Patent Grant
10923871
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-201868 filed in Japan on Oct. 13, 2016.
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a crimping terminal.
There has been conventionally a crimping terminal swaged onto a wire. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-219769 discloses a technique of a mold for forming a terminal, in which a mold that pinches a wire tightening portion of a terminal is provided with a side wall lower mold and a side wall upper mold that pinch a side wall connecting to the wire tightening portion. A pressure surface substantially connecting to a pressure surface of a conductive upper mold is provided on one side of the side wall upper mold, and a tapered surface expanding toward the other end is provided on the other end side.
Some crimping terminals include a wire connection portion to be crimped onto a wire, a terminal connection portion to be connected to a counterpart terminal, and a joint portion linking the wire connection portion and the terminal connection portion. When the wire connection portion of such a crimping terminal is swaged onto the wire, the joint portion may deform to swell outward. As a result, in some cases, when the crimping terminal is accommodated into a cavity, a deformed portion damages the inside of the cavity.
The object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method of a crimping terminal that can suppress deformation of a crimping terminal in crimping.
In order to solve the above mentioned problem and achieve the object, a manufacturing method of a crimping terminal according to one aspect of the present invention includes a terminal supply step of supplying the crimping terminal to a crimping position with a wire by a terminal supply device, the crimping terminal including a terminal connection portion to be connected to a counterpart terminal, a wire connection portion to be crimped onto the wire, and a joint portion linking side walls of the terminal connection portion and the wire connection portion; a support step of supporting a bottom portion of the crimping terminal supplied to the crimping position by a first mold; a crimp step of deforming the wire connection portion while relatively moving toward the first mold, and crimping the wire connection portion onto the wire by a second mold; and a regulation step of regulating a width of the joint portion so as not to be wider than a width of the terminal connection portion, by sandwiching the joint portion from both sides in a width direction when the second mold crimps the wire connection portion by a regulation portion.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in the manufacturing method of the crimping terminal, it is preferable that the regulation portion includes a pair of wall surfaces configured to sandwich the joint portion from the both sides in the width direction, and a width of a clearance gap between the pair of wall surfaces corresponds to a width of the terminal connection portion.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the manufacturing method of the crimping terminal, it is preferable that the regulation portion includes a pair of wall surfaces facing each other in a width direction of the crimping terminal, the pair of wall surfaces include first regions facing side walls of the terminal connection portion, and second regions facing side walls of the joint portion, and when the second mold crimps the wire connection portion, a timing at which the first regions start to face the side walls of the terminal connection portion is earlier than a timing at which the second regions start to face the side walls of the joint portion.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the manufacturing method of the crimping terminal, it is preferable that the regulation portion moves integrally with the second mold.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the manufacturing method of the crimping terminal, it is preferable that further comprising a press step of pressing a bottom portion of the joint portion toward the first mold by a pressing mechanism provided in the regulation portion.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
A manufacturing method of a crimping terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the present invention is not limited by the embodiment. In addition, components in the following embodiment include the ones easily-conceived by those skilled in the art, or the ones that are substantially identical.
An embodiment will be described with reference to
First of all, a crimping terminal 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The crimping terminal 1 illustrated in
The crimping terminal 1 includes a terminal fitting 10 and a water stop member 20. The terminal fitting 10 is a main portion of the crimping terminal 1. The terminal fitting 10 is formed of a conductive metal plate serving as a base material (e.g., copper plate, copper alloy plate). The terminal fitting 10 is formed into a predetermined shape that enables connection to the other terminal and the wire 50, through punching processing, bending processing, and the like that are performed on the base material. The terminal fitting 10 includes a terminal connection portion 11 and a wire connection portion 12. The terminal connection portion 11 is a portion to be electrically-connected to the other terminal. The wire connection portion 12 is a portion to be crimped onto the wire 50, and is electrically-connected to the core wire 51. A joint portion 13 is provided between the terminal connection portion 11 and the wire connection portion 12. In other words, the terminal connection portion 11 and the wire connection portion 12 are joined via the joint portion 13. The joint portion 13 includes side walls 13a and 13a that link side walls 11a and 11a of the terminal connection portion 11 and barrel piece portions 15 and 16 being side walls of the wire connection portion 12. One side wall 13a links one side wall 11a and a first barrel piece portion 15, and the other side wall 13a links the other side wall 11a and a second barrel piece portion 16 (refer to
The terminal fitting 10 may be a male terminal or a female terminal. When the terminal fitting 10 is a male terminal, the terminal connection portion 11 is molded into a male die, and when the terminal fitting 10 is a female terminal, the terminal connection portion 11 is molded into a female die.
