Patent Publication Number: US-8986045-B2

Title: Connecting structure of shield braided part

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of PCT application No. PCT/JP2012/064734, which was filed on Jun. 1, 2012 based on Japanese Patent Application (No. P2011-124436) filed on Jun. 2, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a connecting structure of a shield braided part that electrically and mechanically connects a tubular part of a shield shell to the shield braided part of a shielded connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
       FIG. 6  shows a usual example of a connecting structure of a shield braided part of a shielded connector that electrically and mechanically connects a tubular part of a shield shell to the shield braided part of the shielded connector. 
     The connecting structure of the shield braided part shown in  FIG. 6  is disclosed in JP-A-2010-250995. A shielded connector  100  shown in  FIG. 6  includes a connector housing  130  made of a resin which accommodates and holds a terminal fitting  120  connected to an end part of an electric wire  110 , a shield shell  140  which accommodates the connector housing  130 , a tubular shield braided part  150  which covers an outer periphery of the electric wire  110  and a shield ring  160  which connects an end part of the shield braided part  150  to the shield shell  140 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the shield shell  140  has a tubular part  141  which covers the outer periphery of the end part of the electric wire  110  connected to the terminal fitting  120 . 
     The outer periphery of the electric wire  110  is covered with the shield braided part  150  and an outer periphery of the tubular part  141  is covered with its end part. 
     The shield ring  160  is a tubular member made of metal that forms an annular gap  170  between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular part  141  and the shield ring  160 , into which the end part of the shield braided part  150  can be inserted as shown in  FIG. 7A , when the shield ring  160  is fitted and attached to the outer periphery of the tubular part  141 . 
     In the connecting structure of the shield braided part shown in  FIG. 6 , under a state that the shield braided part  150  is inserted into the annular gap  170 , a part of the shield ring  160  is pressed and deformed toward the tubular part  141  to form a pressed protruding part  161  deformed to protrude toward the shield braided part  150  as shown in  FIG. 7B . Thus, when a state is formed that the shield braided part  150  is sandwiched between the pressed protruding part  161  and the tubular part  141 , the shield braided part  150  is electrically and mechanically connected to the tubular part  141 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     However, in the connecting structure of the shield braided part disclosed in JP-A-2010-250995, as shown in  FIG. 7B , since a contact state of the shield braided part  150  and the pressed protruding part  161  is a surface contact state by smooth surfaces thereof, it is difficult to increase a binding strength of the pressed protruding part  161  and the shield braided part  150 . Accordingly, a problem arises that an electrical and mechanical connecting strength between the tubular part  141  of the shield shell  140  of the shield shell  140  and the shield braided part  150  is hardly increased. 
     Further, in the connecting structure of the shield braided part disclosed in JP-A-2010-250995, when a dimension of the pressed protruding part  161  is increased to increase a pressed area by the pressed protruding part  161 , the binding strength between the pressed protruding part and the shield braided part is enhanced so that the electrical and mechanical connecting strength between the tubular part  141  and the shield braided part  150  may be improved. 
     However, when the dimension of the pressed protruding part  161  is increased, there is a fear that the width of the shield ring  160  is increased to make the shield ring  160  large or heavy. 
     Thus, a purpose of the present disclosure resides in solving the above-described problems and it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a connecting structure of a shield braided part which can improve an electrical and mechanical connecting strength of a tubular part of a shield shell and a shield braided part and reduce a width of a shield ring so as to make the shield ring compact and light. 
     The above-described object of the present disclosure is achieved by below-described structures. 
     (1) A connecting structure of a shield braided part, comprising:
         a shield shell that accommodates a connector housing which accommodates a terminal fitting connected to an end portion of an electric wire, and the shield shell including a tubular part which covers an outer periphery of the end portion of the electric wire; and   a shield ring that is attached to an outer periphery of the tubular part of the shield shell and sandwiches an end portion of a tubular shield braided part covering the outer periphery of the electric wire between an outer peripheral face of the tubular part and the shield ring,   wherein a protruding part which protrudes toward the shield braided part is formed in the shield ring; and   wherein a braided part insert hole is formed in the protruding part.       

