JP2015015158A - Shield connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a downsized shield connector.SOLUTION: A shield connector 1 has a terminal metal fitting, a cylindrical housing 2 which accommodates the terminal metal fitting, and a shield member 3 provided between the terminal metal fitting and the housing. The shield member has a sheet metal to which bending machining is performed in which a fixing section 31 is provided on both ends to be formed in a cylindrical shape by being fixed by the fixing section. The fixing section is projected from the internal circumference side of the shield member and provided in the state where the shield member is formed in a cylindrical shape.

Description

  The present invention relates to a shield connector including a terminal fitting, a cylindrical housing that accommodates the terminal fitting, and a shield member provided between the terminal fitting and the housing.

  A wide variety of electronic devices are mounted on automobiles as moving bodies. A wire harness is used to transmit electric power and control signals to the electronic device. The wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires and a connector attached to the end of the electric wires.

  For example, high voltage power is supplied to a motor for traveling in the above-described automobile, for example, in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle. There has been a problem that electrical noise leaks to the outside, or electrical noise flows from the electric wire or the terminal fitting into another electric wire or another terminal fitting.

  As a technique for solving such a problem, for example, a shield connector as shown in FIG. 6 is disclosed (see Patent Document 1). The female connector 101 as a shield connector includes a female housing 130, three female terminals (not shown) that are crimped to the ends of the shielded wires and accommodated in the female housing 130, and a metal shell 150. It is configured.

  The female housing 130 is made of synthetic resin, and includes an inner housing 131 and an outer housing 132. In the inner housing 131, three cavities (not shown) are formed side by side in the horizontal direction (arrow Y direction). In each cavity, a female terminal fixed to the end of the shielded electric wire is inserted to be prevented from being detached.

  The outer housing 132 is formed to be slightly larger and longer than the inner housing 131. The inner housing 131 is configured such that a metal shell 150 is fitted to the outer periphery thereof, and a horizontally long metal shell is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the inner housing 131 and the inner peripheral surface of the outer housing 132. 150 insertion spaces 130A are formed.

  The metal shell 150 includes two divided shells 151 that are divided into two in the same shape, and each divided shell 151 is bent into a shallow channel shape. In each divided shell 151, a pair of front and rear insertion pieces 152 project from one of the left and right side plates, and a pair of front and rear insertion portions 153 are formed by knocking out from the other side plate. And the metal shell 150 which makes flat rectangular tube shape is formed by inserting and crimping the insertion piece 152 in the corresponding to-be-inserted part 153. FIG.

JP 2004-158376 A

  However, in the female connector 101 as the conventional shield connector described above, the insertion piece 152 and the inserted portion 153 protrude from the outer peripheral surface in a state where the metal shell 150 is assembled as shown in FIG. It was provided. For this reason, the size of the insertion space 130A provided between the outer peripheral surface of the inner housing 131 and the inner peripheral surface of the outer housing 132 is inserted into the insertion piece 152 and the inserted portion 153. Therefore, there is a problem that the female housing 130, that is, the female connector 101 is enlarged in the protruding direction.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a shield connector that is miniaturized.

  The present invention according to claim 1 is a shield connector comprising a terminal fitting, a cylindrical housing that accommodates the terminal fitting, and a shield member provided between the terminal fitting and the housing. The shield member is formed into a cylindrical shape by bending a sheet metal provided with fixing portions at both ends, and is fixed by the fixing portion, and the shield member is formed in a cylindrical shape. The shield connector is characterized in that the fixed portion is provided so as to protrude from the inner peripheral surface of the shield member.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the shield connector according to the first aspect, wherein the housing accommodates the terminal fitting and has a cylindrical inner housing in which the shield member is fitted on an outer peripheral surface. And an outer housing that accommodates the inner housing, wherein the inner housing is formed with a groove for accommodating the fixing portion extending in the axial direction of the inner housing. And

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the shielded connector according to the first or second aspect, the inner housing is provided with at least two or more terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the terminal fittings. The concave groove is provided between the terminal accommodating chambers.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the fixing member is provided so as to protrude from the inner peripheral surface of the shield member in a state where the shield member is formed in a cylindrical shape, The piece and the inserted portion do not protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the shield member. That is, since the fixed portion does not protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the shield member in a state where the shield member is provided between the terminal fitting and the housing, the size of the shield connector is reduced by the dimension along the protruding direction of the fixed portion. Can be achieved.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the housing includes a terminal metal fitting, and a cylindrical inner housing in which a shield member is fitted on the outer peripheral surface, and an outer housing that accommodates the inner housing. In the inner housing, a concave groove for accommodating the fixing portion is formed extending in the axial direction of the inner housing. Therefore, the fixed part is accommodated in the concave groove with the shield member fitted to the inner housing, and the shield connector can be reliably reduced in size by the dimension along the protruding direction of the fixed part. You can plan.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the inner housing is provided with at least two or more terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the terminal fittings, and the concave groove is provided between the terminal accommodating chambers. The concave groove is formed at a position farthest from the terminal accommodating chamber, and the concave groove can be formed without impairing the strength of the inner housing.