In the description of the crimping terminal 1, a direction in which the crimping terminal 1 is connected to the other terminal, that is, a direction in which the crimping terminal 1 is inserted into the other terminal will be referred to as a first direction L. The first direction L is a longitudinal direction of the crimping terminal 1. A parallel arrangement direction of the crimping terminals 1 will be referred to as a second direction W. As described later, the parallel arrangement direction is a direction in which the crimping terminals 1 are arranged in parallel in a terminal chain member 30, and is a width direction of the crimping terminal 1. In the crimping terminal 1, a direction perpendicular to both of the first direction L and the second direction W will be referred to as a third direction H. The third direction H is a height direction of the crimping terminal 1.
In a molding process, the crimping terminal 1 is molded into a flat plate shape, and from this state, in a terminal connection portion shaping process, the terminal connection portion 11 is formed into a tubular shape as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Lengths from roots on the bottom portion 14 side to end surfaces of distal ends 15a and 16a of the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16 may be equal to each other, or one length may be longer than the other length. In the crimping terminal 1 of the present embodiment, the length from the root to the distal end 15a of the first barrel piece portion 15 and the length from the root to the distal end 16a of the second barrel piece portion 16 are equal. For example, the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16 are winded around the wire 50 while overlapping each other. In addition, swaging referred to as so-called B crimping may be performed on the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16. In the B crimping, both of the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16 are bent toward the bottom portion 14 side, and swaged so that the distal ends 15a and 16a are pressed against the wire 50. Because the crimping terminal 1 of the present embodiment is provided with the water stop member 20 to be described later, the former swaging processing is employed.
The end portion of the wire 50 is inserted into a U-shaped inner space from a U-shaped opening portion of the wire connection portion 12, that is, from a clearance gap between the distal ends 15a and 16a. The wire connection portion 12 is formed so that the end portion of the wire 50 can be easily inserted. More specifically, in the wire connection portion 12, a distance in the second direction W between the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16 widens from the bottom portion 14 side toward the end surfaces of the distal ends 15a and 16a.
As illustrated in
The core wire crimping portion 12A is a region to be crimped onto the core wire 51 at the distal end of the wire 50. The core wire crimping portion 12A is a region closest to the joint portion 13 in each of the barrel piece portions 15 and 16. The covering crimping portion 12B is a region to be crimped onto an end portion of the covering 52. The covering crimping portion 12B is a region positioned on the farthest side from the joint portion 13 side in each of the barrel piece portions 15 and 16. The joint crimping portion 12C is a region linking the core wire crimping portion 12A and the covering crimping portion 12B. The joint crimping portion 12C is crimped onto a boundary portion between the core wire 51 and the covering 52 of the wire 50.
As illustrated in
Here, ingress of water between the core wire 51 and the wire connection portion 12 crimped onto the core wire 51 is not preferable. For example, when the metal material of the core wire 51 and the metal material of the wire connection portion 12 have different-sized ionization tendencies, corrosion may occur. As an example, when the material of the core wire 51 is aluminum, and the material of the wire connection portion 12 is copper, the core wire 51 may corrode. The crimping terminal 1 of the present embodiment is provided with the water stop member 20. The water stop member 20 suppresses ingress of water between the wire connection portion 12 and the core wire 51.
For example, the water stop member 20 is a member formed into a sheet mainly containing adhesive such as acrylic adhesive. As the water stop member 20 of the present embodiment, an adhesive sheet being formed of sheet-like nonwoven cloth saturated with adhesive, and having an adhesive effect on the both sides is used.
For example, the water stop member 20 is attached onto the inner wall surface of the flat-plate-shaped wire connection portion 12 illustrated in
The second water stop portion 22 stops water ingress into a portion on the terminal connection portion 11 side from the distal end of the core wire 51. The second water stop portion 22 is disposed at an end portion on the terminal connection portion 11 side of the wire connection portion 12, and extends in the second direction W. At least part of the second water stop portion 22 is desirably provided in a region in which the core wire 51 is placed. For example, the second water stop portion 22 forms a water stop region in a clearance gap between the barrel piece portions 15 and 16 by being sandwiched between the overlapping barrel piece portions 15 and 16. The second water stop portion 22 can also block a clearance gap provided on the terminal connection portion 11 side from the distal end of the core wire 51, by overlapping each other in a crimping process. The second water stop portion 22 suppresses ingress of water between the wire connection portion 12 and the core wire 51 from the terminal connection portion 11 side.
