JP2001145234A - Joint connector and branch connection structure for wire harness using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a corresponding joint connector without changing a terminal and a connector housing even if a branch circuit is changed. SOLUTION: Pressure contact blades are cut and formed from the upper ends of respective sides in a main body bent in a square cylindrical shape. The depth of the pressure contact blade in a lateral direction in right/left and that of the pressure contact blade in a vertical direction in right/left are varied. A pressure contact terminal which can be set in pressure contact and be connected to a wire in a cross direction is installed. The pressure contact terminals are vertically/laterally fixed in parallel in the substrate part of a connector housing by leaving intervals. The connection wires are made to pass through the pressure contact blades in the lateral directions in the pressure contact terminals arranged in a lateral direction in parallel. The pressure contact terminals arranged in the lateral direction in parallel are connected. The branch connection wires of a wire harness are inserted from the vertical direction and they are connected to the pressure contact blades in the vertical direction in the pressure contact terminals arranged in the vertical direction. The wire is connected with the other branch connection wire through the connection wire in the lateral direction and a branch circuit is formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joint connector and a branch connection structure of a wire harness using the joint connector. More specifically, the present invention relates to a press-connect terminal as a conduction terminal of a joint connector forming a branch circuit of an automobile wire harness. It is used to easily form a branch circuit and easily cope with circuit changes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an electric circuit is branched in a wire harness for an automobile, as shown in FIG.
A splice portion 1 is formed in the wire harness W / H. The splice portion 1 peels off the insulating coating of the middle part of the bus bar w1 to expose the core wire, and peels off the branch wire w2 of the terminal insulating coating to expose the core wire. The terminal 2 is formed by caulking and fixing.

When a branch circuit is formed by providing the above-described splice portion 1, it is necessary to peel off the electric wire and to caulk and fix the intermediate crimp terminal. There is such a problem.

For this reason, a joint connector having an electric distribution function in the connector may be used instead of the method of forming the branch circuit by providing the splice section 1. As shown in FIGS. 12 (A) and 12 (B), the joint connector accommodates a comb-shaped bus bar 4 having a tab 4a protruding from a connecting portion 4b in a connector housing 3, while receiving the ends of electric wires w3 to w5. Are connected to the tabs 4a of the bus bar 4 inserted into the connector housing 3.

The above-mentioned joint connector is connected to the wires of one temporary binding harness when forming the temporary binding harness (sub-harness), and is connected to the wires of another temporary binding harness to form a branch circuit. If necessary, the terminal connected to the wire of the other temporarily tied harness is inserted into the joint connector and connected at the time of the actual tying on the wire harness assembly work table.

[0006]

The above-mentioned joint connector using a bus bar is an inexpensive and highly reliable method when the production volume is large, but in the case of small-volume production, a mold cost for forming the bus bar is expensive. And the cost increases. Further, every time the branch circuit configuration is changed, the bus bar is changed each time, so that a die must be created, which also increases the cost. Further, when the branch circuit configuration is changed, it is necessary to change the shape of the connector housing, which increases the number of types and increases the cost. in this way,
The bus bar and the connector housing must be changed in accordance with the change in the branch circuit, and the degree of freedom in changing the circuit is low. Furthermore, a terminal must be connected to the electric wire side, resulting in a problem that the number of parts increases and the number of operations is increased.

