JPH11204191A - Waterproof connection structure of automotive wire harness - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To enable use of a non-waterproof connector as a connector for connecting wire harnesses in a wet area of an automobile. A non-waterproof connector (14, 15) is connected to a terminal of a wire harness (10, 11), and one end of each of the wire harness terminals to be connected to the connector is fixed to a terminal of a wire group of the wire harness. Rubber covers 16, 18 accommodating a part of holders 17, 19 on the other end side
After attaching the connectors outwardly through the holder and coupling the connectors together, the connectors are housed in a holder protruding from the rubber cover, and the holders are mutually locked, so that a non-waterproof connector The joint is surrounded by a holder and a rubber cover.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connection structure for a wire harness for an automobile, and more particularly, to a non-waterproof connector that can be used as a connector used in a waterproof area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a wire harness routed in a wet area of an automobile, a waterproof connector is used as a connector for connecting electric wires. The waterproof connector usually has a waterproof outer cover part outside the housing provided with the terminal accommodating chamber, and further attaches a rubber ring to a fitting portion of the male and female connector housing, and a rubber stopper is attached to each electric wire. The rubber plug is attached to the inside of the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector.

In the waterproof connector having the above structure, a rubber ring is attached to the connector fitting portion and a rubber plug is attached to each electric wire, so that the connector becomes large and the operating force at the time of fitting the connector becomes large. There is a limit in achieving multipolarization. Therefore, when the number of electric wires connected via the connector is large, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a plurality of waterproof connectors C1 to C4 are used.

[0004] However, when a large number of waterproof connectors are used, there is a problem that the number of man-hours for connecting the connectors increases and the number of working steps is increased. In addition, the space occupied by these connectors increases. That is, in FIG. 7B, a large space indicated by oblique lines is required, but it is often difficult to secure a space for the vehicle.

[0005] Conventionally, regarding waterproofing of connectors,
JP-A-62-48778, JP-A-63-9092
No. 0 proposes a waterproof structure for a connector on a wire harness side connected to an electric connection box. That is,
In the waterproof structure described in the above publication, as shown in FIG. 8, a flexible waterproof cover 2 is put on the outside of the wire harness side connector 1 and the end of the wire harness, and the end of the cover 2 is attached to the electric connection box 3. It is inserted and locked between the peripheral wall 3a and the waterproof cylindrical guide 3b. In the waterproof structure described in the following gazette, as shown in FIG. 9, the connector connecting portion 5 on the wire harness side is accommodated in a cover case 5 that covers the electric connection box 4.

[0006]

The connector waterproof structure disclosed in the above-mentioned conventional publication relates to a connector connected to an electric connection box or a connector connected near the electric connection box. Cannot be applied when it is necessary to waterproof the joint between the connectors attached to the terminals of the wire harness at a remote position. In a wet area of an automobile, the connectors of the wire harness terminals are often connected to each other. In such a case, the above-described waterproof type connectors must be connected to each other, and the above-described problem occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide a waterproof connection portion of a wire harness terminal without using a waterproof type connector.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a non-waterproof connector is connected to a wire harness terminal, and one end is connected to each wire harness terminal to be connected to the connector. Attach a rubber cover that accommodates a part of the holder on the other end side while attaching to the terminal of the wire group of the above, and let the connectors project outward through the holder to connect the connectors together, and then the holder that projects from the rubber cover The present invention provides a waterproof connection structure for a wire harness for automobiles, in which a connector is accommodated in a housing and the holders are mutually locked to surround a non-waterproof connector coupling portion with a holder and a rubber cover.

With the above structure, the joint of the non-waterproof connector is completely surrounded by the holder and the rubber cover.
Waterproofing can be ensured. In addition, since a non-waterproof connector is used, even if the connector is multi-pole and large, the operating force required for the connection can be reduced. Therefore, in the case where the conventional waterproof connector is used, the connector which is divided into a plurality of connectors and connected by one connector is sufficient, so that the space for the vehicle can be reduced correspondingly.

More specifically, each of the holders has a rectangular frame shape fitted to the connector, a seal ring is attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof, and a locking projection is provided on an outer peripheral surface thereof.
The holder is inserted into the locking holes provided in each rubber cover and detachably locked and attached to the rubber cover, and a small-diameter part is protruded into one holder to make it male, and the other female holder is made to have a small diameter. The locking portions projecting from one outer peripheral surface of the pair of holders are engaged with the locking frames projecting from the outer peripheral surface of the other holder.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 10 and 11 denote wire harnesses to be routed in a wet area of an automobile, and a wire group W constituting the wire harnesses 10 and 11 is covered with Gorgate tubes 12 and 13, respectively. Non-waterproof connectors 14 and 15 that are connected to each other are connected to terminals of the wire groups W1 and W2 of the wire harnesses 10 and 11, respectively. The non-waterproof type connector does not have a waterproof outer cover in the housing of the connector, and does not have a seal rubber attached to the mutual fitting portion of the housing, and is inserted into each terminal accommodating chamber in the housing. Refers to a connector with no rubber stopper attached to the electric wire.

