JP3449146B2 - Joint connector - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the structure of a joint connector for electrically connecting a plurality of electric wires constituting a wire harness. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, at the end of a bundle of wires mounted on a vehicle, a so-called wire harness, it is necessary to electrically connect the wires in connection with a mounting circuit or quality inspection. Such a connector connected to the end of the electric wire is generally called a joint connector, and as shown in FIG. 5A, for example, bus bar connection terminals 22a and 22b crimp-connected to the ends of the electric wires 20a and 20b are arranged. As shown in FIG. 5B, the bus bar connection terminals 22a and 22b are arranged and stored in advance in the side connector 31 and the array side connector 31 is engaged and connected to the bus bar side connector 32.
b is connected to the bus bar 33 in the bus bar side connector 32, and the electric wires 20a and 20b are electrically connected. . [0003] The structure of the joint connector 10 comprising the array side connector 31 and the bus bar side connector 32 will be described in detail. The array side connector 31 and the bus bar side connector 32 have shapes that engage with each other. As shown in FIG. 6A, a plurality of bus bars (terminal connection portions) 33a to 331 protrude and arranged inside.
These bus bars 33a to 331 correspond to the connection patterns between the electric wires specified in the mounting circuit or the quality inspection or the like, that is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the bus bars 33a to 33d and 33e
As shown in FIG. 6C, the bus bars 33a to 33f, 33g to 33j, and 33k to 3
It is divided into a plurality of groups like three groups of 3l. [0004] Here, the shape of the bus bar 33 of the bus bar side connector 32 depends on the number of groups divided according to the mounting circuit or the inspection circuit as shown in FIG. A large number of types are required depending on the combination of the bus bars 33 belonging to the group, and there is a problem that the variety of the bus bar side connectors 32 is caused. Therefore, the number of components in the wire harness manufacturing process increases, and there is a problem that management becomes complicated. Also, separate connectors 31 on the array side and the bus bar side as the joint connector 10,
32, the electrical connection is made, which leads to an increase in the unit cost of the parts and the joint connector 10
There was a problem that the number of man-hours required for mounting was increased. Further, since the electric connection between the electric wires is realized by connecting the bus bar connecting terminals 22 via the bus bar, it is necessary to crimp connect a terminal dedicated to the bus bar connection different from a normal terminal shape to the end of the electric wire. There is also a problem that the types of terminals increase. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a joint connector capable of reliably connecting wires with a simple configuration without increasing the number of parts and types even if there are many types of connection patterns between wires. In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a joint connector for electrically connecting terminals mounted at ends of a plurality of electric wires. A housing provided with a terminal hooking portion for hooking a terminal connected to the end of the electric wire, and a pressing member provided corresponding to an installation position of the terminal hooking portion of the housing; Lid and one end extending from the bottom side of the housing.
A flexible connecting member extending and having the other end connected to the lid
And a locking portion for setting and locking the engagement state between the housing and the lid in a stepwise manner, and the extending direction of the pressing member.
The notch is provided from the tip portion at
The tip of the member is formed in a substantially conical shape that expands in the outer peripheral direction
The pressing member presses the terminal group with a pressing force according to the number of the terminals and the state of engagement between the housing and the lid, and the terminals are in close contact with each other. [0007] According to such a configuration, the terminal group is hooked on the terminal hooking portion protruded in the housing without integrally forming the terminal attached to the end of the electric wire with the bus bar connection, and is integrated. By engaging and locking the lid formed on the housing with the housing, the terminal group hooked on the terminal hooking portion can be pressed by the pressing member provided on the lid side to make close contact with each other. Therefore, only by the operation of hooking the terminal group to the terminal hooking portion in the housing and closing the lid, electrical connection between the terminals can be extremely easily performed, and the number of work steps can be reduced. . Here, since the engagement state between the housing and the lid body is set in multiple stages by the locking portion, the pressing force of the pressing member against the terminal group can be arbitrarily set by locking in an arbitrary engagement state. Can be set, and reliable close connection can be performed. Further, since the housing and the lid are integrally formed by the flexible connecting member, the number of parts does not increase. Furthermore, since the terminals can be hung in groups for each of the plurality of terminal hooks provided in the housing, electrical connection can be easily performed by grouping, so that the number of electric wire connection patterns increases. However, the type of connector and the number of parts do not increase. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of the joint connector according to the first aspect. FIG.
As shown in (a), the joint connector 10 has round terminals 21a to 2c crimped to ends of electric wires 20a to 20f.
