JP3924315B2 - Multilayer joint connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a laminated joint connector used for connection of in-vehicle wiring of an automobile.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Car interior wiring has various connection patterns depending on the vehicle type, grade, and the presence or absence of optional equipment. In order to flexibly cope with such various connection patterns, a laminated joint connector is used.
[0003]
In a conventional laminated joint connector, a single layer unit in which a plurality of female terminals are arranged in a single layer housing is laminated in a plurality of layers to form a laminate, and the plurality of male terminals are arranged in the laminate. The female terminals are selectively connected by penetrating in the stacking direction. Each female terminal in the laminate is connected to a male tab on the electrical junction box side. With the above configuration, various connection patterns can be configured by selecting the position where the male terminal is inserted, the necessity of conduction between the inserted male terminal and the female terminal of each layer, and the like.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional laminated joint connector, the male terminals are passed through the female terminals of each layer to make the interlayer connection, so that the structure of the female terminals becomes complicated, which causes an increase in cost and size. In addition, it is troublesome to change the connection pattern or repair a defective circuit, and there is a problem that the female terminal is easily damaged when the circuit is changed or repaired.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide a laminated joint connector that solves the above-described problems.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a multilayer joint connector connected to male tabs arranged in a plurality of layers, and a single layer in which female terminals connected to the male tabs are arranged in a plane in a single layer housing. A laminated body configured by laminating a plurality of units; and an interlayer connection member that connects the male tabs of different layers by penetrating the male tab, and the interlayer connection member penetrates the male tab to form a male tab. It is mounted on the base side, and the female terminal in the laminate is connected to the tip side of the male tab.
[0007]
That is, according to the present invention, by connecting the interlayer connection member and the laminated body separately to the male tab on the electrical connection box side, a special female terminal can be used without using a special female terminal. It is.
[0008]
The multilayer joint connector of the present invention can easily cope with a complicated connection pattern when the interlayer connection member is divided into a plurality of parts.
[0009]
The laminated joint connector of the present invention further includes an intra-layer connection member that connects male tabs in the same layer, and the intra-layer connection member is also attached to the base side of the male tab through the male tab. It is preferable that When such an in-layer connection member is used, a more complicated connection pattern can be handled.
[0010]
Further, if the intra-layer connection member is also divided into a plurality of parts, it is possible to cope with more complicated connection patterns.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a laminated joint connector, and 12 is a male tab array portion of an electrical junction box to which the laminated joint connector 10 is connected. The male tab arrangement portion 12 is obtained by arranging a large number of male tabs 16 in a plurality of layers in a connector guide frame 14 which is a part of the case of the electrical junction box.
[0013]
The laminated joint connector 10 includes a laminated body 20 in which a plurality of single-layer units 18 are laminated, and an interlayer connection member 22. The single layer unit 18 has a plurality of female terminals 26 arranged in a plane in a single layer housing 24 made of plastic. An electric wire 28 is connected to each female terminal 26. The female terminal 26 used here is a female terminal having a normal structure in which an interlayer connection conductor through portion or the like is not provided. An opening 30 into which the male tab 16 on the electric connection box side is inserted is formed at the tip of the single layer housing 24. Adjacent single layer housings 24 are coupled by a coupling means (not shown), and the laminate 20 is integrated.
[0014]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the interlayer connection member 22 is made of plastic that holds the interlayer connection conductor 32 that is long in the stacking direction of the multilayer body 20 and the interlayer connection conductor 32 arranged in the width direction of the multilayer body 20. And 34 holders. As shown in FIG. 4, the interlayer connection conductor 32 is formed in an elongated member obtained by bending a metal plate into a concave cross section at the same interval as the male tab 16 on the electrical connection box side. A plurality of sets of contact pieces 38 are formed. In the holder 34, a hole 40 into which the interlayer connection conductor 32 is inserted and held and a hole 42 through which the male tab 16 passes are formed so as to be orthogonal to each other. The interlayer connection conductor 32 is held by the holder 34 such that the male tab through hole 36 coincides with the male tab through hole 42 of the holder 34.
[0015]
FIG. 1A shows a state before the laminated joint connector 10 is connected to the male tab 16 of the electrical junction box. When connecting the multi-layer joint connector 10 to the male tab 16 of the electrical junction box, first, the interlayer connection member 22 is passed through the male tab 16 as shown in FIG. After that, the laminated body 20 is pushed into the connector guide frame 14, and the female terminal 26 is connected to the distal end side of the male tab 16. The conventional laminated joint connector has a female terminal having a complicated structure because the female terminals are connected in layers. However, the laminated joint connector 10 of the present invention separates the laminated body 20 and the interlayer connecting member 22 from each other. Since the interlayer connection is made on the tab 16 side, a normal female terminal having a simple structure can be used as the female terminal 26.
