JP2011159556A - Terminal holding structure of charging connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable holding a component such as a terminal simply and certainly into a charging connector, in the charging connector which connects terminals by bolt-tightening without using connector insertion engagement. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal holding structure of charging connector 1 includes an insulating housing 2, a terminal with electric wire 3 for power supply which is housed in the housing, and a nut 31 which is in contact with the lower face of a horizontal and plate-shape electric contact part 3a having a bolt insertion hole of the terminal; and the housing has positioning ribs 25, 26 which make the front end part 3a<SB>1</SB>and both right and left end parts 3a<SB>2</SB>of the electric contact part contact, and a fixing rib 29 which makes the rear end part 3a<SB>3</SB>of the electric contact part contact. A terminal cover 5 with a bolt insertion hole which contacts the upper face of the electric contact part 3a is provided, and right and left guide parts 32, 33 and an elastic locking lance 35 are installed in the housing 2 at the outside upper part than both right and left end parts 3a<SB>2</SB>; the terminal cover 5 is sliding engaged with the guide part and locked by the locking lance and is made to contact the fixing rib 29. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal holding structure for a charging connector in which a terminal and a terminal cover are assembled in a charging connector for an electric vehicle including a hybrid car, for example.

  Conventionally, when a battery of an electric vehicle including a hybrid car is raised (electricity is lost), to charge with a dealer or the like, the charging connector is fitted and connected to the connector of the wire harness that follows the battery. I was going.

  However, in the state where the connector 36 for connecting the terminal of the wire harness 58 following the battery is removed from the inverter 59 and the terminals are connected to each other by bolting, as shown in FIG. A charging connector for charging is required. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 37 denotes an inverter connection terminal, 57 denotes a bracket for fixing and grounding to the inverter 59, and 60 denotes a connection terminal to the battery.

  For reference, as a conventional method of connecting terminals by bolting, for example, in Patent Document 1, a male terminal of a connector on the wire harness side is connected to a bus bar terminal of a connector on the device side by bolting, (Patent Document 2) describes that a male terminal to be screwed and connected to the other side is housed and held in a terminal cover made of insulating resin. (Not shown).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-32500 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-77839 (FIG. 1)

  As described above, the present invention can easily and reliably position and hold components such as terminals in the charging connector in the charging connector in which the terminals are connected to each other by bolting regardless of the connector fitting. It is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal holding structure for a charging connector that can be charged easily and inexpensively.

  In order to achieve the above object, a terminal holding structure for a charging connector according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises an insulating housing, a terminal with an electric wire for feeding housed in the housing, and a bolt insertion of the terminal. A nut in contact with the lower surface of the horizontal plate-shaped electrical contact portion with a hole, positioning ribs for contacting the front end portion and the left and right end portions of the electrical contact portion with the housing, and the electrical contact portion A fixing rib for abutting the rear end portion is provided.

  With the above configuration, the electrical contact portion of the terminal is fixed by the rear fixing ribs without being displaced rearward (in the direction of pulling the electric wire) in a state where the electrical contact portions of the terminals are positioned by the three positioning ribs on the front side and the left and right sides. The electrical contact portion is surrounded on all sides by each rib. The terminal is disposed in the housing from above. The terminal of the mating connector following the battery is connected to the terminal by bolting, and the battery is charged from the electric wire through both terminals. It is also possible to prevent the terminal from being lifted by a locking claw or the like provided in the housing.

  A charging connector terminal holding structure according to claim 2 is the charging connector terminal holding structure according to claim 1, further comprising a terminal cover with a bolt insertion hole in contact with the upper surface of the electrical contact portion, and more than the left and right ends. Left and right guide portions and elastic locking lances are provided on the housing at the upper outer side, and the terminal cover is locked with the locking lance without moving forward in a state of sliding engagement with the guide portions. It is characterized by abutting on the fixing rib without moving backward.