It is a top view which shows the shield connector concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which expands and shows the principal part of the shield connector shown by FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shield connector shown in FIG. 1. (A) is a perspective view which shows the shield member which comprises the shield connector shown by FIG. 1, (B) is a top view of (A). FIG. 5 is a development view of the shield member shown in FIG. 4. It is a top view which shows the conventional shield connector.

  A shield connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The shield connector constitutes a wire harness that is routed in an automobile, etc., and is connected to the terminal of a shielded wire that constitutes the wire harness and transmits a control signal, etc. It is used to remove electrical noise that leaks to the outside, or electrical noise that flows from the outside to the electric wires and terminal fittings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a male connector 1 serving as a shield connector includes a pair of male terminals (terminal fittings) (not shown), a rectangular tubular male housing 2 (housing) that accommodates the pair of male terminals, And a shield member 3 provided between the male terminal and the male housing 2. The pair of male terminals are held by an inner housing 4 (to be described later) of the male housing 2 at a distance from each other. Each male terminal is formed in a rod shape, is connected to a female terminal fitting of a female connector (not shown), and the other end is connected to a terminal of a shielded electric wire (not shown).

  Here, in this specification, the axial direction of the male housing 2 is indicated by an arrow Z, the vertical direction in FIG. 1 of the male housing 2 orthogonal to the axial direction is indicated by an arrow Y, and the arrow Z and the arrow Y The left-right direction orthogonal to both directions is indicated by an arrow X. Further, the arrow Z direction may be referred to as the front-rear direction. Also, of the front and rear directions, the fitting surface side (the front side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1, the lower right side in FIG. 3) is referred to as “front”, and the rear side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3 may be described as “rear”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the male housing 2 includes a cylindrical inner housing 4 having a pair of terminal accommodating chambers 40 for accommodating a pair of male terminals, an outer housing 5 covering the outer periphery of the inner housing 4, and Are integrally provided. The inner housing 4 is supported in a suspended state inside the outer housing 5 via a connecting rib 6 that connects the inner housing 4 and the outer housing 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the inner housing 4 is provided on the outer peripheral surface between a flat lower surface 4a, a flat upper surface 4b provided at a position facing the lower surface 4a, and the lower surface 4a and the upper surface 4b. Flat left and right surfaces 4c and 4d. Further, the inner housing 4 includes a pair of terminal accommodating chambers 40 for accommodating a pair of male terminals, a concave groove 41 for accommodating a fixing portion 31 for maintaining the cylindrical shape of the shield member 3, and an inner housing. 4 is provided with a locking recess 42 for locking the shield member 3 that is externally fitted to 4. The pair of terminal accommodating chambers 40 are provided at substantially equal intervals in the left-right direction (arrow X direction) from the center of the inner housing 4 in the vertical and horizontal directions (arrow YX direction). It is provided at substantially equal intervals from both ends in the direction. Each terminal accommodating chamber 40 is configured to have a circular inner peripheral surface and is formed so as to penetrate the inner housing 4 in the front-rear direction (arrow Z direction).

  The concave groove 41 is provided at the center in the left-right direction (arrow X direction) of the lower surface 4a of the outer peripheral surface of the inner housing 4, and is formed by notching the rear end of the lower surface 4a and extending forward. ing. More specifically, the concave groove 41 is provided at the center of the lower surface 4 a of the inner housing 4, that is, between the terminal accommodating chambers 40. In the inner housing 4, the concave groove 41 is formed at the terminal accommodating chamber 40. It is provided at a position farthest from the center. By providing the groove 41 at such a position, the groove 41 can be formed without impairing the strength of the inner housing 4.

