JP2002025651A - Connector connection structure of cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector connection structure of a cable having excellent workability and sealability. SOLUTION: In this connector connection structure, wires 41 and 42 exposed from an end of the cable 40 are arranged at the pitch of connection terminals 10A and 10B of a connector 1, the arranged wires 41 and 42 are integrally formed of an insulator (for example, thermoplastic polyamide) to form a molded part 50, and a sealed part 60 of the connector 1 is integrated with the insulator to enhance the workability and sealability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a connector connecting structure for a cable having a plurality of electric wires.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional connector connection structure for a cable, electric wires exposed from an end of the cable are arranged at a pitch of each terminal of the connector, and then placed on each terminal of the connector for welding connection. .

If the connector is a waterproof connector, a rubber plug is fitted to the cable, and then the above-described connector connection is made. Thereafter, the rubber plug is also fixed to the connector. Then, in use, the rubber stopper is deformed and adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the connector housing,
Water was prevented from entering the inside of the connector.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional cable connector connection structure, when the cable is a multi-core wire (especially in the case of a stranded wire), it is difficult to make the pitch between the core wires uniform. Workability such as peeling was not good.

[0005] In the case of a waterproof connector, the sealing property is maintained by the compressive force applied to the cable by the rubber plug, and it has been difficult to ensure a high sealing property. In addition, a process of fitting a rubber stopper to the cable is required,
Management of that direction is required. In addition, it was necessary to use a crimp to the terminal and a retainer to fix the position of the rubber plug.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a connector connecting structure of a cable having excellent workability and sealability.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a connector connecting structure for a cable having a plurality of electric wires, wherein each of the electric wires exposed from the cable end is arranged at a pitch of a connecting terminal of the connector. The connector connecting part is formed by arranging the aligned electric wires and integrally molding the aligned electric wires with an insulating material.

According to this structure, the electric wires exposed from the cable end are aligned at the pitch of the connection terminals of the connector,
Since the aligned electric wires are integrally formed of an insulating material, it is possible to stabilize the pitch between the electric wires and collectively perform the steps of peeling the electric wires, connecting the terminals, and the like.

Further, when the waterproof seal portion of the connector is integrally formed with the connector connection portion, the sealability is improved and the number of parts and the number of steps can be reduced.

For example, the cable may be a flat cable having a plurality of signal lines as electric wires.

Further, in the third aspect, if the connector connecting portion is provided with a restricting means for restricting a connection direction of the connector to the connection terminal (claim 4), the arrangement of each signal line has polarity. In such a case, the erroneous connection is reliably prevented.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a cable connector connection structure according to the present invention. The connector 1 shown here has two electric wire terminals 10A.
, A single drain terminal 10 </ b> B, an insulating housing 20 which is an insulating housing, and a shield member 30.

The insulated housing 20 has a terminal insertion portion 20a in which the upper center is cut away in the front-rear direction. The terminal insertion portion 20a holds each wire terminal 10A in an insulated state, while holding the drain terminal 10B in a non-insulated state. And positioned inside the shield member 30, respectively.
It is configured to be engaged with the shield member 30 in an appropriate manner. For example, an engagement groove 20b formed in the insulating housing 20 and a projecting piece 30b formed in the shield member 30
Are engaged with each other (see FIG. 5). Also,
The upper part of the rear of the insulating housing 20 is opened, and a through hole 21 of a predetermined size is formed in the lower part (see FIG. 5).

[0014] The shield member 30 is
Is formed in a shell shape that covers the terminals 10A and 10B positioned from the outside, and a spring piece (returned) 30a provided on the upper portion is brought into contact with the drain terminal 10B to form the non-insulated state. The shield member 30 is connected to the drain wire 42 via the spring piece 30a and the drain terminal 10B, and exhibits a shielding function by being grounded. Also, the shield member 3
At the rear of 0, an upper portion is opened, and a lower portion is formed with a through-hole 31 that matches the through-hole 21 when the insulating housing 20 is engaged (see FIG. 5).

