Title: Waterproof connector
Abstract: On a front end surface of a male housing, a columnar sealing projection is formed for a projected portion of each of the male terminals. A sealing member having through-holes formed thereon is formed integrally with a rear surface of a front plate of a holder. When the holder is mounted on a female housing, a contact surface of the sealing member is pressed against the front end surface of the female housing. When the female housing is connected to the male housing, the inner peripheral surfaces of the through-holes of the sealing member closely contact the peripheral surfaces of the sealing projections with the sealing projections breaking the lips of the sealing member.
Patent Number: 6,910,905 Issued on 06/28/2005 to Tanaka, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Tanaka; Nobuyoshi (Yokkaichi, JP);
Ichida; Kiyofumi (Yokkaichi, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
370058 |
| Filed:
|
February 21, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Apr 04, 2002[JP] | 2002-102402 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
439/271; 439/589 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H01R 013/52 |
| Field of Search: |
439/271- 3,282,587-9,589
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 2906986 | Sep., 1959 | Schaefer.
| |
| 6402538 | Jun., 2002 | Suzuki.
| |
| 6520788 | Feb., 2003 | Ichida et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 2001/-267000 | Sep., 2001 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Luebke; Renee
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
Claims
1. A waterproof connector comprising:
a female housing having a plurality of cavities accommodating a plurality of
female terminals;
a male housing, to connect to the female housing, having a plurality of male
terminals and sealing projections each projecting from a front surface of the male
housing, wherein one of the sealing projections extends about each of the male
terminals, each said sealing projection having an outer peripheral wall extending
generally parallel to a portion of the male terminal about which the sealing projection
extends;
a sealing member positioned along a front surface of the female housing and having
interior surfaces that define through-holes formed in positions that substantially
correspond to the positions of the cavities of the female housing, wherein said
interior surfaces of said sealing member include portions that each sealingly contacts
the outer peripheral wall of a respective one of the sealing projections and forms
a waterproof seal therewith when the male and female housings are fit together;
and
a holder that connects to the female housing to hold the sealing member to the
front surface of the female housing.
2. A waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is
formed integrally with the holder by two-color molding.
3. A waterproof connector according to claim 1, in which the holder includes
a locking piece that attaches to a complementary locking structure on the female
housing to secure the sealing member to the front surface of the female housing.
4. A waterproof connector according to claim 3 wherein the locking piece is a
rearwardly extending, cantilever member that biases outward to attach to the locking structure.
5. A waterproof connector according to claim 4 further including a plurality
of said locking pieces and said locking structures, wherein one locking projection
extends from each side of the holder and attaches to one of the locking structures.
6. A waterproof connector according to claim 5 wherein one of the locking pieces
is longer than at least one other of the locking pieces.
7. A waterproof connector according to claim 1 in which one of the male and female
housings includes a locking arm and the other of the male and female housings includes
a locking member, wherein the locking arm is locked to the locking member when
the male and female housings are fit together.
8. A waterproof connector according to claim 1 in which each of the through-holes
of the sealing member includes a lip to contact the periphery of one of the sealing
projections when the male and female housings are fit together.
9. A waterproof connector according to claim 1 wherein the front surface of the
female housing includes a rib that engages the sealing member when the sealing
member is positioned along the front surface of the female housing.
10. A waterproof connector according to claim 9 wherein the rib has a lattice
configuration to separately surround each of the cavities.
11. A waterproof connector according to claim 9 wherein the rib cuts into the
sealing member when the sealing member is positioned against the front surface
of the female housing.
12. A waterproof connector comprising:
a female housing having a plurality of cavities accommodating a plurality of
female terminals;
a male housing, to connect to the female housing, having a plurality of male
terminals and sealing projections each projecting from a front surface of the male
housing, wherein one of the sealing projections extends about each of the male
terminals;
a sealing member positioned along a front surface of the female housing and having
interior surfaces that define through-holes formed in positions that substantially
correspond to the positions of the cavities of the female housing, wherein said
interior surfaces of said sealing member include portions that each sealingly contacts
one of the sealing projections about the periphery thereof and forms a waterproof
seal therewith when the male and female housings are fit together; and
a holder that connects to the female housing to hold the sealing member to the
front surface of the female housing, wherein the holder includes a locking piece
that attaches to a complementary locking structure on the female housing to secure
the sealing member to the front surface of the female housing.
