JP7311320B2 - joint connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a joint connector that connects a plurality of terminals of a mating connector via a busbar.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, joint connectors provided with bus bars have been proposed for the purpose of, for example, connecting a plurality of electric wires extending from a plurality of electric/electronic devices provided in an automobile or the like.

For example, one of conventional joint connectors (hereinafter referred to as "conventional connector") is a bus bar having a plurality of pin terminals for fitting and connecting to terminals provided at the ends of a plurality of electric wires belonging to a mating connector. and a housing that accommodates the busbar. The plurality of pin terminals extend forward in the mating direction with the mating connector, and are connected to each other via connecting portions at the rear in the mating direction. That is, the plurality of pin terminals can be electrically connected to each other via the connecting portion. Furthermore, in the conventional connector, a cover is attached to the housing to prevent the bus bar from coming off after the bus bar is accommodated in the housing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-123918 JP 2014-220211 A

By the way, when actually using a joint connector, due to thermal deformation (that is, thermal expansion and thermal contraction) of the mating connector and terminals, dimensional accuracy in manufacturing, etc., the bus bar fixed to the joint connector and the mating side There is a possibility that there will be an axial misalignment with the connector terminals. If there is excessive axial misalignment, the frictional force between the busbar and the terminal increases, possibly impairing the workability of fitting the joint connector and the mating connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a joint connector capable of properly connecting terminals of a mating connector and bus bars of the joint connector.

In order to achieve the above object, a joint connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following [1].
[1] A joint connector that includes a bus bar and a housing that holds the bus bar, and connects a plurality of terminals of the mating connector through the bus bar when mated with the mating connector,
The busbar is
a plurality of terminal portions extending forward in a mating direction with the mating connector; and a connecting portion connecting the plurality of terminal portions behind the plurality of terminal portions in the mating direction,
The housing is
configured to hold the connecting portion of the busbar in a state in which it can move in an intersecting direction that intersects the fitting direction ;
The connecting portion of the busbar,
an extending portion extending rearward in the fitting direction; an engaging portion provided rearward in the fitting direction than the extending portion and having a larger size in the cross direction than the extending portion; has
The housing is
an opening that is elastically opened and closed so that the engaging portion can be inserted and sandwiches the extending portion with a gap in the cross direction; and the engaging portion that is inserted through the opening. a cavity that is accommodated with a gap in the transverse direction;
Must be a joint connector .

According to the joint connector having the configuration "1", the connecting portion of the busbar is held by the housing in a state in which the connecting portion is movable in the crossing direction crossing the fitting direction. Therefore, even if the terminals of the mating connector are displaced from their designed positions due to the above-described thermal deformation or the like, the busbars of the joint connector move in the crossing direction, thereby suppressing misalignment between the terminals and the busbars. . Therefore, the joint connector of this configuration enables proper connection between the terminals of the mating connector and the busbars of the joint connector.

Further, according to the joint connector having the configuration [ 1 ], the extending portion extending rearward in the fitting direction from the busbar is sandwiched between the openings of the housing, and the engaging portion located further rearward than the extending portion of the busbar. is received in the cavity of the housing. Further, a gap is provided in the cross direction between the extending portion of the bus bar and the housing and the opening, and a gap is provided in the cross direction between the engaging portion of the bus bar and the hollow portion of the housing. Therefore, if the sizes of these gaps are determined based on the amount of displacement of the mating connector and terminals due to the above-described thermal deformation, the busbars can be displaced using these gaps, thereby increasing the axial distance between the terminals and the busbars. It is possible to suppress misalignment.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the joint connector which can be appropriately connected with the terminal which a mating connector has, and the bus-bar which a joint connector has can be provided.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the following detailed description of the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state before mating between a joint connector and a mating connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2(a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2(b) is a partially enlarged view of region B in FIG. 2(a).

