JP2003323928A - Connecting structure for flat harness - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of components and to easily and inexpensively connect to accessories. <P>SOLUTION: The flat harness 1 is composed of a flat cable 2 comprising a plurality of conductors 4 coated by an insulating coating 5 and arranged flatly side by side. Each accessory 20a-20c connected with the flat harness 1 is provided with a cable connecting part 21a-21c for attaching the flat cable 2, and they are attached to a module 90. An insulation displacement terminal 6 used as a connection terminal with a tip of a connecting part 6a in a bifurcately branched shape and in a state exposed in a connecting direction with the flat cable 2 is included in each cable connecting part 21a-21c. Since the connecting parts 6a of the insulation displacement terminals 6 bite into the insulating coating 6 and hold and press against the conductors 4 when the flat cable 2 is attached to the cable connecting parts 21a-21c, each accessory 20a-20c can be connected by the flat harness 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a flat cable (FC) or a flexible flat cable (FFC) for connecting electrical components (auxiliaries) mounted on an automobile or the like. The present invention relates to a flat harness, and more particularly to a flat harness connection structure capable of reducing the number of parts and connecting to an auxiliary machine easily and inexpensively.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, wire harnesses are mainly used for connecting electrical components (auxiliaries) of automobiles and the like. A wire harness is a harness-like bundle of electric wires that connect between auxiliary machines. Usually, a crimp terminal is attached to the end of each electric wire that forms the harness, and these crimp terminals are used for each auxiliary machine. It is built in a connector that is connected to the connector and the like provided in the. The connector of the wire harness is formed in a different shape for each accessory,
It is designed to prevent mistakes in connection.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of such a wire harness. First, the strands of each electric wire forming the harness are twisted (S100), individually extruded to form an insulating coating (S101), the extruded wire rods are assembled (S102), and the assembled wire rods are sorted (S103). . The process up to this point is, for example, an extrusion process. Next, the sorted wire rods are individually weighed according to the auxiliary equipment to be connected (S200), and the weighed wire rods are cut (S200).
201), the insulation coating of the terminal is removed to expose the bare wire (lead out) (S202), crimp terminals are individually crimped to the exposed bare wire (S203), and the wire materials crimped to the crimp terminals are assembled ( (S204), the collected wire rods are sorted (S205). The process up to this point is, for example, a pressure bonding process. Then, if necessary, the insulating coating at a predetermined position between the ends of the wire is removed to expose the strand (intermediate exit) (S3
00), crimping the joint terminal for branching (S3
01), gather the wire materials with the joint terminals crimped (S
302) and sort the assembled wire rods (S303).
The process up to here is a joint process, for example. In this way, each terminal of the wire rod to which each terminal is attached is inserted into the connector or the like (S400), and temporarily assembled to perform the sub-assembly (S / A).
ssy) is formed (S401), and the formed sub-assemblies are assembled (S402). The process up to this point is referred to as, for example, a sub-assembly process. After forming a sub-assembly, a branch is formed (S500) and a terminal is inserted (S50).
1) Wrap a tape such as an insulating tape around the wire (S50
2) Then, various outer packagings are attached to form a wire harness (W / H) (S503), and the formed wire harnesses are assembled (S504). The steps up to this point are called assembling steps.
Then, the completed inspection of the assembled wire harness is performed (S600), and the product number and lot are attached (S60).
1) Finally, the wire harness is shipped (S602).
This process is called an inspection and shipping process. As described above, in order to manufacture a wire harness, it is necessary to roughly perform various processes such as an extrusion process, a pressure bonding process, a joint process, a sub-assembly process, an assembly process, and an inspection and shipping process.

[0004]

However, in the wire harness manufactured through such steps, for example, a large number of connectors are used also in the branch portion and the joint portion, and if the number of auxiliary machines to be connected increases. Since the number of parts such as wires (electric wires) and connectors that compose the harness increases, the harness becomes thicker and heavier, and the number of parts increases, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost. Also, when manufacturing a harness, it is necessary to individually manufacture wire rods of different lengths depending on conditions such as the system of the auxiliary machine to be connected and the mounting position, or to attach a connector of a different shape to each auxiliary machine to be connected. Therefore, the number of steps in the manufacturing process may increase dramatically. In particular, the work of attaching the wire harness equipped with the connectors of various shapes to the auxiliary machine becomes very complicated, and there is a problem that it is time-consuming and costly due to an increase in the number of parts.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a flat harness connection structure capable of reducing the number of parts and connecting to auxiliary machines easily and at low cost. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A flat harness connection structure according to the present invention is a flat harness composed of cables in which a plurality of conductors are covered with an insulating coating and arranged in a plane, and the flat harness is connected. A connection structure with an auxiliary machine, wherein the auxiliary machine includes a cable connection portion containing a connection terminal connected to the conductor of the cable,
The cable is directly attached to the cable connection portion in the thickness direction of the cable, and the conductor is connected to the connection terminal.

