Connector

Abstract

To provide a connector excellent in productivity.SOLUTION: A connector 1 comprises: a first conduction part 10; a second conduction part 30; a fastener 50 which fastens the first conduction part 10 to the second conduction part 30; a first housing 20 which houses the first conduction part 10; and a second housing 40 which houses the second conduction part 30. The first housing 20 has: a first opening part 21 from which a first contact part of the first conduction part 10 is exposed; and a protruding part 24 which protrudes toward the second housing 40. The second housing 40 has a second opening part 44 from which a second contact part of the second conduction part 30 and an inserted part 33 are exposed. The inserted part is provided on the second conduction part 30 and has a shape that allows the protruding part 24 to be inserted thereinto and to be engaged therewith. The fastener 50 fastens the first conduction part 10 to the second conduction part 30 when: the first and second housings 20 and 40 are assembled to each other; the protruding part 24 is inserted into and engaged with the inserted part 33; and the first contact part is in contact with the second contact part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector comprising a first conductive portion, a second conductive portion electrically connected to the first conductive portion, a fastener for fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, a first housing for accommodating the first conductive portion, and a second housing for accommodating the second conductive portion. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a shielded connector has been proposed that includes a plate-shaped terminal accommodated in a housing, an electric wire connected to the plate-shaped terminal, and a metal shield shell attached to the outside of the housing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-005221 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above-mentioned types of shielded connectors are generally manufactured by assembling a large number of components, making it difficult to improve productivity due to the complicated alignment of each component during manufacturing. In particular, when electrically connecting a plate terminal and an electric wire terminal by fastening them with bolts or the like, it is complicated to align the fastening holes of both terminals. Note that similar improvements are possible not only in shielded connectors but also in connectors that incorporate multiple conductive parts.

[0005] One object of the present invention is to provide a connector that is highly manufacturable. [Means for solving the problem]

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

[0007] A connector comprising: a first conductive portion; a second conductive portion electrically connected to the first conductive portion; a fastener fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion; a first housing accommodating the first conductive portion; and a second housing accommodating the second conductive portion, The first housing includes: a first opening that exposes a first contact portion of the first conductive portion, and a protrusion that protrudes toward the second housing; The second housing includes: a second opening that exposes a second contact portion of the second conductive portion and an inserted portion that is of the second conductive portion and has a shape that allows the protrusion to be inserted and engaged therewith; The fastener is the first housing and the second housing are assembled, the protrusion is inserted into the insertion portion and engaged therewith, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are in contact with each other, and the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are fastened together. It is a connector. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the connector of the present invention, when the first housing and the second housing are assembled, the protrusion of the first housing is inserted into and engaged with the insertion portion of the second conductive portion, and the first contact portion of the first conductive portion and the second contact portion of the second conductive portion are in contact with each other, and the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are fastened with a fastener to electrically connect them. As a result, when fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, if the first housing and the second housing each hold the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, respectively, manufacturing tolerances of the first housing affect the position of the first conductive portion, and manufacturing tolerances of the second housing affect the position of the second conductive portion, resulting in a double effect of manufacturing tolerances. In contrast, in this configuration, the first housing holds both the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, thereby reducing the effect of manufacturing tolerances. Therefore, the connector of the present invention has excellent productivity.

[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 below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a wall panel as an attachment target. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a front view of the connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, a connector 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The connector 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 has a first housing 20 and a second housing 40 assembled together, and a collar 10 housed in the first housing 20 and a bus bar 30 housed in the second housing 40 fastened together, thereby electrically connecting the collar 10 and the bus bar 30.

[0012] For ease of explanation, the following definitions are used for the "front-rear direction," "up-down direction," "left-right direction," "front," "rear," "up," "down," "left," and "right" as shown in Figure 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 assembly direction of the first housing 20 and the second housing 40.

[0013] 2 and other figures, the connector 1 mainly includes a collar 10, a first housing 20 that accommodates the collar 10, a bus bar 30, a second housing 40 that accommodates the bus bar 30, a bolt 50 that fastens the collar 10 and the bus bar 30 together, and a shield cover 60 that is disposed outside the first housing 20 and the second housing 40. The configuration of each member that constitutes the connector 1 will be described below in order.

