JPH0879948A - Clip with joint function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To connect respective wires with no slack while reducing the occupation space. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of terminal containing parts 13 are juxtaposed in the circumferential direction on the outer circumference of a band 12 wound around a wire harness 19. Terminals of predetermined wires 19a, among the wires 19a constituting the wire harness 19, are then fitted in the terminal containing parts 13. A thin conductive plate 25 extends between respective terminal containing parts 13 and interconnect predetermined terminals electrically.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clip with a joint function used for electrically connecting some of a plurality of electric wires constituting a wire harness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a joint box 1 as shown in FIG. 5 is used to electrically connect desired wires among a plurality of wires constituting a wire harness.
The joint box 1 includes a box body 4 having a plurality of fitting holes 3 in a box-shaped case 2 opening in one direction.
Is accommodated. The busbar 5 is accommodated in the case 2, and each leg portion 6 of the busbar 5 projects into each fitting hole 3. Then, with the box body 4 accommodated in the case 2, the fitting hole 3 opened at one end is
By fitting a terminal 8 provided at the tip of each electric wire 7, the electric wires 7 are electrically connected to each other via the bus bar 5. In general, the joint box 1 having such a configuration may be fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the wire harness 10 by the tape 9 due to a problem such as an installation place.

[0003]

However, the joint box 1 is composed of the case 2 and the box body 4.
In addition to being made of a member, the bus bar 5 must be housed inside, so there is a limit to miniaturization. Therefore, when the joint box 1 is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the wire harness 10 with the tape 9, the wire harness 1
0, a space is formed between the joint box 1 and the tape 9. This space does not play any role in terms of function, and becomes a so-called dead space S, which occupies a space larger than the size of the joint box 1. Therefore, in consideration of such a space, the wire harness 10
Has to be installed, and there is a problem that it cannot be installed depending on the location.

Further, the joint box 1 needs to be arranged such that its longitudinal direction is along the extending direction of the wire harness 10 in order to suppress the dead space S as much as possible. Therefore, the fitting hole 3 opens laterally, and when fitting the terminals 8, the distances from the electric wires 7 are different. In this case, since the terminal 8 is attached to each electric wire 7 in advance, the electric wire 7 closer to the fitting hole 3 to be connected is slackened, and a so-called extra length portion is generated.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clip with a joint function which can occupy a small space and can electrically connect each electric wire without slackening.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, a plurality of terminal accommodating portions are arranged side by side in the circumferential direction on the outer circumference of the band wound around the wire harness, and the terminals are arranged. Among the electric wires that compose the wire harness, the terminals are fitted into the housing, and the terminals connected to the required wires are fitted between the terminal housings, and the conductive thin plate is extended.
The predetermined terminals are electrically connected via the conductive thin plate. As the conductive thin plate, it is possible to use a material obtained by punching a material having conductivity such as copper into a thin plate shape, or an FPC (flexible printed circuit) having a copper foil formed on the surface thereof.

According to the second aspect of the invention, a fixing portion fixed to the vehicle body is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the band. As the structure of this fixing portion, a press-fitting hole into which the protruding portion of the vehicle body is press-fitted, or a structure that is substantially arrow-shaped and is elastically returned and locked after being inserted into a through hole formed in the vehicle body is used. It is possible.

[0008]

According to the structure of the invention described in claim 1, when the band is wound around the wire harness, the terminal accommodating portions are arranged in parallel along the circumferential direction of the wire harness. The terminal connected to the end of the electric wire is fitted into the terminal accommodating portion along the direction in which the wire harness extends. The terminals are electrically connected to each other via a conductive thin plate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the band wound around the wire harness is fixed to a desired position of the vehicle body by the fixing portion.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a clip 11 with a joint function according to the present invention has a structure in which a plurality of terminal accommodating portions 13 are arranged in parallel on one surface of a band 12. As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the band 12 is wide at a central portion where the terminal accommodating portions 13 are arranged in parallel, and a plurality of locking claws are formed on the outer surface at one end side in a sawtooth shape. 14 is projectingly provided, and the other end is bulged to the outer surface side, and a locking hole 15 through which the end on the locking claw 14 side is inserted and locked is formed therein.

A vehicle fixing portion 16 is provided near the terminal accommodating portion 13 on the side of the locking hole 15 so that it can be fixed to the vehicle body or the like. The vehicle fixing portion 16 includes a locking projection 17 that projects outward from the center in the shape of an arrow, and the locking projection 1.
The elastic pieces 18 extend obliquely outward in the protruding direction from both sides of 7. When the locking protrusion 17 is inserted into the through hole of the vehicle body or the like, after the blade portions 17a on both sides are elastically deformed inward,
By returning to the shape, it is locked in the through hole. At this time, the elastic piece 18 is elastically deformed and comes into pressure contact with the vehicle body, so that the engaged state is ensured.

