Waterproof terminal block

Abstract

To provide a waterproof terminal block that can absorb dimensional tolerances due to each phase of a plurality of annular sealing portions of a packing, thereby improving waterproofness and ease of assembly.SOLUTION: A waterproof terminal block 1 includes a housing 10, a plurality of terminals 40 that are inserted into a plurality of terminal insertion holes 13 of the housing 10 and mounted, a packing 20, and a holder 30 that is fitted into a holder mating recess 18 and holds the packing 20. The packing 20 is formed in one piece by connecting an upper end 22a side of a plurality of annular sealing portions 21 with an elastic connecting portion 24 that expands and contracts. When assembling a plurality of terminals 40, the packing 20, and a holder 30 in the housing 10, the plurality of terminals 40 is sealed respectively to the plurality of annular sealing portions 21 of the packing 20 by the elastic connecting portion 24 of the packing 20 expanding and contracting to absorb the effects of dimensional tolerances due to the respective phases of the plurality of terminals 40 and the plurality of annular sealing portions 21 of the packing 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a waterproof terminal block. [Background Art]

[0002] As this type of waterproof terminal block, there is one described in Patent Document 1. The waterproof terminal block described in Patent Document 1 includes a housing formed with a plurality of terminal insertion holes through which terminals are inserted. A packing serving as a seal member having a plurality of annular seal portions for sealing between each connection plate portion of the plurality of terminals and the corresponding terminal insertion hole is fitted into each hole formed above the plurality of terminal insertion holes, and this packing is held by a holder assembled to the housing. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-163719 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] In the conventional waterproof terminal block described above, a packing integrally formed by connecting a plurality of annular seal portions at an upper portion is used. For this reason, when sealing a plurality of multi-polar terminals for each seal portion (each phase), in a packing in which the respective seal portions are connected to each other, the influence of dimensional tolerance of each phase cannot be ignored by other phases, which deteriorates sealing performance and may cause defective waterproofing. In addition, when the packing is individually provided for each phase, problems such as an increase in the number of assembly man-hours, forgetting to insert the packing, and double insertion of the packing may occur.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the problems possessed by such conventional techniques. An object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof terminal block that can absorb dimensional tolerance caused by each phase of the plurality of annular seal portions of a packing, and can improve waterproof performance and assemblability. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A waterproof terminal block according to an aspect of the present invention comprises a housing having a plurality of terminal insertion holes and a plurality of packing fitting recesses and holder fitting recesses partitioned by partitions from the bottom to the top; a plurality of terminals inserted into the plurality of terminal insertion holes and mounted thereon; a plurality of annular sealing portions into which the plurality of terminals are inserted and sealed, the packing serving as a sealing member having the plurality of annular sealing portions fitted into the plurality of packing fitting recesses; and a plurality of annular terminal insertion portions partitioned by separation portions, the lower side of the plurality of annular terminal insertion portions fitted into the plurality of annular sealing portions. The housing comprises a holder into which the upper side of the plurality of annular terminal insertion portions is fitted into the holder fitting recess, wherein the packing is integrally formed by connecting the upper ends of the plurality of annular sealing portions with expandable and contractible elastic connecting portions, and when the plurality of terminals, the packing and the holder are assembled to the housing, the elastic connecting portions of the packing expand and contract, absorbing the effects of dimensional tolerances due to each phase of the plurality of terminals and the plurality of annular sealing portions of the packing, thereby sealing the plurality of terminals to the plurality of annular sealing portions of the packing. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a waterproof terminal block that can absorb dimensional tolerances due to each phase of the multiple annular sealing portions of the packing, thereby improving waterproofness and ease of assembly. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view showing an example of a waterproof terminal block according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a disassembled perspective view of the waterproof terminal block shown above. [Figure 3] This is a plan view of the gasket used in the waterproof terminal block shown above. [Figure 4] This is a front view of the gasket shown above. [Figure 5]This is a plan view showing the state in which the dimensional tolerances of each phase of the multiple annular sealing portions of the packing described above have been absorbed. [Figure 6] This is a cross-sectional view along the line VI-VI in Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] A waterproof terminal block according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0010] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a waterproof terminal block according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the waterproof terminal block. Figure 3 is a plan view of a packing used in the waterproof terminal block. Figure 4 is a front view of the packing. Figure 5 is a plan view showing the state in which the dimensional tolerances of each phase of the multiple annular sealing portions of the packing are absorbed. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line VI-VI in Figure 1.