[0014] First, the collar 10 will be described. As shown in Figures 2 and 6, the metal collar 10 has a generally cylindrical shape extending in the front-rear direction. A female thread (not shown) is provided in the front-rear direction on the cylindrical inner wall surface that defines the hollow portion (fastening hole) of the collar 10. A pair of left and right protrusions 11 that protrude outward in the left-right direction are provided on both left and right ends of the annular front edge of the collar 10. The pair of left and right protrusions 11 are received in a pair of left and right grooves 23 (described later) of the first housing 20. Here, the collar 10 corresponds to the "first conductive portion" of the present invention, and the annular front end surface (flat surface) of the collar 10 corresponds to the "first contact portion" of the present invention.

[0015] Next, the first housing 20 will be described. The first housing 20 is a resin molded product, and as shown in FIG. 2 and other figures, integrally includes a pair of left and right tubular portions 21 and a connecting body 22 that connects the pair of left and right tubular portions 21. The connecting body 22 has an oval outer peripheral shape that is long in the left-right direction when viewed from the front-rear direction. The pair of left and right tubular portions 21 extend in the front-rear direction so as to be aligned with a gap in the left-right direction. The tubular portion 21 has a generally cylindrical shape and is open at both the front and rear ends. A pair of left and right grooves 23 are formed on the protruding end faces (front end faces) at both left and right ends of the approximately annular front edge of the tubular portion 21. The grooves 23 are recessed rearward and extend radially (left-right) from the front edge, dividing the front edge into upper and lower halves. A protrusion 24 that protrudes forward is integrally formed on the lower end of the approximately annular front end face of the tubular portion 21. 3, the protrusion 24 is specifically configured by a pair of left and right cantilevered elastic locking pieces 25 with locking protrusions 26 formed at their free ends. Here, the opening at the front edge of the tubular portion 21 corresponds to the "first opening" of the present invention, and the protrusion 24 corresponds to the "protrusion" of the present invention.

[0016] Next, the busbar 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the busbar 30 is a metal plate having a long, flat shape with a rectangular cross section. The outer periphery of the busbar 30 is covered with an insulating coating 31, except for one end (upper end) thereof. A bolt insertion hole 32 is formed in one end of the busbar 30, penetrating the busbar 30 in the thickness direction (front-rear direction) in correspondence with the hollow portion (fastening hole) of the collar 10. Furthermore, a through hole 33 is formed in one end of the busbar 30, penetrating the busbar 30 in the thickness direction (front-rear direction), in correspondence with the protrusion 24 of the first housing 20. Here, the one end of the busbar 30 corresponds to the "second contact portion" of the present invention, and the through hole 33 corresponds to the "inserted portion" of the present invention.

[0017] Next, the second housing 40 will be described. The second housing 40 is a resin-molded product. As shown in FIG. 2 and other figures, the second housing 40 integrally includes a pair of left and right tubular portions 41, a connecting main body 42 connecting the rear ends of the pair of left and right tubular portions 41, and a pair of left and right terminal-accommodating tubular portions 43 extending downward from respective front-rear positions of the pair of left and right tubular portions 41 adjacent to the front of the connecting main body 42. The pair of left and right tubular portions 41 extend in the front-rear direction so as to be aligned with a gap in the left-right direction, corresponding to the pair of left and right tubular portions 21 of the first housing 20. The tubular portions 41 have a substantially cylindrical shape and are open at both the front and rear ends. The connecting main body 42 has an outer periphery that is elongated in the left-right direction when viewed from the front-rear direction. The terminal-accommodating tubular portion 43 has a rectangular tubular shape so that the bus bar 30 can be inserted therein. The hollow portion of the terminal-accommodating tubular portion 43 communicates with the hollow portion of the tubular portion 41. The lower end of the terminal-accommodating tubular portion 43 is open. A casing recess 44 is formed on the rear end surface of the connecting body portion 42. The casing recess 44 has an oval shape that is elongated in the left-right direction when viewed from the rear and is recessed forward, corresponding to the outer circumferential shape of the connecting body portion 22 of the first housing 20 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The connecting body portion 22 of the first housing 20 is accommodated in the casing recess 44. The casing recess 44 communicates with the hollow portions of the pair of left and right tubular portions 41. An annular rubber packing 45 is attached to the outer circumferential surface of the connecting body portion 42 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). An annular rubber packing 46 is attached to the inner circumferential surface of the lower edge of the terminal accommodating tubular portion 43. The opening of the casing recess 44 corresponds to the "second opening" of the present invention.

