JP2010061943A - Joint connector for wire harness and wire harness equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a joint connector for a wire harness, which can be fitted in a stable condition on an outer peripheral surface of a wire harness body while a short circuit among a plurality of electric wires is being performed, and to provide a wire harness equipped with the joint connector for wire harness. <P>SOLUTION: The joint connector JC includes a short circuit conductor having a plurality of terminal parts and a connector housing 40 holding the conductor. The connector housing 40 has an inner side surface 41a capable of contacting with an upper side of the wire harness body 12. The inner side surface 41a has a shape in which intermediate portions of the terminal parts in an alignment direction are recessed outward in a diameter direction of the wire harness body 12 further than both end parts in the alignment direction are, and a plurality of the portions in the alignment direction can contact with the wire harness body 12 simultaneously. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is provided in a wire harness for a vehicle including a plurality of electric wires and the like, and a wire harness joint connector for short-circuiting electric wire side terminals respectively provided at terminals of the specific electric wire, and a wire provided with the same It relates to harnesses.

  DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Conventionally, what is described in patent document 1 is known as a wire harness joint connector for short-circuiting the some electric wire contained in the vehicle wire harness.

The joint connector for a wire harness includes a short-circuit conductor for short-circuiting the wire-side terminals attached to the ends of the respective wires, and a connector housing that holds the short-circuit conductor and the wire-side terminals. The short-circuiting conductor is made of a single flat metal plate, and integrally includes a plurality of terminal portions arranged in a specific direction and a short-circuit portion extending in the specific direction and connected to the terminal portions. The electric wire side terminals are connected to the sections. The connector housing has a substantially flat plate shape that is flat in the thickness direction of the short-circuiting conductor, and is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the main body (main line) of the wire harness by tape winding.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-50794

  In the joint connector, there is a problem that the fixed state of the joint connector becomes unstable as the number of electric wires to be short-circuited increases.

  Specifically, since the connector housing of the joint connector has a substantially flat outer shape, and the terminal portions of the short-circuiting conductor are arranged in a straight line along the width direction thereof, the electric wire to be short-circuited As the number of terminals and the number of terminal portions corresponding thereto increase, the width dimension of the joint connector (dimension in the arrangement direction of the terminal parts) also increases. On the other hand, the main body (for example, trunk line) of the wire harness to which the joint connector is fixed by tape winding has a cross section of a circular shape or a shape close to this, and the longitudinal direction of the wire harness main body and the width direction of the joint connector are Since the joint connector is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness body in a substantially orthogonal posture, the mounting posture of the joint connector on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness main body becomes smaller as the width dimension of the joint connector increases. Become stable.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention includes a wire harness joint connector that can be stably fixed on the outer peripheral surface of a wire harness body while short-circuiting a large number of electric wires. An object is to provide a wire harness.

  As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an electric wire fixed on the outer peripheral surface of a wire harness body in which a plurality of electric wires are bundled, and provided at each end of the plurality of electric wires included in the wire harness body. A wire harness joint connector for electrically short-circuiting the side terminals, having a shape that can contact each of the wire-side terminals and a direction substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the wire connected to the wire-side terminal A short-circuiting conductor integrally having a plurality of terminal portions arranged in a row and a short-circuit portion extending in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions and connected to each terminal portion, and holding each of the short-circuiting conductors, and each terminal portion of the short-circuiting conductor And a connector housing having a shape capable of receiving the electric wire side terminals so that the electric wire side terminals can be fitted to each other. An inner wall having an inner surface that is interposed between the harness body and the short-circuiting conductor and can be contacted on the wire harness body, and the inner surface of the inner wall is an intermediate portion in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions Has a shape that is recessed outward in the radial direction of the wire harness body from both ends in the arrangement direction, and a plurality of parts in the arrangement direction can simultaneously contact the wire harness body, and the short-circuit portion of the short-circuiting conductor Has a shape along the inner surface, and the terminal portions are arranged along the short-circuit portion.

  According to this joint connector, it is possible to stabilize the fixed state of the joint connector on the wire harness body while enabling a relatively large number of electric wires to be short-circuited. Specifically, the inner side surface of the connector housing according to the joint connector is such that the intermediate portion of the inner side surface is positioned radially outward of the wire harness body from both ends with respect to the arrangement direction of the terminal portions of the shorting conductor of the joint connector. Since the concave portion has a shape that allows the plurality of portions to be in contact with the wire harness body at the same time, the connector housing can be attached to the outer periphery of the wire harness body even if the short-circuit portion of the short-circuiting conductor along the arrangement direction is long. It can be installed stably on the surface. Therefore, it is possible to stabilize the joint connector fixed state on the wire harness body while increasing the number of terminal portions arranged along the arrangement direction and increasing the number of wires that can be short-circuited.

