JP6092669B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector configured by assembling a terminal fitting with electric wires in a terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing.

  In general, when a connector is attached to an end of an electric wire, first, a terminal fitting is attached to the end of the electric wire, and the terminal fitting is inserted into a terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing to constitute a connector.

  Specifically, when the electric wire has a structure in which a core wire formed by twisting a plurality of strands is covered with an insulating coating, first, the end of the electric wire is exposed by peeling off the coating of the end of the electric wire. Then, the terminal barrel is connected to the end of the covered electric wire by crimping the wire barrel portion of the terminal fitting to the exposed end of the core wire and crimping the insulation barrel portion to the remaining covered end. Next, the terminal fitting with electric wire is inserted into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing from the rear to the front, and the terminal fitting is retained and locked with a lance provided inside the terminal housing chamber. It is composed.

  By the way, in recent years, aluminum wires have been used in the field of automobile wire harnesses and the like for the purpose of weight reduction. The aluminum electric wire has, for example, a structure in which a core wire made of a stranded wire obtained by twisting a plurality of aluminum strands is covered with an insulating coating. When a connector is attached to the terminal of an aluminum electric wire, the following problems to be solved may arise because the core wire of the electric wire and the terminal fitting that are conductively connected to each other are made of different metals.

  For example, when the core wire of the electric wire and the terminal fitting are formed of different metals, if water is present at the contact portion between the two, the metal will dissolve as ions in the water and corrosion will proceed due to an electrochemical reaction. Is known to occur. Because terminal fittings are generally made of a copper alloy due to strength problems, etc., when aluminum wires are used for the wires as described above, the core wires of the wires and the terminal fittings are made of different metals. There is a concern that the problem of electric corrosion will occur.

  Therefore, in the connector described in Patent Document 1, electric corrosion is prevented by sealing the electric wire connecting portion with a resin sealing member (anticorrosion member) made of silicone rubber, a chelating agent, or the like.

  Therefore, when configuring a connector using a terminal fitting with a copper wire in which a copper alloy terminal fitting made of the same type of metal is connected to the end of the copper wire, the wire connecting portion connecting the end of the copper wire is exposed. The terminal fitting in the state is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing to constitute the connector. On the other hand, when configuring a connector using a terminal fitting with an aluminum wire in which a copper alloy terminal fitting made of a dissimilar metal is connected to the end of the aluminum wire, the wire connecting portion to which the end of the aluminum wire is connected is an anticorrosive member. The terminal metal fitting coated in (1) is inserted into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing to constitute a connector.

  When the outer periphery of the electric wire connecting portion is covered with the anticorrosion member, the outer size of the portion becomes larger than the case where the anticorrosion member is not provided. Therefore, when preparing a connector housing as a common part for terminal fittings with aluminum wires and terminal fittings with copper wires, prepare a connector housing having a terminal housing chamber that matches the large size terminal fittings with aluminum wires. It will be.

JP 2012-38566 A

  However, when the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing is adjusted to the large size with the anticorrosion member, when the small size metal terminal with copper wire without the anticorrosion member is inserted into the terminal housing chamber, the wire connection portion and the inner peripheral wall of the terminal housing chamber Since there is a large gap between the two, the play allowance of the electric wire connecting portion is increased, and rattling easily occurs during vibration.

  On the other hand, when a terminal fitting with an aluminum wire with an anticorrosion member is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber, the gap between the wire connecting portion and the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber is small as long as it is properly inserted. The allowance for the connecting portion is reduced. However, if the anticorrosion member is shaved due to interference between the anticorrosion member and the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber by inserting the terminal fitting diagonally, the play allowance of the electric wire connecting portion becomes large and looseness is likely to occur. Become.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and its purpose is to be accommodated in a connector housing even when using any type of terminal fitting with electric wire with or without an anticorrosive member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector that can suppress rattling during vibration.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) .
(1) a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber penetrating in the front-rear direction;
It has a terminal connection part for connecting to the mating terminal at the front part and has a wire connection part to which the terminal of the electric wire is connected at the rear part, and is inserted into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing from the rear to the front, A terminal fitting attached to the connector housing by being prevented from coming off by a flexible lance provided inside the terminal accommodating chamber,
A connector having
Of the inner peripheral wall of the rear portion of the terminal accommodating chamber in which the electric wire connecting portion is accommodated, the inner peripheral wall on the side having the lance is formed along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting and protrudes toward the electric wire connecting portion. There are ridges ,
An anticorrosion member is provided on the outer periphery of the electric wire connection portion so as to wrap the electric wire connection portion, and when the terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing on the surface of the anticorrosion member, And a groove that fits slidably .

