JP6133078B2 - Crimping terminal and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a crimp terminal for crimp-connecting a covered electric wire and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In recent years, with the increase in functionality and performance of automobiles, various electrical equipment has been mounted on automobiles. Therefore, the electrical circuit of automobiles has become complicated, and power can be stably supplied to each electrical equipment. It has become indispensable. In an automobile on which various electrical equipment is mounted, a wire harness formed by bundling a plurality of covered electric wires is routed, and an electric circuit is formed by connecting the wire harnesses with a connector. Also, inside the connector for connecting the wire harnesses, there are provided crimp terminals for crimping and connecting the coated wires at the crimping portion, and the coated wires are connected by fitting and connecting the male crimp terminal and the female crimp terminal. Connected.

  By the way, in general, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the female crimp terminal includes a fitting portion that sandwiches and connects the male crimp terminal with a spring structure, and a crimp portion that crimps and connects the covered electric wire. And. Such a female crimp terminal is manufactured by punching a single metal strip into a flattened terminal shape and then bending the metal strip into a three-dimensional terminal shape composed of a fitting portion and a crimp portion. ing.

JP-A-8-213092 JP 9-326271 A

  However, according to the conventional female crimp terminal, since the fitting portion is manufactured by bending the metal strips so as to overlap each other, the thickness of the metal strip is increased in order to improve the strength of the entire terminal. The fitting portion becomes large and it is difficult to reduce the size of the female crimp terminal. On the other hand, since the fitting portion has a spring structure to be fitted and connected to the male crimp terminal, the thickness of the metal strip forming the fitting portion is thin from the viewpoint of facilitating the manufacture of the spring structure. Is preferable. From such a background, provision of a technique capable of improving the strength of the entire terminal without increasing the size has been expected.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, The objective is to provide the crimp terminal which can improve the intensity | strength of the whole terminal, and its manufacturing method, without enlarging.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the crimp terminal according to the present invention includes a fitting part that sandwiches and connects a male crimp terminal with a spring structure, a crimp part that crimps and connects a covered electric wire, The fitting portion and the crimping portion are formed of a plate material, and the thickness of the plate material forming the fitting portion is thinner than the thickness of the plate material forming the crimping portion. .

  In the crimp terminal according to the present invention, in the above invention, the crimp portion is formed of a hollow plate material, and an end portion on a side opposite to a longitudinal end portion of the plate material into which the conductor portion of the covered electric wire is inserted is provided. It is sealed.

  In the crimp terminal according to the present invention, in the above invention, the thickness of the plate material forming the fitting portion is formed by forming the fitting portion and the pressure bonding portion with plate materials having different plate thicknesses. It is characterized by being formed thinner than the thickness of the plate material to be formed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a method of manufacturing a crimp terminal according to the present invention includes a fitting part that sandwiches and connects a male crimp terminal with a spring structure, and a crimp that crimps and connects a covered electric wire. And a step of forming the fitting portion using a plate material thinner than a thickness of the plate material forming the crimp portion.

  According to the crimp terminal and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention, the strength of the entire terminal can be improved without increasing the size.

FIG. 1 is a vertical perspective view in which a crimp terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is divided at a central portion in the width direction. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the box portion. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the crimping portion. FIG. 4A is a schematic perspective view of the bottom surface side of the crimp terminal in which the box portion of the crimp terminal shown in FIG. 1 is in a transparent state. FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of the region R shown in FIG. 4A. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4B. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of welding the crimping portion. 6A is a perspective view showing a state before the covered electric wire is crimped and connected to the crimp terminal shown in FIG. 1. 6B is a perspective view showing a state after the covered electric wire is crimped and connected to the crimp terminal shown in FIG. 1.

  Hereinafter, a crimp terminal and a method for manufacturing the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of crimp terminal]
First, the configuration of a crimp terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a vertical perspective view in which a crimp terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is divided at a central portion in the width direction. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the box portion. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of the crimping portion.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a crimp terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed as a female crimp terminal, and the male crimp terminal is inserted from the front side toward the rear side in the longitudinal direction X. A box portion 20 of a hollow quadrangular prism body into which a tab is inserted, and a crimp portion 30 having a substantially O-shaped rear view provided behind the box portion 20 via a transition portion 40 having a predetermined length. .

