JP2005063891A - Joint connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a joint connector capable of freely electrically connecting between unadjacent terminals while conserving high density mounting of the terminals and capable of coping with a large current circuit. <P>SOLUTION: There are provided a connector housing 2 having a terminal housing chamber 6, a mating terminal connection part 12 fixed to the connector housing 2 and disposed in the terminal housing chamber 6, a plurality of terminals 11 having bus bar press-in parts 13 respectively, and bus bars 15, 16 arranged in a path passing between the terminals 11 conducting each other in a surface perpendicularly intersecting in a terminal insertion direction T of the connector housing 2 and selectively conducting the penetrated terminals 11 where the bus bar press-in parts 13 of the terminals 11 penetrated at each position intersecting with each terminal 11. Terminal press-in holes 15a, 16a or terminal noncontact holes 15b, 16b are formed at each intersecting position of the bus bars 15, 16 with the terminal 11 for the selective conduction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint connector having a branch / joint circuit for selectively electrically connecting a plurality of terminals.

  For example, a joint connector is used to branch an electric wire of a wire harness routed in a vehicle or to joint a plurality of electric wires. As this type of conventional joint connector, there is one shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  6 and 7, the joint connector 100 is inserted into a connector housing 103 in which a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 101 and a plurality of terminal insertion holes 102 are formed, and the terminal insertion holes 102. A plurality of terminals 104 formed with a portion 104a, and a plurality of conductive layers 105 that are attached to the surface of the connector housing 103 where the electrode portion 104a of the terminal 104 is exposed and electrically connect between desired terminals 104. I have.

Each terminal 104 is disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber 101 of the connector housing 103, and when a mating connector (not shown) is attached, the terminals 104 corresponding to each other are brought into electrical contact. Then, the terminals 104 conducted by the conductive layer 105 are connected to branch or joint an electric wire (not shown) between the wire harnesses via the joint connector 100.
JP 2003-17161 A

  However, in the conventional joint connector 100, only the terminals 104, 104 adjacent to each other can be electrically connected via the conductive layer 105, and only the terminals 104, 104 that are not adjacent to each other are electrically connected via the conductive layer 105. can not connect. Here, electrical conduction can be achieved by forming the conductive layer 105 so as to bypass the non-conductive terminal 104. However, there is a problem that the joint connector 100 is increased in size because a plurality of terminals 104 must be arranged with a space for forming a detour in the conductive layer 105, and the terminals 104 cannot be arranged with high-density mounting. there were.

  In addition, since the conductive layer 105 is formed by a conductive paste or plating and has a small cross-sectional area as a conductive path, the joint connector 100 is limited to a minute current circuit, and there is a problem that it cannot cope with a large current circuit.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can electrically connect between adjacent terminals while maintaining high-density mounting of terminals, and can cope with a large current circuit. An object is to provide a joint connector.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a plurality of terminals fixed to the connector housing, each having a mating terminal connecting portion and a bus bar press-fit portion arranged in the terminal accommodating chamber, and the connector housing The bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal is penetrated at each position intersecting with each of the terminals on the surface orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction and passing through between the terminals to be electrically connected to each other. And a bus bar which conducts.

  In this joint connector, a bus bar is arranged in a path that passes between terminals that are electrically connected to each other, and can be freely connected and disconnected with respect to the terminals that pass through the bus bar. Only freely connected electrically. In addition, since a bus bar having a large cross-sectional area is used as a conduction path, the bus bar is not limited to a minute current circuit and can be applied to a large current circuit. Further, the bus bar may be disposed only in a path passing between terminals that are electrically connected to each other.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the bus bar press-fit portion does not contact the terminal press-fit hole into which the bus bar press-fit portion is press-fitted at each crossing position of the bus bar with the terminal. A terminal non-contact hole inserted into the terminal is selectively provided so as to be selectively conducted to the terminal.

