JP2589748Y2 - Joint connector - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interconnection structure of terminals in a joint connector for forming a branch connection in electric wiring.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there are cases in which a large number of branch lines are provided when performing electrical wiring. After removing the insulating coating of both wires to be branched and connected, the connection between the wires is collectively performed using a crimp terminal fitting or the like. And crimp connection. However, since such a branch connection has poor workability, a joint connector that performs branch connection of a large number of electric wires in a lump has been proposed. In a perspective view of a conventional joint connector shown in FIG. 8, the terminal a is respectively inserted into the insertion hole b ₁ of the housing b of the connector, while the joint terminal c having a plurality of contact pieces c ₁ Terminal the insertion direction of a is attached to the housing b from the opposite direction, it is held by the lid b _2. Therefore, inserting a terminal a to the insertion hole b ₁ of the housing b, respectively to conduct the inter-terminal terminal a is to sandwich the contact piece c _1. However, in such a connector, since the housing b and the joint terminal c are assembled and the terminal a is further inserted, there is a problem that the number of parts increases and the number of assembling steps also increases.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a method of maintaining conduction by direct contact between terminals has been proposed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-120287. In the perspective view of the conventional interconnection terminal E which maintains conduction by direct contact shown in FIG. 9, the wire fixing portion 12 formed at the rear end of the substrate 11 has an insulator caulking portion with respect to the covering portion of the conductive wire. 12a and conductor caulking portion 12b for the core wire
And consists of Further, both sides of the substrate 11 form side walls 13 facing each other substantially in parallel, and locking arms 16 provided on the side walls 13 are for engaging the terminals in the housing. Furthermore, the tip of the substrate 11 is folded twice to form a contact piece 14,
The sides are protected by the side walls 13. FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of the terminal E shown in FIG.
Are formed so as to protrude from between the side walls 13 and maintain spring elasticity as a whole. Further, the electrical contact portion 15 on the back side of the substrate 11 is formed so as to bulge out.

FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view of a conventional joint connector into which a terminal E is inserted. The housing F is provided with a plurality of spaces 17 into which the terminals E are inserted so as to communicate with each other, and a locking step 18 which can be engaged with the locking arm 16 is formed in a side wall portion. The guide 19 for regulating the insertion position of the terminal E is
This is to prevent a positional shift in the housing F even when the number of the inserted terminals E is small. Therefore, by inserting the terminal E into the housing F, the locking arm 16 is engaged with and fixed to the locking step 18, and the abdomen 14 b of the elastic contact piece 14 protruding.
Contacts the electrical contacts 15 on the rear side of the adjacent terminals E, and the continuity between the terminals is completed. Similarly, the necessary number of terminals E are sequentially inserted and fixed in the housing F, thereby forming the required number of branches, so that the number of parts is small and economical. However, in the terminal E of the conventional joint connector, since the abdomen 14b of the elastic contact piece 14 protrudes as described above, deformation, breakage,
Alternatively, there is a risk of adhesion of foreign matters, and it is difficult to ensure quality. Also, there is only one point of contact between terminals,
In addition, the electrical performance is limited due to the point contact. Furthermore, since the locking means for locking the terminal to the housing is a terminal lance formed by the locking arm 16 provided on the side wall of the terminal, the reliability of preventing the terminal from coming off is low. Therefore, the method using the above-mentioned joint terminal is generally used.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional branch connection between terminals using a joint terminal,
As the number of parts increases, the number of assembly steps also increases. Also, in branch connection by direct contact of multiple terminals,
Since the abdomen of the resilient contact piece protrudes, the resilient contact piece may be deformed or damaged, leaving a problem in quality maintenance and improvement in reliability.

