JP2010061920A - Terminal fitting and cable with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide terminal fittings whose length is inhibited from being increased in the extending direction of a cable before/after being crimped, and to provide the cable with the terminal fittings. <P>SOLUTION: A female terminal fitting 12 has a wire barrel 17 adapted to be crimped to be wound on a core wire 10, and connections 18 extending from the wire barrel 17 and adapted to be connected to a male terminal fitting. Herein, an opening 23 is formed which passes through the wire barrel 17 and which extends along a second direction crossing a first direction of the extension of the cable 11 crimped before the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting and an electric wire with terminal fitting.

  Conventionally, what is described in Patent Document 1 is known as a terminal fitting to be crimped to an end of an electric wire. The terminal fitting includes a crimping portion that is crimped to the core wire exposed from the end of the electric wire, and a connection portion that extends from the crimping portion and connects to the mating terminal fitting.

  If an oxide film is formed on the surface of the core wire, there is a concern that the electrical resistance between the electric wire and the terminal fitting increases. Therefore, in the prior art, a concave portion is formed on the surface of the crimping portion that contacts the core wire.

When the crimping portion is crimped to the core wire, the core wire is plastically deformed by receiving pressure from the crimping portion and enters the recess. Then, the hole edge of the recess and the surface of the core wire come into sliding contact with each other, the oxide film formed on the surface of the core wire is peeled off, and the new surface of the core wire is exposed. The electrical resistance between the electric wire and the terminal fitting can be reduced by contacting the new surface and the crimping portion.
JP-A-10-125362

  However, according to the above technique, there is a problem that the size of the terminal fitting changes before and after the crimping due to the plastic deformation of the crimping portion. As described above, the core wire receives pressure from the crimping portion. Then, due to the reaction, the crimping portion receives pressure from the core wire. For this reason, the crimping part itself is also plastically deformed. In particular, there is a concern that the length of the terminal fitting in the direction in which the electric wire extends changes greatly. This is due to the following reason.

  The step of crimping the crimping portion to the core wire is performed by placing the core wire on the crimping portion and then sandwiching the crimping portion from above and below by a pair of molds. The above mold is provided with an escape hole for allowing the electric wire to escape in an extending direction of the electric wire. The pressure-bonding portion that receives pressure from the core wire is deformed so as to protrude outward from the above-described escape hole, and tries to release the pressure. For this reason, a crimping | compression-bonding part deform | transforms about the extension direction of an electric wire, As a result, the length dimension of the terminal metal fitting about the extension direction of an electric wire will change a lot.

  When the length dimension of the terminal fitting changes, there is a concern that the terminal fitting protrudes from the connector housing when the terminal fitting is accommodated in the connector housing.

  This invention was completed based on the above situations, and provides the terminal metal fitting and the electric wire with a terminal metal fitting in which the length dimension was suppressed from increasing in the extending direction of the electric wire before and after crimping. For the purpose.

  The present invention is a terminal fitting, comprising a crimping part that is crimped so as to be wound around an electric wire, and a connection part that extends from the crimping part and is connected to a mating terminal fitting, An opening extending through the second direction intersecting with the first direction in which the crimped electric wire extends is formed while penetrating the crimping portion and before the crimping portion is crimped to the electric wire. .

  In addition, the present invention is an electric wire with a terminal fitting, comprising: an electric wire including a core wire; and a terminal fitting that is crimped to the core wire exposed from an end of the electric wire, and the terminal fitting is wound around the core wire. A crimping part that is crimped so as to be attached, and a connection part that extends from the crimping part and is connected to the mating terminal fitting. The crimping part penetrates the crimping part, and the crimping part is connected to the electric wire. In the state before being crimped to, an opening extending along the second direction intersecting with the first direction in which the crimped electric wire extends is formed.

  According to the present invention, when the crimping portion is crimped to the electric wire, the electric wire (core wire) receives pressure from the crimping portion. As a reaction, the crimping portion receives pressure from the electric wire. Then, the crimping portion is plastically deformed. At this time, the deformation of the crimping portion in the first direction is absorbed by the crimping portion deforming so that the opening extending along the second direction intersecting the first direction contracts in the first direction. As a result, it is possible to suppress an increase in the length of the terminal fitting in the first direction before and after crimping.