  With the above-described configuration, the terminal cover is slidably engaged with the pair of left and right guide portions, and the pair of guide portions prevents the left and right positional deviations. The terminal cover is prevented from slipping forward, and the rear end of the terminal cover abuts on the terminal fixing rib to prevent rearward displacement. The terminal cover is elastically pressed against the electrical contact portion of the terminal by the urging force of the locking lance. Each bolt insertion hole between the terminal cover and the electrical contact part and the center of the nut are aligned, and the terminal of the mating connector (mating terminal) is connected to the upper surface of the terminal cover by bolt tightening (screw tightening). . When the terminal cover is conductive, the mating terminal and the electrical contact portion are electrically connected via the terminal cover. When the terminal cover is insulative, the mating terminal is in electrical contact via the bolt and nut. Are electrically connected to each other.

  The charging connector terminal holding structure according to claim 3 is the charging connector terminal holding structure according to claim 2, wherein the locking lance is provided integrally with the guide portion.

  With the above configuration, the guide portion and the locking lance are formed at a low cost by integral resin molding. The locking lance may be provided in each of the pair of guide portions, but a sufficient locking force can be obtained only by providing the locking lance only in one of the guide portions.

  The terminal holding structure for a charging connector according to a fourth aspect is the terminal holding structure for a charging connector according to the second or third aspect, wherein the terminal cover is conductive.

  With the above configuration, the terminal of the mating connector and the electrical contact portion of the power feeding terminal are connected with good electrical contact resistance via the conductive terminal cover.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the electric contact portion of the terminal can be positioned and fixed in the electric wire pulling direction by a simple operation of simply placing the electric wire terminal in the housing from above. Thus, it is possible to provide a low-cost screw-type charging connector using existing terminals without the need to press-fit the terminals into the housing using a jig as in the prior art. Further, the reliability of connection with the mating terminal can be improved by screw tightening, and charging can be performed reliably.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal cover can be securely fixed without misalignment between the locking lance and the fixing rib by a simple operation of inserting the terminal cover along the guide portion. It is possible to provide a low-cost screw-tightening type charging connector with a simple structure. Moreover, the structure can be further simplified and the cost can be further reduced by using the fixing rib for positioning both the terminal and the terminal cover.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the structure of the locking lance can be simplified, and the cost of the charging connector can be reduced, and the resin molding die for molding the housing can be simplified and reduced in cost.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the terminal of the mating connector and the electrical contact portion of the power feeding terminal can be electrically connected to each other through the conductive terminal cover, and the screw fastening terminal is used. Charging can be performed reliably.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the charging connector in this invention. It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the terminal holding structure of a charging connector. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the state which mounts | wears with a terminal cover on a terminal. It is a perspective view which shows the state which mounted | wore the terminal cover. It is a perspective view which shows the assembly state of a charging connector. It is a top view which shows the state which connected the other party connector to the receiving connector. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one form of the wire harness containing the other party connector and the apparatus by the side of a vehicle.

  1 to 6 show an embodiment of a charging connector and a terminal holding structure thereof according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the charging connector 1 includes a housing 2 made of insulating resin, a pair of terminals 3 for power feeding disposed in the housing 2, and a safety circuit disposed in the housing 2 separately from the terminals 3 for power feeding. One terminal 4 for power supply, a pair of terminal covers 5 preferably made of conductive metal that are in contact with and covering the terminals 3 for power feeding, and a terminal cover that is preferably made of conductive metal that covers and contacts the terminals 4 for the safety circuit 6, an insulating resin wire cover 8 that covers and protects the electric wire 7 connected to the power supply terminal 3, and the power supply terminal 3, which is slidably provided in the housing 2 in the front-rear direction (connector connection direction). A housing cover 9 made of an insulating resin that covers and protects the terminal cover 5, and a pair of small terminals 12 (FIG. 6) connected to the electric wires 10 and other electric wires 11 following the terminals 4 for the safety circuit. Rock housing It is intended and a 13.

  The housing 2 is composed of a power supply terminal accommodating portion 14 having a flat rectangular shape in the latter half of the horizontal direction and a mating connector coupling portion 15 in the front half. A safety circuit terminal mounting portion 16 and an interlock housing accommodating portion 17 are provided on the upper side of the mating connector coupling portion 15.

