JPH0668931A - Waterproof connector and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a highly producible and reliable waterproof connector used for wire harness of an automobile or the like, which has excellent waterproof characteristics and excellent terminal positioning accuracy, and obtain the manufacturing method thereof. CONSTITUTION:A compound terminal element 2, in which conductors 5 are respectively connected to each conductor connecting part of arranged plural terminals 3 and the conductor connecting parts 7 are covered with an elastic body 8, is inserted into a cylindrical housing 1, and a locking projection 1b of the housing 1 and a bellow part 8a of the elastic body 8 are adhered to each other. A waterproof connector A is thereby formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connector used for wire harnesses of automobiles and the like and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional connector, in order to prevent rainwater from entering, as shown in FIG. 7, a rubber waterproof plug b is inserted into an electric wire a, and then a terminal c is connected to the housing d.
The method of inserting into
Issue). However, it is necessary to insert the waterproof plug b into each of a large number of electric wires connected to the connector, and it takes time to position the waterproof plug b, and it is difficult to inspect and correct the waterproof plug b. There is a drawback. For this reason, there are problems that it is difficult to adapt to the multi-pole and high-density of the connector which has been demanded in recent years as the electric circuit becomes complicated.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a waterproof connector having excellent waterproof property, good terminal position accuracy, and high productivity and reliability, and its manufacture. The challenge is to provide a method.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a conductor in which a conductor is connected to a conductor connecting portion of a plurality of terminals arranged at a predetermined interval in a cylindrical housing. A composite terminal body which is connected and whose conductor connecting portions of the plurality of terminals are covered with an elastic body is fitted, and the inner peripheral surface of the housing and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body are brought into close contact with each other. Characterize.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of terminals each having an electrical contact portion at one end and a conductor connecting portion at the other end are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and the terminals are electrically connected to each other. After being fixed with a synthetic resin, the conductors are connected to the conductor connecting portions of the terminals, and then the conductor connecting portions of the plurality of terminals are integrally molded with an elastic synthetic resin material to be covered with an elastic body. The composite terminal body is formed, and the composite terminal body is fitted into a tubular housing.

[0006]

According to the present invention, since the plurality of arranged terminals are covered with the elastic body, it is necessary to insert the waterproof plug for each electric wire as used in the conventional connector. Therefore, the workability of assembling to the housing is extremely simple. Further, since the plurality of terminals are fixed to each other with the elastic body, the positioning accuracy of the terminals is good, and the adhesion between the terminals and the housing is excellent, so that the waterproof performance and the reliability are improved.

[0007]

1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof connector A showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view. The waterproof connector A includes a cylindrical housing 1 and a plurality of terminals 3
(Three in FIG. 1) and the terminal composite body 2 formed by connecting the conductors 5 contained in the tape electric wire 4 to each other.

The cylindrical housing 1 is provided with an annular locking projection 1b on the inner wall 1a adjacent to one opening. The terminal composite 2 has a plurality of terminals 3 each having a tab-shaped electric contact portion 6 at one end and a conductor connecting portion 7 at the other end, arranged at a predetermined interval, and the tape electric wire 4 is provided at the conductor connecting portion 7. The conductors 5 inside are respectively connected, and the conductor connecting portions 7 of each terminal 3 are covered with the elastic body 8 so as to be covered.

The elastic body 8 is formed of rubber or synthetic resin having elasticity and waterproofness, and a waterproof bellows portion 8a is formed on the outer peripheral portion thereof so as to be in close contact with the locking projection 1b of the housing 1.
A lid-shaped terminal receiving portion 8 is provided at a joint portion of the terminal 3 with the electric contact portion 6.
b is provided. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal composite body 2 is fitted into the tubular housing 1 to form the housing 1.
Of the waterproof connector A by bringing the locking projection 1b of the above into close contact with the bellows portion 8a of the elastic body 8 and bringing the peripheral edge of the terminal receiving portion 8b of the elastic body 8 into contact with the inner wall 1a of the housing 1.
Is formed.