The connection portions 14 of the terminals 10A, 10B positioned in the insulating housing 20 are formed in through holes 21, 31.
The welding jig can be approached from above and below the connecting portion 14 as described later.

On the other hand, the cables 40 connected to the connector 1 are connected to the cable terminals 10A, respectively.
Insulated wires (wires) 41 and the drain terminal 10B
And one drain wire (electric wire) 42 connected to the
These are flat cables arranged in parallel and covered with a metal foil or shield braid (not shown) and a sheath 44.

The insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42 exposed from the end of the cable 40 are aligned at the pitch of the terminals, and the aligned wires 41 and 42 are integrally formed of an insulating material. Thus, a mold portion (connector connection portion) 50 is formed. The waterproof seal part 60 of the connector 1 is formed integrally with the mold part 50.

In this embodiment, the electric wire terminal 10A and the drain terminal 10B are all female terminals. Each of the terminals 10A and 10B has a rectangular tube-shaped terminal fitting portion 12 that opens forward and backward, and a mating male terminal can be fitted inside thereof. A spring piece (not shown) is formed in the terminal fitting portion 12 so that the spring piece and the above-mentioned male terminal are electrically contacted. A thin plate-like connecting portion 14 is extended rearward from each of the terminals 10A and 10B, and each electric wire can be connected to the connecting portion 14 by welding.

At the rear end of the shield member 30, an insulation barrel 37 is formed. As will be described in detail later, the insulation barrel 37 is designed to be crimped to a waterproof shield part 60 integrally formed with the cable 40 and the mold part 50. By omitting the waterproof shield part 60, the sheath 40
Alternatively, the insulation barrel 37 may be directly pressure-bonded.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams showing a method of forming a mold portion and a waterproof seal portion, wherein FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating steps up to peeling of a cable, and FIG. FIG. 7C is an explanatory diagram of a process up to the peeling of the insulated wire. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of a mold for forming a mold portion and the like. FIG. 3A is a horizontal cross-sectional view at a substantially central portion in the vertical direction, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the sheath 44 of the cable 40 is peeled off together with a metal foil (not shown), or the sheath 44 is peeled off together with a braid (not shown) so that each of the insulated wires 41 and the drains are separated. Line 42 is exposed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42 exposed from the end of the cable 40 are aligned at the pitch of the terminals 10A and 10B in FIG. The insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42 thus formed are set in a mold as shown in FIG. 3 in order to form them integrally with an insulating material.

The mold comprises three parts A, B and C,
Further, the A and C portions can be divided into upper and lower portions as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and the B portion has an integral structure.

The portion A is a portion for forming the molded portion 50 of each wire, and has wire guide grooves formed at the pitch of the terminals 10A and 10B. Each insulated electric wire 41 and the drain wire 4
2 to align each wire,
Set in the lower mold of the part. At this time, the lower mold wall A
Either abut the end of each electric wire against 1 to prevent over-insertion visually, or print a line on the sheath 44 with a fixed length from the end surface of the cable 40, and align this line with the end surface of the lower mold. set.

The portions B and C are portions for forming the waterproof seal portion 60. The waterproof seal portion 60 is made of a part of an insulating material for integrating the insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42. Things. In addition, the mold part 50
At the connecting portion between the and the waterproof seal portion 60, R is set so that a square does not project on the mold structure.

Next, each of the insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42
The upper mold is placed on the lower mold of the part A where the parts have been set, and the mold of the part B and the upper and lower molds of the part C are assembled and clamped. In this state, an insulating material is injected and then cooled. To make a solid.

Thereafter, the mold clamping is released and A, C
When the mold is separated in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the solidified body is pulled out from the mold in the part B, the forming is completed, and the mold part 50 and the waterproof seal part 60 are attached to the end of the cable 40. An integrated structure is obtained.

