Patent Publication Number: US-9837756-B2

Title: Wire cover and electrical connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-257805, filed Dec. 13, 2013. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a wire cover and, more particularly, a wire cover for an electrical connector. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In recent years, electrical connectors used in the field of automobiles or the like have progressed. In some known electrical connector, multiple electrical wires are provided and led out a housing of the electrical connector to the number of positions. 
     Japanese Patent Application JP 2012-33289 A discloses a known wire cover covering multiple electrical wires. JP 2012-33289 suggests that this known wire cover prevents deformation or breakage of a hood portion. That is, during assembly, with the electrical connector connected to a control unit, an operator holds the electrical wires by his/her hand and routes them in order to set the electrical wires in place. JP 2012-33289 A discusses the problem that, during routing, the hood portion receives a large force via the electrical wires, which can cause deformation or breakage of the hood portion. 
     Like the wire cover in JP 2012-33289 A, some wire covers have an electrical wire receiving section formed transversely with respect to a main body of the wire cover so as to be adapted to the case where the electric wire is led out transversely with respect to the electrical connector. When an operator holds the electrical wires by his/her hand to route them regarding the electrical connector equipped with this wire cover, while a side wall of the hood opposite to the transverse leading-out side (hereinafter, simply referred to as side face wall) may collide with peripheral members and the side face wall may be broken. In particular, Japanese Patent Application no. JP 2011-204494 A discloses a known hood having an exposed side face wall, such as a lever-type electrical connector, which has a high risk of breakage. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and an object of the invention, among others, is to provide a wire cover for an electrical connector. The wire cover includes a main body and a hood. The main body includes a wire receiving section extending therein. The hood projects from a side of the main body. The hood includes a first wire receiving section disposed along a side of the hood and extending transversely with respect to the main body and a reinforcing rib provided on an opposite side wall of the hood. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a lever-type connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the lever-type connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3A  is a front, bottom, left perspective view of a wire cover of the lever-type connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3B  is a rear, top, left perspective view of the wire cover of the lever-type connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3C  is a rear, bottom, right perspective view of the wire of the lever-type connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a bottom perspective views of a lever-type connector according to the invention with an electrical wire led out therefrom; 
         FIG. 4B  is a top perspective views of the lever-type connector of  FIG. 4A ; and 
         FIG. 5  is another perspective view of a lever-type connector. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     The present invention is described in detail below on the basis of an embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a lever-type connector  1  according to the invention is provided with a housing  10  for a plurality of terminals (not shown), a wire cover  20  attached to the housing  10 , and a lever  30  attached to the wire cover  20 . The lever-type connector  1  is configured to mate with a mating connector by utilizing a lever mechanism driven by the action of the lever  30 . 
     The housing  10  is provided with, in addition to a plurality of housing elements, a retainer securing the terminals, a seal member, a slider driven by the lever to mate with the mating connector, and the like. These members and the actions thereof are disclosed in JP 2011-204494 A, for example. Therefore, the description of the housing  10  is omitted as much as possible, for the sake of brevity, and the following description focuses on the wire cover  20  that is a characteristic part of this embodiment. 
     The wire cover  20  formed by injection molding of insulating resin is attached to a rear side of the housing  10 , and covers and protects a bundle of electrical wires led out rearward from the terminals accommodated in the housing  10 . 
     The wire cover  20  has a main body  21  covering and receiving therein electrical wires (not shown) connected to the terminals held by the housing  10 . This main body  21  is closed except for a side facing the housing  10  and a region from which the electrical wires are led out. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , supporting shafts  23 ,  23  are provided on both side faces of the main body  21 . The lever  30  is pivotally mounted to the supporting shafts  23 ,  23 . The lever  30  is provided with a pair of arms  31 ,  31  having supporting holes  32 ,  32  at one end, respectively, into which the supporting shafts  23 ,  23  are inserted, respectively, and a joining beam  33  joining the other ends of the arms  31 ,  31  together. The wire cover  20  rotatably supports the lever  30  using the supporting shafts  23 ,  23 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a lock  24  catching the lever  30  set in a standby position so that the lever  30  does not accidentally rotates is provided on a side face of the main body  21 . The lock  24  and the arm  31  of the lever  30  set in a mating start position are caught by each other so that the lever  30  is locked. 
     To mate the lever-type connector  1  with the mating connector, the lever  30  is rotated from the standby position shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3  to a mating completion position on the side where a hood  25  is provided. 
     The hood  25  projecting from an electrical wire leading-out side of the main body  21  is formed integrally with the main body  21 . 
     This hood  25  is provided with a first wire receiving section  27  directing the electrical wires transversely out of the hood. The hood  25  is also provided with a second wire receiving section  28  at a distal end thereof, so that in addition to a use form in which the electrical wire is transversely led out through the first wire receiving section  27 , the electrical wires can also be led out straight through the second wire receiving section  28 . When the electrical wires are led out transversely, the electrical wires are fixed by tying the hood  25  around the first wire receiving section  27  and the electrical wires together with a tying band, for example. Similarly, when the electrical wire is led out straight, the electrical wires are fixed by tying the hood  25  around the second wire receiving section  28  and the electrical wires together with a tying band, for example. 