  In this joint connector, in addition to the operation of the invention of claim 1, it can be made conductive or non-conductive depending on the size of the hole formed at the crossing position with the bus bar terminal.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the joint connector according to the first or second aspect, wherein a plurality of the bus bars are arranged on the same plane.

  In this joint connector, in addition to the effects of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, a branch / joint circuit proportional to the number of bus bars can be formed, so that a plurality of branch / joint circuits are formed.

  A fourth aspect of the invention is the joint connector according to the third aspect, wherein when the plurality of bus bars arranged in the same plane are bus bar layers, a plurality of bus bar layers are provided at intervals in the terminal insertion direction. It is characterized by that.

  In this joint connector, in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects of the invention, the bus bars are arranged three-dimensionally intersecting with each other, and a large number of bus bars are arranged.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the joint connector according to the second to fourth aspects, wherein the bus bar press-fitting portion of the terminal is formed so as to be able to bend and deform in a direction in which an external dimension is contracted, and the bus bar is deformed by bending return deformation. The terminal is press-fitted into the terminal press-fitting hole.

  In this joint connector, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, the terminal and the bus bar are reliably conducted.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the joint connector according to the fifth aspect, wherein the bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal has a pair of locking projections that prevent the bus bar from coming out in the terminal insertion direction and the opposite direction. It is provided.

  In this joint connector, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 5, the press-fitting position of the terminal and the bus bar is not shifted due to vibration or the like.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of terminals each having a mating terminal connecting portion and a bus bar press-fitting portion are connected between terminals that are electrically connected to each other on the surface orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction of the connector housing. The bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal is penetrated at each position intersecting each terminal, and the bus bar selectively conducting to the penetrated terminal is provided. Since the bus bar is arranged and can be freely made conductive and non-conductive with respect to the terminal penetrating the bus bar, only desired terminals can be electrically connected freely without providing a bypass space. For this reason, it is possible to freely connect non-adjacent terminals while maintaining high-density mounting of terminals. In addition, since the bus bar having a large cross-sectional area is used as the conduction path, the bus bar is not limited to a minute current circuit, and can correspond to a large current circuit. Furthermore, since the bus bars need only be arranged in the path passing between the terminals that are electrically connected to each other, the number of bus bars to be arranged can be minimized, which contributes to reduction in assembly man-hours and costs.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal press-fitting hole into which the bus bar press-fitting part is press-fitted and the terminal non-contact hole into which the bus bar press-fitting part is inserted without being brought into contact are selectively selected at each intersection position with the bus bar terminal. Since it is selectively conducted to the terminal by being provided, it can be made conductive or non-conductive depending on the size of the hole formed at the crossing position with the bus bar terminal. Therefore, conduction / non-conduction can be realized by simple processing.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since a plurality of bus bars are arranged on the same plane, a branch / joint circuit proportional to the number of bus bars can be easily formed. As a result, a plurality of branch / joint circuits can be formed.

  According to the invention of claim 4, when the plurality of bus bars arranged on the same plane are bus bar layers, the bus bars are provided in a three-dimensional manner because the bus bars are provided at intervals in the terminal insertion direction. A large number of bus bars can be arranged. Therefore, a complicated branch / joint circuit can be formed.

  According to the invention of claim 5, the bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal is formed so as to be able to bend and deform in the direction of contracting the outer dimensions, and is press-fitted into the terminal press-fit hole of the bus bar by bending return deformation. Can be reliably conducted.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal is provided with the pair of locking projections that prevent the bus bar from being pulled out in the terminal insertion direction and in the opposite direction. The press-fit position of is not displaced. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the contact between the terminal and the bus bar due to vibration or the like.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a joint connector, FIG. 2 is a layout view of bus bars in a first bus bar layer accommodating chamber as seen from line AA in FIG. 3 is a layout view of the bus bar in the second bus bar layer accommodating chamber as viewed from the line BB in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part showing the conductive state and non-conductive state of the terminal and bus bar, and FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the joint connector 1 has a connector housing 2 made of a synthetic resin and having a substantially rectangular box shape. The connector housing 2 is detachably attached to the housing body 3 and the rear side of the housing body 3. And a cover 4 to be formed.

