JPH1197094A - Connection terminal and electric connector using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection terminal and an electric connector with the low cost, where the male and female connection terminals can be identically shaped. n. SOLUTION: The first and second branch edge parts 23, 24 are mounted in such manner that they are integrated on the basic edge side, and respectively extended in the longitudinal direction of an electric wire respectively on the point sides thereof. Further a contact projecting part 25 which is projected to the second branch edge part 24 side, and separated therefrom at a specific gap, is mounted on the first branch edge part 23, and this projecting part 25 is brought into contact with the second branch edge part 24 of a counterpart terminal, whereby the male and female connection terminals can be identically shaped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection terminal capable of interconnecting a plurality of electric wires, and a so-called joint connector capable of connecting a plurality of electric wires to each other while connecting the plurality of electric wires in common. It relates to a suitable electrical connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when a plurality of electric devices are connected to one control device, a connection method of branching and connecting an electric wire on the control device side to a plurality of electric devices is adopted for simplifying wiring. In such a case, an electrical connector is used which connects the plurality of wires respectively connected to the plurality of electrical devices in common while connecting the wires to the control device side. As such an electrical connector, for example, FIG. A joint connector as shown in FIG.

In this electrical connector, bus bar connecting terminals 2 are attached to terminal portions of a plurality of electric wires 1, respectively, and are housed in terminal housing holes 3 a of a connector housing 3 to produce a wire harness 6. Housing 3
Is connected to the mating connector housing 4, whereby the plurality of bus bar connection terminals 2 are brought into contact with the plurality of male terminal portions 5 a of the bus bar 5 provided in the connector housing 4. The bus bar 5 has a common connection portion 5b for connecting the plurality of male terminal portions 5a in common. By connecting the common connection portion 5b to a wire on the control device side, the plurality of wires connected to the plurality of electric devices can be connected. It can be commonly connected to the electric wire on the control device side.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional electrical connector for common connection, when a plurality of electric wires are divided into a plurality of groups and commonly connected for each group, as shown in FIG. In addition, it is necessary to change the shape of a plurality of bus bars having male terminals for each connection form, and it is necessary to prepare various types of bus bars, so that the manufacturing cost has been increased. In addition, the connection terminal shapes of the male and female are completely different, and the connector housing is divided into the female terminal side and the male terminal side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost connection terminal and an electrical connector that can share the shape of male and female connection terminals.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a connecting terminal according to the present invention is a connecting terminal which is in contact with each other to make an electrical connection. And providing first and second branch ends that are integrated on the base end side attached to the end portion of the electric wire and branched on the distal end side so as to extend in the length direction of the electric wire, respectively. The first branch end is provided with a contact protrusion protruding toward the second branch end and spaced from the second branch end by a predetermined gap, and the contact protrusion is connected to the second terminal of the counterpart terminal. It is designed to contact the branch end.

[0007] In this configuration, the contact projection provided at the first branch end of one connection terminal contacts the second branch end of the opposing connection terminal that is adjacent to and opposes, and the electrical connection is made. Connection is made. Therefore, the shape of the male and female connection terminals can be made the same, and the components are shared. Further, as described in claim 2, the second branch end is formed to be longer than the first branch end, and the second branch end is formed to have a width different from that of the first branch end. By bending both side edges of the branch end, the first branch is secured while maintaining the required strength of the second branch end.
Can be prevented from interfering with the second branch end of the counterpart terminal, and stable contact by the contact protrusion can be obtained.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical connector according to the present invention, comprising: a connection terminal according to claim 1; and an end into which the connection terminal can be inserted. A connector housing in which a terminal housing hole is formed on one side and the other end, between a partition wall on one end and a terminal housing hole on the other end that partition between terminal housing holes on one end of the connector housing. And a partition wall on the other end side facing the inner wall surface adjacent to each other, and an inner end of the partition wall on the one end side is connected to the terminal for connection inserted into the terminal receiving hole on the other end side. First and second branch ends of the connection terminal inserted between the first and second branch ends and the inner end of the partition wall at the other end inserted into the terminal receiving hole at the one end. When the male and female connection terminals are inserted so as to enter between Any first branch end of the first connection terminal inserted into the terminal storage hole is connected to any second branch end of the second connection terminal inserted into the terminal storage hole on the other end side. And a first branch end of the second connection terminal contacts a second branch end of the first connection terminal inserted into another of the terminal receiving holes on the one end side. It is characterized by doing.