  In the present specification, the longitudinal direction X means a direction that coincides with the longitudinal direction of the covered electric wire to be crimped and connected by the crimping portion 30, and the width direction Y means the longitudinal direction X in a substantially horizontal plane. Means the direction of crossing. Moreover, in this specification, the direction by the side of the box part 20 with respect to the crimping | compression-bonding part 30 is described with the front, and conversely, the direction by the side of the crimping part 30 with respect to the box part 20 is described with the back.

  In the present embodiment, the crimp terminal 10 is formed as a female crimp terminal. However, if the crimp terminal has the crimp part 30, the crimp terminal 10 is inserted and connected to the box part 20 and the crimp part. 30 may be a male crimp terminal. Moreover, it may be a crimp terminal that includes only the crimp part 30 and bundles and connects the conductors of a plurality of covered electric wires.

  The crimp terminal 10 is punched into the shape of the crimp terminal 10 in which a copper alloy strip such as brass having a tin plating (Sn plating) treatment on the surface thereof is flattened. This is a closed barrel type terminal in which a copper alloy strip is bent into a three-dimensional terminal shape composed of an O-shaped crimp portion 30 and the crimp portion 30 is welded. However, the crimping terminal 10 is formed in a substantially U-shape in which the crimping portion 30 has a crimping surface and a barrel component piece extending on both sides in the width direction Y of the crimping surface. It may be a so-called open barrel type terminal to be crimped.

  The box portion 20 is provided with an elastic contact piece 21 that is bent toward the rear in the longitudinal direction X and is fitted and connected by inserting an insertion tab of a male crimp terminal. The box portion 20 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front end side in the longitudinal direction X by bending the side surface portions 23 continuously provided on both sides of the bottom surface portion 22 in the width direction Y so as to overlap each other. The box part 20 and the elastic contact piece 21 function as a fitting part and a spring structure according to the present invention, respectively.

  The crimping portion 30 before crimping the covered electric wire is obtained by rounding the barrel constituting piece 32 extending on both sides of the crimping surface 31 and the crimping surface 31 in the width direction Y, and butt welding the end portions 32a of the barrel constituting piece 32. Thus, it is formed in a substantially O-shape when viewed from the rear. The length in the longitudinal direction X of the barrel constituting piece 32 is formed longer than the length in the longitudinal direction X of the electric wire exposed from the covered electric wire.

  The crimping part 30 is so formed that a coated crimping range 30a for crimping the insulation coating of the coated electric wire, an electric wire crimping range 30b for crimping the electric wire exposed from the coated electric wire, and a front end portion being crushed in a substantially flat plate shape from the electric wire crimping range 30b. And a deformed sealing portion 30c. A plurality of locking grooves 33 (33 a, 33 b) that are grooves extending in the width direction Y are formed on the inner surface of the crimping portion 30 along the longitudinal direction X at a predetermined interval.

  Specifically, on the inner surface of the coated crimping range 30a, three coating locking grooves 33a into which the insulation coating of the coated electric wire bites in the crimped state are formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction X. The covering locking groove 33a is formed in an arc shape in cross section, and is formed in a wave shape by being continuously provided in the longitudinal direction. Further, the covering locking groove 33 a is continuously formed in the range from the crimping surface 31 to the barrel component piece 32, and forms an annular groove in the crimping portion 30.

  On the inner surface of the wire crimping range 30b, three wire locking grooves 33b into which the wires exposed from the covered wires in the crimped state bite are formed at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction X. The wire locking groove 33b is formed in a rectangular concave shape in cross section. In addition, the wire locking groove 33b is formed from the crimping surface 31 to the middle of the barrel component piece 32, and improves the electrical conductivity between the crimping portion 30 and the wire by biting the wire exposed from the covered wire. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plate thickness T <b> 1 of the copper alloy strip forming the box portion 20 is formed thinner than the plate thickness T <b> 2 of the copper alloy strip forming the crimping portion 30. Thereby, the intensity | strength of the crimp terminal 10 whole can be improved, without enlarging the magnitude | size of the box part 20. FIG. Moreover, since the plate | board thickness T1 of the copper alloy strip which forms the box part 20 is thin, the elastic contact piece 21 can be formed easily. In addition, as a method of making the plate thickness T1 of the copper alloy strip forming the box portion 20 smaller than the plate thickness T2 of the copper alloy strip forming the press-bonding portion 30, the box portion 20 and the press-bonding portion 30 have the same thickness. It is desirable to use a method of forming with different plate materials. Specifically, when the crimp terminal 10 is formed of a single copper alloy strip, the thickness of the copper alloy strip corresponding to the box portion 20 is, for example, from the thickness of the copper alloy strip corresponding to the crimp portion 30 by press molding. It should be thin. Further, when the box part 20 and the crimping part 30 are separately produced and connected, the box part 20 is preferably made of a material having a plate thickness thinner than that of the crimping part 30.

