for regulating erroneous mounting of the holder 60.
(38) Subsequently, the terminal fittings 90 are inserted into the cavities 27 of the housing 20 from behind. In a state where the terminal fitting 90 is properly inserted in the cavity 27 and locked by the locking lance 28, each inner peripheral lip 83 is held resiliently in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wire 100, the wire 100 is inserted in the seal hole 82 of the seal 80 in a liquid-tight manner and the wire 100 is loosely inserted in the through hole 65 of the rear wall 61 of the holder 60 (see
(39) Further, the wire cover 50 is mounted onto the housing 20 from behind. In mounting, the cover lock 39 is inserted into the housing lock 73 and, in that state, the wire cover 50 is rotated from an opening position distant from the wire pull-out surface 66 to a closing position to approach the wire pull-out surface 66 with the cover lock 39 as a support. When the wire cover 50 mounted properly on the housing 20 in this way, both resilient lock receiving portions 72 are locked resiliently by the resilient locks 41 and the wire cover 50 is held on the housing 20. In this way, the wire cover 50 is locked to the housing 20 at three positions, i.e. at the housing lock 73 and both resilient lock receiving portions 72. Further, when the wire cover 50 is mounted on the housing 20, the covering portions 53 and the closing portion 52 of the wire cover 50 are fit externally on the peripheral wall 62 of the holder 60 (see
(40) On the other hand, part of an incompletely mounted holder 60 is inclined with respect to the tube 22 of the housing 20, and a part of the holder 60 enters a mounting path for the wire cover 50 to prevent mounting the wire cover 50 on the housing 20. Thus, it can be known that the holder 60 is not mounted properly when the mounting of the wire cover 50 is prevented. In this case, the holder locks 38 of the tube 22 interfere with the inner surface of the tip of the peripheral wall 62 without being fit into the holder lock receiving portions 67 and the peripheral wall 62 is opened and deformed out so that the covering portions 53 of the wire cover 50 may interfere with the opened and deformed peripheral wall 62.
(41) As the wire cover 50 is mounted on the housing 20, the respective wires 100 pulled out from the wire pull-out surface 66 are bent in the wire cover 50 and drawn out to the one widthwise side through the draw-out opening 54 (see
(42) Subsequently, fingers of an operator are inserted into the opening 55 of the wire cover 50 from outside on the one widthwise side and the respective wires 100 in the opening 55 are displaced toward the front-back edges 56 and bent to curve into a substantially U shape. The contact of the operator's fingers with a range of the opening 55 from the front-back edges 56 to the arcuate edges 58 compactly gathers the respective wires 100 on the side of the mounting portion 59 and arranges the wires 100 in the width direction along the mounting portion 59. Thereafter, by winding the binding band 75 between the ribs 71 of the mounting portion 59, the respective wires 100 are bound and held in the mounting portion 59 via the binding band 75.
(43) As described above, the holder 60 includes the peripheral wall 62 to be fit externally on the tube 22 of the housing 20 and the wire cover 50 interferes with the holder 60 to regulate the mounting operation on the housing 20 if the holder 60 is mounted in an improper posture with the peripheral wall 62 inclined with respect to the tube 22. Thus, it can be known that the holder 60 is mounted in an improper posture when the mounting operation of the wire cover 50 is prevented, and a situation where the holder 60 is left in the improper posture can be avoided.
(44) Further, if the peripheral wall 62 of the holder 60 is mounted on the tube 22 in a reverse orientation, the cover lock 39 cannot fit into the fitting groove 68 of the peripheral wall 62. Thus, a situation where the holder 60 is mounted erroneously in a reverse posture can be prevented before the wire cover 50 is mounted. Further, erroneous mounting of the holder 60 is prevented by the cover lock 39 for locking the wire cover 50. Thus, the configuration is simplified as compared to the case where a dedicated erroneous mounting preventing structure is provided separate from the cover lock 39.
(45) The cover lock 39 has both a locking function of fixing the wire cover 50 to the housing 20 and an erroneous mounting preventing function for preventing erroneous mounting of the holder 60 on the housing 20. Thus, the structure is simplified and cost is reduced as compared to the case where the locking function and the erroneous mounting preventing function are separate parts.
(46) The cover lock 39 is part of the tube 22 for accommodating the seal 80. Thus, it is not necessary to provide a special part for the cover lock 39 and the structure can be simplified.
(47) Further, the holder 60 is recessed to form the fitting groove 68 and the cover lock 39 is fit into the fitting groove 68 to correct the inclination of the holder 60. Thus, the inclination of the holder 60 can be corrected utilizing the cover lock 39 and the structure is simplified.
(48) Further, the operator's fingers are inserted into the opening 55 at the time of mounting the wire cover 50 and, in that state, the parts of the wires 100 exposed in the opening 55 are pressed and displaced toward the mounting portion 59 so that the wires 100 can be collected easily. Thus, an operation of mounting the binding band 75 on the mounting portion 59 can be performed smoothly thereafter. Further, since fingers can be pressed against the arcuate edges 58 of the opening 55 without any problem in collecting the respective wires 100, the operation can proceed smoothly.
(49) Other embodiments are briefly described below.
(50) The wire pull-out surface may be configured by the rear surface of the housing main body if no seal is required.
(51) The operation of binding the respective wires and mounting them in the mounting portion may be performed by inserting a jig into the opening.
(52) The mating housing may include only one receptacle corresponding to the housing of the connector described in the above embodiment (larger connector).
LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS
(53) 10A, 10B . . . connector
(54) 20 . . . housing
(55) 21 . . . housing main body
(56) 22 . . . tube portion
(57) 27 . . . cavity
(58) 39 . . . cover lock portion (erroneous mounting preventing portion)
(59) 50 . . . wire cover
(60) 51 . . . back plate portion
(61) 53 . . . covering portion
(62) 55 . . . opening
(63) 58 . . . arcuate edge portion (part extending in a curved manner)
(64) 59 . . . mounting portion
(65) 60 . . . holder
(66) 61 . . . rear wall
(67) 62 . . . peripheral wall
(68) 65 . . . through hole
(69) 66 . . . wire pull-out surface
(70) 68 . . . fitting groove
(71) 73 . . . housing lock
(72) 75 . . . binding band (fixing means)
(73) 80 . . . seal member
(74) 82 . . . seal hole
(75) 90 . . . terminal fitting
(76) 100 . . . wire
(77) 200 . . . mating housing
(78) 300 . . . connector main body