JP2004071184A - Joint connector and joint connector combined unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To flexibly connect mutual tentative binding harnesses according to various circuit connecting forms. <P>SOLUTION: This joint connector combined unit is provided with joint connectors 11 having connecting parts 11b in one ends and a case 21 storing and retaining the joint connectors 11 stacked into a plurality of stages. The case 21 is provided with a plurality stages of connector storage parts 22 storing the connecting part 11b inserted therein and a bus bar 31 inserted into a connecting part 16 of the inserted joint connector 11 and connecting arbitrary connecting parts 16 in respective stages is mounted on the rear surface of the case 21. The joint connectors 11 are mounted on respective and different tentative binding harnesses and the respective joint connectors 11 are stacked and combined in the case 21 in the regular binding, so that prescribed wires of the respective tentative binding harnesses can be joined. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joint connector and a joint connector unit, and more particularly, to enabling flexible connection of electric wires according to various circuit connection forms.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a joint connector may be used to connect wires used for a common circuit system such as an earth line. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-306451 discloses a joint connector 1 shown in FIG. The joint connector 1 is configured by inserting a connection terminal 3 into a terminal accommodating chamber 1b of a connector housing 1a.
[0003]
The connector housing 1a integrally has a plurality of (four in the drawing) terminal receiving chambers 1b and upper and lower openings of the respective terminal receiving chambers 1b. An insertion port 1d is provided in accordance with the chamber 1b. On the other hand, the connection terminal 3 has a first elastic contact piece 3a projecting upward, a second elastic contact piece 3b inside, and a connection portion 3c provided below.
[0004]
When the connection terminal 3 is housed in the connector housing 1a, the first elastic piece 3a of the lower connection terminal 3 abuts on the connection portion 3c of the upper connection terminal 3 so that the connection terminal located vertically. Terminal 3 is connected. Further, by inserting the male terminal 4 from the insertion opening 1d of the connector housing front surface 1c, the male terminal 4 is brought into contact with the second elastic contact piece 3b of the connection terminal 3 for connection, so that it is possible to cope with an increase in the number of connections. .
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In general, when assembling a wire harness, first, as shown in FIG. 12, the sub-harnesses (temporary binding harnesses) K-1 to K-3 are temporarily bound, and at this time, the terminals of the electric wire terminals connected to other temporary binding harnesses T-1 to T-3 are not inserted in the connector, and are so-called post-insert terminals. These temporary binding harnesses are finally bound on an assembly drawing board, and at that time, the above-mentioned post-insertion terminal is inserted into a connector of another temporary binding harness. Therefore, at the time of the final bundling, a step of inserting the terminals is indispensable, so that there is a problem that the efficiency of assembly cannot be improved. Further, since the assembling of the temporary tie harness and the wire harness W / H of the main tie is almost always performed at different places, the uninserted terminals to be inserted after the temporary tie harnesses K-1 to K-3. When T-1 to T-3 are transported, they are easily deformed or damaged, and if they are damaged, insertion into the connector becomes difficult, and there is a possibility that the terminal cannot be reliably inserted. Therefore, in the joint connector 1 described above, since the connection terminals 3 are individually inserted into one connector housing 1a, it is not possible to solve the problem of the last insertion terminal. In addition, there is a problem that a specially shaped connection terminal 3 is required, and a connection between the upper and lower terminals cannot be arbitrarily selected.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and eliminates a post-connecting terminal in a temporary binding harness to be a complete type, and flexibly copes with an increase in the number of connected wires to be jointed and circuit changes. An object of the present invention is to provide a joint connector and a joint connector unit that can be used.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a joint terminal having a plurality of press-connecting blades capable of receiving a plurality of electric wires arranged in parallel and connecting to each other, a housing accommodating the joint terminal, A joint connector having a cover capable of holding the electric wire therebetween,
One end of the joint connector is extended to provide a connecting portion, and at the connecting portion, one end of the joint terminal forms a connecting portion capable of receiving a separately mounted bus bar, while the housing and the cover have the connecting portion. And a joint connector having a receiving portion that allows insertion of the bus bar into the joint connector.
