Connector device

Abstract

This connector device (1) comprises a device (10) and a connector (70). The device (10) has a first terminal (20), a first connector housing (30), an electrical connection box (40), and a housing (60) that accommodates the first connector housing (30) and the electrical connection box (40). The connector (70) has a second terminal (71) connected to the first terminal (20), and a second connector housing (72). One among the first terminal (20) and the second terminal (71) is a female terminal, and the other is a male terminal. The first connector housing (30) has a first housing body (31), a first flange (32), and a first through-hole (33) that passes through the first flange (32). The electrical connection box (40) has a second through-hole (43). The housing (60) has protrusion parts (63) that are inserted into the first through-hole (33) and the second through-hole (43).

Description

Connector device

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a connector device.

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a connector is connected to a battery pack housing, in which bolt fastening holes are provided in the connector terminals, and an external connection part inside the housing is fastened to the connector terminals with bolts from inside the housing.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-97027

[0004] The configuration of Patent Document 1 is inconvenient because it requires bolts to be fastened from the inside of the housing when connecting the connector.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide a technique that can facilitate the task of connecting a terminal of an external connector to a terminal provided inside a housing.

[0006] The connector device of the present disclosure comprises: a device having a first terminal, a first connector housing that accommodates the first terminal, an electrical junction box to which the first connector housing is attached, and a housing that accommodates the first connector housing and the electrical junction box; and a connector having a second terminal that is connected to the first terminal through a connection hole formed in the housing, and a second connector housing that accommodates the second terminal, wherein one of the first terminal and the second terminal is a female terminal, and the other of the first terminal and the second terminal is a male terminal, the first connector housing has a first housing main body that accommodates the first terminal, a first flange provided on the outer periphery of the first housing main body, and a first through hole that penetrates the first flange, the electrical junction box has a second through hole, and the housing has a protrusion that is inserted into the first through hole and the second through hole.

[0007] According to the technique of the present disclosure, it is possible to facilitate the operation of connecting the terminals of an external connector to the terminals provided inside the housing.

[0008] 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views showing a connector device of a first embodiment in a connected state, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a connector device of a first embodiment in a state before connection.

[0009] [Description of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure] First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described.

[0010] [1] A connector device comprising: a device having a first terminal, a first connector housing that accommodates the first terminal, an electrical junction box to which the first connector housing is attached, and a housing that accommodates the first connector housing and the electrical junction box; and a connector having a second terminal that is connected to the first terminal through a connection hole formed in the housing, and a second connector housing that accommodates the second terminal, wherein one of the first terminal and the second terminal is a female terminal, and the other of the first terminal and the second terminal is a male terminal, the first connector housing has a first housing main body that accommodates the first terminal, a first flange provided on the outer periphery of the first housing main body, and a first through hole that penetrates the first flange, the electrical junction box has a second through hole, and the housing has a protrusion that is inserted into the first through hole and the second through hole.

[0011] In the connector device, a second terminal of the connector is connected to a first terminal provided on the device. One of the first and second terminals is a female terminal, and the other is a male terminal. This allows an operator to easily connect the second terminal to the first terminal from outside the housing. Furthermore, a protrusion of the housing is inserted into the first through-hole of the first connector housing and the second through-hole of the electrical junction box. This allows the relative positional relationship between the first connector housing, the electrical junction box, and the housing to be determined.

[0012] [2] The connector device according to [1], wherein the first connector housing and the electrical junction box are fixed to the housing using bolts.

[0013] In a configuration in which the first connector housing and the electrical junction box are fixed to the housing using bolts, the following problem is anticipated. When attempting to bolt the first connector housing and the electrical junction box to the housing in order, the first bolted component may interfere with the second component to be bolted, causing the bolted position of the second component to be bolted to be misaligned with the bolted position of the housing. However, in the above-mentioned connector device, as described above, the relative positions of the first connector housing, the electrical junction box, and the housing are determined by the protrusion of the housing. Therefore, the worker can resolve the above problem by determining these relative positions before bolting the first connector housing and the electrical junction box to the housing.

[0014] [3] The connector device according to [1] or [2], wherein the first terminal is fixed to the electrical junction box directly or via a separate member.

[0015] As described above, the protrusion of the housing determines the relative positions of the first connector housing, the electrical junction box, and the housing. Furthermore, the first terminal is fixed to the electrical junction box directly or via a separate member. In other words, the connector device can also determine the relative positions of the first terminal, the first connector housing, and the housing.

[0016] [4] The connector device according to [3], wherein the second connector housing is fixed to the case using a bolt.

