Pressure connecting terminal

Abstract

A pressure-connecting terminal 1 includes: a bottom wall 1d; a pair of side walls 1e bent from the bottom wall 1d so as to confront each other; and a pressure-connecting portion 1b having pressure-connecting blades 1f formed on either one or both of the bottom wall 1d and the side walls 1e so that the pressure-connecting blades can form pressure-connecting slots 1h while bent inward. The pressure-connecting terminal 1 allows the pressure-connecting blades 1f to rip off an insulating layer 2b of a sheathed wire 2 to be connected to a conductor 2a of the sheathed wire 2 with the sheathed wire 2 press-connected into the pressure-connecting slots 1h. In such pressure-connecting terminal 1, beads 1g are formed over corner portions continuously extending from the pressure-connecting blades 1f to either the side walls 1e or the bottom wall 1d so as to protrude inward from outside.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a pressure-connecting terminal that allows pressure-connecting blades thereof to rip off the insulating layer of a sheathed wire to be connected to the conductor of the sheathed wire by press-connecting the sheathed wire into pressure-connecting slots thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional pressure-connecting terminal 10 disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei. 4-15159. The pressure-connecting terminal 10 is designed so that pressure-connecting blades 10d and pressure-connecting blades 10e rip off an insulating layer 11a of a sheathed wire 11 to be connected to a conductor 11b of the sheathed wire 11. That is, the sheathed wire 11 is laid horizontal between a pair of side walls 10c so as to be press-connected from above, the side walls 10c being bent from a bottom wall 10b of a pressure-connecting portion 10a so as to confront each other. As a result, the pressure-connecting blades 10e that form a U-shaped pressure-connecting slot 10f while bent inward from the side walls 10c and the pressure-connecting blades 10d that form a pressure-connecting slot 10g while bent inward from the bottom wall 10b rip off the insulating layer 11a to be connected to the conductor 11b.

However, the conventional pressure-connecting terminal 10 addresses the inconvenience that the power of the pressure-connecting portion 10a for holding the sheathed wire 11 is reduced. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, if a tensile force F is applied in an axial direction from the sheathed wire 11 to the pressure-connecting blades 10d, 10e that have bitten into the sheathed wire 11, e.g., as in the case where the sheathed wire 11 is pulled in an-axial direction with one end of the sheathed wire being fixed by the pressure-connecting portion 10a after the sheathed wire has been pressured, the pressure-connecting blades 10d, 10e are bent or fallen off, and such deformation of the pressure-connecting blades 10d, 10e leads to the aforementioned reduction in holding power.

To overcome this inconvenience, one may increase strength by increasing the thickness of the pressure-connecting terminal 10 or by providing a reinforcing member that bridges between the bent inner sides of the base portions of the bent pressure-connecting blades 10d, 10e. However, if the thickness of the pressure-connecting terminal is increased, the weight of the pressure-connecting terminal is also increased, whereas if a reinforcing member is arranged, the problem that the manufacturing process becomes complicated in the sense that a separate reinforcing member must be additionally provided on the small-sized pressure-connecting terminal 10.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a pressure-connecting terminal that can hold a sheathed wire with the pressure-connecting portion thereof appropriately by increasing the rigidity of the pressure-connecting blades thereof even if a tensile force is applied from the sheathed wire in an axial direction to the pressure-connecting blades.

The object can be attained by a pressure-connecting terminal, according to the present invention, that includes: a bottom wall; a pair of side walls being bent from the bottom wall so as to confront each other; and a pressure-connecting portion having pressure-connecting blades on either one or both of the bottom wall and the side walls so that the pressure-connecting blades form pressure-connecting slots while bent inward, the pressure-connecting terminal allowing the pressure-connecting blades to rip off an insulating layer of a sheathed wire to be connected to a conductor of the sheathed wire when the sheathed wire is press-connected into the pressure-connecting slots. In such pressure-connecting terminal, beads are formed over corner portions continuously extending from the pressure-connecting blades to the side walls or the bottom wall so as to protrude inward from outside.

According to the above-mentioned terminal of the present invention, the rigidity of the pressure-connecting blades is increased by the beads that are formed over the corner portions continuously extending from the pressure-connecting blades to the side walls or the bottom wall so as to protrude inward from outside. As a result, even if a tensile force is applied in an axial direction from the sheathed wire to the pressure-connecting blades with the sheathed wire having been pressured onto the pressure-connecting blades, the pressure-connecting blades are hard to deform in the direction of the tensile force and can, therefore, hold the sheathed wire appropriately.

In the above-mentioned -construction of the present invention, it is preferable that the pressure-connecting blades are formed so as to be bent from both of the pair of side walls; and the beads are formed over corner portions continuously extending from both pressure-connecting blades to the pair of side walls.

According to the above-mentioned construction, the sheathed wire can be held stably from both sides thereof by the pressure-connecting blades, in addition to the operation performed by the aforementioned invention.

Further, in the above-mentioned construction, it is further preferable that the pressure-connecting blades formed so as to be bent from both side walls are paired so as to extend in an axial direction at a distance from each other along the side walls.

According to the above-mentioned construction, a plurality of pressure-connecting blades can operate onto the sheathed wire in the axial direction, in addition to the operation performed by the aforementioned invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a condition before a conventional pressure-connecting terminal is connected to a sheathed wire;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrative of a conventional operation;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrative of a conventional operation;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a condition before a pressure-connecting terminal, which is a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, is connected to a sheathed wire;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the embodiment after the pressure-connecting terminal according to the present invention shown in FIG. 4 is connected to the sheathed wire; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a main portion of the embodiment according to the invention shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the pressure-connecting terminal according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 4 to 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a pressure-connecting terminal, which is formed by press-working a conductive plate member into such a shape that a connecting portion 1a, a pressure-connecting portion 1b, and a caulking portion 1c are arranged continuously from one side to the other. The connecting portion 1a connects a not shown mating terminal thereto. The pressure-connecting portion 1b pressures a sheathed wire 2 that has a conductor 2a sheathed by an insulating layer 2b. The caulking portion 1c caulks the sheathed wire 2.

