Connector

Abstract

To provide a connector facilitating work for attaching a fixture and the like to a cylindrical exterior component.SOLUTION: A connector 1 includes an electric wire 10 with a terminal 11 that includes a water stop valve 13, an external component 20, a housing 30, and a cover 40 attached to the housing 30. The terminal is inserted into a housing port 34a of a terminal housing chamber 34 to be housed in the terminal housing chamber 34. The water stop valve 13 is inserted into the housing port 34a together with the terminal 11 to be disposed inside the housing port 34a. The cover 40 has first engagement parts 56, 66 that engage with the housing 30 and a second engagement part 41 that engages with the external component 20. The second engagement part has a protruding portion 41 protruding from an inner wall surface of the cover 40 and extending spirally along a cylinder axis direction of the external component 20. The external component 20 has a spiral-shaped recessed portion 21 corresponding to the protruding portion 41, on the outer peripheral surface of the external component 20. An interval H1 between protruding ends of the adjacent protruding portions 41 is smaller than an interval H2 between groove bottom portions of the adjacent recessed portions 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector using a housing unit including a housing having a terminal receiving chamber and a cover. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a connector has been proposed that includes a housing having a terminal receiving chamber in which a terminal of a terminal-equipped electric wire is received, a corrugated tube that protects the electric wire of the terminal-equipped electric wire, and a cover that engages with both the housing and the corrugated tube to connect them (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-274532 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional connector described above, a packing is inserted into the receiving opening of the terminal receiving chamber of the housing to seal the gap between the receiving opening and the electric wire, and a cover is attached to the housing to prevent foreign objects (for example, when the connector is applied to an automobile, water jets during a car wash, stones flying while driving, etc.) from entering the inside of the connector from the outside, thereby preventing the foreign objects from coming into contact with the packing or the electric wire. However, in the conventional connector, the corrugated tube is engaged with the cover in a state in which it can rotate in the circumferential direction, so that when the connector is fixed to peripheral parts, etc. during use, the corrugated tube may rotate unintentionally, making it difficult to attach a fixture, etc.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a connector that allows fasteners and the like to be easily attached to a cylindrical exterior part. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a connector according to the present invention has the following features.

[0007] A connector comprising: an electric wire with a terminal, in which a terminal with a water stop valve is connected to an electric wire; a cylindrical exterior part through which the electric wire is inserted; a housing having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating the terminal; and a cover attached to the housing, The terminal is inserted into an accommodation opening of the terminal accommodation chamber and accommodated in the terminal accommodation chamber, The water stop valve is inserted into the receiving opening together with the terminal and disposed in the receiving opening, the cover has a first engagement portion that engages with the housing and a second engagement portion that engages with the exterior component, The second engagement portion has a protruding portion that protrudes from an inner wall surface of the cover and extends spirally along a cylindrical axis direction of the exterior component, The exterior part is The exterior part has a spiral groove portion on an outer circumferential surface thereof, the spiral groove portion corresponding to the protrusion portion, A distance between adjacent protruding ends of the convex rib portions in the cylindrical axial direction is smaller than a distance between adjacent groove bottoms of the concave rib portions in the cylindrical axial direction. It is a connector. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the connector of the present invention, the cover attached to the housing includes a first engaging portion that engages with the housing and a second engaging portion that can engage with an exterior part (e.g., a corrugated tube) through which an electric wire connected to a terminal can be inserted. Furthermore, the second engaging portion has a convex streak portion that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the cover and extends spirally along the axial direction of the exterior part, and the exterior part has a spiral concave streak portion corresponding to the convex streak portion on the outer circumferential surface of the exterior part. The interval between the protruding ends of the convex streak portions adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the cylinder is smaller than the interval between the groove bottoms of the concave streak portions adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the cylinder. As a result, by twisting the exterior part into the second engaging portion after attaching the cover to the housing, the second engaging portion and the exterior part can be engaged in a state in which the convex streak portion and the concave streak portion are in pressure contact with each other. Therefore, when the connector is actually used, the exterior part is prevented from rotating unintentionally. Therefore, the connector of this configuration can easily attach a fixture or the like to the cylindrical exterior part.