[0011] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the waterproof terminal block 1 according to this embodiment comprises a housing 10 made of synthetic resin, a packing 20 as a sealing member, a holder 30 made of synthetic resin, and three terminals 40. This waterproof terminal block 1 is installed on a mounting object (not shown), such as a case for equipment such as a drive motor mounted on an electric vehicle.

[0012] As shown in Figures 2 and 6, the housing 10 includes three terminal insertion holes 13 from the bottom to the top, three packing fitting recesses 14 having a lower part 15 and an upper part 16 separated by a partition wall 17, and a holder fitting recess 18.

[0013] As shown in Figure 6, the three terminal insertion holes 13 are formed to be large enough to allow terminals 40 to be inserted in parallel at equal intervals between the two sides 10a, 10a of the housing 10, penetrating in the vertical direction.

[0014] As shown in Figure 6, the lower parts 15 of each of the three packing fitting recesses 14 are separated by a partition wall 17 and are formed in the shape of an elliptical hole in cross-section via a stepped elliptical portion at the upper edge of the terminal insertion hole 13. Furthermore, the upper parts 16 of the three packing fitting recesses 14 are formed in the shape of a rectangular hole in cross-section via a stepped portion at the upper edge of the lower parts 15.

[0015] As shown in Figure 2, the holder fitting recess 18 is formed to a size that allows the packing 20 to be fitted between the front wall 11 and the rear wall 12 of the housing 10. The front wall 11 has a rectangular locking hole 11a for locking the locking projection 33 of the holder 30 fitted into the holder fitting recess 18.

[0016] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the packing 20 is fitted into the packing fitting recess 14 of the housing 10 from above. This packing 20 is molded from a flexible resin material such as rubber, and has three annular sealing portions 21 into which the terminal 40 is inserted and sealed. The three annular sealing portions 21 have a rectangular annular frame portion 22, an elliptical annular portion 23 integrally formed on the lower side of the frame portion 22 into which the terminal 40 is inserted and sealed, and three elastic connecting portions 24 connecting both sides between the upper ends 22a, 22a of adjacent frame portions 22. In other words, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the packing 20 is integrally formed by connecting the upper ends 22a, 22a of adjacent rectangular annular frame portions 22 with three elastic connecting portions 24 located in pairs on both sides. More specifically, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, the upper ends 22a of each rectangular annular frame portion 22 of adjacent annular seal portions 21 are connected by a pair of roughly U-shaped elastic connecting portions 24, 24 with protrusions facing each other, forming a single unit. Then, as shown in Figure 6, the rectangular annular frame portion 22 of the annular seal portion 21 is fitted into the upper part 16 of the packing fitting recess 14, and the elliptical annular portion 23 is fitted into the lower part 15 of the packing fitting recess 14.

[0017] Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the elliptical annular portion 23 of the annular seal portion 21 of the packing 20 has, on an outer peripheral surface 23a thereof, an outer lip portion 26 that is in close contact with the lower portion 15 of the packing fitting recess 14 of the housing 10, and has, on an inner peripheral surface 23b thereof, an inner lip portion 26 that is in close contact with the terminal 40. Regarding the packing 20 having three annular seal portions 21, a product obtained by cutting the elastic connecting portion 24 located third as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 from a structure in which a plurality of annular seal portions 21 are connected by elastic connecting portions 24 to form three separate annular seal portions 21 is used.

[0018] As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the holder 30 is formed into a square cylindrical shape from synthetic resin. The holder 30 is partitioned by an upper spacing projection 32a and a lower spacing recess 32b of the spacing portion 32, and is provided with three annular terminal insertion portions 31 arranged in parallel, into which the terminals 40 are inserted. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower side of the annular terminal insertion portion 31 (the lower spacing recess 32b side) is fitted into the rectangular annular frame portion 22 of the annular seal portion 21, and the upper side of the annular terminal insertion portion 31 (the upper spacing projection 32a) is fitted into the holder fitting recess 18 to hold the packing 20. As shown in FIG. 2, a locking projection 33 that is engaged with and disengaged from a rectangular locking hole 11a formed in the front wall 11 of the housing 10 is formed on the front surface 30b of the holder 30. The state where the holder 30 is fitted into the holder fitting recess 18 of the housing 10 and holds the packing 20 is maintained by the locking projection 33 being locked in the locking hole 11a.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal 40 inserted and mounted into the three terminal insertion holes 13 of the housing 10 is formed of a conductive metal material such as copper or a copper alloy, and is configured as a plate-shaped bus bar. The upper and lower ends of the plate-shaped terminal 40 are formed as connection portions 41 and 42 provided with connection holes 41a and 42a, respectively. A description of the method for fixing the terminal 40 is omitted herein.

