Electricity: conductors and insulators – Insulators – Multiple insulator assemblies
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-18
2003-04-08
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Insulators
Multiple insulator assemblies
C174S13800J, C174S13800J, C439S342000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06545224
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate-like insulating member to which press-connecting terminals are attachable, and a plurality of the plate-like insulating members can be stacked together.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2000-317980 and 2000-320908, which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wire harness mounted on a vehicle, such as an automobile etc., is configured in a manner that a plurality of sub-harnesses respectively divided in accordance with functions etc. of an electric device are once configured, and these sub-harnesses are assembled from one another as a single wire harness. Thus, the connection operation of the electric wires among the sub-harnesses is troublesome and so the workability at the time of assembling the sub-harnesses tends to be degraded. If worst comes to worst, the quality of the wire harness may not be stable.
FIGS. 22 and 23
show a plate-like insulating member
160
, to which a press-connecting terminal is attached, and which can facilitate the connection operation of the electric wires. A plurality of the plate-like insulating members
160
are stacked together to form a plate connector.
The plate-like insulating member
160
shown in
FIGS. 22 and 23
is made of synthetic resin. As shown as an example in
FIGS. 22 and 23
, the plate-like insulating member
160
includes a flat-shaped bottom wall
161
, a plurality of separation walls
162
extended upward from the bottom wall
161
, a plurality of wire receiving grooves
163
, and wire fixing portions
164
.
The plurality of the separation walls
162
are disposed so as to be in parallel and spaced with a constant distance from one another. The wire receiving groove
163
is formed so as to be surrounded by the adjacent separation walls
162
and the bottom wall
161
. The wire receiving grooves
163
are disposed in parallel from one another along the direction in which the separation walls
162
are disposed in parallel. The wire receiving groove
163
receives at least a wire connection portion of the press-connecting terminal and an electric wire
165
press-connected to the wire connection portion.
Each of the wire fixing portions
164
includes retaining pawls
166
and a locking portion
167
provided in correspondence with the associated one of the wire receiving grooves
163
. The retaining pawls
166
are provided at the end portions of the wire receiving grooves
163
so as to be able to retain the electric wire
165
, respectively. Each of the locking portions
167
is coupled to the bottom wall
161
through a self hinge
168
and able to be engaged between the retaining pawls
166
and the separation wall
162
.
In the wire fixing portion
164
, the locking portion
167
is displaced from a state shown in
FIG. 22
toward a portion between the retaining pawls
166
and the separation wall
162
against the elastic restoring force of the self hinge
168
. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 23
, the locking portion
167
engages between the retaining pawls
166
and the separation wall
162
. Then, the wire fixing portion
164
keeps the retaining pawls
166
in a state retaining the electric wire
165
to thereby prevent the electric wire
165
from withdrawing from the wire receiving groove
163
.
The press-connecting terminal is formed by bending a sheet metal. The press-connecting terminal includes the wire connection portion to be connected to the electric wire
165
and a cylindrical electric contact portion continuing to the wire connection portion. The wire connection portion includes a pair of press-connecting blades, which oppose to each other, and to which the electric wire
165
is press-connected. A belt-shaped connection bar with electric conductivity is inserted into the electric contact portion. The press-connecting terminal is disposed in a manner that the wire connection portion and the electric contact portion are configured in an L-shape in their plan view. The press-connecting terminal is disposed on the bottom wall
161
of the plate-like insulating member
160
.
The plate-like insulating member
160
is arranged in a manner that the press-connecting terminals are disposed on the bottom wall
161
along the longitudinal direction of the wire receiving grooves
163
and the direction in which the wire receiving grooves
163
are disposed in parallel. That is, the plate-like insulating member
160
is arranged in a manner that the press-connecting terminals are disposed on the bottom wall
161
in a two-dimensional matrix shape. A plurality of the plate-like insulating members
160
in each of which the press-connecting terminals are disposed in the two-dimensional matrix shape are stacked, and the connection bars are inserted into the desired electric contact portions of the stacked electric contact portions to obtain the plate connector.
In this manner, in the plate connector, the press-connecting terminals, to which the electric wires
165
are respectively press-connected, are disposed at the desired positions of the bottom wall
161
of the plate-like insulating member
160
and the connection bars are inserted into the desired electric contact portions to thereby mutually connect the electric wires
165
in accordance with a predetermined pattern.
However, since the wire fixing portion
164
of the plate-like insulating member
160
is arranged in a manner that the locking portion
167
is coupled to the bottom wall
161
through the self hinge
168
, the locking portion protrude outward from the bottom wall
161
. Thus, the locking portion
167
may be caught on a worker or a working machine during the operation of assembling the plate connector. If worst comes to worst, the self hinge
168
may be broken and the locking portion
167
may be separated from the bottom wall
161
.
Further, the locking portion
167
is rotated around the self hinge
168
and engaged between the retaining pawls
166
and the separation wall
162
. Thus, at the time of engaging the locking portion between the retaining pawls
166
and the separation wall
162
, it is necessary to rotate the locking portion
167
so as to aim the portion therebetween, so that a time required for the fixing operation of the each electric wire
165
tends to increase. Therefore, the time required for the fixing operation of the electric wires
165
becomes longer and so a time required for assembling the plate connector tends to increase.
Furthermore, in the wire fixing portion of the plate-like insulating member
160
, a gap appears between the retaining pawls
166
. If a relatively thin electric wire is inserted into the wire receiving groove
163
, the electric wire may withdraw from a portion between the retaining pawls
166
. In this manner, it is considered that a relatively thin electric wire can not be fixed surely when using the plate-like insulating member
160
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plate-like insulating member and a method of fixing electric wires to the plate-like insulating member, which can prevent the breakage of the plate-like insulating member during the assembling operation thereof, and can easily and surely fix electric wires press-connected to press-connecting terminals even if the electric wires are relatively thin.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plate-like insulating member, comprising:
a plurality of wire receiving grooves, in which electric wires are respectively receivable, juxtaposed to each other, the electric wires being respectively connectable to a plurality of press-connecting terminals; and
a plurality of wire fixing portions which prevent the electric wires, received in the wire receiving grooves, from withdrawing from the wire receiving grooves, wherein the plurality of wire fixing portions include:
retaining pawls comprising:
pawl bodies which are disposed correspondingly to the wire receiving grooves
Hasegawa Takuya
Sawada Yoshitsugu
Suzuki Hiroyuki
Reichard Dean A.
Walkenhorst W. David
Yazaki -Corporation
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