According to the connector configured as described in (1) above, since the protrusion is provided on the inner peripheral wall of the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing, the terminal fitting of the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal housing chamber can be The allowance for play in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction can be reduced. Therefore, the backlash of the terminal fitting when vibration is applied can be reduced regardless of whether or not the wire connection portion is covered with the anticorrosion member.
Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the terminal fitting from being inserted obliquely into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing by the regulating action on the wire connecting portion by the protrusion. Therefore, when the outer periphery of the wire connection portion is covered with the anticorrosion member, the anticorrosion member can be prevented from being scraped by interference between the anticorrosion member and the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber. As a result, in addition to the effect of preventing rattling caused by the protrusions controlling play of the electric wire connecting portion, the anticorrosion member that is not shaved is interposed between the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber and the electric wire connecting portion. An anti-sticking effect is obtained.

  According to the present invention, even when using a terminal fitting with an electric wire of a type coated with an anticorrosion member so as to cover the electric wire connecting portion (for example, a terminal fitting with an aluminum electric wire), the anticorrosion member is not coated and the electric wire connection is made. Similarly, when using terminal brackets with wires that are exposed as they are (for example, terminal brackets with copper wires), it is possible to suppress rattling of the terminal brackets during vibration in the state of being housed in the connector housing. it can.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

1A and 1B are configuration diagrams of a connector housing used in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is an external perspective view, and FIG. 1B is a center position of a terminal accommodating chamber. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view cut vertically. 2A and 2B are configuration diagrams of a terminal fitting with an aluminum wire used in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2A is an external perspective view, and FIG. 2B is a longitudinal sectional view. is there. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are configuration diagrams of a terminal fitting with a copper wire used in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 (a) is an external perspective view, and FIG. 3 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view. is there. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are configuration diagrams of the connector of the embodiment configured by assembling a terminal fitting with an aluminum electric wire with a corrosion preventing member on the connector housing, and FIG. 4 (a) is an external perspective view, 4 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 4 (c) is a transverse sectional view cut at the position of the insulation barrel portion. 5 (a) to FIG. 5 (c) are configuration diagrams of the connector of the embodiment in which the connector housing is configured by assembling a terminal fitting with a copper wire without a corrosion protection member, and FIG. 5 (a) is an external perspective view. FIG. 5B is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 5C is a transverse sectional view cut at the position of the insulation barrel portion.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 (a) and 1 (b) are configuration diagrams of a connector housing used in the embodiment, FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are configuration diagrams of a terminal fitting with an aluminum wire used in the embodiment, and FIG. a) and FIG.3 (b) are the block diagrams of the terminal metal fitting with a copper wire used by embodiment. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are configuration diagrams of the connector of the embodiment configured by assembling a terminal fitting with an aluminum wire with a corrosion preventing member on the connector housing, and FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c). ) Is a configuration diagram of a connector of an embodiment configured by assembling a terminal fitting with a copper wire without a corrosion preventing member to the connector housing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the connector of the embodiment includes a connector housing 10 including a terminal housing chamber 11 penetrating in the front-rear direction, and a connector for connecting a mating terminal at the front as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A terminal having a terminal connecting portion 51, having a wire connecting portion 52 to which the ends of the wires W1 and W2 are connected at the rear, and being inserted and fixed to each terminal accommodating chamber 11 of the connector housing 10 from the rear to the front. The metal fitting 50 is comprised.

  The terminal fitting 50 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is of the same structure made of copper alloy. The terminal metal fitting 50 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is different in that the terminal metal fitting 50 in FIG. 2 is connected to the terminal of the aluminum electric wire W1, and the terminal metal fitting 50 in FIG. 3 is connected to the terminal of the copper electric wire W2. Here, the terminal metal fitting 50 connected to the terminal of the aluminum electric wire W1 is identified as a terminal metal fitting TA with an aluminum electric wire, and the terminal metal fitting 50 connected to the terminal of the copper electric wire W2 is distinguished as a terminal metal fitting TB with a copper electric wire.

  The difference between the terminal fitting TA with an aluminum wire and the terminal fitting TB with a copper wire is that the former is coated with an anticorrosion member 60 (for example, a sealing resin) so as to cover the wire connecting portion 52 on the wire connecting portion 52. On the other hand, the latter is that the anticorrosion member 60 is not coated.

  The aluminum electric wire W1 has a structure in which a core wire Wa1 made of a stranded wire obtained by twisting a plurality of aluminum wires made of aluminum or aluminum alloy is covered with an insulating coating Wb. The copper electric wire W2 has a structure in which a core wire Wa2 made of a stranded wire obtained by twisting a plurality of copper strands made of copper or copper alloy is covered with an insulating coating Wb.

