JP2006108052A - Terminal fitting for joint connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal fitting for a joint connector capable of reducing the number of components and reducing a cost by extremely simplifying a terminal structure in carrying out joint, and of ensuring electrical conductivity between the terminal fittings. <P>SOLUTION: This terminal fitting 10 for a joint connector is used for bundling a plurality of wires 20 into one and for ensuring electrical conductivity among the respective wires 20 bundled into one. In the terminal fitting, at the tip of a holding part 1 for crimping one of the wires 20 thereto, a connection part 3 comprising a flat plate 4 perpendicular to the holding part 1, a male terminal 5 formed at one-side tip of the flat plate 4 and a female terminal 6 formed at the other-side tip of the flat plate 4 are formed, and, when a plurality of the terminal fittings 10 arranged in parallel with one another are connected to one another, electrical conductivity among the terminal fittings is secured by connecting the male terminals 5 and the female terminals 6 of the terminal fittings adjacent to each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting for a joint connector of a wire harness mounted on an automobile or the like.

As a conventional joint connector, an openable / closable cover is attached to the housing, a plurality of terminal fittings are accommodated in the housing, a joint terminal (bus bar) is assembled to the cover, and the bus bar and the terminal fitting are fitted to each other for electrical connection. Something that was aimed at continuity was known. The cover covers the exposed part of the rear surface of the joint terminal (bus bar), and on the inner surface of the cover is formed a plurality of retaining claws that can be attached in a state where the joint terminal (bus bar) is retained. It is known that the joint terminal (bus bar) is integrated with the cover by the claws to facilitate the maintenance work. The joint terminal (bus bar) used at this time was formed of a conductive metal plate, and the electrical conductivity of each terminal fitting was ensured by inserting the joint terminal (bus bar) into each terminal fitting (Patent Literature). 1).
JP 2002-352926 A (2nd and 3rd pages, FIG. 1)

In the one disclosed in Patent Document 1, the structure of the bus bar is complicated, and the front end portion of the terminal fitting also has a receiving port for inserting the bus bar, and the inner surface of the receiving port and the contact of the bus bar are ensured. It was necessary to devise so that it was possible. Therefore, it is difficult to simplify the structure of the bus bar and the terminal fitting, and there is a limit to cost reduction.
The joint connector is roughly composed of parts such as a plurality of terminal fittings, a joint terminal (bus bar), and a housing. From the viewpoint of assembly, parts management, and cost, the parts It is desirable to reduce the score as much as possible.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a joint connector terminal that can greatly simplify the terminal structure when performing joints, reduce the number of parts, reduce costs, and ensure electrical continuity between terminal fittings. It aims at providing metal fittings.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention bundles a plurality of electric wires into one, and in the joint fitting terminal fitting for ensuring the electrical continuity of each electric wire bundled into one, one electric wire A connecting portion comprising a flat plate portion orthogonal to the holding portion, a male terminal formed at one tip of the flat plate portion, and a female terminal formed at the other tip of the flat plate portion. When connecting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged in parallel, electrical connection between the terminal fittings is ensured by connecting the male terminal and the female terminal of adjacent terminal fittings.

  In the joint connector terminal fitting according to the present invention, a connecting portion having a male terminal and a female terminal is provided at the tip of the terminal fitting, and the terminal fittings are connected to each other by connecting the male terminal and the female terminal between adjacent terminal fittings. In addition to connecting and securing electrical continuity between terminal fittings, electrical continuity can be secured without using a bus bar, reducing the number of components, and reducing the cost of the joint without degrading performance. It can be carried out.

  A joint connector terminal fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

A joint connector terminal fitting according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In this embodiment, a plurality of electric wires 20 are bundled together, and one electric wire 20 is crimped in a joint connector terminal fitting 10 that secures electrical continuity of the electric wires 20 bundled together. At the tip of the holding part 1 of the terminal fitting 10, the flat plate part 4 orthogonal to the holding part 1, the male terminal 5 formed at one tip of the flat plate part 4, and the other tip of the flat plate part 4 are formed. A connecting portion 3 including a female terminal 6 was provided.

  The holding portion 1 of the terminal fitting 10 is formed with a wire barrel 2a for crimping the wire portion of the electric wire 20 and an insulation barrel 2b for crimping the insulator covering portion of the electric wire 20. And the electric wire 20 is crimped | bonded to the holding | maintenance part 1 by crimping the electric wire 20 set to the holding | maintenance part 1 with the said wire barrel 2a and the insulation barrel 2b.

As shown in FIG. 1, a connecting portion 3 made of a conductive material is provided at the tip of the terminal fitting 10.
The connecting portion 3 has a thin plate-like flat plate portion 4 and is arranged in the center of the flat plate portion 4 so that the tip of the holding portion 1 is orthogonal. That is, the thin flat plate portion 4 is formed so as to extend from the front end of the holding portion 1 to the left and right.
In this embodiment, one engagement hole 7 is formed in the center of the flat plate portion 4.

A flat male terminal 5 extending from the flat plate portion 4 is formed at one end of the flat plate portion 4.
A female terminal 6 is formed at the other end of the flat plate portion 4. The female terminal 6 includes bent portions 61 a and 61 b in which the left and right ends of the flat plate portion are bent in a semicircular shape.
The female terminal 6 is a flat plate inserted into the space between the flat plate portion 4 and the bent portions 61a and 61b, with bent portions 61a and 61b formed by bending the left and right ends of the flat plate tip in a semicircular shape as springs. The flat male terminal 5 is pressed against the surface of the flat plate portion 4 to sandwich (hold) the flat male terminal 5.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when connecting a plurality of terminal fittings 10 arranged in parallel to ensure electrical continuity between the terminal fittings, the female terminal 6 of the connecting portion 3 provided at the tip of the terminal fitting 10. The male terminal 5 of the connecting portion 3 provided at the tip of the adjacent terminal fitting 10 is inserted to connect the adjacent terminal fittings 10 to each other.
That is, by connecting the male terminals 5 and the female terminals 6 of the adjacent terminal fittings 10 to each other, the plurality of terminal fittings 10 arranged in parallel can be connected to ensure electrical continuity between the terminal fittings. .

