JP2005166408A - Joint connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a joint connector at low cost. <P>SOLUTION: The joint connector 1 is composed of a plurality of connection terminals 10 connected to a plurality of wires 50, a housing 20 housing the above, and a bus bar 30 mounted on the housing 20. A tip part of connection part 11 of the connection terminal 10 is split into two to form a fork part 15, and an inserted split terminal part 31 of the bus bar 30 is held on and connected to the fork part. The connection terminal 10 can be manufacture at low cost by a press work or the like. Any parts like protection cover for protecting the bus bar 30 mounted on the housing 20 comes to unnecessary, and the joint connector can be manufactured at low cost. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint connector for a wire harness mounted on an automobile or the like, and particularly to a joint connector that can be manufactured at low cost.

  Conventionally, as a joint connector used for connecting a wire harness of an automobile or the like, a large number of connection terminals connected to each wire of the wire harness are accommodated in a housing, and these connection terminals are short-circuited by a bus bar or the like. One that interconnects to form a branch circuit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 30675570 (page 3-4, FIG. 1-6)

  However, in the joint connector described in Patent Document 1, since the contact piece for connecting to the bus bar is formed by folding the tip of the terminal, the structure of the terminal becomes complicated, the number of manufacturing steps of the terminal increases, and the cost of the terminal increases. As a result, the cost of the joint connector may increase. In addition, since the protective cover is attached after the short-circuit plate is inserted into the housing to close the opening side end of the terminal accommodating chamber, a protective cover is required separately from the housing, which may increase the cost of molds and the like. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a joint connector that can be manufactured at low cost.

  The joint connector according to the present invention includes a plurality of connecting portions formed on the distal end side that are connected to the short-circuit member, and an electric wire connecting portion that is connected to the core of the electric wire on the proximal end side and an electric wire fixing portion that holds and holds the electric wires. A connection terminal, a housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the plurality of connecting terminals in a predetermined arrangement state, and a short circuit between the plurality of connecting terminals mounted on the housing and accommodated in the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers A plurality of connection terminals, wherein the plurality of connection terminals have a structure in which the tip portion is bifurcated and a fork portion is formed to sandwich and connect the short-circuit member at the branch portion. A communication space portion that communicates the terminal storage chambers is formed on the distal end side of the plurality of terminal storage chambers, and the short-circuit member includes a main body portion that is received in the communication space portion. The features.

  In addition, the housing of this joint connector is good to be provided with the wedge part hooked on the wall surface in the at least 2 terminal storage chamber of the some terminal storage chamber at the time of mounting to a housing, for example.

  Further, the short-circuit member of the joint connector may include, for example, a main body portion accommodated in the communication space portion and an insertion portion that extends from the main body portion and is inserted into a branch portion of a predetermined fork portion.

  And this joint connector may further be provided with the insulation sticking member which plugs up the opening part by the side of the short circuit member insertion of the plurality of terminal storage chambers of a housing.

According to the present invention, the connecting portion of the plurality of connecting terminals accommodated in the housing is pressed in comparison with a conventional connecting terminal in which the fork portion forcibly connecting the short-circuit member is formed at the bifurcated end of the connecting portion. Since it has a structure that can be easily manufactured at low cost by processing or the like, a joint connector can be manufactured at low cost by using the connection terminal.
Further, since the short-circuit member is accommodated in the communication space portion of the terminal accommodating chamber of the housing, parts such as a protective cover are not required as compared with the conventional one, and the joint connector can be manufactured at a low cost.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 is an external perspective view showing a joint connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the joint connector, FIG. 3 is a front view of the joint connector, and FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the connecting terminal of a connector.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the joint connector 1 includes, for example, a plurality of metal connection terminals 10 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) connected to a plurality of electric wires 50 and a resin in which the plurality of connection terminals 10 are accommodated. It is comprised from the housing 20 which consists of a shaping | molding member, and the bus-bar 30 as a metal short circuit member similarly accommodated in this housing 20. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the plurality of connection terminals 10 are connected to the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30 in this example, and the sheath 52 is removed from the terminal portion to expose the core wire 51 ( A wire fixing portion 13 that has a wire connection portion 12 that is connected by crimping or the like to the core wire 51 of the wire 50 that has been squeezed out, and further, the wire fixing portion 13 that fixes and holds the wire 50 by caulking or the like, and these connection portions 11 and wire connection portions. 12 and a strip-shaped strip plate portion 14 for connecting the wire fixing portion 13 to each other. Note that the connection portions 11 of the plurality of connection terminals 10 have a shape in which, for example, a fork portion 15 is formed by bifurcating the tip and connecting the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30 at the branch portion.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 20 has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 21 formed in a predetermined arrangement state that accommodates the plurality of connection terminals 10, for example. A communication space 22 that communicates the terminal accommodation chambers 21 with each other is formed at the distal ends of the plurality of terminal accommodation chambers 21.