[0009] The present invention has been briefly described above. The details of the present invention will become clearer by reading the detailed description of the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a top view of the connector shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a top view of the cover shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of part D in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a side view of a commonly used corrugated tube used in the manufacture of the corrugated tube shown in FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a side view of the corrugated tube shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, a connector 1 (see FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 1 includes a terminal-fitted electric wire 10, a corrugated tube 20 into which an electric wire 12 (see FIG. 2) of the terminal-fitted electric wire 10 is inserted, and a housing unit 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing unit 2 includes a housing 30 in which a terminal 11 (see FIG. 2) of the terminal-fitted electric wire 10 is accommodated, a cover 40 attached to the housing 30, and a fitting detection member 70, a front holder 80, and a packing 90 attached to the housing 30.

[0012] For ease of explanation, the "front-rear direction", "up-down direction", and "left-right direction" are defined below as shown in Fig. 1 etc. The "front-rear direction", "up-down direction", and "left-right direction" are perpendicular to each other. The front-rear direction coincides with the fitting direction of the connector 1 and the mating connector (not shown) and with the axial direction of the corrugated tube 20. Each of the components that make up the connector 1 will be described below in order.

[0013] First, the electric wire with terminal 10 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the electric wire with terminal 10 includes a female metal terminal 11 and an electric wire 12 having one end (front end) connected to the terminal 11. The electric wire 12 is composed of a metal conductor core wire and a resin insulating coating covering the outer periphery of the conductor core wire, and the terminal 11 is electrically connected to the conductor core wire exposed at one end (front end) of the electric wire 12 by removing the insulating coating. A substantially cylindrical rubber stopcock 13 is provided at the rear end of the terminal 11, and both the electric wire 12 and the stopcock 13 are crimped by the terminal 11 so that the stopcock 13 is in close contact with the outer periphery of one end (front end) of the insulating coating of the electric wire 12. The stopcock 13 is accommodated together with the terminal 11 in an accommodation opening 34a of a terminal accommodation chamber 34 of the housing 30 (described later) (see Fig. 7, etc.).

[0014] Next, the corrugated tube 20 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 10, etc., the resin corrugated tube 20 has a long, substantially cylindrical shape, and is a member through which the electric wire 12 of the electric wire with terminal 10 is inserted to protect the electric wire 12. As shown in Fig. 10, a groove portion 21 extending helically along the cylindrical axis direction is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the corrugated tube 20. The corrugated tube 20 shown in Fig. 10 is manufactured as follows using a commonly used resin corrugated tube 20g shown in Fig. 9.

[0015] The corrugated tube 20g shown in FIG. 9 is a tubular body having a long, substantially cylindrical shape, and the outer peripheral surface of the corrugated tube 20g has annular peaks 22 and annular grooves 23 extending in the circumferential direction arranged alternately in the axial direction. As a result, the outer peripheral surface of the corrugated tube 20g has a plurality of independent grooves 23 arranged in the axial direction at intervals of pitch P. A portion of the peripheral wall of the corrugated tube 20g in the circumferential direction is cut along a cut surface L along the axial direction of the tube, over the entire area of ​​the axial direction. The corrugated tube 20 shown in FIG. 10 is manufactured by offsetting one side of the cut surface L of the corrugated tube 20g shown in FIG. 9 by the pitch P in the axial direction of the tube, and joining one side of the cut surface L to the other side in a state in which the grooves 23 are spirally continuous to form the concave rib portion 21. This allows the manufacture of a corrugated tube 20 having a concave rib portion 21 extending in a spiral shape along the axial direction of the tube, using a commonly used corrugated tube 20g.