In such a configuration, the plurality of first connection terminals inserted into the terminal storage holes on one end are connected to the second connection terminals inserted into the terminal storage holes on the other end. Are connected to each other via the second connection terminal, and are commonly connected. Also, as described in claim 4,
When the connection terminals are respectively inserted into the one end side and the other end side partition walls to a predetermined depth into the terminal storage holes on the one end side and the other end side, respectively, the connection terminals are brought into contact with the base end side of each connection terminal. Providing the stopper claw that can be contacted makes it possible to reliably prevent the connection terminal from coming off.

Further, as set forth in claim 5, the connector housing has a first housing member having the terminal storage hole and the partition wall on the one end side, and the terminal storage hole and the partition wall on the other end side. And a second housing member that can be connected to and separated from the first housing member. By connecting the first and second housing members, the first connection member inserted into the terminal receiving hole on the one end side is formed. The terminal and the second connection terminal inserted into the terminal receiving hole on the other end side may be in contact with each other.

In this case, although the connector housing is composed of two parts, it is suitable for applications in which separation and connection operations are expected.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 5
FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of a connection terminal and an electrical connector according to the present invention. First, the structure will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a first connection terminal formed of a terminal fitting having a predetermined shape, and 12 denotes a first connection terminal 11.
A second connection terminal comprising a terminal fitting having the same shape as
These first and second connection terminals 11 and 12 are attached to terminal portions 15a and 16a of electric wires 15 and 16, respectively.
They are in electrical contact with each other.

As shown in FIG. 3, each connection terminal 11, 1
The first and second parts 2 are integrated at the base end 21 side of the electric wires 15 and 16 attached to the terminal parts 15a and 16a, and branched at the distal end 22 so as to extend in the length direction of the electric wires.
The first branch end 23 projects toward the second branch end 24 and has a predetermined gap with respect to the second branch end 24. A tongue-shaped resilient contact convex portion 25 is provided to be spaced apart.

Numeral 30 denotes a plurality of terminal receiving holes 31 at one end and the other end, into which the connection terminals 11 and 12 can be inserted.
Reference numeral 32 denotes a formed connector housing. As shown in FIG. 4, the connector housing 30 has a partition wall 33 at one end that partitions between terminal storage holes 31 at one end and a partition wall at the other end that partitions between terminal storage holes 32 at the other end. 3
4 and these partition walls 33 and 34 are arranged in parallel at different positions. Partition walls 33, 3
4, the inner walls 33a and 34a are close to each other, and the walls face each other.
The two terminal storage holes 31 and 32 are formed such that the axis of one and the axis of the terminal storage hole 32 on the other end side adjacent thereto are offset from each other in the direction orthogonal to these axes. The inner end 33a of the partition wall 33 on one end is connected to the terminal storage hole 32 on the other end.
Is inserted between the first and second branch ends 23 and 24 of the second connection terminal 12 inserted into the second connection terminal 12, and the inner end 34a of the partition wall 34 at the other end is connected to the terminal storage hole 33 at one end. Of the first connection terminal 11 inserted between the first and second branch ends 23 and 24.