According to the present invention, the auxiliary machine to which the flat harness is connected is provided with the cable connecting portion containing the connection terminal connected to the conductor of the cable of the flat harness,
Connect the flat harness cable to this cable connection,
Since the conductor is attached directly to the thickness direction of the cable and the conductor is connected to the connection terminal, there is no need to provide a connector on the cable.
The number of parts of the flat harness can be reduced, and the cable can be connected by a simple work of directly mounting it on the auxiliary machine. In addition, since the flat harness cable can be connected to auxiliary equipment at any position, layout flexibility can be improved, and the same flat harness can be applied to vehicles with different auxiliary equipment layouts. Therefore, the applicable range of the flat harness can be expanded.

The cable connecting portion of the auxiliary equipment has a built-in pressure contact terminal that bites into the insulation coating of the cable and sandwiches the conductor for pressure contact, or a tip that penetrates through the insulation coating and the conductor of the cable and penetrates. It is preferable to incorporate a piercing terminal for crimping the portion and connecting with the conductor.

Further, it is preferable that the cable connecting portion further includes a retainer for sandwiching and fixing the cable between the cable connecting portion and the cable connecting portion, and the cable attached to the cable connecting portion is sandwiched by the retainer. The connection reliability can be further improved.

The cable forming the flat harness is composed of a plurality of conductors, each of which is covered with an insulating coating, and the insulating coatings are connected to each other. Insulating non-bonding type flat cable, in which each conductor of each conductor is covered with an insulating coating, and the insulating coatings are independent of each other and are not bonded, or a plurality of conductors are formed planarly by laminating or extruding. It is preferable that the flexible flat cable has a structure covered with the insulating coating.

[0011] In this case, when the cable is a flat cable connected between insulating coatings or a non-bonding type between insulating coatings, the conductor is preferably a round conductor single wire or twisted wire, and the flexible flat cable. When it is composed of, the conductor is preferably composed of a single wire of a rectangular conductor.

The conductor is preferably made of Cu or Al, for example.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a flat harness connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flat harness 1 is composed of a flat cable 2 composed of a plurality of conductors 4 which are covered with an insulating coating 5 and arranged in parallel in a plane. Each of the auxiliary machines 20a, 20b, 20c to which the flat harness 1 is connected is flat. Cable connection parts 21a, 21b to which the cable 2 is attached,
21c, and is attached to the module 90 or the like. The flat harness 1 electrically connects the auxiliary machines 20a to 20c.

Flat cable 2 of flat harness 1
As shown in FIG. 2, for example, a conductor 4 made of a wire such as a circular conductor single wire or stranded wire made of Cu or Al is provided with polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyimide (PI) and Insulation coating-bonded flat cable structure in which the insulation coating 5 made of an insulating resin such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is covered, and the insulation coatings 5 are connected to each other by the bridge portions 5a made of the same insulating resin as the insulation coating 5. The conductors 4 of the flat cable 2 constitute different signal lines, for example.

That is, the conductor 4 forming the signal line is
A left / right high beam / low beam common headlight power source is connected, and a low beam left / right common headlight switch is connected to the conductor 4 forming the signal line. Further, the high beam left / right common headlight switch is connected to the conductor 4 forming the signal line, and the plus (+) side of the left / right common side light is connected to the conductor 4 forming the signal line. . Furthermore, the conductor 4 that constitutes the signal line of
Is connected to the plus (+) side of the high / low common horn, and the common ground (-) is connected to the conductor 4 forming the signal line.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
20c is a cable connecting portion 21a made of a resin molded member.
21 to 21c, each of which is attached to the module 90. Each cable connection portion 21a to 21c
Is the conductor 4 of the flat cable 2 of the flat harness 1.
The press-connecting terminal 6 as a connecting terminal to be connected to the flat harness 2 is built in, and unevenness is formed in accordance with the surface shape (shape of the insulating coating 5) of the flat cable 2 so that the flat cable 2 of the flat harness 1 is mounted accurately The mounting groove 22a, which is recessed in accordance with the width of the flat cable 2,
22b and 22c are provided. The pressure contact terminals 6 built in the cable connection portions 21a to 21c are connected to the conductors 4 forming a predetermined signal line when the flat cable 2 is attached to the cable connection portions 21a to 21c. , The connection direction tip of the connection portion 6a is the mounting groove 22a-2.
It is built in at a predetermined position while being exposed from 2c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the press contact terminal 6 is, for example, among the respective conductors 4 of the flat cable 2 constituting the different signal lines 1 to 4 described above, the respective auxiliary machines 20a to 2a.
0c is connected to each of the conductors 4 forming the signal line required. Since the tip of the connecting portion 6a in the connecting direction of the pressure contact terminal 6 is formed into a bifurcated shape, when the flat cable 2 is attached to each of the cable connecting portions 21a to 21c, the branch portion of the connecting portion 6a is attached. Penetrates into the insulating coating 5 of the flat cable 2 and penetrates the bridge portion 5a,
The conductor 4 is sandwiched by the spring force and is pressed into contact.