[0016] Next, each component constituting the housing unit 2 will be described. First, the housing 30 will be described. As shown in Figs. 2 and 7, the resin housing 30 integrally includes a terminal accommodating portion 31 having a shape extending in the front-rear direction and an outer tubular portion 32 having a cylindrical shape covering the outer periphery of the front region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 and extending in the front-rear direction. An annular gap 33 is defined between the front region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 and the outer tubular portion 32. When the housing 30 is fitted to a mating housing (not shown) (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "fitting"), a cylindrical hood portion (not shown) of the mating housing is inserted into the annular gap 33. The rear region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 is located behind the outer tubular portion 32 and is exposed to the outside.

[0017] The terminal accommodating portion 31 is provided with a plurality of (four in this example) terminal accommodating chambers 34 extending in the front-rear direction and aligned in the left-right direction (see Figs. 2, 7, etc.). Each terminal accommodating chamber 34 penetrates in the front-rear direction. The rear end opening of the terminal accommodating chamber 34 forms an accommodating opening 34a into which the terminal 11 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 and the water stop cock 13 are inserted. The terminal accommodating chamber 34 is provided with a cantilever-shaped lance 35 that extends forward and inward at an angle. The lance 35 functions to lock the terminal 11 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 34 in the correct position.

[0018] A locking mechanism 36 is provided on the upper surface of the rear region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 exposed to the outside (see Figs. 2, 7, etc.). The locking mechanism 36 has a locking portion 36a (see Fig. 7) that engages with a locking protrusion (not shown) provided on the hood portion of the mating housing when mated, and serves to maintain the mated state between the housing 30 and the mating housing.

[0019] A pair of left and right extensions 37 are provided on both left and right side walls of the outer tube portion 32 so as to cover both left and right sides of the lock mechanism portion 36 and extend rearward from the both left and right side walls (see FIG. 2). The pair of extensions 37 also function as protective walls that protect the lock mechanism portion 36 from the outside. The pair of extensions 37 are provided with a pair of left and right engagement protrusions 38 that protrude outward in the left-right direction and extend in the up-down direction (see FIG. 2). Furthermore, an engagement protrusion 39 that protrudes downward and extends in the left-right direction is provided at the rear end of the lower wall of the outer tube portion 32 (see FIG. 7). When the cover 40 is attached to the housing 30, the engagement protrusions 38 and the engagement protrusions 39 are engaged with engagement recesses 56 (see FIGS. 2 and 5) and engagement recesses 66 (see FIGS. 2 and 7) of the cover 40, which will be described later, respectively.

[0020] Next, the cover 40 will be described. The cover 40 functions to connect the housing 30 and the corrugated tube 20 to each other by engaging with both of them. The resin cover 40 includes an upper cover 50 and a lower cover 60, as shown in Figures 2 and 4. The upper cover 50 and the lower cover 60 are connected to each other by a hinge portion 42 so as to be openable and closable between an open state (see Figures 2 and 4) and a closed state (see Figures 1, 6, etc.).

[0021] 2 and 4, the upper cover 50 integrally includes an upper cylindrical portion 51 having a semi-cylindrical shape that is the upper half of a cylindrical shape in a closed state extending in the front-rear direction, a pair of left and right engagement portions 52 located on both the left and right sides of the upper cylindrical portion 51, and a pair of left and right extension portions 53 extending forward from the pair of engagement portions 52. A plurality of protrusions 51a extending in a semicircular arc shape that is convex upward when viewed from the front-rear direction is provided on an inner wall surface (a surface facing downward in a closed state) of the upper cylindrical portion 51 so as to be aligned in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 7). The plurality of protrusions 51a are arranged and configured so as to be spirally connected to a plurality of protrusions 61a of the lower cover 60 (described later) in a closed state of the cover 40, thereby forming a protrusion portion 41 (see FIG. 7) that extends in a spiral shape along the front-rear direction corresponding to the recessed portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20. As shown in Fig. 6, the right engaging portion 52 in the closed state is provided with an engaging protrusion 54 that engages with an engaging protrusion 64 of the lower cover 60, described later, in the closed state, and the left engaging portion 52 in the closed state is provided with an engaging protrusion 55 that engages with an engaging protrusion 65 of the lower cover 60, described later, in the closed state. As shown in Fig. 5, a pair of left and right engaging recesses 56 are provided on the inner surfaces (surfaces facing each other laterally) of the pair of left and right extending portions 53, which are recessed outward in the left-right direction, extend in the up-down direction, and open downward in the closed state.