  A bus bar insertion port 23 for inserting the bus bar 30 into the housing 20 is formed at the distal end side of the terminal storage chamber 21 of the housing 20. The bus bar insertion port 23 communicates the terminal storage chambers 21 with each other, for example. The communication space portion 22 is continuous.

  The bus bar 30 is made of, for example, a flat metal piece, and a plurality of branch terminal portions 31 serving as insertion portions connected to the fork portions 15 of the connection portions 11 of the connection terminals 10 extending to the insertion side into the housing 20 by punching or the like. And a main body portion 32 is formed on the base end side of the plurality of branch terminal portions 31. The bus bar 30 of this example has the branch terminal portion 31, but when the main body portion 32 is directly inserted into the fork portion 15, the bus bar 30 may have a structure in which only the main body portion 32 is formed. The main body 32 of the bus bar 30 is formed by cutting and raising, for example, when it is accommodated in the housing 20, for example, is caught on the wall surface in the terminal accommodating chamber 21, and the bus bar 30 is opposite to the insertion direction from the bus bar insertion port 23. A wedge piece 33 is provided as a wedge portion for preventing the lens from being detached.

  Further, in each terminal accommodating chamber 21 of the housing 20, for example, a terminal lance portion 24 (see FIG. 2) made of an elastic piece for locking and fixing each of the accommodated connecting terminals 10 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21. Each connection terminal 10 is formed with a terminal hole portion 16 that engages with the terminal lance portion 24. The terminal lance portion 24 and the terminal hole portion 16 allow the connection terminal 10 to be securely locked and fixed to the housing 20 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21, so that the connection terminal 10 and the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30 as shown in FIG. Problems such as the connection terminal 10 being detached from the terminal accommodating chamber 21 during connection can be reliably avoided.

  In the joint connector 1 configured as described above, the connection terminal 10 connected to the electric wire 50 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 21 from the proximal end side of the housing 20, and the bus bar 30 is inserted from the bus bar insertion port 23 on the distal end side of the housing 20. Just by inserting and accommodating the main body 32 in the communication space portion 22, the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30 is inserted and connected to the branch portion of the fork portion 15 of the connection portion 11 of the connection terminal 10 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21. can do. For this reason, the connection terminals 10 accommodated in the housing 20 can be easily short-circuited. Since the connection terminal 10 of the joint connector 1 is not a special shape like the conventional one but has a structure that can be manufactured at low cost by press working or the like, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 1 can be reduced. it can. In addition, the bus bar 30 is directly attached to the communication space portion 22 of the housing 20, and the main body portion 32 of the bus bar 30 is provided with the wedge piece 33. Therefore, the bus bar 30 is not detached from the housing 20, and the conventional Parts such as a protective cover are not required, and the joint connector 1 can be manufactured at low cost.

  In this joint connector 1, as shown in FIG. 1, after the insulating tape 40 as an insulating adhesive member is accommodated in the housing 20, the bus bar insertion port is provided at the end of the housing 20 on the bus bar insertion port 23 side. 23, it is possible to prevent the bus bar 30 from being detached from the housing 20 more reliably, and to effectively prevent dust and dirt from entering the terminal accommodating chamber 21 from the bus bar insertion port 23. In addition, it is possible to prevent the bus bar 30 from coming into contact with other metal parts and causing a short circuit.

  5 is an external perspective view showing a joint connector according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the joint connector, FIG. 7 is a front view of the joint connector, and FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the connection terminal of a joint connector. In the following description, the description of the parts that overlap with the parts that have already been described will be omitted, and the parts that have already been described can be applied to the parts that are not mentioned.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the joint connector 1 </ b> A includes a plurality of connection terminals 10 (see FIGS. 6 and 8), a housing 20 </ b> A in which the plurality of connection terminals 10 are accommodated, and the housing. Although the point comprised from the bus bar 30A accommodated in 20A is common, the accommodation mode of each connection terminal 10 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A of the housing 20A, the shape of each terminal accommodating chamber 21A, the bus bar insertion port 23 The shape and the shape of the bus bar 30A are different.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the plurality of connection terminals 10 are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 21 </ b> A so that the direction connecting the branch portions of the fork portion 15 is parallel to the horizontal direction. Accordingly, the arrangement position of the terminal lance portion 24 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A is also changed.

  In the joint connector 1A, the bus bar 30A has, for example, a plate-like main body portion 32 accommodated in the communication space portion 22 and a plurality of plate-like plurality of erected on the plate surface of the main body portion 32 by pressing or the like. The branch terminal portions 31 are accommodated in the housing 20A in a state as shown in FIG.

