Patent Application
20100062627
The present invention relates to a connection member and a harness connector for use in harness circuits provided in, for instance automobiles.
In a harness circuit for use in automobiles, it is often required to provide one or more branch electric wires from a main electric wire. Heretofore, there have been widely proposed two joint methods, i.e. a splice joint method in which a part of an electrically insulating sheath of the main electric wire is removed and one or more branch electric wires are connected by clamping them to an exposed core conductor of the main electric wire, and a joint connector method in which a circuit branch connector is arranged at a terminal of the main electric wire and conventional connectors having clamp terminals connected to the main wire and branch wires are inserted into the circuit branch connector to constitute the branch circuit. The later method is disclosed in a Japanese Patent Document 1 mentioned later.
Japanese Patent Document 1:
Japanese Utility Model Kokai Hei 4-27587
In the splice joint method, electric wires have to be connected to the main electric wire in such a manner that a group of one to three branch wires is connected by clamping, and therefore after connecting the branch wires, the harness is difficult to be handled. Moreover, the joint work could not be carried out on a manufacturing line, and therefore the splice joint method is not suitably applied to the line production.
The joint connector method has been developed to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks of the splice joint method. In the joint connector method, the joint connection can be performed on a harness manufacturing line, and therefore a production efficiency is superior to the splice joint method and a design change of harness circuit can be easily effected. However, the number of parts such as connectors, cooperating conventional connectors, bus bars, connection terminals and so on is increased, and thus a relatively longer time period is required for assembling harness circuits.
In the known branch circuit structure disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document 1, a plurality of terminal fittings accommodated within a housing are short-circuited by means of a single short-circuiting plate member.
However, the branch circuit structure disclosed in the Japanese Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
(1) Terminal fitting has complicated construction.
(2) The terminal fitting can be inserted only in one direction.
(3) Since the short-circuiting plate member has a plate shape, the short-circuiting plate member could not be smoothly mounted on the terminal fittings.
(4) The branch circuit structure as a whole has a relatively large width, and therefore the branch circuit structure could not be easily arranged in the harness circuit.
(5) A waterproof structure could not be easily realized.
That is to say, even the joint connector method has various problems to be solved. For instance, space saving of the harness circuit, improvement in workability, simplification of harness circuit structure and realization of waterproof internal structure are required.
The present invention has for its object to provide a connection member and a harness connector using the connector member, in which the above mentioned problems can be solved, a waterproof structure is attained, a simple manufacturing process is realized, and a wire harness can be assembled efficiently.
In the connection member and harness connector according to the invention, an inner holder is inserted into an outer holder and a pin terminal is inserted into the inner holder via a wire terminal insertion hole formed in the outer holder, and therefore electric terminals can be electrically connected to each other within the inner holder and a reliability of the electrical connection and water proof property are improved and furthermore superior space factor, workability and cost reduction can be realized.
Moreover, the complicated construction is shared by the inner and outer holders, and therefore the connection member and harness connector can be easily manufactured.
Furthermore, the harness connector can be small in size, and thus the harness connector can be arranged at any desired position within the wire harness and a given circuit arrangement can be realized without extending electric wires. Particularly when the harness connector is used in the harness circuit for automobiles, the connection structure can be extremely simplified as compared with the known joint structures and the wire harness can be manufactured within a shorter time period.
Now the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.
As shown in the exploded perspective view of
The outer holder 1 has a plurality of wire terminal insertion openings 1a having a circular cross section, said wire terminal insertion openings extending from both end walls of the outer holder toward its center. In the present embodiment, in each of the end walls of the outer holder 1, there are formed two wire terminal insertion openings 1a. The outer holder 1 further includes a vacant space 1b into which the inner holder 2 is to be inserted from an inner holder insertion opening 1c formed in a bottom of the outer holder 1.
