JP3389179B2 - Protective member for wire terminals - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protective member for a wire terminal connected to a battery terminal of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The main purpose of this type of protective member is to firmly attach it to the outer periphery of the wire near the terminal and to electrically insulate and protect the battery terminal and the wire terminal connected thereto. Is. At the same time, it is necessary that the protective member be attached to the electric wire while exposing the terminal portion of the electric wire so that the battery can be replaced or inspected. For these reasons, the conventional protective member is formed of a flexible rubber material.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional protection member. This protective member is for an electric wire terminal connected to a battery terminal for an electric vehicle, and a cup-shaped protective portion 60 having an opening 62 and a cylindrical mounting portion 64 are integrally molded by a soft rubber material. There is. Further, a slit 66 is formed in a connecting portion between the protective portion 60 and the mounting portion 64 in a range from the opening 62 to a predetermined position of the mounting portion 64. Then, in order to attach the protective member of FIG. 7 near the terminal of the electric wire, the terminal of the electric wire is inserted from the end portion side of the attachment portion 64 toward the protective portion 60. And this mounting portion 64
The electric wire is inserted until the terminal is positioned inside the protection portion 60 while pushing the wire by its elasticity and the presence of the slit 66. Next, the mounting portion 64 and the electric wire are fixed by tape winding so as not to move, and then the terminal is connected to the terminal of the battery and the protective portion 60 is put thereon.

[0004]

However, when attaching the protective member to the electric wire, it is difficult to insert the electric wire while forcibly expanding the mounting portion 64, and the subsequent tape winding is also a troublesome work. is there. The present invention is intended to solve this problem, and an object thereof is to make it possible to firmly attach a mounting portion of a protective member to an electric wire by a simple work, and to make the protective member as a single component like the conventional ones. It is possible to handle it, or to flip the protective part covering the terminal of the electric wire if necessary.

[0005]

The present invention is to achieve the above object, and the invention according to claim 1 protects the terminal of the electric wire connected to the battery terminal.
An electric wire terminal protective member comprising a protective portion to be covered on an electric wire terminal and a mounting portion to be mounted on an outer periphery near the electric wire terminal, wherein the protective portion is made of a soft material and the mounting portion is integrally formed of a hard material. Has been done. The protection part is a wire terminal
It has a cup shape that can be put on
In addition, a semi-cylindrical connecting portion is provided. The mounting portion is
The main body with an open surface that is large enough to receive the electric wire, and the main body that is integrally connected to the main body so that the open surface can be closed, and the open surface is closed. And a lid that can be held in a restrained state. Books on the connection part and the attachment part in the protection part
It is integrated with the end of the body overlapping each other .

As described above, by integrally molding the mounting portion forming the protective member with the hard material and the protective portion with the soft material, the protective member can be handled as a single component.
In both cases, the body is
The protection members can be attached to the electric wires in a constrained state by simply closing the open surface of the with a lid. The protective part made of soft material is integrated with the main body of the mounting part.
Since it is provided with a semi-cylindrical connection part,
With the protective member attached to the wire, expose the wire terminal.
If it becomes necessary to bend it, bend near the boundary with the connection.
As a fulcrum, the protective part can be easily flipped over and re-covered.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electric wire terminal protecting member according to the first aspect, wherein the main body of the mounting portion and the lid body are connected by a hinge. A lock mechanism is provided at the end of the lid, which is a free end with respect to the hinge, and at the corresponding portion of the main body so that the lid can be held in that state by closing the open surface. There is. Therefore, if the open surface is closed with the lid, the state is maintained by the action of the lock mechanism, and the attachment portion can be attached to the electric wire with one touch.

A third aspect of the present invention is the electric wire terminal protection member according to the first aspect, wherein a rib that engages with a groove of the corrugated tube that covers the outer circumference of the electric wire is provided inside the mounting portion. Has been formed. As a result, when the mounting portion is attached to the electric wire, the ribs engage with the groove of the corrugated tube to prevent the mutual displacement movements. Therefore, the restraint state between the mounting portion and the electric wire is further strengthened, and the tape winding is performed. The mounting state of the protective member on the electric wire is stable without any processing such as.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electric wire terminal protective member according to the first aspect, wherein the protective portion is made of an elastomer resin material and the mounting portion is integrally formed of a polypropylene resin material. These resin materials are cheaper than general-purpose rubber materials, and therefore the unit cost of the protective member is lower than that of the conventional rubber-made protective member.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided the electric wire terminal protection member according to the second aspect, wherein the lock mechanism is formed on one of the main body of the mounting portion and the lid, and on the other. The lock pawl is configured to be engaged with the lock pawl by closing the open surface of the main body with the lid. As a result, the lock mechanism has a simple structure suitable for integral molding of the protective member.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. 1 is a perspective view showing a protective member for an electric wire terminal, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the protective member, FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. Is. As is clear from these drawings, the protective member includes a protective portion 10 for covering the terminal of the electric wire, which will be described later, and a mounting portion 20 attached to the outer periphery near the terminal of the electric wire.
The protective portion 10 is made of a soft resin material, and the mounting portion 20
Is integrally molded with a hard resin material (two-color molding)
is doing. In this embodiment, the protection unit 10
Is molded with an elastomer resin, and the mounting portion 20 is molded with a polypropylene resin. These resins are cheaper than the rubber material used for molding the general electric wire terminal protection member.

