Electrical connectors – Coupling part including flexing insulation – Sealing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-18
2002-04-16
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2819)
Electrical connectors
Coupling part including flexing insulation
Sealing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06371807
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rear cover for use in waterproof connectors and a process for forming a resilient sealing member molded in one piece in the rear cover.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Waterproof connectors are used for an electrical connection in various fields including motorcars and motorcycles. A waterproof connector is usually consisted of a connector body for making connection to a counter waterproof connector and a rear cover placed on the terminal insertion side of the connector body, which holds an electric wire connected to the terminal that is inserted in the connector body and prevents moisture from entering from the terminal insertion side of the connector body.
A waterproof connector shown in
FIG. 8
is generally known and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-96883.
The waterproof connector
1
contains a male connector body
2
, a female connector body
3
and a pair of rear covers
4
fitted to each terminal insertion side of the male connector body
2
and female connector body
3
, in which a terminal (not shown in
FIG. 8
) connected to an electric wire
5
is mounted in the male connector body
2
and female connector body
3
.
As shown in
FIGS. 9 and 11
, the rear cover
4
contains a rear cover body
8
made of synthetic resin and a resilient sealing member
9
made of waterproof rubber (for example, silicone rubber) molded in one piece in the rear cover body
8
, in which each rear cover
4
is fitted to the corresponding rear of the male connector body
2
or female connector body
3
through a corresponding plate
7
having a hole
6
for the electric wire
5
to pass therethrough.
In the rear cover body
8
, there are formed a base wall
10
(see
FIG. 10
) and a hood
11
(see
FIG. 9
) formed around the base wall
10
. In the base wall
10
, there are formed a pair of holes
12
(see
FIG. 10
) for an electric wire to pass through between inner and outer faces of the base wall
10
and a hollow holder pattern
14
(see
FIG. 14
) having a plurality of holes
13
(see FIG.
14
). In the hood
11
, there are formed a piece
15
and a hole
16
for the rear cover
4
to be fitted to the male connector body
2
or female connector body
3
.
As shown in
FIGS. 12 and 13
, the resilient sealing member
9
contains a board-shape holder
17
formed by filling the holder pattern
14
with a waterproof rubber, a sealing body
19
extended from the holder
17
, which has a pair of through holes
18
for the electric wire
5
to pass therethrough and protrudes toward an inner face side of the base wall
10
, and a plurality of sealing lips
20
(three in
FIGS. 12 and 13
) formed around each through hole
18
, in which a plurality of sealing lips
21
(two in
FIGS. 12 and 13
) are also formed around the sealing body
19
.
The sealing lips
20
assure a seal between the electric wire
5
and the through hole
18
. The terminal insertion side of the male connector body
2
or female connector body
3
is inserted between the sealing lip
21
and the hood
11
so that a waterproofing therebetween is assured.
The above plurality of holes
13
shown in
FIG. 14
conducts a waterproof rubber into the inner face side of the base wall
10
when the holder pattern
14
is filled with the waterproof rubber.
In the above conventional waterproof connector, as shown in
FIG. 8
, the pair of rear covers
4
is fitted into each terminal insertion side of the male connector body
2
and female connector body
3
so that a waterproofing at each terminal insertion side portion is assured.
As shown in
FIG. 17
, a measure to solve the above problem is a split-type mold having such a structure that a pair of insertion parts
24
is inserted into a fixed mold
22
′ so as to separate a mold for forming the hole
6
from a fixed mold for forming the remaining portion of the resilient sealing member
9
including the sealing portion of the sealing lips
20
.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, the rear cover
4
is produced according to the following steps of: setting the rear cover body
8
in a fixed mold
22
; tightening a movable mold
23
with the fixed mold
22
; filling the holder pattern
14
with the waterproof rubber in order to mold the resilient sealing member
9
in one piece in the rear cover body
8
; and loosening (shown in
FIG. 16
) the tightening force applied by the movable mold
23
(by moving the mold
23
toward a direction indicated by an arrow shown in
FIG. 15
) in order to release the molded rear cover
4
from the movable mold
23
(by moving the rear cover
4
toward a direction indicated by an arrow shown in FIG.
16
). When the rear cover
4
is released from the mold, a large mold-release force is applied to the hood
11
through a press pin (not shown in the figures), causing a deformation and damage to the hood
11
.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, since a difference between an outer diameter D
1
of the movable mold
23
corresponding to the hole
6
(for the electric wire
5
to pass therethrough) and an outer diameter D
2
of a sealing portion corresponding to the sealing lips
20
is large, the large mold-release force that may exceed an allowable stress of the hood
11
is needed in order to allow the portion having the outer diameter D
1
to pass through the sealing portion having the outer diameter D
2
when the rear cover
4
is mold-released. If a mold temperature is set to be high, the hood
11
made of synthetic resin is further easily deformed and damaged.
However, the following process for producing the rear cover
4
causes a deformation and damage to the hood
11
(see FIG.
9
), by which are caused an imperfect fitting between the rear cover
4
and the connector bodies
2
and
3
, and deterioration in the waterproofing quality.
As for the insertion parts
24
of the split-type mold, there are formed a base
24
a that is fixed in the fixed mold
22
′ and its contiguous portion
24
b corresponding to the insertion hole
6
, in which a taper
24
c
(outer diameter D
3
) corresponding to an inclination at the very end of the sealing lips
20
is formed at the end of the portion
24
b.
A movable mold
23
′ has a portion
23
′
a
(outer diameter D
4
) corresponding to the sealing lips
20
, from which a portion corresponding to the insertion hole
6
is removed, resulting in that a difference between the two diameters of the mold becomes small (D
3
being nearly equal to D
4
). Consequently, it is seemed that the mold-release force can be reduced and the deformation and damage of the hood
11
can be prevented from occurring.
However, according to the above split-type mold, in which the insertion parts
24
are inserted in the fixed mold
22
′, disposing positions of the insertion parts
24
indicated by an arrow P in
FIG. 18
interferes with a position of an injection inlet (for injecting the waterproof rubber therethrough) indicated by an arrow Q, resulting in that the above split-type mold is not practically useful as it is.
Nevertheless, an improvement in the above split-type mold is needed since it further has such an advantage that an action responding to wear of the mold (for example, prevention of a fin formation) is easily executed by replacing the insertion parts
24
in addtion to the aforementioned advantage of prevention of the deformation and damage of the hood
11
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above problem and to provide a rear cover that gives improvement in a property of mold-releasing and maintenance of a mold, and a process for forming a resilient sealing member molded in one piece in the rear cover.
In order to accomplish the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a rear cover, in which an electric wire is inserted through a base wall, having a hollow holder pattern on an outer surface of the base wall and a molded-in resilient sealing member containing: a holder formed in the holder pattern; a sealing body extended from the
Takagishi Takashi
Tsukamoto Hisashi
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Sircus Brian
Webb Brian S.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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