JP2017112031A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector of a contact abutment system, capable of being applied fro a large current use in a simple structure.SOLUTION: A connector 10 comprises: a housing 30 made of a synthetic resin, in which an opening part 41 to which a plate-like contact part 53 provided to a mating terminal 51 can enter along with a plate thickness direction; a bus bar 11 that is housed in the housing 30 in an attitude of facing to the plate-like contact part 53 of the mating terminal 51 and a form that a part of a longitudinal direction is faced to the opening part 41; and a line-state obliquely winding coil spring 20 having conductivity arranged in an arrangement surface 16 facing to the opening part 41 in the bus bar 11. In both ends of the obliquely winding coil spring 20, fixed parts 25L and 25R fixed to the housing 30 are provided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a connector of a type in which electrical connection is established by bringing opposing contacts into contact with each other.

  As an example of this type of connector, a power feeding device described in Patent Document 1 below is known. In the female junction, a fixed inner end plate and a movable outer end plate are arranged to face each other, a coil spring is mounted between the both end plates, and a plate spring member is provided on the outer end plate. The leaf spring member is provided with a female contact that forms an oblique posture in which elastic deformation is easy by bending one end side protruding outward from the outer end plate. Then, when the mating male side junction approaches, the male side contact provided on the same male side junction hits the female side contact, pushes the outer end plate while elastically compressing the coil spring, and the female side contact itself They are brought into contact with each other while being elastically deformed to be electrically connected. In particular, this structure is expected to have a wiping effect between male and female contacts.

JP 2002-274290 A

However, the above prior art is difficult to apply to high current applications for the following reasons. In other words, in the prior art, the cord wire is connected to the other end of the leaf spring member, passed through the inside of the coil spring, and then pulled out to the outside of the female junction. Therefore, the wire diameter of the cord wire is limited. Is not suitable for large current applications. In addition, in the case of a large current application, it is necessary to increase the plate thickness of the leaf spring member. However, the rigidity of the female contact on one end side of the leaf spring member is increased and the elastic deformation cannot be freely performed. .
The technology disclosed in this specification has been completed based on the above-described circumstances, and the object thereof can be applied to a large current application with a simple structure in a contact contact type connector. It is in place.

  The connector disclosed in the present specification includes a housing made of a synthetic resin provided with an opening through which a plate-like contact portion provided on a mating terminal can enter along a thickness direction of the mating terminal, and the plate of the mating terminal A bus bar housed in the housing in a posture facing the contact portion and having a part in the length direction facing the opening, and an arrangement surface facing the opening in the bus bar A line-shaped diagonally wound coil spring having electrical conductivity, and fixed portions fixed to the housing are provided at both ends of the diagonally wound coil spring.

When the plate-shaped contact portion of the mating terminal approaches the bus bar through the opening of the housing, the line-shaped diagonally wound connector spring arranged on the bus bar arrangement surface is placed between the bus bar arrangement surface and the plate contact portion. The bus bar is sandwiched in the radial direction, that is, it is elastically deformed so that the inclined coil spring is crushed while changing the degree of inclination, and by its restoring elasticity, the bus bar is placed in contact with the mating plate contact portion. Electrical connection between the terminal and the mating terminal is taken.
In constructing the above conductive structure, there is no restriction on the thickness of the bus bar, the thickness of another bus bar that is a conductor connected to the bus bar, or the wire diameter of the electric wire. It can also be applied to applications. When the oblique coil spring is disposed, the structure is fixed to the housing itself, so that the entire connector can be combined into a simple structure with a reduced number of parts.

The following configuration may also be used.
The housing is composed of a pair of split housings coupled to each other, and a mounting groove for mounting the bus bar is provided on a surface of the one split housing facing the other split housing, and in the other split housing A housing chamber that can accommodate the oblique coil spring and communicates with the opening is formed on a surface facing the one divided housing, and the one division is formed at both ends of the oblique coil spring. A wire rod sandwiched between the facing surface of the housing and the facing surface of the other divided housing is formed in an extended form.