A rubber cover 16 and a holder 17 are attached to the end of the wire harness 10, while a rubber cover 18 and a holder 19 are attached to the end of the wire harness 11, and the connectors 14 and 15 are attached to the holder 1.
7 and 19 are accommodated.

The pair of rubber covers 16 and 18 have the same shape, and have a box-shaped main body 16a, one end of which is open.
8a is provided with reduced diameter portions 16b and 18b on the other end side, and has a shape in which cylindrical portions 16c and 18c are connected to the reduced diameter portion.
A locking hole 16 is provided at the center of each of the four sides of the body portions 16a and 18a.
d and 18d are provided. The rubber cover 16 has a cylindrical portion 1.
6c is pushed open and attached from the terminal side of the wire harness 10, the cylindrical portion 16c is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the corrugated tube 12, and is fixed with a tape T. Similarly, a rubber cover 18 is attached to the wire harness 11.

The pair of holders 17 and 19 are resin molded products made of nylon, and have substantially the same shape. That is, it has a rectangular frame shape to be fitted to the connectors 14 and 15 and seal rings 20 and 21 are attached to the inner peripheral surface thereof, and locking projections 17a and 19a are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the four sides. A locking hole 16d provided in 18;
18d, and is detachably locked and attached.

A small-diameter portion 17b is attached to one of the holders 17.
And the other holder 19 is used as a female holder, and the end face 17
c and 19c are in contact with each other. Further, a locking piece 17 d is projected from the outer peripheral surface of the holder 17, and a locking frame 19 d is projected from the outer peripheral surface of the holder 19.
The holders 17 and 19 are locked by inserting and locking d in the locking frame 19d. In a state where the holder is locked and attached to the rubber cover, the base end sides of the holders 17 and 19 are surrounded by rubber covers 16 and 18, and the front end side is exposed to the outside. And the locking frame 19d.

When wiring the wire harnesses 10 and 11 to a wet location of a vehicle, first, as shown in FIG. 1, rubber covers 16 and 18 fixed to the wire harnesses 10 and 11 are used.
, The wire group W1 connected to the connector 14 at the tip from the holder 17 is projected, and the wire group W2 connected to the connector 13 at the tip from the holder 19 is projected. In this state, the connectors 14 and 15 are fitted and connected. At this time, the connectors 14 and 15 are non-waterproof even if they are large, so that they can be easily fitted.

Next, the rubber covers 16 and 1
8 is pulled out to the tip side, and the connector 1 is
4. The connector 15 is accommodated in the holder 19 and the holder 1
The locking piece 17d of No. 7 is inserted and locked into the locking frame of the holder 19 and locked.

The connector connecting portion in the state shown in FIG. 2 is completely surrounded by the holders 17 and 19 and the rubber covers 16 and 18, and there is no possibility that the connectors 14 and 15 will be flooded.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the connector connecting portion is completely surrounded by the holder and the rubber cover, a non-waterproof connector can be used at the wet location. Compared to the waterproof connector, the non-waterproof connector does not have the same size as the waterproof connector and requires less operating force, even if the number of poles connected to the electric wire is larger. The wire harnesses can be connected by one connector connection.

As described above, since the number of connectors to be connected can be reduced, the number of connection work steps can be reduced, and work efficiency can be increased. Further, the present invention has various advantages such as a reduction in a space for mounting the connector coupling portion on the vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a perspective view before connector connection.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view when a connector is connected.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a rubber cover and a holder to be attached to a connector coupling portion.

FIG. 4 shows one holder, (A) is a front view,
(B) is a side view.

FIG. 5 shows the other holder, (A) is a front view,
(B) is a side view.

FIG. 6 shows a rubber cover, (A) is a side view, (B)
Is a front view.

FIG. 7A is a schematic view showing a conventional connector connecting portion, and FIG. 7B is a schematic view showing a vehicle-mounted space as viewed from the Z direction in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 11 Wire harness 14, 15 Non-waterproof connector 16, 18 Rubber cover 17, 19 Holder

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A non-waterproof connector is connected to a wire harness terminal, and one end of each of the wire harness terminals to be connected to the connector is fixed to a terminal of a wire group of the wire harness and a holder of the other end is connected to a wire harness terminal. Attach a rubber cover that partially accommodates it, project the connector outward through the holder, connect the connectors together, then house the connector in the holder that protrudes from the rubber cover and lock the holders together. And a non-waterproof connector connecting portion is surrounded by a holder and a rubber cover. 2. Each of the holders has a rectangular frame shape fitted externally to the connector, a seal ring is attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof, and a locking projection is provided on an outer peripheral surface thereof. Inserting the holder into the hole and detachably locking the holder to the rubber cover and attaching it, and projecting a small diameter part to one holder to make it male, and fitting the small diameter part into the other female holder, The waterproof connection structure of a wire harness for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein a locking piece protruding from one outer peripheral surface of the holder is locked to a locking frame protruding from an outer peripheral surface of the other holder.