Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-12
2001-04-17
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
C439S587000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217394
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a waterproof connector in which the erroneous insertion of a connection terminal into a terminal receiving chamber in a connector housing is prevented, and in addition a waterproof performance is secured.
2. Related art
various waterproof connectors have heretofore been known. A waterproof connector, disclosed for example in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 4-81469 will now be described.
In the waterproof connector
51
shown in
FIG. 6
, female terminals
54
, each having a box-like electrical contact portion
55
, are inserted respectively in terminal receiving chambers
53
in a housing
52
, and a mat seal
56
, having a plurality of wire-sealing insertion holes
57
, is provided at rear ends of the terminal receiving chambers
53
.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the female terminal
54
has a projected portion
58
formed on a surface of the box-like electrical contact portion
55
of a square cross-sectional shape defined by a front portion thereof, and this projected portion
58
serves to prevent the erroneous insertion of the female terminal
54
. A press-clamping portion
59
for clamping a sheath and a conductor of a wire W is formed at a rear portion of the female terminal
54
. A receiving space for receiving the projected portion
58
is provided in the terminal receiving chamber
53
.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the mat seal
56
includes a seal member
61
formed on a rear half portion of a skeleton member
60
of a hollow cylindrical shape. The seal member
61
has a cup-shape, and includes a tubular portion
62
covering an outer tubular portion of the skeleton member
60
, and a corrugated surface
62
a
for being pressed against an inner surface of the housing
52
to form a seal therebetween is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the seal member
61
. A circular bottom portion
63
of the seal member
61
covers a rear end portion of the skeleton member
60
, and the plurality of wire-sealing insertion holes
57
are formed axially through the circular bottom portion
63
. An inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole
57
is formed into a corrugated shape as at
57
a
(FIG.
6
), and is pressed against the outer surface of the wire W to form a seal therebetween.
There are three procedures of assembling the waterproof connector
51
of the above construction. In the first procedure, the wires W, each clamped at its end to the female terminal
54
, are first passed respectively through the insertion holes
57
from the front side of the mat seal
56
. Then, after the female terminals
54
are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers
53
in the housing
52
, the mat seal
56
is attached to the housing
52
from the rear side of this housing. At this time, the erroneous insertion of each female terminal
54
will not occur since it has the projected portion
58
.
In the second procedure, the wires W are first passed respectively through the insertion holes
57
from the rear side of the mat seal
56
, and then each female terminal
54
is pressed to clamp the end portion of the wire W, and then the female terminals
54
are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers
53
from the rear side of the housing
52
, with the mat seal
56
attached to the housing
52
. At this time, the erroneous insertion of each female terminal
54
will not occur since it has the projected portion
58
.
In the third procedure, the mat seal
56
is first attached to the housing
52
from the rear side of this housing, and then the female terminals
54
, each pressed to clamp the end portion of the wire W, are passed respectively through the insertion holes
57
from the rear side of the mat seal
56
.
In the case of assembling the connector by the first procedure which is one of the above assembling procedures of assembling the conventional waterproof connector
51
, the operation for passing the wires W through the mat seal is cumbersome if the wires W have a large length, which invites a problem that the efficiency of the operation is lowered.
In the case of assembling the connector by the second procedure, the wires W are first passed respectively through the insertion holes
57
in the mat seal
56
, and then the female terminals
54
are pressed to clamp these wires, respectively, and therefore the operation can not be carried out efficiently, thus inviting a problem that the efficiency of the operation is low.
In the case of assembling the connector by the third procedure, the corrugated surface
57
a
is liable to be damaged during the passage of the projected portion
58
of the female terminal
54
through the insertion hole
57
, which invites a problem that the sealing effect is lowered.
And besides, in all of the above three procedures, when the wire W is pulled in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the connector in the assembled condition of the waterproof connector
51
, the corrugated surface
57
a
is elastically deformed in shape, which results in a problem that the sealing effect is lowered.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the invention is to provide a waterproof connector which can be easily assembled without lowering a sealing effect.
The above object of the present invention has been achieved by a waterproof connector wherein female terminals, each having a box-like electrical contact portion, are received respectively in terminal receiving chambers in a housing, and a mat seal, having a plurality of wire-sealing insertion holes, is provided at rear ends of the terminal receiving chambers; provided in that the box-like electrical contact portion of a square cross-sectional shape is formed into such a modified polygonal cross-sectional shape that one of a pair of opposed sides of the square cross-sectional shape is smaller in length than the other; and a mat seal cover, cooperating with the connector housing to hold the mat seal therebetween, has a plurality of terminal insertion holes, and the terminal insertion hole has a shape which is analogous to and slightly larger than the modified polygonal cross-sectional shape.
In the waterproof connector of the above construction, the box-like electrical contact portion of a square cross-sectional shape is formed into such a modified polygonal cross-sectional shape that one of the pair of opposed sides of the square cross-sectional shape is smaller in length than the other. Therefore, the cross-sectional shape of the box-like electrical contact portion is not a square cross-sectional shape with four corners, but is a shape analogous to a cross-sectional shape of a wire W. Therefore, when the female terminal is passed through the insertion hole in the mat seal, the box-like electrical contact portion will not damage an inner surface of the insertion hole in the mat seal, and hence will not adversely affect a sealing effect.
And besides, each female terminal is passed through the insertion hole in the mat seal from the rear side thereof, and therefore the efficiency of the operation is enhanced.
The mat seal cover, cooperating with the connector housing to hold the mat seal therebetween, has the plurality of terminal insertion holes, and the terminal insertion hole has a shape which is analogous to and slightly larger than the modified polygonal cross-sectional shape. Therefore, the female terminal will not be inserted in an inverted condition, thereby positively preventing the erroneous insertion.
And besides, the mat seal cover is provided at the rear side of the mat seal, and therefore even if the wire is pulled in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the connector, a corrugated inner surface of the insertion hole in the mat seal will not be elastically deformed. Therefore, the sealing effect is not adversely affected, and there can be obtained the waterproof connector of high reliability.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4721478 (1988-01-01), Sonobe
patent: 5378168 (1995-01-01), Sumida
patent: 5613868 (1997-03-01), Ohsumi et al.
Nguyen Khiem
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
Zarroli Michael C.
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