  The terminal connection part 51 provided in the front part of the terminal metal fitting 50 opens in the front-rear direction, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b), 3 (a), and 3 (b). It has a rectangular tube shape, and a male terminal (not shown) can be fitted inside through a front end opening 57 thereof. At the rear end of the terminal connecting portion 51, there is a lance locking portion 58 that is locked by the lance 14 provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 11 of the connector housing 10 shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). Is provided.

  The wire connection portion 52 provided at the rear portion of the terminal fitting 50 is a wire barrel that is crimped to the core wires Wa1 and Wa2 exposed by peeling off the insulation coating Wb at the end of the aluminum wire W1 or the copper wire W2. It consists of the part 53 and the insulation barrel part 54 crimped by the terminal of the insulation coating Wb left by peeling off.

  The wire barrel portion 53 has a pair of open barrel-type crimping pieces 53a and 53a. The crimping pieces 53a and 53a are crimped so as to be wrapped from both the left and right sides of the core wires Wa1 and Wa2, thereby the core wires Wa1 and Wa2. It is fixed to.

  The insulation barrel portion 54 is formed to be slightly larger than the wire barrel portion 53, and in particular, the vertical dimension is formed to be larger than the wire barrel portion 53. This insulation barrel part 54 has a pair of caulking pieces 54a, 54a of an open barrel type, and the electric wire W1 is caulked by wrapping the terminal of the remaining part of the insulating coating Wb from both the left and right sides. , Fixed to W2.

  Here, since the terminal fitting 50 is made of a copper alloy, as shown in FIG. 2, the connection between the core wire Wa1 of the aluminum electric wire W1 and the wire barrel portion 53 of the terminal fitting 50 is made of different metals having different ionization tendencies. Connection. Therefore, the outer periphery of the wire connection part 52 connected to the terminal of the aluminum wire W1 is coated with the anticorrosion member 60 so as to cover the wire connection part 52. Specifically, both the wire barrel portion 53 and the insulation barrel portion 54 are covered with the anticorrosion member 60 so as not to be exposed to the outside. Thereby, moisture does not enter the inside of the electric wire connection part 52, and even if it is the connection of dissimilar metals, electrolytic corrosion can be prevented.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the connection between the core wire Wa <b> 2 of the copper wire W <b> 2 and the wire barrel portion 53 of the terminal fitting 50 is a connection between the same type of metals. Therefore, since there is no fear of electrolytic corrosion unlike the connection part between different metals, the wire connection part 52 is exposed without the anticorrosion member 60.

  In the connector of the embodiment, a common connector housing 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is prepared for the two types of terminal fitting TA with aluminum wire and terminal fitting TB with copper wire configured as described above. The connector housing 10 is made of a resin molded product and has two terminal accommodating chambers 11 penetrating in the front-rear direction.

  The two terminal accommodating chambers 11 are arranged side by side and have a common upper wall 12 and lower wall 13. On the upper surface (outer surface) of the upper wall 12, a cantilever-shaped lock arm 18 having a locking projection 18 a that locks the connector housings when fitted to the mating connector is provided. A protective frame 19 is provided around the operation portion 18b provided at the free end of the lock arm 18 so that the operation portion 18b is not operated unnecessarily.

  A flexible lance 14 is integrally formed on the inner surface of the lower wall 13 of each terminal accommodating chamber 11. The lance 14 has a fixed end 14a at the rear end coupled to the lower wall 13 of the terminal accommodating chamber 11, a free end 14b at the front end has a cantilever shape extending obliquely upward, and the fixed end 14a serves as a fulcrum. Thus, the free end 14b side can be bent in the vertical direction. A locking step 14c is provided at the free end 14b of the lance 14 to engage the lance locking portion 58 of the terminal fitting 50 to prevent the terminal fitting 50 from coming out backward.

  The rear part of each terminal accommodating chamber 11 is formed as a barrel accommodating part 11a having a size corresponding to the outer dimensions of the large terminal fitting TA with an aluminum wire, and the rear end 11b of the barrel accommodating part 11a is formed on the connector housing 10. Opened to the rear end face. The inner peripheral wall of the barrel housing portion 11 a is formed in a size such that the side on which the lance 14 is provided has a margin with respect to the terminal fitting 50 due to a request for forming the lance 14. Therefore, when the terminal fitting 50 is inserted and fixed in the terminal accommodating chamber 11, a space for moving the terminal fitting 50 is formed on the side where the lance 14 is present.

  In the connector housing 10, the inner wall of the barrel housing portion 11 a of the terminal housing chamber 11 in which the wire connection portion 52 of the terminal fitting 50 is housed is housed in the terminal housing chamber 11 on the inner circumferential wall on the side where the lance 14 is present. The protrusion 15 which protrudes toward the electric wire connection part 52 at the time of contact is provided. The protrusion 15 extends along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 50.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11 of the connector housing 10 on the surface of the anticorrosion member 60 provided so as to wrap the outer periphery of the wire connecting portion 52 of the terminal fitting TA with aluminum wires. In doing so, a groove 61 is formed that fits slidably with respect to the protrusion 15 of the connector housing 10.

