JP2011029021A - Connector for apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure to protect terminals 20, 41 which are brought into a mutually-engaged state that a connector 10 for an apparatus and a waiting connector 40 are engaged with each other when the connector 10 for the apparatus receives a rotational force along the inner peripheral surface of a through-hole 51. <P>SOLUTION: In the connector 10 for the apparatus which integrally includes a columnar connector body 16 inserted in a through-hole 51 formed at a wall 53, and an engagement portion 17 engaged with the waiting connector 40 positioned at the insertion place of the connector body 16, an engagement surface where the engagement portion 17 is engaged with the waiting connector 40 is formed into a circumferential surface, and the center axis P2 of the engagement portion 17 is eccentrically disposed with respect to the center axis P1 of the connector body 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device connector attached to a device wall.

  Conventionally, for example, a relay connector described in Patent Document 1 is known as a device connector used in a vehicle. This relay connector is fitted into a through-hole formed in the case device wall and connected to a female standby connector disposed inside the case.

  The relay connector includes a housing body made of synthetic resin that is attached through a through hole formed in the case wall, a relay terminal that penetrates the housing body and is exposed on both sides of the housing body, and a housing body. And a hood portion that is provided integrally and surrounds both ends of the relay terminal. A mating connector is fitted to each hood, and the inside and outside of the case are electrically connected via a relay connector. The through hole has a circular shape, and the housing body also has a cylindrical shape corresponding to this, and is sealed between the through hole by an O-ring provided on the outer periphery thereof.

JP-A-9-161866

  By the way, in this kind of relay connector, if a waterproof structure is adopted even between the standby connector arranged in the device, the hood portion is also cylindrical, and the standby connector fitted in the hood portion is also O A ring will be placed. The central axis of the hood portion is generally arranged concentrically with the central axis of the housing body having a columnar shape.

  However, when the housing body and the hood portion are concentrically arranged as described above, the relay connector rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the through hole in a state where the relay connector is fitted to the standby connector inside the device. When a force is received, a force that prevents rotation with the standby connector does not act, so the terminal fittings that are in contact with each other may turn slightly while twisting.

  Since all the force to rotate the relay connector acts as a force for twisting the terminal fitting, the terminal fitting may be damaged when the rotational force is large. It should be noted that the situation where such rotational force is received is that the housing body is inserted into the through hole and fitted with the standby connector, and then the rotational position and orientation of the housing body is appropriately set to fix the housing body to bolts or the like. May occur before fixing to equipment.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a state in which the device connector is fitted with a standby connector located in the device, the device connector has a rotational force along the inner peripheral surface of the through hole. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device connector that can prevent a twisting force from acting on terminal fittings that are in contact with each other even when subjected to contact.

  The device connector according to the present invention is integrally provided with a columnar connector body that is inserted into a through-hole formed in a wall, and a fitting portion that is fitted to a standby connector located at an insertion destination of the connector body. A connector for a device, wherein the fitting surface of the fitting portion and the standby connector is a circumferential surface, the central axis of the fitting portion is relative to the central axis of the connector body It is arranged eccentrically.

  According to this configuration, since the central axis of the fitting portion and the central axis of the connector body are eccentric, the device connector is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the through hole in a state where the fitting portion is fitted to the standby connector. Even if a force to rotate along the direction is applied, the rotational force is received by the fitting portion with the standby connector, so that the device connector does not rotate and the force to twist the terminal fitting does not act.

It is preferable to include a relay fitting portion that is formed integrally with the connector main body and that is located on the opposite side of the fitting portion and to which another connector is connected.
According to this configuration, by providing the relay fitting portion on the opposite side of the fitting portion of the device connector, the device connector relays the standby connector and the other connector to transmit electrical information in both directions. I can tell you.

It is preferable that an O-ring for sealing is provided on a fitting surface of the connector main body with respect to the through hole and a fitting surface of the fitting portion with respect to the standby connector.
According to the said structure, infiltration of liquids, such as water, can be prevented by sealing the fitting surface with respect to the through-hole of a connector main body, and the fitting surface with respect to the standby connector of a fitting part by O-ring.

  According to the present invention, when the device connector is fitted with the standby connector, even when the device connector receives a rotational force along the inner peripheral surface of the through-hole, the device metal is twisted to the terminal fittings in contact with each other. The force can be prevented from acting.

Cross section before installing the relay connector Side view of relay connector Front view of relay connector Sectional view after installing the relay connector Top view of the relay connector in the installed state

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The relay connector 10 according to the present embodiment corresponding to the device connector is connected to the standby connector 40 disposed inside the differential case 50 through the wall 53 of the differential case 50 from the outside of the differential case 50, for example. 50.

  The differential case 50 is made of, for example, an aluminum alloy. As shown in FIG. 1, a circular through hole 51 that penetrates the inside and outside of the differential case 50 is formed in the wall portion 53.