An object of the present invention is to improve reliability and quality by protecting elastic contact pieces in a branch connection by direct contact of terminals to prevent deformation and breakage, and improving contact and locking mechanisms between terminals. An object of the present invention is to provide a joint connector that ensures the improvement of the connector.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a terminal in which a wire fixing portion is provided at a rear end of a substrate and an electric connecting portion is provided at a front end, and a plurality of the terminals are connected to each other. And a housing to be inserted, wherein the electrical connection portion of the terminal is formed substantially perpendicularly from both side ends of the substrate, and a side wall of another terminal of the same shape adjacently formed at the upper end of the side wall. And a resilient contact piece formed at an intermediate position of the electrical connection portion, wherein the resilient contact piece is provided at a position where the resilient contact piece does not protrude upward from an upper end of the protruding engagement piece. And a width between the inner ends of the projecting engagement pieces is smaller than a width between the side walls.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the elastic contact piece of the terminal is provided at a position where it does not protrude upward from the upper end of the projecting engagement piece.
The elastic contact piece is protected by the overhanging engagement piece. Moreover,
When inserted according to the guide member at a position adjacent to another terminal of the same shape already inserted in the housing,
The elastic contact piece of this terminal comes into contact with the substrate of another terminal, and the inner end of the projecting engagement piece sandwiches both side walls of the another terminal, so that conductive connection is made at three places. In addition, since the rear end of one of the projecting engagement pieces of the terminal is securely locked by the elastic locking pieces provided in the housing, a high quality and highly reliable joint connector can be realized.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal A showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the terminal A, a wire fixing portion 2 for fixing a connection wire is formed at a rear end of the substrate 1, a front end is locked in a housing, and another terminal of the same shape is engaged and connected. Are formed. The wire fixing portion 2 includes an edge caulking portion 2a for fixing an insulating coating portion of a connection wire and a conductor caulking portion 2b for fixing a conductive wire portion. The electrical connection portion 3 has side walls 3a formed substantially vertically on both sides of the front end of the substrate 1 and a substantially U-shaped bent over the side walls 3a so as to protrude outside the side walls. The engagement member 3b is formed, and the substrate 1
The elastic contact piece 4 formed by folding back the front end portion is provided between the side walls 3a, 3a. The inner end 3c of the protruding engagement piece 3b is formed in an arc shape so that it can be smoothly inserted into a substrate of another terminal already inserted in the adjacent housing.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the terminal A shown in FIG.
It is sectional drawing. The elastic contact piece 4 includes a folded portion 4 a bent from the front end portion of the substrate 1 toward the rear end thereof,
The bending portion 4b is bent substantially horizontally so as not to protrude above the inner end face 3c of the b, and the bent portion 4c is further bent downward from the rear end portion of the projecting engagement piece 3b. When the substrate of another terminal comes into contact with the abdominal portion 4b of the elastic contact piece 4, the contact portion between the terminals is reliably brought into surface contact by the elastic action of both terminals, and both terminals are reliably conducted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the terminal A as viewed from the front end. A pair of side walls 3a are formed substantially perpendicularly to both side ends of the substrate 1, and the upper end portions of the side walls 3a are bent in a substantially U-shape so as to protrude outward to form projecting engagement pieces 3b. . The width x between the inner ends 3c of the projecting engagement pieces 3b
₁ is set smaller than the width x ₂ between the side walls 3a, when the another terminal already adjacent upper housing is inserted, when inserted along the terminal A to the guide member 9, a substrate of another terminal It contacts the abdomen 4b of the elastic contact piece 4. At this time, since the abdomen 4b is below the inner end 3c of the overhanging engagement piece 3b, the lower portions of both side walls of another terminal are sandwiched between the inner ends 3c of the terminal A, and the elastic action of the terminal A causes the outer part to be outside. Is securely locked.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the joint connector showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the housing B, an opposite guide member 9 for inserting the terminal A, in which the connection electric wire W is fixed to the electric wire fixing portion 2, into a predetermined position, and an elastic locking for engaging the terminal in the housing. A piece 8 is provided. Terminal A ₁ on housing B with side wall 3
When slide into inserted between a pair of guide members 9a was substantially equal opposed to the width x ₂ of a, between one of the guide member 9a and the housing inner wall corresponding to the U-shaped ChoIzurugakarigohen 3b ₁ one of the projecting engagement piece 3b ₁ is inserted into the concave groove 10a formed in the rear end portion of the other of the projecting engagement piece 3b ₁ is engaged with the elastic locking piece 8a. Next, when the slide into inserted between the pair of guide members 9b Terminal A ₂ by the same procedure, one of the projecting engagement piece 3b ₂ is fitted to the recessed groove 10b, the other of the projecting engagement piece 3b The rear end ₂ is locked by the elastic locking piece 8b. At this time, the abdomen 4 of the elastic contact piece 4 of the terminal A ₂
b ₂ together with contact with the substrate 1 of the terminal A _1, moreover inner end 3c ₂ of both sides of the projecting engagement piece 3b ₂ to sandwich the side walls 3a ₁ of the terminal A _1. Therefore, the terminals A ₁ and A ₂ are brought into contact with each other at three places, and a high quality and highly reliable joint connector can be realized.