13. A waterproof connector according to claim 12 wherein the holder includes
a front portion that is positioned forward of the sealing member and a rear portion
that is positioned rearward and laterally outside of the sealing member, and wherein
the rear portion includes the locking piece.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A waterproof connector wherein the chamber containing the terminals is sealed
is
described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-267000. This waterproof connector
is described below with reference to FIG.
11. The waterproof connector has
a female housing
1 provided with a plurality of the cavities
1A for
accommodating female terminals
2. The male housing
3 is designed
for a printed-circuit board and includes a hood part
3A in which the female
housing
1 can be fitted. L-type male terminals
4 project from the
front end surface
3B into the hood part
3A. A mounting concavity
5 is formed around the projected portion of the male terminal
4 on
the front end surface
3B of the male housing
3. A sealing member
6 is mounted in the mounting concavity
5.
A press-fit groove
7 is formed around the opening
6A on the surface
of the sealing member
6. On the front end surface
1B of the female
housing
1, an annular rib
8 to be fitted in the press-fit groove
7 stands erect around the front opening of the cavity
1A.
When the female housing
1 is connected to the male housing
3,
the rib
8 of the female housing
1 is pressed into the press-fit groove
7 of the sealing member
6. Waterproofing of the chamber in female
housing
1 can be accomplished by close contact between the peripheral surface
of the rib
8 and that of the press-fit groove
7. Waterproofing of
the chamber in the male housing
3 can be accomplished by close contact between
the peripheral surface of the mounting concavity
5 and that of the opening
6A of the sealing member
6.
However, in the above-described construction, the sealing member
6
is mounted on the male housing
3. In mounting the sealing member
6
on the male housing
3, it is necessary to insert the sealing member
6
into the hood part
3A into which the male terminals
4 project and
fit the sealing member
6 in the mounting concavity
5. Thus, a connector
with this conventional construction has a problem in that it takes much time and
labor to perform the operation of mounting the sealing member
6 on the male
housing
3.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation.
Thus, objects of the present invention are to enable an easy mounting of a sealing
member on a female housing and provide a compact connector.
To achieve the objects, there is preferably provided a waterproof connector comprising
a female housing having a plurality of cavities accommodating a plurality of female
terminals, and a male housing to be connected to the female housing and having
a plurality of male terminals. The male terminals project from a front end surface
of the male housing to connect to the female terminals. In this construction, a
sealing member, having through-holes formed at positions to correspond to the cavities,
contacts a front end surface of the female housing. Each of the through-holes is
capable of contacting a peripheral surface of a projected portion of a corresponding
male terminal at the front end surface of the male housing.
Preferably, the sealing member is held on the front end surface of the
female housing by a holder mounted on the front end surface.
Preferably, the sealing member is formed integrally with the holder by
two-color molding.
According to the present invention, the through-hole of the sealing member
is closely fitted over the projected portion of the male terminal c when the female
housing is fitted to the male housing. The sealing member is sandwiched between
the front end surface of the female housing and that of the male housing. In the
male housing, the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole of the sealing member
closely contacts the peripheral surface of the sealing projection of the male terminal.
In the female housing, the contact surface of the sealing member closely contacts
(i.e., face contact) the front end surface of the female housing. In this way,
waterproofing of the connector is accomplished.
Since the sealing member is installed on the exposed front end surface of the
female housing, it is easy to install the sealing member into the connector.
In the sealing construction of the female housing, the sealing member makes face
contact with the front end surface of the female housing. Thus, unlike the conventional
case in which the inner peripheral surface of the sealing member contacts the peripheral
surface of the terminal, it is unnecessary to provide the sealing member separately
for each terminal or provide a space between adjacent terminals to insert a rib
therebetween. Accordingly, it is possible to make the interval between the adjacent
terminals short and to make the connector compact.
If there is a difference between the interval between the male terminals and
that
between the female terminals, the sealing member is capable of absorbing the difference.
The sealing member slides on the front end surface of the female housing. In the
male housing, the sealing member accomplishes uniform sealing by the circumferential
close contact between the through-hole thereof and the sealing projection of the
male terminal. In the female housing, the sealing member accomplishes uniform sealing
by the close face contact between the contact surface thereof and the front end
surface of the female housing.
By mounting the holder on the front end surface of the female housing, the sealing
member is held on the front end surface with the sealing member in contact with
the front end surface.
