The present disclosure relates to a joint connector.
A joint connector is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-099248. The joint connector includes a housing and a busbar. The housing is provided with a plurality of cavities and a busbar accommodating portion communicating with the plurality of cavities and formed with an opening on a side opposite to these cavities. The busbar is provided with a body portion accommodated in the busbar accommodating portion and a plurality of male terminal portions extending from the body portion and to be electrically connected to female terminals. The female terminals are respectively crimped to ends of a plurality of wires.
According to the above technique, since relatively large-scale facilities such as a mold and a jig for crimping the female terminals to the wires are necessary, equipment investment is necessary, which causes a problem of increasing manufacturing cost.
The present disclosure was completed on the basis of the above situation and aims to provide a joint connector reduced in manufacturing cost.
The present disclosure is directed to a joint connector for connecting a plurality of wires, the joint connector including a lower housing, an upper cover assembled with the lower housing, a plurality of terminals respectively connected to front end parts in an extending direction of the plurality of wires, and a busbar connected to the plurality of terminals, wherein the busbar disposed in the lower housing includes a plurality of tabs, each of the plurality of terminals disposed in the lower housing includes a tube portion, each of the plurality of tabs being inserted into the tube portion, a sandwiching portion extending along the extending direction and configured to sandwich one of the plurality of wires, and a sliding portion disposed outside the sandwiching portion, movable along the extending direction and including a pressurizing portion configured to pressurize the sandwiching portion toward the wire with the one of the plurality of wires sandwiched by the sandwiching portion, and a terminal holding portion projecting downward from the upper cover is engaged with the terminals.
According to the present disclosure, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector can be reduced.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure are listed and described.
(1) The present disclosure relates to a joint connector for connecting a plurality of wires, the joint connector including a lower housing, an upper cover assembled with the lower housing, a plurality of terminals respectively connected to front end parts in an extending direction of the plurality of wires, and a busbar connected to the plurality of terminals, wherein the busbar disposed in the lower housing includes a plurality of tabs, each of the plurality of terminals disposed in the lower housing includes a tube portion, each of the plurality of tabs being inserted into the tube portion, a sandwiching portion extending along the extending direction and configured to sandwich one of the plurality of wires, and a sliding portion disposed outside the sandwiching portion, movable along the extending direction and including a pressurizing portion configured to pressurize the sandwiching portion toward the wire with the one of the plurality of wires sandwiched by the sandwiching portion, and a terminal holding portion projecting downward from the upper cover is engaged with the terminals.
According to the present disclosure, a core of the wire and the terminal can be electrically connected without using a relatively large-scale jig by pushing the sliding portion forward with a relatively small jig. In this way, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector can be reduced.
Further, by applying the terminals according to the present disclosure to the joint connector, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector can be reduced.
According to the present disclosure, the terminals can be retained and held in the lower housing not to come out upward by inserting the busbar into the tube portions. Since a structure for retaining and holding the terminals becomes unnecessary in this way, the structure of the joint connector can be simplified. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector can be reduced.
(2) Preferably, the sliding portion is movable with respect to the sandwiching portion between a partial locking position where the pressurizing portion is separated from the sandwiching portion and a full locking position where the pressurizing portion presses the sandwiching portion toward the plurality of wires, and the terminal holding portion is engaged with the sliding portions located at the full locking position with respect to the sandwiching portions.
By assembling the upper cover with the lower housing, the terminal holding portion provided on the upper cover is locked to the sliding portions, wherefore movements of the sliding portions to the full locking position can be confirmed.
(3) Preferably, the lower housing includes a rear wall located behind the plurality of terminals in the extending direction, and the rear wall includes a plurality of wire insertion holes penetrating in the extending direction, the plurality of wires being respectively inserted through the wire insertion holes, and the sandwiching portions are disposed in front of the wire insertion holes in the extending direction.
If the wire is inserted from behind the wire insertion hole, the wire moves toward the sandwiching portion located in front of the wire insertion hole. Since the wire is guided to the sandwiching portion by the wire insertion hole, the manufacturing efficiency of the joint connector can be improved.
(4) Preferably, a cross-sectional area of the wire insertion hole orthogonal to the extending direction is smaller than that of the sliding portion orthogonal to the extending direction.
Since the cross-sectional area of the wire insertion hole is smaller than that of the sliding portion, the escape of the sliding portion to the outside of the lower housing through the wire insertion hole is suppressed. In this way, the terminal having the sliding portion held at the partial locking position can be held in the lower housing.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure is described. The present invention is not limited to these illustrations and is intended to be represented by claims and include all changes in the scope of claims and in the meaning and scope of equivalents.
One embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. A joint connector 10 according to this embodiment electrically connects a plurality of wires 11. In the following description, a direction indicated by an arrow Z is referred to as an upward direction, a direction indicated by an arrow Y is referred to as a forward direction, and a direction indicated by an arrow X is referred to as a leftward direction. Note that, for a plurality of identical members, only some members may be denoted by a reference sign and the other members may not be denoted by the reference sign.