[0008]
According to the above configuration, since the connecting portion extends to one end of the joint connector, when a plurality of joint connectors attached to separate temporary bindings of the wire harness are stacked, the connecting portions of the joint connectors are connected to each other. Can be centralized in one place. Therefore, by connecting a separately prepared bus bar to the connection part of the joint terminal in each connection part, the upper and lower wires held by the stacked joint connectors can be arbitrarily connected via the joint terminal.
[0009]
It is preferable that the connecting portion extends in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the plurality of electric wires to be pressed against each other.
With this configuration, when the joint connectors are stacked, the connecting portions do not interfere with each other in the wiring direction of the electric wires arranged and held in each stage, so that the connection processing operation between the upper and lower joint connectors at the connecting portions is smoothly performed. be able to.
[0010]
At the end of the connection part of the joint terminal is provided a press-contact groove capable of receiving and press-contacting the bus bar, and the press-contact groove is provided when a plurality of the joint connectors are stacked in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the electric wire to be connected. It is formed in the direction in which the press contact grooves of the step are aligned.
Accordingly, when connecting arbitrary portions of the connection portions of each stage of the stacked joint connectors, the connection can be performed using the flat busbar without using the connection terminals formed in a complicated manner.
[0011]
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a joint connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and a case for accommodating and holding the joint connectors in a state of being stacked in a plurality of stages. A plurality of connector housings are provided in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the electric wire, and a plurality of connector housings capable of housing the joints of the joint connectors through one insertion opening are provided on the rear wall of the case. The present invention provides a joint connector unit, wherein a bus bar that is inserted into the connection portion of the connection portion inserted into the housing portion and connects arbitrary connection portions in each stage is mounted.
[0012]
If the above-mentioned joint connector unit is used, at the wire harness assembling step, at least the wires that need to be connected to the wires of the other temporarily tied harnesses among the temporarily tied harnesses in each joint connector are pressed into contact with each other. At the time of bundling, it can be connected to an electric wire pressed to a joint connector of another temporary bundling harness. That is, by inserting the joints of the joint connectors attached to the respective temporary binding harnesses into the connector accommodating portions of the case, the joint connectors are held in a stacked state and correspond to an arbitrary joint of the joint terminal in each joint. To connect the busbar. Accordingly, the wires of the stacked joint connectors can be arbitrarily connected to the bus bar via the joint terminals.
[0013]
In addition, various cases in which the number of connector accommodating portions differs depending on the number of joint connectors to be connected in the present binding can be prepared. In addition, a bus bar that is attached to the case and connects the joint terminals of each stage can be punched out in a comb shape, and furthermore, depending on the type of connection between the stacked joint connectors, It is also possible to use one in which the interval between the comb teeth is adjusted to correspond to the connection part of the step, or one in which the teeth are divided.
[0014]
In addition, between the joint portion of the joint connector and the side wall portion of the connector housing portion of the case, when the connector portion is housed in the connector housing portion, the joints engage with each other to hold the joint connector in the case. Lockable locking means is provided.
Thereby, it is possible to hold and fix the connector connector of each stage of the case with the connecting portion of the joint connector being inserted. Therefore, the workability of the step of connecting the joint connectors of the respective temporary binding harnesses in the final binding step can be improved, and the connection state of the joint connectors at each stage can be stabilized.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a joint connector unit 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the joint connector unit 10 includes a plurality of joint connectors 11, 11A and 11B, and a case 21 for receiving and holding the joint connectors 11, 11A and 11B and holding and fixing the joint connectors in a vertically stacked state. It has a combination structure with a bus bar 31 mounted on the case 21.
[0016]
The joint connector 11 is for holding the required wires W in the temporary binding harness H1 side by side and electrically connecting the wires W arranged side by side, and includes a housing 12 made of synthetic resin and a cover. 13 and a joint terminal 14 housed and fixed therein. In this joint connector 11, the left half portion is an electric wire holding portion 11a and the right half portion is a connecting portion 11b.