  A partition wall 5 is provided inside the housing body 3, and a terminal housing chamber 6 is formed in front of the partition wall 5, and a first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 is formed in the rear. Terminal insertion holes 8 are formed in the partition wall 5 at predetermined intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions. A second bus bar layer accommodating chamber 9 is formed on the front surface of the cover 4, and the second bus bar layer accommodating chamber 9 and the first bus bar layer accommodating chamber 7 are in communication with each other. Busbar holding projections 10 are provided at appropriate positions in the first and second busbar layer accommodating chambers 7 and 9, and busbars 15 and 16 to be described later are fixed by the respective busbar holding projections 10.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of terminals 11 are fixed to the housing body 3 by being inserted into the terminal insertion holes 8 of the partition wall 5 from the first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 side. . Each terminal 11 has a mating terminal connecting portion 12 disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber 6 and two bus bar press-fitting portions 13 and 13 that can be press-fitted into bus bars 15 and 16 described later. A bent stepped portion 14 is provided at the boundary with the bus bar press-fit portion 13. The terminal 11 is inserted into a predetermined insertion position by the bent stepped portion 14 and is positioned at that position. The mating terminal connecting portion 12 is formed of a male terminal having a rectangular cross section, and is brought into pressure contact with the female terminal 21 of the mating connector 20 to be mounted. The bus bar press-fit portion 13 of each terminal 11 has a larger diameter than the other portions, and has an elliptical hole 13a formed on the inner side. The elliptical hole 13a is used to bend and deform in the direction of contracting the outer dimensions. Then, it is press-fitted into terminal press-fitting holes 15a and 16a of bus bars 15 and 16 which will be described later by bending return deformation.

  The bus bar press-fit portion 13 of each terminal 11 is provided with a pair of locking projections 13b and 13b that prevent the bus bars 15 and 16 described later from coming out in the terminal insertion direction T and in the opposite direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of bus bars 15 and 16 are accommodated in the first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 and the second bus bar layer while being held by the bus bar holding projections 10 along the plane perpendicular to the terminal insertion direction T. The chambers 9 are respectively arranged. That is, when the bus bars 15 and 16 arranged on the same plane are bus bar layers, two bus bar layers are provided at intervals in the terminal insertion direction T. A plurality of bus bars 15 and 16 are arranged on each surface of the first and second bus bar layer accommodating chambers 7 and 9, respectively, as shown in FIGS.

  Each of the bus bars 15 and 16 is made of a metal material that is electrically conductive and has high rigidity, and has a sufficient cross-sectional dimension capable of supplying a large current. Each of the bus bars 15 and 16 has a straight shape or a substantially L shape, and is arranged in a path that passes between the terminals 11 that are electrically connected to each other. In addition, rectangular cross-shaped terminal press-fitting holes 15a and 16a or large-diameter terminal non-contact holes 15b and 16b having different sizes are selectively formed at each crossing position with each terminal 11. The terminal press-fitting holes 15a and 16a of the bus bars 15 and 16 are set to dimensions in which the bus bar press-fitting portion 13 of the terminal 11 is press-fitted, and the terminal non-contact holes 15b and 16b of the bus bars 15 and 16 are set to the bus bar press-fitting of the terminal 11. The dimension is set such that the portion 13 is inserted without contact. With such a configuration, the bus bars 15 and 16 are formed so as to be selectively conductive to the penetrating terminals 11.

  Next, the assembly procedure of the joint connector 1 will be described. A plurality of bus bars 15 are fixed to desired positions of the first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 of the housing body 3 by using the bus bar holding projections 10. Further, the plurality of bus bars 16 are fixed to the desired positions of the second bus bar layer housing chamber 9 of the cover 4 using the bus bar holding projections 10.