[0022] As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the lower cover 60 integrally includes a lower cylindrical portion 61 having a semi-cylindrical shape that is the lower half of a cylindrical shape extending in the front-rear direction, a pair of left and right engagement portions 62 located on both the left and right sides of the lower cylindrical portion 61, and a substantially flat extending portion 63 extending forward from the lower cylindrical portion 61 and the pair of engagement portions 62. A plurality of protrusions 61a extending in a semicircular arc shape that is convex downward when viewed from the front-rear direction are provided on the inner wall surface (upward facing surface) of the lower cylindrical portion 61 so as to be aligned in the front-rear direction (see Fig. 7). The plurality of protrusions 61a are arranged and configured so as to be spirally connected to the plurality of protrusions 51a of the upper cover 50 when the cover 40 is in the closed state, thereby forming a protrusion portion 41 (see Fig. 7) that extends in a spiral shape along the front-rear direction in correspondence with the recessed portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20. As shown in Fig. 6, the engagement portion 62 located on the right side is provided with an engagement protrusion 64, and the engagement portion 62 located on the left side is provided with an engagement protrusion 65. As shown in FIG. 7, the front end of the extension 63 is provided with an engagement recess 66 that is recessed downward and extends in the left-right direction.

[0023] Next, the fitting detection member 70 will be described. The fitting detection member 70 shown in Fig. 2 is made of resin, and as shown in Fig. 7, is attached to the upper surface of the rear region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 of the housing 30 so as to cover the lock mechanism portion 36 from above and to be slidable in the front-rear direction. Although a detailed description of the structure of the fitting detection member 70 will be omitted, the fitting detection member 70 has a function of detecting a semi-fitted state between the housing 30 and the mating housing, and a so-called double locking function of preventing the release of the engagement between the lock protrusion of the mating housing and the lock portion 36a of the lock mechanism portion 36 when the housing 30 and the mating housing are completely fitted to each other.

[0024] Next, the front holder 80 will be described. The front holder 80 shown in Fig. 2 is made of resin, and is attached to the terminal accommodating portion 31 so as to cover the front region of the terminal accommodating portion 31 from the front and so that a detection plate portion 81, which is a part of the front holder 80, is inserted into the gap 35a on the back side of the lance 35, as shown in Fig. 7. Although a detailed description of the structure of the front holder 80 will be omitted, the front holder 80 has a function of detecting a state in which the terminal 11 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 is partially inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 34, and a so-called double locking function of preventing the release of the engagement between the portion of the terminal 11 that engages with the lance 35 and the lance 35 when the terminal 11 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 34 at the correct position.

[0025] Next, the packing 90 will be described. The annular packing 90 shown in Fig. 2 is made of rubber, and as shown in Fig. 7, is attached so as to fit closely to a front-rear direction position corresponding to the vicinity of the innermost portion of the annular gap 33 on the outer circumferential surface of the terminal accommodating portion 31. The packing 90 functions to seal the annular gap between the hood portion of the mating housing and the terminal accommodating portion 31 when mated. Each of the components that make up the housing unit 2 has been described above.

