JP2011210471A - Joint terminal and method for connecting electric wire - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply perform connection work in short time when terminals of a second electric wire are connected to a portion other than the terminals of a first electric wire.SOLUTION: A joint terminal 1 includes: a body terminal 2 in which a cylindrical female terminal part 5 is provided so as to be continuous with a crimping terminal part 4 enabling crimping of the first electric wire; and cylindrical male terminals 3, 3 which can be connected to the terminals of the second electric wire, and which are inserted into and connected to the female terminal part 5. The portion other than the terminals of the first electric wire is crimped to the crimping terminal part 4, while the male terminals 3 are connected to the terminals of the second electric wire, and inserted into and connected to the female terminal part 5, thereby connecting the electric wires to each other.

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint terminal used for electrically connecting electric wires and a method for connecting electric wires using the joint terminal. Hereinafter, “connection” in this specification means “electrical connection”.

For example, in the manufacturing process of a wire harness for automobiles, an operation of connecting electric wires is performed to form a predetermined circuit. In this case, when connecting the ends of the electric wires, the inner conductors of both ends from which the insulating coating has been removed are often joined together by twisting and the like, and the joined portion is often wound with tape. In addition, when connecting a plurality of wires to a single wire, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a multi-pole in which a plurality of cylindrical terminal connection portions are formed at the end of one wire. The connection terminals are connected, and the male terminals attached to the terminals of the plurality of electric wires are inserted and fitted to each other, thereby enabling mutual connection.
On the other hand, the joint terminal is also used when the terminal of the second electric wire is connected to the intermediate portion of the first electric wire instead of such terminals. For example, an operation such as removing the insulation coating at the intermediate portion of the first electric wire and crimping the exposed inner conductor and the inner conductor of the end of the second electric wire with a joint terminal is often performed.

JP-A-6-84560 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-355941

However, when this joint terminal is used, since it is necessary to remove the insulation coating at the intermediate portion of the first electric wire, it takes time and effort to connect.
By the way, in the wire harness manufacturing process, as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a base circuit portion (common sub-harness) shared by all vehicle types and an add-on circuit portion (option sub-harness) that differs depending on the vehicle type are disclosed. Are assembled on a separate assembly workbench in the preceding process, and then the base circuit part and the add-on circuit part are stacked and bundled in the subsequent process to manufacture a wire harness.
In this case as well, when assembling the optional sub-harness, the end of another wire may be connected to a part other than the end of the wire, but if the connection work is done using the previous joint terminal in this previous process, The sub-harness becomes too large, making it difficult to transport and superimpose to the subsequent process. However, if the connection work is performed in the subsequent process, the work in the subsequent process increases, the load increases, and the work time also becomes longer.

  Therefore, the present invention can easily perform the connection work in a short time when connecting the terminal of the second electric wire to a part other than the terminal of the first electric wire. It aims at providing the connection method of the joint terminal and electric wire which can be suitably employ | adopted in the post process which concerns on manufacture.

To achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a joint terminal for electrically connecting a portion other than the terminal of the first electric wire and the terminal of the second electric wire, A cylindrical male terminal that can be connected to a terminal of a second electric wire, and a main body terminal formed by connecting a cylindrical female terminal to a press-contact terminal capable of press-contacting one electric wire; And a terminal.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the press contact terminal portion is formed by providing a press contact blade in an accommodation groove in which the first electric wire can be accommodated from above. is there.
The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration of claim 1 or 2, a slit is formed in the front end of the male terminal in the insertion direction into the female terminal portion toward the rear end. .
In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 4 is an electric wire connection method, wherein a portion other than the terminal of the first electric wire is connected to the joint terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The female terminal of the joint terminal is connected to the terminal of the second electric wire, and the female terminal is inserted into and joined to the female terminal of the joint terminal.

According to invention of Claim 1 and 4, the connection of electric wires is attained by the press-contact of the 1st electric wire to a press-contact terminal part, and the insertion coupling of the 2nd electric wire to a female terminal part. Therefore, the operation | work which removes the insulation coating of the intermediate part of a 1st electric wire becomes unnecessary, and the connection of a 1st, 2nd electric wire can be performed easily in a short time.
Therefore, also in the manufacturing process of the wire harness, when the common sub-harness and the optional sub-harness are separately assembled in the previous process and the optional sub-harness is overlapped and bundled on the common sub-harness in the subsequent process, Even if it is necessary to connect the terminal of another electric wire to the intermediate part, connection work can be performed without a large burden.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the press contact holding of the first electric wire can be easily performed.
According to invention of Claim 3, in addition to the effect of Claim 1 or 2, the insertion coupling to the female terminal part of a 2nd electric wire can be performed smoothly, and workability | operativity becomes favorable. Moreover, it is firmly integrated even after plugging.

It is a perspective view of a joint terminal. (A) (B) is explanatory drawing of the connection method of an electric wire. (A) (B) is explanatory drawing of the example of a change of a joint terminal.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a joint terminal. The joint terminal 1 includes a main body terminal 2 and a pair of male terminals 3 and 3.
First, the main body terminal 2 is formed by bending a conductive plate and juxtaposing the press contact terminal portion 4 and the press contact terminal portion 4 with a rectangular cylindrical female terminal portion 5 adjacent thereto. The left and right of the bottom plate 6 in the width direction are provided with a pair of side plates 7 and 7 in parallel to form an accommodation groove 8. A pair of press contact blades 9, 9 project in the vertical direction on the inner surfaces of the housing groove 8 facing each other at two locations in the housing groove 8 in the longitudinal direction.