In this embodiment according to the present invention, the pressure-connecting portion 1b includes: a bottom wall 1d: a pair of side walls 1e that are bent from the bottom wall 1d so as to confront each other; pressure-connecting blades 1f that are bent from these side walls 1e so as to open like French doors; and beads 1g that are formed over corner portions continuously extending from the side walls 1e to the pressure-connecting blades 1f so as to protrude inward from outside. Pressure-connecting slots 1h are formed between the pressure-connecting blades 1f extending from the side wall 1e on one side and the pressure-connecting blades 1f extending from the side wall 1e on the other side.

The caulking portion 1c has a bottom wall 1k and a pair of side walls 1i that are extended from the bottom wall 1d and the pair of side walls 1e of the pressure-connecting portion 1b, forming caulking pieces 1j that are erect alternately.

According to the structure of the embodiment of the invention, an end portion of the sheathed wire 2 is press-connected into the pressure-connecting slots 1h horizontal from above between the side walls 1i of the caulking portion 1c and the side walls 1e of the pressure-connecting portion 1b, so that the pressure-connecting blades 1f rip off the insulating layer 2b of the sheathed wire 2 to be connected to the conductor 2a while biting into the conductor 2a.

Then, by bending the caulking pieces 1j of the caulking portion 1c projecting upward from the sheathed wire 2 inward to each other using a not shown tool, the sheathed wire 2 is supported so as to be crimped by the caulking pieces 1j.

Even if a tensile force F is applied in an axial direction shown in FIG. 5 from the sheathed wire 2 to the pressure-connecting blades 1f under this condition, e.g., as in the case where the sheathed wire 2 is pulled from the pressure-connecting terminal 1, the rigidity given by the beads 1g makes the pressure-connecting blades 1f hard to deform in the direction of the tensile force F. As a result, the sheathed wire 2 can be held by the pressure-connecting portion 1b appropriately.

Further, the pressure-connecting blades 1f whose rigidity has been increased by the beads 1g can hold the sheathed wire 2 stably from both sides of the sheathed wire.

Furthermore, the pressure-connecting blades 1f whose rigidity has been increased can hold the sheathed wire 2 more strongly while extending at a distance from each other in the axial direction along the pair of side walls 1e.

While the pressure-connecting blades 1f are bent from the respective side walls 1e in the aforementioned embodiment, similar operation and advantageous effects can be obtained by bending not shown pressure-connecting blades inward from the bottom wall 1d, or by bending not shown pressure-connecting blades inward from both the side walls 1e and the bottom wall 1d.

Furthermore, FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment, where the pressure-connecting blades 1f are bent from the bottom wall 10b to form pressure-connecting slots 1h. In addition, there are beads 1g that extend from the pressure connecting blade 1f to the bottom wall 10b. As previously set forth, the beads increase the rigidity in the pressure-connecting blades, making the pressure-connecting blades 1f hard to deform in the direction of a tensile force.

As described in the foregoing, the invention provides the following advantageous effects.

According to the invention, the rigidity of the pressure-connecting blades is increased by the beads that are formed over the corner portions continuously extending from the pressure-connecting blades to the side walls or the bottom wall so as to protrude inward from outside. As a result, even if a tensile force is applied in an axial direction to the pressure-connecting blades that have bitten into the sheathed wire with the sheathed wire having been pressured onto the pressure-connecting blades, the pressure-connecting blades are hard to deform in the direction of the tensile force and can, therefore, hold the sheathed wire appropriately without increasing the thickness of the pressure-connecting terminal or providing independent reinforcing members.

According to the invention, the sheathed wire can be held stably from both sides thereof by the pressure-connecting blades.

According to the invention, the sheathed wire can be held strongly by the pressure-connecting blades.

While there has been described in connection with the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A pressure-connecting terminal comprising:

a bottom wall;

a pair of side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall so as to confront each other; and

a pressure-connecting portion having pressure-connecting blades extending inwardly from the side walls, respectively, so that the pressure-connecting blades form a pressure-connecting slot, the pressure-connecting terminal allowing the pressure-connecting blades to tear an insulating layer of a sheathed wire to be connected to a conductor of the sheathed wire when the sheathed wire is press-connected into the pressure-connecting slot,

wherein beads are formed on the inside of corner portions respectively defined by the pressure-connecting blades and the side walls so as to reinforce said pressure-connecting blades.

2. A pressure-connecting terminal according to claim 1, wherein each one of said side walls has a pair of pressure-connecting blades extending inwardly therefrom so that said pressure-connecting blades form a pair of opposing pressure-connecting slots.

3. A pressure-connecting terminal according to claim 2, wherein said pair of opposing pressure-connecting slots are spaced a predetermined distance from each other in the axial direction along said side walls.

4. A pressure-connecting terminal comprising:

a bottom wall;

a pair of side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall so as to confront each other; and

a pressure-connecting portion having pressure-connecting blades extending inwardly from said bottom wall, so that the pressure-connecting blades form a pressure-connecting slot, the pressure-connecting terminal allowing the pressure-connecting blades to tear an insulating layer of a sheathed wire to be connected to a conductor of the sheathed wire when the sheathed wire is press-connected into the pressure-connecting slot,

wherein a bead is formed over a corner portion continuously extending from each of the pressure-connecting blades to the bottom wall so as to reinforce said pressure-connecting blades.