[0026] Next, the procedure for assembling the connector 1 will be described. First, the terminal 11 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 and the water stop cock 13 are inserted in this order through the receiving opening 34a into the terminal receiving chamber 34 of the housing 30 to which the fitting detection member 70, the front holder 80, and the packing 90 have already been attached. As a result, the terminal 11 is received in the terminal receiving chamber 34 at a regular position where it engages with the lance 35, and the water stop cock 13 is disposed in the receiving opening 34a. By disposing the water stop cock 13 in the receiving opening 34a, the annular gap between the electric wire 12 (insulating coating) of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 and the receiving opening 34a is sealed. This makes it possible to prevent foreign matter such as water from entering the contact portion of the terminal 11 through the terminal receiving chamber 34 in which the terminal 11 is received. 2, in this example, the terminal 11 and the water stop cock 13 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10 are inserted into two of the four terminal accommodating chambers 34, while a rubber seal 14 that seals the accommodating opening 34a is inserted into the remaining two of the four terminal accommodating chambers 34, instead of the terminal 11 and the water stop cock 13 of the terminal-attached electric wire 10. This makes it possible to prevent foreign matter such as water from entering the contact portion of the terminal 11 through the terminal accommodating chambers 34 in which the terminal 11 is not accommodated.

[0027] Next, the cover 40 is attached to the housing 30. For this purpose, first, while the cover 40 is maintained in a state in which the open state shown in FIG. 2 is turned upside down, the pair of engagement protrusions 38 of the housing 30 are inserted into the pair of engagement recesses 56 of the upper cover 50, so that the upper cover 50 is provisionally fixed to the housing 30. Next, the lower cover 60 is rotated counterclockwise as viewed from the front, so that the engagement recesses 66 of the lower cover 60 are engaged with the engagement protrusions 39 of the housing 30 (see FIG. 7), and the engagement protrusions 54, 55 of the upper cover 50 are engaged with the engagement protrusions 64, 65 of the lower cover 60, respectively (see FIG. 6), so that the cover 40 is in a closed state. The closed state of the cover 40 is maintained by the engagement of the engagement protrusions 54, 55 of the upper cover 50 with the engagement protrusions 64, 65 of the lower cover 60. In this manner, when the cover 40 is in the closed state, the engagement between the engaging recesses 56 and 66 of the cover 40 and the engaging protrusions 38 and 39 of the housing 30 connects the cover 40 and the housing 30 to each other. Furthermore, when the cover 40 is in the closed state, the multiple protrusions 51a and the multiple protrusions 61a are spirally connected between the inner wall surface of the upper tubular portion 51 and the inner wall surface of the lower tubular portion 61, forming the protruding portion 41 that extends spirally along the front-rear direction corresponding to the recessed portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20 (see FIG. 7).

[0028] Next, the corrugated tube 20, in which the electric wires 12 of the terminal-attached electric wires 10 (two in this example) are inserted collectively, is attached to the cover 40. For this purpose, the tip portion (front end portion) of the corrugated tube 20 is inserted into the rear end opening of the cylindrical portion formed by the upper tubular portion 51 and the lower tubular portion 61, and twisted into the cylindrical portion of the cover 40 so that the concave streak portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20 and the convex streak portion 41 of the cover 40 are screwed together. As a result, the concave streak portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20 engages with the convex streak portion 41 of the cover 40, and the cover 40 and the corrugated tube 20 are connected to each other. As a result, the corrugated tube 20 and the housing 30 are connected to each other via the cover 40. With the above, the assembly of the connector 1 is completed, and the connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 is obtained.

[0029] Here, in the front-rear direction (the cylindrical axis direction of the corrugated tube 20), the interval H1 (see FIG. 8) between the protruding ends of adjacent convex rib portions 41 of the cover 40 is smaller than the interval H2 (see FIG. 8) between the groove bottoms of adjacent concave rib portions 21 of the corrugated tube 20. As a result, by twisting the corrugated tube 20 into the cylindrical portion of the cover 40 after mounting the cover 40 on the housing 30, the concave rib portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20 can be engaged with the convex rib portion 41 of the cover 40 in a state in which the convex rib portion 41 and the concave rib portion 21 are in pressing contact with each other (see the portion indicated by the broken line in FIG. 8). This prevents the corrugated tube 20 from rotating unintentionally.