  On the other hand, the male terminal 3 is a quadrangular tubular shape that is formed by bending a conductive plate and can be inserted into and coupled to the female terminal portion 5 of the main body terminal 2 and is substantially half the length of the female terminal portion 5. The upper surface is notched, and two crimping pieces 10 are formed on the left and right side plates, respectively. Further, at the other end of the male terminal 3, slits 11, 11,... Are formed in the longitudinal direction from the center of each side of the rectangular opening. However, the slit 11 on the upper surface of the male terminal 3 is formed over the entire length in the longitudinal direction.

Next, a method for connecting the terminals of the two second electric wires to a portion other than the terminal of the first electric wire using the joint terminal 1 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the connection portion of the first electric wire 20 is pushed into the accommodation groove 8 from above the press contact terminal portion 4 of the main body terminal 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the press contact blades 9, 9 break the insulation coating of the first electric wire 20 and come into contact with the inner conductor, and the first electric wire 20 is received in the receiving groove and the main body terminal. 2 and integrated.
On the other hand, in each of the second electric wires 21, the insulation coating of the terminal is removed to expose the inner conductor 22, and the inner conductor 22 is set in the end portion of the male terminal 3 on the crimping piece 10 side. Caulking with a crimping device. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, the male terminal 3 is connected to the terminal of each second electric wire 21.

Then, the male terminal 3 of each second electric wire 21 is inserted and coupled from both ends of the female terminal portion 5 of the main body terminal 2. At the time of this insertion, since the tip of the male terminal 3 is reduced by the slit 11 at the tip of the male terminal 3, resistance when the male terminal 3 is inserted is reduced.
When the male terminals 3 and 3 are thus inserted, the male terminals 3 are maintained in contact with each other in the female terminal portion 5 as shown in FIG.
Therefore, the first electric wire 20 and the second electric wires 21 and 21 are connected via the joint terminal 1.

Thus, according to the connection method of the joint terminal 1 and electric wire of the said form, mutual connection is attained by the press-contact of the 1st electric wire 20, and the insertion of the 2nd electric wires 21 and 21. FIG. Therefore, the operation | work which removes the insulation coating of the intermediate part of the 1st electric wire 20 becomes unnecessary, and the connection of the 1st, 2nd electric wires 20 and 21 can be performed easily in a short time.
Therefore, in the wire harness manufacturing process, when the common sub-harness and the optional sub-harness are separately assembled in the pre-process, and the optional sub-harness is stacked and bundled on the common sub-harness in the post-process, Even if it is necessary to connect the terminal of another electric wire to the part, connection work can be performed without a large burden.

In particular, here, the press contact terminal portion 4 is formed by providing the press contact blades 9 and 9 in the accommodation groove 8 in which the first electric wire 20 can be accommodated from above, so that the press contact holding of the first electric wire 20 is easy. Can be done.
Further, since the slit 11 is formed at the front end of the male terminal 3 in the insertion direction with respect to the female terminal portion 5 toward the rear end side, the insertion connection of the second electric wire 21 to the female terminal portion 5 is smoothly performed. This is possible and the workability is improved. Further, the male terminal 3 is firmly fixed to the female terminal portion 5 even after the insertion coupling.

In addition, in the said form, although the two 2nd electric wires are inserted and connected, only any one may be sufficient. Further, the press contact terminal portion and the female terminal portion in the main body terminal may be reversed left and right, and the shape of the housing groove, the number of press contact blades, and the like may be appropriately changed.
Furthermore, the female terminal portion is not limited to a square tube shape, but may be a round tube shape. In this case, the male terminal also has a round tube shape corresponding to this. In addition, it is not necessary to have a cylindrical shape over the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire, and only the end portion into which the male terminal is inserted and coupled may be cylindrical.
On the other hand, the male terminal may also change the position and form of the slit and the crimping piece, or omit the slit.

  In the above embodiment, one press contact terminal portion and one female terminal portion are provided on the main body terminal. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the press contact terminal portions 4 and 4 are connected in the two-row width direction. If the provided main body terminal 2a is used, two first electric wires 20 can be connected. Of course, three or more rows of the press contact terminal portions 4 can be provided.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the main body terminal 2b in which the female terminal portions 5 and 5 are connected in the two-row width direction is used, up to four second electric wires 21 can be connected. . Of course, the female terminal portions 5 can be continuously provided in three or more rows, and can be provided not only in the width direction but also in the vertical direction. Further, the present invention is not limited to a straight cylindrical shape. For example, three second electric wires are inserted and coupled as a T-shaped cylinder, or a plurality of second electric wires are radially arranged by arranging the cylindrical portion in a fan shape. It is also possible to change the design, such as plugging in and connecting.

  1 .. Joint terminal, 2, 2 a, 2 b... Body terminal 3 .. male terminal 4 .. press contact terminal part 5 .. female terminal part 8 .. receiving groove 9. -Crimp piece, 11 ... slit, 20 ... first electric wire, 21 ... second electric wire, 22 ... internal conductor.

Claims (4)

A joint terminal for electrically connecting a portion other than the terminal of the first electric wire and the terminal of the second electric wire,
A main body terminal in which a cylindrical female terminal portion is connected to a press-contact terminal portion capable of press-contacting the first electric wire;
A joint terminal comprising: a cylindrical male terminal that is connectable to the terminal of the second electric wire and is inserted and coupled to the female terminal portion.   The joint terminal according to claim 1, wherein the press contact terminal portion is formed by providing a press contact blade in an accommodation groove in which the first electric wire can be accommodated from above.   The joint terminal according to claim 1, wherein a slit is formed at a front end of the male terminal in the insertion direction to the female terminal portion toward a rear end side.   A portion other than the end of the first electric wire is pressed against the press contact terminal portion of the joint terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, while the female terminal of the joint terminal is connected to the end of the second electric wire. And connecting the female terminal to the female terminal portion of the joint terminal and coupling the female terminal.

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