Electrical connectors – With provision to isolate circuitry by severance of bridging...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-15
2002-09-10
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With provision to isolate circuitry by severance of bridging...
C439S511000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06447331
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a joint connector and a method of producing the joint connector.
There is known a joint connector of the type in which a bus bar structure is attached to a housing having a plurality of juxtaposed metal terminals received therein. The bus bar structure comprises a holder body, made of a synthetic resin, and a plurality of bus bars made of metal, and each of the bus bars has a plurality of tabs. The tabs are divided into a plurality of groups, and the group of tabs for each bus bar are electrically connected to each other. When the bus bar structure is attached to the housing, the tabs contact the associated metal terminals, respectively, so that the plurality of metal terminals are short-circuited in a predetermined pattern. One such joint connector is disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 4-32175.
Even in the case where there are a plurality of short-circuiting patterns, the bus bar structure includes the bus bar-forming part of a common design so that the number of the component parts can be reduced. More specifically, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a bus bar base member
102
, having a plurality of juxtaposed tabs
104
extending from a side edge of a strip-like interconnecting portion
103
, is integrally joined to a tubular holder body
101
by insert molding, thereby producing a bus bar structure
100
of a common design. Then, the interconnecting portion
103
of the bus bar structure
100
is severed at a portion thereof, thereby dividing the bus bar base member
102
into a plurality of bus bars corresponding to a predetermined short-circuiting pattern.
A plurality of upwardly and downwardly-open, punching grooves
105
are formed in the holder body
101
, and that portion of the interconnecting portion
103
, disposed between any two adjacent tabs
104
, is exposed through the corresponding punching groove
105
. For severing the connecting portion
103
, a die
106
is held against the lower surface of the interconnecting portion
103
at the predetermined punching groove
105
, and a punch
107
is driven from the upper side, as shown in FIG.
10
.
The die
106
has a pair of guide walls
106
A for fitting into the punching groove
105
from the lower side, and the punch
107
has a projecting piece-shape so as to be inserted between the two guide walls
106
A. In the severing operation, the distal ends of the guide walls
106
A are held against the lower surface of the interconnecting portion
103
, and in this condition the punch
107
is driven to punch part (a portion) of the interconnecting portion, and this removed piece is received in the gap between the two guide walls
106
A.
In the above joint connector, any two adjacent punching grooves
105
are separated from each other by a partition wall
108
, and therefore the guide walls
106
A must be formed on the die
106
so as to extend a long the opposed partition walls
108
, respectively. The smaller the width of the punching grooves
105
, the smaller the thickness of the guide walls
106
A, and the smaller the pitch of the tabs
104
(that is, the pitch of the metal terminals), the smaller the width of the punching grooves
105
. However, recently, it has been desired to achieve a compact design of the joint connector, that is, to reduce the pitch of the metal terminals, and in order to meet this requirement, the width of the punching grooves
105
must be reduced, and in this connection, the thickness of the guide walls
106
A must also be reduced. However, this invites a problem that the strength of the guide walls
106
A is reduced.
It is provided with a joint connector of the type in which a bus bar structure is attached to a housing having a plurality of juxtaposed metal terminals received therein. The bus bar structure comprises a holder body, made of a synthetic resin, and a plurality of bus bars made of metal, and each of the bus bars has a plurality of tabs. The tabs are divided into a plurality of groups, and the group of tabs for each bus bar are electrically connected to each other. When the bus bar structure is attached to the housing, the tabs contact the associated metal terminals, respectively, so that the plurality of metal terminals are short-circuited in a predetermined pattern.
Even in the case where there are a plurality of short-circuiting patterns, the bus bar structure includes the bus bar-forming part of a common design so that the number of the component parts can be reduced. More specifically, as shown in
FIG. 16
, a bus bar base member
202
, having a plurality of juxtaposed tabs
202
B extending from a side edge of a strip-like interconnecting portion
202
A, is integrally joined to a tubular holder body
201
by insert molding, thereby producing a bus bar structure
200
of a common design. Then, the interconnecting portion
202
A of the bus bar structure
200
is severed at a portion
202
C thereof, thereby dividing the bus bar base member
202
into a plurality of bus bars
203
corresponding to a predetermined short-circuiting pattern.
A plurality of punching holes
204
are formed in the holder body
201
, and each punching hole
204
is disposed in registry with that portion of the interconnecting portion
202
A disposed between the adjacent tabs
202
B. The interconnecting portion
202
A can be severed at the punching hole
204
, using a die and a punch (not shown). With respect to the severed portion of the interconnecting portion
202
A, the bus bar
203
serves to short-circuit a plurality of metal terminals (not shown), and it is clear from this that the interconnecting portion
202
A is not severed at that portion thereof disposed between each endmost tab
202
B (disposed at each end of the bus bar base member) and the adjoining tab
202
B. Therefore, the punching hole
204
is not formed at those regions corresponding respectively to the opposite end portions of the bus bar base member
202
, and the opposite end portions of the interconnecting portion
202
A are embedded in the resin-molded holder body
201
.
The punching holes
204
are formed by removing part of a mold (which holds the bus bar base member
202
) in the insert molding operation. Therefore, the formation of the punching holes
204
is significant since this facilitates the severing of the interconnecting portion
202
A, and besides can provide the regions where the bus bar base member
202
is held during the inserting molding. Therefore, in the case of the above construction in which any punching hole
204
is not formed in the opposite end portions, the end portions of the interconnecting portion
202
A are deformed by an injection pressure during the molding operation, which leads to a possibility that the alignment of the tabs
202
B, disposed respectively at the opposite end portions, are adversely affected.
A joint connector comprises a housing, having a plurality of juxtaposed metal terminals received therein, and a bus bar structure, which includes an electrically-conductive bus bar, having a plurality of juxtaposed tabs extending from a side edge of an interconnecting portion, and a holder body of a synthetic resin integrally joined to the busbar. When the busbar structure is attached to the housing, the tabs contact the associated metal terminals, respectively, so that the metal terminals are short-circuited in a predetermined pattern.
There is known a method of producing a bus bar structure for this kind of joint connector, in which a chain terminal structure, having a plurality of bus bars connected to side edges of a carrier through bridge portions, is first formed by pressing, and then the bus bar is integrally joined to a holder body by insert molding, and the bridge portions are severed, thereby separating the bus bar structure from the carrier. Such a production method is disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 9-213436.
In the production method disclosed in the above publication, the bus bars of the chain terminal structure are connected to the carrier in suc
Fukatsu Yukihiro
Kawata Masanari
Suzuki Izumi
Figueroa Felix O
Paumen Gary F.
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
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