JP7072349B2 - Connector retention structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a holding structure of a connector used for an electrical component mounted on a machine such as an automobile, for example.

Conventionally, in vehicles such as automobiles, various electrical components are arranged, and wire harnesses for interconnecting the electrical components are arranged inside and outside the vehicle, resulting in an increase in the number of electrical components and the inside of the vehicle. Due to the limitation of the arrangement space, the layout of the wiring route has become a problem.

As an example of a technique for dealing with such a problem, in Patent Document 1, a connector holder having a housing holding portion for a connector used for connection between wire harnesses and having a bracket fixed to a vehicle body is provided inside the connector holder. A configuration is disclosed in which a JB accommodating portion for accommodating a small junction box is provided and the small junction box is locked in a connector holder.

On the other hand, there are various wiring points for wire harnesses in the vehicle, such as the vehicle interior and engine room. There is a fear. As a technique for waterproofing a connector, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which a rubber ring for removing a seal between a female connector and a male connector to be connected is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the female connector.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-45882 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-150056

However, the above-mentioned conventional technique has the following problems. That is, as described above, as the number of electrical components arranged in the vehicle increases, the number of wire harnesses, connectors, etc. also increases, but the configuration in which the connectors are individually waterproof leads to an increase in manufacturing cost. It was supposed to be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a connector holding structure capable of reducing the influence of water on a connector arranged in a vehicle or the like at low cost. The purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is a pair of males and females detached along a substantially vertical direction, each connected to a wiring and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the substantially vertical direction. A retainer capable of holding a plurality of one of the connectors located above at least substantially in the vertical direction, comprising a retainer disposed inside the vehicle , wherein the retainer is the holder. The top plate portion located above the plurality of connectors, the side wall portion covering only a part of the side surface of the plurality of connectors, and the substantially vertical direction from the connection position between the plurality of connectors and the wiring. The portion of the holding body that is not covered by the side wall portion of the holding body is other than the part of the side surface of the plurality of connectors. The male and female connectors are arranged along the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, and the top plate portion is formed by integrating one of the plurality of arranged connectors from above. It is a holding structure of the connector that shields it .

Further, as another aspect of the present invention, the holding body is a shielding member located above the connection position between the one connector and the wiring along the substantially vertical direction and covering at least the connection position. It may be further possessed.

Further, as another aspect of the present invention, the holding body holds the one connector of the pair of male and female connectors by arranging a plurality of connectors in a direction orthogonal to a substantially vertical direction, and holds the plurality of connectors. It may be arranged according to the arrangement direction of the connectors of the above, and may have a partition wall that sandwiches each of the plurality of the connectors.

The present invention as described above has the effect of making it possible to reduce the influence of water on the connector at low cost.

A perspective view showing the configuration of a main part of a vehicle using the connector holding structure according to the embodiment of the present invention. Front view showing the configuration of the holding structure of the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. Cross-sectional view of the main part by the AA straight line in FIG. The figure which shows the operation of the holding structure of the connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. Cross-sectional view of a main part showing the structure of the holding structure of the connector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an arrangement state of electrical components in a vehicle using the connector holding structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connector holding structure of the present embodiment is located outside the passenger seat side in the vehicle interior, is located between the instrument panel and the dash panel 8, and extends in the vehicle width direction. It is provided with a connector holder 1 fixed below the junction box 3 adjacent to the instrument panel core 2a which is present and forms the lower edge of the instrument panel.

The connector holder 1 is arranged on the dash panel 8 and the male connector 4 attached to the end of the cable 61 that branches from the harness 6 fixed to the back surface of the junction box 3 and extends downward in the vehicle length direction. The female connector 5 attached to the end of the cable 71, which is pulled out from the engine room side via the grommet 9 and branches from the harness 7, is held in a connected state.