The third water stop portion 23 suppresses ingress of water from a clearance gap between the wire connection portion 12 and the covering 52. The third water stop portion 23 is disposed at an end portion on an opposite side of the terminal connection portion 11 side of the wire connection portion 12, and extends in the second direction W. The third water stop portion 23 forms a water stop region between the covering 52 and the wire connection portion 12 by being sandwiched between the covering 52 and the wire connection portion 12.
Through a press process performed on one metal plate serving as a base material, the above-described terminal fitting 10 is processed into a configuration having the flat-plate-shaped wire connection portion 12 illustrated in
In the present embodiment, the terminal chain member 30 illustrated in
The terminal chain member 30 is an aggregate of the crimping terminals 1. The terminal chain member 30 includes a joint piece 31, the plurality of crimping terminals 1, and a plurality of link portions 32. The joint piece 31, the crimping terminals 1, and the link portions 32 are integrally formed of the same base material. In the terminal chain member 30, the crimping terminals 1 are oriented in the same direction, and arranged in parallel at equal intervals. In the terminal chain member 30, one end portions of the respective crimping terminals 1 are linked to each other by the joint piece 31. For example, the shape of the joint piece 31 is a thin and long oblong plate shape. The joint piece 31 extends in the second direction W. The wire connection portions 12 are connected to the joint piece 31 via the link portions 32. More specifically, the link portions 32 link the end portions on the opposite side of the terminal connection portion 11 side of the bottom portions 14 to the joint piece 31.
A plurality of terminal feed holes 31a are formed in the joint piece 31. The terminal feed holes 31a are arranged at equal intervals in a feed direction of the terminal chain member 30. The terminal feed holes 31a are through-holes penetrating through the joint piece 31 in a plate thickness direction. The crimping terminals 1 are positioned by the terminal feed holes 31a on a crimping device 102 to be described later. The terminal chain member 30 is set into the terminal crimping apparatus 100 in a state of being winded up in a reel shape.
As illustrated in
The terminal supply device 101 pulls out the terminal chain member 30 winded up in a reel shape, sequentially from the outer peripheral side. The terminal supply device 101 supplies the crimping terminals 1 of the pulled-out terminal chain member 30 to crimping positions, sequentially from the forefront side. When the forefront crimping terminal 1 is crimped onto the wire 50, and cut off from the joint piece 31, the terminal supply device 101 supplies the crimping terminal 1 that newly comes at the forefront, to the crimping position. Each time the crimping process and the terminal cutting process of one crimping terminal 1 are completed, the terminal supply device 101 performs a supply operation to supply the next crimping terminal 1 to the crimping position.
The terminal supply device 101 includes a terminal feed member 101a and a power transmission mechanism 101b. The terminal feed member 101a includes a protruding portion to be inserted into the terminal feed hole 31a of the joint piece 31. The terminal feed member 101a moves the terminal chain member 30 in the feed direction in a state in which the protruding portion is inserted into the terminal feed hole 31a. The power transmission mechanism 101b operates the terminal feed member 101a in conjunction with a crimping operation performed by the crimping device 102 (up-and-down movement of a ram 114A or the like that is to be described later). The terminal supply device 101 supplies the crimping terminal 1 to the crimping position by moving the terminal feed member 101a in the up-down direction and the feed direction in conjunction with the crimping operation of the crimping device 102.
The crimping device 102 executes the crimping process of crimping the supplied the crimping terminal 1 onto the wire 50, and a cutting process of cutting off the crimping terminal 1 from the joint piece 31. The crimping device 102 includes a crimping machine 110 and a terminal cutting mechanism 120.
The crimping machine 110 is a device that crimps the crimping terminal 1 onto the wire 50 by swaging the crimping terminal 1 to the end portion of the wire 50. The crimping machine 110 of the present embodiment crimps the crimping terminal 1 onto the wire 50 by swaging the first barrel piece portion 15 and the second barrel piece portion 16 of the crimping terminal 1 so as be winded around the core wire 51 and the covering 52 of the wire 50. The crimping machine 110 includes a frame 111, a first mold 112, a second mold 113, and a power transmission mechanism 114.