As embodiments of the present invention, the following embodiments are preferable.
A plurality of the openings may be formed in the crimping portion side by side in the first direction.

  According to said structure, compared with the case where there is one opening part, the deformation amount of the crimping part absorbed by the opening part becomes large. As a result, it is possible to further suppress an increase in the length of the terminal fitting in the first direction before and after the crimping.

  The core wire may be made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

  When the core wire is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, an oxide film is relatively easily formed on the surface of the core wire. For this reason, when it is going to peel off the oxide film of a core wire, it is necessary to crimp | bond a crimping | compression-bonding part to a core wire with a comparatively big pressure. Then, the crimping part is also easily plastically deformed. This aspect is effective when the crimping part is crimped to the core wire with a relatively strong pressure as described above.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, before and after crimping | compression-bonding, it can suppress that a length dimension becomes large about the direction where an electric wire is extended.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment includes an electric wire 11 including a core wire 10 and a female terminal fitting 12 (corresponding to the terminal fitting of the present invention) that is crimped to the core wire 10 exposed from the end of the electric wire 11. It is. The female terminal fitting 12 is used by being housed in a cavity of a connector housing (not shown).

(Wire 11)
As shown in FIG. 1, the electric wire 11 includes a core wire 10 formed by twisting a plurality of fine metal wires and an insulating coating 14 made of a synthetic resin that covers the outer periphery of the core wire 10. The core wire 10 can use arbitrary metals as needed, such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, copper alloy. In this embodiment, aluminum or an aluminum alloy is used.

(Female terminal fitting 12)
The female terminal fitting 12 is formed by pressing a metal plate into a predetermined shape. As the metal plate material, any metal such as copper or copper alloy can be used as necessary. In this embodiment, copper or a copper alloy is used. Further, the metal plate material may be plated with an arbitrary metal such as tin or nickel. In this embodiment, tin plating is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the female terminal fitting 12 is formed to be connected to a pair of insulation barrels 15 that are crimped so as to be wound from the outside of the insulating coating 14 of the electric wires 11, and to the wire barrels 17 ( And a connecting portion 18 extending from the wire barrel 17 and connected to a male terminal fitting (not shown) (corresponding to the mating terminal).

  The connecting portion 18 has a rectangular tube shape, and a male terminal fitting can be inserted. An elastic contact piece 19 that is elastically deformable is formed inside the connecting portion 18, and the elastic contact piece 19 elastically contacts the male terminal fitting, whereby the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting 12 are electrically connected. Connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wire barrel 17 has a substantially rectangular shape before being crimped to the core wire 10. In a state where the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10, the electric wire 11 extends in the left-right direction in FIG. 2 (the direction indicated by the arrow A). The direction in which the electric wire 11 extends at this time is defined as a first direction. Moreover, in the state before the wire barrel 17 is crimped | bonded to the core wire 10, let the direction which cross | intersects said 1st direction be a 2nd direction, and it shows by the arrow B in FIG.

  The wire barrel 17 is formed with a contact surface 22 that contacts the core wire 10. The contact surface 22 of the wire barrel 17 extends in a second direction (direction indicated by an arrow B in FIG. 2) intersecting the first direction (direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 2) and penetrates the wire barrel 17. Three openings 23 are formed side by side in the first direction at intervals. In the present embodiment, the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction.

  The opening 23 is formed by punching the wire barrel 17. The punching process may be executed from either the front or back surface of the wire barrel 17.

(Connection structure between the electric wire 11 and the female terminal fitting 12)
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the pair of wire barrels 17 are crimped so as to be wound around the outside of the core wire 10. The edges of the pair of wire barrels 17 are in contact with each other at a position near the center in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4) of the female terminal fitting 12 from the outside (upper in FIG. 4). It is in contact. In FIG. 4, the detailed structure of the core wire 10 is omitted.