<Embodiment>
A joint connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a joint connector 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a busbar 10 and a housing 20 that holds the busbar 10. As shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, as shown in FIG. 1, "fitting direction", "width direction", "vertical direction", "front", "rear", "top" and "bottom" are defined. The "fitting direction", "width direction" and "vertical direction" are orthogonal to each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 20 accommodates the bus bar 10 from the front side thereof and is fitted with the mating connector 200 from the front side thereof. The joint connector 100 connects a plurality of terminals (not shown) belonging to the mating connector 200 to each other via the bus bar 10 in a predetermined conduction pattern (the number of wires, the combination of wires, the positions of the wires in the mating connector 200, etc.). ) to achieve a conductive connection.

First, the busbar 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2( a ), the metal bus bar 10 includes a plurality of pin terminals 11 and a connecting portion 12 extending in the width direction and connecting the rear ends of the plurality of pin terminals 11 . The plurality of pin terminals 11 extend forward in the fitting direction from the connecting portion 12 in parallel with each other so as to be arranged at equal intervals in the width direction. In addition, in this example, the bus bar 10 having seven pin terminals 11 is divided into a plurality of stages in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 2(b), on the rear end surface of the connecting portion 12 of each bus bar 10, an extension portion 12a extending rearward in the fitting direction and an extension portion 12a extending rearward in the fitting direction from the extension portion 12a are provided. and an engaging portion 12b having a larger size in the cross direction (that is, width direction) than the extending portion 12a. As will be described later, in the mated state, the engaging portion 12b is housed inside the hollow portion 26 through the opening 25 provided in the housing 20, and the housing 20 is mounted so that the bus bar 10 cannot be separated in the mating direction. is maintained at

Next, the housing 20 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 20 made of resin has a main body peripheral wall portion 21 in the shape of a rectangular tube elongated in the width direction, and a main body rear face portion 22 on the rear side in the fitting direction of the main body peripheral wall portion 21 . As shown in FIG. 2A, the mating connector 200 is fitted in the interior space S defined by the body peripheral wall portion 21 and the body rear face portion 22 along the fitting direction.

A plurality of projecting portions 23 and 24 projecting forward in the fitting direction are provided on a wall surface on the front side in the fitting direction of the main body back portion 22 (that is, a wall surface facing the internal space S). The protruding portions 23 and 24 adjacent to each other are arranged with a predetermined space a therebetween. Protruding ends of the protrusions 23 and 24 are provided with tip protrusions 23a and 24a that protrude in the width direction (intersecting direction) so as to face each other. The tip projections 23a and 24a are arranged apart from each other in the width direction (intersecting direction), and the space between the tip projections 23a and 24a functions as an opening 25 for receiving the engaging portion 12b of the busbar 10. .

More specifically, when the busbar 10 is assembled to the housing 20 , the engaging portion 12 b of the busbar 10 moves rearward in the fitting direction and passes through the opening 25 . At this time, the engaging portion 12b pushes and spreads the tip convex portions 23a and 24a apart from each other in the width direction (intersecting direction). The projections 23 and 24 are elastically curved toward the gap of the interval a, so that such movement of the tip projections 23a and 24a is possible. After the engaging portion 12b passes through the opening 25, both ends of the engaging portion 12b in the intersecting direction are engaged with the tip projections 23a and 24a in the fitting direction. As a result, the bus bar 10 is assembled so as not to separate from the housing 20 in the fitting direction.

The space sandwiched between the protrusions 23 and 24 in the width direction (intersecting direction) functions as a hollow portion 26 that passes through the opening 25 and accommodates the engaging portion 12b of the busbar 10 as described above. The engaging portion 12b of the bus bar 10 accommodated in the hollow portion 26 abuts on the wall surface on the rear side in the fitting direction of the hollow portion 26 (that is, the wall surface on the front side in the fitting direction of the main body back surface portion 22). As a result, the front and rear positions of the bus bar 10 in the fitting direction are determined.

Between the side surface of the hollow portion 26 in the width direction (intersecting direction) and the engaging portion 12b of the busbar 10, a gap of the interval b is provided. Similarly, between the side surfaces (that is, the projections 23 and 24) of the opening 25 in the width direction (intersecting direction) and the extending portion 12a of the bus bar 10, a gap c is provided. . These gaps allow the bus bar 10 to be displaced in the width direction (intersecting direction) as needed.