The frame 111 includes a base 111A, an anvil supporting member 111B, a transmission portion supporting member 111C, and a support base 111D. The base 111A is a member serving as a basis of the terminal crimping apparatus 100. The base 111A is fixed to a placement base on which the terminal crimping apparatus 100 is to be placed. The anvil supporting member 111B, the transmission portion supporting member 111C, and the support base 111D are fixed onto the base 111A.
The transmission portion supporting member 111C is disposed on the rear side (right side on a paper surface in
The first mold 112 and the second mold 113 form a pair. The first mold 112 and the second mold 113 are disposed at an interval in the up-down direction. As illustrated in
The first anvil 112A and the first crimper 113A face each other in the up-down direction. The first anvil 112A and the first crimper 113A crimp the core wire crimping portion 12A. More specifically, the first anvil 112A and the first crimper 113A wind the U-shaped core wire crimping portion 12A around the core wire 51 of the wire 50 to crimp the core wire crimping portion 12A onto the core wire 51, by narrowing a distance therebetween.
The second anvil 112B and the second crimper 113B face each other in the up-down direction. The second anvil 112B and the second crimper 113B crimp the covering crimping portion 12B. More specifically, the second anvil 112B and the second crimper 113B wind the U-shaped covering crimping portion 12B around the covering 52 to crimp the covering crimping portion 12B onto the covering 52, by narrowing a distance therebetween.
In the crimping process, by transmitting power to the power transmission mechanism 114, the driving device 103 narrows a distance between the first mold 112 and the second mold 113 to crimp the wire connection portion 12 onto the wire 50. On the other hand, when the crimping process is completed, the driving device 103 widens the distance between the first mold 112 and the second mold 113. In the crimping device 102 of the present embodiment, a distance between the pair of molds 112 and 113 changes by the second mold 113 moving up and down with respect to the first mold 112. In the crimping device 102 of the present embodiment, after a crimping operation of the core wire crimping portion 12A that is performed by the first anvil 112A and the first crimper 113A is started, a crimping operation of the covering crimping portion 12B that is performed by the second anvil 112B and the second crimper 113B is started.
In addition, in the first mold 112, the first anvil 112A and the second anvil 112B may be separately formed, and in the second mold 113, the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B may be separately formed. In this case, the driving device 103 and the power transmission mechanism 114 may be configured to separately move the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B up and down.
The power transmission mechanism 114 transmits power output from the driving device 103, to the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B. As illustrated in
The ram 114A is a movable member supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the ram supporting portion 111C2. The second mold 113 is fixed to the ram 114A. Thus, the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B move up and down integrally with the ram 114A, with respect to the ram supporting portion 111C2. For example, the shape of the ram 114A is a parallelepiped. A female screw portion (not illustrated) is formed in the ram 114A. The female screw portion is formed on the inner circumferential surface of a hole in the up-down direction that is formed from an inner side of the ram 114A toward an upper end surface.
The ram bolt 114B includes a male screw portion (not illustrated), and the male screw portion is screwed with the female screw portion of the ram 114A. Thus, the ram bolt 114B moves up and down integrally with the ram 114A, with respect to the ram supporting portion 111C2. In addition, the ram bolt 114B includes a bolt head portion 114B1 disposed on the upper side of the male screw portion. A female screw portion (not illustrated) is formed in the bolt head portion 114B1. The female screw portion of the bolt head portion 114B1 is formed on the inner circumferential surface of a hole in the up-down direction that is formed from an inner side of the bolt head portion 114B1 toward an upper end surface.
The shank 114C is a cylindrically-shaped hollow member, and includes a male screw portion 114C1 and a connection portion (not illustrated) at each end portion. The male screw portion 114C1 of the shank 114C is formed on the lower side of the hollow member, and is screwed with the female screw portion of the bolt head portion 114B1 of the ram bolt 114B. Thus, the shank 114C moves up and down integrally with the ram 114A and the ram bolt 114B, with respect to the ram supporting portion 111C2. The connection portion of the shank 114C is connected to the driving device 103.
The driving device 103 includes a driving source (not illustrated), and a power conversion mechanism (not illustrated) that converts drive power of the driving source into power in the up-down direction. The connection portion of the shank 114C is joined to an output shaft of the power conversion mechanism. Thus, the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B move up and down integrally with the ram 114A, the ram bolt 114B, and the shank 114C, with respect to the ram supporting portion 111C2, according to an output of the driving device 103 (output of the power conversion mechanism). As the driving source of the driving device 103, an electrical actuator of an electrical motor or the like, a hydraulic actuator of a hydraulic cylinder or the like, an air pressure actuator of an air cylinder or the like, and the like can be applied.