As described above, according to the connection structure of the present invention, the conductor 4 of the flat cable 2 and the cable mounting portions 21a to 21c can be simply attached to the cable connecting portions 21a to 21c of the flat cable 2 of the flat harness 1. Since the auxiliary terminals 20a to 20c can be connected with the flat harness 1 by connecting the press contact terminal 6, it is not necessary to separately provide a connector or the like in the flat harness 1, and the number of parts of the flat harness 1 can be reduced. While you can
It is possible to connect auxiliary equipment installed at any position with a simple operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, each auxiliary machine 20a.about.
The cable connection portions 21a to 21c of 20c may include retainers 23a, 23b, and 23c that sandwich and fix the flat cable 2 between the cable connection portions 21a to 21c. In this case, each auxiliary machine 20a-2
0c cable connecting portions 21a to 21c both wall portions 24a,
24b is provided with engaging recesses 26a and 26b with which engaging pieces 25a and 25b (only 25a is shown) provided in the retainers 23a to 23c are engaged, and when the retainers 23a to 23c are mounted, these engaging pieces 25a and 25b Engaging recesses 26a, 2
By engaging with the flat cable 2 by engaging with the flat cable 2, the flat cable 2 is surely held by the auxiliary machines 20a to 20a.
It can be fixed at 0c. In addition, the retainer 23a-
In the contact portion 23c of the flat cable 2 with the flat cable 2, it is preferable to form mounting grooves 27a to 27c having a symmetrical shape, which are opposed to the mounting grooves 22a to 22c. This allows
Connect the flat cable 2 to each cable connection portion 21a to 21c.
It becomes possible to mount it more accurately.

The flat harness 1 of this example has a flat cable structure between insulating coatings in which each conductor 4 is covered with an insulating coating 5, and the insulating coatings 5 are connected to each other by a bridge portion 5a. Although it is composed of the flat cable 2, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, each conductor 4 made of a wire such as a single wire or a stranded wire of a round conductor like the flat cable 2 has an insulating coating 5
And a flat cable 2a having a non-coupling type of insulation-insulating flat cable structure in which the insulation coatings 5 are not coupled to each other and are independent of each other, and each conductor 4 has a rectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. The flat conductor 4a may be a single wire, and may be a flexible flat cable 2b having a structure covered with an insulating coating 5 formed in a plane by lamination or extrusion.

When the flat harness 1 is composed of the flat cable 2a, the connecting portion of the press contact terminal 6 is built in the cable connecting portions 21a to 21c of the respective auxiliary machines 20a to 20c as shown in FIG. The connection portion 6b has a structure and shape substantially similar to the connection portion 6a of the pressure contact terminal 6, and in the case of the flexible flat cable 2b,
The connecting portion of the press contact terminal 6 is preferably a connecting portion 6c having a shape adapted to the rectangular conductor 4a, as shown in FIG. The conductor 4 of the flat cable 2a may be an enameled wire having a structure in which an insulating coating 5 is formed by coating on a single wire or a stranded wire of a round conductor. In addition, for example, when the flat harness 1 is composed of the flat cable 2a, the insulating coatings 5 covering the conductors 4 have a non-bonding and independent structure, so that the resistance during pressure welding is small and the flat cable 2a is connected to the cable connecting portion 21a. Attach to ~ 21c,
The work of connecting the pressure contact terminal 6 to the conductor 4 is easier than that of the flat cable 2 and the flexible flat cable 2b.

