JP7436303B2 - joint connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a joint connector.

Patent Document 1 describes a technique regarding a joint connector in which a first inner housing holding a terminal fitting and a second inner housing are assembled to an outer housing. In the joint connector described in this document, the terminal fitting is held by sandwiching the bus bar, which is a connecting portion that connects each needle-shaped terminal portion, between the first inner housing and the second inner housing.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-221909

By the way, in a joint connector, when the connected mating connector is pulled out, the pulling force is applied to the terminal fitting. Furthermore, when this joint connector is mounted on a vehicle, vibrations generated when the vehicle is running are also applied to the terminal fittings. When such pull-out force and vibration are applied to the terminal fittings held in the first inner housing and the second inner housing, the terminal fittings become loose and the connection reliability with the terminal fittings of the mating connector decreases. There is a risk of

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a joint connector that can suppress the occurrence of wobbling of terminal fittings and obtain high connection reliability.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A first housing having a fitting recess into which a mating connector is fitted, a second housing assembled to the first housing, and a plurality of terminal portions connected to the bus bar portion and extending in the same direction. and a joint terminal in which the bus bar part is press-fitted into a press-fit groove formed in the second housing and assembled to the second housing, and the terminal part of the joint terminal is attached to the first housing. When the second housing is assembled into the fitting recess, the second housing is placed in the fitting recess and is electrically connected to the terminal fitting of the mating connector fitted into the fitting recess. It has a protrusion that protrudes in a direction opposite to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out from the mating recess and is disposed without a gap with respect to the bus bar portion of the joint terminal, and the protrusion is configured to extend the first housing toward the first housing. 2. Due to the assembly force when the housing is assembled, the housing contacts the bus bar portion and is elastically deformed or plastically deformed.
A joint connector characterized by:

According to the joint connector having the configuration (1) above, the protrusion of the first housing that protrudes in the opposite direction to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out is arranged without any gap with respect to the bus bar portion of the joint terminal. Therefore, even if a pulling force is applied to the joint terminal when pulling out the mating connector from the fitting recess, the bus bar part is supported by the protrusion, so that the bus bar part is press-fitted into the press-fitting groove of the second housing. It is possible to suppress slippage. Thereby, even when the mating connector is reconnected, high connection reliability with the terminal fitting of the mating connector can be obtained. Further, even if vibrations generated when the vehicle is running are applied to the joint terminal, since the bus bar portion is supported by the protrusion, it is possible to suppress the bus bar portion of the joint terminal from slipping out of the press-fit groove due to vibration. Thereby, connection reliability with the terminal fitting of the mating connector can be maintained.

Further, according to the joint connector having the configuration ( 1 ) above, when the second housing is assembled to the first housing, the protrusion comes into contact with the bus bar part due to the assembly force and is deformed elastically or plastically. Therefore, while absorbing variations in dimensional tolerances of the first housing, the second housing, and the joint terminal, the protrusion can be easily arranged with respect to the bus bar without any gaps.

( 2 ) A plurality of ferrite core accommodating portions are provided between the first housing and the second housing, each of which can accommodate a plurality of ferrite cores each having a through hole through which the terminal portion is inserted, and The joint connector according to (1) above, wherein a gap is provided between the ferrite core accommodated in the core accommodating portion and the bus bar portion along the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out.

According to the joint connector having the configuration ( 2 ) above, when the ferrite core is accommodated in the ferrite core accommodating portion, a gap is provided between the ferrite core and the bus bar portion. Furthermore, the protrusion prevents the joint terminal from coming off. Therefore, even when applying a pulling force due to pulling out the mating connector or when applying vibrations that occur when the vehicle is running, a gap is secured between the bus bar part of the joint terminal and the ferrite core, and the gap between the bus bar part and the ferrite core is maintained. It is possible to suppress interference with

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a joint connector that can suppress the occurrence of rattling of terminal fittings and obtain high connection reliability.

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

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a joint connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the joint connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the rear of the joint connector shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the outer housing shown in FIG. 1 from the rear. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the outer housing shown in FIG. 4, in which (a) is a rear view, and (b) is a BB sectional view and a partially enlarged view in (a). 2 is a diagram illustrating the assembly of the inner housing shown in FIG. 1, in which (a) is a perspective view of the inner housing to which the joint terminal is assembled, and (b) is a perspective view of the inner housing to which the joint terminal is assembled. be. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the inner housing and ferrite core shown in FIG. 1, in which (a) is a perspective view of the inner housing to which the ferrite core is installed, and (b) is a perspective view of the inner housing to which the ferrite core is installed. be. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a contact state of a protruding portion of a joint terminal with a bus bar portion, and (a) and (b) are respectively enlarged views of portion C in FIG. 8. FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a joint connector 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the joint connector 1 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the joint connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 from the rear.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the joint connector 1 according to the present embodiment includes an outer housing (first housing) 10, an inner housing (second housing) 20, a plurality of ferrite cores 40, and a pair of joints. It has a terminal 50. Note that the plurality of ferrite cores 40 are installed depending on the purpose.