A relative position in the up-down direction of the first crimper 113A with respect to the first anvil 112A, and a relative position in the up-down direction of the second crimper 113B with respect to the second anvil 112B can be changed by adjusting a screw amount of the female screw portion of the bolt head portion 114B1 and the male screw portion 114C1 of the shank 114C. A nut 114D is screwed with the male screw portion 114C1 of the shank 114C on the upper side of the ram bolt 114B. Thus, the nut 114D functions as a so-called locknut together with the female screw portion of the bolt head portion 114B1. By being tightened toward the ram bolt 114B side after the completion of the adjustment of the above-described relative positions, the nut 114D can fix the first crimper 113A and the second crimper 113B at the relative positions.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The crimping terminal 1 having been subjected to the crimping processing in the crimping machine 110 is cut off from the joint piece 31 by the terminal cutting mechanism 120. The terminal cutting mechanism 120 cuts the link portion 32 of the crimping terminal 1 supplied to the crimping position by sandwiching the link portion 32 between two terminal cutting portions, and performs the cut off in conjunction with the progress of the crimping process. As illustrated in
The terminal cutting member 121 is formed into a parallelepiped, and is disposed so as to be slidable in the up-down direction along the front surface of the second anvil 112B. As illustrated in
The terminal cutting member 121 cuts the link portion 32 while relatively moving up and down with respect to the first mold 112 and the crimping terminal 1. Here, a position at which the joint piece 31 and the like can be inserted into the slit 121b is assumed to be a default position in the up-down direction of the terminal cutting member 121. As illustrated in
The pressing member 122 is fixed to the ram 114A, and moves up and down integrally with the ram 114A. The pressing member 122 is disposed on the upper side of the terminal cutting member 121, and presses down the terminal cutting member 121 by lowering. The pressing member 122 is formed into a parallelepiped. The elastic member 123 is a member that adds upper biasing force to the terminal cutting member 121, and is formed of a spring member or the like. The elastic member 123 returns the terminal cutting member 121 to the default position in the up-down direction when pressing force applied from the pressing member 122 is released.
In the terminal cutting mechanism 120, the pressing member 122 lowers together with the lowering of the second mold 113 in the crimping processing, to press down the terminal cutting member 121. By the terminal cutting member 121 lowering, the link portion 32 is sandwiched between the opening edge 121c of the slit 121b and the top surface edge 112a (
As illustrated in
Here, the predetermined position is a position at which the end portion of the wire 50 not having been subjected to the crimping processing exists on the upper side of the bottom portion 14 of the flat-plate-shaped wire connection portion 12. In addition, the predetermined position is a position at which the core wire 51 can be placed on the bottom portion 14 of the core wire crimping portion 12A so that the distal end of the core wire 51 that has been pressed down at the start of the crimping processing does not protrude from the core wire crimping portion 12A. The core wire 51 extends in an axis line direction in accordance with the crimping processing, and a distal end position of the core wire 51 sometimes moves in the axis line direction. The predetermined position is desirably determined in consideration of the extension.
On the other hand, the end portion (the core wire 51 at the distal end and the covering 52) of the wire 50 is pressed down by the second mold 113 toward the inner wall surface side of the wire connection portion 12. Thus, if no holding is provided, the wire 50 is uplifted from the top surface 121d of the terminal cutting member 121, and the core wire 51 at the distal end and the covering 52 may be crimped in a state of not being placed on the bottom portion 14 of the wire connection portion 12. Thus, the terminal crimping apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is provided with a wire holding mechanism that holds the wire 50 at the predetermined position between itself and the upper portion of the terminal cutting member 121, and suppresses a position shift of the end portion of the wire 50 with respect to the wire connection portion 12 that occurs in the crimping processing.
