JPH0817490A - Connector for branching of ribbon cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a ribbon cable branching connector which can make branch connection of a ribbon cable simply, certainly, and effectively. CONSTITUTION:Connecting pieces 11 plunged into the covering of a ribbon cable and pinching the cable conductors in their slits 11b are at a pitch P provided on the body 12 made of an insulative material in a number equal to the number of the cable conductors. The pitch P should meet the equation 1p<P<=sq. rt. 2.p, where (p) is the pitch of cable conductors arranged. According to this constitution, the conductors of ribbon cable piled up with a certain angle can be put in electrical continuity by plunging connecting pieces into the conductor intersecting points when viewed on the plan, and it is made practicable to make branching connection of ribbon cables using the connector.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a branch connector for reliably and efficiently branching a ribbon cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A ribbon cable capable of flat and planar wiring has been applied to wiring in an automobile or the like as a cable replacing a conventional wire harness in which electric wires are bundled.

Ribbon cables used as substitutes for this wire harness are required to be connected in various forms such as terminal connection, intermediate connection and branch connection. In any of the connection modes, conventionally, the cable conductors are stripped off and the target conductors are connected by soldering or connection by crimp terminals, but this method is difficult to automate, and basically requires manual work. Therefore, it is inefficient. Further, since the ribbon cable has a very small conductor arrangement pitch, it is difficult to obtain high reliability in terms of prevention of short circuits.

These problems are particularly remarkable in the case of branch connection. Therefore, branch connection is not often done for ribbon cables, but it is unavoidable to replace conventional wire harnesses using general electric wires with ribbon cable harnesses in terms of weight reduction and space saving. I am in a situation. In order to promote this replacement, it is indispensable that the branching of the ribbon cable can be performed reliably at low cost and efficiently.

An object of the present invention is to provide a branch connector for meeting the demand.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The connector of the present invention provided as a solution to the above problem has a pressure contact type connector which pierces the coating of the ribbon cable and inserts the cable conductor into the slit. Are arranged at a pitch P satisfying the formula of 1p <P ≦ √2 · p, where p is the arrangement pitch of the cable conductors, and the connection target of two ribbon cables is overlapped with the slit of the connector at a predetermined crossing angle. The configuration is such that the conductor is sandwiched and the two conductors are electrically connected.

In this connector, the connectors may be arranged in two rows in the front and rear, and the arrangement pitch thereof may be widened to 2P.

[0008]

Now, assume that two identical ribbon cables are stacked so that a 90 ° crossing angle is formed. If the number of conductors in the cable is 4 and the conductor arrangement pitch is p,
Intersections A of conductors 1 and 1 shown in FIG.
The distance L between the intersections of 3 intersections C, 4 and 4 intersections D is √2
・ It is p. The maximum crossing angle of the ribbon cable is 90 °, and as the crossing angle becomes smaller, the value of L becomes √2.
It gradually decreases from p to 1p.

In the connector of the present invention, the connectors are arranged at the pitch P, and since the pitch P coincides with L in FIG. 4, the connectors are pierced into the coating at the intersections of the conductors to be connected, and The conductors of the cable can be electrically conducted to achieve the purpose of branching.

Further, the work of overlapping the ribbon cables at a predetermined angle and stacking them, and the work of locating the cable intersection and piercing the connector at the intersection of the conductors are simple operations, so automation can be achieved. In addition, the use of the connector of the present invention also eliminates the need to strip the cable, thereby achieving higher work efficiency and lower cost. Furthermore, the insulation between the conductors can be ensured by leaving the coating of the cable.

The connector is structurally limited in its miniaturization. On the other hand, the conductor arranging pitch of the ribbon cable is very small as described above. Therefore, if the connectors are arranged in a line, it may be difficult to secure sufficient space for insulation between adjacent conductors. However, this problem can be solved by arranging the connectors in two rows in the front and rear and expanding the array pitch to 2P.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a ribbon cable branching connector of the present invention. The branching connector 10 has a structure in which the same number of connectors 11 as the number of connecting conductors of a ribbon cable are arranged in a horizontal row at a pitch P and are attached to a main body 12 made of an insulating material. The arrangement pitch P of the connectors 11 is determined according to the intersection angle of the backbone ribbon cable and the branch ribbon cable. The arrangement pitch P is in a range that satisfies the expression 1p <P ≦ √2 · p, where p is the arrangement pitch of the cable conductors.

The connector 11 is made by forming a V-shaped guide groove 11a at the tip of the conductor plate and further providing a vertically divided slit 11b connected to the groove at the center of the conductor plate. Such a connector is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 58-562.
It is used in the connector disclosed in No. 34. In the connector of the present invention, the arrangement pitch of the connectors is devised so that the ribbon cable can be branched and connected.

FIG. 2 is an example of use of the exemplary connector 10. Here, the backbone ribbon cable 7 and the branch ribbon cable 8 are overlapped with each other at an angle of 90 °. Therefore, it is assumed that the connector 10 has the connectors 11 arranged at a pitch of √2 · p, the connectors 11 are pierced into the coating of the cable, and the cable conductors of the same symbol are inserted into the slits to separate the conductors of the same symbol. Make it conductive.

FIG. 3 shows a connector 20 of the second embodiment.
In this connector 20, the connectors 11 are arranged in two rows in the front and rear, and the arrangement pitch thereof is widened to 2P. In this structure, the cable conductors 1 and 2, 2 and 1, 3 and 4, 4 and 3, 5 and 6, and 6 and 5 are respectively connected. There is no hindrance.

[0016]

As described above, according to the connector of the present invention, the connectors for piercing the cable coating and contacting the conductors are arranged at a specific pitch and the conductors of the crossed ribbon cable are not peeled off. Since the connection can be conducted, the branching and connecting work of the cable ribbon can be automated and efficiently performed.

Further, since the conductors are conducted without peeling off the cable coating, insulation between adjacent conductors can be performed with high reliability. In the case where the connectors are arranged in two rows in the front and rear, the arrangement pitch of the connectors is expanded, so that the reliability of insulation can be more easily improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one row of a connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the connector in the above in a used state.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a usage state of a connector of another embodiment.

[Figure 4] Explanatory drawing of the distance between the intersections of cable conductors

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 to 6 cable conductor 7 backbone ribbon cable 8 branch ribbon cable 10, 20 connector 11 connector 11a guide groove 11b slit 12 main body

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pressure-contact type connector for piercing a coating of a ribbon cable to insert a cable conductor into a slit,
The connector is 1 with the arrangement pitch of the cable conductors as p.
The conductors are arranged with a pitch P satisfying the expression of p <P ≦ √2 · p, and the conductors to be connected are sandwiched between the conductors to be connected of the two ribbon cables that are overlapped with the slit of the connector with a predetermined crossing angle. Ribbon cable branch connector. 2. A ribbon cable branching connector in which the connectors are arranged in two rows in the front and rear and the arrangement pitch is widened to 2P.