  Pressure is applied to the core wire 10 from the wire barrel 17 by being crimped so that the wire barrel 17 is wound around the core wire 10. Then, the oxide film formed on the surface of the core wire 10 is broken and the new surface of the core wire 10 is exposed, and the new surface and the contact surface 22 of the wire barrel 17 are in contact with each other, whereby the electric wire 11 and the female terminal fitting 12 are electrically connected. Connected.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when pressure is applied from the wire barrel 17, the core wire 10 is plastically deformed and enters the opening 23 formed in the contact surface 22 of the wire barrel 17. Then, the hole edge of the opening 23 and the surface of the core wire 10 are in sliding contact with each other, whereby the oxide film of the core wire 10 is peeled off and the new surface of the core wire 10 is exposed. The new surface and the contact surface 22 of the wire barrel 17 are in contact with each other, so that the electrical connection between the electric wire 11 and the female terminal fitting 12 is ensured.

  The core wire 10 that has entered the opening 23 may leak out of the wire barrel 17 from the opening 23 by coming into contact with the upper surface of the lower mold used when the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10. It is regulated.

  In addition, the newly formed surface of the core wire 10 made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and the tin plating layer formed on the surface of the female terminal fitting 12 are slid in contact with pressure to form an alloy layer. Thereby, the electrical resistance of the electric wire 11 and the female terminal metal fitting 12 is still smaller.

(Wire barrel 17 before and after crimping)
In FIG. 6, the principal part expanded sectional view of the wire barrel 17 before crimping | bonding to the core wire 10 is shown. As described above, the wire barrel 17 is formed with the three openings 23 arranged at intervals in the first direction (the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 6). The width dimension of the opening 23 in this state in the first direction is W1. Moreover, let the length dimension of the wire barrel 17 about a 1st direction be L1.

  FIG. 7 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the wire barrel 17 corresponding to the configuration shown in FIG. 6 after being crimped to the core wire 10. The width dimension of the opening 23 in this state in the first direction is W2. Moreover, let the length dimension of the wire barrel 17 about a 1st direction be L2. The core wire 10 that has entered the opening 23 is omitted.

  When FIG. 6 is compared with FIG. 7, the width dimension W2 of the opening after crimping is smaller than the width dimension W1 of the opening 23 before crimping. On the other hand, the length dimension L2 of the wire barrel 17 after crimping is the same as or slightly larger than the length dimension L1 of the wire barrel 17 before crimping.

  Then, an example of the manufacturing process of this embodiment is demonstrated. First, a metal plate material is press-formed into a predetermined shape. At this time, the opening 23 may be formed.

  Next, the connecting portion 18 is formed by bending the metal plate material. At this time, the opening 23 may be formed. Thereby, the female terminal fitting 12 is formed.

  The female terminal fitting 12 is placed on a lower mold (not shown). Subsequently, the insulation coating 14 located at the end of the electric wire 11 is peeled off to expose the core wire 10. The exposed core wire 10 is placed on the wire barrel 17 of the female terminal fitting 12.

  Thereafter, the upper mold (not shown) is moved toward the lower mold. Then, by being sandwiched between the upper mold and the lower side, the insulation barrel 15 is crimped so as to be wound around the outer side of the insulating coating 14 of the electric wire 11, and the wire barrel 17 is wound around the outer side of the core wire 10. So that it is crimped. Thereby, the electric wire 13 with a terminal metal fitting is completed.

  Then, the effect | action and effect of this embodiment are demonstrated. According to this embodiment, when the wire barrel 17 is pressure-bonded to the core wire 10, the core wire 10 is plastically deformed by receiving pressure from the wire barrel 17. Then, the core wire 10 enters the opening 23. At this time, the hole edge of the opening 23 and the surface of the core wire 10 are in sliding contact with each other, whereby the oxide film formed on the surface of the core wire 10 is peeled off, and the new surface of the core wire 10 is exposed. The electrical resistance between the electric wire 11 and the female terminal fitting 12 can be reduced by contacting the new surface and the wire barrel 17.