Next, the mating connector 200 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2(a), in this example, on the side surface of the main body 31 on the front side in the fitting direction, it is arranged in three stages along the vertical direction and arranged in a plurality of stages in the width direction. A plurality of terminal receiving chambers 32 are provided which are separately arranged. A female terminal (not shown) connected to an end of an electric wire (not shown) is accommodated in each of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 32 . It should be noted that female terminals do not necessarily have to be accommodated in all of the terminal accommodating chambers 32 .

As described above, according to the joint connector 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the coupling portion 12 of the busbar 10 is attached to the housing 20 in a state in which the coupling portion 12 is movable in the crossing direction that intersects the fitting direction. retained. Therefore, even if the terminals of the mating connector 200 are displaced from their designed positions due to the above-described thermal deformation or the like, the busbars 10 of the joint connector 100 move in the crossing direction so that the axes of the terminals and the busbars 10 are aligned. It is possible to suppress misalignment. Therefore, the joint connector 100 of this configuration can properly connect the terminals of the mating connector 200 and the busbars 10 of the joint connector 100 .

Further, the extending portion 12a extending rearward in the fitting direction from the busbar 10 is sandwiched between the openings 25 of the housing 20, and the engaging portion 12b further rearward than the extending portion 12a of the busbar 10 is positioned in the hollow portion of the housing 20. 26 is accommodated. Further, a gap is provided in the cross direction between the extending portion 12a of the busbar 10, the housing 20 and the opening 25, and a gap is provided between the engaging portion 12b of the busbar 10 and the hollow portion 26 of the housing 20 in the cross direction. A gap is provided in Therefore, if the size of these gaps is determined based on the amount of displacement of the body portion 31 and the terminals of the mating connector 200 caused by the above-described thermal deformation, the bus bar 10 can be displaced using these gaps. Axial misalignment between the terminal and the bus bar 10 can be suppressed.

<Other aspects>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified, improved, etc. as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are limited.

Here, the features of the embodiment of the joint connector 100 according to the present invention described above will be briefly summarized in [1] to [2] below.
[1]
a bus bar (10) and a housing (20) for holding the bus bar (10), wherein the bus bar (10) is provided between a plurality of terminals of the mating connector (200) when mated with the mating connector (200). A joint connector (100) connecting via (10),
The busbar (10) is
a plurality of terminal portions (11) extending forward in a fitting direction with the mating connector (200); and a plurality of terminal portions (11) behind the plurality of terminal portions (11) in the fitting direction. and a connecting portion (12) that connects the
The housing (20) comprises:
configured to hold the connecting portion (12) of the busbar (10) in a state of being movable in a crossing direction crossing the fitting direction;
Joint connector (100).
[2]
In the joint connector (100) according to [1] above,
The connecting portion (12) of the busbar (10) is
an extending portion (12a) extending rearward in the fitting direction; an engaging portion (12b) having a large size,
The housing (20) comprises:
an opening (25) elastically opened and closed to allow insertion of the engaging portion (12b) and sandwiching the extending portion (12a) with a gap in the cross direction; 25), and a hollow portion (26) that accommodates the engaging portion (12b) inserted in the cross direction with a gap in the cross direction;
Joint connector (100).

10 bus bar 11 pin terminal (terminal part)
12 Connecting Part 12a Extension 12b Engagement Part 20 Housing 25 Opening 26 Cavity 100 Joint Connector 200 Mating Connector

Claims (1)

A joint connector comprising a bus bar and a housing for holding the bus bar, and connecting a plurality of terminals of the mating connector through the bus bar when mated with the mating connector,
The busbar is
a plurality of terminal portions extending forward in a mating direction with the mating connector; and a connecting portion connecting the plurality of terminal portions behind the plurality of terminal portions in the mating direction,
The housing is
configured to hold the connecting portion of the busbar in a state in which it can move in an intersecting direction that intersects the fitting direction ;
The connecting portion of the busbar,
an extending portion extending rearward in the fitting direction; an engaging portion provided rearward in the fitting direction than the extending portion and having a larger size in the cross direction than the extending portion; has
The housing is
an opening that is elastically opened and closed so that the engaging portion can be inserted and sandwiches the extending portion with a gap in the cross direction; and the engaging portion that is inserted through the opening. a cavity that is accommodated with a gap in the transverse direction;
joint connector.

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