JP2014116216A - Terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the workability when a shrinkable tube is shrunk.SOLUTION: A terminal fitting 10 includes: a support plate 21 which is a metal plate connected to a terminal part of an electric wire 90, which supports core wires 91 exposed by removal of a covering 92 at the terminal part of the electric wire 90 and which has projections 30; and a shrinkable tube 60 which is put on the support plate 21, which covers the core wires 91 as well as the projections 30, and which is shrunk in a state positioned in the support plate 21 by being hooked and engaged with the projections 30.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting.

  A conventional terminal fitting is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This includes a cylindrical portion into which a core wire exposed by removal of the coating is inserted at the end portion of the electric wire, and an upstanding projection that is cut and raised by a terminal tip portion protruding forward of the cylindrical portion to stop the tip of the core wire. And a shrinkable tube which is attached so as to cover the core wire between the cylindrical portion and the standing protrusion. When the shrinkable tube is heated and shrunk, the shrinkable tube is brought into close contact with both outer surfaces of the cylindrical portion and the core wire, and the periphery of the core wire is sealed in a liquid-tight manner.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-31130

  By the way, since the above-mentioned contraction tube only covers the cylinder part and the standing protrusion before the contraction, there is a possibility that the contraction tube may be displaced in the front-rear direction (electric wire extending direction) during the contraction operation. As a result, there is a concern that workability at the time of contraction is deteriorated.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at improving the workability | operativity at the time of shrinking | contracting a shrinkable tube.

  The present invention provides a metal plate terminal fitting connected to an electric wire, which supports a core wire exposed by removing a coating at a terminal portion of the electric wire, and has a protrusion, and covers the support plate. And a contraction tube that covers the core wire and also covers the projection, and is contracted in a state of being hooked and locked to the projection and positioned on the support plate.

  By contracting the shrink tube while covering the core wire, the periphery of the core wire is protected in a liquid-tight manner. In this case, since the contraction tube is hooked and locked by the protrusion before the contraction and is positioned on the support plate, the contraction tube is prevented from being displaced during the contraction operation. As a result, workability when contracting the contraction tube is improved.

In the terminal metal fitting which concerns on Example 1 of this invention, it is a top view showing the state before connecting with the terminal part of an electric wire and covering a shrinkable tube. It is a partial sectional view showing the state where the contraction tube covered and hooked and locked to the projection. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the contraction tube is contracted from FIG. 2. It is a perspective view showing the state before connecting with the terminal part of an electric wire and covering a contraction tube.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The plate surface supporting the core wire in the support plate is provided with a non-plating region where the core wire is welded and a plating region where the core wire is not welded, and the shrinkable tube extends from the non-plating region to the plating region. It is provided in the range to reach. If it carries out like this, while a core wire will be stably welded to the non-plating area | region of a support plate, the waterproofness of the whole terminal metal fitting can be ensured by a shrinkable tube reaching a plating area | region.

  The protrusions are provided in pairs at the same position with respect to the extending direction of the electric wire at both ends in the plate width direction of the support plate. As a result, the contraction tube is pulled in a balanced manner in the plate width direction at the position where it is hooked with the protrusion, and is reliably prevented from coming off the support plate.

  The projection is formed with a guide edge that is inclined in the mounting direction of the contraction tube and in which the inner surface of the contraction tube can slide in the mounting process to the support plate. If it carries out like this, a contraction tube will be smoothly hooked and latched by a processus | protrusion, and the installation operation | work of a contraction tube can be advanced smoothly.

  The core wire is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. When the core wire is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, although the core wire is easily corroded, the progress of the corrosion can be prevented by covering the core wire with the shrinkable tube.

<Example 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The terminal fitting 10 according to the present embodiment includes a terminal main body 20 made of a conductive metal plate material, and a resin shrinkable tube 60 that covers the terminal main body 20. The terminal body 20 is connected to the terminal portion (front end portion) of the electric wire 90. In the following description, with respect to the front-rear direction, the left side of each figure is the front.

  The electric wire 90 is a thick power line thicker than a normal size, and is composed of an aluminum or aluminum alloy core wire 91 and an insulating resin coating 92 covering the periphery of the core wire 91. Prior to connection to the terminal fitting 10, the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is in a state where the coating 92 is removed and the core 91 is exposed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal body 20 includes a belt-like support plate 21 extending in the front-rear direction. The upper surface of the support plate 21 is a plate surface that can support the core wire 91 and is substantially flat except for the rear end portion.