The terminal accommodating portion 13 is a box-like member arranged in parallel on the outer surface of the band 12, and has only one end opening in the width direction of the band 12 and is connected to the end of the electric wire 19a. Are fitted and connected. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal accommodating portion 13 is formed with a cutout portion 21 on the lower portion of the side surface of the opening (on the side of the band 12), and the surface of the band 12 at that position is gradually raised toward the inside. The lock receiving portion 22 is provided so as to project. In addition, the terminal accommodating portion 1
An abutting portion 23 is provided so as to project from the lower end surface of the side opposite to the opening portion of No. 3, and an engaging piece 24 is extended from the ceiling surface facing the band 12.

The electric connection between the electric wires by the terminal accommodating portion 13 is made through an FPC (flexible printed circuit) 25. This F
The PC 25 is a thin plate in which a plurality of strips 25a arranged in parallel are connected by a connecting portion 25b on one end side, and a copper foil 26 is provided on the surface thereof. F with such a configuration
The PC 25 is adapted to be inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 13 via the cutout portion 21. That is, FPC25
When the connecting portion 25b gets over the lock receiving portion 22 and the strip portion 25a abuts the abutting portion 23, the connecting portion 25b
Is fixed by being locked by the lock receiving portion 22.

A terminal 20 attached to the tip of the electric wire 19a is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 13. The terminal 20 has an engaging groove 27 formed on the upper surface for engaging the engaging piece 24, and a thin plate portion extending from the tip is bent toward the lower surface in a triangular cross section to form an elastic portion 28. Has been done.

The clip 11 with the joint function having the above structure is used as follows. That is, first, the clip 11 is connected to the wire harness (the plurality of electric wires 1
9a bundled with tape 19b at arbitrary intervals)
The locking claw 14 is locked by winding around the outer periphery of 19 and inserting the end of the locking claw 14 side into the locking hole 15. On the other hand, in the wire harness 19, several electric wires 19a are previously prepared.
The terminal 20 is connected to the tip of the (see FIG. 1). Then, the terminals 20 are inserted into the respective terminal accommodating portions 13 of the clip 11.

The terminal 20 inserted in the terminal accommodating portion 13 is
As shown in FIG. 4, the engagement piece 24 is engaged with the engagement groove 27, so that the engagement piece 24 is prevented from coming off from the terminal accommodating portion 13. In this state, the elastic portion 28 of each terminal 20 is
By press-contacting the copper foil 26 of No. 5, the electric connection between the electric wires 19a is achieved.

In this way, the terminal 20 is inserted only when the electric wire 19 is inserted.
a can be performed along the extending direction of each electric wire 19
There is no difference in insertion length between a. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the electric wire 19a is not loosened.

The clip 11 wound around the wire harness 19 and connected to the terminal 20 of the electric wire 19a in the terminal accommodating portion 13 has the vehicle fixing portion 16, that is, the locking projection 17 inserted into the through hole of the vehicle body. And lock, elastic piece 1
8 is fixed by pressing it to the vehicle body. This makes it possible to fix the wire harness 19 to the vehicle body while achieving electrical connection of the plurality of electric wires 19a.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, in the invention described in claim 1, since the terminal accommodating portions are arranged side by side in the circumferential direction on the band wound around the wire harness, the conventional joint box is used. It is possible to prevent the occupied space from expanding due to partial bulging as in the case of use. Further, since the terminal accommodating portion is opened in the direction in which the wire harness extends, there is no difference in the required length between the electric wires, and it is possible to prevent the excess length portion from occurring.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the fixing portion is provided on the band, not only the connection of the electric wires but also the
It is also possible to fix the wire harness to the vehicle body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a clip with a joint function according to the present embodiment is wound around a wire harness.

2 is a plan view (a) and a front view (b) of the clip with a joint function of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged exploded perspective view of a terminal accommodating portion.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing a connection state of terminals in a terminal accommodating portion.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a joint box according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of use of the joint box of FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 band 13 terminal accommodating part 19 wire harness 19a electric wire 20 terminal 25 FPC (conductive thin plate)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideo Kobayashi 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of terminal accommodating portions are arranged side by side in the circumferential direction on the outer circumference of a band wound around a wire harness, and the terminal accommodating portion is connected to a desired electric wire among electric wires constituting the wire harness. A clip with a joint function, characterized in that, while fitting the formed terminals, a conductive thin plate is extended between the terminal accommodating portions, and predetermined terminals are electrically connected via the conductive thin plate. 2. The clip with a joint function according to claim 1, wherein a fixing portion fixed to the vehicle body is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the band.