[0007] When a terminal is later inserted into the joint connector and connected, the terminal is exposed to the outside until the terminal is connected to the joint connector, which may cause damage to the terminal. There is a problem that terminal insertion work is sometimes required, which requires a lot of work.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even if the configuration of the branch circuit is changed, there is no need to recreate the mold, it is possible to easily respond to the circuit change, and
A first object is to provide a joint connector capable of forming a branch circuit without requiring a large number of operations. Further, it is a second object of the present invention to prevent the terminal from being inserted into the joint connector at the time of final binding on the wire harness assembly work table.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is to form a pressure contact blade by cutting the upper end of each side of a main body bent into a rectangular tube shape, and to form the pressure contact blade in the left and right lateral direction. The crimping blades are different in depth from the crimping blades in the vertical direction, and are provided with crimping terminals that can be crimped in the cross direction with the electric wires.The crimping terminals are fixed in parallel on the flat board part of the connector housing with a space between them vertically and horizontally Then, the connecting wires are passed in the horizontal direction to the horizontal pressure welding blades of the horizontal pressure welding terminals, and the horizontal pressure welding terminals are connected to each other. The wire for branch connection of the wire harness is inserted from the vertical direction and connected to the press-contact blade of the above, and connected to another branch connection wire via the horizontal connection wire to form a branch circuit. Offers joint connectors .

[0010] In the board portion of the connector housing, recesses for accommodating the press contact terminals are provided at intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the press contact terminals are accommodated and fixed at the required positions in the concave portions at the required positions. In addition, the connection wires in the horizontal direction are cut off at portions that do not need to be connected.

By using the above-described press contact terminal and connector housing, even if the branch circuit is changed, the circuit can be changed only by changing the position of the press contact terminal. Further, only one kind of the press contact terminal and the connector housing may be prepared, and it is possible to prevent an increase in cost due to a circuit change.
Further, the joint connector is connected to one temporary binding harness, and all the wires constituting the branch connection circuit are connected by the joint connector with the wires in the temporary binding harness, thereby completely eliminating the splice and inserting the splice later. The terminal can be prevented from being generated, and the temporary binding harness can be completed.

Further, the present invention uses the above-mentioned joint connector, connects the joint connector for each temporary binding harness, and stacks these joint connectors vertically.
The connecting wire to be wired in the lateral direction is extended and connected to the press-connecting terminal of another joint connector by press-connecting, and the press-connecting terminal is connected between the vertically stacked joint connectors via the wire, and the wire of the temporary binding harness is connected. A branch connection structure of a wire harness using a joint connector configured to form a branch circuit by connecting to an electric wire of another temporary binding harness is provided.

[0013] The connecting electric wire for connecting the press-connecting terminals in the lateral direction with the one joint connector and also connecting the press-connecting terminals of the vertically stacked joint connectors is connected to the press-connecting terminal when one joint connector is formed. It may be extended in advance in the state, and when laminated with another joint connector, it may be press-connected to the press-connecting terminal of the other joint connector. Alternatively, when the joint connectors are stacked, the joint connector may be assembled while press-connecting the connection wires to the press-connecting terminals of the required joint connector.

With the above configuration, the wires of different temporary binding harnesses can be branched and connected, and the post-insertion terminal conventionally used can be eliminated. For example, in a case where the joint connectors are stacked in three stages, the connection wires are continuously laid from the upper stage to the middle stage and further to the lower stage, so that the wires of the three temporary binding harnesses can be connected. Further, the wires of the temporary binding harness connected to the upper and lower joint connectors can be connected by skipping from the upper stage to the middle stage and laying down to the lower stage, so that the degree of freedom of the configuration of the branch circuit is very high.

Further, the above-mentioned joint connectors are formed for each of the temporary binding harnesses, and these joint connectors are vertically stacked, and the press-contact terminals at required locations are rotated by 90 degrees to form a connector housing having a vertical press-contact blade. And a through-hole for inserting an electric wire is provided at a position corresponding to the press-contact terminal fixing portion, and a connecting electric wire is laid in the up-down direction through the through-hole to press-connect a vertically stacked joint connector. A configuration may be adopted in which a branch circuit is formed by connecting to a terminal and connecting the wire of the temporary binding harness to the wire of another temporary binding harness.

In this case as well, similarly to the above-mentioned arrangement of the connecting wires to be laid in the horizontal direction to the upper and lower stages, the wires of the different temporary binding harnesses can be branched and connected to each other, eliminating the need for a post-insertion terminal. it can.