  The power supply terminal accommodating portion 14 is surrounded by the left and right, center, and rear vertical wall portions 18 to 20 and the horizontal bottom wall 21, and is partitioned for each power supply terminal 3, and penetrates the rear wall 20. Thus, a pair of horizontal left and right electric wire guide grooves 22 is formed, and the slit-shaped cutout portion 23 of the rear wall 20 is closed by the vertical wall portion 24 at the front end of the electric wire cover 8 (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIG. 2, at the front part of the wire guide groove 22, at least three ribs 25, 26 for positioning the front and left and right of the terminal are horizontally provided in a rectangular frame shape integrally with the bottom wall 21 of the housing 2. The ribs 25 are divided into a pair of left and right, a notch 27 is formed between the pair of ribs 25, and the left and right ribs 26 are formed linearly and continuously in the front-rear direction so that the rear side A pair of left and right terminal fixing ribs 29 are vertically formed between the rear pair of ribs 28 so as to be perpendicular to the ribs 28, following the pair of ribs 28 divided into two.

  The terminal fixing rib 29 extends to the rear wall 20 and is orthogonal, and a square space surrounded by the front, rear, left and right positioning ribs 25, 26, 28 is a narrow groove between the pair of terminal fixing ribs 29. The groove-shaped space 30 continues to the wire guide groove 22 (FIG. 1). The electric wire 7 is routed into the electric wire guide groove 22 through the lower side of the wall portion 24 at the front end of the electric wire cover 8, and the electric wire 7 is pressed by the lower end of the wall portion 24 near the rear of the terminal 3 and fixed together with the terminal 3. The

  A round plate-like electrical contact portion 3a of the terminal 3 is disposed between the front, rear, left and right positioning ribs 25, 26, and 28 (inside), and the terminal 3 is interposed between a pair of left and right terminal fixing ribs 29. The electric wire connection part 3b is arrange | positioned. The terminal 3 is a round plate terminal, the electrical contact portion 3a has a bolt insertion hole 3c in the center, and the electric wire connection portion 3b has a pair of left and right crimping pieces. A rectangular nut 31 is disposed below the electrical contact portion 3 a, that is, a space below the space surrounded by the front, rear, left and right ribs 25, 26, and 28, and the electrical contact portion 3 a is disposed in contact with the top surface of the nut 31. Is done.

The front end 3a ₁ of the electrical contact portion 3a on the inner surface of the front rib 25 is in contact (abutting at the front end 3a ₁ to the right and left ends of the cut-out portion 27 is point contact), the inner surface in electrical contact portion 3a of the left and right ribs 26 The left and right ends 3a ₂ of the contact portion are brought into contact with each other by point contact, and the front end inner edge (formed in a taper shape) 29a of the rear terminal fixing rib 29 is contacted with the tapered left and right ends 3a ₃ of the rear portion of the electrical contact portion 3a. Touch. The front rib 25 prevents the terminal 3 from being displaced forward (Y1 direction), and the left and right ribs 26 prevent the terminal 3 from being laterally displaced (X1, X2 direction). The terminal fixing rib 29 Position shift behind the terminal 3 (Y2 direction), that is, pull-out in the wire pulling direction is prevented. The upper end surfaces of the front, rear, left and right ribs 25, 26, 28 are located on the same plane as the upper surface of the electrical contact portion 3a. In this state, each terminal cover 5 is mounted along the upper surface of the electrical contact portion 3a of each terminal 3 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a terminal cover insertion guide portion (guide portion) 32 having an L-shaped longitudinal section from the bottom wall 21 at a position near the left and right wall portions 18 of the terminal accommodating portion 14 on the left and right outer sides of the left and right positioning ribs 26. And a horizontal plate-like terminal cover insertion guide portion (guide portion) 33 project from the central partition wall 19. The L-shaped insertion guide portion 32 is composed of a vertical support wall 32a and a horizontal guide wall 32b, and an elastic locking lance 35 is provided forwardly on the rear end side portion of the guide wall 32 via a connecting portion 34. The locking lance 35 has a locking projection 35a on the lower side of the front end and is shorter than the insertion guide portion 32, and a clearance corresponding to the thickness of the terminal cover 5 is present above the left (or right) positioning rib 26. The locking protrusion 35a has a front inclined surface and a rear vertical locking surface and is positioned lower than the fixing rib 29, and the insertion guide portions 32 and 33 are inclined downward at the front end. Guide surfaces 32c and 33a are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal cover 5 is formed in a horizontally-long rectangular plate shape, and a hole portion 5a aligned with the bolt insertion hole 3c of the terminal 3 and a rectangular engagement member positioned in parallel on one side of the hole portion 5a. And a stop hole 5b. The pair of left and right terminal covers 5 can be shared by reversing the right and left ones having the same shape.