As the above-mentioned insulating material, a material which can be molded at a low temperature and a low pressure is preferable. In this way, when the waterproof seal portion 60 is formed integrally with the mold portion 50, the adhesiveness is further improved. A material having a hardness close to a material usually used as a rubber stopper is preferable. As a material which almost satisfies these conditions, for example, a thermoplastic polyamide resin can be mentioned. This thermoplastic polyamide has been used in automobiles and home appliances as a sealing material, and is suitable for this use. As the insulating material, a liquid RTV (Room Tempera
ture Vulcanizing) Silicone rubber may be used,
RIM (Reaction Injec) using liquid silicone rubber
tion Molding) Molding may be performed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, the insulator at the end of each insulated wire 41 exposed from the cable 40 on which the molded portion 50 and the like are formed is peeled off, and the center conductor 41a is removed.
Expose the end of FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the cable of the molded portion in this state. In the illustrated example, the mold part 50 and the waterproof seal part 60 are integrally fixed to the cable 40, and the ends of the insulated wires 41 and the ends of the drain wires 42 are aligned at a predetermined pitch.

Returning to FIG. 1, an example of a procedure for connecting the cable 40 to the connector 1 will be described.
The terminal 10A, 10B is inserted into the terminal insertion portion 20a of No. 0, and a lance (not shown) provided on the lower surface of each terminal 10A, 10B is engaged with an engaging groove (not shown) of the insulating housing 20 so that each terminal 10A, , 10B are held in the insulating housing 20. In this state, the insulating housing 20 is inserted into the shield member 30 to engage the two. Next, the center conductor 41a of each insulated wire 41 integrally formed of the insulating material is used.
And the end of the drain line 42 are mounted on the respective connection portions 14 of the corresponding terminals 10A and 10B. Then, the insulation barrel 37 is plastically deformed,
It is crimped on the waterproof seal part 60 on the outer periphery of the cable 40.

FIG. 5 shows the state at this time.
(A) is a top view including a partial cross section, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY in (a). As shown in FIG. 5B, the drain terminal 10B is in contact with the spring piece 30a of the shield part 30. Also, as shown in FIGS.
The molded part 50 is accommodated behind the shield member 30, and the insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42 are
A and 10B are mounted on the respective connection portions 14. Each connection part 14
Is located at an open portion of the shield member 30, and the back surface is located directly above the through holes 21 and 31, and is in an open state.

In this state, a welding jig (not shown) (eg, an ultrasonic welding jig or a resistance welding jig) is approached to the front and back surfaces of each connecting portion 14 from above and below. The welding operation is performed with the connecting portion 14 interposed therebetween. By this welding work, while connecting each terminal 10A, 10B with the insulated wire 41 and the drain wire 42,
A good ground connection can be made through the drain wire 42, whereby the operation of connecting the cable 40 to the connector 1 is completed.

The order of the barrel crimping and welding operations may be interchanged, and it is most preferable that both operations are performed simultaneously (or with a time difference) within one process.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory views showing another method of forming the connector connection portion. FIGS. 6A to 6C show a case where the connector is not a waterproof connector.
The steps are substantially the same as those in FIG. 2 except that 0 is not provided.

In the above, when the insulated wire 41 is a polar signal line, as shown in FIG.
By providing a projection (restriction means) 51 for restricting the connection direction to the terminals 10A and 10B, and enabling engagement with an engagement portion (not shown) on the mating side, erroneous connection can be reliably prevented. become. The number of the protrusions 51 is not limited to one, and a plurality of protrusions 51 may be provided. Further, a concave portion may be provided instead of the projection 51, and the engaging portion on the other side may be a projection. Further, both the protrusion 51 and the recess may be provided. Of course, such a restricting means can be applied to a case where the connector is a waterproof connector.

As described above, in the present embodiment, each of the insulated wires 41 and the drain wires 42 exposed from the end of the cable 40 are aligned at the pitch of the connection terminals 10A and 10B of the connector 1, and are aligned. Since each wire is integrally formed of an insulating material, it is possible to stabilize the pitch between the wires and to perform all processes such as peeling of the wire, terminal connection, and the like, and also to facilitate handling in each process. Is improved. With the improvement of the handleability, the exposed length of the core wire can be further reduced, and the yield of the cable material can be improved.

