Waterproof Connector

Abstract

To provide a waterproof connector which can be manufactured at low cost. [Solution] The waterproof connector comprises a plurality of contacts 12 held by an insulating housing 11. The insulating housing has a mating opening 110 that mates with a mating connector in a first direction D1. The insulating housing includes a main body 111 and a flange 112 located on the front end side of the main body. The flange has a front and a rear surface that face each other in the first direction. A first fixing means 1121 and a second fixing means 1122 are integrally formed on the front and rear surfaces of the flange, respectively. The mating connector is fixed to the front surface of the flange via the first fixing means. The flange is fixed to a plate member by the second fixing means.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a waterproof connector. [Background technology]

[0002] Chinese invention patent CN103326176A (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Document 1") discloses a waterproof sealed electrical connector. In order to improve the torque that the nut can withstand or to improve the anti-rotation ability, the waterproof sealed electrical connector of Patent Document 1 adopts a recessed nut. Although the recessed nut has good anti-rotation ability and can withstand larger torque, the connector with the recessed nut requires more parts and needs to be produced through additional manufacturing steps. This increases the manufacturing cost and manufacturing time of the connector. Summary of the Invention

[0003] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT One object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector which can be manufactured at low cost.

[0004] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector in which fastening means, particularly threaded holes or threaded rods, are integrally formed with the insulating housing.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof connector which has multiple waterproof structures and can greatly improve waterproof performance.

[0006] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waterproof connector including an insulating housing and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating housing, the insulating housing having a mating opening for mating with a mating connector in a first direction, the insulating housing including a main body portion and a flange portion located on a front end side of the main body portion, The flange portion has a front and a rear surface facing each other in the first direction, and a first fixing means and a second fixing means are integrally formed on the front and rear surfaces of the flange portion, respectively, the first fixing means and the second fixing means extend along the first direction, the mating connector is fixed to the front surface of the flange portion via the first fixing means, and the flange portion is fixed to a plate member by the second fixing means.

[0007] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the first fixing means comprises a pair of screw holes or a pair of screw rods.

[0008] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the second fixing means comprises a pair of threaded rods or a pair of threaded holes.

[0009] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the first fixing means includes two screw holes, and the second fixing means includes two screw rods.

[0010] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the two screw holes are located on both sides of the mating opening.

[0011] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the plate member is a part of the housing.

[0012] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the first and second fixing means are integrally formed with the insulating housing by injection molding.

[0013] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the waterproof connector further includes a seal ring, and an annular groove is formed on the front surface of the flange portion, and the seal ring is disposed in the annular groove.

[0014] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the waterproof connector further includes a first waterproof gasket, which is sandwiched between the rear surface of the flange portion and the plate member.

[0015] In the waterproof connector of the present invention, the waterproof connector further includes a second waterproof gasket, the second waterproof gasket is disposed within the mating opening, and when the waterproof connector and the mating connector are mated, an end of the mating portion of the mating connector abuts against the second waterproof gasket.

[0016] Those skilled in the art will be able to fully understand the technical features, other objects and advantages of the present invention by referring to the specification and accompanying drawings of the present invention. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the waterproof connector assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to a plate member; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a waterproof connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an insulating housing of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a front view showing an insulating housing of a waterproof connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the insulating housing of the waterproof connector according to the embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 8] Cross-sectional view along line AA in Figure 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, a waterproof connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, similar components or components having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals. The drawings are not drawn to actual scale.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a waterproof connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a plate member. The waterproof connector assembly is generally designated by the reference numeral 1. The waterproof connector assembly 1 is implemented as a wire-to-board connector assembly, and includes a board-side waterproof connector 10 and a cable-side waterproof connector 20. The waterproof connector assembly 1 is attached to a plate member 30. The plate member 30 is a part of a housing. An electronic device is housed within the housing. The waterproof connector assembly 1 is used to transmit signals and / or power between the electronic device housed in the housing and an electronic device outside the housing.