Since the connector holder 1 is shielded by the instrument panel and the junction box 3 in the drawing, the instrument panel and the junction box 3 are shown as a perspective view showing only the outline by a broken line. In FIGS. 2 to 4 described later, the same display is performed at the same place.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the holding structure of the connector according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the connector holder 1 is a synthetic resin part, and is a rectangular top plate portion 11 having a rectangular shape extending in the vehicle width direction, and a vehicle from both ends and a main surface of the top plate portion 11. Mainly the back wall portion 13 that closes the gap 1x formed by the plurality of side wall portions 12 having a planar rectangular shape extending downward in the high direction and the top plate portion 11 and the side wall portions 12 on the front side in the vehicle length direction. The male connector 4 is housed in the gap 1x.

The plurality of side wall portions 12 are arranged at equal intervals along the vehicle width direction. As a result, the gap 1x sandwiched between the side wall portions 12 and a plurality of male connectors 4 (three as examples in the figure) accommodated therein are also arranged at equal intervals along the vehicle width direction.

Next, the top plate portion 11 has a larger area than the entire plurality of male connectors 4 arranged in a plan view. Therefore, in the projection downward in the vehicle length direction, the plurality of male connectors 4 are integrally shielded by the top plate portion 11.

The male connector 4 and the connector holder 1 are fixed by a latch mechanism (not shown) provided on the side wall portion 12 and the main surface of the male connector 4 facing the side wall portion 12, respectively. It is positioned at a specific position in the gap 1x.

Further, on the upper surface of the top plate portion 11, an engaging female portion 14 that engages with the engaging male portion 32 provided on the wall body 31 of the junction box 3 is provided. The engaging male portion 32 of the junction box 3 is a portion having a cross-sectional shape T-shaped contour formed on the wall body 31 of the junction box 3 by means such as integral molding. The engaging female portion 14 has the contour of the engaging male portion 32 as a cross-sectional shape of the inner wall, and is a groove in which both ends are open, and the engaging male portion 32 is one of both ends of the engaging female portion 14. By being inserted through the opening, the connector holder 1 is positioned and fixed with respect to the junction box 3.

In the connector holder 1, the top plate portion 11, the plurality of side wall portions 12, the back wall portion 13, and the engaging female portion 14 are different in shape from the synthetic resin parts integrated by injection molding. It is partitioned.

Next, the male connector 4 is a square cylindrical member having an opening 4x, and is electrically connected to the cable 61 via a connection end 4a provided so as to penetrate the sealed bottom surface. A connection fitting 4b connected to the connection end 4a is arranged in the opening 4x.

The female connector 5 is a square cylindrical member having an outer shape corresponding to the contour of the opening 4x of the male connector 4, and is electrically connected to the cable 71 via a connection end 5a provided on the bottom surface. The connection end 5a is provided with a connection fitting 5b that extends inside the connector and fits into the connection fitting 4b of the male connector 4. In the figure, the embodiments of the connection fittings 4a and 5b are schematically shown.

The connection between the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 is performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, in a state where the male connector 4 is fixed to the connector holder 1 with the opening 4x facing downward in the vehicle length direction, as shown by the white arrow in the figure, from below in the vehicle length direction. The female connector 5 is fitted into the opening 4x to connect the connection fitting 4b to the connection fitting 5b. Here, the connection directions of the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 substantially coincide with the vehicle height direction, that is, the vertical direction.

Next, the holding state of the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 in the connector holder 1 will be described with reference to FIG. However, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state corresponding to the arrangement state of electrical components in the vehicle shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the male connector 4 is positioned in the gap 1x of the connector holder 1 with the opening 4x facing downward in the vehicle height direction and the connection end 4a with the cable 61 facing upward in the vehicle height direction. Ru.

At this time, the connection end 4a is arranged at a certain distance from the top plate portion 11, and the cable 61 extending from the connection end 4a extends rearward in the vehicle length direction from the gap with the top plate portion 11 and is a male connector. When it further extends behind the junction box 3 via the back wall portion 13 adjacent to 4, it interferes with the tip 13a of the back wall portion 13 extending downward in the vehicle height direction. As a result, the cable 61 curves convexly downward in the vehicle length direction, and extends toward the upper harness 6 (not shown), which is the branch source, via the curve point P1 located at the lowermost part of the curve. The shape is regulated so that the outer shape is substantially S-shaped and curved.