A mating connector (not shown) is fitted and connected to the joint connector 1 from the front side. The joint connector 1 forms a joint circuit of a wire harness wired in a vehicle by being connected to a mating connector.

The outer housing 10 and the inner housing 20 are molded from synthetic resin having electrical insulation properties.

The outer housing 10 is formed into a box shape. The outer housing 10 has a connecting portion 11 on the front side, and the connecting portion 11 has a plurality of fitting recesses 12 that are open on the front side. Terminal holding portions (not shown) of a mating connector are fitted into these fitting recesses 12 .

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the outer housing 10 shown in FIG. 1 from the rear. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the outer housing 10 shown in FIG. 4, in which (a) is a rear view, and (b) is a BB sectional view and a partially enlarged view in (a).

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (a) and (b), the outer housing 10 has a mounting recess 13 on the rear side, and the inner housing 20 is fitted into this mounting recess 13 and assembled. . Locking pawls 14 are formed on both side wall portions of the mounting recess 13 at the rear of the outer housing 10 .

The outer housing 10 has a partition wall 15 that partitions a fitting recess 12 and a mounting recess 13. A plurality of convex portions 16 are formed on the surface 13a of the partition wall 15 on the mounting recess 13 side. A pair of insertion holes 17 passing through the partition wall 15 are formed in these protrusions 16 at upper and lower positions of the protrusions 16 . The convex portion 16 in which the pair of insertion holes 17 are formed is formed at a position corresponding to each fitting recess 12 .

Furthermore, a plurality of support walls 18 are provided protruding from the surface 13a of the partition wall 15 on the mounting recess 13 side. These support walls 18 are formed between the protrusions 16 in which the insertion holes 17 are formed, and protrude toward the rear side of the outer housing 10, which is the opposite direction to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out from the fitting recess 12. has been done. This support wall 18 protrudes beyond the convex portion 16.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a rib 19, which is a protrusion, is integrally formed at the tip of the support wall 18. As shown in FIG. The rib 19 is thinner than the support wall 18 and protrudes toward the rear side of the outer housing 10, which is the opposite direction to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out from the fitting recess 12.

6 is a diagram illustrating the assembly of the inner housing 20 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner housing 20.

As shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the inner housing 20 has a wall portion 21, and the side of the wall portion 21 that is attached to the outer housing 10 is an attachment portion 21a. . A pair of press-fit grooves 22 are formed in the wall portion 21 on the side to be assembled to the outer housing 10 . These press-fit grooves 22 are arranged parallel to each other at intervals in the center position of the inner housing 20 in the height direction, and are formed across the width direction of the inner housing 20. Further, a plurality of ferrite core accommodating portions 23 are provided in the assembly portion 21a of the inner housing 20. These ferrite core accommodating parts 23 are arranged in the width direction of the inner housing 20 and are provided corresponding to the fitting recesses 12 of the outer housing 10. Each ferrite core accommodating portion 23 has holding pieces 24 at its upper and lower positions. These holding pieces 24 are formed so as to gradually protrude inside the ferrite core accommodating portion 23 toward the rear. Furthermore, locking recesses 25 are formed in the inner housing 20 on both sides of the wall portion 21 .

The joint terminal 50 has a plurality of (four in this example) terminal portions 51 and a bus bar portion 52. The joint terminal 50 is made of a conductive metal plate made of, for example, copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, etc., and is formed by press working or the like. The plurality of terminal portions 51 of the joint terminal 50 are formed into a rod shape with a rectangular cross-sectional view, and are integrally formed with a bus bar portion 52 formed into a band shape. These terminal portions 51 extend in the same direction from the bus bar portion 52 and are arranged in parallel at intervals.

The joint terminal 50 is assembled to the inner housing 20 by press-fitting the bus bar part 52 into the press-fitting groove 22 of the wall part 21 from the assembly part 21 a of the inner housing 20 . When the joint terminals 50 are assembled to the inner housing 20, the terminal portions 51 of these joint terminals 50 are projected toward the side for assembly to the outer housing 10. These terminal portions 51 are arranged in pairs, one above the other, in the ferrite core accommodating portion 23 of the inner housing 20 .

The ferrite core 40 is made of a magnetic material and has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front. In this ferrite core 40, two through holes 42 having a circular cross section and passing through the front and back sides are formed at intervals in the longitudinal direction.

7 is a diagram illustrating the inner housing 20 and ferrite core 40 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inner housing 20 installed.

As shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), in order to attach the ferrite core 40 to the inner housing 20, the ferrite core is accommodated in the inner housing 20 while inserting the terminal portion 51 of the joint terminal 50 into the through hole 42. Push it into section 23. As a result, the ferrite core 40 is installed in the ferrite core accommodating portion 23 in a housed state. When the ferrite cores 40 are pushed into the ferrite core accommodating part 23, each ferrite core 40 is held between the upper and lower sides by the holding pieces 24 provided in the ferrite core accommodating part 23.

Note that the ferrite core 40 is selectively attached to the inner housing 20 to which the joint terminal 50 is assembled. Thereby, the joint connector 1 can be either a ferrite core-equipped type in which the ferrite core 40 is attached or a ferrite-core non-equipped type in which the ferrite core 40 is not attached. Therefore, when the joint connector 1 is of a type in which a ferrite core is not attached, the ferrite core 40 is not attached to the inner housing 20 in which the joint terminal 50 is assembled.

To assemble the inner housing 20 to the outer housing 10, the inner housing 20 is fitted into the mounting recess 13 on the rear side of the outer housing 10. When the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10 in this way, the terminal portion 51 of the joint terminal 50 is inserted into the insertion hole 17 formed in the partition wall 15 of the outer housing 10. Thereby, each terminal portion 51 is arranged in the fitting recess 12 of the outer housing 10. Furthermore, the locking claws 14 of the outer housing 10 are locked in locking recesses 25 on both sides of the inner housing 20 . This maintains the state in which the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10.

In a ferrite core attachment type joint connector 1 in which an inner housing 20 equipped with a ferrite core 40 is assembled to an outer housing 10, a ferrite core accommodating portion 23 is located between a partition wall 15 of the outer housing 10 and a wall portion 21 of the inner housing 20. A ferrite core 40 is housed in the ferrite core 40 .

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the contact state of the rib 19 to the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50, and (a) and (b) are respectively enlarged views of the C section in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the joint connector 1 in which the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10, the support wall 18 protruding from the partition wall 15 of the outer housing 10 is arranged to be passed between the ferrite cores 40. .

As shown in FIG. 9(a), the support wall 18 disposed between the ferrite cores 40 has a rib 19 formed at its tip that connects to the bus bar portion 50 of the joint terminal 50 assembled to the inner housing 20. are placed without any gaps between them.

Note that depending on the dimensional tolerances of the outer housing 10, the inner housing 20, and the joint terminal 50, the rib 19 may interfere with the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50 when the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10. At this time, the ribs 19 integrally molded on the outer housing 10 made of synthetic resin are pressed against the bus bar portion 52 by the assembly force and are elastically or plastically deformed, as shown in FIG. 9(b). Thereby, dimensional tolerances of the outer housing 10, the inner housing 20, and the joint terminal 50 are absorbed.

Furthermore, when the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10, a slight gap G is provided between the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50 and the ferrite core 40, and a slight gap G is provided between the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50 and the ferrite core 40. Interference with the core 40 is suppressed.

In this way, when the mating connector is connected to the joint connector 1 in which the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10, the terminal holding portion of the mating connector is fitted into the fitting recess 12 of the outer housing 10. . As a result, the female terminal (terminal fitting) housed in the terminal holding portion of the mating housing and the terminal portion 51 of the joint terminal 50 of the joint connector 1 are electrically connected, and the joint of the wire harness wired to the vehicle is electrically connected. A circuit is formed. Here, if the ferrite core-equipped joint connector 1 is used, the effect of reducing noise in the joint circuit can be obtained. Furthermore, if noise reduction is not required in the joint circuit, a joint connector 1 without a ferrite core is used. This ferrite core non-attached type joint connector 1 is lightweight and low cost because it does not include the ferrite core 40.

By the way, in the joint connector 1, when the connected mating connector is pulled out, the pulling force is applied to the joint terminal 50. Furthermore, when this joint connector 1 is mounted on a vehicle, vibrations generated when the vehicle is running are also applied to the joint terminals 50. If the joint terminal 50 is displaced due to such a pulling force or vibration being applied to the joint terminal 50, there is a possibility that the reliability of the connection with the female terminal of the mating connector will be reduced.

According to the joint connector 1 according to the present embodiment, the ribs 19 of the outer housing 10 that protrude in a direction opposite to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out are arranged without gaps with respect to the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50. Therefore, even if a pulling force is applied to the joint terminal 50 when pulling out the mating connector from the fitting recess, the bus bar part 52 is supported by the ribs 19, so the bus bar part 52 is press-fitted into the press-fit groove 22 of the inner housing 20. It is possible to prevent the joint terminal 50 from coming off. Thereby, even when the mating connector is reconnected, high connection reliability with the female terminal of the mating connector can be obtained. Furthermore, even if vibrations generated when the vehicle is running are applied to the joint terminal 50, the bus bar portion 52 is supported by the ribs 19, so that it is possible to prevent the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50 from slipping out of the press-fit groove 22 due to vibration. can. Thereby, connection reliability with the female terminal of the mating connector can be maintained.