As shown in
[Wires 11]
As shown in
[Lower Housing 30]
As shown in
As shown in
A plurality of (four in this embodiment) wire insertion holes 37 into which the wires 11 are inserted as shown in
[Upper Cover 60]
As shown in
As shown in
[Busbar 50]
As shown in
As shown in
[Terminals 12]
As shown in
[Terminal Bodies 15]
The terminal body 15 is formed into a predetermined shape by a known method such as press-working, cutting or casting. An arbitrary metal such as copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy or stainless steel can be appropriately selected as a metal constituting the terminal body 15 if necessary. The terminal body 15 according to this embodiment is made of copper or copper alloy. A plating layer may be formed on the surface of the terminal body 15. An arbitrary metal such as tin, nickel or silver can be appropriately selected as a metal constituting the plating layer if necessary. Tin plating is applied to the terminal body 15 according to this embodiment.
As shown in
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As shown in
An upper holding protrusion 23A projecting downward is provided at a position forward of a rear end part on the lower surface of the upper sandwiching portion 18A. A lower holding protrusion 23B projecting upward is provided on a rear end part on the upper surface of the lower sandwiching portion 18B. The lower and upper holding protrusions 23B, 23A are provided at positions shifted in the front-rear direction.
The lower surface of the upper sandwiching portion 18A and the upper surface of the lower sandwiching portion 18B bite into an oxide film formed on the surface of the core 13 to peel off the oxide film, thereby exposing the metal surface of the core 13. By the contact of this metal surface and the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B, the core 13 and the terminal body 15 are electrically connected.
[Sliding Portions 16]
As shown in
A cross-sectional shape of the sliding portion 16 is the same as or somewhat larger than that of a region of the terminal body 15 where the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B are provided. In this way, the sliding portion 16 is disposed outside the region of the terminal body 15 where the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B are provided.
A cross-sectional area of the wire insertion hole 37 orthogonal to the front-rear direction is smaller than that of the sliding portion 16 orthogonal to the front-rear direction. In this way, the sliding portion 16 cannot pass through the wire insertion hole 37 in the front-rear direction.
As shown in
As shown in
With the locking projection 28 of the terminal body 15 and the partial lock receiving portion 26 of the sliding portion 16 locked, the sliding portion 16 is held at a partial locking position with respect to the terminal body 15 (see
A state where the locking projection 28 of the terminal body 15 and the full lock receiving portion 27 of the sliding portion 16 are locked is a state where the sliding portion 16 is locked at a full locking position with respect to the terminal body 15. As shown in
As described above, the sliding portion 16 is slidable between the partial locking position and the full locking position while being externally fit to the region of the terminal body 15 where the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B are provided.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
[Assembling Process of Joint Connector 10]
Next, an example of an assembling process of the joint connector 10 according to this embodiment is described. The assembling process of the joint connector 10 is not limited to the one described below.
The terminal body 15 and the sliding portion 16 are formed by a known method. The sliding portion 16 is assembled with the terminal body 15 from behind. The front end edge of the sliding portion 16 comes into contact with the locking projection 28 of the terminal body 15 from behind, thereby expanding and deforming the side wall of the sliding portion 16. If the sliding portion 16 is further pushed, the side wall of the sliding portion 16 is restored and the partial lock receiving portion 26 of the sliding portion 16 is locked to the locking projection 28 of the terminal body 15. In this way, the sliding portion 16 is held at the partial locking position with respect to the terminal body 15 (see
By injection-molding the synthetic resin, the lower housing 30 and the upper cover 60 are formed.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The core 13 of the wire 11 is exposed by stripping the insulation coating 14 by a known method. As shown in
If the wire 11 is further pushed forward, the front end part of the core 13 is introduced into the sliding portion 16 from the rear end part of the sliding portion 16. The core 13 is guided into the sliding portion 16 by coming into contact with the guiding portions 47 of the sliding portion 16. If the wire 11 is further pushed forward, the front end part of the core 13 enters the terminal body 15 and reaches the space between the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B.
As shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
When the sliding portion 16 is moved forward, the side wall of the sliding portion 16 is restored and the locking projection 28 of the terminal body 15 and the full lock receiving portion 27 of the sliding portion 16 are resiliently locked. In this way, the sliding portion 16 is held at the full locking position with respect to the terminal body 15.
With the sliding portion 16 held at the full locking position with respect to the terminal body 15, the upper pressurizing portion 25A of the sliding portion 16 comes into contact with the upper sandwiching portion 18A of the terminal body 15 from above to press the upper sandwiching portion 18A downward. Further, the lower pressurizing portion 25B of the sliding portion 16 comes into contact with the lower sandwiching portion 18B of the terminal body 15 from below to press the lower sandwiching portion 18A upward. In this way, the core 13 is sandwiched from upper and lower sides by the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B (see
As shown in
With the core 13 sandwiched from upper and lower sides by the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B, the core 13 extends in the front-rear direction and is held in the state bent in the vertical direction by being sandwiched by the upper holding protrusion 23A of the upper sandwiching portion 18A and the lower holding protrusion 23B of the lower sandwiching portion 18B. Since the core 13 can be firmly held in this way, a holding force of the wire 11 and the terminal 12 can be enhanced when a pulling force is applied to the wire 11.