  The short circuit part of the connector housing and the short-circuiting conductor is bent at the intermediate part so that the intermediate part in the arrangement direction of the terminal parts protrudes radially outward of the wire harness body, and the bent part is The portions on both sides of the sandwiching plate have a flat plate shape, and at least a part of the flat plate portion has a shape that can contact the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness body, and the terminal portions of the short-circuiting conductors Those arranged in each part are preferred. In this joint connector, the joint connector can be stabilized in a fixed state while having a simple shape in which only a part of the connector housing and the short-circuit portion are bent.

  Of the connector housing, the shape of the outer wall located on the opposite side of the inner wall across the short-circuiting conductor can be set as appropriate, but the outer wall has an outer surface whose shape is substantially parallel to the inner surface. If it has, the thickness dimension of the said connector housing can be equalize | homogenized about the arrangement direction of the said terminal part, and the protrusion dimension from the wire harness main body outer peripheral surface of the said connector housing can be suppressed.

  Moreover, this invention electrically short-circuits the wire harness main body in which the some electric wire was bundled, the electric wire side terminal each provided in the terminal of the some electric wire contained in the said wire harness main body, and these electric wire sides A wire harness comprising the joint connector for a wire harness provided for the purpose, wherein a plurality of portions on the inner side surface of the connector housing in the joint connector in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions of the short-circuiting conductor in the joint connector The joint connector is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness main body by winding a tape around the joint connector and the wire harness main body while being in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness main body.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in a stable state on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness body, while short-circuiting a large number of electric wires by devising the shape of the connector housing and the short-circuiting conductor held by the connector housing, There is an effect that it is possible to provide a joint connector for a wire harness that can be fixed and a wire harness including the joint connector.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a state in which the joint connector JC included in the wire harness according to this embodiment is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness main body (in this case, the trunk line 12). The trunk line 12 is a bundle of a plurality of electric wires 10, and the joint connector JC is connected to the ends of these electric wires in order to short-circuit the specific electric wires 10 drawn out from the main line 12. At the same time, it is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12, and is wound around the trunk line 12 with a tape (not shown) and fixed. The tape may be used as a bundling tape that is wound around the trunk line 12 to maintain the bundling state of the electric wire 10, or a dedicated tape different from the bundling tape is used. Also good.

  Each of the specific electric wires 10 includes a conductor and an insulating coating that covers the conductor, and is short-circuited by a combination of the joint connector JC and the plurality of electric wire side terminals 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each electric wire side terminal 20 has a female electrical contact portion 22 and an electric wire crimping portion 24 at the front and rear. The electrical contact portion 22 has a hollow rectangular tube-shaped main body and a contact spring piece 26 provided so as to be able to bend in the main body. From the bottom wall of the electrical contact portion 22, a locked piece 28 for locking to the joint connector JC protrudes outward. The wire crimping portion 24 is crimped to the end of the corresponding wire 10. The terminal of the electric wire 10 is previously subjected to a treatment for removing the insulating coating to expose the conductor, and the electric wire crimping portion 24 embraces the terminal of the conductor and the insulating coating in the vicinity thereof. By bending the wire, it is crimped to the end of the electric wire 10 and electrically connected to the conductor.

  Next, the structure of the joint connector JC according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The joint connector JC includes a single short-circuit conductor 30 as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 and a connector housing 40 for holding the short-circuit conductor 30. The short-circuiting conductor 30 is made of a conductive material, and is short-circuited between the electric wire side terminals 20 by being commonly connected to the electric wire side terminals 20. The connector housing 40 is integrally formed of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin, and can be held in a state where the short-circuiting conductor 30 is stored, specifically, the thickness direction of the short-circuiting conductor 30. It has a flat shape. Details of the shape will be described later.

  The short-circuiting conductor 30 is formed by punching a single metal plate into an appropriate shape and bending an appropriate portion thereof, and includes a plurality of (eight in the illustrated example) terminal portions. 32 and a short-circuit portion 34 connected to these terminal portions 32 are integrally provided. Each terminal portion 32 is a male (tab) fitting portion that can be fitted into the female electrical contact portion 22 of each electric wire side terminal 20, and these terminal portions 32 are parallel to the width direction ( In a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction). The short-circuit portion 34 extends in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32, and a base end of each terminal portion 32 is connected to the short-circuit portion 34.

