JP2013037954A - Joint connector for carrying wire harness - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a joint connector formed so as to be wound around the periphery of a wire harness.SOLUTION: A joint connector includes a housing in which terminal housing chambers for individually housing terminals of wire terminals extracted from a wire harness are juxtaposed through flat cylinder-shaped hinge parts in a freely bendable manner, and a joint bus bar in which projecting parts and recessed hinge parts are alternately provided in advance in a beltlike joint part to have a bendable bellow shape, and the top face of each projecting part of the joint part is extended to provide a terminal part fitted to the terminal of the wire terminal. The recessed hinge part of the joint part of the joint bus bar is fixed in the hinge part of the housing; the projecting part of the joint part is disposed in the terminal housing part; the joint part is passed through a plurality of the terminal housing chambers and the hinge parts in series; the terminal part of the joint bus bar is disposed in the terminal housing chamber of the housing; and the hinge part of the housing can be bent and wound around the periphery of the wire harness.

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint connector for mounting a wire harness, and more specifically, a joint connector for connecting electric wires branched from a trunk of a wire harness routed to an automobile can be easily attached on the trunk.

  The electric wires that need to be connected to each other in the electric wire group constituting the wire harness are obtained by using a joint connector 110 in which a joint bus bar 100 in which a plurality of tabs 100a shown in FIG. Connected. Specifically, the terminal t is connected to the terminals of the electric wires w1, w2,... Drawn from the wire harness 105, the terminals are inserted into the joint connector 110, and are fitted and connected to the tabs 100a of the joint bus bar 100. In many cases, the joint connector 110 is disposed on the outer periphery of the trunk line 105a of the wire harness 105 and is fixed by winding an adhesive tape 106 thereon.

  However, since the housing 101 of the joint connector 110 has a quadrangular shape, it is very unstable when mounted on the wire harness, and when protruding from the outer periphery of the wire harness, if the wiring space of the wire harness is narrow, the joint The connector 110 cannot be mounted, and the mounting position is limited. If it arrange | positions in the position which can mount the joint connector 110, the electric wires w1, w2, ... connected to the joint connector 110 will become long, and there exists a problem that productivity is bad.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the applicant of the present invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-79948 in the circumferential direction around the outer periphery of the band 200 wound around the outer periphery of the wire harness as shown in FIGS. A plurality of terminal accommodating portions 201 are arranged side by side. On the other hand, an FPC (conductive thin plate) 202 with a copper foil 202c attached is provided on the surface of the thin plate portion 202b sequentially connected by the connecting portion 202a, and each thin plate portion 202b is inserted into each terminal accommodating portion 201, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the thin plate portion 202b is disposed on the band 200 serving as the bottom wall of the terminal accommodating portion 201, and the elastic portion 206a bent in a triangular shape of the terminal 206 connected to the wire terminal is brought into contact with the copper foil 202c. It is said.
One end of the band 200 is provided with a band locking portion 211 having a clip 210 projecting therefrom, and a locking claw that is inserted into and locked to the band locking portion 211 at the other end with a side-by-side region of the terminal accommodating portion 201 provided Is provided.

  When the band 200 is wound around the wire harness, the terminal accommodating portion 201 is stably supported because it is arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the wire harness, and can be fixed to the wire harness by fastening and locking the band 200. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to wind the tape.

JP-A-8-79948

  In the joint connector protruding from the band clip band of Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 10 (C), a plurality of terminal accommodating portions 201 are integrally provided on the band 200 wound around the outer periphery of the wire harness. The band 200 forming the bottom wall of the terminal accommodating portion 201 is deformed into an arc shape. Therefore, the conductive thin plate along the bottom wall formed of the band of the terminal accommodating portion 201 is formed of flexible FPC. Therefore, it is necessary to make the terminal to be connected to the electric wire terminal into a special shape having a triangular elastic portion and press the FPC copper foil for electrical connection.

  In this way, it is necessary to use a special terminal for the terminal connected to the wire end, and the copper foil has a relatively small amount of current, so it can be used for signal circuit joints but for power circuit joints. I can't. Furthermore, there is a problem that the shape of the band clip is complicated, the molding cost is increased, and the cost is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to be able to arrange a joint connector using a thick joint bus bar capable of connecting wires serving as a power circuit along the outer periphery of a wire harness. It is said.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
A housing in which the terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the terminals of the electric wire terminals pulled out from the wire harness one by one are bent in parallel through a hinge portion having a flat cylindrical shape;
The belt-shaped joint portion is provided with a convex portion and a hinge concave portion alternately in advance so that the bellows can be bent, and the upper surface of each convex portion of the joint portion is extended to fit the terminal of the wire terminal. Equipped with a joint bus bar,
The hinge concave portion of the joint portion of the joint bus bar is fixed in the hinge portion of the housing, the convex portion of the joint portion is disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber, and the joint portion is continuously passed through the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers and the hinge portion. The terminal portion of the joint bus bar is disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber of the housing;
A wire harness characterized in that when the hinge portion of the housing is bent around a fulcrum and wound around the outer periphery of the wire harness, the joint portion of the joint bus bar in the housing is bent together with a hinge recess fixed in the hinge portion. We provide joint connectors for mounting.