The outer holder 1 may be made of, for example a thermoplastic resin, and particularly polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polypropylene (PP) may be advantageously used due to their superior properties such as a high heat distortion temperature, a high mechanical rigidity, a high electrical insulation and high mechanical performances. A size of the outer holder 1 may be suitably determined, while considering the number of and thickness of the electric wires to be used. A length of the outer holder 1 is usually set to about 20-150 mm. In general, the outer holder 1 may be manufactured by injecting a thermoplastic resin into a suitable mold.
The inner holder 2 has a substantially cubic shape and includes the wire terminal supporting holes 2a as shown in a cross sectional view of
The pin terminal insertion hole 2b is formed in a vertical direction such that the pin terminal insertion hole 2b is communicated with the wire terminal supporting holes 2a within the inner holder 2. On a bottom of the inner holder 2 there are formed a plurality of hook-like locking projections 2d for locking the waterproof member 6 within the inner holder 2.
On one side wall of the inner holder 2, there are formed two ribs 2e and 2f and on the other side wall of the inner holder 2, there is formed a single rib 2g. In the vacant space 1b formed in the outer holder 1, there are formed recesses into which the ribs 2e, 2f and 2g are inserted when the inner holder 2 is inserted into the vacant space 1b of the outer holder 1.
The inner holder 2 may be made of a same material as the outer holder 1, but since the inner holder 2 is inserted within the outer holder 1, the inner holder 2 may be made of a material which does not have a heat resistance, although the outer holder 1 is required to have a heat resistance. The inner holder 2 may be formed by the injection mold, but when the inner holder 2 has a complicated inner structure, it may be divided into plural parts and these parts may be separately manufactured. Upon assembling, these parts may be united by cementing or engagement to form the inner holder.
The wire terminal 3 is formed by punching an electrically conductive metal plate, and includes a tongue-like connecting portion 3a provided at one end portion of the wire terminal, an inclined portion 3d and a conductor clamping portion 3e and a sheath clamping portion 3f provided at the other end portion of the wire terminal. In each of the connecting portion 3a, there is formed a short tubular contact 3b extending in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the connecting portion 3a and an engaging hole 3c which is to be engaged with the engaging projection 2c of the inner holder 2. Said tubular contact 3b is formed by a reducing mill into a cylindrical shape having a short length.
The electric terminal 3 may be formed by punching a copper or copper alloy plate or a Sn plated copper or copper alloy plate. A brass plate may be advantageously used due to its superior mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. When use is made of a Sn plated brass plate, an anticorrosion property is improved and a good electrical contact can be attained with respect to the pin terminal 5.
The tubular contact 3b may have any suitable shape as long as a good electrical conduction can be attained when the contact 3b is brought into contact with the pin terminal 5. It is preferable to provide tapered guides both at a root portion and a front portion of the tubular contact 3b such that the pin terminal 5 can be easily inserted into the tubular contact 3b from either directions. In the present embodiment, the contact 3b is formed as a tubular shape, but it may be formed to have other shape than tubular. For instance, the contact 3b may be formed into various shapes as shown in
The electric wire 4 may be formed by an electrically insulated wire having a conductor and an electrically insulating sheath applied around the conductor and may have a conventional diameter. The conductor may be formed by a stranded wire of soft or hard copper wires which have been commonly used in automobile harnesses, or may be formed by a single wire or a stranded wire of copper alloy wires such as Cu—Sn alloy wire having a sufficiently large tensile strength and a small diameter. The electrically insulating sheath may be made of known electrically insulating materials. In view of environment protection, non-halogen insulating material may be advantageously used.
The conductor of the electric wire 4 may be connected to the wire terminal 3 by conventional calking, welding, soldering or clamping. Among these connecting methods, the clamping portion 3e used in the present embodiment is preferable, because the clamping connection can be performed within a short time period and can attain a high electrical conductivity and a higher mechanical strength.
The pin terminal 5 is inserted into the pin terminal insertion hole 2b formed in the inner holder 2 and serves to electrically connect a plurality of the connecting portions 3a of the wire terminals 3 to one another. To this end, the pin terminal 5 is formed by a rod-like member made of an electrically conductive metal and having a circular cross sectional shape or a polygonal shape such as triangular shape, rectangular shape and pentagonal shape. It should be noted that the rectangular cross sectional shape is preferable, because the pin terminal 4a having the rectangular cross sectional shape can be easily manufactured, can be inserted into the pin terminal insertion hole 2b without a large force, and can attain a stable and positive conduction. In this case, the contact of the wire terminal 3 may be preferably formed to have tubular or circular shape.