1f so that the terminal lock rod (terminal lock portion) 2 is locked.
a, 2b are provided to protrude inside, and electric wires 2
0 (20a to 20f), a housing main body (housing) 1 having a cutout 3 formed therein, and a substantially cylindrical shape fitted to the terminal retaining rods 2a, 2b of the housing main body 1, Locking bar fitting portion (pressing member) 7 formed with a locking claw (locking portion) for locking the terminal locking rods 2a, 2b at arbitrary positions on the portion.
a, 7b are provided to protrude inside, and electric wires 2
Lid (lid) 6 in which a notch 9 for deriving 0 is formed.
And a flexible hinge (connecting member) 11 extending from one end on the bottom side of the housing main body 1 and connecting the lid 6 to the housing main body 1 so as to be able to open and close. . Here, the latching bar fitting portions 7a and 7b have a material or shape having elasticity, for example, project in a cylindrical shape from the lid portion 6 as shown in FIG. Notch portions 7a _-1 and 7b _-1 are provided, and terminal pressing portions 7a _-2 and 7b _-2 each having a substantially conical shape whose distal end portion expands in the outer peripheral direction are provided. On the other hand, the terminal locking rods 2a, 2b that lock with the locking rod fitting portions 7a, 7b protrude from the housing body 1 in a cylindrical shape, and have locking grooves (locking portions) formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral portion thereof. It has a formed substantially screw shape. More specific shapes and locking mechanisms will be described later. The joint connector 10 having such a configuration
In FIG. 1A, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), for example, the terminal locking rod 2a of the housing body 1 penetrates and locks the holes of the round terminals 21a to 21c crimped to the ends of the electric wires 20a to 20c. The holes of the round terminals 21d to 21f crimped to the ends of the electric wires 20d to 20f are passed through and hooked to the terminal hook 2b. Thus, the round terminals 21a to 21f can be divided into two groups. Here, when it is not necessary to divide the terminals into groups, or when the inter-group insulating method of the second embodiment described later is used, only one of the terminal retaining rods may be used. Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (b), when the side surface of the lid 6 is slidably engaged with the side surface of the housing body 1 as shown in FIG.
The terminal hook 2 protruding from the cover 6 is inserted and fitted into a hook fitting portion 7 projecting from the lid 6, and a locking claw 8 provided on the inner peripheral portion of the hook fitting portion 7 is provided. sequentially engaging locks while descending the lock grooves _2-1 formed on the outer periphery of the terminal Kaketomebo 2. Then, the tip portion of the Kaketomebo fitting portion 7 the terminal pressing portion _7-2 formed in (drawing down) is brought into contact with the round terminal 21c of the uppermost,
The lower round terminals 21b and 21a are sequentially pressed downward,
The round terminals 21a to 21c are brought into close contact with each other. Here, the relative positional relationship between Kaketomebo fitting portion 7 and the terminal Kaketomebo 2, steps for each pitch of the lock grooves _2-1 terminal Kaketomebo 2 locking claws 8 are engaged since manner set, pressing state (pressing force) to the terminal group 21a~21c by the terminal pressing portion _7-2 is also set stepwise. The engagement between the housing main body 1 and the lid 6 is set in a stepwise manner by locking the terminal hook bar 2 and the hook bar fitting portion 7. In addition,
Engagement claw 8 by opening and closing the cut portion _{7-1 1} provided in Kaketomebo fitting portion in engagement state between the terminal Kaketomebo 2 and hooking rod fitting portion 7 and the engaging groove 2 _-1 Of the terminal group 2 by applying an elastic force to the terminal pressing portion _7-2.
The close contact between 1a to 21c is ensured. FIG.