  As a feature of the short-circuiting conductor 30, the short-circuit portion 34 has a substantially V-shape bent at approximately 90 ° at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction (the arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32). That is, the short-circuit portion 34 has a bent portion 38 at an intermediate position in the longitudinal direction. The four terminal portions 32 are connected to both sides of the bent portion 38, respectively.

  The bending angle and position of the bent portion 38 can be set as appropriate. The bent portion 38 does not necessarily have to be at the center position in the longitudinal direction of the short-circuit portion 34 and may be biased to one of the end portions. Further, the terminal portions 32 do not necessarily have to be distributed to the both sides of the bent portion 38 by the same number.

  The connector housing 40 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the short-circuit portion 34 of the short-circuit conductor 30, that is, a substantially V-shape. Specifically, the connector housing 40 integrally includes a pair of plate-like main body portions 40A and 40B and a bent portion 48 interposed between the main body portions 40A and 40B. It has an overall shape bent at approximately 90 °.

  The connector housing 40 has a plate-like (substantially V-shaped in this embodiment) inner side wall 41 and an outer side wall 42 that are parallel to each other, and a side wall 44 that connects the outer ends of both walls 41, 42. These walls 41, 42, 44 constitute the outer wall of the connector housing 40 and have a shape surrounding the short-circuiting conductor 40.

  The rear end portion of the outer wall (the left end portion in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the lower end portion in FIG. 5) constitutes a conductor holding portion 43. The conductor holding portion 43 has an insertion port 43a that opens rearward. The short-circuit portion 34 of the short-circuiting conductor 30 is press-fitted from the insertion port 43a, whereby the short-circuit portion 34 is held by the conductor holding portion 43. Is done. That is, the conductor holding portion 43 has a shape for holding the short-circuit portion 34 of the short-circuit conductor 30. Specifically, it has an outer shape (substantially V-shaped in this embodiment) that is slightly larger than the short-circuit portion 34 and extends in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32 of the short-circuit conductor 30. The insertion opening 43a that can be inserted from the rear (left side in FIG. 3) is surrounded. The short-circuit portion 34 is press-fitted into the conductor holding portion 43 from the insertion port 43a with the terminal portions 32 facing forward. More specifically, projections 34 a as shown in FIG. 5 are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the short-circuit portion 34 (arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32), and these projections 34 a are the inner surface of the conductor holding portion 43. The short-circuit portion 34 is fixed to the conductor holding portion 43 by biting into the conductor.

  In each of the main body portions 40A and 40B, a plurality of (three in the figure) partition walls 45 parallel to the side walls 44 are parallel to the width direction (in parallel to the arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32). Are arranged in any direction). Each partition wall 45 defines a terminal accommodating chamber 47 between another partition wall 45 or the side wall 44 adjacent to the partition wall 45. Each terminal accommodating chamber 47 has a shape that opens forward and allows the electric wire side terminal 20 to be inserted through the opening. Each terminal portion 32 of the short-circuiting conductor 30 protrudes from the rear in each terminal accommodating chamber 47, and the electric contact portion 22 of the electric wire side terminal 20 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 47 is connected to the terminal portion 32. The electric wire side terminal 20 and the short-circuiting conductor 30 are electrically connected by fitting.

  On the outer wall 42, lances (terminal locking portions) 46 are formed at positions corresponding to the terminal receiving chambers 47. Each lance 46 is surrounded by a substantially U-shaped slit 42 s (FIG. 1) formed in the outer wall 42, and can be bent and deformed in the thickness direction with respect to the main body of the outer wall 42. A free end portion is provided, and a claw-like locking portion 46a is formed at the free end portion. The locking portion 46a is bent and deformed as shown in FIG. 3 by coming into contact with the inserted electric wire side terminal 20 to allow the electric wire side terminal 20 to pass through, and after passing through, the elastic portion 46a is elastically moved to a proper position. By returning, the locked portion 28 of the electric wire side terminal 20 is restrained from the rear as shown in FIG. That is, the electric wire side terminal 20 is locked at a position where the electric wire side terminal 20 is fitted to the terminal portion 32.