[0018] Next, the shield cover 60 will be described. The shield cover 60 is made of a metal plate and includes a shield main body 61 having a generally rectangular box-like shape that opens rearward, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and a flange 62 extending downward from a lower edge extending in the left-right direction of the shield main body 61. The shield main body 61 has a shape that can accommodate the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 that are assembled together (see FIGS. 1, 5, and 6). A bolt insertion hole 63 that penetrates in the front-rear direction is formed in the left-right center of the flange 62. As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of left and right resin positioning protrusions 64 are fastened and fixed by bolts 65 to the inner surface (rear surface) of the rectangular flat front wall of the shield main body 61 so as to correspond to the pair of left and right tubular portions 41 of the second housing 40. The protrusions 64 have a shape that can be inserted into the tubular portions 41, and a rubber annular gasket 66 is attached to the outer peripheral side surface of the protrusions 64. The configuration of each member that constitutes the connector 1 has been described above.

[0019] Next, a description will be given of the procedure for assembling the connector 1. To assemble the connector 1, first, the collar 10 is housed in the first housing 20, and then the bus bar 30 is housed in the second housing 40. These steps can be performed in any order.

[0020] To accommodate the collar 10 in the first housing 20, the collar 10 is inserted from the front into each of the pair of left and right cylindrical portions 21 of the first housing 20. When the collar 10 is completely accommodated in the first housing 20, the collar 10 is held in the first housing 20, and the pair of left and right protrusions 11 of the collar 10 are accommodated in the pair of left and right grooves 23 of the cylindrical portion 21 of the first housing 20. As a result, the engagement between the protrusions 11 and the grooves 23 restricts the relative rotation of the collar 10 around the axis with respect to the cylindrical portion 21. The front end surface (first contact portion) of the collar 10 is exposed to the outside through an opening in the front edge of the cylindrical portion 21.

[0021] To accommodate the bus bar 30 in the second housing 40, the bus bar 30 is inserted from below into each of the pair of left and right terminal accommodating cylindrical portions 43 of the second housing 40. When the bus bar 30 is completely accommodated in the second housing 40, the bolt insertion hole 32 and the through hole 33 formed at one end of the bus bar 30 are positioned within the hollow portion of the cylindrical portion 41, and are exposed to the outside through the opening of the accommodating recess 44. A packing 46 attached to the inner peripheral surface of the lower edge of the terminal accommodating cylindrical portion 43 seals the annular gap between the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the bus bar 30, thereby providing a waterproof function.

[0022] Next, the first housing 20 is assembled to the second housing 40 from the rear side. This assembly proceeds such that the connecting body 22 is accommodated in the accommodating recess 44 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) and the protrusion 24 is inserted into the through-hole 33 (see FIG. 5). When the assembly of the first housing 20 to the second housing 40 is complete, the front end surface of the collar 10 and the rear end surface of one end of the bus bar 30 are in contact (see FIG. 6). Furthermore, the locking protrusion 26 of the protrusion 24 (elastic locking piece 25) inserted into the through-hole 33 is locked on the front-end opening edge of the through-hole 33, thereby holding the bus bar 30 in the first housing 20. As a result, the first housing 20 holds both the collar 10 and the bus bar 30. In a configuration in which the first housing 20 holds the collar 10 and the second housing 40 holds the bus bar 30, the manufacturing tolerances of the first housing 20 affect the position of the collar 10, and the manufacturing tolerances of the second housing 40 affect the position of the bus bar 30. As a result, the relative positions of the hollow portions (fastening holes) of the collar 10 and the bolt insertion holes 32 of the bus bar 30 are doubly affected by the manufacturing tolerances, which tends to result in relatively large misalignment between them. In contrast, in this example, as described above, the first housing 20 holds both the collar 10 and the bus bar 30, so that the relative positions of the hollow portions (fastening holes) of the collar 10 and the bolt insertion holes 32 of the bus bar 30 are only affected by the manufacturing tolerances of the first housing 20, thereby reducing misalignment between them. This facilitates the next step of fastening the collar 10 using the bolts 50.