FIG. 5 is a YY sectional view of the joint connector shown in FIG. Upon insertion of the terminal A ₂ already housing adjacent to the substrate side of the terminal A ₁ that is inserted into the housing B, abdominal 4b ₂ of the resilient contact piece of the terminal A ₂ is in surface contact with the substrate 1 of the terminal A ₁ ,
In addition, elastic force acts on each other due to both elastic actions,
The contact force is further increased to achieve a reliable conductive connection.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line ZZ of the joint connector shown in FIG. With the front end of the terminal A fitted to the bottom inside the housing B, the rear end of the projecting engagement piece 3b is provided on the inner wall of the housing B at an adjacent position adjacent to the guide member. 8 locked. This is because the elastic action of the elastic locking piece 8 causes an elastic force to act in the central axis direction of the terminal, so that the elastic locking piece 8 is more securely locked in the housing than the terminal lance provided on the terminal side wall, which is the conventional locking method. There is no need to worry about falling off or shaking.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In order to protect the elastic contact piece 4 at the front end of the terminal A, the terminal D is provided with a flawproof wall 6 covering the folded portion 4a of the elastic contact piece, and the terminal D is electrically connected from the projecting engagement piece 3b to the side wall 3a. The reinforcing bead 7 for increasing the strength of the connecting portion 3 is partially provided. Thereby, it is possible to set the clamping pressure of the inner end 3c higher, and it is possible to further improve the conduction performance.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the cross-sectional shape of the projecting engagement piece 3b may be formed in an arc shape, for example, if the receiving structure on the housing side is adapted. It is possible. Further, the shape of the elastic contact piece is not limited to the shape of the embodiment. Further, the overall structure does not need to be an integrally formed structure. The wire connecting portion including the projecting engagement piece is integrally formed with the wire fixing portion and the elastic contact piece integrally formed, so that the predetermined position is obtained. It is also possible to join with.

[0018]

As described in detail above, in the joint connector of the present invention, the deformation and breakage of the terminals are prevented, and the number of contact points between adjacent terminals is increased to improve the engagement in the housing. The continuity is improved, and the cost reduction and the versatility are improved by reducing the number of parts, so that the improvement in electrical performance, reliability and quality can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal A showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of terminal A shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the terminal A as viewed from a front end direction.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the joint connector of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the joint connector shown in FIG. 4, taken along line YY.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the joint connector shown in FIG. 4 taken along the line ZZ.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a terminal D showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional joint connector.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional interconnection terminal.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of the terminal shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a conventional joint connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

A, D Terminal B Housing 1 Substrate 2 Wire fixing part 3 Electrical connection part 3a Side wall 3b Overhanging engagement piece 3c Inner end part 4 Elastic contact piece 4b Abdominal part of elastic contact piece 6 Scratchproof wall 7 Reinforced bead 8 Elastic locking piece 9 Guide member 10 Concave groove x ₁ Width between inner ends x ₂ Width between side walls W Connection wire

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A joint connector comprising: a terminal provided with an electric wire fixing portion at a rear end portion of a substrate and an electric connection portion at a front end portion; and a housing in which a plurality of the terminals are interconnected and fitted. A side wall in which the electrical connection portion of the terminal is formed substantially perpendicularly from both side ends of the substrate, and an overhanging engagement piece formed at the upper end of the side wall for sandwiching the side wall of another adjacent terminal having the same shape , An elastic contact piece formed at an intermediate position of the electrical connection portion, wherein the elastic contact piece is provided at a position not protruding above an upper end of the overhanging engagement piece, and an inner end of the overhang engagement piece. A joint connector, wherein a width between the portions is smaller than a width between the side walls.