  Next, the plurality of terminals 11 are inserted into the respective terminal insertion holes 8 of the partition wall 5 from the first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 side. Here, in the place where the bus bar 15 is arranged in front of the terminal insertion hole 8, the bus bar 15 is inserted through the terminal press-fitting hole 15a or the terminal non-contact hole 15b. When the terminal 11 inserted into the terminal press-fitting hole 15a of the bus bar 15 is inserted to a position where the bent step portion 14 abuts against the partition wall 5, the bus bar press-fitting part 13 is press-fitted into the terminal press-fitting hole 15a of the bus bar 15. The Further, the terminal 11 inserted into the terminal non-contact hole 15b of the bus bar 15 has the bus bar press-fitting portion 13 inserted into the inner surface of the terminal non-contact hole 15b of the bus bar 15 via a gap.

  Next, when the cover 4 is approached from the rear so as to close the first bus bar layer housing chamber 7 of the housing body 3, each bus bar is located at the place where the bus bar 16 of the second bus bar layer housing chamber 9 of the cover 4 is disposed. The terminal 11 is inserted into the 16 terminal press-fitting holes 16a or the terminal non-contact holes 16b.

  When the cover 4 is completely fixed to the housing body 3, the bus bar press-fit portion 13 of the terminal 11 inserted into the terminal press-fit hole 16 a of the bus bar 16 is press-fitted into the terminal press-fit hole 16 a of the bus bar 16. Further, the terminal 11 inserted into the terminal non-contact hole 16b of the bus bar 16 has its bus bar press-fit portion 13 inserted into the inner surface of the terminal non-contact hole 16b of the bus bar 16 with a gap.

  The plurality of bus bars 16 are not fixed to the second bus bar layer accommodating chamber 9 of the cover 4 in advance, but each bus bar 16 is directly passed through the bus bar press-fitting portion 13 of the terminal 11 protruding from the housing body 3. The bus bar 16 may be fixed, and then the cover 4 may be fixed to the rear of the housing body 3.

  Further, the bus bars 15 and 16 are not fixed to the first bus bar layer accommodating chamber 7 of the housing body 3 and the second bus bar layer accommodating chamber 9 of the cover 4, respectively. The terminals 11 are inserted and fixed, and then the bus bars 15 are fixed by passing the bus bars 15 directly through the bus bar press-fitting portions 13 of the terminals 11 protruding from the housing body 3, and then protrude from the housing body 3. Each bus bar 16 may be directly passed through the bus bar press-fitting portion 13 of the terminal 11 to fix each bus bar 16, and finally the cover 4 may be fixed to the rear of the housing body 3.

  As described above, in the joint connector 1, the bus bars 15 and 16 are arranged in a path passing between the terminals 11 to be electrically connected to each other, and can be freely turned on and off with respect to the terminals 11 passing through the bus bars 15 and 16. Only the desired terminals 11, 11 can be freely electrically connected without providing a space for the road. For this reason, the terminals 11 and 11 that are not adjacent to each other can be freely connected while maintaining high-density mounting of the terminals 11. In addition, since the bus bars 15 and 16 having a large cross-sectional area are used as the conduction paths, the bus bars 15 and 16 are not limited to a minute current circuit, and can correspond to a large current circuit. Further, since the bus bars 15 and 16 need only be arranged in the path passing between the terminals 11 and 11 that are electrically connected to each other, the number of the bus bars 15 and 16 to be arranged can be minimized, and the number of assembling steps and costs can be reduced. Can contribute.

  In the above-described embodiment, the terminal press-fit holes 15a and 16a into which the bus bar press-fit portion 13 of the terminal 11 is press-fitted and the bus bar press-fit portion 13 are inserted at the intersection positions of the bus bars 15 and 16 with the terminal 11 without contact. Since the terminal non-contact holes 15b and 16b are selectively provided so as to be selectively conducted to the terminal 11, the bus bars 15 and 16 may be made conductive depending on the size of the hole formed at the intersection with the terminal 11. Or non-conducting. Therefore, conduction / non-conduction can be realized by simple processing.

