JPH07153502A - Crimp terminal assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a crimp terminal assembly in which rotation of an insert sleeve can be inhibited so as to prevent generation of a crack during, a crimp process. CONSTITUTION: A housing 10 comprises a barrel 11 and an insert sleeve 13. A notch 14 is formed at the insert sleeve 13. A projection 12 corresponding to the notch 13 is formed at the barrel 11. In crimping a strand 7 of a cable C, the notch 13 and the projection 12 engage with each other so as to inhibit rotation of the insert sleeve 13, thus preventing generation of a crack at a crimp terminal assembly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crimp terminal assembly or splice for aluminum wire or copper wire, and more particularly to a crimp terminal assembly having a non-rotating insert sleeve.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sealed terminals and splices are used for connectors that terminate individual aluminum and copper wires. These connectors are dry crimps that eliminate the need for antioxidants to strip oxides formed on aluminum and copper strands.
crimp) process to crimp aluminum and copper strands. With the dry crimp method, the connection part is sealed,
Reoxidation and corrosion after crimping are prevented.

Such high quality encapsulated copper terminations and finished wire of splices registered under the COPALUM trademark are supplied by Amp Incorporated, Harrisburg, PA, USA. .

US Pat. No. 3,955,044 discloses an insert sleeve located in the barrel portion of a terminal. Stranded wire, such as aluminum wire, is received within the insert sleeve. The insert sleeve is formed of a material having a hardness equal to or higher than the hardness of the wire. Further, the insert sleeve is a cylindrical sleeve with holes and slits. During the crimping process, aluminum or copper wire is extruded through the holes in the insert sleeve. This breaks the aluminum or copper oxide film on the stranded wire to increase the surface contact area and allows good electrical contact with the terminals.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a conventional terminal fully assembled and crimped. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the terminal of FIG. 11 before crimping. With reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, a conventional corrosion-proof sealed terminal 11 includes a hollow barrel 2 having an open end 3 for receiving an insert sleeve 4. The insert sleeve 4 is provided with slits and has a plurality of holes 5. A beveled insert ring 6 is received in the barrel 2 at the rear of the insert sleeve 4 to facilitate the insertion or introduction of the strand 7 (conductor) of the wire of the cable C. The terminal 1 further has a flat tongue piece 8, and a mounting hole 9 is formed in the tongue piece 8. The terminal 1 is preferably made of solid copper, but may be made of aluminum and plated with copper, tin, silver or the like. The cable C has a moisture-proof insulating jacket, which, if desired, may be further covered by a wear-resistant jacket.

After these parts are assembled, the terminal 1 is crimped to hold the stranded wire 7 of the wire as shown in FIG.
In the crimping process, the wire strands 7 are extruded through the holes 5 in the insert sleeve 4, as described in the aforementioned US Pat. No. 3,955,044.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in addition to terminating the stranded wire 7 of a single cable C, the stranded wires 7 of two individual cables are butt-connected (spliced). Good. Therefore, in the present invention, the terms "terminal" and "splice" are used interchangeably as the same term.

While achieving its intended purpose well, in marginal applications, the insert sleeve is susceptible to rotation due to wire twist prior to crimping. This can lead to cracks in the terminals during the crimping process.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to reduce terminal cracking due to misalignment under certain conditions due to terminal rotation during the crimping process, especially in the crimping process.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A crimp terminal assembly of the present invention is a crimped connector assembly that terminates the wire ends or abuts the corresponding ends of two wires in a crimped connector assembly. used. The housing of the connector assembly has a hollow barrel with one end open and an insert sleeve is received in the barrel and the housing is crimped over the insert sleeve and the wire to hold the wire.

According to the improved invention, the barrel is provided with a projection and the insert sleeve has a notch for receiving the projection. As such, the insert sleeve is circumferentially positioned with respect to the barrel to prevent relative rotation of each other and improves the strength of the heat dissipating housing and insert sleeve as the housing is crimped to the insert sleeve and wire.

As described above, the crimp terminal assembly of the present invention is
A metal barrel having an opening at least at one end and a metal insert sleeve inserted into the opening, wherein a conductor of a cable is inserted into the insert sleeve, and the insert sleeve and the barrel are crimped together to the cable. In the crimp terminal assembly to be mounted, the insert sleeve is provided with a notch, and the barrel is provided with a protrusion that engages with the notch and prevents rotation of the insert sleeve.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a crimp terminal assembly (hereinafter, simply referred to as a terminal) of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the terminal of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a vertical cross section of a housing for splice used in the terminal of FIG. Housing 10
Has a barrel 11 provided with a protrusion 12. The insert sleeve 13 then has a notch 14 that receives the protrusion 12 of the barrel 11. This causes the insert sleeve 13 to be keyed (positioned) in the circumferential direction with respect to the barrel 11 and prevent their relative rotation. This ensures that a suitable window is always maintained during the crimping process, thickening the walls of the barrel 11 and reinforcing the housing 10 and insert sleeve 13 with crimps 15 (see FIG. 4). Furthermore, heat dissipation is improved.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the terminal shown in FIG. 1, showing a state before crimping. As more clearly shown in FIG. 3, the housing 10 has an inner wall 16 separating the two barrels 11 and providing a water and gas tight seal. The barrel 11 is for abutting the twisted wires 7 of the wires of the two individual cables C.
Only one insert sleeve 13 is shown in FIG.
By abutting against 16, the insertion of the insert sleeve 13 into the barrel 11 of the housing 10 is restricted. The protrusion 12 protrudes from the inner wall 16 in the axial direction, inward of the barrel 11 of the housing 10 in the radial direction, and in the direction of the open end 17.