[0020] 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a waterproof connector assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The board-side waterproof connector 10 is fixed to the plate member 30 by a first fixing means described below. The fitting portion of the cable-side waterproof connector 20 is inserted into a fitting opening of the board-side waterproof connector 10 and fixed to the board-side waterproof connector 10 by a second fixing means described below. For waterproofing, a first waterproof gasket 14 is disposed between the plate member 30 and the board-side waterproof connector 10, and a second waterproof gasket 15 and a seal ring 16 are disposed between the board-side waterproof connector 10 and the cable-side waterproof connector 20.

[0021] Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the board-side waterproof connector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the board-side waterproof connector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Components of the board-side waterproof connector 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. The board-side waterproof connector 10 includes an insulating housing 11, a plurality of contacts 12 held by the insulating housing 11, and two fitting nails 13 fixed to the bottom surface of the insulating housing 11.

[0022] The insulating housing 11 is manufactured from an insulating resin or polymer material by injection molding. The insulating housing 11 has a mating opening 110. The mating portion of the cable-side waterproof connector 20, which is the mating connector, can be inserted into the mating opening 110 along a first direction D1 (mating direction). The contacts 12 are manufactured from copper or a copper alloy. The contacts 12 are arranged in two rows along a second direction D2 (width direction) perpendicular to the first direction D1. The two rows of contacts 12 are spaced apart from each other in a third direction D3 (height direction). The third direction D3 is perpendicular to the first direction D1 and the second direction D2. The contact portions of the contacts 12 are located within the mating opening 110. When the mating portion of the cable-side waterproof connector 20 is inserted into the mating opening 110, the contact portions of the contacts 12 are in electrical contact with the contacts of the cable-side waterproof connector 20. The fitting nail 13 is manufactured from copper, a copper alloy, or stainless steel.

[0023] Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the insulating housing 11. Fig. 6 is a front view showing the insulating housing 11. Fig. 7 is a rear view showing the insulating housing 11. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 6. The configuration of the insulating housing 11 will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 8.

[0024] The insulating housing 11 includes a main body 111 and a flange 112 formed at the front end of the main body 111. The flange 112 has a front surface and a rear surface facing each other. Two screw holes 1121 having female threads as a first fixing means are formed in the front surface of the flange 112. The two screw holes 1121 are located on both sides of the fitting opening 110, respectively. Two screw rods 1122 having male threads as a second fixing means are formed in the rear surface of the flange 112. The screw holes 1121 and the screw rod 1122 extend along the first direction D1. In other words, the central axes of the screw holes 1121 and the screw rod 1122 are parallel to the first direction D1.

[0025] Two fitting nail holding holes 1110 are formed in the bottom surface of the insulating housing 11. The fitting nails 13 are press-fitted into the fitting nail holding holes 1110, and thus the fitting nails 13 are held by the insulating housing 11. The fitting nails 13 and the soldered portions of the contacts 12 are soldered to a circuit board (not shown), thereby mounting the board-side waterproof connector 10 to the circuit board.

[0026] The board-side waterproof connector 10 is watertightly fixed to the plate member 30 by the threaded rod 1122 and a nut 17 (see Figure 2) that engages with the threaded rod 1122, so that the first waterproof gasket 14 is sandwiched between the rear surface of the flange portion 112 and the plate member 30.

[0027] An annular groove 1123 is formed on the front surface of the flange portion 112 along the outer shape of the flange portion 112. The seal ring 16 is disposed in the annular groove 1123. A second waterproof gasket 15 is disposed in the fitting opening 110 of the insulating housing 11. When the board-side waterproof connector 10 and the cable-side waterproof connector 20 are fitted together as shown in FIG. 1, the seal ring 16 is sandwiched between the flange portion 112 of the insulating housing 11 of the board-side waterproof connector 10 and the flange portion of the insulating housing of the cable-side waterproof connector 20. An end of the fitting portion of the cable-side waterproof connector 20 abuts against the second waterproof gasket 15 disposed in the fitting opening 110. The cable-side waterproof connector 20 is fixed to the board-side waterproof connector 10 by the screw hole 1121 and the screw 21 engaging with the screw hole 1121. Specifically, the threaded shaft of the screw 21 passes through the O-ring 22 and a through hole formed in the flange portion of the cable-side waterproof connector 20, and is screwed into a screw hole 1121 formed in the front surface of the flange portion 112 of the insulating housing 11. As a result, the cable-side waterproof connector 20 is fixed to the board-side waterproof connector 10 in a watertight manner.