  As described above, the joint connector of the present invention is configured such that the housing and the joint bus bar accommodated in the housing can be bent and attached to the outer periphery of the wire harness in the circumferential direction. In particular, since a joint bus bar formed by punching a conductive metal plate in the housing is housed, it is possible to joint electric wires serving as a power circuit. Even if the thickness of the joint bus bar is 0.6 to 1.2 mm, the joint portion is bent in advance, and is bent because the convex portion and the hinge concave portion that performs the hinge function are alternately continuous. Can be made.

And since the housing which accommodates a joint bus bar also makes the terminal accommodating chamber and the hinge part continue alternately, the housing can be bent by bending the hinge part. Since the convex portion of the joint bus bar is fixed in the terminal accommodating chamber of the housing, the hinge concave portion of the joint bus bar can be bent continuously by bending the housing.
That is, a fulcrum, a force point, and an action point are formed from the structure of the housing and the joint bus bar so that the lever principle works, and the thick joint bus bar can be bent in a desired direction.

  Each terminal portion of the joint bus bar accommodated in each terminal accommodating chamber of the joint connector is a tab-shaped male terminal, and a terminal connected to the wire terminal inserted from the distal end opening of the terminal accommodating chamber is a female terminal. preferable.

  After the joint connector is connected to the terminal of the electric wire terminal, it is mounted on the outer periphery of the trunk wire of the wire harness, the housing of the joint connector and the joint bus bar are bent according to the outer diameter of the trunk wire, and then the adhesive tape is wound around the wire It is fixed to the harness main line.

The hinge portion of the housing that is continuously inserted through the joint portion of the joint bus bar is provided on one end side in the length direction of the housing (longitudinal direction of the wire harness), and the terminal accommodating chamber protrudes toward the other side. , Project the terminal part from one side of the joint part of the joint bus bar,
Alternatively, the hinge portion of the housing is provided in the middle portion in the length direction, the terminal accommodating chamber is protruded toward both sides in the length direction, and the terminal portion is protruded from both sides of the joint portion of the joint bus bar. Good.

  In the latter case, the terminals of the wire ends are connected to the terminal portions on both sides with the joint portion of the joint bus bar in the center, so double the wires compared to the case where the terminal portion is provided on one side of the former Can do.

  The housing may be connected by providing a hinge portion between the terminal accommodating chambers only for the portion that accommodates the joint portion of the joint bus bar, or the entire length of the terminal accommodating chamber may be coupled via the hinge portion.

  Since the joint connector of the present invention described above can be attached to the outer periphery of the wire harness so as to be wound in the circumferential direction, there is an advantage that it can be stably held and can be installed compactly and does not take up space. Particularly, since the joint portion of the joint bus bar can be easily bent in the joint connector, a relatively thick bus bar can be used, and it can be used for the joint of the power supply circuit.

It is a perspective view which shows the example of application of the joint connector of 1st Embodiment of this invention. The joint connector is shown, (A) is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, (B) is a horizontal sectional view of the joint connector, (C) is a sectional view taken along line CC in (A), and (D) is It is a principal part expanded sectional perspective view. It is a perspective view of the joint bus bar accommodated in the housing of the joint connector. (A) is a perspective view which shows the state which bent the joint connector, (B) is a principal part expanded sectional view. It is a perspective view in the state where the joint connector was mounted on the outer periphery of the wire harness. It is a schematic plan view which shows the modification of 1st Embodiment. The joint bus bar used for the joint connector of 2nd Embodiment is shown, (A) is a perspective view of a joint bus bar, (B) is a top view of a joint bus bar. (A) is a perspective view of the joint connector of 2nd Embodiment, (B) is a top view. It is drawing which shows a prior art example. Another example is shown, (A) is an exploded perspective view, (B) is a sectional view, and (C) is a perspective view.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 show the joint connector of the first embodiment.
The joint connector 1 accommodates a joint bus bar 3 formed by punching and then bending a conductive metal plate in a housing 2 made of a resin molded product.