  A circular through hole 22 is formed in the front end portion of the support plate 21, and the front end edge of the support plate 21 is edged in an arc shape substantially concentric with the through hole 22. Further, a protruding piece 23 is formed to protrude from one side edge of the front end portion of the support plate 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the projecting piece 23 protrudes from one side edge of the support plate 21 to the side substantially on the same plane and is then bent downward, and has a substantially L shape as a whole.

  Here, the terminal fitting 10 is fastened and fixed by a nut (not shown) that is screwed to the stud bolt in a state where the through hole 22 is fitted to a stud bolt standing on a base to be attached (not shown). At this time, the projecting piece 23 is latched to one side edge of the base so that the terminal fitting 10 is prevented from being rotated by the nut.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a covering support portion 24 that supports the covering 92 at the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is formed at the rear end portion of the support plate 21. The covering support portion 24 has a covering support surface 25 that is deformed along with the pressure-bonding operation of the barrel portion 28 described later, and is curved along the outer peripheral surface of the covering 92. Further, a core wire support portion 26 that supports the core wire 91 exposed by removing the coating 92 at the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is formed in front of the coating support portion 24 in the support plate 21. The core wire support portion 26 has a flat core wire support surface 27 continuous from the front end side of the support plate 21. The core wire support surface 27 is arranged one step higher than the covering support surface 25 and is located closer to the center of the electric wire 90 than the covering support surface 25.

  A pair of barrel portions 28 are raised and formed on both side edges of the covering support surface 25 of the support plate 21. Both barrel portions 28 are crimped and connected to the covering 92 of the electric wire 90, and are arranged with their tips facing each other during crimping.

  Of the upper surface of the support plate 21, the side on which the core support surface 27 and the covering support surface 25 are arranged is a non-plated region that is not plated, and the front of the non-plated region is plated. It is the plating area. In this case, the welding stability between the core wire 91 and the support plate 21 is ensured by the non-plating region, and the stability and rust prevention of the contact resistance on the connection side with the mounting object are secured by the plating region. .

  In addition, a pair of protrusions 30 are formed on both side edges of the plating region of the support plate 21 so as to protrude laterally. Both protrusions 30 have the same shape, have substantially the same thickness as the main body portion of the support plate 21, and are continuous with the main body portion of the support plate 21 without a step. As shown in FIG. 1, both protrusions 30 are arranged at the same position in the front and rear direction on both side edges of the support plate 21. Specifically, the protrusion 30 has a triangular shape in plan view, and has a tapered guide edge 31 that gradually expands forward toward the outer edge, and a width from the front end of the guide edge 31 toward the inside in the width direction. It has a reverse-tapered locking edge 32 that retreats.

  The shrinkable tube 60 is made of a known resin material having heat shrinkability, and has a circular tubular shape with both front and rear ends opened before shrinkage. A sealant (adhesive) is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the shrinkable tube 60 over substantially the entire surface. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the contraction tube 60 is formed from both the protrusions 30 from the covering portion 95 of the electric wire 90 located behind the both barrel portions 28 in a state where the terminal body 20 is connected to the terminal portion of the electric wire 90. It is mounted so as to cover the length range over the middle part 35 of the support plate 21 located in front. In this case, the middle part 35 of the support plate 21 is located in the plating region. For this reason, the shrinkable tube 60 covers the entire non-plating region of the support plate 21 in a state where the contraction tube 60 is properly covered with the terminal body 20, and the front end thereof reaches the plating region of the support plate 21.

Next, the operation of the terminal fitting 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is peeled off, and the core wire 91 is projected forward from the front end of the covering 92. In this state, the core wire 91 is placed on the core wire support surface 27 of the support plate 21, and the covering 92 at the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is placed on the covering support surface 25. At this time, the electric wire 90 is positioned in the front-rear direction by the front end of the covering 92 being abutted against a step portion formed between the core support surface 27 and the covering support surface 25.