[0017] As described above, the connector device can also determine the relative positional relationship between the first terminal and the housing, which makes it easier to prevent misalignment of the bolt fastening positions of the second connector housing and the bolt fastening positions of the housing after connecting the second terminal to the first terminal.

[0018] [Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure] 1. First embodiment 1-1. Configuration of connector device The connector device 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 includes a device 10 and a connector 70. The device 10 is, for example, a battery pack mounted on a vehicle. The connector 70 is connected to the device 10. Hereinafter, the direction in which the connector 70 is connected to the device 10 is referred to as the connection direction.

[0019] The device 10 includes a first terminal 20 , a first connector housing 30 , an electrical junction box 40 , a fixing member 50 , and a housing 60 .

[0020] The first terminal 20 is a female terminal. The first terminal 20 is conductive. The first terminal 20 is made of, for example, metal. The first terminal 20 is housed in a housing 60. The first terminal 20 is arranged facing the outside of the housing 60 through a connection hole 61 formed in the housing 60.

[0021] The first connector housing 30 accommodates the first terminals 20. The first connector housing 30 has insulating properties. The first connector housing 30 is made of, for example, resin. The first connector housing 30 has a first housing main body 31 that accommodates the first terminals 20, a first flange 32 provided on the outer periphery of the first housing main body 31, and a first through hole 33 that penetrates the first flange 32. The first through hole 33 penetrates the first flange 32 in the connection direction.

[0022] The electrical junction box 40 has insulating properties. The electrical junction box 40 is made of, for example, resin. The electrical junction box 40 has mounting holes 41. The first connector housing 30 is attached to the mounting holes 41. The electrical junction box 40 has a mounting wall 42 in which the mounting holes 41 are provided. The electrical junction box 40 has second through holes 43. The second through holes 43 are formed in the mounting wall 42. The second through holes 43 penetrate in the connection direction. The second through holes 43 are positioned so as to overlap with the first through holes 33 in the penetration direction.

[0023] The fixing member 50 fixes the first terminal 20 to the electrical junction box 40. The fixing member 50 has a bus bar 51 and an electrical component 52. The electrical component 52 is, for example, a relay or a fuse. The fixing member 50 is fixed to the bottom wall 44 of the electrical junction box 40. The bottom wall 44 is provided on the opposite side of the electrical junction box 40 from the mounting wall 42.

[0024] The housing 60 has insulating properties. The housing 60 is made of, for example, resin. The housing 60 houses the first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40. The housing 60 has a connection hole 61. The connection hole 61 is formed in a housing-side mounting wall portion 62 of the housing 60. The housing-side mounting wall portion 62 is arranged opposite the mounting wall portion 42 of the electrical junction box 40. The housing 60 has a protrusion 63. The protrusion 63 is provided on the housing-side mounting wall portion 62. The protrusion 63 is configured to protrude toward the inside of the housing 60. The protrusion 63 is inserted into the first through hole 33 and the second through hole 43.

[0025] The first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40 are fixed to the housing 60 using bolts 80. Specifically, a plurality of bolt fastening portions 64 are provided on the housing-side mounting wall 62 of the housing 60. A bolt insertion hole 81 is formed in the first flange 32 of the first connector housing 30 and the mounting wall 42 of the electrical junction box 40 at a position corresponding to at least one of the bolt fastening portions 64. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the bolt insertion hole 81 of the first connector housing 30 is positioned so as to overlap with the bolt insertion hole 81 of the electrical junction box 40 in the penetration direction. However, the bolt insertion hole 81 of the first connector housing 30 may be positioned so as not to overlap with the bolt insertion hole 81 of the electrical junction box 40 in the penetration direction. The first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40 are fixed to the housing 60 by inserting the bolts 80 into the bolt insertion holes 81 and fastening them to the bolt fastening portions 64.

[0026] The connector 70 has a second terminal 71 and a second connector housing 72. The second terminal 71 is a male terminal. The second terminal 71 is connected to the first terminal 20 through a connection hole 61 formed in the housing 60. The second terminal 71 is conductive. The second terminal 71 is made of, for example, metal. The second connector housing 72 accommodates the second terminal 71. The second connector housing 72 is insulating. The second connector housing 72 is made of, for example, resin. The second connector housing 72 has a second housing main body 73 that accommodates the second terminal 71 and a second flange 74 provided on the outer periphery of the second housing main body 73.

[0027] The second connector housing 72 is fixed to the housing 60 using bolts 80. Specifically, a plurality of bolt fastening portions 65 are provided on the housing-side mounting wall portion 62 of the housing 60. Bolt insertion holes 82 are formed in the second flange 74 of the second connector housing 72 at positions corresponding to the bolt fastening portions 65. The second connector housing 72 is fixed to the housing 60 by inserting the bolts 80 into the bolt insertion holes 82 and fastening them to the bolt fastening portions 65.

