JP6252416B2 - Earth joint connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an earth joint connector.

  Patent document 1 discloses a conventionally known joint connector. This joint connector has a structure in which a joint terminal formed by projecting a plurality of tab portions integrally is incorporated in a connector housing.

  By the way, such a joint connector may be used for collectively grounding a plurality of electric devices. In such a case, the ground line drawn from each electric device is connected to a part of the tab portion of the joint terminal as a branch line, while the joint terminal is connected to the ground point provided on the body of the automobile as a trunk line, for example. May connect to other tabs.

JP 2009-140809 A

  However, if sufficient consideration is not given to the mutual positional relationship between the grounding main line and the branch line connected to the joint connector, the electrical equipment corresponding to the noise generated in a specific electric device superimposed on the other branch line There was a possibility of causing a malfunction.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an earth joint connector capable of effectively flowing noise generated in a device to an earth point.

The ground joint connector of the present invention is assembled in a connector housing, and a plurality of first terminal portions to which ground small-diameter wires from a plurality of devices are electrically connected and a large-diameter wire to be grounded are electrically connected. A joint terminal formed integrally and in parallel with the second terminal portion connected to the
In the joint terminal, the second terminal portion is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the first terminal portions in the parallel direction.

  In the present invention, the joint terminal is arranged such that the second terminal portion to which the large-diameter wire leading to the ground point is connected is sandwiched from the parallel direction by the first terminal portion to which the small-diameter wire for grounding from each device is connected. Is forming. For this reason, even when the noise generated in the device is superimposed on the small-diameter electric wire, the noise can surely flow to the earth point through the large-diameter electric wire. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which noise is superimposed on another small-diameter electric wire on which noise is not superimposed and a malfunction occurs in another device.

Exploded perspective view of earth joint connector A plan view of the ground joint connector showing a state where the small-diameter wire and the large-diameter wire are connected. AA line sectional view of FIG. Cross section of ground joint connector BB sectional view of FIG. Similarly CC line cross section Ground circuit diagram including the ground joint connector of this embodiment Earth circuit diagram for comparison with this embodiment

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the ground joint connector of the present invention, a small terminal fitting connected to the first terminal portion is connected to the tip of the small diameter electric wire, and a large terminal connected to the second terminal portion is connected to the tip of the large diameter electric wire. While the bracket is connected, the connector housing is mounted with a retainer formed with a first locking portion that locks the small terminal fitting and a second locking portion that locks the large terminal fitting. It may be.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the terminal fittings having different sizes from being detached by one retainer.

<Example>
Next, an embodiment in which the earth joint connector of the present invention is embodied will be described with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, a circuit using three earth joint connectors J1 to J3 will be described as shown in FIG. The ground joint connectors J1 to J3 all have substantially the same structure. As shown in FIG. 1, a connector housing 1 made of synthetic resin, a joint terminal 2 made of conductive metal, and a retainer 3 made of synthetic resin are provided.

  Taking the first earth joint connector J1 as an example, the structure of each earth joint connector will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of cavities 4A, 4B are formed in parallel in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4) in the connector housing 1 of the first earth joint connector J1. The cavity 4 of the present embodiment is composed of a wide large cavity 4A arranged in two chambers in the center in the width direction, and a narrow small cavity 4B provided in two chambers on the left and right sides so as to sandwich the cavity 4A in the width direction. Yes. One end side in the longitudinal direction of each of the large and small cavities 4A and 4B is opened as an insertion port 5 for terminal fittings 16 and 17 described later, and the other end side is opened as an insertion port 6 through which each terminal portion of the joint terminal 2 is inserted. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, lances 7 </ b> A and 7 </ b> B for preventing the terminal fittings 16 and 17 from being bent can be bent at the inner surface of each cavity 4 and closer to the insertion opening 6 than the central portion in the longitudinal direction. Is provided. The lance 7A provided in the large cavity 4A is arranged behind the lance 7B provided in the small cavity 4B in the insertion direction of the terminal fittings 16 and 17.

  A retainer mounting hole 8 is opened on the upper surface of the connector housing 1 shown in FIG. 1 and behind the lances 7A and 7B in the insertion direction of the terminal fittings 16 and 17. The retainer mounting hole 8 is formed so as to open over substantially the entire width of the connector housing 1 and communicate with all the cavities 4A and 4B.

  A housing chamber 9 for incorporating the joint terminal 2 is formed in a portion of the connector housing 1 in front of each insertion port 6. In the connector housing 1, a slit 10 for inserting the joint terminal 2 is opened along the width direction on the surface opposite to the surface on which each insertion port 5 is formed.