  Further, the front end of the concave groove 41 is the rear end of the inner housing 4 by the same dimension as the dimension from the rear end of the shield member 3 to the position where the fixing portion 31 is formed in the front-rear direction (arrow Z direction). It is provided in the position away from. As shown in FIG. 2, the concave groove 41 is formed so that its depth dimension is slightly deeper than the protruding dimension L of the fixing portion 31 of the shield member 3. A total of six locking recesses 42 are provided at the rear end portions of the upper and lower surfaces 4a and 4b of the inner housing 4, and one at each of the front end portions of the left and right surfaces 4c and 4d. It has been.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer housing 5 is continuous with the housing main body 50 provided from the rear end of the inner housing 4 to the central portion in the front-rear direction of the inner housing 4, and the front end of the housing main body 50. A hood portion 51 that is formed to project forward from the front end of the inner housing 4 and that guides and inserts a mating connector (female connector) (not shown). The hood portion 51 is formed to have a larger diameter than the housing body 50.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the connecting rib 6 is continuous with the outer peripheral surface of the inner housing 4 and the inner peripheral surface of the housing body 50, and is provided integrally with the inner housing 4 and the outer housing 5. Two connecting ribs 6 are provided on the lower surface 4a and the upper surface 4b of the inner housing 4 at intervals in the left-right direction (arrow X direction). The two connecting ribs 6 provided on the lower surface 4 a of the inner housing 4 are provided on both sides of the concave groove 41 in the left-right direction.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the shield member 3 is configured to be externally fitted to the inner housing 4, and is formed in a rectangular tube shape that is formed to have substantially the same overall length as the inner housing 4. The shield member 3 is obtained by punching and bending a rectangular sheet metal, and is formed in a cylindrical shape by being fixed by a fixing portion 31.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the shield member 3 has a rectangular tube shape when the boundary portions of the five rectangular side plates 3 </ b> A to 3 </ b> E arranged in the left-right direction (arrow X direction) are bent at substantially right angles in the unfolded state. It is formed. Of these five side plates 3 </ b> A to 3 </ b> E, the two side plates 3 </ b> A and 3 </ b> E positioned at both ends in the left-right direction constitute the lower surface 3 a of the shield member 3. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, of these two side plates 3A and 3E, the side plate 3E is provided with an insertion piece 32 and a part of the edge of the side plate 3E extending in the left-right direction. In 3A, an insertion receiving portion 33 formed in a frame shape for inserting the insertion piece 32 is formed by being punched from the side plate 3A. The shield member 3 is formed by being bent so that the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33 are positioned on the inner peripheral surface in a state of being formed in a rectangular tube shape. Here, the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33 constitute a fixing portion 31. As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing portion 31 is provided at a position spaced from the front end of the shield member 3 and more than the rear end of a locking claw 35 (described later) formed on the shield member 3. Furthermore, it is provided in the back. Thus, the shield member 3 is formed in a rectangular tube shape, and the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33 are provided so as not to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the shield member 3.

  Further, the shield member 3 has a slit 34 through which the connecting rib 6 is inserted, a locking claw 35 locked to the locking recess 42 of the inner housing 4, and a position for aligning the shield member 3 with the inner housing 4. Positioning piece 36 is provided. Two slits 34 are formed on each of the lower surface 3a and the upper surface of the shield member 3 (the upper surface of the side plate 3C). Each slit 34 is formed by cutting out the front end of the shield member 3 at one end and extending rearward at the other end. One locking claw 35 is formed on each of the lower surface 3a, the upper surface (side plate 3C) and the left and right surfaces (outer surfaces of the side plates 3B and 3D) of the shield member 3. Each locking claw 35 is formed on both sides in the left-right direction (arrow X direction) so as to extend in the front-rear direction (arrow Z direction), and a slit is formed by cutting out the end of the shield member 3. Thus, it is formed elastically deformable in the vertical direction (arrow Y direction), that is, inside the shield member 3. Locking claws 35 formed on the lower surface 3a and the upper surface (side plate 3C) of the shield member 3 are provided at the rear end of the shield member 3, and are formed on the left and right surfaces of the shield member 3 (outer surfaces of the side plates 3B and 3D). The formed locking claw 35 is provided at the front end of the shield member 3. One positioning piece 36 is provided at each of the center portions in the front-rear direction (arrow Z direction) of the side plates 3B and 3D. Each positioning piece 36 is formed so as to be elastically deformable in the left-right direction (arrow X direction), that is, inside the shield member 3 by cutting out a part of the side plates 3B, 3D in a U-shape. Here, FIG. 4A shows a state in which each positioning piece 36 is bent (elastically deformed) inside the shield member 3, and FIG. 4B shows that each locking claw 35 is a shield member. 3 shows a state of being bent inside (elastically deformed).

  Next, the procedure for manufacturing the shield member 3 will be described with reference to FIG. First, a sheet metal having conductivity is punched to form a substrate 3 ′ having slits 34, locking claws 35, positioning pieces 36, and insertion pieces 32. The substrate 3 'is composed of five side plates 3A to 3E arranged in the left-right direction (arrow X direction). Of the five side plates 3 </ b> A to 3 </ b> E, the side plate 3 </ b> A located at both ends in the left-right direction is pressed to form the insertion receiving portion 33. Next, the boundary portions of the five side plates 3A to 3E are bent at a substantially right angle so that the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33 are positioned inside. Then, the edges of the side plates 3A and 3E located at both ends in the left-right direction overlap each other. The insertion piece 32 is inserted into the insertion receiving portion 33 and crimped in this state to fix the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33. Each positioning piece 36 is bent inward. In this way, the shield member 3 in the state shown in FIG.