The sealing member is preferably formed integrally with the holder by two-color
molding. In this way, the number of component parts can be reduced and the mounting
operation can be performed easily.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a state before a male housing and a
female housing of a connector are fitted together according to an embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing the male housing.
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state before a holder is mounted on
the female housing.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the state before the holder is mounted on the
female housing.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing a female housing.
FIG. 6 is a front view showing a holder.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which the male housing and the female
housing have been fitted together.
FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing the state in which the male housing
and the female housing have been fitted together.
FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a concept drawing showing a state before
the male housing and the female housing have been fitted together to indicate the
concept of the embodiment.
FIG. 10A is a side sectional view of a concept drawing showing a state in which
the male housing and the female housing are fitted together.
FIG. 10B is an enlarged sectional view taken along a line 10B-10B
of FIG. 10A.
FIG. 11 is a side sectional view showing a conventional connector of the prior art.
FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of a concept drawing showing a state before
the male housing and the female housing are fitted together to indicate the concept
of the conventional connector of the prior art.
FIG. 13A is a side sectional view of a concept drawing showing a state in which
the male housing and the female housing of the prior art have been fitted together.
FIG. 13B is an enlarged sectional view taken along a line 13B-13B
of FIG. 13A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS.
1 through 10.
As shown in FIG. 1, the waterproof connector of the illustrated embodiment has
a male housing
10, a female housing
20, and a sealing member
50
to be mounted on the female housing
20. In the description below, the sides
of the male housing
10 and of the female housing
20 that connect
to the opposing housing are each considered as the front or forward side.
The male housing
10 is preferably of a substrate-installed type and made
of a synthetic resinous material. A hood part
12 projects from a front surface
of a body plate
11. A mounting plate
13 for a printed-circuit board
P is formed at a lower portion of a rear surface of the body plate
11. The
front surface of the body plate
11 serves as a front end surface
15
of the male housing
10.
L-shaped male terminals
16 are mounted inside the male housing
10
by insert molding. As shown in FIG. 2, the male terminals
16 are preferably
arranged in seven rows and three stages, with one end of each of them projecting
into the hood part
12 from the front end surface
15. A columnar sealing
projection
17 extends from the front end surface about a projected portion
of each of the male terminals
16.
The other end of each of the male terminals
16 projects rearward from
the rear surface of the body plate
11 and is bent downward. The mounting
plate
13 is mounted on the printed-circuit board P. The other end of each
of the male terminals
16 is soldered to a conductive path of the printed-circuit
board P. A locking projection or member
19 is formed on an upper surface
of the hood part
12 at a position near its front end.
The female housing
20 is also preferably made of a synthetic resinous
material. The front side of the female housing
20 is block-shaped so that
the front side thereof can be fit into the hood part
12 of the male housing
10. The front surface of the female housing
20 serves as a front
end surface
21.
As also shown in FIG. 5, cavities
22 are formed inside the female housing
20 in a front-to-back direction thereof at positions corresponding to those
of the male terminals
16 of the male housing
10. As also shown in
FIG. 3, a terminal insertion opening
23 is formed on the front end of each
cavity
22 to receive one of the male terminals
16 therethrough for
insertion into the female housing. A lance
24 is provided on the bottom
wall of each cavity
22. The lances can elastically deform in a space
25
disposed below the lances
24. The front side of space
25 is open
to form an insertion opening
26 into which an unlocking jig can be inserted.
As shown in FIG. 3, a mounting opening
28 open at the entrance of each
cavity
22 is formed at the rear side of the female housing
20. A
one-piece rubber plug
29 is fit into the mounting opening
28 and
held by a rubber plug-holding member
30.
Female terminals
32 fixed to terminals of electric wires W penetrate
through the one-piece rubber plug
29 and are inserted into the cavities
22 respectively from the rear thereof. As shown in FIG.
3, when the
female terminals
32 are inserted into the cavities
22 at a normal
position, the lances
24 elastically bead and lock them into place to prevent
removal of the female terminals
32. Through-holes
29A of the one-piece
rubber plug
29 contact and closely hold the peripheral surfaces of each
of the electric wires W. Accordingly, the entrance of each cavity
22 is closed.
A seesaw-shaped locking arm
34 that can be locked to the locking projection
19 of the male housing
10 is provided on the upper surface of the
female housing
20.