As described above, the male and female connection terminals 11 and 12 inserted into the connector housing 30 are connected to any one of the first branches of the first connection terminal 11 inserted into the terminal receiving hole 31 at one end. The end 23 contacts one of the second branch ends 24 of the second connection terminal 12 inserted into the terminal receiving hole 32 on the other end side, and the first connection terminal 12 of the second connection terminal 12 Is in contact with the second branch end 24 of the first connection terminal 11 inserted into the other one of the terminal storage holes 31 on one end side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, connecting terminals 11 and 12 are inserted into partition walls 33 and 34, respectively, into terminal receiving holes 31 and 32 at one end and the other end to predetermined depths. When the connection terminals 11, 12
Retaining claw portions 35, 36 that can be contacted from the base end 21 side
Is provided. Further, the length L2 of the _second branch end 24 is longer than the length L1 of the _first branch end 23, and
The second width w ₁ of the _first branch end 23 inside the bend is larger than the width w _{2 of} the second branch end 24 outside the bend.
Are bent at both side edges 24a, 24b of the branch end portion 24. Therefore, when each of the connection terminals 11 and 12 causes the elastic contact projection 25 of the first branch end 23 to contact the second branch end 24 of the adjacent partner terminal, the first branch end 23. Does not interfere with the second branch end 24 of the other terminal. The terminal shape may be changed so that the width of the first branch end 23 outside the bend is smaller than the width of the second branch end 24 inside the bend. It is only required that both side edges are bent so that the widths of the second branch end portion 24 and the second branch end portion 24 are different from each other.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a terminal stopper rib 37 as a stopper which protrudes into the terminal end hole of the terminal housing hole 31 on one side of the connector housing 30 and can contact the first branch end 23 from the front end side. . The inner ends 33a, 34a of the partition walls 33, 34 may be provided with stoppers which abut against the first branch end 23 from the front end side and define the insertion depth of the connection terminals 11, 12, respectively. it can. FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 39 denotes a notch for identification provided on the side wall of the terminal storage hole 31 at one end for identifying the first terminal insertion opening.

According to such a configuration, the contact protrusion 25 provided on the first branch end 23 of one connection terminal 11 or 12 is adjacent to the connection terminal 12 or 11 of the counterpart connection terminal. An electrical connection is made by contacting the second branch end 24. Therefore, the connection terminal shapes of the male and female become the same, and the parts are shared. In addition, the second branch end 24 is formed longer than the first branch end 23,
Since the two side edges are bent so as to have different widths from the branch end 23, the required strength is ensured even if the first branch end 23 is long, and the connection terminals 11, 1
Interference between the first branch end 23 of the second and the second branch end 24 of the other terminal is prevented, and stable contact by the elastic contact convex portion 25 is obtained.

Further, the plurality of first connection terminals 11 inserted into the terminal storage holes 31 at one end are connected to the second connection terminals 12 inserted into the terminal storage holes 32 at the other end, and these are connected to each other. Since they are connected to each other via the second connection terminals 12 and are commonly connected, the conventional bus bar is unnecessary, and the storage positions (terminals) of the connection terminals 11 and 12 which are single terminal fittings in the connector housing 30 are not necessary. By simply selecting the position of the hole for accommodating), many connection modes can be accommodated.

When the connection terminals 11 and 12 are inserted into the terminal receiving holes 31 and 32 to a predetermined depth, respectively, the retaining claws 35 and 36 are positioned on the base end 21 side of the connection terminals 11 and 12. Since the connection terminals 11 and 12 are prevented from coming off by making contact with each other, a stable connection state can be maintained. In the above-described embodiment, the connector housing 30 is described as a single component. However, this can be changed to an embodiment having a divided structure as shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in the drawing, the connector housing 50 is formed by connecting a first housing member 41 having a terminal storage hole 51 and a partition wall 53 at one end, and a terminal storage hole 52 and a partition wall 54 at the other end. And a second housing member 42 having the second housing member 42, and these may be connected to and separated from each other. In this case, by connecting the first and second housing members 41 and 42 in a predetermined state, the first connection terminal 11 inserted into the terminal storage hole 51 on one end and the terminal storage hole 53 on the other end are connected. The inserted second connection terminal 12 is brought into contact with the second connection terminal 12 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, so that an electrical connection is made. Reference numeral 44 denotes the second housing member 4 so as to protrude into the terminal storage hole 52 on the other end side.
2 are terminal stopper ribs 53a and 54a provided as stoppers for stopping the distal end of the second connection terminal 12 provided on the second connection terminal 12.
Are the inner ends of the partition walls 53 and 54, respectively. Other configurations are almost the same as those in the above-described example, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

In such an embodiment, the connector housing is composed of two parts. However, in applications where separation and connection operations are expected, the workability is good and suitable.

[0023]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the contact projection provided at the first branch end of the connection terminal is connected to the second connection terminal of the adjacent mating connection terminal. Since the electrical connection is made by contacting the branch ends, the male and female connection terminal shapes can be made the same, parts can be shared, and a low-cost connection terminal can be provided.