[0028] By using a plurality of waterproof structures, water is prevented from entering from one side of the plate member 30 through the board-side waterproof connector 10 and the cable-side waterproof connector 20 to the other side of the plate member 30 .

[0029] The advantage of the board-side waterproof connector of the present invention is that the first and second fixing means are integrally formed on the flange of the insulating housing by injection molding. On the one hand, the number of parts required for assembling the connector can be reduced. On the other hand, the manufacturing process of embedding nuts in the insulating housing as in the prior art can be omitted. Therefore, the board-side waterproof connector of the present invention can suppress the increase in the manufacturing cost and manufacturing time of the connector. This is very advantageous in terms of cost and time.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the first fastening means is implemented as a screw hole and the second fastening means is implemented as a threaded rod, but the waterproof connector of the present invention is not limited thereto. The first fastening means may be implemented as a threaded rod and the second fastening means may be implemented as a screw hole. Alternatively, both the first fastening means and the second fastening means may be implemented as a screw hole or a threaded rod.

[0031] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art may make various modifications as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but is subject to the scope of the utility model registration claims. In other words, equivalent changes and modifications that do not depart from the scope of the utility model registration claims of the present invention shall remain within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1 Waterproof connector assembly 10. Waterproof connector on board side 11 Insulating housing 110 Fitting opening 111: Main body 1110 Fitting nail retaining hole 112 Flange part 1121 Screw hole 1122 Threaded rod 1123 Circular groove 12 Contact 13 Fitting Nail 14 First waterproof gasket 15 Second waterproof gasket 16 Seal ring 17 Nut 20 Cable side waterproof connector 21 Screw 22 O-ring 30 Plate members D1 1st direction D2 2nd direction D3 Third direction

Claims

1. 1. A waterproof connector comprising an insulating housing and a plurality of contacts held by the insulating housing, The insulating housing has a mating opening that mates with a mating connector in a first direction, and the insulating housing includes a main body and a flange portion located on a front end side of the main body. A waterproof connector, wherein the flange portion has a front surface and a rear surface facing each other in the first direction, a first fixing means and a second fixing means are integrally formed on the front surface and the rear surface of the flange portion, respectively, the first fixing means and the second fixing means extend along the first direction, the mating connector is fixed to the front surface of the flange portion via the first fixing means, and the flange portion is fixed to a plate member by the second fixing means.

2. 2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the first fixing means includes a pair of screw holes or a pair of screw rods.

3. 2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the second fixing means includes a pair of threaded rods or a pair of threaded holes.

4. 2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the first fastening means includes two screw holes and the second fastening means includes two screw rods.

5. 5. The waterproof connector according to claim 4, wherein the two screw holes are located on both sides of the fitting opening.

6. 2. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the plate member is a part of a housing.

7. 5. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein the first fixing means and the second fixing means are integrally formed with the insulating housing by injection molding.

8. The waterproof connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a seal ring, an annular groove formed on the front surface of the flange portion, and the seal ring disposed in the annular groove.

9. 5. The waterproof connector according to claim 1, further comprising a first waterproof gasket, the first waterproof gasket being sandwiched between the rear surface of the flange portion and the plate member.

10. The waterproof connector as described in claim 8, characterized in that the waterproof connector further includes a second waterproof gasket, the second waterproof gasket is disposed within the mating opening, and when the waterproof connector and the mating connector are mated, an end of the mating portion of the mating connector abuts against the second waterproof gasket.

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