  The standby connector 40 is provided inside the differential case 50, and is made of a synthetic resin that covers one metal male terminal 41 protruding toward the through hole 51 and a cylindrical shape around the tip of the male terminal 41. The male food part 42 is provided. Inside the differential case 50, a relay connector 10 described below is attached to be in a hermetically sealed state, and the inside is filled with oil.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the relay connector 10 has a metal bus bar 11 disposed therein and a connector body 16 manufactured by insert molding of synthetic resin. The connector body 16 has a cylindrical shape that can be inserted into the through hole 51 of the differential case 50, and has a cylindrical hood portion 13 that surrounds one end portion of the bus bar 11 on the right end side shown in FIG. On the left side, an elliptical flange portion 12 (see FIG. 3) is provided.

  The flange portion 12 is insert-molded together with a metal collar 15. A mounting bolt 14 is inserted into the collar 15, and the tip of the mounting bolt 14 is screwed into a screw hole 52 formed in the differential case 50 so that the relay connector 10 can be fixed to the differential case 50.

  An O-ring mounting groove 18 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the connector main body 16, and a connector main body-side O-ring 19 is fitted therein. When the connector main body 16 is inserted into the through hole 51 and fixed to the differential case 50, the connector main body side O-ring 19 comes into close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 51 and the outer peripheral surface of the through hole 51 and the connector main body 16. A liquid-tight seal between the two.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cylindrical fitting portion 17 is also extended from the end of the relay connector 10 opposite to the hood portion 13. The fitting portion 17 has an outer dimension that can be fitted with the standby connector 40, and an O-ring mounting groove 23 is formed on the outer peripheral surface, and an O-ring 24 is fitted therein. A cavity 21 extending in the axial direction is formed inside the fitting portion 17, and the end of the bus bar 11 is exposed in the cavity 21.

  A relay terminal 20 having a female terminal structure is attached to the end of the bus bar 11, one end is connected to the bus bar 11, and the other end faces the end face of the cavity 21. A retainer 22 is attached to the end surface portion of the fitting portion 17 so as to close the cavity 21, and the relay terminal 20 is prevented from coming off. The retainer 22 is formed with a terminal insertion port 25, and the male terminal 41 enters and is connected to the relay terminal 20 when the tip of the fitting portion 17 is fitted into the hood portion 42 of the standby connector 40. Is allowed.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the fitting portion 17 and the connector main body 16 are configured such that the central axis P <b> 2 of the fitting portion 17 is eccentric to the left from the central axis P <b> 1 of the connector main body 16. ing.

  In order to fix the relay connector 10 of this embodiment to the differential case 50, first, the connector body 16 is inserted into the through hole 51, and the fitting portion 17 is fitted into the hood portion 42 of the standby connector 40 in the differential case 50. However, the flange portion 12 is pushed in until it contacts the outer surface of the differential case 50. Then, the fitting part 17 is completely fitted in the hood part 42, and the central axis of the collar 15 of the flange part 12 and the central axis of the screw hole 52 formed in the differential case 50 are matched. Therefore, the relay connector 10 can be fixed to the differential case 50 by inserting the mounting bolts 14 into the collar 15 and the screw holes 52 and screwing them in that state.

  In the present embodiment, even before the relay connector 10 is fixed by the mounting bolt 14, the center axis P2 of the fitting portion 17 and the center axis P1 of the connector body 16 are in an eccentric relationship. Even if a force acts in the direction of rotation along the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 51, the relay connector 10 can rotate because the rotational force is received by the fitting portion between the fitting portion 17 and the hood portion 42. Absent. For this reason, the male terminal 41 and the relay terminal 20 are not forcibly twisted, and these terminals are not damaged.

  In the present embodiment, the shape of providing projections such as ribs and guides is not complicated, and the center axes P1 and P2 between the connector main body 16 and the fitting portion 17 are made eccentric so as to be rotated. Since the stop is performed, the cost is hardly increased for the detent.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, in the connection portion between the relay connector 10 and the standby connector 40, the relay connector 10 side is the female terminal and the standby connector 40 is the male terminal 41. However, the present invention is limited to such an aspect. It is not something. For example, the relay connector 10 side can be a male terminal and the standby connector 40 side can be a female terminal.

(2) In the above embodiment, the relay connector is used to connect the inside and outside of the differential case. However, the present invention is not limited to such a mode, and is surrounded by a partition and contains a liquid such as oil. It can be widely used as a connector for equipment attached to equipment.

(3) In the above embodiment, the example applied to the unipolar relay connector 10 has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and the device connector having two or more terminals is used. It can also be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Relay connector 13 ... Hood part 16 ... Connector main body 17 ... Fitting part 19 ... Connector main body side O-ring 24 ... O-ring 40 ... Standby connector 50 ... Differential case 51 ... Through-hole P1 ... Center axis P2 of connector main body ... Fitting Central axis of the part

Claims (3)

A device connector integrally including a cylindrical connector body inserted into a through-hole formed in a partition wall and a fitting portion fitted to a standby connector located at an insertion destination of the connector body, In the fitting surface of the fitting portion and the standby connector is a circumferential surface,
The device connector according to claim 1, wherein a central axis of the fitting portion is eccentrically arranged with respect to a central axis of the connector body.   The device connector according to claim 1, further comprising a relay fitting portion that is formed integrally with the connector main body and is located on the opposite side of the fitting portion and to which another connector is connected.   3. The device according to claim 1, wherein an O-ring for sealing is provided on a fitting surface of the connector main body with respect to the through hole and a fitting surface of the fitting portion with respect to the standby connector. connector.

Images