Further, instead of connecting the upper and lower stacked joint connectors by electric wires, flat relay terminals having locking grooves on the upper and lower sides are provided, and a through-hole for a housing portion of the press contact terminal is provided. Pass the medium diameter terminal through the through hole,
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which engagement grooves are fitted to press-contact terminals of the upper and lower joint connectors to achieve conduction.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 5 show a joint connector 10 according to a first embodiment. Of the electric wires of one temporary binding harness A, electric wires w10 to w14 forming a branch circuit are connected by the joint connector 10, and splices and rear insertions are performed. The completion of the temporary binding harness A is intended without terminals.

As shown in FIG.
(A) and (B) are configured such that the press contact terminals 12 shown in FIG. 3 are arranged on the board portion 14 of the connector housing 13 shown in FIG. The press contact terminal 12 is formed by pressing the press contact blade 1 from an upper end of four sides of a main body 12a bent into a rectangular tube shape.
2b to 12e are formed by cutting into an arc shape. The left and right lateral pressure contact blades 12b and 12d and the front and rear longitudinal pressure contact blades 12c and 12e have different cutting depths, and are shaped so as to be able to press-connect in a crosswise direction to electric wires laid in the vertical and horizontal directions.

The connector housing 13 is substantially flat.
The substrate portion 14 is provided with recesses 15 for accommodating the press contact terminals at predetermined intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions. In the present embodiment, five recesses 1 are provided in the horizontal direction and three in the front-rear direction, and a total of 15 recesses 1 are provided.
5 are provided. The lower portion of the press contact terminal 12 is press-fitted and accommodated in the recess 15, and the press contact blades 12 b to 12 e are accommodated in the accommodated state.
Is set to project upward. After the electric wires are pressure-connected to the press-contact blades 12b to 12e, a cover (not shown) is formed.
However, the cover may be integrally formed in advance.

The above-mentioned connector housing 13 and press-connecting terminal 12
Hereinafter, a method of assembling the joint connector 10 will be described. First, instead of accommodating the press contact terminals 12 in all of the recesses 15 of the connector housing 13, as shown in FIG. 1, the press contact terminals 12 are inserted and fixed in the concave portions 15 at required positions corresponding to the branch circuit configuration. At this time, the press contact terminal 12 has four press contact blades 12b to
It is inserted and fixed in the recess 15 so that the upper end 12e becomes the upper end opening.

Next, the press-connecting terminals 1 arranged side by side in the left and right directions
The two pressure contact blades 12b and 12d in the second direction are respectively connected by pressure contact, and one connection wire 16 is wired in the horizontal direction, thereby connecting the pressure contact terminals arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction.
In the present embodiment, since there are three front and rear rows, three connection wires 16 are laid in the horizontal direction.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, wires w10 to w14 for branch connection of the temporary binding harness A are inserted and connected in the vertical direction, and each of the press-connecting terminals 12 arranged in parallel in the front-rear vertical direction is pressed in the vertical direction. The blades 12c and 12e are pressed and connected. Thus, the branch connection electric wires w10 to w of the temporary binding harness A
Reference numeral 14 denotes a connecting wire 16 to be wired in the lateral direction and a press-connecting terminal 12
And the required electric wires can be connected to each other.
Note that the connection wires 16 to be wired in the horizontal direction may be cut at required locations in accordance with the circuit configuration.

With the above configuration, the electric wires connected to each other in the temporary binding harness A can be connected to each other by using the joint connector 10, and the completed harness A eliminates the need for splices and post-insertion terminals. Can be.