     (2) The connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the above-described (1), wherein a part of the shield braided part is inserted into the braided part insert hole in a state that the shield braided part is sandwiched between the shield ring and the tubular part. 
     (3) The connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the above-described (1) or (2), wherein the braided part insert hole is formed in an apex of the protruding part. 
     (4) The connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the above-described (1) or (2), wherein the braided part insert hole and other braided part insert holes are formed in the shield ring at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction of the shield ring. 
     (5) The connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the above-described (1) or (2), wherein the protruding part is formed by caulking the shield ring to the braided part. 
     In the connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the present disclosure, since the shield braided part is engaged with the protruding part by fitting the protruding part to the recessed part due to the braided part insert holes opened in the protruding part formed in the shield ring, the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part can be improved. Further, since the braided part insert holes are formed, the area of the part in which the protruding part is formed is the more reduced. Thus, the protruding part is easily pressed and deformed, so that the pressure contact force of the protruding part to the tubular part of the shield shell can be improved. 
     Since the improvement of the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part and the improvement of the pressure contact force of the protruding part to the tubular part of the shield shell are involved, the electrical and mechanical connecting strength of the tubular part of the shield shell and the shield braided part can be improved. 
     Further, since the shield braided part is engaged with the protruding part by fitting the protruding part to the recessed part to improve the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part, even when the dimension of the protruding part is reduced, the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part can be prevented from lowering. Accordingly, the dimension of the protruding part is reduced to reduce the width of the shield ring so that the shield ring may be made to be compact and light. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a shield shell, a shield braided part and a shield ring which form one exemplary embodiment of a connecting structure of a shield braided part according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of an assembly shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along a line B-B in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the shield ring shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a part C shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a longitudinally sectional view of main parts of a shielded connector showing a usual connecting structure of a shield braided part. 
         FIG. 7A  is an enlarged view showing a state before a pressed protruding part is formed by pressure in a part A in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 7B  is an enlarged view of the part A in  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Now, a preferred exemplary embodiment of a connecting structure of a shield braided part according to the present disclosure will be described below in detail by referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a shield shell, a shield braided part and a shield ring which form one exemplary embodiment of the connecting structure of the shield braided part according to the present disclosure.  FIG. 2  is a plan view of an assembly shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along a line B-B in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the shield ring shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a part C shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     The connecting structure of the shield braided part of the one exemplary embodiment is used in a shielded connector, and includes, as shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , a shield shell  10  and a shield ring  20 . 
     The shield shell  10  accommodates a connector housing made of a resin that accommodates and holds a terminal fitting connected to an end portion of an electric wire. The shield shell  10  has a tubular part  11  which covers an outer periphery of the end portion of the electric wire connected to the connector housing made of the resin. In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, the tubular part  11  has an elliptic form in cross-section. To the tubular part  11 , an end part of a tubular shield braided part  30  which covers the outer periphery of the electric wire connected to the connector housing is fitted and attached. 
     As shown in  4 , the shield ring  20  has an elliptic tubular form in cross-section. An inside diameter of the shield ring  20  is set to be larger than that of the tubular part  11 . The shield ring  20  is fitted to an outer periphery of the tubular part  11  to form an annular gap  40  between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular part  11  and the shield ring  20 . 
     The annular gap  40  is a gap into which the end part of the tubular shield braided part  30  which covers the outer periphery of the electric wire can be inserted. 
     In the connecting structure of the shield braided part of the present exemplary embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5 , in a state that the shield braided part  30  is inserted into the annular gap  40 , a part of the shield ring  20  is pressed and deformed toward the tubular part  11  to form a protruding part  21 , which will be referred to as a pressed protruding part  21 , hereinafter. The pressed protruding part  21  has a protruding form bent toward the shield braided part  30 . In order to easily and assuredly form the pressed protruding part  21 , on the tubular part  11  opposed to the pressed protruding part  21 , a recessed part  12  corresponding to the form of the pressure protruding part  21  is previously formed as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In the connecting structure of the shield braided part of the present exemplary embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5 , a state is formed that the shield braided part  30  is sandwiched between the pressed protruding part  21  and the tubular part  11  so that the shield braided part  30  is electrically and mechanically connected to the tubular part  11 . 