[0023] Next, the collars 10 and the busbars 30 are fastened together using the bolts 50. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, for each of the pair of left and right collars 10, the male threads of the metal bolts 50 are inserted into the bolt insertion holes 32 of the busbars 30 and screwed with a predetermined torque into the female threads in the hollow portions of the collars 10. As a result, one end of the busbars 30 is pressed and clamped between the front end surface of the collars 10 and the bearing surface of the bolts 50, and the collars 10 and the busbars 30 are fastened together with the front end surface of the collars 10 and the rear end surface of one end of the busbars 30 in direct pressure contact. This completes the assembly of the connector 1, excluding the shield cover 60.

[0024] In order to assemble the shield cover 60 to the connector 1, which has been completely assembled except for the shield cover 60, the connector 1 is first attached to a flat metal wall plate 70, to which the connector 1 is to be attached (see FIGS. 5 and 6). Specifically, the connector 1 is attached to the wall plate 70 by inserting the connecting body portion 42 of the second housing 40 into a mounting hole 71 (see FIG. 2) that is provided in the wall plate 70 corresponding to the connecting body portion 42 and has an oval shape that is long in the left-right direction. When the connector 1 is completely attached to the wall plate 70, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a packing 45 attached to the outer peripheral surface of the connecting body portion 42 seals the annular gap between the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 71 in the wall plate 70, thereby providing a waterproof function. A housing 80 of the mating connector is attached to the back side (rear side) of the wall plate 70 so as to close the mounting hole 71 (see FIGS. 2, 5, and 6).

[0025] Next, the shield cover 60 is attached to the wall plate 70 so that the shield main body 61 of the shield cover 60 collectively covers the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 of the connector 1. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6 , the shield main body 61 is arranged to cover the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 with the pair of left and right protrusions 64 provided on the shield cover 60 inserted into the hollow portions at the front ends of the pair of left and right tubular portions 41 of the second housing 40, and bolts 67 (see Fig. 2 ) inserted into bolt insertion holes 63 provided in the flange portions 62 are screwed into female thread portions 72 (see Fig. 2 ) provided in the wall plate 70, thereby fastening and fixing the shield cover 60 to the wall plate 70. As a result, the shield main body 61 of the shield cover 60 is arranged outside the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 so as to surround the contact points between the collar 10 and the bus bar 30. Packing 66 attached to the outer peripheral surface of protrusion 64 provides a waterproof function by sealing the annular gap between the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of tubular portion 41. This completes the assembly of connector 1 shown in Figure 1, which functions as a so-called shielded connector.

[0026] <Actions and Effects> As described above, according to the connector 1 of this embodiment, when the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 are assembled, the protrusion 24 of the first housing 20 is inserted into and engaged with the through hole 33 of the bus bar 30, and the front end face of the collar 10 contacts one end of the bus bar 30. With this, the collar 10 and the bus bar 30 are fastened together with the bolt 50 to form an electrical connection. As a result, when the collar 10 and the bus bar 30 are fastened together, if the first housing 20 and the second housing 40 hold the collar 10 and the bus bar 30, respectively, the manufacturing tolerances of the first housing 20 affect the position of the collar 10, and the manufacturing tolerances of the second housing 40 affect the position of the bus bar 30, resulting in a double impact of the manufacturing tolerances. However, since the first housing 20 holds both the collar 10 and the bus bar 30, the impact of the manufacturing tolerances can be reduced. Therefore, the connector 1 of this embodiment has excellent productivity.

[0027] Furthermore, in the connector 1 according to this embodiment, the collar 10 has a cylindrical shape, the front end surface of the collar 10 is used as the first contact portion, and a fastener (i.e., the bolt 50) is screwed into the hollow portion of the collar 10. This allows the first housing 20 to be made smaller than when a nut is provided as a separate member.

[0028] <Other aspects> It should be noted that 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 modifications, improvements, etc. are possible as appropriate. Furthermore, the material, shape, dimensions, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary as long as they can achieve the present invention, and are not limited thereto.

[0029] Here, the features of the above-described embodiment of the connector 1 according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [3].