Further, the branch circuit can be changed only by changing the position of the press contact terminal 12 to be attached to the connector housing 13, and since the degree of freedom is high, it is possible to easily cope with the circuit formation. Further, even if there is a circuit change, it is not necessary to change the shape of the terminal 12 and the connector housing 13,
Only one kind of the terminal 12 and the connector housing may be used, and the number of parts and the mold manufacturing cost can be reduced.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment, in which the joint connector 10 is connected to a plurality of temporary binding harnesses, and these joint connectors (three in this embodiment) are vertically stacked and assembled. This is to achieve branch connection with an electric wire of another temporary binding harness. In the figure, the lower joint connector 10-1 is a temporary binding harness A, and the middle joint connector 10-2 is a temporary binding harness B.
Further, the upper joint connector 10-3 is connected in advance to a branch circuit electric wire of the temporary binding harness C. Each of the joint connectors 10-1 to 10-3 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment. The press-connecting terminals 12 are accommodated and fixed in a connector housing 13 and the wires of the temporary binding harnesses A, B, and C are vertically wired. And press-connect to press-contact terminals 12 arranged in parallel in the front-rear vertical direction. In addition, in order to assemble the connector housing 13 vertically stacked, a peripheral wall 20 is protruded from the substrate portion 14,
An upper-layer connector housing 13 can be placed and fixed on the peripheral wall 20.

The joint connectors 10-1 to 10-
3, among the press contact terminals 12 arranged in the lateral direction of each joint connector, two rows R1, R2 on the front side are connected in each joint connector. Are connected in the lateral direction, and the rear end row R3 is connected to the press-connecting terminals 12 arranged in the front-end side in the horizontal direction only by connecting the connection electric wire 21 only to the lower joint connector 10-3. Connector housing 1
3 is extended outward.

The middle joint connector 10-2 is laminated on the lower joint connector 10-3, and the connection wires 21 extend from the lower joint connector.
To the upper part of the middle joint connector 10-2, and press-connect with the press-contact terminal 12 of the rear end row R3.
It is pulled out above the upper joint connector 10-1 to be laminated, and is pressure-connected to the pressure terminal 12 at the rear end R3.
Thereby, the joint connector 10-
1 to 10-3 are connected to the connection wires 21
And, as a result, the wires of the temporary binding harnesses A, B, and C connected to the press contact terminals 12 can be connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 8, of the joint connectors stacked in the upper and lower three stages, the middle stage is skipped to connect the press-connecting terminals 12 of the lower joint connector 10-3 and the upper joint connector 10-1. The connection may be made by the electric wire 21, and the circuit can be easily changed because the electric wire is simply routed.

FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment. When it is necessary to connect the press-connecting terminals of the joint connectors to be vertically stacked, the press-connecting terminals 12 to be connected are rotated by 90 degrees to set the press-connecting blades 12b in the horizontal direction. ', 12d' is the vertical direction. On the other hand, the bottom of the recess 15 for accommodating the press contact terminal provided in the connector housing 13 is provided with a through hole 2 for inserting an electric wire.
2 is provided, and the press contact terminal 12 ′ rotated by 90 degrees is provided.
Are located at positions corresponding to the through holes 22.

As described above, in the joint connectors 10-1 to 10-3 which are vertically stacked, the press contact terminals 12 'are arranged by rotating the contact terminals 12' by 90 degrees in the places which need to be electrically connected vertically, and the wirings are arranged in the vertical direction. The connecting wires 25 to be connected are used, and the connecting wires 25 are passed through the through holes 22 of the connector housing 13 and the press-contact blades 12b 'and 12d' of the upper and lower press-connecting terminals 12 '.
By press-connecting to the wire, electric wires of different temporary binding harnesses can be connected.

FIG. 10 shows a fourth embodiment, in which a press contact terminal 12 which needs to be press-connected to a vertically stacked joint connector is replaced with a flat relay terminal 30 having locking grooves on the upper and lower sides.
Connected through.

In the configuration of the second to fourth embodiments,
The wires of another temporary binding harness can also be connected using the joint connector, and the splice and the post-insertion terminal can be eliminated.