[0030] 7, when the connector 1 is in an assembled state, the cover 40 (=upper cover 50+lower cover 60) in the closed state defines a passage-like internal space S extending in the front-rear direction between the engagement recesses 56 and 66 and the protrusions 51a, 61a by a peripheral wall portion formed by the upper cylindrical portion 51 of the upper cover 50 and the lower cylindrical portion 61 and the extending portion 63 of the lower cover 60. The peripheral wall portion covers the accommodation opening 34a of the terminal accommodation chamber 34 of the housing 30 located in the internal space S so as to be isolated from the outside.

[0031] <Actions and Effects> As described above, according to the connector 1 of this embodiment, the cover 40 attached to the housing 30 includes a first engagement portion (engagement recess 56 and engagement recess 66) that engages with the housing 30, and a second engagement portion that can engage with the corrugated tube 20 through which the electric wire 12 connected to the terminal 11 can be inserted. Furthermore, the second engagement portion has a convex rib portion 41 that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the cover 40 and extends spirally along the cylindrical axis direction of the corrugated tube 20, and the corrugated tube 20 has a spiral concave rib portion 21 that corresponds to the convex rib portion 41 on the outer circumferential surface of the corrugated tube 20. A distance H1 between the protruding ends of the convex rib portions 41 adjacent to each other in the cylindrical axis direction is smaller than a distance H2 between the groove bottoms of the concave rib portions 21 adjacent to each other in the cylindrical axis direction (see FIG. 8). As a result, by twisting the corrugated tube 20 into the second engagement portion after the cover 40 is attached to the housing 30, the second engagement portion and the corrugated tube 20 can be engaged with each other in a state in which the convex rib portion 41 and the concave rib portion 21 are in pressing contact with each other. This prevents the corrugated tube 20 from rotating unintentionally. Therefore, the connector 1 according to this embodiment makes it easy to attach a fastener or the like to the cylindrical corrugated tube 20.

[0032] Furthermore, a portion of the peripheral wall of the corrugated tube 20g, in which a plurality of mutually independent groove portions 23 extending in the circumferential direction are arranged so as to line up in the cylindrical axis direction, is cut along the cylindrical axis direction, and one side of the cut surface L is offset from the other side in the cylindrical axis direction to form the groove portions 23 in a spiral shape, thereby forming the concave rib portion 21 of the corrugated tube 20. In this way, a corrugated tube 20 having a spiral concave rib portion 21 can be formed by using a commonly used corrugated tube 20g.

[0033] <Other forms> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications, improvements, etc. are possible. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the terminals 11 and the stopcocks 13 of the terminal-attached electric wires 10 are inserted into some of the multiple terminal accommodating chambers 34, and the rubber seals 14 that seal the accommodating openings 34a are inserted into the remaining terminal accommodating chambers 34 instead of the terminals 11 and the stopcocks 13 of the terminal-attached electric wires 10. Alternatively, the terminals 11 and the stopcocks 13 of the terminal-attached electric wires 10 may be inserted into all of the multiple terminal accommodating chambers 34.

[0035] Here, the features of the above-described embodiment of the connector 1 according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [2].

[0036] [1] A connector (1) comprising: an electric wire (10) with a terminal (11) with a water stop valve (13) connected to an electric wire (12); a cylindrical exterior part (20) through which the electric wire (12) is inserted; a housing (30) having a terminal accommodating chamber (34) for accommodating the terminal (11); and a cover (40) attached to the housing (30), The terminal (11) is inserted into the receiving opening (34a) of the terminal receiving chamber (34) and received in the terminal receiving chamber (34), The stopcock (13) is inserted into the receiving opening (34a) together with the terminal (11) and disposed within the receiving opening (34a); the cover (40) has a first engagement portion (56, 66) that engages with the housing (30) and a second engagement portion (41) that engages with the exterior part (20), The second engagement portion is a protruding rib portion (41) protruding from an inner wall surface of the cover (40) and extending spirally along the axial direction of the exterior part (20); The exterior part (20) is a spiral groove portion (21) corresponding to the protrusion portion (41) is provided on an outer circumferential surface of the exterior part (20); a distance (H1) between the projecting ends of the convex streak portions (41) adjacent to each other in the cylindrical axis direction is smaller than a distance (H2) between the groove bottoms of the concave streak portions (21) adjacent to each other in the cylindrical axis direction; Connector(1).