[0030] [1] A connector (1) comprising: a first conductive portion (10); a second conductive portion (30) electrically connected to the first conductive portion (10); a fastener (50) fastening the first conductive portion (10) and the second conductive portion (30); a first housing (20) accommodating the first conductive portion (10); and a second housing (40) accommodating the second conductive portion (30), The first housing (20) includes: a first opening (21) that exposes a first contact portion of the first conductive portion (10) and a protrusion (24) that protrudes toward the second housing (40); The second housing (40) includes: a second opening (44) that exposes a second contact portion of the second conductive portion (30) and an inserted portion (33) that is included in the second conductive portion (30) and has a shape that allows the protrusion (24) to be inserted and engaged therewith; The fastener (50) is the first housing (20) and the second housing (40) are assembled, the protrusion (24) is inserted into and engaged with the inserted portion (33), and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are in contact with each other, and the first conductive portion (10) and the second conductive portion (30) are fastened together. Connector(1).

[0031] According to the connector having the configuration [1] above, when the first housing and the second housing are assembled, the protrusion of the first housing is inserted into and engaged with the insertion portion of the second conductive portion, and the first contact portion of the first conductive portion and the second contact portion of the second conductive portion are in contact with each other, and the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are fastened with a fastener to be electrically connected. As a result, when fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, if the first housing and the second housing respectively held the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, manufacturing tolerances of the first housing would affect the position of the first conductive portion, and manufacturing tolerances of the second housing would affect the position of the second conductive portion, resulting in a double effect of manufacturing tolerances. In contrast, with this configuration, the first housing holds both the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion, thereby reducing the effect of manufacturing tolerances. Therefore, this connector has excellent productivity.

[0032] [2] The connector (1) described in [1] above, The device further includes a conductive cover (60) disposed outside the first housing (20) and the second housing (40) so as to surround a contact point between the first contact portion and the second contact portion. Connector(1).

[0033] According to the connector having the configuration [2] above, the above advantages can be obtained in a so-called shielded connector that has a conductive cover.

[0034] [3] In the connector (1) described in [1] above, The first conductive portion (10) The first conductive portion (10) has a cylindrical shape, and a cylindrical end portion of the first conductive portion (10) is the first contact portion, The second conductive portion (30) The second conductive portion (30) has a plate-like shape, and a plate surface portion of the second conductive portion (30) is the second contact portion, The fastener is a bolt (50) that passes through the second conductive portion (30) and is screwed into the hollow portion of the first conductive portion (10), thereby fastening the first conductive portion (10) and the second conductive portion (30) together with the first contact portion and the second contact portion in contact with each other; Connector(1).

[0035] According to the connector having the configuration [3] above, the first conductive part has a cylindrical shape, the cylindrical end of the first conductive part is used as the first contact part, and a fastener (i.e., a bolt) is screwed into the hollow part of the first conductive part. This allows the first housing to be made smaller than when a nut is provided as a separate member. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 connector 10 Collar (first conductive part) 20 First Housing 21 cylindrical portion (first opening) 24 Protrusion 30 Bus bar (second conductive part) 33 Through hole (inserted part) 40 Second Housing 44 Storage recess (second opening) 50 bolts (fasteners) 60 Shield cover (cover)

Claims

1. A connector comprising: a first conductive portion; a second conductive portion electrically connected to the first conductive portion; a fastener fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion; a first housing accommodating the first conductive portion; and a second housing accommodating the second conductive portion, The first housing includes: a first opening for exposing a first contact portion of the first conductive portion, and a protrusion protruding toward the second housing; The second housing includes: a second opening that exposes a second contact portion of the second conductive portion and an inserted portion that is of the second conductive portion and has a shape that allows the protrusion to be inserted and engaged therewith; The fastener is the first housing and the second housing are assembled, the protrusion is inserted into the insertion portion and engaged therewith, and the first contact portion and the second contact portion are in contact with each other, and the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion are fastened together. connector.

2. 2. The connector of claim 1, The device further includes a conductive cover disposed outside the first housing and the second housing so as to surround a contact point between the first contact portion and the second contact portion. connector.

3. 2. The connector according to claim 1, The first conductive portion is The first conductive portion has a cylindrical shape, and a cylindrical end portion of the first conductive portion is the first contact portion, The second conductive portion is The second conductive portion has a plate-like shape, and a plate surface portion of the second conductive portion is the second contact portion, The fastener is a bolt that passes through the second conductive portion and is screwed into the hollow portion of the first conductive portion, thereby fastening the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion together with the first contact portion and the second contact portion in contact with each other; connector.

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