In assembling the connector, the helically wound coil spring is housed in the housing chamber of the other split housing, and the wire rods at both ends are brought into contact with the opposing surfaces of the other split housing. The opposing surface of one of the divided housings fitted with is aligned with the opposing surface of the other divided housing and coupled. Along with this, the two wire rods are sandwiched between the opposing surfaces of the two divided housings, whereby the line-shaped diagonally wound coil spring is fixed in the housing in a form along the arrangement surface of the bus bar.
As a means for fixing the slant winding coil spring in the housing, a simple means such as sandwiching the wire rods at both ends of the slant winding coil spring between the opposing surfaces of both split housings is adopted. As a result, the assembly work of the connector can be performed efficiently.

An attachment portion for attaching an attached portion provided at an extending end of the wire is provided on a side edge portion of the accommodation chamber on the facing surface of the other divided housing.
The oblique coil spring is accommodated in the accommodation chamber by attaching the attached portion at the extending end of both wires to the attachment portion provided on the side edge of the accommodation chamber on the opposite surface of the other divided housing. And assembled to the other divided housing. The inclined coil spring is sub-assembled with respect to the other divided housing, and the subsequent connecting operation with the one divided housing can be performed more smoothly.

  The attached portion of the wire is an L-shaped insertion portion, and the attachment portion of the other housing is an insertion hole into which the insertion portion is inserted.

  The attached portion of the wire is a coil formed by spirally winding the wire, and the attachment portion of the other housing is a pin into which the coil is fitted.

  According to the technology disclosed in this specification, the contact contact type connector can be applied to a large current application with a simple structure.

Sectional drawing which shows the state before the fitting of the connector which concerns on embodiment Sectional drawing which shows attachment operation of slant winding coil spring Sectional view showing the connector mating completion

<Embodiment>
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. In this embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a power supply device between a PCU (Power Control Unit) and a motor installed in an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is illustrated, and as shown in FIG. A connector 10 (hereinafter referred to as connector 10) and a motor side connector 50 (hereinafter referred to as mating connector 50) are provided.

First, the mating connector 50 will be described. The mating connector 50 includes a mating terminal 51 made of an L-shaped bus bar and a mating housing 55 on which the mating terminal 51 is mounted. The mating terminal 51 is made of, for example, a copper plate, and has a shape in which a plate-shaped contact portion 53 is bent at a right angle at the upper end of a band-shaped terminal body 52. A connection hole 54 for connecting to another bus bar (not shown) is formed at the lower end of the terminal body 52.
The mating housing 55 functions as a so-called terminal block, is formed in a generally block shape from a synthetic resin material, and has a pedestal 56 protruding at a position slightly closer to the left end than the central portion on the upper surface.

The mating terminal 51 is integrally mounted on the mating housing 55 by insert molding. Specifically, the plate-like contact portion 53 is placed on the cradle 56, and the terminal body 52 is positioned below the mating housing 55. The lower end portion of the housing 55 is mounted so as to protrude from the lower surface of the counterpart housing 55.
The mating housing 55 is attached to a motor case (not shown) so as to protrude from the upper surface thereof.

  The connector 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 10 is provided with a bus bar 11, a line-shaped diagonally wound coil spring 20 disposed on the lower surface of the terminal connection portion 15 of the busbar 11, and the busbar 11 and the diagonally wound coil spring 20. The housing 30 is constituted.

The bus bar 11 is formed by bending a copper plate strip at a right angle at a substantially central length position, so that both sides are formed in an L shape having approximately the same length, and one side (vertical side) side is another bus bar (not shown). ), And the other side (lateral side) is the terminal connection 15 connected to the mating terminal 51.
A connecting hole 13 for connecting to another bus bar (not shown; an example of a conductor) is formed at the distal end portion of the conductor connecting portion 12, and a locking hole is provided at a substantially central length position. 14 is formed.

On the lower surface side of the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11, a line-shaped oblique winding coil spring 20 is disposed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the coiled coil spring 20 has a coil portion 21 formed by spirally winding a metal wire having excellent conductivity. However, unlike a general coil spring, The coiled surface 21 is formed by winding the winding surface so as to be inclined in advance with respect to the axis of the coil portion 21.
An arrangement surface 16 on which the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 abuts is arranged at the center portion in the length direction on the lower surface of the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11 (see FIG. 1). .