Next, an embodiment of a method of manufacturing the waterproof connector A will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal carrier 9
The terminals 3 connected to each other in a chain form are continuously supplied to the melt extrusion apparatus 10 for synthetic resin. In the melt extrusion device 10,
A heat-melted thermoplastic resin (for example, polypropylene resin) is supplied, and although not shown, the thermoplastic resin band 11 is directed from the discharge port toward the intermediate portion between the electric contact portion 6 and the conductor connecting portion 7 of the terminal 3. Is continuously discharged.

The discharged thermoplastic resin strip 11 is connected to each terminal 3
A plurality of terminals 3 are adhered at a predetermined interval P to a thermoplastic resin strip 11 formed into a narrow strip and bonded in parallel to each other to form a horizontal chain terminal 12 Is obtained. At this time, the connecting portion 9a between the terminal carrier 9 and the terminal 3 is cut by a cutter (not shown) to separate each terminal 3 from the terminal carrier 9. The distance P between the terminals 3 may be set to a desired inter-terminal pitch of the connectors.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The end 5a of the conductor 5 contained in the tape electric wire 4 is made to correspond to the conductor connecting portion 7 of each of the terminals 3, and the unnecessary terminal strip 8 is cut as shown in FIG. Part 7
The end 5a of the conductor 5 is placed on the caulking piece 7 of the conductor connecting portion 7.
By crimping a, the terminal 3 and the end 5a of the conductor 5 are crimped.

Next, the lateral chain terminal 12 to which the tape electric wire 4 is connected is housed in a mold (not shown) for integral molding, and an elastic material (for example, silicone rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, etc.) is used. By performing integral molding using the terminal composite body 2, the conductor connecting portion 2 of each terminal 3 is covered with the elastic body 8 as shown in FIG. As described above, the elastic body 8 has the bellows portion 8a for waterproofing formed on the outer peripheral portion thereof, and the lid-shaped terminal receiving portion 8b provided at the joint portion with the electric contact portion 6 of the terminal 3.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the terminal composite body 2 is fitted in the tubular housing 1 so that the locking projection 1b of the housing 1 and the bellows portion 8a of the elastic body 8 are brought into close contact with each other. To form the waterproof connector A.

[0015]

According to the present invention, since the plurality of arranged terminals are covered with the elastic body, the waterproof plug is inserted into each electric wire as used in the conventional connector. It is not necessary and the workability of assembling to the housing is extremely simple, which is suitable for multi-pole and high-density connector. Further, since the plurality of terminals are fixed to each other by the elastic body, the positioning accuracy of the terminals is good, and the adhesion between the terminals and the housing is excellent, so that the waterproof performance and the reliability are improved. Have advantages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof connector showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the waterproof connector of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a process of manufacturing the waterproof connector of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a step subsequent to that in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which a conductor is crimped to the horizontal chain terminal of FIG.

6 is a perspective view of a composite terminal body formed by coating a lateral chain terminal to which the conductor of FIG. 5 is crimped with an elastic body.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional waterproof connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A waterproof connector 1 housing 1a inner wall 1b locking projection 2 composite terminal body 3 terminal 5 conductor 6 electrical contact portion 7 conductor connection portion 8 elastic body 8a bellows portion

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tubular housing, to which conductors are respectively connected to conductor connecting portions of a plurality of terminals arranged at a predetermined interval, and the conductor connecting portions of the plurality of terminals are covered by an elastic body. The waterproof connector is characterized in that the coated composite terminal body is fitted and the inner peripheral surface of the housing and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body are brought into close contact with each other. 2. A plurality of terminals, each having an electric contact portion at one end and a conductor connecting portion at the other end, are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and the terminals are fixed to each other with a synthetic resin, and then the terminals are fixed to each other. After connecting the conductors to the conductor connecting portions of the terminals, the conductor connecting portions of the plurality of terminals are integrally molded with a synthetic resin material having elasticity to form a composite terminal body covered with an elastic body.
A method of manufacturing a waterproof connector, characterized in that the composite terminal body is fitted in a tubular housing.