  In the above embodiment, since a plurality of bus bars 15 and 16 are arranged on the same plane, a branch / joint circuit proportional to the number of bus bars 15 and 16 can be easily formed. Thereby, a some branch and joint circuit can be formed easily.

  In the above embodiment, when a plurality of bus bars 15 and 16 arranged on the same plane are bus bar layers, two bus bar layers are provided at intervals in the terminal insertion direction T, so that the bus bars 15 and 16 are three-dimensional. In addition, the bus bars 15 and 16 can be arranged. Therefore, a complicated branch / joint circuit can be formed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the bus bar press-fit portion 13 of the terminal 11 is formed so as to be able to bend and deform in the direction in which the outer dimensions are contracted, and is press-fitted into the terminal press-fit holes 15a and 16a of the bus bars 15 and 16 by bending return deformation. 11 and the bus bars 15 and 16 can be reliably conducted.

  In the embodiment, the bus bar press-fit portion 13 of the terminal 11 is provided with the pair of locking projections 15b and 16b that prevent the bus bar 15 and 16 from coming out in the terminal insertion direction T and the opposite direction. The press-fitting position between the terminal 11 and the bus bars 15 and 16 does not shift due to vibration or the like. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the terminal 11 and the bus bars 15 and 16 from being in poor contact due to vibration or the like.

  In the embodiment, the bus bars 15 and 16 are arranged in two layers, but may be arranged in one layer or three or more layers. If the number of bus bars 15 and 16 is increased, a more complicated branch / joint circuit can be formed. Further, although the terminal press-fitting holes 15a and 16a and the terminal non-contact holes 15b and 16b are formed in a square shape, the shape may be round or other shapes.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a joint connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the embodiment of the present invention and is a layout diagram of bus bars in a first bus bar layer accommodation chamber as viewed from the line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a layout view of bus bars of a second bus bar layer accommodation chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the line BB in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of the present invention and showing a conductive state and a non-conductive state between a terminal and a bus bar. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of a joint connector which shows a conventional example. It is sectional drawing of a joint connector which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Joint connector 2 Connector housing 6 Terminal accommodating chamber 11 Terminal 12 Mating terminal connection part 13 Bus bar press-fit part 13b, 13b A pair of latching protrusions 15, 16 Bus bar 15a, 16a Terminal press-fit hole 15b, 16b Terminal non-contact hole T Terminal insertion direction

Claims (6)

  A connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a plurality of terminals fixed to the connector housing and disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber, each having a mating terminal connecting portion and a bus bar press-fit portion, and orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction of the connector housing And a bus bar that is disposed in a path that passes between terminals that are electrically connected to each other and that passes through the bus bar press-fit portion of the terminal at each position that intersects each of the terminals, and that is selectively conductive to the penetrated terminal. A joint connector characterized by that. The joint connector according to claim 1,
The terminal is provided by selectively providing a terminal press-fitting hole into which the bus bar press-fitting part is press-fitted and a terminal non-contact hole into which the bus bar press-fitting part is inserted without contacting at each crossing position of the bus bar with the terminal. The joint connector is characterized in that it is selectively conducted. The joint connector according to claim 1 or 2,
A plurality of the bus bars are arranged in the same plane. The joint connector according to claim 3,
A joint connector characterized in that a plurality of bus bar layers are provided at intervals in a terminal insertion direction when the plurality of bus bars arranged on the same plane are bus bar layers. The joint connector according to claim 2, wherein:
The joint connector is characterized in that the bus bar press-fitting portion of the terminal is formed so as to be able to bend and deform in a direction in which the outer dimensions are contracted, and is press-fitted into the terminal press-fitting hole of the bus bar by bending return deformation. The joint connector according to claim 5,
A joint connector, wherein the bus bar press-fitting portion of the terminal is provided with a pair of locking protrusions that prevent the bus bar from coming out in the terminal insertion direction and in the opposite direction.

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