[0017]
As shown in FIGS. 3 (A) to 3 (C), the housing 12 is formed in a box shape having a horizontally long shape and an open upper surface, and covers almost the entire area in the length direction (left / right direction). A terminal accommodating recess 12a capable of accommodating the joint terminal 14 is provided. A plurality of U-shaped concave grooves 12b are formed at positions on both sides of the side wall of the housing 12 corresponding to the electric wire holding portions 11a. By inserting a plurality of wires W into the wire holding groove 12b, the wires W can be juxtaposed and held in a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the joint connector 11.
[0018]
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the cover 13 has a box shape having an open lower surface facing the housing 12, and has a shape fitted to the housing 12. A projecting portion 13a protrudes from the inner surface of the cover 13 toward the opposing housing 12, and the wire W held in the wire holding groove 12b can be pushed into the press-contact blade 14a of the joint terminal 14 described later by the projecting portion 13a. And Further, an electric wire holding groove 13b for holding the opposite side surface of the electric wire W held in the electric wire holding groove 12b is formed in the opposed side wall portion of the cover 13. Lock claws 12c, 13c, which can be engaged with each other when the housing 12 and the cover 13 are fitted to each other, are protrudingly provided at two opposing positions between the outer surfaces of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the housing 12 and the inner surfaces of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cover 13. ing.
[0019]
Also, the right half of the cover 13 corresponding to the connecting portion 11b is formed in a step shape lower than the wire holding portion 11a by one step. When the connecting portion 11b of the joint connector 11, 11A, 11B is inserted into the case 21 by the step portion 13d, the electric wire holding portions 11a are stacked without gaps by absorbing the plate thickness of the partition 21b of each step. I have. Further, a locking projection 13f as a locking means for fixing to the case 21 is protrudingly provided on an outer surface of a side wall of a portion of the cover 13 corresponding to the connecting portion 11b.
[0020]
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the joint terminal 14 is formed by punching a metal plate made of a conductive material into a required shape and performing a bending process. The joint terminal 14 has a left half portion corresponding to the wire holding portion 11a as a press contact portion 15 and a right half portion as a connection portion 16. The press-contact portion 15 is formed by bending both sides of the bottom plate 14a upward and forming a plurality of pairs of press-contact blades 15a forming a substantially U-shape that opens upward and forming a pair in front and rear. Then, by pressing the electric wire W into the slot 15b of the press contact blade 15a, a cut is made in the resin coating of the electric wire W so that the core wire of the electric wire W and the press contact blade 15a can be electrically contacted (FIG. 9). The interval between the press contact blades 15a corresponds to the interval between the wire holding groove 12b of the housing 12 and the wire holding groove 13b.
[0021]
On the other hand, the connecting portion 16 is formed by lifting an end of the bottom plate 14a upward in a step-like manner corresponding to the connecting portion 11b, and a pair of pressing arms 16a opposed to each other in the horizontal direction is formed at the front end thereof. A tab 31a of a bus bar 31, which will be described later, is received in a press-contact groove 16b between the arms 16a so that the press-contact can be performed. That is, the press contact grooves 16b are arranged in a direction in which the press contact grooves 16b of each stage are aligned when a plurality of stages of the joint connectors 11, 11A, 11B are stacked in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the electric wire W to be connected.
[0022]
Insertion ports 12d and 13e as receiving portions for receiving the tab 31a of the bus bar 31 from the outside to the inside and pressing the tab 31a of the bus bar 31 into the press-contact groove 16b of the joint terminal 14 are provided on end surfaces of the housing 12 and the cover 13 on the side of the connecting portion 11b. Has formed.
[0023]
As shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B), the case 21 is made of a synthetic resin and has a vertically long box-like shape provided with a plurality of connector housings 22, 22a and 22b each having an insertion opening 24 on one side. It is molded into. The connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, and 22b are shaped so that the electric wire holding portion 11a of the joint connector 11 can be inserted to a required depth, and the connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, and 22b of each stage are divided by partition walls 21a. In addition, a busbar accommodating portion 23 for accommodating the busbar 31 is recessed on the back surface of the case 21. The busbar accommodating section 23 and the connector accommodating sections 22, 22a, 22b of each stage are divided by a partition 21b. The partition 21b has tabs of the bus bar 31 corresponding to the connector accommodating sections 22, 22a, 22b of each stage. An insertion hole 21c into which the base 31a can be inserted is formed.