[0016]
In the drawing, the interlayer connection conductor 32 is shown to connect the male tabs 16 of all layers, but the interlayer connection of the male tabs 16 is selectively performed according to a required connection pattern. If there is a male tab that does not require an interlayer connection, the male tab contact piece 38 (see FIG. 4) corresponding to the male tab is cut in advance (or a part of the interlayer connection conductor 32 is cut off) The male tab and the interlayer connection conductor 32 may be prevented from contacting each other. The interlayer connection conductor 32 need not be provided where there is no male tab to be connected between the layers. 1 and 2 show the case where two interlayer connection members 22 are provided, this is to cope with a complicated connection pattern. If the connection pattern is simple, one interlayer connection member 22 may be used.
[0017]
Further, the interlayer connection member 22 may be divided in the width direction of the laminate as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, and is divided in the lamination direction as shown in FIG. Also good.
[0018]
FIG. 6 shows the laminated joint connector 10 using the interlayer connection member 22 divided as described above. When the interlayer connection member 22 divided in this way is used, it is possible to easily cope with a complicated connection pattern.
[0019]
In the above embodiment, the laminated joint connector using the interlayer connection member has been described. However, when not only the interlayer connection member but also the in-layer connection member are used in combination, a more complicated connection pattern can be dealt with. FIG. 7 shows an example of the in-layer connection member. The intra-layer connection member 44 includes an intra-layer connection conductor 46 that connects the male tabs 16 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) in the same layer, and a plastic holder 48 that holds the intra-layer connection conductor 46. The The in-layer connection conductor 46 is formed in an elongated member obtained by bending a metal plate into a concave cross section, and has a male tab through hole 50 and a male tab contact piece 52 at the same interval as the arrangement interval in the same layer of the male tab 16 of the electrical connection box. A plurality of sets are formed. In the holder 48, a hole 54 into which the in-layer connection conductor 46 is inserted and held and a hole 56 through which the male tab 16 passes are formed so as to be orthogonal to each other. The in-layer connection conductor 46 is incorporated in the holder 48 so that the male tab through hole 50 coincides with the male tab through hole 56 of the holder 48.
[0020]
If the intra-layer connection member 44 as described above is used in combination with the full surface type interlayer connection member 22 as shown in FIG. 3 or the split type interlayer connection member 22 as shown in FIG. Both connection and intra-layer connection can be performed, and a more complicated connection pattern can be configured. The intra-layer connection member 44 can also be a full surface type as shown in FIG. 3 or a divided type as shown in FIG.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the laminate of the single layer unit and the interlayer connection member are separated, and the interlayer connection is performed on the male tab side of the electrical connection box. A normal female terminal having a simple structure can be used as the female terminal, and the cost and size of the laminated joint connector can be reduced. Further, when a connection pattern change or a connection circuit failure occurs, it can be easily dealt with by replacing the interlayer connection member. Furthermore, if an interlayer connection member and an in-layer connection member are used in combination, a more complicated connection pattern can be configured.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B show an embodiment of a laminated joint connector according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view before connection, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view during connection.
2 is an exploded perspective view of the multilayer joint connector of FIG. 1. FIG.
3 is an exploded perspective view of an interlayer connection member used in the multilayer joint connector of FIG.
4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of an interlayer connection conductor used in the interlayer connection member of FIG. 3;
FIGS. 5A to 5D are perspective views showing various examples of the split-type interlayer connection member used in the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention using a split type interlayer connection member.
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an in-layer connection member used in the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Multilayer joint connector
12: Male tab arrangement part of electrical junction box
16: Male tab
18: Single layer unit
20: Laminate
24: Single layer housing
26: Female terminal
28: Electric wire
32: Interlayer connection conductor
34: Holder
36: Male tab through hole
44: In-layer connection member
46: In-layer connection conductor
48: Holder

Claims (4)

A laminated joint connector connected to male tabs arranged in a plurality of layers,
A laminated body constituted by laminating a plurality of single-layer units in which female terminals connected to the male tabs are arranged in a plane in a single-layer housing, and connecting male tabs of different layers through the male tabs. An interlayer connection member
The interlayer connection member is inserted into the base side of the male tab through the male tab, and the female terminal in the laminate is connected to the distal end side of the male tab.
A laminated joint connector characterized by that. 2. The laminated joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the interlayer connection member is divided into a plurality of parts. The laminated joint connector according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an intra-layer connection member for connecting a male tab in the same layer, the intra-layer connection member also penetrating the male tab on the base side of the male tab. A laminated joint connector characterized by being mounted. 4. The multilayer joint connector according to claim 3, wherein the in-layer connecting member is divided into a plurality of parts.

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