  As shown by arrows in FIG. 3, each terminal cover 5 is horizontally slidably engaged along the pair of left and right insertion guide portions 32 and 33, so that the electrical contact portion 3 a of the terminal 3 is the terminal cover 5 as shown in FIG. 4. The terminal cover 5 is completely covered, the lower surface of the terminal cover 5 comes into contact with the upper surface of the electrical contact portion 3a, and the projection 35a of the locking lance 35 engages with the locking hole 5b, so that the terminal cover 5 is positioned forward (Y1 direction). The displacement is prevented, and the rear end surface 5c of the terminal cover 5 is brought into contact with the front end 29a of the fixing rib 29 to prevent the position displacement of the terminal cover 5 in the rear direction (Y2 direction).

  At the same time, the lower surface 35b of the locking lance 35 comes into contact with the upper surface of the terminal cover 5, and the terminal cover 5 is pressed against the electric contact portion 3a without backlash by the downward elastic force (biasing force) of the locking lance 35. It is done. The terminal cover 5 made of a conductive metal can be electrically connected to the terminal 3 and the nut 31 and forms a contact portion with the plate-like terminal 37 with a hole of the mating connector 36 of FIG. When the terminal cover 5 is formed of insulating resin, the terminal 37 of the mating connector 36 is in electrical contact with the terminal 3 only through the bolt 38 (FIG. 6) (energization is possible).

  As shown in FIG. 1, slide guide grooves 39 for the housing cover 9 are horizontally provided at the left and right ends of the bottom portion of the power supply terminal accommodating portion 14 of the housing 2, and a plate-shaped housing portion behind the terminal accommodating portion 14. A nut 41 for bolting the housing cover 9 is embedded in the upper surface of 40. The pair of electric wire guide grooves 22 provided in the housing portion 40 is connected to the rear electric wire guide rod 42, and the electric wire guide groove 22 and the electric wire guide rod 42 are covered with the elongated plate portion 43 and the wide plate portion 44 of the electric wire cover 8. The elongated plate portion 43 has a vertical wall 24 for the rear wall at the front end.

  The housing cover 9 includes an inward flange portion 45 slidably engaged with the guide groove 39, left and right side walls 46 having the flange portion 45, an upper wall 47 and a rear wall 48. A small housing 49 for a safety circuit is integrally formed with the upper wall 47 on the outside, and a U-shaped short terminal 50 (FIG. 6) is provided in the small housing.

  The mating connector coupling portion 15 in front of the terminal accommodating portion 14 is integrally provided with a short cylindrical portion 51 and a horizontally long rectangular portion 52 in the upper half of the cylindrical portion 51. The mating connector 36 (FIG. 7) is connected to the cylindrical portion 51. The terminal 37 is inserted, the rectangular portion 15 has a pair of left and right nuts 53 on the upper surface and a holding rib 16 for the safety circuit terminal 4, and a mounting portion 17 that houses the interlock housing 13 is on the right side of the rectangular portion 52. Is formed. The terminal cover 6 for the safety circuit is formed in a horizontally long plate shape, and has one left and right bolt insertion hole 54 and a locking means 55 for the rectangular portion 52.