The pin terminal 5 is formed by folding an electrically conductive plate into a rectangular cross sectional shape as depicted in
It is preferable to form the pin terminal 5 to have a higher hardness than the connecting portion 3a, and then the connecting portion 3a of the wire terminal 3 is deformed upon insertion of the pin terminal 5. Hardness of the pin terminal 5 and connecting portion 3a may be suitably adjusted by processing, thermal treatment and selection of materials. In order to insert the pin terminal 5 into the tubular contact 3b positively, the tip of the pin terminal 5 is preferably formed to have a cone shape such as circular cone, pyramid cone, cone frustum and pyramid frustum.
Now it is assumed that the circular or tubular contact of the connecting portion 3a has an inner diameter of d1 and the pin terminal 5 having a substantially rectangular cross section has a diagonal length of x, then it is preferable to set d1<x. Further, when the connecting portion 3a includes the contact having a rectangular cross section having a side of d1 and the pin terminal 5 has a circular cross section having an outer diameter of d2, then it is preferable to set d1<d2.
The waterproof member 6 is formed to have a cubic shape which is just fit into the inner holder insertion opening 1c of the outer holder 1. On an outer surface of the waterproof member 6 there is formed a corrugated portion 6a. In a top surface of the waterproof member 6 there are formed locking holes 6b into which the locking projections 2d of the inner holder 2 are inserted.
In this manner, the wire terminals 3 are fixed at given positions, and a center of each of the tubular contacts 3b of the connecting portions 3a is aligned with a center of the pin insertion hole 2b of the inner holder 2.
In the present embodiment, the engaging projections 2c of the inner holder 2 are formed to be fixed, but the engaging projections 2c may be formed on movable levers so as to move up and down. Then, upon insertion of the wire terminal 3, the movable lever is moved downward and the engaging projection 2c can be easily inserted into the engaging hole 3c of the wire terminal 3. Furthermore, after pulling the pin terminal 5 out of the pin terminal insertion hole 2b, the engaging projection 2c can be easily removed from the engaging hole 3c by moving the movable lever upwardly by means of a suitable jig and the wire terminal 3 can be removed from the outer and inner holders 1 and 2.
Also in the present embodiment, since the tubular contacts 3b of the connecting portions 3a are stacked within the inner holder 2, in order to avoid interference between the tubular contacts 3b of the connecting portions 3a inserted from one end wall of the outer holder 1 and the tubular contacts 3b of the connecting portions 3a inserted from the other end wall of the outer holder 1, the wire terminal insertion openings 1a formed in one end wall of the outer holder 1 are shifted in the vertical direction with respect to the wire terminal insertion openings 1a formed in the other end wall of the outer holder 1. When the wire terminal 3 is inserted into the outer holder 1 and inner holder 2, the sealing member 7 is intimately brought into contact with an inner wall of the wire terminal insertion opening 1a, and penetration of water from the external can be prevented.
Since the tubular contacts 3b are provided on the connecting portions 3a, it is important to insert the connecting portions 3a into the wire terminal insertion openings 1a such that the tubular contacts 3b extend in a correct direction. If the connecting portions 3a are inserted such that the tubular contacts 3b extend in arbitrary direction, the connecting portions 3a could not be situated in given positions within the inner holder 2. Therefore, it may be necessary to provide suitable indications in terms of a direction of the tubular contacts 3b at entrances of the wire terminal insertion openings 1a.
When the pin terminal 5 is inserted into the pin terminal insertion hole 2b using a suitable jig, the pin terminal 5 passes through the tubular contacts 3b of the inserted wire terminals 3 and are brought into contact with the tubular contacts 3b, and the wire terminals 3 are electrically connected to one another. As long as the pin terminal 5 is not removed from the pin terminal insertion hole 2b, the wire terminals 3 could not be removed from the outer and inner holders 1 and 2.