     In the shown embodiment, the hood  25  is circular when viewed in cross-section. The hood  25  projects from a base  25   a , which is connected to the main body  21  toward a distal end  25   b  distant from the main body  21 . 
     The hood  25  is provided with a reinforcing rib  26  on a side face wall  25   c  opposite to the first wire receiving section  27  side, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3C . The reinforcing rib  26  is formed on an outer periphery of the side face wall  25   c  along a front-back direction x. The reason for providing the reinforcing rib  26  will be explained with reference to  FIG. 4 . In  FIG. 4 , however, the reinforcing rib  26  is not shown. 
     In actual mating operation, an operator holds and routes the electrical wires W led out of the lever-type connector  1 . At this time, there is a risk that the lever-type connector  1  may collide with the surroundings. Considering the possibility of collision of the wire cover  20 , a side S 1  from which the electrical wires W are led out and which is shown in  FIG. 4A  generally faces the operator, and therefore may hardly collide with the surroundings. On the other hand, a side S 2  opposite to the electrical wire W leading-outside shown in  FIG. 4B  faces outward from the operator, and therefore tends to collide with the surroundings. In particular, a result of simulation of the operator&#39;s action also showed that the hood  25  projecting rearward tended to collide with the surroundings, and it was confirmed that the hood  25  might be broken depending on the degree of collision. 
     Therefore, the lever-type connector  1  of the shown embodiment is provided with the reinforcing rib  26  in order to prevent the hood  25  from being broken. 
     The reinforcing rib  26  can be provided on an inner peripheral face of the hood  25 , but, in that case, the reinforcing rib  26  may become an obstacle to route the electrical wires W disposed in the hood  25 , so the reinforcing rib  26  is provided on an outer peripheral face of the side face wall  25   c  of the hood  25 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3C . 
     Further, the reinforcing rib  26  is provided over an entire area from the base  25   a  of the hood  25  to the distal end  25   b  thereof. Moreover, the reinforcing rib  26  is provided so as to project beyond the side face wall  25   c  excluding the reinforcing rib  26 . Therefore, it is highly probable that the thick reinforcing rib  26  collides with the surroundings when the side face wall  25   c  side collides with the surroundings while the lever-type connector  1  is being routed with the electrical wires W in hand. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that the hood  25  may be broken. 
     Stress analysis has been performed for the lever-type connector  1  of the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3  and a lever-type connector  2  (see  FIG. 5 ) having the same design as the lever-type connector  1 , except that the lever-type connector  2  was not provided with the reinforcing rib  26 . This analysis has been performed by calculating reaction force obtained when the same amount of displacement was given to the side of the hood  25  opposite to the electrical wires W leading-out side in a direction indicated by arrow from the outside toward the inside. As a result, it has been confirmed that the lever-type connector  1  provided with the reinforcing rib  26  has approximately 1.5 times as high reaction force as the lever-type connector  2  which is not provided with the reinforcing rib  26 , and is harder to break. 
     In addition, since the lever-type connector  1  is provided with the reinforcing rib  26 , the hood  25  can also be prevented from being broken when the electrical wires are led out straight. That is, in the case of leading out the electrical wires straight, when the lever-type connector  1  is routed, the electrical wires can be swung in a transverse direction y ( FIGS. 1  and  3 C) intersecting the leading-out direction, namely, transversely. Then, the hood  25  tied together with the electrical wires is subjected to force in the transverse direction y, but, since the reinforcing rib  26  is provided, the reinforcing rib  26  receives the force in the transverse direction y to prevent the hood  25  from being broken. 
     As described above, since the rib is provided in a predetermined region, the risk of breakage of the hood due to collision can be reduced significantly even in the wire cover  20  from which the electrical wire is led out transversely and which exposes the side face wall  25   c  of the hood on the opposite side to the wire leading-out side. Further, when this wire cover  20  is used to leading-out the electrical wires straight, the side face wall  25   c  can be prevented from being broken even when the electrical wires are swung. 
     An embodiment of the invention has been described above, but the components listed in the aforementioned embodiment can be selectively removed or, if necessary, replaced with another component without departing from the gist of the present invention. 
     The reinforcing rib  26  takes a strip-like shape, but the width and projection height from the hood thereof may be appropriately determined according to required strength. For example, the width and height thereof are not limited to a certain width and height, but the width can be narrowed from the base  25   a  toward the distal end  25   b , and the height can be lowered from the base  25   a  toward the distal end  25   b.    
     Further, although the reinforcing rib  26  is formed so as to be parallel to the front-back direction x, the reinforcing rib  26  is only required to be formed from the base  25   a  to the distal end  25   b , and can be provided so as to be oblique to the front-back direction x. 
     Further, the invention may be applicable to any lever-type connector. That is, the lever-type connector to which the invention is applied is not limited to a type that mates with the mating connector by means of a slider provided with a cam mechanism shown herein, but also applicable to a lever-type connector of a type in which a lever is provided with a cam mechanism. In addition, the lever is not limited to a type that is pivotally mounted on the wire cover, but is also applicable to a lever-type connector of a type that is pivotally mounted on the housing.