[0024]
On the side surface of the case 21, a locking hole 21 d is formed as locking means in order to lock and hold the cover 13 with a locking projection 13 f projecting from the outer surface of the side wall of the cover 13 engaging from the inner surface side. ing.
On the other hand, the bus bar 31 is formed by punching a metal plate made of a conductive material into a comb-like shape, and tabs 31a are formed at intervals corresponding to the intervals between the connector housing portions 22, 22a, 22b in a direction orthogonal to the base 31b. It protrudes integrally.
[0025]
Next, a process of using the joint connector unit 10 having the above configuration for connection between the temporary binding harnesses H1, H2, and H3 in the wire harness will be described.
[0026]
First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the joint terminal 14 is housed in the housing 12 of the joint connector 11, and the other temporary binding of the electric wire W constituting the temporary binding harness H <b> 1 to the press contact portion 15 is performed. The electric wires W to be connected to the harnesses H2 and H3 are pressed. Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (B), the cover 13 is externally fitted to the housing 12 and engaged and fixed by the lock claws 12c, 13c, and at the same time, the electric wire W is securely pushed into the slot 15b by the projection 13a.
[0027]
Further, wires W to be jointed to other joint connectors 11A and 11B having the same configuration in the other temporary binding harnesses H2 and H3 are pressed into the joint terminal 14. Next, as shown in FIGS. 8 (A) and 8 (B), the connecting portions 11b of the joint connectors 11, 11A and 11B which press the respective wires W to be jointed among the separately assembled temporary binding harnesses H1, H2 and H3. Are sequentially inserted into the connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, 22b of the case 21. Along with this, the locking projection 13f protruding from the cover 13 enters the case 21 while elastically pushing and expanding the side wall of the case 21, and the connecting portion 11b is inserted to a required depth in the connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, 22b. Then, the locking projection 13f as a locking means engages with the locking hole 21d, and the joint connector 11 is fixed to the case 21.
[0028]
In this way, each joint connector 11, 11A, 11B is held in a case 21 in a stacked state, and each wire W pressed into contact with the wire holding portion 11a is orthogonal to the length direction of the joint connector 11, 11A, 11B. In the same direction. Next, the tabs 31 a of the bus bar 31 are inserted into the insertion holes 21 c of the respective stages formed on the back surface of the case 21 in a corresponding manner, and the bus bar 31 is fixed in the bus bar accommodating portion 23. Then, the tab 31a enters the connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, 22b of each stage, and is simultaneously inserted between the press contact grooves 16b of the connecting portion 16 in the joint terminal 14. Therefore, as a result of the joint terminals 14 of each stage being jointed by the bus bar 31 via the tabs 31a, the electric wires W arranged in each stage can be connected collectively (FIG. 9).
[0029]
The bus bar 31 may be fixed in advance by means such as press-fitting or insert molding into the bus bar accommodating portion 23 of the case 21, and the bus bar 31 may be provided with a tab 31 a protruding into the connector accommodating portions 22, 22 a, 22 b through the insertion hole 21 c. On the other hand, the connecting portions 11b of the joint connectors 11, 11A, 11B may be inserted and connected.
[0030]
As described above, since the joint connectors 11, 11A, and 11B can be attached in advance to the temporary binding harnesses H1, H2, and H3 that are assembled in separate assembly processes, each of the temporary bindings H1, H2, and H3 In the assembling process, the electric wires W to be jointed of the respective temporary binding harnesses H1, H2, H3 can be subjected to joint processing. Then, in the main binding step of superimposing the respective temporary binding harnesses H1, H2, and H3, a simple operation of merely inserting the connecting portion 11b of each joint connector 11, 11A, 11B into the connector accommodating portions 22, 22a, 22b of the case 21. By a simple operation, the electric wire W between the temporary binding harnesses H1, H2, H3 can be jointed via the bus bar 31.