As shown in (b), the electric wire 20 to which the round terminals 21a and 21b are attached is led out from the opening formed by the cutouts 3 and 9 provided in the housing body 1 and the lid 6, and the hinge 11 Is bent. [0011] With such a configuration, after arbitrarily grouped terminal groups are penetrated and arrested on an arbitrary terminal hook bar,
The terminal bar is inserted into the hook bar fitting portion, fitted and engaged with the lid, so that the hook bar fitting portion is gradually locked to the terminal hook bar, and the terminal pressing portion is provided. Can press the terminal group to make close contact with each other, so that the electrical connection state corresponding to the connection pattern between the electric wires can be realized very easily, and the bus bar side connector is connected to the connection pattern as in the conventional case. Since there is no need to prepare and combine a large number of types corresponding to each other, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and the number of management steps, and the number of operation steps. Further, the pressing force generated at the terminal pressing portion when the housing body and the lid are engaged with each other is such that the locking state corresponding to the fitting depth of the terminal locking bar and the locking bar fitting portion, It is determined by the stacking thickness of the terminals, which corresponds to the number of terminals to be hooked on the locking rod.If the number of terminals is small and the fitting depth is shallow, the pressing force on the terminal group will be weak, and conversely, the number of terminals will be large. When the fitting depth is deep, a strong elastic force is generated. Therefore, by adjusting the fitting depth arbitrarily according to the number of terminals, it is possible to set the close contact between the terminals better, prevent poor contact at the contact points between the terminals, and secure the mutual connection between the wires. Electrical connection can be realized. In this case, since the hook bar fitting portion is formed integrally with the lid portion, when a different number of terminals are hooked on the plurality of terminal hook bars, the pressing force generated by the terminal pressing portion varies. Therefore, it is preferable to set the number of terminals for each group equally. As described above, as the elastic member of the present invention, the engagement position between the housing main body and the lid portion is set in a stepwise manner, and the fitting depth of the latching bar fitting portion to the terminal latching bar is changed. Therefore, a member capable of uniformly pressing the terminal group at least during one pitch of the locking groove formed in the terminal retaining rod to attain good contact between the terminals is provided. It is necessary to select. Therefore, since the amount of deformation of the elastic member can be set to be small, when the present invention is applied to a wire harness and mounted on a vehicle, deformation due to vibration during running of the vehicle or the like can be suppressed to be small, and mutual contact between terminals can be suppressed. It is possible to provide a high-quality wire harness in which occurrence of poor contact is suppressed. Next, a second embodiment of the joint connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the above-described first embodiment, a configuration is shown in which a terminal hook bar is provided for each group of terminal groups and the number of terminals is equalized for each group. In, it is necessary to increase the number of terminal retaining rods in response to the increase in the number of terminal groups, and the housing main body and the lid constituting the joint connector are enlarged, and the connection pattern of various electric wires is increased. It has a problem that it cannot be handled. In order to solve such a problem, in the present embodiment, for example, a resin ring is used as a member for electrically isolating each group from each other or for equalizing the laminated thickness of the terminals in each terminal retaining rod. Having a structure interposed, penetrating and hanging a plurality of groups on a single terminal hook bar, and correcting for uniformity of terminal lamination thickness among the multiple terminal hook bars to make them uniform It is characterized by. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a first terminal hook 2a protruding from the bottom
Round terminals 21a and 21b belonging to the terminal group
And the round terminals 21c and 21d belonging to the terminal group of FIG. Here, the resin ring 12a is penetrated and hooked between the first and second terminal groups so as to interpose therebetween, and the electrical connection between the groups is cut off. On the other hand, the round terminals 21e to 21g belonging to the third terminal group penetrate and are hooked on the second terminal hook rod 2b. Here, a resin ring 12b is formed on the upper layer of the third terminal group.
And 12c are penetrated and hooked, and the second terminal hook rod 2b
Groups 21e to 21g and resin ring 1
The lamination thickness Db composed of 2b and 12c is set to be equal to the lamination thickness Da composed of the terminal groups 21a to 21d and the resin ring 12a hooked on the first terminal hook 2a. ing. With such a configuration, the groups penetrating and hooking on the same terminal hooking rod are electrically insulated from each other, and the thickness of the terminal group laminated between the different terminal hooking rods is different. Are the same, it is possible to make the fitting depth of all the terminal retaining rods and the retaining rod fitting portions uniform, to improve the engagement between the housing body and the lid, Only the terminal groups belonging to the group are in close contact with each other, and a predetermined connection pattern between the electric wires is realized. In addition, since a plurality of groups can be insulated and hooked on the same terminal hooking bar, an increase in the size of the joint connector can be suppressed. Next, a third embodiment of the joint connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, by connecting a common conductive member to a plurality of terminal hook bars provided on the housing body, it is possible to make electrical connection between terminals between the plurality of terminal hook bars. Features. As shown in FIG. 4, a conductor plate 13 as a conductive member for making electrical connection with each other is penetrated and hooked on the first and second terminal hook bars 2a and 2b in advance. I have. Round terminals 21a and 21b are pierced and hooked on the upper layer of the first terminal hook rod 2a so as to come into contact with the conductor plate 13, and similarly, the round terminals 21 are put on the upper layer of the second terminal hook rod 2b.