  The oblique winding coil spring 20 is in a state in which the winding surface of each coil 22 is further inclined with respect to the axis of the coil portion 21 when a load is applied to the coil portion 21 so as to sandwich the coil portion 21 in the radial direction. The coil part 21 is compressed so that the height dimension of the coil part 21 (the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the coil part 21) is reduced. In particular, the load / deflection characteristic shows a nonlinear characteristic having a region in which the change in the spring load is kept small even if the displacement amount of the coil portion 21 (the displacement amount of the height of the coil portion 21) is changed.

From the upper positions on both end surfaces of the coil portion 21, both end portions of the metal wire constituting the coil portion 21 are formed to extend in opposite directions on a line parallel to the axis of the coil portion 21. The metal wires extending to the left and right serve as clamped wire portions 25L and 25R.
An insertion portion 26 that is bent downward at a right angle is formed at the extending end of the sandwiched wire portion 25L on the left side of FIG. On the other hand, at the extending end of the sandwiched wire portion 25R on the right side of the figure, a crank portion 27 in which the metal wire is bent at a right angle twice downward and rightward is formed. The coil 28 is formed so as to protrude upward.

Next, the housing 30 will be described. The housing 30 is made of synthetic resin, and is formed by integrally connecting an upper housing 31U and a lower housing 31L as shown in FIG.
The upper housing 31U is formed in a block shape having an L shape in a front view in which a protruding portion 32 is formed to rise at a right end portion. A mounting groove 33 in which the terminal connecting portion 15 of the bus bar 11 is mounted is formed at the center of the lower surface of the upper housing 31U.

  An insertion groove 36 through which the conductor connecting portion 12 of the bus bar 11 is inserted is formed in the right end portion of the mounting groove 33 on the lower surface of the upper housing 31U so as to penetrate the protruding portion 32 upward. . The insertion groove 36 has a predetermined height region at the lower end thereof formed at a narrow interval substantially equal to the plate thickness of the conductor connecting portion 12, while the upper position is formed at a wide interval. On one wall surface (left side in FIG. 1) of the wide interval region of the insertion groove 36, a lance 38 that elastically engages with the engagement hole 14 formed in the conductor connecting portion 12 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lower housing 31 </ b> L has a relatively flat block shape, and a deep storage chamber 40 is recessed in a wide area near the left end on the upper surface. On the bottom wall 40 </ b> A of the accommodation chamber 40, there are a receiving base 56 of the mating housing 55 and a plate-like contact portion 53 (including the upper end of the terminal body 52) of the mating terminal 51 placed on the receiving base 56. An accessible opening 41 is formed. Guide walls 42 are formed to rise at both left and right edges of the opening 41.

On the left and right side edge portions of the accommodation chamber 40 on the upper surface of the lower housing 31L, mounting surfaces 44L and 44R on which the left and right sandwiched wire portions 25L and 25R of the above-described oblique coil spring 20 are respectively placed are formed. .
The left mounting surface 44L is formed with an insertion hole 45 into which the insertion portion 26 provided at the extension end of the left sandwiched wire portion 25L of the oblique winding coil spring 20 is inserted.
On the other hand, the right mounting surface 44 </ b> R is formed with a concave portion 46 that accommodates the crank portion 27 provided at the extending end of the right sandwiched wire portion 25 </ b> R of the oblique coil spring 20. In this case, a pin 47 is formed so as to be fitted into a coil 28 provided at the tip of the crank portion 27.

The present embodiment has the structure described above, and the operation thereof will be described subsequently.
The connector 10 is assembled as follows. First, the oblique coil spring 20 is attached to the lower housing 31L. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is placed in the accommodation chamber 40, and at the same time, the left sandwiched wire portion 25 </ b> L inserts the insertion portion 26 into the insertion hole 45. The right sandwiched wire portion 25R is placed on the right placement surface 44R while the coil 28 is fitted to the pin 47. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is sub-assembled in a state in which the coil portion 21 is accommodated corresponding to the upper portion of the opening 41 at the upper position in the accommodation chamber 40.

  On the other hand, the bus bar 11 is attached to the upper housing 31U. For this purpose, the conductor connecting portion 12 of the bus bar 11 is inserted from below into the insertion groove 36 formed in the upper housing 31U. When the conductor connecting portion 12 is pushed up by a predetermined amount along the insertion groove 36, the lance 38 is elastically locked to the locking hole 14, as shown in FIG. The terminal connection portion 15 is mounted in the mounting groove 33.