Further, if the waterproof seal portion 60 of the connector 1 is formed integrally with the mold portion 50, the conventional rubber plug insertion step is eliminated, so that the component is not required and the component management becomes unnecessary, and the process can be omitted. Simplified. When the insulating material is a thermoplastic polyamide, the waterproof seal portion 60 has good adhesion to the vinyl chloride-coated cable 40 together with the mold portion 50. Similarly, when the insulating material is an olefin, the polyethylene-coated cable Therefore, the sealability can be greatly improved by the above configuration.

In the above embodiment, since the drain terminal 10B is disposed at the center and the wire terminals 10A are disposed on both sides of the drain terminal 10B, electrical stability in consideration of impedance characteristics is ensured. This effect can be obtained by arranging the drain terminal of the plurality of terminals on the center side, instead of the total number of terminals being three as in the example in the figure.

In the above embodiment, the drain line 42
And the drain terminal 10B, the insulated wire 41 and the terminal 1
Although the connection with 0A is made by welding, both connections may be made by a method other than welding, for example, crimping. In that case, ground connection and the like can be efficiently performed with a simpler configuration.

Further, the connector according to the present invention may be configured alone or in combination. For example, a waterproof connector can be formed by introducing the waterproof seal portion 60 as shown in FIG. Thus, the present invention is applicable to various connectors.

Further, in the present invention, regardless of the type of the cable to be connected, such a cable may be any as long as it includes a plurality of insulated wires.

[0042]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to stabilize the pitch between the electric wires and to perform all the processes such as stripping of the electric wires, terminal connection, etc., and The handleability in each step is improved. With this improved handling, the exposed length of the core wire can be further reduced,
Material yield can also be improved.

Further, if the sealing portion of the connector is formed integrally with an insulating material (for example, a thermoplastic polyamide) in which the respective electric wires are integrally formed, the sealing property is improved,
The number of parts and man-hours can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a cable connector connection structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a method of forming a connector connecting portion, wherein FIG.
(B) is an explanatory view of a process up to formation of a mold portion and the like, (c)
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a process up to peeling of the insulated wire.

3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of a mold for forming a mold portion and the like, wherein FIG. 3A is a horizontal cross-sectional view at a substantially central portion in a vertical direction, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. It is.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in a width direction of a molded portion of the cable.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing details of the connector connection structure of the cable, where FIG. 5A is a top view including a partial cross section, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY in FIG.

6A and 6B are explanatory views showing another method of forming the connector connection portion, wherein FIG.
(B) is an explanatory view of a process up to the formation of a mold portion, and (c) is an explanatory view of a process up to peeling of the insulated wire.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing another method of forming the connector connection portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 10A Electric wire terminal 10B Drain terminal 14 Connection part 20 Insulation housing 30 Shield member 37 Insulation barrel 40 Shielded cable 41 Insulated electric wire (electric wire) 42 Drain wire (electric wire) 44 Sheath 50 Molded part (connector connection part) 51 Projection ( Regulation means) 60 waterproof seal part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Chihiro Yoshioka 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Harness Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Jun Imazu 1 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture No. 7-10 Harness Research Institute, Inc. F term (reference) 5E063 JB08 5E077 BB03 BB05 DD08 GG21 JJ11 JJ22 5E087 EE14 FF13 GG02 JJ08 LL03 MM05 RR12 RR26

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a connector connecting structure of a cable having a plurality of wires, wires exposed from a cable end are aligned at a pitch of a connection terminal of the connector, and the aligned wires are integrally formed of an insulating material. A connector connection structure for a cable, wherein a connector connection portion is formed by the above. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof seal portion of the connector is formed integrally with the connector connection portion.
Connector construction of the cable described. 3. The cable connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the cable is a flat cable having a plurality of signal lines as electric wires. 4. The connector connecting structure for a cable according to claim 3, wherein a restricting means for restricting a connecting direction of the connector to the connecting terminal is provided in the connector connecting portion.