  The joint connector JC has an inner wall 41 interposed between the trunk line 12 and the short-circuit conductor 30, and the arrangement direction of the terminal portions 32 (longitudinal direction of the short-circuit portion 34) of the trunk line 12. It is configured assuming that it is fixed to the trunk line 12 in a posture substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, the front side surface of the inner side wall 41 constitutes an inner side surface 41 a that contacts the outer peripheral surface of the main line 12, and the front side surface of the outer side wall 42 parallel to the inner side surface 41 a is sandwiched between the shorting conductor 30 and the main line 12. An outer surface 42a located on the opposite side (outer side) is formed. Then, the connector housing is bent so that the intermediate portion (bent portion 48) in the arrangement direction of the terminal portion 32 on the inner side surface 42 is bent in a direction that is dented radially outward of the wire harness body from both ends in the arrangement direction. Forty shapes are set.

  Next, how to use the joint connector JC will be described.

  First, the specific electric wire 10 which is the object of mutual short circuit is drawn out from the trunk line 12, and these electric wires 10 are connected to a common joint connector JC. Specifically, the electric wire side terminals 20 are mounted in advance on the terminals of the electric wires 10, and these electric wire side terminals 20 are respectively inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers 47 in the connector housing 40 of the joint connector 20, By fitting the terminal portion 32 of the shorting conductor 30, the electric wire side terminals 20 (electrical wires 10) are short-circuited through the shorting conductor 30.

  The joint connector JC to which the electric wires 10 are connected in this way is installed on the trunk line 12 with the inner wall 41 of the connector housing 40 facing inside. Then, the joint connector JC is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12 by winding a tape around the joint connector JC and the trunk line 12.

  Since the cross-sectional shape of the trunk line 12 often has a circular shape or a shape close thereto, for example, the joint connector is fixed on the trunk line 12 in an unstable manner as compared with the case where the joint connector JC is fixed to a flat surface. However, the shape of the joint connector JC according to this embodiment greatly contributes to stabilization of the fixed state of the joint connector JC on the trunk line 12. Specifically, the inner side surface 41a, which is the front side surface of the inner side wall 41, has a shape that bends so that the intermediate portion (bending portion 48) is recessed radially outward of the trunk line 12, Specific portions on both sides, that is, a plurality of portions, can be simultaneously in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12 with the bent portion interposed therebetween, which stabilizes the fixed state of the joint connector JC on the trunk line 12.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a conventional flat joint connector JC 'is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12 having a circular cross section, and a tape 18 is wound around these to connect the joint connector JC. ′ Is fixed, the contact portion between the joint connector JC and the main line 12 is approximately one, and the tape 18 is an area in which neither the joint connector JC ′ nor the main line 12 can be contacted (that is, floating). Therefore, the joint connector JC is unstable in posture and is likely to be displaced as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. This becomes more remarkable as the connector width dimension W increases due to an increase in the number of terminals in the joint connector JC ′ (that is, an increase in the number of wires to be short-circuited).

  On the other hand, in the connector housing of the joint connector JC according to the embodiment as shown in FIG. 5B, the inner side surfaces 41a of the main body portions 40A and 40B located on both sides of the bent portion 48 are respectively on the trunk line 12. Since the connector housing has a shape that is relatively along the outer peripheral surface of the main line 12, the area where the tape 18 wound around these is floating is small. Compared with the joint connector JC ′ shown in FIG. Further, since the terminal portion 32 of the short-circuiting conductor 30 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is distributed to the left and right main body portions 40A and 40B, it is possible to maintain a stable fixed state while increasing the number of the terminal portions 32. Is possible.

  The specific shape of the joint connector according to the present invention is not limited to that shown in FIG. For example, like the joint connector JC shown in FIG. 7, the short-circuit portion 34 and the connector housing 40 of the short-circuit conductor 30 are bent at two locations (or more), and the terminal portions 32 are arranged on both sides of each bent portion. May be. In general, as the number of the bent portions increases, the number of locations where the inner side surface 41a of the connector housing 40 can come into contact with the trunk line 12 increases, and the fixed state becomes more stable.