In this example, the cable connecting portion 21a
Although the pressure contact terminal 6 is used as the connection terminal built in the terminals 21 to 21c, as shown in FIG. 5A, in addition to the pressure contact terminal 6, for example, the connection portion 6a has the insulation coating 5 of the flat cable 2. Alternatively, the piercing terminal 6 ′ may be built in so as to penetrate through the conductor 4 and caulk the tip 6 a ′ of the penetrating connection portion 6 a to connect to the conductor 4. According to the piercing terminal 6 ', the tip portion 6a'
Because of the caulking structure, the connection reliability with the conductor 4 can be further improved. Flat cables 2 and 2
A piercing terminal 6'used for a single wire or a stranded wire of a round conductor constituting each conductor 4 of a has a forked tip portion 6a 'of the connecting portion 6a arranged in an array of conductors 4 as shown in FIG. It is preferable that they are connected so as to penetrate in a direction (longitudinal direction of the conductor 4) orthogonal to the direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, the piercing terminal 6'can be applied to the flexible flat cable 2b, and in this case as well, the insulating coating 5 and the conductor 4 of the flexible flat cable 2b are connected to the connecting portion 6a. Since the tip portion 6a 'is connected so as to penetrate therethrough and the penetrated tip portion 6a' is caulked, the connection reliability can be improved. Cable connection 21
At least one of the pressure contact terminal 6 and the piercing terminal 6'is built in a to 21c.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The auxiliary machine to which the flat harness is connected is equipped with a cable connection part that has a built-in connection terminal that is connected to the conductor of the cable of the flat harness, and the cable of the flat harness is directly attached to this cable connection part in the thickness direction of the cable. Since the conductor is connected to the connection terminal, it is not necessary to provide a connector on the cable, the number of parts of the flat harness can be reduced, and the cable can be directly connected to the auxiliary equipment for connection. it can. Also,
Since the auxiliary harness can be connected to any position of the cable of the flat harness, the flexibility of layout can be improved, and the same flat harness can be applied to vehicle models with different accessory layouts. The application range of flat harness can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a flat harness connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a flat cable that constitutes a flat harness.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a connection structure between a pressure contact terminal and a conductor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another cable forming the flat harness.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a connection structure between a piercing terminal and a conductor of a cable.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of the wire harness.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Flat harness, 2, 2a ... Flat cable,
2b ... Flexible flat cable, 4 ... Conductor, 5 ...
Insulation coating, 5a ... Bridge portion, 6 ... Pressure contact terminal, 6 '... Piercing terminal, 6a, 6b, 6c ... Connection portion, 6a' ...
Tip part, 20 ... Auxiliary device, 21 ... Cable connection part, 22, 2
7 ... Mounting groove, 23 ... Retainer, 24 ... Wall part, 25 ... Engaging piece, 26 ... Engaging recess, 90 ... Module.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H02G 1/14 H02G 15/08 K 5G363 3/38 H01R 9/07 B 5G375 15/08 H02G 3/28 F (72) Inventor Mako Daisuke 1-5-1 Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo F-term in Fujikura Ltd. (reference) BA11 5G363 AA16 BA05 DC02 5G375 AA11 CA02 CA13 CC07 DA36 DB09

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A connection structure of a flat harness composed of cables in which a plurality of conductors are covered with an insulating coating and arranged in a plane, and an auxiliary machine to which the flat harness is connected, wherein the auxiliary machine is A cable connection portion having a connection terminal that is connected to the conductor of the cable is built in, the cable is directly attached to the cable connection portion in a thickness direction of the cable, and the conductor is connected to the connection terminal. A flat harness connection structure characterized by the above. 2. The flat harness connection according to claim 1, wherein the cable connecting portion has a built-in pressure contact terminal that bites into the insulating coating of the cable and sandwiches the conductor for pressure contact. Construction. 3. The cable connecting portion has a built-in piercing terminal for penetrating and penetrating the insulating coating and the conductor of the cable and caulking the penetrating end to connect with the conductor. The flat harness connection structure according to claim 1. 4. The cable connecting portion further includes a retainer for sandwiching and fixing the cable between the cable connecting portion and the cable connecting portion, and the cable attached to the cable connecting portion is sandwiched by the retainer. The flat harness connection structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that. 5. The cable according to claim 5, wherein the conductors of the plurality of conductors are covered with insulating coatings, and the insulating coatings are coupled to each other. Each of the conductors is covered with an insulating coating, and the insulating coatings are not coupled to each other and have a structure independent of each other, or a flat cable is formed by laminating or extruding the plurality of conductors. The flat harness connection structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is a flexible flat cable having a structure covered with an insulating coating. 6. When the cable is a flat cable with a connection between insulating coatings or a non-bonding flat cable between insulating coatings,
6. The flat conductor according to claim 5, wherein the conductor is a round conductor single wire or a stranded wire, and when the conductor is the flexible flat cable, the conductor is a flat rectangular conductor single wire. Harness connection structure. 7. The flat harness connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the conductor is made of Cu or Al.