c and 21d are penetrated and hung. Next, by engaging a cover (not shown) with the housing body 1, the latching bar fitting portions 7a and 7b respectively fit with the terminal latching bars 2a and 2b, and the terminal pressing portions 7a _-2 and 7b _-2. Are each of the round terminal groups 21a,
21b and 21c and 21d are pressed to bring the round terminals into close contact with each other and between the round terminals and the conductive plate 13. With such a configuration, each terminal hook 2
a, the round terminals 21a, 21b and 21c, 21d penetrated and hooked are electrically connected to each other,
A connection pattern in which all the round terminals 21a to 21d are electrically connected equally via the conductor plate 13 can be realized, and by using the second embodiment described above together, it is possible to cope with a variety of connection patterns of electric wires. be able to. In each of the embodiments described above, as the terminal to be crimped to the end of the electric wire, a round terminal that can effectively use a hole portion for penetrating and hanging on the hanging rod is shown. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be a Y-type terminal, a key-type terminal, or the like. In this case, since it is necessary to lock the terminal at the position of the hanging bar, a configuration in which a terminal guide or the like protruding parallel to the hanging bar is provided around the hanging bar can be applied. In addition, the terminal pressing portion having a substantially conical shape at the tip of the hook rod fitting portion has been described as the pressing member. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Another elastic member such as a rubber material may be applied as long as the elastic member can be used. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration is described in which the pressing mechanism for the terminal group and the locking mechanism between the housing body and the lid are integrally provided on the terminal hooking bar and the hooking bar fitting portion. Alternatively, the respective mechanisms may be separated and the locking mechanism between the housing main body and the lid may be configured by, for example, a locking claw provided on the side of the housing main body and a plurality of locking holes provided continuously on the side of the lid. . As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal attached to the terminal of the electric wire does not have to have a shape dedicated to bus bar connection, and the terminal hook protruded from the housing. By pressing the terminal group on the stopper and engaging and locking the integrally formed lid with the housing, the terminal group hooked on the terminal locking portion is provided on the side of the lid. Since the members can be pressed and brought into close contact with each other, only the work of hooking the terminal group to the terminal hooking portion in the housing and closing the lid allows extremely easy and reliable electrical connection between the terminals. Can be performed, and the number of work steps can be reduced. Here, since the engagement state between the housing and the lid body is set in multiple stages by the locking portion, the pressing force of the pressing member against the terminal group can be arbitrarily set by locking in an arbitrary engagement state. Can be set, and reliable close connection can be performed. Further, since the housing and the lid are integrally formed by a flexible connecting member, the number of parts of the joint connector can be reduced without increasing the number of parts. Furthermore, since the terminals are hooked into the terminal hooks in the housing for each group, it is possible to easily perform grouping and electrical connection for each group. Also, it is possible to simplify the component management by unifying the types of joint connectors without increasing the number of components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a first embodiment of a joint connector according to claim 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a connection state between terminals in the joint connector according to claim 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view showing a second embodiment of the joint connector according to claim 1 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing a third embodiment of the joint connector according to claim 1 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a connection state of a conventional joint connector. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a bus bar side connector applied to a conventional joint connector. [Reference Numerals] 1 housing body (housing) 2, 2a, 2b terminal Kaketomebo (pin hooking section) _{2-1, 2a-1, 2b-1} locking groove (engaging portion) 3,9 cutting out portion 6 lid (cover body) 7, 7a, 7b Kaketomebo fitting portion (pressing member) _{7-1, 7a-1, 7b-1} cut portions _7-2 2, _{7a-2, 7b-2} terminal pressing Part 8, 8a, 8b Locking claw (locking part) 10 Joint connector 11 Hinge part (connecting member) 12a to 12c Resin ring 13 Conductor plate 20, 20a to 20f Electric wires 21a to 21g Round terminals 22a, 22b Bus bar connection Terminal 31 Array side connector 32 Busbar side connector 33, 33a-33l Busbar

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 4/34 H01R 4/38 H01R 4/00 H01R 9/00 H01R 4/22 H01R 4/48

Claims (1)

(57) Claims: 1. A joint connector for electrically connecting terminals attached to ends of a plurality of electric wires, the terminal being used to hook a terminal connected to the ends of the electric wires. A housing provided with a hook portion protruding inside, and a lid provided with a pressing member corresponding to the installation position of the terminal hook portion of the housing ,
One end extends from the bottom side of the housing, and the other end is the lid.
A flexible connecting member connected to the body, and a locking portion for setting and locking the engagement state between the housing and the lid in a stepwise manner and extending in a direction in which the pressing member extends. Cut from the tip
And the outer periphery of the tip of the pressing member.
Formed in a substantially conical shape expanding in the direction, and the pressing member presses the terminal group with a pressing force according to the number of the terminals and the engagement state between the housing and the lid, and closely adheres to each other. A joint connector characterized by being connected.