[0034]

As is clear from the above description, in the joint connector of the present invention, a crimping terminal which can be crimped and connected in a cross direction to an electric wire to be wired vertically and horizontally is used, and the crimping terminal is vertically and horizontally connected to a connector housing. Place them at intervals,
The crimp connection terminals arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction are connected through the electric wires in the horizontal direction, while the crimp connection is made in the vertical direction through the electric wires that branch and connect the wire harness. Therefore, a required branch connection circuit can be easily configured. In addition, if there is a circuit change, it is only necessary to change the position of the press contact terminal attached to the connector housing, and the same press contact terminal and connector housing can be used, and the circuit is changed without increasing the cost. be able to.

Further, by connecting a joint connector to each of the temporary binding harnesses, stacking these joint connectors vertically and combining them, and using an extended wire for connecting the press-connecting terminals to each other, the wires of the plurality of temporary binding harnesses are connected to each other. Can be connected.

As described above, by using the joint connector of the present invention, a branch connection is made between the wires of one temporary binding harness or a branch connection is made between the wires of a plurality of temporary binding harnesses. Also, the branch connection can be achieved by eliminating the splice formation and the post-insertion terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B show a press contact terminal used in the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a perspective view, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing a state of press contact connection with an electric wire.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a connector housing.

FIG. 4A is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a press contact terminal is fixed to a connector housing, and FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged sectional view.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a state where a connection electric wire is press-connected to the press-connecting terminal.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state where a joint connector is connected to each temporary binding harness of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the joint connectors are vertically stacked and connected by electric wires.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a modification of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9A is a schematic perspective view of a main part showing a third embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 10 shows a fourth embodiment, in which (A) is a perspective view,
(B) is a schematic diagram of a main part.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a conventional example.

12A is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional joint connector, and FIG. 12B is a schematic view showing a connection state between the joint connector and an electric wire.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Joint connector 12 Pressure contact terminal 12a Main body 12b-12e Pressure contact blade 13 Connector housing 15 Recess 16 Connection wire w10-w14 Branch circuit formation wire A-C Temporary binding harness

Claims (4)

[Claims] An electric wire is formed by cutting a press contact blade from an upper end of each side of a main body bent into a rectangular cylindrical shape, and by making the right and left lateral press contact blades and the front and rear longitudinal press contact blades have different depths. A crimping terminal that can be crimped and connected in the cross direction is provided.The crimping terminals are fixed in parallel to the board part of the connector housing at intervals vertically and horizontally, and connected to each crimping blade of the crimping terminals arranged in parallel in the transverse direction. Wires are connected in the horizontal direction to connect the crimping terminals in parallel in the horizontal direction, and the wires for branch connection of the wire harness are inserted from the vertical direction into the vertical crimping blades of the crimping terminals arranged in the vertical direction And connected to other branch connection wires via the horizontal connection wires,
A joint connector configured to form a branch circuit. 2. The connector housing according to claim 1, wherein recesses for accommodating the press contact terminals are provided in the board portion of the connector housing at intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the press contact terminals are accommodated and fixed at required positions in the concave portions at required positions. Joint connector. 3. A connection electric wire using the joint connector according to claim 1 or 2, connecting the joint connector for each temporary binding harness, stacking these joint connectors up and down, and wiring in the lateral direction. Is extended and connected to the crimping terminal of another joint connector by crimping, and the crimping terminal is connected via a wire between the vertically stacked joint connectors, and the wire of the temporary binding harness is connected to the wire of another temporary binding harness A branch connection structure of a wire harness using a joint connector configured to form a branch circuit. 4. The joint connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said joint connector is formed for each temporary binding harness, and these joint connectors are vertically stacked, and a press contact terminal at a required position is 90 degrees. Rotate and fix it to the connector housing as a shape having vertical press-contact blades, and provide a through-hole for electric wire insertion at a position corresponding to the press-contact terminal fixing portion, and connect the connecting wire through the through-hole. A joint connector was used in which wiring was performed in the vertical direction, connected to the press-contact terminals of the vertically stacked joint connector, and connected to the wire of the temporary binding harness with the wire of another temporary binding harness to form a branch circuit. Branch connection structure of wire harness.