The wire holding mechanism includes a wire retaining member 118 (
The crimping machine 110 of the present embodiment includes a supporting stopper 19 and a regulation portion 40. The supporting stopper 19 supports the terminal connection portion 11 of the crimping terminal 1 in the crimping process. The supporting stopper 19 is disposed at a position facing the terminal connection portion 11 in the third direction H. The supporting stopper 19 is a member being supported by the ram 114A, and moving integrally with the ram 114A. The supporting stopper 19 lowers in conjunction with the lowering of the ram 114A, to cover the terminal connection portion 11 from the upper side. As illustrated in
If the supporting stopper 19 lowers, the recessed portion 19a covers the terminal connection portion 11. The supporting stopper 19 supports the terminal connection portion 11 from the both sides in the second direction W using side surfaces 19b and 19b of the recessed portion 19a. The side surfaces 19b and 19b respectively face side surfaces on the both sides of the terminal connection portion 11. If the terminal connection portion 11 is likely to move or deform in the crimping process, the side surfaces 19b and 19b suppress the movement and the deformation. A bottom surface 19c of the supporting stopper 19 faces the terminal connection portion 11 in the third direction H. The supporting stopper 19 holds the terminal connection portion 11 by the bottom surface 19c of the recessed portion 19a coming into contact with the terminal connection portion 11. The bottom surface 19c suppresses the movement and the deformation of the terminal connection portion 11. In this manner, the supporting stopper 19 suppresses the movement and the deformation of the terminal connection portion 11 in the crimping process.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment, in the crimping terminal 1 not being crimped, as illustrated in
Together with the supporting stopper 19, the first regions 41a support the terminal connection portion 11 from the both sides in the second direction W. This suppresses a movement such as rolling and twist of the terminal connection portion 11. Here, the rolling refers to a movement of rotation around an axis extending in the first direction L, and the twist refers to a movement of inclining with respect to the first direction L.
By pressing force F1 applied from the second mold 113, the barrel piece portions 15 and 16 deform to be bent inward, and the joint portion 13 connecting to the barrel piece portions 15 and 16 also deforms inward. When the joint portion 13 starts to deform inward, the second regions 41b of the regulation portion 40 face the joint portion 13 as illustrated in
When the second mold 113 presses the wire connection portion 12 against the first mold 112 to crimp the wire connection portion 12 onto the wire 50, the wire connection portion 12 tries to extend in the first direction L. Nevertheless, because the terminal connection portion 11 is held by the supporting stopper 19, the extension is suppressed. This applies force to the joint portion 13, and deformation such as outward curving may be generated in the joint portion 13. If the joint portion 13 is deformed to swell outward, when the crimping terminal 1 is accommodated into a cavity of a connector or the like, a deformed location of the joint portion 13 may damage the cavity.
In view of this, in the terminal crimping apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the regulation portion 40 supports the joint portion 13 from the outside. The regulation portion 40 faces the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13 in the second direction W, and suppresses the deformation of the joint portion 13. The regulation portion 40 of the present embodiment regulates the width Wd1 of the joint portion 13 so as not to be wider than the width Wd2 of the terminal connection portion 11, by sandwiching the joint portion 13 from the both sides in the width direction in the crimping process. The regulation portion 40 regulates at least the width Wd1 of the joint portion 13 that is obtainable when the crimping process is completed, so as not to be wider than the width Wd2 of the terminal connection portion 11.
As a method of regulating the width Wd1 of the joint portion 13, the regulation portion 40 may press the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13 toward the inside in the width direction, using the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41, and actively deform the joint portion 13. Alternatively, the regulation portion 40 may support the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13 that try to swell outward in the width direction, using the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41, to prevent further deformation. These regulation modes may vary according to the way of deformation of each of the crimping terminals 1 in the crimping process. For example, when the joint portion 13 is deformed to swell outward before the regulation portion 40 starts to support, the regulation portion 40 can deform the joint portion 13 in a direction to restore the deformation to the original state.
As described above, the terminal crimping apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes the terminal supply device 101, the first mold 112, the second mold 113, and the regulation portion 40. The terminal supply device 101 supplies the crimping terminal 1 to a crimping position with the wire 50. The crimping terminal 1 to be supplied includes the terminal connection portion 11 to be electrically-connected to the counterpart terminal, the wire connection portion 12 to be crimped onto the wire 50, and the joint portion 13 linking side walls of the terminal connection portion 11 and the wire connection portion 12.