  The joint terminal 2 is formed of a flat plate made of conductive metal. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a base portion 11 that is long in the width direction and each terminal fitting 16 from one long side portion of the base portion 11, 17 and a plurality of terminal portions 12 and 13 projecting at a constant pitch in the width direction. When the joint terminal 2 is accommodated in the accommodating chamber 9 through the slit 10, the base portion 11 is sandwiched by the wall surface of the accommodating chamber 9 from the thickness direction in a pressure contact state, thereby preventing the joint terminal 2 from coming off. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 4, of the terminal portions 12 and 13, two terminal portions located in the central portion in the parallel direction are the second terminal portions 13, and the remaining ones are the first terminal portions 12. The second terminal portion 13 is formed wider than the first terminal portion 12. In the present embodiment, both the second terminal portions 13 are formed to have the same width, and the first terminal portions 12 are also formed to have the same width. . The second terminal portion 13 is arranged so as to be sandwiched by the first terminal portion 12 from the parallel direction, and the entire joint terminal 2 is formed symmetrically about the central axis in the width direction. Moreover, both the 2nd terminal parts 13 are formed slightly longer than each 1st terminal part 12, and the position of the protrusion end of both the 2nd terminal parts 13 is from the position of the protrusion end of each 1st terminal part 12. Also protrudes slightly forward.

  FIG. 7 is a ground circuit diagram in which the respective ground joint connectors J1 to J3 are incorporated. For example, the earth circuit diagram used for the various electric equipment K mounted in the motor vehicle is shown. For the first ground joint connector J1, small-diameter wires 14 serving as ground lines are drawn from the four electric devices K shown in the drawing. On the other hand, two large-diameter wires 15A and 15B (lower resistance than the small-diameter wire 14) are drawn from the first ground joint connector. One of them 15A is pulled out toward the earth point E set in the body of the automobile, and the other 15B is pulled out toward the second joint connector J2.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a small terminal fitting 16 is connected to the tip of each small-diameter wire 14. The small terminal fitting 16 has a rectangular tube portion 16A connected to the first terminal portion 12, and as shown in FIG. 6, a locking projection 16B to be locked to the lance 7B is formed on one surface thereof. .

  A large terminal fitting 17 is connected to the tip of the large diameter electric wire 15. The large terminal fitting 17 also has a rectangular tube portion 17A connected to the second terminal portion 13, and a lance hole 17B in which the lance 7A is locked is opened on one surface thereof as shown in FIG.

  The retainer 3 is attached to a retainer attachment hole 8 formed in the connector housing 1. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the retainer 3 is formed with a first locking portion 18 that can be locked to the small terminal fitting 16 and a second locking portion 19 that can be locked to the large terminal fitting 17. Yes. Both locking portions 18 and 19 can be locked to the rear ends of the rectangular tube portions 16A and 17A with respect to any of the terminal fittings 16 and 17. However, with the small terminal fittings 16 and the large terminal fittings 17 inserted to the corresponding cavities 4 to the normal depth, the positions of the rear ends of the rectangular tube portions 16A and 17A are positioned forward of the small terminal fittings 16. In addition, since the large terminal fitting 17 is positioned rearward, the front end position of the second locking portion 19 is also shifted rearward from the front end position of the first locking portion 18 in the retainer 3. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of side pieces 21 are formed at both ends in the width direction of the retainer 3, and a lock claw 20 protrudes from the leading edge of the inner surface of the both side pieces 21. On the other hand, although not shown in detail, a temporary locking claw and a final locking claw are provided in the retainer mounting hole 8. Of both the locking claws, the temporary locking claw is provided at a shallow position and the main locking claw is provided at a deep position, and can be selectively locked with the locking claw 20. When the retainer 3 is in the temporary locking position, the first locking portion 18 and the second locking portion 19 are both retracted from the corresponding cavities 4 so that both terminal fittings 16 and 17 can be inserted and removed. When in the locking position, the first and second locking portions 18 and 19 enter the corresponding cavities 4 and lock into the terminal fittings 16 and 17, and the terminal fittings 16 and 17 are moved together with the lances 7A and 7B. Double-stop.

