Electrical connectors – Including or for use with tape cable – With mating connection region formed by bared cable
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-08
2003-09-30
Feild, Lynn (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Including or for use with tape cable
With mating connection region formed by bared cable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626698
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a holder which holds a flat circuit member, and is fitted into a connector housing or the like so as to electrically connect conductors of the flat circuit member to metal terminals.
various electronic equipments are mounted on a vehicle (moving body). Wire harnesses for supplying electric power from a power source to these electronic equipments and for feeding control signals and the like to the electronic equipments are installed on the automobile. The wire harness comprises a plurality of wires, and connectors mounted on ends of the wires.
The wire harness comprises a bundle of wires, and therefore the weight of the wire harness has increased with the increase of the number of wires. Therefore, in recent years, it has been proposed to use a flat circuit member, such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC) an a flexible flat cable (FFC), instead of wires. The flat circuit member comprises conductors, and a pair of insulating sheets covering the conductors and is formed into a flattened shape.
In a wire harness employing the flat circuit member, it has been proposed to use a holder
100
(shown in
FIG. 13
) and a holder case
101
(shown in
FIG. 13
) (disclosed, for example, in JP-A-4-322087) in order to connect this flat circuit member to metal terminals of a connector.
The holder
100
, shown in
FIG. 13
, includes a plate-like holder body
102
, a plurality of projections
103
, and engagement claws
104
for fixing the holder to the holder cave
101
. The projections
103
project from one side (or surface) of the holder body
102
. The projections
103
are arranged on an edge portion of the holder body
102
. The engagement claws
104
are provided at opposite ends of the holder body
102
, respectively. The holder case
101
is formed into a frame-like shape. The holder case
101
has engagement reception portions
105
with which the engagement claws
104
are engageable, respectively. A plurality of holes
107
are formed through an end portion of the flat circuit member
106
which is to be held by the holder
100
, and the projections
103
can pass through these holes
107
, respectively.
The flat circuit member
106
is wound around the holder body
102
, and the projections
103
are passed through the holes
107
, respectively, and in this manner, the flat circuit member
106
is held by the holder
100
. The holder body
102
is passed through the holder case
101
, and the engagement claws
104
are engaged with the engagement reception portions
105
, respectively. In this manner, the flat circuit member
106
, the holder
100
and the holder case
101
are fixed to one another. The holder
100
and the holder case
101
, thus combined together, are connected to a connector housing of the connector, thereby electrically connecting conductors
108
of the flat circuit member
106
to the metal terminals, respectively.
One of the pair of insulating sheets is removed from that portion of the flat circuit member
106
(for installation on the automobile or the like) which is to be electrically connected to the metal terminals, so that the conductors
108
are exposed at this portion. The flat circuit member
106
is electrically connected to various electronic equipments, and therefore in some cases, one of the pair of insulating sheets is removed, and in other cases, the other insulating sheet is removed.
In the conventional holder
100
of the above construction, the projections
103
projects from the one surface of the holder body
102
. Therefore, in the case where the holder can hold the flat circuit member from which one of the pair of insulating sheets is removed to thereby expose the conductors
108
, the holder can not hold the flat circuit member, from which the other insulating sheet is removed, unless the conductors
100
are held between the one insulating sheet and the holder body
102
. Therefore, in the case where the conventional holder
100
can electrically connect the conductors
108
of the flat circuit member
106
, from which one insulating sheet is removed, to respective conductors such as metal terminals, this holder can not electrically connect the conductors
108
of the flat circuit member
106
, from which the other insulating sheet is removed, to the respective metal terminals.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a holder which can positively electrically connect conductors of a flat circuit member, from which either of a pair of insulating sheets is removed, to other conductors such as metal terminals.
(1) A holder comprising:
a flat circuit member including a plurality of conductors and a pair of insulating sheets covering the plurality of conductors, wherein one of the pair of insulating sheets is removed from an end portion of the flat circuit member so that the plurality of conductors are exposed at the end portion;
a hole formed through the end portion;
a holder body, around which the flat circuit member can be wound, defining first and second surfaces; and
a pair of projections projecting from the first and second surfaces of the holder body, respectively,
wherein the end portion of the flat circuit body is wound around the holder body, and one of the pair of projections is retained in the hole so as to hold the flat circuit member.
(2) The holder according to (1), wherein a pair of gripping portions for respectively gripping opposite side end portions of the flat circuit member are formed on each of the first and second surfaces of the holder body, respectively.
(3) The holder according to (1), wherein
the holder body has a plate-like shape, and has opposite surfaces defining the first and second surfaces, respectively, and
the end portion of the flat circuit member is laid on the first surface, and the projection projecting from the first surface is retained in the hole, and the end portion is folded to be laid on the second surface so that the end portion is wound around the holder body; and
(4) The holder according to (3), wherein a tapering surface is formed at an end portion of the projection close to a folded portion of the flat circuit member wound around the holder body.
(5) The holder according to (4), wherein the tapering surface is inclined in a direction perpendicular to the first and second surfaces, and is slanting in a direction away from the folded portion as the distance of the tapering surface from the holder body increases.
(6) The holder according to (2), wherein the gripping portion includes a projected port on projecting from each of the first and second surfaces, and a gripping wall which extends from the projected portion in adirection away from the holder body and extends parallel to the projected portion in overlying relation to the projected portion, so that the side end portions of the flat circuit member can be held between the projected portion and the gripping wall.
(7) The holder according to (6), wherein an end surface of the projection spaced from the holder body and a surface of the projected portions spaced from the holder body are in a same plane.
(8) The holder according to (1), wherein the holder body includes a retaining portion and a retaining reception portion which is engageable with the corresponding retaining portion, and a plurality of the holder bodies are stacked together in such a manner that the retaining portion and the retaining reception portion of each of the plurality of the holder bodies are engaged with the retaining reception portion and the retaining portion of the adjacent holder body, respectively.
In the holder of the invention, the projections project respectively from the one surface and the other surface of the holder body. The flat circuit member can be mounted on the holder body, with one of the projections passed through the hole. Thus, either of the projections is passed through the hole, thereby holding the flat circuit member. Therefore, in the case where either of the first and second insulating sheets is removed to thereby expose the conductors, the flat ci
Feild Lynn
Hyeon Hae Moon
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Holder for a flat circuit member does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Holder for a flat circuit member, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Holder for a flat circuit member will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3061962