The chamber sealing member
50 is mounted on the front end surface
21
of the female housing
20.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, low ribs
35 are formed on the front end surface
21 of the female housing
20, in the shape of a lattice in such a
way that the ribs
35 surround the terminal insertion openings
23
and the jig insertion openings
26 of the cavities
22 respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, a holder
40 is mounted on the front end surface
21
of the female housing
20. Similarly to the female housing
20, the
holder
40 is preferably made of a hard resin such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate).
The holder
40 is cap-shaped to cover the front end portion of the female
housing
20.
As shown in FIG. 6, circular window holes
42 are formed on a front plate
41 of the holder
40, at positions corresponding to those of the cavities
22. The sealing projections
17 projecting forward from the front
end surface
15 of the male housing
10 can be inserted into the window
holes
42 respectively. The edge of each window hole
42 at its front
surface side is tapered to guide the sealing projections
17 as they are
inserted into their respective window holes
42.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, an elastically deformable, rearwardly extending cantilevered
locking piece
44 is formed on each of the upper, lower, right, and left
surfaces of the holder
40. The locking piece
44 formed on the upper
surface of the holder
40 is longer than the other three locking pieces
44
in the rearward direction. Complementing locking structures or projections
37
for elastically locking the locking pieces
44 thereto are formed on each
of the upper, lower, right, and left surfaces of the female housing
20.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a mounting concavity
46 is formed almost entirely
across a rear surface of the front plate
41 of the holder
40. A thick
plate-shaped sealing member
50 is mounted inside the mounting concavity
46. The sealing member
50 is preferably made of a hard resin (rubber)
such as silicone rubber and formed integrally with the holder
40 by two-color
molding. A rib
43 erect on the rear surface of the front plate
41
projects into the sealing member
50 to form a strong connection between
the front plate
41 and the sealing member
50.
Through-holes
51 are formed on the sealing member
50
at positions corresponding to those of the window holes
42 of the holder
40. One lip
52 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of each
through-hole
51. The inner diameter of the lip
52 is a little smaller
than the outside dimension of the sealing projection
17 of the front end
surface
15 of the male housing
10.
As shown in FIG. 3, the lip
52 at an upper stage is shifted rearward from
the lip
52 at a lower stage.
The operation of the embodiment will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 3, after the female terminals
32 are inserted into all
the cavities
22 and locked by the lances
24, the holder
40
is put on the front end portion of the female housing
20 in the direction
of arrow B. The holder
40 is pressed rearward, with the locking pieces
44
being elastically deformed outward by the respective locking projections
37.
When the holder
40 is pressed to a position where a contact surface
54
of the sealing member
50 is pressed against the front end surface
21
of the female housing
20, as shown in FIG. 1, the locking pieces
44
elastically return to their original state so as to be locked to the corresponding
locking projections
37. In this way, the holder
40 is mounted on
the female housing
20. The sealing member
50 is elastically pressed
against the front end surface
21 with the ribs
35 cutting into the
contact surface
54.
When the holder
40 and the sealing member
50 have been mounted
on the female housing
20, the female housing
20 is fit into the hood
part
12 of the male housing
10 in the direction of arrow A (FIG.
1). As the coupling operation proceeds, the locking arm
34 elastically
deforms and rides over the locking projection
19. The front end of each
male terminal
16 penetrates into its corresponding cavity
22 from
the terminal insertion opening
23 through the window hole
42 of the
holder
40 and the through-hole
51 of the sealing member
50
to connect to a connection portion
33 of the female terminal
32 accommodated
in the cavity
22. At the same time, the sealing projection
17 penetrates
into the through-hole
51 of the sealing member
50 through the window
hole
42 of the holder
40, with the sealing projection
17 breaking
the lip
52 formed on the through-hole
51 so as to be placed in sealing contact.
When the front plate
41 of the holder
40 is pressed to a normal
position where the front plate
41 reaches the front end surface
15
of the male housing
10, as shown in FIG. 8, the locking arm
34 elastically
returns to its original state and is locked to the locking projection
19.
In this way, the male housing
10 and the female housing
20 are locked
to each other in a normal connected state. At this time, the male terminals
16
and their corresponding female terminals
32 are connected to each other
normally. Further, the front side of the sealing projections
17 are fit
into the through-holes
51 of the sealing member
50 over the whole lengths.