[Method of manufacturing crimp terminal]
Next, a method for manufacturing the crimp terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4A is a schematic perspective view of the bottom surface side of the crimp terminal 10 with the box portion 20 of the crimp terminal 10 in a transparent state. FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of the region R shown in FIG. 4A. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4B. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a welding method of the crimping portion 30.

  The crimp terminal 10 is formed by punching a copper alloy strip into a flattened terminal shape, and then forming the copper alloy strip portion corresponding to the box portion 20 to be thinner than the other portions. It is manufactured by bending a copper alloy strip into a three-dimensional terminal shape composed of a crimp portion 30 having a substantially O-shape in rear view and welding the crimp portion 30. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4A, the crimping portion 30 is completely located in front of the crimping portion 30 at the longitudinal welding position W1 in the longitudinal direction X where the opposed end portions 32a of the barrel constituting pieces 32 are abutted with each other and the sealing portion 30c. It is formed by welding the width direction welding location W2 of the width direction Y sealed.

  Specifically, when manufacturing the crimping portion 30, first, the crimping surface 31 and the barrel component piece 32 are rounded to form a cylindrical shape so that the opposed end portions 32a abut each other on the bottom surface side, and then, as shown in FIG. As shown, the cylindrical front portion is pressed from the upper surface side to the bottom surface side and deformed to be substantially flat. And as shown to FIG. 4C, after welding the longitudinal direction welding location W1 which faced | matched cylindrical opposing edge part 32a, the width direction welding location W2 is welded. At this time, since the longitudinal direction welding location W1 and the width direction welding location W2 are arranged on the same plane in the virtual plane P shown in FIG. 5, they can be welded by single focus laser welding.

As shown in FIG. 5, the welding in the longitudinal direction welding point W1 and the width direction welding point W2 is performed by fiber laser welding using a fiber laser welding apparatus Fw. Fiber laser welding means welding using fiber laser light having a wavelength of about 1.08 μm. The fiber laser beam is an ideal Gaussian beam and can be condensed up to the diffraction limit, so that a condensing spot diameter of 30 μm or less, which could not be realized with a YAG laser or a CO ₂ laser, can be configured. Therefore, welding with high energy density can be easily realized.

  Thus, since the longitudinal direction welding location W1 and the width direction welding location W2 are welded by fiber laser welding, the crimping | compression-bonding part 30 with a water stop can be comprised. Thereby, the conducting wire of the covered electric wire crimp-connected by the crimping portion 30 is not exposed to the outside air, and it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the conducting wire and the secular change. Therefore, the conductor does not corrode, and an increase in electrical resistance caused by the corrosion can be prevented, so that stable conductivity can be obtained.

  In addition, by performing the above welding by fiber laser welding, it is possible to configure the crimp part 30 without a gap and reliably prevent moisture from entering the inside of the crimp part 30 in the crimped state. In addition, fiber laser welding can focus on an extremely small spot and realize high-power laser welding as compared with other laser welding, and continuous irradiation is possible. Therefore, it is possible to perform welding having a certain water stoppage.

  When a covered electric wire is crimped and connected to such a crimp terminal 10, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the electric wire exposed portion 201 a of the aluminum core wire 201 exposed on the tip side from the insulating coating 202 of the covered electric wire 200 is used as an electric wire. The covered electric wire 200 is arranged in the crimping part 30 so that the position in the longitudinal direction X of the tip 201aa of the exposed part 201a is behind the sealing part 30c in the crimping part 30. And from the front-end | tip 201aa of the electric wire exposure part 201a to the back from the coating | coated front-end | tip 202a of the insulation coating 202 is crimped | bonded by the crimping | compression-bonding part 30, and it surrounds integrally. Thereby, the crimping | compression-bonding part 30 is crimped | bonded in the state closely_contact | adhered with respect to the surrounding surface of the insulation coating 202 of the covered electric wire 200, and the electric wire exposure part 201a of the aluminum core wire 201.