     In the case of the connecting structure of the shield braided part of the present exemplary embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 4 , a plurality of braided part insert holes  23  are previously formed in a part  22  in which the pressed protruding part  21  of the shield ring  20  is formed. 
     The part  22  in which the pressed protruding part  21  is formed is an area located in a central part of a width W of the shield ring  20 . 
     The braided part insert hole  23  is an opening into which a part  31  of the shield braided part  30  is inserted as shown in  FIG. 5  when the part  22  in which the pressed protruding part  21  is formed is pressed and deformed toward the shield braided part  30 . 
     In the shield ring  20  of the present exemplary embodiment, the plurality of braided part insert holes  23  are provided at suitable intervals in the circumferential direction (a direction shown by an arrow mark X in  FIG. 4 ) as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     In the connecting structure of the shield braided part of the above-described exemplary embodiment, when a part of the shield ring  20  is pressed and deformed toward the tubular part  11  to form the pressed protruding part  21  under the state the shield braided part  30  is inserted into the annular gap  40  between the tubular part  11  of the shield shell  10  and the shield ring  20 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , a part  31  of the shield braided part  30  pressed by the pressed protruding part  21  penetrates into the braided part insert hole  23  opened in the pressed protruding part  21 . Thus, the shield braided part  30  is engaged with the pressed protruding part  21  by fitting a protruding part to a recessed part. Accordingly, a binding strength between the pressed protruding part  21  and the shield braided part  30  can be improved. 
     Further, since the braided part insert holes  23  are formed, the area of the part  22  in which the pressed protruding part  21  is formed is the more reduced. Thus, the part  22  in which the pressed protruding part  21  is formed is easily pressed and deformed, so that a pressure contact force of the pressed protruding part  21  to the tubular part  11  of the shield shell  10  can be improved. 
     Since the improvement of the binding strength between the pressed protruding part  21  and the shield braided part  30  and the improvement of the pressure contact force of the pressed protruding part  21  to the tubular part  11  of the shield shell  10  are involved, an electrical and mechanical connecting strength of the tubular part  11  of the shield shell  10  and the shield braided part can be improved. 
     Further, since the shield braided part  30  is engaged with the pressed protruding part  21  by fitting the protruding part to the recessed part to improve the binding strength between the pressed protruding part  21  and the shield braided part  30 , even when a dimension of the pressed protruding part  21  is reduced, the binding strength between the pressed protruding part  21  and the shield braided part  30  can be prevented from lowering. Accordingly, the dimension of the pressed protruding part  21  is reduced to reduce the width W of the shield ring  20  so that the shield ring  20  may be made to be compact and light. 
     Further, in the connecting structure of the shield braided part of the above-described exemplary embodiment, a plurality of fitting engagements of the protruding parts and the recessed parts between the shield braided part  30  and the shield ring  20  are formed at suitable intervals in the circumferential direction of the shield ring  20  by the plurality of braided part insert holes  23  provided in the shield ring  20 . 
     As a result, between the shield braided part  30  and the shield ring  20 , a more stable binding strength can be ensured and a reliability can be improved in the electrical and mechanical connection of the tubular part  11  of the shield shell  10  and the shield braided part  30 . 
     The connecting structure of the shield braided part  30  of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiment and may be suitably modified and improved. 
     For instance, the number of the provided braided part insert holes  23  or the sizes of the braided part insert holes  23  may be suitably changed in their design. Further, the cross-sectional form of the tubular part  11  or the shield ring  20  is not limited to the elliptic form and a true circular form may be used. 