Further, in the state of being connected to the male connector 4, the female connector 5 is in an upright posture with the fitting position with the male connector 4 facing upward in the vehicle height direction and the connection end 5a with the cable 71 facing downward in the vehicle height direction. .. At this time, since the cable 71 extending from the connection end 5a hangs down from the grommet 9 on the dash panel 8 (not shown) located above the connection end 5a, the cable 71 is curved and curved downward in the vehicle length direction. The shape is regulated so as to have a curved shape extending toward the upper harness 7 which is the branching source via the curved point P2 located at the lowermost part of the.

In the above configuration, the connector holder 1 corresponds to the holder of the present invention, the cables 61 and 71 correspond to the wiring of the present invention, respectively, and the combination of the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 corresponds to a pair of male and female of the present invention. The male connector 4 corresponds to a connector, the male connector 4 corresponds to one of the connectors of the present invention, and the back wall portion 13 of the connector holder 1 corresponds to the regulating member of the present invention. Further, the top plate portion 11 of the connector holder 1 corresponds to the shielding member of the present invention, and the side wall portion 12 corresponds to the partition wall portion of the present invention.

The connector holding structure according to the embodiment of the present invention has the above configuration, so that the cable 61 connected to the male connector 4 of the connector holder 1 is located below the connection end 4a in the vehicle length direction. It is curved so as to have a positioned curve point P1. As a result, the water that has entered through the harness 6 due to the intrusion of water from the outside of the vehicle or the interior of the vehicle, dew condensation inside the vehicle, etc., stays at the curved point P1 and drops, and the entry to the connection end 4a is hindered. Similarly, the cable 71 connected to the female connector 5 is also curved via the curved point P2 located below the connection end 5a in the vehicle length direction, so that the water entering through the harness 7 is curved. It stays and drops at point P2.

This reduces the risk that the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 will be exposed to water. Further, in the above configuration, the configuration for water exposure is realized by the connector holder 1 for giving the curved points P1 and P2 to the shapes of the cables 61 and 71, and the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 are for waterproofing. There is no need to provide a separate mechanism.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of water on the connectors arranged in the vehicle at low cost.

Further, in the connector holding structure of the present embodiment, water that invades through the junction box 3 or drops from above stays on the top plate portion 11 and is prevented from directly reaching the male connector 4. This reduces the risk that the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 will be exposed to water.

Further, since the plurality of male connectors 4 that are integrally shielded by the top plate portion 11 in the downward projection in the vehicle length direction are arranged along the vehicle width direction, the vehicle is the vehicle length as shown in FIG. Even when the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 are tilted back and forth in the direction, the tilt angle θ in each of the front and rear directions in the vehicle length direction to be flooded can be made larger. Further, since the top plate portion 11 is formed by connecting the left and right side wall portions 12 along the vehicle width direction, even when the vehicle is inclined to the left and right in the vehicle width direction as shown in FIG. It is possible to increase the inclination angle φ of each of the left and right in the vehicle width direction in which the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 are exposed to water.

That is, according to the connector holding structure of the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the risk of water damage to the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 when the vehicle is tilted greatly. The top plate portion 11 may be formed so as to extend further to the left and right from the boundary with the side wall portion 12 along the vehicle width direction, whereby the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 are exposed to water. It is possible to reduce the risk of water damage to the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 by further increasing the inclination angle φ on each of the left and right sides in the vehicle width direction.

Further, in the connector holding structure of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cables 61 and 71 are curved downward in the vehicle length direction and then extend forward in the vehicle length direction. By being regulated, it is possible to avoid interference of the instrument panel 2 with the instrument panel core 2a. As a result, the connection positions of the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 can be shifted upward in the vehicle length direction, and the line lengths of the cables 61 and 71 can be shortened, improving workability during wiring and saving resources of the cable. It will be possible to realize the conversion.

As described above, according to the connector holding structure of the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the influence of water on the connector at low cost.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above description, in the connector holder 1, the top plate portion 11, a plurality of side wall portions 12 arranged along the vehicle width direction, the top plate portion 11 and the back wall portion 13 are integrally formed. However, the holding body of the present invention may have at least a restricting member that bends the wiring so as to generate a bending point located below the connection position between the connector and the wiring in the vertical direction. Therefore, as in the configuration example shown in FIG. 5, the back wall portion has a tip portion 15a that omits the top plate portion 11 and interferes with the side wall portion 12 and the cable 61 to form a curved point P1 below the connection end 4a. It may be composed of 15.

