The present patent application claims the benefit of earlier Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-499927 filed Feb. 25, 2000, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector sealing structure for coupling and sealing a female connector and a male connector. More specifically, the invention relates to an improved connector sealing structure that can effectively prevent leaks between the adjacent terminal plugs of the connector, and at the same time, shut out water drops, preventing them from reaching the terminal plugs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, high-voltage electric circuits are used in an automobile, and the voltage applied to the circuits has been becoming higher. With such high-voltage electric circuits, leaks are becoming more likely to occur between adjacent terminals of a connector for coupling the circuits. Leaks may cause an automobile to catch fire, and therefore, many proposals have been made to prevent leak in the connector.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a conventional connector sealing structure for preventing leak. A first connector 103 that has male terminals 102 in the associated chambers (or recesses) 101 is coupled with a second connector 106 that has female terminals 105 in the associated chambers 104. The chambers 104 of the second connector 106 are inserted in the chambers 101 of the first connector 103, and the male terminals 102 are fit into the female terminals 105. A sealing member 107 consisting of elastic and insulating material is furnished along the outer wall of each female terminal chamber 104. The sealing member 107 seals up the counterpart chamber for the associated male terminal independently.
The sealing member 107 has a projection 107a, which comes into tight contact with the inner wall 101a of the male terminal chamber 101. The projection 107a can seal up the associated male terminal chamber 101, and thereby preventing leak between the male terminals 102 of adjacent chambers. The projection 107a can also prevent water drops from entering the chamber 101. The sealing member 107 has both a leak-prevention function and a water shutout function.
However, the sealing member 107 of the conventional sealing structure is likely to be scratched or damaged, or otherwise, dusts easily stick to the projection 107. In this case, water drops may get into the terminal chamber and reach the male terminal 102. This can lead to undesirable leaks or short-circuits between the adjacent terminals.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved sealing structure for a connector that can reliably prevent leakage between adjacent terminals of the connector, and at the same time, shut out water drops from reaching the terminals.
To achieve this object, a connector sealing structure of the present invention includes a first connector, which has one or more first terminals accommodated in the associated first chambers in its housing, and a second connector, which has one or more second terminals accommodated in the associated chambers. As a feature of the invention, each of the first chambers has a groove formed at the bottom of the chamber so as to surround the root of the first terminal, and each of the second chambers has a guide at its end. The second chamber also has a seal on the inner wall of the guide.
This arrangement allows each chamber of the first and second connectors to be sealed up independently in a reliable manner. Consequently, leakage between two adjacent terminals is effectively prevented, and at the same time, water drops are prevented from entering the first terminal chambers.
The seal has one or more first sealing projections and one or more second projections. As the second connector is connected to the first connector, the guide is fit into the groove. At this time, the first sealing projections of the seal come into tight contact with the bottom of the first chamber, and the second sealing projections come into tight contact with the first terminal.
The second sealing projections of the sealing member enhance the effectiveness of the connector sealing structure by sealing up the gap between the first chamber and the first terminal. This arrangement improves the water shutout function of the connector sealing structure.
The leading end of the guide enters the groove of the first chamber ahead of the first sealing projections reaching the bottom of the first chamber. The groove increases the total length from the end of the housing of the first connector to the first terminal. This means that even if water drops get into the gap between the housings of the first and second connectors, a substantial distance is guaranteed before the water drops reach the first terminal. Accordingly, undesirable leakage or short circuit is effectively prevented.
The guide of the second chamber may be formed monolithically with the second chamber, or alternatively, the seal may be formed monolithically with the second chamber.
Preferably, the sealing member is made of an elastic insulator so as to efficiently prevent leakage between terminals, and at the same time, prevent water drops from getting into the chambers.