Electrical connectors – With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint – Conductor gripped by or entirely within connector housing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-21
2003-09-30
Gilman, Alexander (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint
Conductor gripped by or entirely within connector housing
C439S466000, C439S492000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626696
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric wire holding structure for a connection box to protect the joint portion of a flat cable and terminals against external tensile force loaded on the flat cable, juxtapositionally combined in one with a plurality of electric wire main bodies and connected to terminals in a connection box body such a joint box body or the like and clamped at the connecting portions of the flat cable by the joint box body.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 5
is showing one embodiment of an electric wire holding structure of a conventional connection box (joint box).
A joint box body
43
, made of synthetic resin, includes a base
41
, a cover
42
and pressure contact terminals
44
made of a conductive metal inside. Intermediate position along the length of electric wires
26
is connected to the terminal
44
and the electric wire
26
extends out of gaps between the base
41
and the cover
42
and is formed into wave-like shape by three positions of a rib
24
provided on the base
41
for strain-relief, a rib
25
provided on the cover
42
for strain-relief and a wire opening
45
to protect joint portions of electric wires
26
and terminals
44
against external tensile force loaded on the electric wires
26
by cutting off transmitting the tensile force to the joint portion.
A joint box
46
is provided mainly with the joint box body
43
and the pressure contact terminals
44
, connecting a plurality of the electric wires
26
reciprocally inside the joint box body
43
. The juxtapositionally terminal combined type with the same number of terminals
44
as the joints of the electric wires
26
may be used.
The electric wires
26
is round type insulated electric wire which is round shape cross section conductive wire, covered with insulating resin to have round shape cross section. The pressure contact terminal
44
consists of a blade (not shown) cutting the insulation of the electric wires
26
and a slot (not shown), continuous to the blade, holding and connecting the conductive portion of the electric wires
26
. Instead of the pressure contact terminal
44
, a laser beam welding terminal or a crimp contact terminal which is crimp-contacted at the conductive portion, removed the insulation of the electric wires
26
at intermediate portion on the length direction, can be used.
The joint box body
43
is formed in thin wall thickness rectangular solid shape and the base
41
and the cover
42
are jointed with thin hinges (not shown) on the side of each edge to be open-close free as an example. The ribs
24
(strain relief) as a part of the base
41
are provided at the both of front and back sides of the pressure contact terminals
44
, mounted on almost center of the base
41
. The ribs
25
(strain relief) are provided closely at outer side of the ribs
24
on the cover
42
. Each ribs
24
,
25
extends long along radius direction of the electric wires
26
to form juxtaposed plural electric wires
26
in wavelike shape simultaneously.
The wire openings
45
are provided closely outer side of the ribs
25
on the cover
42
in the both of front end and back end side of the joint box body
43
. In this description, front and back are defined along the length of the electric wires
26
. The wire openings
45
are to become round shape openings to be combined by each semicircle opening, formed opposite each other on the perpendicular walls of the base
41
and the cover
42
when the cover
42
closed.
After connecting the electric wires
26
to the terminals
44
, owing to close the cover
42
to the base
41
, the electric wires
26
are pushed down to the bottom surface of the base
41
by the ribs
25
on the cover
42
and are formed in clank shape between the ribs
24
on the base
41
and the wire openings
45
. Therefore, very stronger tensile force, loaded on the electric wires
26
, enlarges friction force between the electric wires
26
and each ribs
24
,
25
. Then, electric connection is kept in good condition because the loaded tensile force on the electric wires
26
is caught by the each ribs
24
,
25
and transmission of the tensile force to the joint portion of the electric wires
26
and terminals
44
is prevented.
This structure cannot be applied only on the joint box
46
but also on connection boxes, such a pressure contact connector which includes with base portion, cover portion and pressure contact terminals.
In the electric wires holding structure of connection boxes by ordinary skills, forming the electric wires
26
in wavelike shape by ribs
25
,
24
, projected upwardly and downwardly on inner surface of the joint box body
43
for strain relieves as tension relaxing parts, has issues to require enough rooms inside and bigger size of the joint box
46
.
Further, very strong force for closing the cover
42
required to push the electric wires
26
and form the wires in radius direction of the wire with ribs
25
makes assembling of the joint box
46
troublesome. Forming a plurality of electric wires
26
simultaneously in the joint box is more troublesome.
Adjusting the projecting height of ribs
24
,
25
is required as lower height rib is for thicker wire and higher height rib is for thinner wire, various kinds of joint box body
43
are necessary for each size of the electric wires
26
. It makes a number of kinds on the joint box body
43
increased and manufacturing and administration costs push up.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been accomplished to overcome the above drawbacks and an object of this invention is to avoid increasing outer size and inner room size of connection boxes such a joint box or the like and to provide an electric wire holding structure of a connection box, easily assembled as the cover can be easily closed and unnecessary to change the connection box body for each electric wire size.
In order to attain the objects, regarding a connection structure having electric wires inserted through a gap between a base and a cover of a connection box body and terminals connected to the electric wires within said connection box, the connection structure comprising opposed projections for clamping connecting portions between each electric wire main body of a flat cable, which constitutes said electric wires, being provided at each end of wire lead-out side of said base and cover, whereby said connecting portions of said flat cable are fixed by clamping with the projection.
In the above structure, a flat cable by connected plural electric wire main bodies juxtapositionally can be clamped strongly in a connection box body. Therefore, the reliability on electric connection of a flat cable and each terminal is improved, as each projection of the base and the cover holds the tensile force of the flat cable and eliminate the affection of the tensile force to a joint portion of electric wire main bodies and terminals, when a strong external tensile force loaded on the flat cable.
Further, the inner room size of the connection box body can be shrunk and the connection box size can be miniaturized in the length and radius (vertical) direction of the electric wires because conventional ribs for pressing electric wires is not required and forming the electric wires wave-like inside the connection box body is not required. Manufacturability to close the cover, in other words, manufacturability of assembling the connection box is improved because disuse of forming the electric wires with sharp angle (close to 90 degree) and clamping with large deformation at the flat connecting portions of the flat cable as usual makes the force of closing the cover smaller. Even if the diameter of an electric wire main body changed, the pressing operation of the connecting portions is done by common method and the connection box body can be common use, because of pressing the connecting portions for connecting electric wire main bodies by the projections instead of pressing electric wire main bodies. This allows reducing manufacturing cost and administrat
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Gilman Alexander
Yazaki -Corporation
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