[0028] 1-2. Effects In the connector device 1, the second terminal 71 of the connector 70 is connected to the first terminal 20 provided on the device 10. The first terminal 20 is a female terminal, and the second terminal 71 is a male terminal. Therefore, an operator can easily connect the second terminal 71 to the first terminal 20 from outside the housing 60.

[0029] Moreover, the protrusion 63 of the housing 60 is inserted into the first through-hole 33 of the first connector housing 30 and the second through-hole 43 of the electrical junction box 40. Therefore, the relative positional relationship between the first connector housing 30, the electrical junction box 40, and the housing 60 can be determined.

[0030] The following problem is anticipated in a configuration in which the first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40 are fixed to the housing 60 using the bolts 80: When attempting to bolt the first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40 to the housing 60 in that order, the component fastened with the bolts first may interfere with the component to be bolted later, causing the bolt fastening position of the component to be bolted later (specifically, bolt insertion hole 81) to be misaligned from the bolt fastening position of the housing 60 (specifically, bolt fastening portion 64).

[0031] However, in the connector device 1, as described above, the relative positional relationship between the first connector housing 30, the electrical junction box 40, and the housing 60 is determined by the protrusion 63 of the housing 60. Therefore, the worker can solve the above problem by determining the relative positional relationship and then fastening the first connector housing 30 and the electrical junction box 40 to the housing 60 with bolts.

[0032] As described above, the protrusion 63 of the housing 60 determines the relative positional relationship between the first connector housing 30, the electric junction box 40, and the housing 60. Furthermore, the first terminal 20 is fixed to the electric junction box 40 via the fixing member 50. In other words, according to the connector device 1, the relative positional relationship between the first terminal 20, the first connector housing 30, and the housing 60 can also be determined.

[0033] As described above, connector device 1 can also determine the relative positional relationship between first terminal 20 and housing 60. Therefore, connector device 1 makes it easy to prevent misalignment of the bolt fastening positions of second connector housing 72 (specifically, bolt insertion holes 82) with the bolt fastening positions of housing 60 (specifically, bolt fastening portions 65) after connecting second terminals 71 to first terminals 20.

[0034] <Other Embodiments> The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above and in the drawings. For example, any combination of features of the above-described or below-described embodiments is possible within a range that does not contradict. Furthermore, any feature of the above-described or below-described embodiments may be omitted unless explicitly stated as essential. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments may be modified as follows.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the first terminal 20 is fixed to the electrical junction box 40 via the fixing member 50. However, the first terminal 20 may be fixed directly to the electrical junction box 40.

[0036] In the above embodiment, the first terminal 20 is a female terminal and the second terminal 71 is a male terminal. However, the first terminal 20 may be a male terminal and the second terminal 71 may be a female terminal.

[0037] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, but is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

[0038] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Connector device 10...Device 20...First terminal 30...First connector housing 31...First housing body 32...First flange 33...First through hole 40...Electrical junction box 41...Mounting hole portion 42...Mounting wall portion 43...Second through hole 44...Bottom wall portion 50...Fixing member 51...Bus bar 52...Electrical component 60...Housing 61...Connection hole 62...Housing-side mounting wall portion 63...Protrusion 64...Bolt fastening portion 65...Bolt fastening portion 70...Connector 71...Second terminal 72...Second connector housing 73...Second housing body 74...Second flange 80...Bolt 81...Bolt insertion hole 82...Bolt insertion hole

Claims

1. A connector device comprising: a device having a first terminal, a first connector housing that accommodates the first terminal, an electric junction box to which the first connector housing is attached, and a housing that accommodates the first connector housing and the electric junction box; and a connector having a second terminal that is connected to the first terminal through a connection hole formed in the housing, and a second connector housing that accommodates the second terminal, wherein one of the first terminal and the second terminal is a female terminal, and the other of the first terminal and the second terminal is a male terminal, the first connector housing has a first housing body that accommodates the first terminal, a first flange provided on the outer periphery of the first housing body, and a first through hole that penetrates the first flange, the electric junction box has a second through hole, and the housing has protrusions that are inserted into the first through hole and the second through hole.

2. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the first connector housing and the electrical junction box are fixed to the case using bolts.

3. A connector device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first terminal is fixed to the electrical junction box directly or via a separate member.

4. The connector device according to claim 3, wherein the second connector housing is fixed to the case using bolts.

Images