Further, when the inner housing 20 is assembled to the outer housing 10, the rib 19 comes into contact with the bus bar portion 52 and is elastically or plastically deformed due to the assembly force. Therefore, the ribs 19 can be easily arranged with respect to the bus bar portion 52 without any gaps while absorbing variations in the dimensional tolerances of the outer housing 10, the inner housing 20, and the joint terminals 50.

Note that the force required for elastic deformation or plastic deformation of the rib 19 is greater than the pulling force when pulling out the mating connector. Furthermore, the ribs 19 have a strength that does not cause elastic or plastic deformation even when subjected to vibrations that occur when the vehicle is running.

Further, according to the joint connector 1 according to the present embodiment, when the ferrite core 40 is accommodated in the ferrite core accommodating portion 32, a gap G is provided between the ferrite core 40 and the bus bar portion 52. Moreover, the rib 19 prevents the joint terminal 50 from coming off. Therefore, even when applying a pulling force due to pulling out the mating connector or when applying vibrations that occur when the vehicle is running, the gap G between the bus bar portion 52 of the joint terminal 50 and the ferrite core 40 is secured, and these bus bars are Interference between the portion 52 and the ferrite core 40 can be suppressed.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, 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 embodiments are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

Here, the features of the embodiments of the joint connector according to the present invention described above will be briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [3].
[1] A first housing (outer housing 10) having a fitting recess (12) into which a mating connector is fitted;
a second housing (inner housing 20) assembled to the first housing (outer housing 10);
It has a plurality of terminal parts (51) connected to a bus bar part (52) and extending in the same direction, and the bus bar part (52) is connected to a press-fit groove (22) formed in the second housing (inner housing 20). ) and assembled into the second housing (inner housing 20);
Equipped with
The terminal portion (51) of the joint terminal (50) is arranged in the fitting recess (12) by assembling the second housing (inner housing 20) to the first housing (outer housing 10). , electrically connected to a terminal fitting of the mating connector that is fitted into the fitting recess (12);
The first housing (outer housing 10) protrudes in a direction opposite to the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out from the fitting recess (12), and forms a gap with respect to the bus bar portion (52) of the joint terminal (50). A joint connector characterized in that it has a protrusion (rib 19) that is arranged without any problem.
[2] The protrusion (rib 19) comes into contact with the bus bar portion (52) due to the assembly force when the second housing (inner housing 20) is assembled to the first housing (outer housing 10). The joint connector according to item [1] above, wherein the joint connector is elastically deformed or plastically deformed in contact with each other.
[3] Between the first housing (outer housing 10) and the second housing (inner housing 20), a plurality of ferrite cores (1) each having a through hole (42) through which the terminal portion (51) is inserted. 40), each having a plurality of ferrite core housing parts (32),
A gap (G) along the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out is provided between the ferrite core (40) accommodated in the ferrite core accommodating section (32) and the bus bar section (52). The joint connector as described in [1] or [2] above.

1...Joint connector 10...Outer housing (first housing)
12... Fitting recess 19... Rib (protrusion)
20...Inner housing (second housing)
22...Press-fitting groove 32...Ferrite core accommodating part 40...Ferrite core 42...Through hole 50...Joint terminal 51...Terminal part 52...Bus bar part G...Gap

Claims (2)

a first housing having a fitting recess into which a mating connector is fitted;
a second housing assembled to the first housing;
a joint terminal having a plurality of terminal parts connected to a bus bar part and extending in the same direction, the bus bar part being press-fitted into a press-fitting groove formed in the second housing and assembled to the second housing;
Equipped with
The terminal portion of the joint terminal is disposed in the fitting recess when the second housing is assembled to the first housing, and is electrically connected to the terminal fitting of the mating connector fitted in the fitting recess. connected to
The first housing has a protrusion that protrudes in a direction opposite to a direction in which the mating connector is pulled out from the fitting recess and is disposed without a gap with respect to the bus bar portion of the joint terminal,
The protrusion is elastically or plastically deformed by coming into contact with the bus bar due to an assembly force when the second housing is assembled to the first housing.
A joint connector characterized by: A plurality of ferrite core accommodating portions each capable of accommodating a plurality of ferrite cores each having a through hole through which the terminal portion is inserted is provided between the first housing and the second housing;
A gap is provided between the ferrite core accommodated in the ferrite core accommodating portion and the bus bar portion along the direction in which the mating connector is pulled out.
The joint connector according to claim 1, characterized in that:

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