Furthermore, when the waterproof member 6 is inserted into the opening 1c, the locking projections 2d of the inner holders 2 are inserted into the locking holes 6b formed in the waterproof member 6 and the waterproof member 6 could not be removed from the outer holder 1. Moreover, the corrugated portion 6a of the waterproof member 6 serves to prevent undesired penetration of water into the outer holder 1. The opening 1c of the outer holder 1 may be closed by a plate-like member made of synthetic resin to further improve the waterproof property provided by the water proof member 6.
In the embodiment 1 having the structure so far explained, the penetration of water into the outer holder 1 can be effectively prevented by means of the waterproof member 6 and the sealing members 7 provided on the electric wires 4. In this manner, the waterproof structure within the harness connector can be attained.
In this second embodiment 2, the inner holder 2, wire terminals 3 and pin terminal 5 are substantially identical with those of the first embodiment 1, but a closing member 1e for closing an opening is of the outer holder 1 is rotatably secured to the lower portion of the outer holder 1 by means of hinges 1d and the waterproof member 8 including a corrugated portion 8a is secured to an inner surface of the closing member 1e by locking or cementing. Although not shown in the drawings, a locking mechanism is provided on the closing member 1e and opening 1c such that the closing member 1e might not be accidentally opened.
As illustrated in
The outer holder 1 of this embodiment 2 has a similar shape to the outer holder 1 of the first embodiment 1, but the inner holder 2 of the present embodiment 2 is formed substantially as a cubic body having a structure depicted in a cross sectional view of
In the inner holder 2 there are formed slot portions 2j at both ends near the inlet openings of the wire terminal supporting holes 2a. A suitable jig may be inserted into the inner holder 2 through said slot portions 2j to move the movable supporting plates 2h upward. On both sides of respective movable supporting plates 2h there are formed operating tabs 2k extending outwardly. Positions of the operating tabs 2k provided on the vertically arranged movable supporting plates 2h are shifted horizontally.
Furthermore, on the bottom surface of the inner holder 2 there are formed two hook-like locking projections 2d for locking the waterproof member 6 in position. On one side of the inner holder 2 there is formed a rib 21, and a recess corresponding to said rib 21 is formed in an inner surface of the vacant space 1b into which the inner holder 2 is to be inserted.
Next the wire terminals 3 are inserted into the four wire terminal insertion openings 1a of the outer holder 1. During this insertion operation, as shown by the upper right wire terminal 3 in
After inserting all the wire terminals 3, as depicted in
Next, when the waterproof member 6 is inserted into the opening 1c of the outer holder 1, the locking projections 2d of the inner holder 2 are inserted into the locking holes 6b of the waterproof member 6 and the waterproof member 6 is prevented from being removed from the outer holder 1. It should be noted that
In the third embodiment 3, the locking claws 2j are provided on the movable supporting plates 2h and the engaging holes 3c are formed in the wire terminals 3, but according to the invention, depressions may be formed in the movable supporting plates 2h and cooperating projections may be formed on the wire terminals 3.
In the above explained embodiments 1-3, the four wire terminal insertion openings 1a are formed in the outer holder 1 and the four wire terminals 3 are inserted into the outer holder 1, but according to the invention, wire terminal insertion openings more than or less than four may be provided. If one or more wire terminal insertion openings 3a are not closed by electric wires, they may be closed by inserting blind plugs made of a synthetic rubber to prevent undesired water penetration into the outer and inner holders 1 and 2.
Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the four wire terminal insertion openings 1a are formed in the outer holder 1 and the four wire terminals 3 are inserted into the outer holder 1, but according to the invention, wire terminal insertion openings more than or less than four may be formed in the outer holder 1.
The harness connector according to the invention can be advantageously used in harness circuits for automobiles.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-354753 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
| 2006-354754 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
| 2006-354756 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2007/067717 | 9/12/2007 | WO | 00 | 11/11/2009 |