[0031]
In the above embodiment, the joint connectors 11, 11A, and 11B are stacked in three stages, and the electric wires W arranged in each stage are all joined by the bus bar 31. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to cope with joint connectors 11, 11A and 11B that are superimposed over more stages. In this case, a case 21 having more connector housing portions 22, 22a, 22b and a bus bar having more tabs 31a may be separately prepared. Further, by dividing the bus bar 31, it is possible to connect the joint connectors 11, 11A, and 11B at an arbitrary stage, instead of connecting all of the joint connectors 11, 11A, and 11B collectively.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the joint connector of the present invention, each joint is received by connecting the joint connectors attached to separate temporary binding harnesses to the connecting portion extending to one end and receiving the bus bar. A plurality of electric wires pressed into contact with the connector can be connected to each other.
[0033]
Further, according to the joint connector unit of the other aspect of the invention, the joint connectors of the plurality of electric wires are simply inserted into the connector accommodating portion of the case, and the joint connectors are stacked in a plurality of stages and integrated. can do. Further, it is possible to connect the electric wires pressed to the joint connectors stacked by the bus bar mounted on the case.
[0034]
Therefore, at the time of assembling the temporary binding harness, if at least the electric wire which has been inserted afterwards is connected to the joint connector, at the time of the final binding, the joint connectors are stacked, and only the housings are housed and integrated into the case. A joint between the temporary binding harness and the temporary binding harness can be configured. Therefore, the post-insertion terminal generated in the temporary binding harness can be eliminated, and the labor and time required for the conventional post-insertion terminal can be reduced, so that the wire harness can be efficiently assembled.
[0035]
Furthermore, damage to the terminals during the transport of the temporary binding can be eliminated at the same time, and the quality and reliability of the wire harness can be improved. Further, it is possible to easily cope with a change of a circuit to be jointed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a joint connector unit of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the joint connector unit.
3A is a plan view of a housing, FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line XX, and FIG. 3C is a side view.
4A is a bottom view of the cover, FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line YY, and FIG. 4C is a side view.
5A is a plan view of a joint terminal, and FIG. 5B is a front view.
FIG. 6A is a front view of a case, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line ZZ.
FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing a step of pressing an electric wire to a joint connector.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing a process of inserting a joint connector into a case.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a state where a joint connector is inserted and held in a case.
FIG. 10 is a view showing a modification of the joint connector unit.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a conventional joint connector.
FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing an assembled state of a conventional temporary binding harness and a main binding wire harness.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 joint connector unit 11, 11, A, 11B joint connector 11b connecting part 12 housing 12d insertion opening 13 cover 13e insertion opening 13f locking projection (locking means)
14 Joint terminal 15a Pressure contact blade 16 Connection portion 16b Pressure contact groove 21 Case 21d Locking hole (locking means)
22, 22a, 22b Connector housing 24 Insertion opening 31 Busbars H1, H2, H3 Temporary binding harness W Electric wire

Claims (5)

A joint terminal having a plurality of press contact blades capable of receiving a plurality of electric wires arranged in parallel and being connected to each other, a housing accommodating the joint terminal, and a cover capable of holding the electric wire between the housing and the housing. A joint connector with
One end of the joint connector is extended to provide a connecting portion, and at the connecting portion, one end of the joint terminal forms a connecting portion capable of receiving a separately mounted bus bar, while the housing and the cover have the connecting portion. A joint connector having a receiving portion that allows insertion of a bus bar into the connector. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion extends in a direction orthogonal to an axial direction of the plurality of electric wires to be pressed against each other. At the end of the connection part of the joint terminal is provided a press-contact groove capable of receiving and press-contacting the bus bar. The joint connector according to claim 2, wherein the press contact grooves of the steps are formed in a direction in which the press contact grooves are aligned. A joint connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and a case for accommodating and holding the joint connectors in a stacked state in a plurality of stages, wherein the case has an insertion opening on one side. A plurality of connector housings are provided in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the electric wire, and a plurality of connector housings capable of housing the joints of the joint connectors through the housings are provided on the rear wall of the case. A joint connector unit comprising a bus bar which is inserted into the connection part of the part and connects arbitrary connection parts of each stage to each other. Between the connecting portion of the joint connector and the side wall portion of the connector housing portion of the case, when the connector portion is housed in the connector housing portion, the joint connector engages and recesses with each other so that the joint connector can be held and fixed to the case. The joint connector unit according to claim 4, further comprising a locking means.

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