Electrical connectors – With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision – Grounding to conductive sheath of cable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-17
2003-07-22
Feild, Lynn D. (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision
Grounding to conductive sheath of cable
C439S607070, C174S068300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06595789
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a structure and a method for connecting a shield cable, in which a plurality of wires are covered with a shield lacing, to an electronic unit installed in the vehicle.
Further, the present invention relates to a structure and a method for connecting a plurality of wires to an electronic unit installed in the vehicle in the waterproof condition.
2. Related Art
If the wires must be shielded from other circuits in the situation that the cable is connected electrically to the electronic unit (e.g., the control box of the electric motor) installed in the vehicle, the shield cable is employed as the cable. As the shield cable, the cable in which respective wires are covered with the flexible shield lacing (e.g., copper lacing) is often employed. An example of the method of connecting such shield cable to the electronic unit in the prior art will be explained with reference to FIG.
9
and
FIG. 10
hereunder.
1) As shown in
FIG. 9
, end portions of respective wire
12
are exposed by removing an end portion of the shield lacing
10
by a length L.
2) As shown in
FIG. 10
, the internal conductors
13
are exposed by stripping off the coating from the end portions of respective wire
12
, and then the cylindrical waterproof plugs
14
made of rubber, etc. are fitted at the position located at the back of the exposed portions from the outside. This waterproof plug
14
consists integrally of the press-fitting portion
14
a
with the small diameter, the main body
14
b
with the large diameter, and the flange portion
14
c
with the larger diameter in sequence from the top end side.
3) The terminal tools
16
are fixed to the end portions of respective wires
12
. As this terminal tool
16
, as shown in
FIG. 10
, the tool having the ring-like top end portion having the through hole therein, the conductor barrel portion
16
b
formed on the rear side of the top end portion, and the insulation barrel portion
16
c
formed on the rear side of the barrel portion is employed. The conductor barrel portion
14
b
is press-fitted around the internal conductor
13
, and the insulation barrel portion
16
c
is press-fitted around the press-fitting portion
14
a
of the waterproof plug
14
. Also, as shown in
FIG. 9
, the ring-like terminal tools
16
′ is connected/fixed to the end portion of the drain line
15
that is connected to the shield lacing.
4) As shown in
FIG. 9
, the end portions of respective wires
12
(i.e., the terminal tools
16
) are passed through the cylindrical through hole portions
19
provided to the unit housing
18
of the electronic unit, and then the waterproof plugs
14
are press-fitted into the through hole portions
19
, whereby the waterproof structure is formed.
5) The terminal tools
16
of respective wires
12
that enter into the unit housing
18
via the through hole portions
19
are connected to the electronic circuit (not shown) housed in the unit housing
18
.
6) The vis
22
is passed through the terminal tool
16
′ that is fixed to the end portion of the drain line
15
, and then this vis
22
is screwed into the screwed hole
20
provided to the outer surface of the unit housing
18
, whereby the terminal tool
16
′ is brought into contact with the outer surface of the unit housing
18
and fixed thereto. As a result, the shield lacing
10
can be brought into the state that it can be grounded via the drain line
15
, the terminal tool
16
′, and the outer surface of the unit housing
18
.
In the prior art, as the structure for connecting the cable consisting of a plurality of wires to the electronic unit (e.g., the control box of the electric motor) installed in the vehicle in the waterproof condition, the structures shown in FIG.
19
and
FIG. 10
are known. The connecting procedures will be given as follows.
1) As shown in
FIG. 19
, in the shield cable covered with the metal shield lacing
110
having the conductivity, the end portions of respective wires
12
are exposed by removing the end portion of the shield lacing
10
by a length L.
2) As shown in
FIG. 10
, the internal conductors
13
are exposed by stripping off the coating of the end portions of respective wires
12
, and then the cylindrical waterproof plugs
14
made of rubber, or the like are fitted from the outside at the position adjacent directly to the rear side of the exposed conductors
13
. This waterproof plug
14
consists integrally of the press-fitting portion
14
a
with the small-diameter, the main body portion
14
b
with the large-diameter, and the flange portion
14
c
with the larger-diameter from its top end side.
3) The terminal tools
16
are fixed to the end portions of respective wires
12
. As this terminal tool
16
, as shown in
FIG. 10
, such a tool that has the ring-like top end portion in which the through hole is opened, the conductor barrel portion
16
b
formed at the rear side of the top end portion, and the insulation barrel portion
16
c
formed at the rear side of the barrel portion
16
b
is employed. The conductor barrel portion
16
b
is fitted around the internal conductor
13
by the compression, and also the insulation barrel portion
16
c
is fitted around the press-fitting portion
14
a
of the waterproof plug
14
. Also, as shown in
FIG. 19
, the ring-like terminal tool
16
is connected to the end portion of the drain line
115
connected to the shield lacing
110
, and then fixed thereto.
4) As shown in
FIG. 19
, the end portions of respective wires
12
(i.e., terminal tools
16
) are passed through the cylindrical through holes
119
that are provided to the unit housing
118
of the electronic unit, and then the waterproof plugs
14
are press-fitted into the through holes
119
, whereby the waterproof structure is constructed into the unit housing
118
via the through holes
119
are connected to the electronic circuit (not shown) housed in the unit housing
118
.
6) The vis
122
is passed through the terminal tool
16
′ fixed to the end portion of the drain line
15
and then screwed into the screwed hole
120
provided on the outer surface of the unit housing
118
. Thus, the terminal tool
16
′ is brought into contact with the outer surface of the unit housing
118
and fixed thereto. As a result, the shield lacing
110
can be grounded via the drain line
15
, the terminal tool
16
′, and the outer surface of the unit housing
118
.
Problems to be Solved
In the above structure and method, when the terminal tools
16
are fixed to the end portions of respective wires
12
, the end portion of the shield lacing
10
must be removed by the length L in order to expose the end portions of the wires. Therefore, respective wires
12
are not covered with the shield lacing
10
and exposed to the outside in this area of length L, and thus the shielding performance is lowered by such length. Also, in order to ground the shield lacing
10
, operations for fixing the grounding terminal tool
16
′ to the end portion of the drain line
15
separately from the terminal tools
16
and then fixing the terminal tool
16
′ to the outer surface of the unit housing
18
are needed. Such operations are troublesome and also the connection structure becomes complicated.
Further, in the above structure and method, the operation for press-fitting the waterproof plugs
14
fitted to respective wires
12
into the through holes
119
must be carried out wire by wire. In addition, in order to prevent the waterproof plugs
14
from coming off from the through holes
119
, the fixing operation must be applied separately after the press-fitting, so that the working efficiency is degraded and also the structure tends to become complicated. Further, the development of the waterproof connector is forwarded as the means for simplifying the above connecting operation. However, often such connector is complicated in structure to cause a higher cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in light of such circums
Hirai Hiroki
Kumazawa Yoshihiro
Oota Kouji
Sakai Shigeki
Autonetworks Technologies Ltd.
Feild Lynn D.
Hyeon Hae Moon
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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