  Thus, the lower surface of the upper housing 31U to which the bus bar 11 is mounted is overlapped with the upper surface of the lower housing 31L to which the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is sub-assembled as described above, thereby forming the housing 30. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, the left sandwiched wire portion 25L of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 includes the left mounting surface 44L of the lower housing 31L and the left edge portion of the mounting groove 33 on the lower surface of the upper housing 31U. 34R is sandwiched between the right mounting surface 44R of the lower housing 31L and the right edge 34R of the mounting groove 33 on the lower surface of the upper housing 31U. As a result, the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is fixed in the housing 30. At this time, the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is arranged along the arrangement surface 16 of the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11 and faces the opening 41.

The connector 10 assembled in this way is attached to the PCU case, and another bus bar arranged in the PCU is connected to the protruding end protruding from the upper surface of the protruding portion 32 of the upper housing 31U in the conductor connecting portion 12 of the bus bar 11. Is done. On the other hand, the mating connector 50 is attached to the motor case, and the lower end portion of the terminal body 52 of the mating terminal 51 is connected to a bus bar arranged on the motor.
In the initial state, the connector 10 and the mating connector 50 face each other up and down with a predetermined distance therebetween, as shown in FIG.

  For example, when the PCU is approached to the motor from the initial state and the connector 10 is fitted to the mating connector 50, the plate-like contact portion 53 of the mating terminal 51 provided on the mating connector 50 is The connector 10 enters the accommodation chamber 40 through the opening 41 of the housing 30 and gradually approaches the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 disposed on the arrangement surface 16 in the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11. Press.

  When the mating connector 50 approaches a predetermined amount, that is, when both the connectors 10 and 50 are fitted in a normal amount, as shown in FIG. 3, the coil of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 disposed on the arrangement surface 16 of the terminal connection portion 15. The portion 21 is sandwiched in the vertical direction between the arrangement surface 16 and the plate-like contact portion 53 of the mating terminal 51, that is, the coil portion 21 is elastically deformed so that each coil 22 is further crushed while being inclined, By contacting the arrangement surface 16 of the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11 and the plate-like contact portion 53 of the mating terminal 51 with the restoring elasticity, the bus bar 11 of the connector 10 and the mating terminal 51 of the mating connector 50 are contacted. The electrical connection is taken.

  More specifically, the coil connection portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 in which the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11 and the plate-like contact portion 53 of the mating terminal 51 are elastically contracted in the height direction and provided with restoring elasticity. It becomes the form connected via. As described above, the diagonally wound coil spring 20 (coil portion 21) has a non-linear characteristic of load / deflection. Even if there is an error in the amount of displacement of the coil portion 21, the load, that is, the restoring elasticity does not change so much, and it receives a stable contact pressure and has excellent conductivity.

  In addition, when the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 contacts the terminal connection portion 15 (arrangement surface 16) of the bus bar 11 and the plate-like contact portion 53 of the mating terminal 51, the coil portion 21 is actually used. Since each of the coils 22 constituting the contact is made, that is, contact is made at multiple points, the contact resistance is reduced, which can also contribute to the improvement of conductivity.

  A configuration in which the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is elastically contracted in the height direction (see FIG. 3) and a state in which it returns to the natural state (see FIG. 1). In this case, the contact point of each coil 22 in the coil portion 21 of the diagonally wound coil spring 20 is on the terminal connection portion 15 (arrangement surface 16) of the bus bar 11 or the counterpart terminal 51. On the plate-like contact portion 53, sliding or rotating while rubbing, a so-called wiping effect can be obtained, and the foreign matter adhering to the contact point can be removed to reduce the contact resistance.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when an electrical connection is made between the connector 10 and the mating connector 50, the terminal connection portion 15 of the bus bar 11 provided in the connector 10 and the mating connector provided in the mating connector 50 are used. A structure is adopted in which the plate-like contact portion 53 of the terminal 51 is abutted against each other while the interposed oblique coil spring 20 (coil portion 21) is elastically contracted. This structure is not limited by the thickness of the bus bar 11 provided in the connector 10 or the thickness of other bus bars connected to the bus bar 11, so that it can be applied to large capacity applications. Can do.
When the oblique coil spring 20 is disposed, since it is structured to be fixed to the housing 30 itself, the connector 10 as a whole can be organized in a simple structure with a reduced number of parts.