Further, the connector holder 1 may be realized as a configuration in which all or any part of the top plate portion 11, the side wall portion 12, the top plate portion 11 and the back wall portion 13 are independent parts, and these are combined. Further, in the above description, the connector holder 1 accommodates a combination of a plurality of male connectors 4 and female connectors 5, but the holder of the present invention is applied to a single set of male and female connectors. You may. In this case, the side wall portion 12 may be omitted.

Further, in the above description, the top plate portion 11 assumes that the plurality of male connectors 4 are integrally shielded by the top plate portion 11 in the projection downward in the vehicle length direction, but the shielding member of the present invention is provided. May cover at least the connection end 4a as the connection position between the connector and the wiring.

Further, in the above description, the male connector 4 and the female connector 5 are configured such that the male connector 4 into which the female connector 5 is fitted is held by the connector holder 1, but the holder of the present invention is male and female. It is sufficient as long as it holds at least one of the connectors of the set of connectors located upward along the substantially vertical direction, and is not limited by the specific configuration of the connector connection. Therefore, the female connector 5 may be held by the connector holder 1.

Further, in the above description, the connector holding structure of the present embodiment is intended for a connector connected to a harness and a cable used for connecting an in-vehicle electrical component, but the connector of the present invention is used. The holding structure may be applicable to a pair of male and female connectors, each of which is detached and attached along a substantially vertical direction, and is limited by other specific configurations, uses, functions, etc. is not.

As described above, the present invention is a connector holding structure, in which a pair of males and females are detached along a substantially vertical direction, and each of them is connected to a wiring and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the substantially vertical direction . A retainer capable of holding a plurality of one of the connectors located above at least substantially in the vertical direction, comprising a retainer disposed inside the vehicle , wherein the retainer is the plurality . A top plate portion located above one connector, a side wall portion covering only a part of the side surface of the plurality of connectors, and a substantially vertical direction from the connection position between the plurality of connectors and the wiring. The portion of the holding body that is not covered by the side wall portion of the holding body is other than the part of the side surface of at least one of the plurality of connectors, which has a restricting member that bends the wiring so as to generate a bending point located downward along the line. The portion is exposed to the outside, the male and female connectors are arranged along the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, and the top plate portion shields the plurality of arranged connectors from above as a unit. It does not have to be limited by other specific purposes, uses, and configurations.

Therefore, the present invention may be carried out as if various modifications were made to the above-described embodiments, including those described above, as long as the present invention does not deviate from the gist thereof.

The present invention as described above has the effect of reducing the influence of water on the connector at low cost, and is useful for wiring wiring of vehicles such as automobiles, for example.

1 Connector holder 1x Void 2 Instrument panel 2a Instrument panel core 3 Junction box 4 Male connector 4a, 5a Connection end 4b, 5b Connection bracket 4x Opening 5 Female connector 6, 7 Harness 8 Dash panel 9 Glomet 11 Top plate 12 Side wall 13, 15 Back wall 13a, 15a Tip 14 Engagement female 31 Wall 32 Engagement male 61, 71 Cable

Claims (1)

A plurality of male and female connectors that are detached along the substantially vertical direction, each connected to a wiring and arranged in a direction orthogonal to the approximately vertical direction, at least upward along the approximately vertical direction . A holding body capable of holding one of the connectors, including a holding body disposed inside the vehicle .
The holding body has a top plate portion located above the plurality of connectors, a side wall portion covering only a part of the side surface of the plurality of connectors, and a connection position between the plurality of connectors and the wiring. It has a regulating member that bends the wiring so as to generate a bending point located downward along the substantially vertical direction.
The portion of the holder that is not covered by the side wall portion exposes at least a portion of the side surface of the plurality of connectors other than the portion thereof to the outside .
The male and female connectors are arranged along the vehicle width direction of the vehicle.
The top plate portion integrally shields one of the plurality of arranged connectors from above.
Connector holding structure.

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