  According to the present embodiment, when the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10, the core wire 10 receives pressure from the wire barrel 17. As a reaction, the wire barrel 17 receives pressure from the core wire 10. Then, the wire barrel 17 is plastically deformed. At this time, the opening 23 extending along the second direction (the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 2) intersecting the first direction (the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 2) is contracted in the first direction. The wire barrel 17 is deformed. That is, the width dimension W2 of the opening after crimping is smaller than the width dimension W1 of the opening 23 before crimping (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

  Thereby, the deformation | transformation of the 1st direction of the wire barrel 17 is absorbed. As a result, compared to the length dimension L1 in the first direction of the wire barrel 17 before crimping, the length dimension L2 in the first direction of the wire barrel 17 after crimping can be suppressed from increasing (FIG. 6, (See FIG. 7). As a result, the female terminal fitting 12 can be prevented from protruding from the connector housing even after the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the amount of deformation of the wire barrel 17 absorbed by the opening 23 is larger than when the number of the opening 23 is one. As a result, it is possible to further suppress an increase in the length dimension of the female terminal fitting 12 in the first direction before and after crimping.

  In the present embodiment, the core wire 10 is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. Thus, when the core wire 10 is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, an oxide film is relatively easily formed on the surface of the core wire 10. For this reason, if it is going to peel off the oxide film of the core wire 10, it is necessary to crimp | bond the wire barrel 17 to the core wire 10 with a comparatively big pressure. Then, the wire barrel 17 is also easily plastically deformed. This embodiment is effective when the wire barrel 17 is crimped to the core wire 10 with a relatively strong pressure as described above.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the present embodiment, the wire barrel 17 has the three openings 23 formed therein, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the openings 23 are one, two, or a plurality of four or more. It may be.
(2) In the present embodiment, the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the second direction may be any direction as long as it intersects the first direction.
(3) The end of the wire barrel 17 may be crimped to the core wire 10 in a state shifted in the extending direction of the electric wire 11, and the ends of the wire barrel 17 branched into three or more are alternately staggered from both the left and right sides. It may be formed, or only one wire barrel 17 may be formed and pressure-bonded to the core wire 10, and the shape of the wire barrel 17 may be any shape as necessary.
(4) In the present embodiment, the terminal fitting is the female terminal fitting 12 having the cylindrical connecting portion 18, but is not limited thereto, and may be a male terminal fitting having a male tab, or penetrating through a metal plate material. A so-called LA terminal in which a hole is formed may be used, and a terminal fitting having an arbitrary shape can be formed as necessary.
(5) In this embodiment, although the electric wire 11 used the covered electric wire, it is not restricted to this, A shielded electric wire may be used and arbitrary electric wires can be used as needed. The core wire 10 may be a single core wire.

The side view which shows the electric wire with a terminal metal fitting which concerns on this invention The principal part enlarged plan view which shows the female terminal metal fitting in the state before crimping to a core wire Sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. IV-IV line sectional view in FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view which shows the state by which the wire barrel was crimped | bonded to the core wire Sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. Sectional drawing of the principal part which shows the wire barrel in the state after being crimped | bonded to the core wire

Explanation of symbols

10 ... core wire 11 ... electric wire 12 ... female terminal fitting (terminal fitting)
13 ... Electric wire with terminal fittings 14 ... Insulation coating 17 ... Wire barrel (barrel)
18 ... Connection part 23 ... Opening part

Claims (5)

A crimping part that is crimped so as to wrap around the wire, and a connection part that extends from the crimping part and connects to the mating terminal fitting,
The crimping portion has an opening that extends through the crimping portion and along a second direction that intersects the first direction in which the crimped wire extends before the crimping portion is crimped to the wire. Terminal fittings with parts formed. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the opening portions are formed in the crimping portion so as to be arranged at intervals in the first direction. An electric wire including a core wire, and a terminal fitting that is crimped to the core wire exposed from an end of the electric wire,
The terminal fitting includes a crimping portion that is crimped so as to wrap around the core wire, and a connection portion that extends from the crimping portion and connects to the mating terminal fitting,
The crimping portion penetrates the crimping portion and extends in a second direction that intersects the first direction in which the crimped wire extends before the crimping portion is crimped to the wire. An electric wire with terminal fittings. The electric wire with a terminal fitting according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the opening portions are formed in the crimping portion so as to be arranged at intervals in the first direction. The said core wire is an electric wire with a terminal metal fitting of Claim 3 or Claim 4 which consists of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

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