  5, the power supply terminal 3 and the terminal cover 5 are exposed in the upper opening of the terminal accommodating portion 14 at the retracted open position of the housing cover 9, and the terminal 37 of the mating connector 36 is bolted as shown in FIG. The terminal 3 is connected to the terminal 3 through the terminal cover 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the safety circuit terminal 4 contacts the lower surface of the terminal cover 6, and the terminal cover 6 is connected to the bracket 57 of the conductive metal cover 56 of the mating connector 36 by bolting as shown in FIG. 6.

  The housing cover 9 is slid forward and closed from the state of FIG. 6, so that the conductive cover 56, the terminal cover 6, the safety circuit terminal 4, and the pair of small terminals 12 of the safety circuit are connected to the small current via the U-shaped terminal 50. To the battery (not shown) with a large current from the power supply terminal 3 via the terminal 37 of the mating connector 36 and the wire harness (electric wire) 58 (FIG. 7). Charging becomes possible.

  According to the terminal holding structure of the charging connector of the above embodiment, components (power supply terminal 3 and terminal cover 5) can be easily assembled manually without using a jig or the like. By simplifying the terminal cover 5), it is possible to keep component manufacturing costs low. Further, the terminal 3 and the terminal cover 5 can be easily disassembled by using the ribs 25, 26, 29 and the locking lance 35 instead of the press-fitting, so that the recyclability can be improved.

  In the above embodiment, the hole 5b is provided in the terminal cover 5 as a locking portion for the protrusion 35a of the locking lance 35. However, instead of the hole 5b as the locking portion, a concave groove or a convex portion on the upper surface side is provided. (Not shown) can be provided, and the front end surface of the terminal cover 5 can be used as a locking surface (locking portion) without providing the hole 5b or the like. Further, instead of providing the locking lance 35 in one of the insertion guide portions 32, it is also possible to project from the bottom wall 21 of the terminal accommodating portion 14 of the housing 2 in an L shape. It is also possible to provide the locking lance 35 in both the insertion guide portions 32 and 33 instead of only one and provide the terminal cover 5 with a pair of locking holes (locking portions) 5b.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the terminal cover 5 was used, the terminal cover 5 and the insertion guide parts 32 and 33 are excluded, and the terminal 37 of the mating connector 36 may be directly connected to the terminal 3 by bolting. Is possible. In this case, the terminal 3 is preferably locked by, for example, a flexible locking claw or the like (not shown) provided on the upper edges of the pair of fixing ribs 29.

  The terminal holding structure of a charging connector according to the present invention is a charging connector for charging a battery with a dealer or the like using a wire harness for connecting an inverter when a battery of an electric vehicle including a hybrid car is raised, for example. This can be used to easily and reliably perform the assembly of the power feeding terminals.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Charging connector 2 Housing 3 Terminal 3a Electrical contact part 3a ₁ Front end part 3a ₂ Left and right end parts 3a ₃ Rear end part 3c, 5a Bolt insertion hole 5 Terminal cover 25, 26 Positioning rib 29 Fixing rib 31 Nut 32, 33 Guide Part 35 Locking lance

Claims (4)

  An insulating housing, a terminal with a power supply wire accommodated in the housing, and a nut contacting a lower surface of a horizontal plate-like electrical contact portion with a bolt insertion hole of the terminal, A charging connector terminal comprising: a positioning rib for contacting the front end portion of the electric contact portion and the left and right end portions; and a fixing rib for contacting the rear end portion of the electric contact portion. Retaining structure.   A terminal cover with a bolt insertion hole in contact with the upper surface of the electrical contact portion, wherein the housing is provided with left and right guide portions and elastic locking lances on the outer upper side than the left and right end portions; 2. A terminal holding member for a charging connector according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is held in contact with the fixing rib without moving backward while being locked by the locking lance without moving forward while being slidably engaged with the guide portion. Construction.   The charging connector terminal holding structure according to claim 2, wherein the locking lance is provided integrally with the guide portion.   The terminal holding structure for a charging connector according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the terminal cover is conductive.

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