Further, as set forth in claim 2, the second branch end is formed to be longer than the first branch end, and has a width different from that of the first branch end. By bending both side edges of the second branch end, the first
Can be prevented from interfering with the second branch end of the counterpart terminal, and stable contact can be obtained by the contact protrusion.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of first connection terminals inserted into the terminal storage holes at one end using the connection terminals are connected to the terminal storage holes at the other end. Is connected to the second connection terminal inserted into the second connection terminal, and is connected to each other via the second connection terminal. Therefore, common connection is possible, and the male and female connection terminal shapes are made the same. It is possible to provide a low-cost electric connector using common components.

Further, as set forth in claim 4, the connecting terminals are respectively inserted into the one end side and the other end side terminal receiving holes to a predetermined depth in the one end side and the other end side partition walls, respectively. In this case, if a stopper claw that can be contacted is provided on the base end side of each connection terminal, the connection terminal can be reliably prevented from falling off. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by connecting the first and second housing members, the first connection terminal inserted into the terminal storage hole on one end side and the first connection terminal inserted into the terminal storage hole on the other end side are inserted. Since the second connection terminal is brought into contact with the second connection terminal, the connector housing becomes two parts, but the separation and reconnection work can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connector showing one embodiment of a connection terminal and an electrical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the shape of a connection terminal according to an embodiment.

4A and 4B are perspective views showing a connector housing of the electric connector according to the embodiment, wherein FIG. 4A shows a front side thereof, and FIG. 4B shows a rear side thereof.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing the arrangement of partition walls of the connector housing shown in FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 5A is a partial front view and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the electrical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional electrical connector.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 1st connection terminal 12 2nd connection terminal 15, 16 Electric wire 15a, 16a Terminal part 21 Base end part 22 Front end part 23 1st branch end part 24 2nd branch end part 25 Elastic contact convex part 30 Connector housing DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 31 Terminal storage hole on one end side 32 Terminal storage hole on the other end side 33 Partition wall on one end side 34 Partition wall on the other end side 33a, 34a Inner end portions 35, 36 Retaining claw portion 37 Terminal stopper rib

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A connection terminal for making an electrical connection by contacting with each other, wherein the connection terminal is integrated at a base end side attached to a terminal portion of the electric wire and extends in a length direction of the electric wire at a distal end side. When the first and second branch ends are provided, the first branch end protrudes toward the second branch end and a predetermined gap is formed with respect to the second branch end. A connection terminal, comprising: a contact protruding portion that is spaced apart; and the contact protruding portion is brought into contact with a second branch end of a counterpart terminal. 2. The second branch end is formed longer than the first branch end, and both side edges of the second branch end are different in width from the first branch end. 3. The connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal is bent. 3. The connector terminal according to claim 1, comprising: a connector housing having a terminal receiving hole formed at one end and the other end into which the connection terminal can be inserted, and one end of the connector housing. A partition wall on one end side that partitions between the terminal storage holes on the other side and a partition wall on the other end side that partitions between the terminal storage holes on the other end face the inner wall surface adjacent to each other; The inner end of the partition wall at the side enters between the first and second branch ends of the connection terminal inserted into the terminal receiving hole at the other end, and the inner end of the partition wall at the other end. When the male and female connection terminals are inserted so as to enter between the first and second branch ends of the connection terminals inserted into the terminal storage holes on the one end side, they are inserted into the terminal storage holes on the one end side. One of the first branch ends of the first connection terminals is connected to the terminal collection on the other end side. The second connection terminal inserted into the hole comes into contact with any of the second branch ends, and the first branch end of the second connection terminal is connected to another of the terminal storage holes on the one end side. An electrical connector, wherein the electrical connector contacts a second branch end of a first connection terminal inserted into a hole. 4. The base of each connection terminal when the connection terminal is inserted into the one end side and the other end side terminal receiving hole to a predetermined depth in the one end side and the other end side partition wall, respectively. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein a stopper claw that can be contacted is provided on an end side. 5. The connector housing according to claim 1, wherein said connector housing has a first housing member having said one end side terminal storage hole and a partition wall, and said first housing member having said other end side terminal storage hole and a partition wall. A second housing member that is separable, and a first connection terminal inserted into the terminal storage hole on the one end side and a terminal housing on the other end side by connecting the first and second housing members. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the second connection terminal inserted into the hole is in contact with the second connection terminal.