  As described above, the second ground joint connector J2 has the same structure as the first ground joint connector J1 in the basic configuration, and the joint terminal 2 of the second ground joint connector is also wide and long at the center in the width direction. The second terminal portion 13 is disposed, and the narrow and short first terminal portion 12 is disposed so as to sandwich the second terminal portion 13. Small terminal fittings 16 of small-diameter electric wires 14 led out from various electric devices K are connected to the first terminal portions 12 in the second earth joint connector J2. In addition, a large terminal fitting 17 is connected to the tip of the other large-diameter wire 15B drawn out from the first ground joint connector J1 (the wire that does not face the ground point E), and one end of the second ground joint connector J2 is connected. It is connected to the second terminal portion 13 (second terminal portion on the right side in the figure).

  The large terminal fitting 17 is also connected to the other second terminal portion (the second terminal portion on the left side in the drawing) of the second earth joint connector J2. The large diameter electric wire 15C connected to the large terminal fitting 17 is the It is routed toward the three earth joint connector J3 and is connected to one second terminal portion 13 via the large terminal fitting 17.

  In each of the embodiments, in the third earth joint connector J3, the large terminal fitting 17 is not connected to the other second terminal portion. In addition, a small terminal fitting 16 is connected to each first terminal portion 12, and is connected to various electric devices K via a small-diameter electric wire 14.

  Next, the function and effect of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. In the present embodiment, the paths of the small-diameter electric wires 14 drawn out from the various electrical devices K to the corresponding ground joint connectors J1 to J3 constitute branch lines, and the large terminal fittings 17 between the ground joint connectors J1 to J3 are connected to each other. The large-diameter electric wires 15B and 15C and the large-diameter electric wire 15A from one large terminal fitting 17 to the earth point E in the first earth joint connector J1 constitute a trunk line.

  In such a ground circuit, when noise is generated in a specific electrical device K, the noise is superimposed on the corresponding small-diameter wire 14. For example, even if noise occurs in any of the electrical devices K connected to the second or third earth joint connectors J2 and J3, the trunk line as the earth path is arranged in the center in both the earth joint connectors J2 and J3. Therefore, the noise current from the corresponding small-diameter wire is likely to flow to the second or first ground joint connector J1 through the main line route. This is the same for the noise generated in any of the electric devices K connected to the first ground joint connector J1. After all, the noise is generated in the electric devices connected to any of the ground joint connectors. Even if it occurs, since the trunk line as the ground path is arranged at the center, the noise current easily flows to the ground point E through the trunk line. Thus, since noise does not propagate to other branch lines, malfunction of the electric device K can be avoided in advance.

  For comparison, the ground circuit in FIG. 8 is shown. In any of the ground joint connectors J1 to J3 in FIG. 8, two trunk lines (with small diameter electric wires 14) are sandwiched between the two trunk lines ( (Formed by a large-diameter electric wire 15). With such a circuit configuration, when noise is superimposed on any one of the branch lines in the center, the noise is propagated exclusively to other adjacent branch lines, which may cause a malfunction in the corresponding electrical device K. In that respect, according to the ground circuit of the present application, since the branch line is arranged across the trunk line, the noise on the branch line can be reliably dropped to the ground point E, and the normal operation of the electric device K is ensured. Can do.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the joint terminal 2 is assembled into the connector housing 1 by press fitting, but may be assembled into the connector housing 1 by insert molding.
(2) In the above embodiment, two trunk lines and four branch lines are set, but the number should not be limited.
(3) Although the branch line and the trunk line are arranged symmetrically in the above-described embodiment, they are not necessarily arranged symmetrically. In short, it is sufficient that the main line is in an arrangement relationship such that the main line is sandwiched between the branch lines from the width direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector housing 2 ... Joint terminal 3 ... Retainer 12 ... 1st terminal part 13 ... 2nd terminal part 18 ... 1st latching part 19 ... 2nd latching part J ... Earth joint connector K ... Equipment E ... Earth point

Claims (2)

A connector housing;
A plurality of first terminal parts assembled in the connector housing and electrically connected to ground small-diameter wires from a plurality of devices, and a second terminal electrically connected to large-diameter wires connected to a ground point A joint terminal formed integrally and in parallel with the part,
In the joint terminal, the second terminal portion is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the first terminal portions in a parallel direction.   A small terminal fitting connected to the first terminal portion is connected to the tip of the small diameter electric wire, and a large terminal fitting connected to the second terminal portion is connected to the tip of the large diameter electric wire, The retainer in which the 1st latching part latched to the said small terminal metal fitting and the 2nd latching part latched to the said large terminal metal fitting are formed in the connector housing. The described ground joint connector.

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