  Next, a procedure for fitting the shield member 3 to the male housing 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The male housing 2 including the inner housing 4, the outer housing 5, and the connecting rib 6 is manufactured in advance. The shield member 3 is disposed between the housing body 50 of the outer housing 5 and the inner housing 4 so that the front end of the shield member 3 is brought close to the rear end of the male housing 2 and the connecting rib 6 is brought close to the slit 34 of the shield member 3. 3 is inserted. Here, the pair of positioning pieces 36 are elastically deformed to position the shield member 3 in the left-right direction (arrow X direction) of the inner housing 4. The connecting rib 6 is inserted into the slit 34 of the shield member 3. The locking claw 35 is bent inside the shield member 3 to be locked in the locking recess 42 of the inner housing 4. Thus, the shield member 3 in the state shown in FIG. 4B is assembled, and the shield member 3 is externally fitted to the male housing 2.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the fixing member 31 is provided so as to protrude from the inner peripheral surface of the shield member 3 in a state where the shield member 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape. In the state of being provided with the side housing 2 (housing), the fixed portion 31 does not protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the shield member 3, and the vertical direction (by the dimension L along the protruding direction of the fixed portion 31 ( In the arrow Y direction, the male connector 1 (shield connector) can be reduced in size.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shield member 3 is formed by bending a single sheet metal, but the present invention is not limited to this. The shield member 3 may be composed of, for example, two members (two sheets of metal) that are divided into two parts so as to be vertically assembled and assembled, and is composed of two members that are divided into two parts so as to be separately assembled right and left. Also good. Further, two or more members (two or more sheet metals) may be assembled. Even in such a case, the fixing portion of the shield member composed of two or more members is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the shield member 3 in a state where the shield member 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape. That's fine.

  In the above-described embodiment, the fixing portion 31 includes the insertion piece 32 and the insertion receiving portion 33 formed in a frame shape for inserting the insertion piece 32. However, the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. The insertion receiving portion 33 may be composed of a pair of caulking pieces formed by cutting and raising a part of the side plate 3A. In this case, the cylindrical shape of the shield member 3 may be maintained by caulking the insertion piece 32 with a pair of caulking pieces. Moreover, the fixing | fixed part 31 may be heat-welded in the state which the both ends of two side plates 3A and 3E which comprise the lower surface 3a of the shield member 3 were bent inside vertically, and was piled up, for example. That is, the fixing portion 31 is for maintaining the cylindrical shape of the shield member 3, and the fixing portion 31 protrudes from the inner peripheral surface of the shield member 3 in a state where the shield member 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape. If provided, it may be fixed by a known method.

  In the above-described embodiment, the edges of the two side plates 3A and 3E constituting the lower surface 3a are overlapped in a state where the shield member 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape, but the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. Although the shielding performance is reduced, the two side plates 3A and 3E constituting the lower surface 3a may be separated in a state where the shield member 3 is formed in a cylindrical shape.

  Moreover, although the male side connector as a shield connector, the male terminal as a terminal metal fitting, and the male side housing 2 as a housing were demonstrated as an example in embodiment mentioned above, this invention is not limited to this. A female connector may be used as the shield connector, a female terminal as the terminal fitting, and a female housing as the housing.

  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.

1 Male connector (shield connector)
2 Male housing (housing)
3 Shield member 4 Inner housing 5 Outer housing 31 Fixed portion 41 Groove

Claims (3)

Terminal fittings,
A cylindrical housing that houses the terminal fitting;
A shield member provided between the terminal fitting and the housing, and a shield connector comprising:
The shield member is formed into a cylindrical shape by bending the sheet metal provided with fixing portions at both ends, and being fixed by the fixing portions,
The shield connector, wherein the fixing member is provided so as to protrude from an inner peripheral surface of the shield member in a state where the shield member is formed in a cylindrical shape. The housing includes the terminal fitting, and a cylindrical inner housing that fits the shield member on an outer peripheral surface, and an outer housing that accommodates the inner housing.
The shield connector according to claim 1, wherein a concave groove for accommodating the fixing portion is formed in the inner housing so as to extend in an axial direction of the inner housing. In the inner housing, at least two or more terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the terminal fittings are provided side by side,
The shield connector according to claim 2, wherein the concave groove is provided between the terminal accommodating chambers.

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