As shown in
With the lower housing 30 and the upper cover 60 assembled, the front terminal holding portions 63F are locked to cover the sliding portions 16 from above. In this way, the terminals 12 are retained and held in the cavities 29 not to come out upward.
With the lower housing 30 and the upper cover 60 assembled, the rear terminal holding portions 63R are located behind the sliding portions 16. By the contact of the rear terminal holding portions 63R with the sliding portions 16 from behind, the terminals 12 are retained and held in the cavities 29 not to come out rearward. In this way, the joint connector 10 is completed.
Next, functions and effects of this embodiment are described. The joint connector 10 according to this embodiment is the joint connector 10 for connecting the plurality of wires 11 and includes the lower housing 30, the upper cover 60 assembled with the lower housing 30, the plurality of terminals 12 respectively connected to the front end parts in the extending direction of the plurality of wires 11 and the busbar 50 connected to the plurality of terminals 12. The busbar 50 disposed in the lower housing 30 includes the plurality of tabs 52. Each of the plurality of terminals 12 disposed in the lower housing 30 includes the tube portion 17, each of the plurality of tabs 52 being inserted into the tube portion 17, the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B extending along the extending direction and configured to sandwich one of the plurality of wires 11, and the sliding portion 16 disposed outside the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B, movable along the front-rear direction and including the upper and lower pressurizing portions 25A, 25B for pressurizing the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B toward the wire 11 with the one of the plurality of wires 11 sandwiched by the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B. The terminal holding portions 63 projecting downward from the upper cover 60 are engaged with the terminals 12.
According to this embodiment, the core 13 of the wire 11 and the terminal 12 can be electrically connected without using a relatively large-scale jig by pushing the sliding portion 16 forward with the relatively small jig 45. In this way, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 10 can be reduced.
Further, by applying the terminals 12 according to this embodiment to the joint connector 10, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 10 can be reduced.
According to this embodiment, the terminals 12 can be retained and held in the lower housing 30 not to come out upward by inserting the busbar 50 into the tube portions 17. Since a structure for retaining and holding the terminals 12 becomes unnecessary in this way, the structure of the joint connector 10 can be simplified. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the joint connector 10 can be reduced.
The sliding portion 16 is movable with respect to the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B between the partial locking position where the upper and lower pressurizing portions 25A, 25B are separated from the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B and the full locking position where the upper and lower pressurizing portions 25A, 25B press the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B toward the plurality of wires 11, and the terminal holding portion 63 is locked to the sliding portion 16 at the full locking position with respect to the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B.
With the lower housing 30 and the upper cover 60 assembled, the front terminal holding portions 63F are locked to cover the sliding portions 16 from above. In this way, the terminals 12 are retained and held in the cavities 29 not to come out upward.
With the lower housing 30 and the upper cover 60 assembled, the rear terminal holding portions 63R are located behind the sliding portions 16. By locking the rear terminal holding portions 63R to the sliding portions 16 from behind, the terminals 12 are retained and held in the cavities 29 not to come out rearward.
By assembling the upper cover 60 with the lower housing 30, the terminal holding portions 63 (front and rear terminal holding portions 63F, 63R) provided on the upper cover 60 as described above are locked to the sliding portions 16 as described above. Thus, it can be confirmed that the sliding portions 16 have moved to the full locking position.
According to this embodiment, the lower housing 30 includes the rear wall 31 located behind the plurality of terminals 12 in the extending direction, the rear wall 31 includes the plurality of wire insertion holes 37 penetrating in the extending direction, the plurality of wires 11 being respectively inserted into the wire insertion holes 37, and the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B are disposed in front of the wire insertion holes 37.
If the wire 11 is inserted from behind the wire insertion hole 37, the wire 11 enters between the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B located in front of the wire insertion hole 37. Since the wire 11 is guided into between the upper and lower sandwiching portions 18A, 18B by the wire insertion hole 37, the manufacturing efficiency of the joint connector 10 can be improved.
According to this embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the wire insertion hole 37 orthogonal to the front-rear direction is smaller than that of the sliding portion 16 orthogonal to the front-rear direction.
Since the cross-sectional area of the wire insertion hole 37 is smaller than that of the sliding portion 16, the escape of the sliding portion 16 to the outside of the lower housing 30 through the wire insertion hole 37 is suppressed. In this way, the terminal 12 having the sliding portion 16 held at the partial locking position can be held in the lower housing 30.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiment. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the technique disclosed in this specification.
(1) Two, three, five or more terminals 12 may be disposed in the lower housing 30.
(2) The upper cover 60 and the lower housing 30 may be integrated by a hinge or the like.
(3) The terminal 12 may include one, three or more sandwiching portions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-063732 | Mar 2019 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2020/012899 | 3/24/2020 | WO | 00 |