  Further, in the present invention, “an intermediate portion in the arrangement direction of the terminal portion is recessed radially outward of the wire harness body from both ends in the arrangement direction, and a plurality of portions in the arrangement direction can simultaneously contact the wire harness body. The `` shape to be '' is not intended to limit that the recessed portion and the portion that can contact the wire harness body intermittently exist, but the portion that exists continuously, that is, there are innumerable It is intended to include things. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the shape of the short-circuit portion 34 of the short-circuiting conductor 30 and the inner side surface 41 a of the connector housing 40 is an arc shape along the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12, and almost the entire area of the inner side surface 41 a The thing which can contact the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12 may be sufficient. Or you may be comprised by the combination of the curved surface of the direction which the said inner surface 41a is dented in the radial direction outer side of a wire harness main body, and the plane or curved surface connected to this.

  7A and 7B, similarly to the joint connector JC shown in FIG. 1, the outer surface 42a of the connector housing 40 is substantially parallel to the inner surface 41a. By making the thickness of the connector housing 40 uniform, the amount of protrusion from the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line 12 can be suppressed as much as possible. In any case, the short-circuit conductor 30 is preferably composed of a single metal plate, and the short-circuit conductor is placed in the connector housing 40 so that the thickness direction thereof matches the thickness direction of the connector housing 40. 30 is preferably retained.

It is a perspective view which shows the state in which the joint connector for wire harnesses which concerns on embodiment of this invention was installed on the outer peripheral surface of the trunk line which is a wire harness main body. (A) is a front view of the joint connector, and (b) is a rear view thereof. It is a cross-sectional side view which shows the state in the middle of inserting the electric wire side terminal in the said joint connector. FIG. 4 is a sectional side view showing a state where the electric wire side terminal is completely inserted into the joint connector, and is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line of Fig.2 (a). (A) is sectional drawing which shows the fixed state of the conventional joint connector, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the fixed state of the joint connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) (b) is a front view which shows the modification of the shape of the connector housing of the joint connector which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

JC joint connector 10 Electric wire 12 Wire harness trunk 18 Tape 20 Electric wire side terminal 30 Short-circuiting conductor 32 Terminal portion 34 Short-circuit portion 38 Bending portion 40 Connector housing 40A, 40B Main body portion 41 Inner side wall 41a Inner side surface 42 Outer side wall 42a Outer side surface 47 Terminal accommodating chamber 48 Bending part

Claims (4)

For a wire harness that is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of a wire harness main body in which a plurality of electric wires are bundled, and electrically short-circuits the electric wire side terminals respectively provided at the terminals of the plurality of electric wires included in the wire harness main body A joint connector,
A plurality of terminal portions that have a shape that can come into contact with each of the electric wire side terminals and that are arranged in a direction substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the electric wires connected to the electric wire side terminals, and that extend in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions, A short-circuit conductor integrally having a connected short-circuit portion;
Holding the short-circuit conductor, and having a connector housing having a shape capable of receiving the electric wire side terminals so that the electric wire side terminals can be fitted to the terminal portions of the short circuit conductor,
The connector housing includes an inner wall having an inner surface that is interposed between the wire harness body and the short-circuiting conductor and can contact the wire harness body, and the inner surface of the inner wall is the terminal. The intermediate part of the arrangement direction of the part has a shape that is recessed to the outside in the radial direction of the wire harness body from both ends of the arrangement direction, and a plurality of parts in the arrangement direction can simultaneously contact the wire harness body,
A short-circuit portion of the short-circuit conductor has a shape along the inner surface, and the terminal portions are arranged along the short-circuit portion. In the joint connector for wire harnesses of Claim 1,
The short-circuit portion of the connector housing and the short-circuiting conductor is bent at the intermediate portion so that the intermediate portion in the arrangement direction of the terminal portions protrudes outward in the radial direction of the wire harness body, and sandwiches the bent portion. At least a part of the inner surface of the connector housing on both sides thereof has a shape that can contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness body, and the terminal portions of the short-circuiting conductor are arranged on the both side portions, respectively. Features a joint connector for wire harness. The wire harness joint connector according to claim 1 or 2,
The connector housing has an outer wall on a side opposite to the inner wall across the short-circuit conductor, and the outer wall has an outer surface having a shape substantially parallel to the inner surface. Joint connector. A wire harness body in which a plurality of electric wires are bundled;
A wire-side terminal provided on each end of a plurality of wires included in the wire harness body;
A wire harness provided with a joint connector for a wire harness for electrically short-circuiting these electric wire sides,
The wire harness joint connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3 as the wire harness joint connector,
With respect to the arrangement direction of the terminal portions of the short-circuiting conductor in the joint connector, the joint connector, the wire harness body, The wire harness is characterized in that the joint connector is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness body by winding a tape around the wire harness.

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