Electrical connectors – With sealing element or material for cooperation with...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-07
2001-02-27
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With sealing element or material for cooperation with...
C439S276000, C439S587000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06193536
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid-tight connector for connecting electrical wires together, and more particularly to a liquid-tight connector which is mounted in a through hole in a casing filled with a liquid, and connects electrical wires provided inside the casing and electrical wires provided outside the casing in a liquid-tight manner.
2. Prior Art
For example, in an automatic transmission of an automobile, electrical wires of a solenoid valve, various sensors and so on which are mounted inside a transmission casing so as to control the transmission device are connected to a control. unit provided outside the transmission casing, through a connector mounted in a through hole in the transmission casing.
However, the interior of the transmission casing is filled with oil for lubricating the transmission device. Therefore, the above connector must be designed to connect the electrical wires provided inside the transmission casing and electrical wires provided outside the transmission casing, in such a manner as to prevent the oil within the transmission casing from leaking to the exterior of this casing.
Therefore, there has heretofore been used a liquid-tight connector
1
as shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
. This liquid-tight connector
1
comprises a housing
3
of a synthetic resin for mounting on a transmission casing (not shown). And a connector
5
of a synthetic resin has a male connector portion
13
for fitting in a female connector portion
7
of the housing
3
.
The female connector portion
7
of the housing
3
includes an inner bottom wall
7
a
through which male metal terminals
9
extends, and a fitting peripheral wall
7
c
which extends from a peripheral edge portion of the inner bottom wall
7
a
in a direction of projecting of the metal terminals
9
and forms a fitting recess portion
7
b
into which the male connector portion
13
of the mating connector
5
can be fitted.
The connector
5
has female metal terminals
11
(for connection respectively to the metal terminals
9
) received and held respectively in terminal receiving chambers formed in the male connector portion
13
.
The other end portions (right end portions in
FIG. 6
) of the metal terminals
9
, provided in the housing
3
, extend through the inner bottom wall
7
a
of the female connector portion
7
into the interior of a transmission casing. And the other end portions are electrically connected respectively to connection terminals of electrical parts within the transmission casing.
The housing
3
is required to have a high sealing performance so that foreign matters will not intrude into the interior of the transmission casing and that working oil or the like within the transmission casing will not leak to the exterior.
Therefore, in the housing
3
, usually, the metal terminals
9
are insert molded in the female connector portion
7
to be integrally connected thereto, and in that side (surface) of the fitting recess portion of the inner bottom wall
7
a
, a filling material-pouring recess
7
d
is formed around a base portions of metal terminals projecting from said inner bottom wall of said fitting recess portion. A suitable amount of a filling material
15
, such as an epoxy resin, is poured into the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
, thereby perfectly sealing the metal terminal-passing portions of the female connector portion
7
.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the filling material
15
is poured into the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
in the housing
3
by the use of a nozzle
17
insertable into the fitting recess portion
7
b
. Generally, the fitting recess portion
7
b
in the housing
3
has a narrow open end, and therefore the nozzle
17
is inserted generally vertically into the fitting recess portion
7
b
, and then the filling material
15
is poured.
During the pouring of the filling material
15
by the nozzle
17
, the filling amount is confirmed through the open end of the fitting recess portion
7
b
with the eyes, and when the liquid level of the poured filling material
15
reaches the vicinity of the upper edge of the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
, the pouring of the filling material is stopped.
However, in the above conventional housing
3
, it is difficult to accurately confirm the displacement of the liquid level of the filling material
15
during the pouring of the filling material
15
by the nozzle
17
, and there were possibilities that the filling amount was so small that the sufficient sealing performance could not be achieved and that the filling amount was so large that the filling material
15
overflowed into the fitting recess portion
7
b.
In the case where the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
has a generally rectangular transverse cross-section as shown in
FIG. 7
, the filling material
15
poured into the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
vigorously flows along the vertical peripheral wall of the filling material-pouring recess
7
d
, and therefore the liquid level becomes slightly higher at corner portions X (where a surface tension of the filling material is higher than at the other portions) than at the other portions. Therefore, even if the amount of filling of the filling material
15
is proper, the liquid level projects an amount &Dgr;t beyond a pouring-limit line Z into the fitting. recess portion
7
b
at the corner portions X, as shown in FIG.
9
.
The filling material
15
, thus overflowed into the fitting recess portion
7
b
, is deposited on an inner surface of the fitting recess portion
7
b
, such as a bottom surface
7
e
thereof to be opposed to the front end surface of the male connector portion
13
, and when this filling material
15
is solidified, there is a possibility that the two connectors are not properly fitted together.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to solve the above problems and more specifically to provide a satisfactory liquid-tight connector in which the displacement of a liquid level of a filling material during the pouring of this filling material can be easily confirmed with the eyes, and an undesirable rise of the liquid level in a filling material-pouring recess is prevented, thereby preventing the incomplete fitting connection between two connectors.
The above object of the present invention has been achieved by a liquid-tight connector comprising:
a fitting recess portion for fitting on a mating male connector portion is formed in a female connector portion of a housing;
a filling material is filled in a filling material-pouring recess which is formed around a base portions of metal terminals projecting from said inner bottom wall of said fitting recess portion; and
a step portion, spreading outwardly toward an open end of said filling material-pouring recess, formed on a peripheral surface of said filling material-pouring recess.
In the above construction, when the filling material is poured into the filling material-pouring recess provided at the inner end of the fitting recess portion of the female connector portion, through the open end of the fitting recess portion, by a nozzle, the displacement of the liquid level of the filling material during this pouring operation clearly differs visually, depending on whether or not the liquid level rises beyond the step portion, and therefore this displacement can be easily confirmed with the eyes.
Therefore, the uppermost step is spaced downwardly a suitable distance from the boundary between the fitting recess portion and the filling material-pouring recess so that the amount of filling of the filling material can become proper when the liquid level reaches the uppermost step. With this arrangement, there can be avoided disadvantages that the filling amount is so small that the sufficient sealing performance can not be achieved and that the filling amount is so large that the filling material overflows into the fitting recess portion.
In the case where the filling material-pouring recess has a generally rectangular transverse cross-section, a surf
Bradley Paula
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Ta Tho D.
Yazaki -Corporation
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