  In addition, in the connection part 3 provided in the front-end | tip of the terminal metal fitting 10, since the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 6 are arrange | positioned so that it may orthogonally cross with respect to the holding part 1, the electric wire 20 crimped | bonded to the holding part 1 Is pulled, and even if a mechanical load is applied to the terminal fitting 10, the direction of the force of the mechanical load is different from the direction of the force for separating the connected male terminal 5 and female terminal 6, Even if the electric wire 20 is pulled, there is no possibility that the terminal fittings are separated from each other, and the reliability of electrical continuity is high.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal fittings 10 and other members are secured by accommodating a plurality of connected terminal fittings 10 in a housing 30 formed of a resin material, and protection from external damage is provided. planned.

FIG. 3 shows a housing 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the housing 30 according to this embodiment, a housing lower part 31 and a cap part 32 are integrated via a hinge 33 (see FIG. 3A).
Then, after the plurality of connected terminal fittings 10 are placed in the housing lower part 31, the cap part 32 is covered, and the housing part 31 and the cap part 32 are fixed by the stopper 36, The terminal fitting 10 was accommodated in the housing 30 (see FIG. 3B).
In addition, in order to form a hole in the housing 30 through which the electric wire 20 connected to each terminal fitting 10 is inserted, a notch 34 is provided in each of the housing lower part 31 and the cap part 32.
Further, by forming a fixing projection member 35 inside the housing 30 and fitting the fixing projection member 35 into the engagement hole 7 formed in the terminal fitting 10, the terminal fitting 10 accommodated in the housing is provided. The placement position of was fixed. The housing 30 is formed with at least two fixing projection members 35 corresponding to the engagement holes 7.

Note that the joint connector terminal fitting 10 to which a plurality of electric wires 20 are connected may be housed in a housing (a housing made of two parts) in which the lower part of the casing and the cap part are separately formed.
Further, when insulating the terminal fitting 10 to which the electric wire 20 is connected, the joint connector 10 can be insulated more inexpensively by winding a vinyl tape or molding a resin without using a housing formed of a resin material. Can be achieved.

  Next, a joint connector terminal fitting according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this embodiment, a flat plate portion 4 orthogonal to the holding portion 1 and a male terminal formed at one tip of the flat plate portion 4 at the tip of the holding portion 1 of the terminal fitting 10 ′ for crimping one electric wire 20. 5 and a female terminal 6 ′ composed of a casing 62 and a spring piece 63 were formed when the connecting portion 3 composed of the female terminal 6 ′ formed at the other end of the flat plate portion 4 was provided.

  The female terminal 6 ′ according to this embodiment is formed by a casing 62 formed by bending the other end of the flat plate portion 4 and a spring piece 63 formed therein, and is inserted into the casing 62 by the spring piece 63. The flat male terminal 5 thus pressed is pressed against the surface of the flat plate portion 4 to sandwich (hold) the flat male terminal 5.

In the same manner as in the first embodiment, a plurality of terminal fittings 10 ′ arranged in parallel are connected, and in order to ensure electrical continuity between the terminal fittings, the connecting portion 3 provided at the tip of the terminal fitting 10 ′ The male terminal 5 of the connecting portion 3 of the adjacent terminal fitting 10 'is inserted into the female terminal 6', and the adjacent terminal fittings 10 'are connected to each other.
Thereby, a plurality of terminal fittings 10 ′ arranged in parallel can be connected, and electrical continuity between the terminal fittings can be ensured.

It is a figure which shows the terminal metal fitting for joint connectors by 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the state which connected the some terminal metal fitting. It is a figure which shows the housing which accommodates a terminal metal fitting. It is a figure which shows the terminal metal fitting for joint connectors by 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Holding | maintenance part 2a Wire barrel 2b Insulation barrel 3 Connection part 4 Flat plate part 5 Male terminal 6 Female terminal 61a, 61b Bending part 62 Case part 63 Spring piece 7 Engagement hole 10 Terminal metal fitting 20 Electric wire 30 Housing 31 Case lower part 32 Cap portion 33 Hinge 34 Notch 35 Protruding member for fixing 36 Stopper

Claims (2)

In the terminal fitting (10) for a joint connector for bundling a plurality of electric wires (20) into one and ensuring the electrical continuity of each electric wire (20) bundled into one,
At the tip of the holding part (1) for crimping one electric wire (20),
A flat plate portion (4) orthogonal to the holding portion (1), a male terminal (5) formed at one end of the flat plate portion (4), and a female formed at the other end of the flat plate portion (4) A connecting portion (3) comprising a terminal (6) is provided;
In connecting a plurality of terminal fittings (10) arranged in parallel, the electrical connection between the terminal fittings was ensured by connecting the male terminal (5) and the female terminal (6) between the adjacent terminal fittings. This is a joint connector terminal fitting.   2. The joint connector terminal fitting according to claim 1, further comprising a connecting portion (3) provided with a flat male terminal (5) and a female terminal (6) holding the flat male terminal. .

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