  The joint connector 1 is a joint by drawing out electric wires 51 (51a, 51b, 51c, 51d...) That need to be connected to each other from among a large number of electric wires constituting a wire harness 50 arranged in an automobile from a trunk line 52 of the wire harness. And it is attached so that it may wind around the outer periphery of this trunk line 52 in the circumferential direction.

  The housing 2 of the joint connector 1 has a rectangular tube-shaped terminal accommodating chamber 10 that is continuously bent in parallel via a hinge portion 11, and the hinge portion 11 extends in the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 (longitudinal direction of the wire harness). It is provided on one end side. The terminal accommodating chambers 10 arranged side by side are not connected except for the joint portion accommodating portion 15 on one end side connected by the hinge portion 11, and are made independent with a gap. The joint portion accommodating portion 15 reduces the height of the upper wall to reduce the volume, and tightly accommodates the joint portion 20 of the joint bus bar 3 in the joint portion accommodating portion 15. In the present embodiment, four terminal accommodating chambers 10 are arranged in parallel, but the number of terminal accommodating chambers is not limited.

  In the joint portion receiving portion 15, the hinge portions 11 provided between the adjacent terminal receiving chambers 10 are elongated holes 10a-1 and 10b provided in the lower portions of the side walls 10a and 10b facing each other. -1 is a flat cylindrical shape communicating with each other.

  Both ends of the terminal accommodating chamber 10 in the length direction are openings 10e and 10f, and the opening 10f is a wire side terminal insertion opening. One end of the hinge portion 11 is an opening 11e, and the other end is a closing portion 11f. In the housing 2 having the shape, the joint bus bar 3 is inserted from the openings 10e and 11e on one end side of the joint portion accommodating portion 15, and the joint bus bar 3 is inserted and stopped using the closing portion 11f as a stopper so as to be positioned and held. I have to.

  The length L1 of the hinge portion 11 is shortened to about 3 mm to 10 mm, and the thickness (height) H1 is set to be a size capable of tightly fitting a hinge recess 22 of the joint portion 20 of the joint bus bar 3 described later. Since the thickness of the joint bus bar 3 is 0.6 mm to 1.2 mm, the height H1 of the hinge portion 11 is about 2 mm to 3 mm.

  The terminal accommodating chamber 10 is bent with the hinge portion 11 as a fulcrum so that the housing 2 can be bent in an arc shape. In addition, although the lower wall 10u of the terminal accommodating chamber 10 that is continuous with the lower wall 11a of the hinge portion 11 may be flexible, the lower wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 10 may not be flexible. The hinge portion 11 can be bent into a polygonal shape.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the joint bus bar 3 has a belt-shaped joint portion 20 with a convex portion 21 and a hinge concave portion 22 provided in advance alternately to be bent. A tab-shaped male terminal portion 23 is formed by extending the upper surface of each convex portion 21 of the joint portion 20 to one side in the longitudinal direction. Moreover, the convex part 21 of the joint part 20 is made to protrude in trapezoid shape, and the hinge recessed part 22 has connected the lower ends of the inclination side 21c of the convex part 21 which adjoins. The length of the hinge recess 22 is slightly longer than the length of the hinge portion 11 of the housing 2, the center portion of the hinge recess 22 is closely fitted and fixed in the hinge portion 11, and both end portions in contact with the convex portion 21 of the hinge recess 22 22 a and 22 b are projected into the terminal accommodating chambers 10 and 10. The convex portion 21 of the joint portion 20 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 10 and closely accommodated in the joint portion accommodating portion 15.

  Since the hinge recess 22 of the joint portion 20 of the joint bus bar 3 is fixed in the hinge portion 11 of the housing 2, if the hinge portion 11 of the housing 2 is bent, the hinge recess 22 of the joint bus bar 3 is also bent and allowed to follow. be able to.

Next, a method for using the joint connector 1 will be described.
First, in the joint connector 1, the joint bus bar 3 is inserted into the housing 2, and the hinge recess 22 of the joint portion 20 of the joint bus bar 3 is closely fitted in the hinge portion 11 of the joint portion receiving portion 15 of the housing 2. The protrusion 21 and the tab-shaped male terminal portion 23 are inserted into each terminal accommodating chamber 10 and assembled.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of female terminals 53 connected in advance to the terminals of electric wires 51 (51 a, 51 b, 51 c...) Drawn out from a trunk line 52 of the wire harness 50 are connected to the terminal accommodating chamber 10 of the joint connector 1. 1 and is fitted and connected to the male terminal portion 23 of the joint bus bar 3.