The protective portion 10 is cup-shaped having an opening 12, and a lip portion 14 for reinforcement is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the opening 12 (FIG. 4). In addition, the protection unit 10
Has a semi-cylindrical connection part 16.
The inside of 6 and the inside of the protection unit 10 communicate with each other.
On the other hand, the mounting portion 20 includes a semi-cylindrical main body 22 and a lid 30 having a size capable of closing the open surface 24 of the main body 22. One end portion of the main body 22 and the protection portion 1
0 and the end portion of the connecting portion 16 are connected to each other in an overlapping state (FIG. 2 or FIG. 4), whereby the protection portion 10 and the mounting portion 20 are integrated. The open surface 24 is set to have a size (width) sufficient to receive an electric wire.

The body 22 and the lid 30 are connected by a hinge 32. The thickness of the hinge 32 is thin (about 0.35 mm), and the hinge 32 has appropriate flexibility even if the material of the mounting portion 20 is a hard resin material. A lock claw 36 is formed on the free end of the lid 30 opposite to the hinge 32 at right angles to the wide surface of the lid 30. The lock claw 3 is provided on the corresponding portion of the main body 22 with respect to the lock claw 36, that is, on the side surface opposite to the hinge 32.
A lock receiver 28 capable of receiving 6 is formed.
A projection 37 is formed on one surface of the lock claw 36 near the tip. Therefore, when the lock claw 36 is inserted into the lock receiver 28, the projection 37 elastically deforms the lock receiver 28 while passing through from the insertion side to the opposite side to engage with the lock receiver 28, thereby forming a lock mechanism.

Two ribs 26 and 34 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the main body 22 and the one surface of the lid body 30 (the inner surface when the open surface 24 is closed) at corresponding positions. Has been done. These ribs 26 and 34 are engageable with the grooves of the corrugated tube covering the outer circumference of the electric wire as will be described below. Further, the lid 30 is formed with a pressing piece 38 positioned at the open portion of the connecting portion 16 when the open surface 24 is closed.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are perspective views showing the state of use of the protective member constructed as described above. In the electric wire 40 shown in FIG. 5, the terminal 42 is connected to the terminal screw 4 of the battery 46 of the motor-driven vehicle (electric vehicle).
The type of connection is made by means of 8 and the outer circumference of the electric wire 40 is protected by a corrugated tube 44. The terminal 52 of the electric wire 50 shown in FIG. 6 is connected to the terminal 58 of a battery 56 for an ordinary engine-powered automobile,
The outer periphery of the electric wire 50 is also covered with the corrugated tube 54.

In using the protective member in any of the cases shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, first of all, with respect to the main body 22 of the mounting portion 20, the open surface 24 of the main body 22 is utilized to connect the terminals 4 of the electric wires 40 and 50.
Put the parts near 2, 52 and open the surface 2 by the lid 30.
Block 4 As a result, the lock claw 36 of the lid 30 is inserted into and engaged with the lock receiver 28 of the main body 22, and the lid 30 can be held in the closed state with one touch. In this state, the ribs 26, 34 engage with the grooves of the corrugated tubes 44, 54 protecting the electric wires 40, 50, and the displacement of the mounting portion 20 and the electric wires 40, 50 is prevented.
Further, the pressing piece 38 of the lid body 30 presses the outer circumferences of the electric wires 40 and 50 (corrugated tubes 44 and 54) at the connecting portion 16.

Next, the terminal 42 of the electric wire 40 is connected to the battery 46 by the terminal screw 48, and the terminal 52 of the electric wire 50 is connected to the terminal 58 of the battery 56. After that, the protection unit 10 is connected to the terminals 42,
2 to protect the connecting points in an electrically insulated state. When replacing or inspecting the battery, the protective portion 10 made of an elastomer resin material is flipped over with the mounting portion 20 attached to the electric wires 40 and 50, and the terminal 4 is attached.
2, 52 can be exposed. The positional relationship between the lock claw 36 and the lock receiver 28, which constitute the lock mechanism, with respect to the main body 22 and the lid body 30 of the mounting portion 20 may be set opposite to that shown in the drawing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a protective member for an electric wire terminal.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a protection member.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one usage mode of the protective member.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another usage mode of the protection member.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional protection member.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Protection 20 Mounting part 22 body 30 lid 40,50 electric wires 42, 52 terminals 46,56 battery

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wire terminal protection member, comprising: a protection part to cover the wire terminal and a mounting part to be mounted on an outer periphery near the wire terminal in order to protect the wire terminal connected to the battery terminal. Te, the protective portion and the mounting portion a soft material is integrally molded to each other hard material, wherein the protective portion is put over the terminals of the wire
It has a cup-like shape and a semi-cylindrical shape.
The mounting portion is integrally connected with the main body so as to be able to close the open surface and the main body having an open surface of a size sufficient to receive the electric wire, and the open surface. And a lid capable of holding the attachment portion and the electric wire in a mutually restrained state in a state in which the protection portion is closed.
The connecting part and the end of the main body of the mounting part do not overlap each other.
Protective member for wire terminals that is integrated in a fitted state . 2. The electric wire terminal protection member according to claim 1, wherein the main body of the mounting portion and the lid are joined by a hinge, and the end of the lid is a free end with respect to the hinge. A protective member for a wire terminal, which is provided at a corresponding portion of the portion side and the main body with a lock mechanism that engages so as to retain the state by closing the open surface with a lid. 3. The electric wire terminal protection member according to claim 1, wherein a rib that engages with a groove of a corrugated tube that covers an outer circumference of the electric wire is formed inside the mounting portion. Protection member. 4. The electric wire terminal protective member according to claim 1, wherein the protective portion is made of an elastomer resin material and the mounting portion is integrally made of a polypropylene resin material. 5. The electric wire terminal protection member according to claim 2, wherein the lock mechanism is composed of a lock claw formed on one of a main body and a lid of the mounting portion and a lock receiver formed on the other side. The electric wire terminal protective member is configured so that the lock claw is inserted into and engaged with the lock receiver by closing the open surface of the main body with the lid.