In the male housing
10, the inner peripheral surfaces of the through-holes
51 of the sealing member
50 closely contact the peripheral surfaces
of the sealing projections
17, with the sealing projections
17 breaking
(i.e., folding) the lips
52. In the female housing
20, the contact
surface
54 of the sealing member
50 is pressed against the front
end surface
21 of the female housing
20, with the rib
35 of
the front end surface
21 cutting into the contact surface
54. In
this way, waterproofing in the chamber of the housing is accomplished.
By using concept views, the effect of the embodiment is described below in comparison
with the conventional connectors of the prior art. The concept of the above-described
embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The concept of the conventional
art is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.
The construction of the embodiment and that of the conventional art are briefly
described from a conceptual standpoint below. In a conventional construction, the
annular portion
6B of the sealing member
6 is fit onto the projected
portion
3C of the male terminal
4 on the front end surface
3B
of male housing
3. As a result, the male housing
3 is sealed from
water. On the front end surface
1B of the female housing
1, the rib
8 is erect around the front opening of the cavity
1A and fit onto
the peripheral surface of the annular portion
6B of the sealing member
6.
In this way, the female housing
1 is sealed from water.
On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the through-hole
51 of the sealing member
50 is fit onto the projected portion (sealing
projection
17) of the male terminal at the front end surface
15 so
that the male housing
10 is sealed to prohibit the ingresswater. The contact
surface
54 of the sealing member
50 contacts (face contact) the front
end surface
21 (rib
35) of the female housing
20. Accordingly,
the female housing
20 is sealed to protect the see page of water into the housing.
In the conventional sealing construction of the female housing, the inner peripheral
surface of the sealing member
6 (particularly, annular portion
6B)
closely contacts the peripheral surface of the projected portion
3C of the
male terminal
4. Thus, as shown in FIG. 13B, it is necessary to provide
a sealing member
6 separately for each projected position of the male terminal
4, and to provide a space S between the adjacent male terminals
4
for the insertion of the rib
8 therebetween.
On the other hand, in the sealing construction of the female housing of the preferred
embodiment of the invention, the sealing member
50 makes face contact with
the front end surface of the female housing. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10B, it is
unnecessary to form the rib insertion space. As a result, it is possible to make
the interval between the adjacent terminal fittings
16 short, and to make
the connector compact.
For example, let it be supposed that the intervals between the male terminals
and between the female terminals are different from each other. In the conventional
construction, the rib
8 fits on the peripheral surface of the annular portion
6B of the sealing member
6, and thus prevents radial movement of
the sealing member
6. Therefore, in this example, referring to FIG. 13B,
the annular portion
6B is compressed to a high degree along one side (shown
with reference numeral
6R) thereof, whereas the annular portion
6B
is compressed to a low degree along the other side (shown with reference numeral
6L) thereof. Therefore the female housing
1 and the male housing
3 are non-uniformly sealed from water.
On the other hand, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the sealing
member
50 contacts (i.e., with face contact) the front end surface
21 of
the female housing
20. Thus, if there is a difference in the intervals between
the male terminals and between the female terminals, the sealing member
50
is capable of absorbing the difference, with the sealing member
50 sliding
on the front end surface
21 of the female housing
20. That is, in
the male housing
10, the sealing member
50 accomplishes uniform sealing
by the circumferential close contact between the through-hole
51 thereof
and the sealing projection
17 of the male terminal
16. In the female
housing
20, the sealing member
50 accomplishes uniform sealing by
the close face contact between the contact surface thereof and the front end surface
of the female housing
20.
Further, since the sealing member
50 is installed on the exposed
front end surface of the female housing
20 in the preferred embodiment,
it is easy to perform the sealing member-installing operation.
Furthermore the sealing member
50 is held securely by the holder
40 and formed integrally with the holder
40 by two-color molding.
Therefore the number of component parts can be reduced and the mounting operation
can be performed easily.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described with reference
to the drawings, but the following embodiments are included in the technical scope
of the present invention. The present invention can be embodied by making various
modifications if they do not depart from the gist of the present invention.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the sealing member is formed integrally
with the holder. However, the sealing member may be formed separately from the holder.
(2) In the case where the sealing member is formed separately from the holder,
the sealing member may be directly held on the front end surface of the female
housing without using the holder.
(3) The male housing may have cavities into which male terminals are inserted.
*