  Subsequently, the front end portion of the core wire 91 is connected to the core wire support surface 27 of the support plate 21 by ultrasonic welding. Specifically, the front end portion of the core wire 91 is pressed against the core wire support surface 27 of the support plate 21 by a horn or the like (not shown) to apply ultrasonic vibration. In this case, since the core wire support surface 27 is raised and positioned closer to the center of the electric wire 90, the core wire 91 is not excessively pulled downward, and the situation where the core wire 91 is cut is avoided. Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, both barrel portions 28 are crimped and crimped to the covering 92 of the electric wire 90, and the terminal portion of the electric wire 90 is connected and held to the terminal fitting 10.

  Next, the contraction tube 60 previously passed through the electric wire 90 is slid forward, and the terminal body 20 is covered with the contraction tube 60. In the process of mounting the contraction tube 60, the inner surface of the contraction tube 60 slides on the guide edge portions 31 of both protrusions 30, whereby the contraction tube 60 is gradually widened along the guide edge portions 31, and elastically outward in the width direction. Is pulled. As shown in FIG. 2, when the contraction tube 60 reaches the proper mounting position, the front end of the contraction tube 60 rides over the front ends of both protrusions 30 and elastically wraps around the front of both protrusions 30. As a result, the contraction tube 60 is hooked and locked to the locking edge portion 32 of both protrusions 30 and is positioned in the front-rear direction. Therefore, even if some external force acts on the contraction tube 60 in this state, the contraction tube 60 is not easily displaced with respect to the support plate 21.

  Thereafter, the contraction tube 60 is entirely heated by heating means such as an electric heater. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the contraction tube 60 contracts and is brought into close contact with the range from the covering portion 95 of the electric wire 90 to the middle portion 35 of the support plate 21. In other words, the shrinkable tube 60 is in close contact with the outer surfaces of the covering 92, both barrel portions 28, the covering support portion 24, the core wire support portion 26, both protrusions 30, and the core wire 91 so as to conform to the respective shapes. The terminal part of the is protected liquid-tight.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the contraction tube 60 is contracted in a state of covering the core wire 91, whereby the periphery of the core wire 91 is protected in a liquid-tight manner. In this case, since the contraction tube 60 is hooked and locked to the protrusion 30 and positioned on the support plate 21 before contraction, the contraction tube 60 is prevented from being displaced during the contraction operation. As a result, workability when contracting the contraction tube 60 is improved.

  Moreover, since the shrinkable tube 60 covers the range from the non-plating region to the plating region, the waterproofness of the entire terminal fitting 10 can be ensured.

  Further, since the contraction tube 60 is widened and pulled along the guide edge portions 31 of both protrusions 30 and is hooked and locked on both protrusions 30 in this state, the mounting operation of the contraction tube 60 to the support plate 21 is smoothly performed. While being able to perform, it can prevent reliably that the shrinkable tube 60 remove | deviates from the support plate 21. FIG.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following aspects are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) When connecting each core wire to the support plate, it is possible to use other welding means such as resistance welding or laser welding instead of ultrasonic welding.
(2) In some cases, the core wire may be crimped and connected to the terminal body by the barrel portion without using the welding means.
(3) The front edge of the protrusion may be in the form along the width direction, or may be inclined forward toward the main body portion of the support plate.
(4) The protruding end of the protrusion may be rounded instead of pointed.
(5) The terminal fitting may be a connection terminal that can be connected to an external connection location, and is not limited to the round terminal as in the above embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal metal fitting 20 ... Terminal main body 21 ... Support plate 30 ... Protrusion 31 ... Guide edge part 32 ... Locking edge part 60 ... Shrinkable tube 90 ... Electric wire 91 ... Core wire 92 ... Covering

Claims (5)

A metal plate terminal fitting connected to the electric wire,
Supporting the core wire exposed by removing the coating at the end of the electric wire, and a support plate having a protrusion;
A shrinkable tube that covers the core wire and covers the core wire and covers the protrusion, and is contracted by being hooked and locked to the protrusion and being positioned on the support plate. Terminal fitting.   The plate surface supporting the core wire in the support plate is provided with a non-plating region where the core wire is welded and a plating region where the core wire is not welded, and the shrinkable tube extends from the non-plating region to the plating region. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the terminal fitting is provided in a range extending up to.   3. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions are provided in pairs at both ends in the plate width direction of the support plate and at the same position in the extending direction of the electric wire.   2. The guide projection according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed with a guide edge that is inclined in a mounting direction of the contraction tube and is slidable in the process of mounting the contraction tube on the support plate. 4. The terminal fitting according to any one of 3 above.   The terminal fitting according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the core wire is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

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