  In the joint connector 1A configured as described above, similarly to the joint connector 1, the connection terminal 10 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A from the base end side of the housing 20A, and the bus bar 30A is accommodated in the bus bar insertion port on the distal end side of the housing 20A. 23, the main body 32 is accommodated in the communication space portion 22, and the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30A is inserted into the branch portion of the fork portion 15 of the connection portion 11 of the connection terminal 10 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A. And the connection terminals 10 can be short-circuited. Since the connection terminal 10 of the joint connector 1A has a structure that can be manufactured at low cost by pressing or the like, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 1A can be reduced. In addition, the bus bar 30A is directly attached to the communication space 22 of the housing 20A by press-fitting or the like, and the branch terminal portion 31 is sandwiched by the branch portion of the fork portion 15. Therefore, the bus bar 30A does not come off from the housing 20A. Therefore, the joint connector 1A can be manufactured at low cost.

9 is an external perspective view showing a joint connector according to still another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of the joint connector, and FIG. 11 is a front view of the joint connector.
The joint connector 1B of this example is different from the joint connector 1A of the previous example in the manner of forming the bus bar insertion port 23 and the communication space 22 in the housing 20B and the manner of inserting the bus bar 30A into the housing 20B. That is, the bus bar 30A is inserted into the bus bar insertion port 23 of the housing 20B so that the front end surfaces of the plurality of branch terminal portions 31 face the insertion direction, and the main body 32 is fitted and accommodated on the opening side of the bus bar insertion port 23. A communication space 22 is formed.

  In this joint connector 1B, similarly to the joint connector 1A, the connection terminal 10 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A from the base end side of the housing 20B, and the bus bar 30A is inserted from the bus bar insertion port 23 on the distal end side of the housing 20B. By accommodating the main body portion 32 in the communication space portion 22, the branch terminal portion 31 of the bus bar 30A is inserted and connected to the branch portion of the fork portion 15 of the connection portion 11 of the connection terminal 10 in the terminal accommodating chamber 21A. The terminals 10 can be short-circuited. Since the connection terminal 10 of the joint connector 1B has a structure that can be manufactured at low cost by press working or the like, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 1B can be reduced. Further, the bus bar 30A is directly attached to the communication space 22 of the housing 20B by press fitting or the like, and the branch terminal portion 31 is sandwiched by the branch portion of the fork portion 15, so the bus bar 30A does not come off from the housing 20B, and the conventional protective cover or the like Therefore, the joint connector 1B can be manufactured at low cost.

  Instead of the bus bar 30A having the branch terminal portion 31 and the main body portion 32, a bus bar 30B having a shape having the branch terminal portion 31 and the main body portion 32 formed by bending or the like as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a bus bar 30C formed by pressing or the like as shown in FIG. 13 may be used.

  The present invention can be used for various applications for electrical connection including branch connection.

It is an appearance perspective view showing a joint connector concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a partial cross section figure of the joint connector. It is a front view of the joint connector. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the connecting terminal of the joint connector. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the joint connector which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a partial cross section figure of the joint connector. It is a front view of the joint connector. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the connecting terminal of the joint connector. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the joint connector which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a partial cross section figure of the joint connector. It is a front view of the joint connector. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another bus bar of the joint connector of FIGS. 5 and 9. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another bus bar of the joint connector of FIGS. 5 and 9.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A, 1B ... Joint connector, 10 ... Connection terminal, 11 ... Connection part, 12 ... Electric wire connection part, 13 ... Electric wire fixing part, 14 ... Strip board part, 15 ... Fork part, 16 ... Terminal hole part, 20, 20A, 20B ... Housing, 21, 21A ... Terminal accommodating chamber, 22 ... Communication space, 23 ... Busbar insertion port, 24 ... Terminal lance part, 30, 30A, 30B, 30C ... Busbar, 31 ... Branch terminal part, 32 ... Main body part 33 ... Wedge piece 40 ... Insulating tape 50 ... Electric wire 51 ... Core wire 52 ... Coating

Claims (4)

A plurality of connection terminals in which a connection portion connected to the short-circuit member is formed on the distal end side and an electric wire connection portion connected to the core wire of the electric wire on the proximal end side and an electric wire fixing portion for fixing and holding the electric wire;
A housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the plurality of connection terminals in a predetermined arrangement state;
A short-circuit member that is mounted on the housing and short-circuits between the plurality of connection terminals housed in the plurality of terminal housing chambers;
The plurality of connection terminals have a structure in which the tip end portion is bifurcated and a fork portion is formed to sandwich and connect the short-circuit member at the branch portion.
The housing is formed with a communication space portion that communicates between the terminal housing chambers on the front end side of the plurality of terminal housing chambers,
The short-circuit member includes a main body portion that is accommodated in the communication space portion. 2. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the short-circuit member includes a wedge portion that is hooked on a wall surface in at least two of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers when mounted on the housing. The said short-circuit member is provided with the main-body part accommodated in the said communication space part, and the insertion part extended from this main-body part and inserted in the branch part of a predetermined | prescribed fork part. 2. The joint connector according to 2.   The joint connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an insulating sticking member that closes an opening on a short-circuiting member insertion side of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers of the housing.

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