[0020] According to the present embodiment, when the terminal 40, the packing 20 and the holder 30 are assembled to the housing 10, the substantially U-shaped elastic connecting portions 24 that connect between the respective annular seal portions 21 of the packing 20 expand and contract. That is, the distance between the U-shaped portions of the elastic connecting portion 24 between the respective annular seal portions 21, 21 located on the right side shown in Fig. 5 is narrowed and contracted, and the distance between the U-shaped portions of the elastic connecting portion 24 between the respective annular seal portions 21, 21 located on the left side shown in Fig. 5 is widened and expanded. Due to the expansion and contraction of the elastic connecting portions 24, dimensional tolerances of each phase of the three terminals 40 and the three annular seal portions 21 can be absorbed.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 6, when the waterproof terminal block 1 is assembled, the elliptical annular portion 23 of the annular seal portion 21 of the packing 20 is fitted into and press-fitted into the lower portion 15 of the packing fitting recess 14 of the housing 10, and the terminal 40 is fitted into and press-fitted into the elliptical annular portion 23. Due to these press-fittings, the outer lip portion 25 of the elliptical annular portion 23 is in close contact with the lower portion 15 of the packing fitting recess 14, and the inner lip portion 26 is in close contact with the terminal 40, whereby high waterproof performance can be obtained.

[0022] As described above, when the waterproof terminal block 1 is assembled, the elastic connecting portions 24 between the respective annular seal portions 21 of the packing 20 expand and contract, so that the influence of dimensional tolerances of each terminal 40 and each annular seal portion 21 can be completed in each phase, and the robustness of the waterproof function can be improved. Due to this improvement in robustness, the crushing allowance of the packing 20 can be made smaller than that of a conventional structure in which multiple phases are integrated, so that it is possible to reduce the insertion force of the terminals 40 and the like, and prevent falling, biting, peeling of the packing 20 caused by terminal insertion, and the like. Through these effects, the waterproof performance and assemblability of the waterproof terminal block 1 can be further improved.

[0023] The present embodiment has been described above, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment.

[0024] That is, according to the above embodiment, three annular seal portions are provided on the packing, but two or four or more annular seal portions may be provided.

[0025] Furthermore, although the terminals used in the above embodiment were formed in the shape of a straight plate, terminals bent into an L-shape may also be used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0026] 1 Waterproof terminal block 10 Housing 13 Terminal insertion holes 14 Packing fitting recess 17 Bulkhead 18 Holder fitting recess 20 Packing (sealing material) 21 Annular sealing portion 22a top end 23a Outer surface 23b Inner surface 24 Elastic connecting part 25 Outer lip section 26 Inner lip section 30 holders 31 Annular terminal insertion section 32 Separation part 40 terminals

Claims

1. A housing having multiple terminal insertion holes and multiple packing fitting recesses and holder fitting recesses partitioned by partition walls from the bottom to the top, Multiple terminals that are inserted into and mounted in the aforementioned multiple terminal insertion holes, A packing having multiple annular sealing portions into which the multiple terminals are inserted and sealed, the packing as a sealing member having multiple annular sealing portions fitted into the multiple packing fitting recesses, A holder having a plurality of annular terminal insertion portions separated by a separation portion, wherein the lower side of the plurality of annular terminal insertion portions is fitted into the plurality of annular sealing portions, and the upper side of the plurality of annular terminal insertion portions is fitted into the holder fitting recess, Equipped with, The packing is integrally formed by connecting the upper ends of the multiple annular sealing portions with elastic connecting portions that expand and contract, When assembling the plurality of terminals, the packing, and the holder to the housing, the elastic connecting portion of the packing expands and contracts, absorbing the effects of dimensional tolerances due to each phase of the plurality of terminals and the plurality of annular sealing portions of the packing, thereby sealing the plurality of terminals to the plurality of annular sealing portions of the packing. A waterproof terminal block in which the upper ends of adjacent annular sealing portions are connected by a pair of substantially U-shaped elastic connecting portions with protrusions facing each other.

2. The waterproof terminal block according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of annular sealing portions of the packing have an outer lip portion on its outer circumferential surface that is in close contact with the plurality of packing fitting recesses of the housing, and an inner lip portion on its inner circumferential surface that is in close contact with the plurality of terminals.

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