  More specifically, as means for fixing the diagonally wound coil spring 20 in the housing 30, the sandwiched wire portions 25L and 25R at both ends of the obliquely wound coil spring 20 are opposed to the upper and lower housings 31U and 31L that are coupled to each other. Since a simple means such as clamping between the surfaces is employed, the work of arranging the oblique coil spring 20 is simplified, and as a result, the assembly work of the connector 10 can be performed efficiently.

  Furthermore, the diagonally wound coil spring 20 includes a difference in which the insertion portion 26 and the coil 28 provided at the extended ends of the both sandwiched wire portions 25L and 25R are provided on the placement surfaces 44L and 44R of the lower housing 31L. By being fitted into the insertion hole 45 and the pin 47, the coil portion 21 is assembled to the lower housing 31 </ b> L in a state of being accommodated in the accommodation chamber 40. In other words, the oblique coil spring 20 is sub-assembled with respect to the lower housing 31L, and the subsequent connecting operation with the upper housing 31U can be performed more smoothly.

<Other embodiments>
The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope.
(1) In the said embodiment, although another bus bar was illustrated as a conductor connected to the bus bar with which the connector was equipped, an electric wire may be sufficient. The electric wire is not limited by the wire diameter, and can be used for a large current.
(2) The means for fixing both ends of the coil portion of the line-shaped diagonally wound coil spring to the housing is not limited to the structure sandwiched between the opposing surfaces of the upper and lower housings exemplified in the above embodiment, and other fixing structures are adopted. May be.

(3) The means for attaching the extended end of the sandwiched wire portion of the diagonally wound coil spring to the lower housing is not limited to the insertion portion and insertion hole, or the coil and pin exemplified in the above embodiment, but other means May be adopted.
(4) Means for attaching the extended end of the sandwiched wire portion of the diagonally wound coil spring to the lower housing is not necessarily required, and those without an attaching means are also included in the technical scope.

10 ... PCU side connector (connector)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Bus bar 15 ... Terminal connection part 16 ... Arrangement | positioning surface (surface facing the opening part 41)
20 ... Obliquely wound coil spring 21 ... Coil part 25L, 25R ... Clamped wire part (wire material; fixed part)
26 ... Insertion part (attached part)
28 ... Coil (attached part)
30 ... Housing 31U ... Upper housing (One split housing)
31L ... Lower housing (the other divided housing)
33 ... Installation groove 40 ... Accommodating chamber 41 ... Opening 45 ... Locking hole (attachment part)
47 ... pin (mounting part)
51 ... Mating terminal 53 ... Plate contact

Claims (5)

A synthetic resin housing provided with an opening through which the plate-like contact portion provided on the mating terminal can enter along its thickness direction;
A bus bar housed in the housing in a form facing the plate-like contact portion of the mating terminal and having a portion in the length direction facing the opening,
A line-shaped diagonally wound coil spring having electrical conductivity disposed on an arrangement surface facing the opening in the bus bar, and
A connector in which fixed portions to be fixed to the housing are provided at both ends of the oblique coil spring. The housing is composed of a pair of split housings joined together;
A mounting groove in which the bus bar is mounted is provided on the surface of the one split housing facing the other split housing, and
On the surface facing the one divided housing in the other divided housing, a housing chamber that can accommodate the oblique coil spring and communicates with the opening is formed.
And the wire rod clamped between the said opposing surface of said one division | segmentation housing and the said opposing surface of said other division | segmentation housing is formed in the both ends of the said diagonal winding coil spring in the form extended. The connector according to 1. The connector according to claim 2, wherein a mounting portion for mounting a mounted portion provided at an extending end of the wire rod is provided on a side edge portion of the housing chamber on the facing surface of the other divided housing. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the attached portion of the wire is an insertion portion having an L shape, and the attachment portion of the other housing is an insertion hole into which the insertion portion is inserted. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the attached portion of the wire is a coil formed by spirally winding the wire, and the attaching portion of the other housing is a pin into which the coil is fitted.

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