     Further, the shield ring may be formed by a plurality of divided bodies which form the shape of the ring. In this case, the plurality of divided bodies may be integrally connected by, for instance, bolts and nuts and fixed to the shield shell. Further, the divided bodies may be connected together by caulking their end parts integrally and fixed to the shield shell. 
     Further, the shield ring may be formed in such a way that a part of a circumferential part in the shield ring is opened and flange parts provided at both the opened end parts of the shield ring are fastened by, for instance, bolts and nuts to reduce a diameter. 
     Further, the protruding part  21  may be previously formed so as to protrude or to be recessed and protrude in the shield ring  20 . 
     Here, the details of the above embodiments are summarized as follows. 
     A connecting structure of a shield braided part, comprising:
         a shield shell that accommodates a connector housing which accommodates a terminal fitting connected to an end portion of an electric wire, and the shield shell including a tubular part which covers an outer periphery of the end portion of the electric wire; and   a shield ring that is attached to an outer periphery of the tubular part of the shield shell and sandwiches an end portion of a tubular shield braided part covering the outer periphery of the electric wire between an outer peripheral face of the tubular part and the shield ring,   wherein a protruding part which protrudes toward the shield braided part is formed in the shield ring; and   wherein a braided part insert hole is formed in the protruding part.       

     For example, a part of the shield braided part is inserted into the braided part insert hole in a state that the shield braided part is sandwiched between the shield ring and the tubular part. 
     For example, the braided part insert hole is formed in an apex of the protruding part. 
     For example, the braided part insert hole and other braided part insert holes are formed in the shield ring at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction of the shield ring. 
     For example, the protruding part and other protruding parts are formed in the shield ring at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction of the shield ring, and the braided part insert hole and other braided part insert holes are formed in the protruding part and the other protruding parts correspondingly. 
     For example, the protruding part is formed by caulking the shield ring to the braided part. 
     According to the above structures, under a state that the shield braided part is sandwiched between the tubular part of the shield shell and the shield ring, a part of the shield braided part pressed by the protruding part penetrates into the braided part insert hole opened in the protruding part. Thus, the shield braided part is engaged with the protruding part by fitting a protruding part to a recessed part. Accordingly, a binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part can be improved. Further, since the braided part insert holes are formed, an area of a part in which the protruding part is formed is the more reduced. Thus, the part in which the protruding part is formed is easily pressed and deformed, so that a pressure contact force of the protruding part to the tubular part of the shield shell can be improved. 
     Since the improvement of the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part and the improvement of the pressure contact force of the protruding part to the tubular part of the shield shell are involved, an electrical and mechanical connecting strength of the tubular part of the shield shell and the shield braided part can be improved. 
     Further, since the shield braided part is engaged with the protruding part by fitting the protruding part to the recessed part to improve the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part, even when a dimension of the protruding part is reduced, the binding strength between the protruding part and the shield braided part can be prevented from lowering. Accordingly, the dimension of the protruding part is reduced to reduce the width of the shield ring so that the shield ring may be made to be compact and light. 
     The shield ring may have a ring structure formed with one parts or formed by connecting together a plurality of divided bodies under a caulking operation by the use of bolts and nuts. 
     Further, the protruding part may be previously formed so as to protrude or to be recessed and protrude in the shield ring. Further, the protruding part may be formed to protrude by caulking the shield ring. 
     According to the structures, a plurality of fitting engagements of the protruding parts and the recessed parts between the shield braided part and the shield ring are formed at suitable intervals in the circumferential direction of the shield ring by the plurality of braided part insert holes provided in the shield ring. As a result, between the shield braided part and the shield ring, a more stable binding strength can be ensured and a reliability can be improved in the electrical and mechanical connection of the tubular part of the shield shell and the shield braided part. 
     According to the structures, since the protruding part is formed by caulking the shield ring to the braided part, the protruding part is easily worked. 
     By the present disclosure, a connecting structure of a shield braided part which can improve an electrical and mechanical connecting strength of a tubular part of a shield shell and a shield braided part and reduce a width of a shield ring so as to make the shield ring compact and light can be obtained.