[0037] According to the connector described in [1] above, the cover attached to the housing includes a first engagement portion that engages with the housing and a second engagement portion that can engage with an exterior part (e.g., a corrugated tube) through which an electric wire connected to a terminal can be inserted. Furthermore, the second engagement portion has a convex streak portion that protrudes from the inner wall surface of the cover and extends spirally along the axial direction of the exterior part, and the exterior part has a spiral concave streak portion corresponding to the convex streak portion on the outer circumferential surface of the exterior part. The interval between the protruding ends of the convex streak portions adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the cylinder is smaller than the interval between the groove bottoms of the concave streak portions adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the cylinder. As a result, by twisting the exterior part into the second engagement portion after attaching the cover to the housing, the second engagement portion and the exterior part can be engaged in a state in which the convex streak portion and the concave streak portion are in pressure contact with each other. Therefore, when the connector is actually used, the exterior part is suppressed from rotating unintentionally. Therefore, the connector of this configuration can easily attach a fixture or the like to the cylindrical exterior part.

[0038] [2] In the connector according to the above [1], The exterior part (20) is A part of a peripheral wall of a cylindrical body (20g) having a plurality of mutually independent groove portions (23) extending in a circumferential direction arranged so as to be aligned in the cylindrical axis direction is cut along the cylindrical axis direction, and one side and the other side of the cut surface (L) are offset in the cylindrical axis direction, so that the groove portions (23) are arranged so as to be continuous in a spiral shape, thereby forming the concave streak portion (21). Connector(1).

[0039] According to the connector described in [2] above, a part of the peripheral wall of a cylindrical body in which a plurality of mutually independent grooves extending in the circumferential direction are arranged in a line in the axial direction is cut along the axial direction, and one side of the cut surface is offset from the other side in the axial direction to form a spiral groove, thereby forming a concave portion of an exterior part. This makes it possible to form an exterior part having a spiral concave portion using a commonly used corrugated tube. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1 Connector 10 Wires with terminals 11 Terminal 12 Electric wire 13 Stopcock 14 Sealing body 20 Corrugated tube (exterior part) 20g Corrugated tube (cylindrical body) 21 Concave section 23 Groove 30 Housing 34 Terminal chamber 34a Storage area 40 Cover 41 Convex part (second engagement part) 56 Engagement recess (first engagement portion) 66 Engagement recess (first engagement portion)

Claims

1. A connector comprising: an electric wire with a terminal, in which a terminal with a water stop valve is connected to an electric wire; a cylindrical exterior part through which the electric wire is inserted; a housing having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating the terminal; and a cover attached to the housing, The terminal is inserted into an accommodation opening of the terminal accommodation chamber and accommodated in the terminal accommodation chamber, The water stop valve is inserted into the receiving opening together with the terminal and disposed in the receiving opening, The cover has a first engagement portion that engages with the housing and a second engagement portion that engages with the exterior component, the second engagement portion has a protruding ridge portion that protrudes from an inner wall surface of the cover and extends spirally along a cylindrical axis direction of the exterior component, The exterior part is The exterior part has a spiral groove portion on an outer circumferential surface thereof, the spiral groove portion corresponding to the protrusion portion, A distance between adjacent protruding ends of the convex rib portions in the cylindrical axial direction is smaller than a distance between adjacent groove bottoms of the concave rib portions in the cylindrical axial direction. connector.

2. 2. The connector according to claim 1, The exterior part is a part of a peripheral wall of a cylindrical body having a plurality of mutually independent groove portions extending in a circumferential direction arranged so as to be aligned in the cylindrical axis direction is cut along the cylindrical axis direction, and one side of the cut surface and the other side are offset in the cylindrical axis direction so that the groove portions are arranged in a spiral shape, thereby forming the concave streak portion; connector.

Images