  When configuring the connector of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, the terminal fittings 50 (terminal fittings TA with an aluminum wire) attached to the terminals of the aluminum wires W <b> 1 in the terminal accommodating chambers 11 of the connector housing 10. ) Or the terminal fitting 50 (terminal fitting TB with copper wire) attached to the end of the copper wire W2. At this time, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted into the connector housing 10 with the postures shown in FIGS. 2A, 2 </ b> B, 3 </ b> A, and 3 </ b> B upside down.

  Then, the terminal connection part 51 of the terminal metal fitting 50 is inserted into the back of the terminal accommodating chamber 11 while pushing down the lance 14 downward, and when the terminal connection part 51 passes through the tip of the lance 14, the lance 14 returns from bending. The locking step 14c at the tip of the lance 14 engages with the lance locking portion 58 of the terminal fitting 50, and the terminal fitting 50 is fixed in a state of being prevented from coming off.

  At this time, the wire barrel part 53 and the insulation barrel part 54 of the electric wire connection part 52 of the terminal fitting 50 are accommodated in the barrel accommodating part 11 a at the rear part of the terminal accommodating chamber 11. When the terminal fitting TA with an aluminum wire is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11, the bottom surface of the terminal fitting 50 is supported by contacting the upper wall 12 of the terminal accommodating chamber 11. On the other hand, since the protrusion 15 is provided on the lower wall 13 of the terminal accommodating chamber 11, the falling of the wire connecting portion 52 in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. Therefore, the play allowance of the electric wire connection part 52 in the direction orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction is reduced, thereby suppressing the play of the terminal fitting 50 during vibration.

  On the other hand, when the terminal fitting TB with the copper wire is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11, the bottom surface of the terminal fitting 50 is not in contact with the upper wall 12 of the terminal accommodating chamber 11, but the lower wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 11. 13 is provided with the ridge 15, the fall of the wire connecting portion 52 in the direction indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. 5B is regulated by the height of the ridge 15. Therefore, the play allowance of the electric wire connection part 52 in the direction orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction is reduced, thereby suppressing the play of the terminal fitting 50 during vibration.

  Thus, according to the connector of the embodiment, regardless of whether or not the wire connection portion 52 is covered with the anticorrosion member 60, that is, whether the connector is configured using the terminal fitting TA with an aluminum wire, or a copper wire Regardless of whether the connector is configured using the attached terminal fitting TB, it is possible to prevent the terminal fitting 50 from rattling during vibration.

  Further, when the terminal fitting TA with the aluminum wire is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11, the terminal fitting 50 is inserted obliquely into the terminal accommodating chamber 11 of the connector housing 10 due to the restriction action on the electric wire connecting portion 52 by the protrusion 15. Can be prevented. Therefore, when the connector is formed using the terminal fitting TA with an aluminum wire in which the outer periphery of the wire connecting portion 52 is covered with the anticorrosion member 60, the anticorrosion member is caused by the interference between the anticorrosion member 60 and the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 11. 60 can be prevented from being cut. As a result, in addition to the backlash prevention effect by the protrusion 15 restricting the play of the electric wire connection portion 52, the anticorrosion member 60 that is not shaved is provided between the inner peripheral wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 11 and the electric wire connection portion 52. The effect of preventing rattling due to the interposition is obtained.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Connector housing 11 Terminal accommodation chamber 14 Lance 15 Projection 50 Terminal metal fitting 51 Terminal connection part 52 Electric wire connection part 60 Corrosion prevention member 61 Groove W1 Aluminum electric wire W2 Copper electric wire

Claims (1)

A connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber penetrating in the front-rear direction;
It has a terminal connection part for connecting to the mating terminal at the front part and has a wire connection part to which the terminal of the electric wire is connected at the rear part, and is inserted into the terminal housing chamber of the connector housing from the rear to the front, A terminal fitting attached to the connector housing by being prevented from coming off by a flexible lance provided inside the terminal accommodating chamber,
A connector having
Of the inner peripheral wall of the rear portion of the terminal accommodating chamber in which the electric wire connecting portion is accommodated, the inner peripheral wall on the side having the lance is formed along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting and protrudes toward the electric wire connecting portion. There are ridges ,
An anticorrosion member is provided on the outer periphery of the electric wire connection portion so as to wrap the electric wire connection portion, and when the terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing on the surface of the anticorrosion member, And a groove that fits slidably is formed,
connector.

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