During the crimping process, the strands 7 of wire tend to project through holes 18 in the insert sleeve 13 as clearly shown in FIG.

The crimping operation is well known and involves a pair of cooperating molds, not shown. At the start of crimping, the mold first contacts the barrel 11 of the housing 10 and is then recessed. This causes the barrel 11 to be pressed together with the insert sleeve 13 and the wire strand 7. When the crimping operation is complete, a button 19 is formed on the top of barrel 11, as shown in FIG. 4, which indicates that the proper connection is complete.

When the wire strands 7 are made of aluminum or copper, the crimping operation causes the wire strands 7 to rub against each other to peel off the aluminum or copper oxide film. This is a cold weld that brings the stranded wires 7 into close contact with each other. If desired, the crimped housing 10 may be sealed with a heat shrink protection tube or the like (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 8, the brass tapered insertion ring 6 of the conventional example (FIGS. 12 and 13) is replaced with a plastic tapered insertion ring 20 (FIG. 8). ing. Insertion sleeve 20 with plastic taper insert ring 13
It is held by the annular convex portion 21 of the barrel 11 in the rear portion of the insertion ring 20 near the rear portion of the insertion ring 20.

The tapered insertion ring 20 is
The stranded wire 7 serves as a guide when it is inserted into the insert sleeve 13 in the barrel 11 of the housing 10.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a reusable funnel 22 may be used as an accessory to the housing 10. The funnel 22 has a front portion nipple 23 received in the barrel 11 of the housing 10. The insertion of the funnel 22 is restricted by an annular shoulder 24 formed on the funnel 22 and abutting the open end 17 of the barrel 11. The funnel 22 further has an internal tapered groove 25 which expands outwardly as shown in FIG. 10 for guiding the twisted wire 7 of the wire. This prevents the individual wire strands 7 of the cable C from spreading improperly. After the stranded wire 7 is inserted, the funnel
22 is removed before the crimping operation.

This funnel 22 is the most important accessory for inserting the expanded wire at the manufacturing stage. Without this funnel 22 it would be almost impossible to insert the entire bundle of wires into the barrel 11.

The funnel 22 is molded from an elastic material, or formed in a similar manner, and has a crevice 26 along at least one side thereof to allow the wire to be separated and removed from the wire 7 after full insertion. There is. If desired, the funnel 22 may be molded from two separate pieces, for example, as a molded hermaphroditic half (not shown). After the crimping, the halves can be separated and removed from the wire 7.

Referring again to FIG. 1, barrel 11 has an array of axial notches 27 for alignment and a pair of spaced annular notches 28 to indicate depth position. .

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.
It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made.

[0026]

In the crimp terminal of the present invention, the insert sleeve is provided with a notch, and the barrel is provided with a protruding portion that engages with the notch, so that the insert sleeve is prevented from rotating during crimping and a crack is formed in the crimp terminal assembly. It can be prevented from occurring and the strength of the crimp terminal assembly is not impaired. Therefore, the reliability of electrical connection can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a crimp terminal assembly of the present invention together with a cable to be crimped.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cross section of the crimp terminal assembly of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the crimp terminal assembly of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a crimp terminal assembly showing a state in which two cables are butted and crimp-connected.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a crimp terminal assembly of another embodiment of the present invention in which one cable is crimp-connected.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the crimp terminal assembly before crimping taken along line 6-6 in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the crimp terminal assembly after crimping taken along line 7-7 in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a barrel showing a plastic insertion ring.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a funnel that guides a wire.

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the funnel shown in FIG. 9 is incorporated in a barrel.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a conventional crimp terminal assembly after crimping.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional crimp terminal assembly together with a cable to be crimped.

FIG. 13 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a housing in which a conventional insertion ring is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 conductor 11 barrel 12 protrusion 13 insert sleeve 14 notch C cable

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Ralph Richard Goss United States Pennsylvania 17078 Palmyra Box 100 Road 2 (72) Inventor Richard Dean Heim United States Pennsylvania 17538 Landisville Church Street 571 (72) Invention Ronald Joseph Murray United States of America Pennsylvania 17538 Landisville Broad Street 251 (72) Inventor David Case Schram United States Pennsylvania 17529 Gordonville Old Phila Delphia Pike 3707 Apartment Number 1 (72) Inventor Albert Eugene・ Straight, USA Pennsylvania 17 601 Lancaster Elmey Drive 3212 (72) Inventor William Joseph Voccros 17111 Harrisburg Present Road 1149, Pennsylvania, United States

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A metal barrel having an opening at least at one end and a metal insert sleeve inserted into the opening, wherein a conductor of a cable is inserted into the insert sleeve to crimp both the insert sleeve and the barrel. In the crimp terminal assembly to be attached to the cable, the insert sleeve is provided with a notch, and the barrel is provided with a protrusion that engages with the notch and prevents rotation of the insert sleeve. Crimp terminal assembly.