  As already described, in the crimp terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the longitudinal direction welded portion W1 and the width direction welded portion W2 are welded. For this reason, in the state which crimped the covered electric wire 200, the water stop property which water does not permeate into the inside of the crimp part 30 from the front and the exterior of the crimp part 30 is implement | achieved. Further, since the insulating coating 202 of the coated electric wire 200 bites into the coating locking groove 33a formed inside the coated crimping range 30a, the water blocking property from the rear of the crimping portion 30 is also improved. Thereby, in the state which crimped the covered electric wire 200, water does not touch the contact location where the electric wire exposure part 201a of the aluminum core wire 201 and the inner surface of the crimping part 30 contact | adhered by the high water stoppage of the crimping part 30.

  The aluminum core wire 201 is made of an aluminum material, and the crimping portion 30 is made of a copper material. For this reason, it can reduce in weight compared with the covered electric wire 200 which has the aluminum core wire 201 by a copper wire. As a result, the aluminum core wire 201 is not corroded, and the electrical resistance is not increased due to the corrosion, so that the conductivity of the aluminum core wire 201 is stabilized. As a result, for example, an aluminum core wire 201 such as a stranded wire, a single wire, or a flat wire can be reliably and firmly connected to the crimping portion 30 of the crimp terminal 10.

  The crimp connection structure 1 configured as described above can constitute a connector having reliable conductivity by mounting the crimp terminal 10 on a connector housing (not shown). Specifically, the crimp connection structure 1 constituted by the crimp terminal 10 is mounted on a female connector housing to constitute a wire harness provided with the female connector, and a crimp connection structure constituted by a male crimp terminal. A wire harness mounted on a male connector housing and having a male connector is configured. And wire harnesses can be electrically and physically connected by fitting a female connector and a male connector.

  The embodiment to which the invention made by the present inventors is applied has been described above, but the present invention is not limited by the description and the drawings that constitute a part of the disclosure of the present invention. That is, other embodiments, examples, operational techniques, and the like made by those skilled in the art based on this embodiment are all included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Crimp connection structure 10 Crimp terminal 30 Crimp part 31 Crimp surface 32 Barrel component piece 200 Covered electric wire 201 Aluminum core wire P Virtual plane R1, R2 End area X Longitudinal direction Y Width direction W1 Longitudinal direction welding place W2 Width direction welding place

Claims (5)

A crimping terminal comprising a fitting part for fitting and connecting a male crimping terminal with a spring structure, and a crimping part for crimping and connecting a covered electric wire,
The fitting portion is formed by a plate material Rutotomoni, the crimped portion is formed by a plate of a hollow shape,
The thickness of the plate material forming the fitting portion rather thin than the thickness of the plate material forming the crimping portion,
A sealed portion in which the end opposite to the end in the longitudinal direction of the plate member into which the conductor portion of the covered electric wire is inserted is sealed in the crimp portion formed of a plate material thicker than the plate member forming the fitting portion. Stops are provided
Crimp terminal characterized by that . The crimp terminal according to claim 1, wherein the sealing portion is sealed by overlapping two plate materials .   The thickness of the plate material forming the fitting portion is formed to be thinner than the thickness of the plate material forming the pressure bonding portion by forming the fitting portion and the pressure bonding portion with plate materials having different plate thicknesses. The crimp terminal according to claim 1 or 2. The opposing end portions of the barrel constituent pieces are welded along the longitudinal direction in the crimping portion, and are welded and sealed along the width direction of the crimping portion in the sealing portion. The crimp terminal according to any one of Items 1 to 3. A method of manufacturing a crimp terminal comprising: a fitting portion that sandwiches and connects a male crimp terminal with a spring structure; and a crimp portion that crimps and connects a covered electric wire,
Forming the fitting portion using a plate material thinner than the thickness of the plate material forming the crimp portion ;
Sealing the end of the crimping portion opposite to the end in the longitudinal direction of the plate material into which the conductor portion of the covered electric wire is inserted .

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