  Thereafter, the joint connector 1 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the main wire 52 of the wire harness, and the housing 2 is pressed so as to be along the outer peripheral surface of the main wire 52. As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 2 is bent so that the hinge portion 11 is bent and the hinge portion 11 and the bottom wall side of the terminal accommodating chamber 10 are in contact with the trunk line 52. Thereby, the side walls 10a and 10b of the adjacent terminal accommodating chambers 10 are opened and inclined so that the outer side is enlarged. The hinge recesses 22 of the joint part 20 fixed in the hinge part 11 are sequentially bent in conjunction with the hinge part 11 so that the convex parts 21 on both sides continuous to the hinge recess 22 are opened with the hinge recesses 22 in between. It deforms and smoothly follows the movement of the joint housing part 15 of the housing 2.

  Thus, after bending the joint connector 1 along the outer periphery of the trunk line 52 with respect to the housing 2 and the joint bus bar 3, the adhesive connector 55 is wound around to fix the joint connector 1 on the trunk line 52 as shown in FIG. .

  As described above, since the joint connector 1 can be attached so as to be wound around the outer periphery of the trunk line 52 of the wire harness, the outer shape of the portion to which the joint connector 1 is attached can be compactly accommodated. Therefore, the mounting position of the joint connector 1 is not subject to space restrictions, and it is possible to prevent an increase in the length of the electric wire for connection to the joint connector 1. Moreover, since the joint part 20 of the joint bus bar 3 accommodated in the inside of the housing 2 of the joint connector 1 is provided with the convex parts 21 and the hinge concave parts 22 alternately in advance and has a bellows shape, the thickness is 0.6 to 1.2 mm. Even a bus bar can be bent easily. Therefore, the joint bus bar 3 having the thickness can be used, and the electric wires of the power supply circuit can be jointed by the joint connector 1.

  In the first embodiment, the hinge portion 11 of the housing 2 is provided only in the joint portion receiving portion 15. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the hinge portion 11 may be provided along the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the terminal receiving chamber 10.

7 and 8 show a second embodiment.
In the joint connector of the second embodiment, a joint portion accommodating portion 15 provided in the housing 2 shown in FIG. 8 is provided in the central portion in the longitudinal direction, and the terminal accommodating chambers 10-1 are provided on both sides in the longitudinal direction from the joint portion accommodating portion 15. 10-2 is protrudingly provided. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the joint bus bar 3 is provided with a joint portion 20 provided with a convex portion 21 and a hinge concave portion 22 at the center in the longitudinal direction, and tab-shaped male terminal portions 23-1 from both sides of the convex portion 21. , 23-2.
Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  In the joint connector of the second embodiment, if the number of terminal accommodating chambers 10 arranged in parallel on one side is the same as that of the first embodiment, the terminal accommodating chambers are provided on both sides, so that the number of terminal accommodating chambers can be doubled. It can be suitably used when the number of wires to be joined is large.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Joint connector 2 Housing 3 Joint bus bar 10 Terminal accommodating chamber 11 Hinge part 15 Joint part accommodating part 20 Joint part 21 Convex part 22 Hinge recessed part 23 Male terminal part 50 Wire harness 51 Electric wire 52 Trunk line

Claims (3)

A housing in which the terminal accommodating chambers for accommodating the terminals of the electric wire terminals pulled out from the wire harness one by one are bent in parallel through a hinge portion having a flat cylindrical shape;
The belt-shaped joint portion is provided with a convex portion and a hinge concave portion alternately in advance so that the bellows can be bent, and the upper surface of each convex portion of the joint portion is extended to fit the terminal of the wire terminal. Equipped with a joint bus bar,
The hinge concave portion of the joint portion of the joint bus bar is fixed in the hinge portion of the housing, the convex portion of the joint portion is disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber, and the joint portion is continuously passed through the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers and the hinge portion. The terminal portion of the joint bus bar is disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber of the housing;
A wire harness characterized in that when the hinge portion of the housing is bent around a fulcrum and wound around the outer periphery of the wire harness, the joint portion of the joint bus bar in the housing is bent together with a hinge recess fixed in the hinge portion. Joint connector for mounting.   The terminal part of the said joint bus bar accommodated in each said terminal accommodating chamber is made into the tab-shaped male terminal, and the terminal connected to the said electric wire terminal inserted from the front-end | tip opening of the said terminal accommodating chamber is made into the female terminal. Joint connector for mounting wire harness. The hinge portion of the housing, which is continuously inserted through the joint portion of the joint bus bar, is provided on one end side in the length direction of the housing, the terminal accommodating chamber projects toward the other side, and the joint portion of the joint bus bar Project the terminal from one side of the
Or the hinge part of the said housing is provided in the intermediate part of the length direction, the terminal accommodating chamber protrudes toward the both sides of the length direction, and the terminal part protrudes from both sides of the joint part of the joint bus bar. A joint connector for mounting a wire harness according to claim 1 or 2.

Images