The first mold 112 supports the bottom portion 14 of the crimping terminal 1 supplied to the crimping position by the terminal supply device 101. While relatively moving toward the first mold 112, the second mold 113 deforms the wire connection portion 12, and crimps the wire connection portion 12 onto the wire 50. The regulation portion 40 regulates the width Wd1 of the joint portion 13 so as not to be wider than the width Wd2 of the terminal connection portion 11, by sandwiching the joint portion 13 from the both sides in the width direction when the second mold 113 crimps the wire connection portion 12. Thus, the terminal crimping apparatus 100 of the present embodiment can suppress deformation of the crimping terminal 1 in crimping. More specifically, by regulating the width Wd1 of the joint portion 13 so as not to be wider than the width Wd2 of the terminal connection portion 11, the terminal crimping apparatus 100 facilitates the attachment of the crimping terminal 1 with respect to a cavity of a connector or a cavity provided in a block or the like of an electrical connection box. In addition, possibility of damages to an inner wall of a cavity that are caused by the joint portion 13 when the joint portion 13 is accommodated into the cavity is reduced.
The regulation portion 40 of the present embodiment includes the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 that sandwich the joint portion 13 from the both sides in the width direction. A width Wd3 (refer to
The regulation portion 40 of the present embodiment includes the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 facing each other in the width direction of the crimping terminal 1. The pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 includes the first regions 41a facing the side walls 11a of the terminal connection portion 11, and the second regions 41b facing the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13. When the regulation portion 40 lowers together with the second mold 113 in the crimping process, a timing at which the first regions 41a start to face the side walls 11a of the terminal connection portion 11 is earlier than a timing at which the second regions 41b start to face the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13. With this configuration, after the first regions 41a start to support the side walls 11a of the terminal connection portion 11, the second regions 41b start to support the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13. The second regions 41b start to support the side walls 13a at a timing at which the crimping process progresses and the side walls 13a of the joint portion 13 start to close. This suppresses interference between the lowering regulation portion 40 and end surfaces of the side walls 13a and damages to the side walls 13a. In addition, the regulation portion 40 supports both the terminal connection portion 11 and the joint portion 13 from the side. This suppresses deformation such as relative twist and bending of the terminal connection portion 11 and the joint portion 13.
In addition, the material of the core wire 51 of the wire 50 is not limited to aluminum. For example, the core wire 51 may be copper or copper alloy, or another conductive metal. The material of the crimping terminal 1 is not limited to copper and copper alloy, and may be another conductive metal.
A first modified example of the embodiment will be described.
The pressing mechanism 47 includes a pressing member 44, a slide member 45, and elastic members 46. The pressing member 44 is a stick-shaped member, and is a columnar-shaped member, for example. The slide member 45 is a plate-shaped member, and is formed into an oblong, for example. The slide member 45 is disposed in a through-hole 40c of the regulation portion 40. The through-hole 40c penetrates through the regulation portion 40 in the plate thickness direction. For example, the shape of the through-hole 40c is an oblong. The slide member 45 is slidable in the third direction H inside the through-hole 40c. The elastic members 46 are members that press the slide member 45 downward, and are coil springs, for example. In this modified example, two elastic members 46 are provided.
The regulation portion 40 is provided with a communication hole 40d that communicates the through-hole 40c and the recessed portion 43. The pressing member 44 is inserted into the communication hole 40d. The proximal end of the pressing member 44 is fixed to the bottom surface of the slide member 45. The distal end of the pressing member 44 protrudes downward from the communication hole 40d. The pressing member 44 relatively moves up and down with respect to the regulation portion 40 integrally with the slide member 45.
As illustrated in
A second modified example of the embodiment will be described. The shapes, dimensions, and the like of the crimping terminal 1 and the regulation portion 40 are not limited to those exemplified. For example, an interval between the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 of the regulation portion 40 may be set to become narrower toward a rear portion of the recessed portion 43.
In the pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 of the regulation portion 40, an interval between the first regions 41a and 41a and an interval between the second regions 41b and 41b may be different. For example, an interval between the second regions 41b and 41b may be made narrower than an interval between the first regions 41a and 41a.
The pair of wall surfaces 41 and 41 of the regulation portion 40 need not include the first regions 41a that support the terminal connection portion 11.
The matters disclosed in the above-described embodiment and the modified example can be executed while being appropriately combined.
A terminal crimping apparatus according to the embodiment includes a regulation portion configured to regulate a width of a joint portion so as not to be wider than a width of a terminal connection portion, by sandwiching the joint portion from both sides in a width direction when a second mold crimps a wire connection portion. The terminal crimping apparatus according to the present invention brings about such an effect that deformation of a crimping terminal in crimping can be suppressed.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
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| 20180109058 A1 | Apr 2018 | US |
