Wire holding structure

Details Wire holding structure Wire holding structure

2001-06-25

2002-06-18

Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint

C439S460000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06406326

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire holding structure which is formed within a housing of a connector, used for electrically connecting a wire harness in a vehicle such as an automobile, or on a wiring board forming a predetermined circuit within an electric connection box. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wire holding structure having wire gripping piece portions capable of gripping various wires of different diameters rapidly and positively.
The present invention is based on Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2000-191496 and 2000-191497, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle having various electronic equipments mounted thereon, many connectors have been used for electrically connecting the electronic equipments together and for connecting a wire harness to the electronic equipment. Such connector is disclosed, for example, in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 2-295074. As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, there is known a connector
10
including a plate-like housing
11
having wire receiving grooves
12
, wire severing blades
13
, sheath cutting blades
14
and wire gripping piece portions
16
(the associated wire receiving groove
12
, wire cutting blade
13
, sheath cutting blade
14
and wire gripping piece portions
16
are arranged sequentially in this order on a straight line), and a sheathed wire
1
, having a sheath
2
, is inserted in the housing
11
.
In the connector
10
, the wire cutting blade
13
for cutting an end portion of the wire
1
is made of metal, and is insert molded in the housing, and the sheath cutting blade
14
, made of metal, is separate from the plate-like housing
11
, and is formed by a bending operation. Part of a function of a so-called press-connecting terminal is incorporated in the housing, and the sheath cutting blade
14
has a generally U-shaped opposition space, and when the sheath
2
of the sheathed wire
1
is press-fitted into this U-shaped opposition space, the sheath
2
is cut by opposed edges thereof, so that the sheath cutting blade comes into contact with a conductor
3
, thereby making electrical connection.
A rigidity of flexing of each wire gripping piece portion
16
toward the sheath cutting blade
14
is reduced by a vertical groove
15
formed between this portion
16
and the sheath cutting blade
14
, an undercut portion
18
spaced from a bottom portion
12
a
of the wire receiving groove, and a chamfered portion
19
defining, together with its associated chambered portion
19
, an inverted V-shaped opposition space
17
. When the sheathed wire
1
is press-fitted into the opposition space
17
, the wire gripping piece portions
16
grip the outer surface of the sheath
2
while deforming this sheath, and are elastically displaced toward the sheath cutting blade
14
. The displacement of the wire gripping piece portions
16
away from the sheath cutting blade
14
is suppressed, thereby preventing the withdrawal of the sheathed wire
1
in an axial direction. And besides, the withdrawal of the sheathed wire
1
in an upward direction is prevented by the inverted V-shaped opposition space
17
formed between the wire gripping piece portions
16
and
16
.
In the above-described connector
10
, however, there was a possibility that the force of gripping of the sheathed wire
1
by the wire gripping piece portions
16
, formed on the plate-like housing
11
, was liable to decrease with the decrease of the flexural rigidity due to the vertical grooves
15
, the undercut portions
19
and the chamfered portions
19
.
And besides, when the bottom portion
12
a
of the wire receiving groove, forming a lower region of the inverted V-shaped opposition space
17
, was warped upwardly into a convex shape, the opposition space
17
was expanded, which led to a possibility that the gripping force of the wire gripping piece portions
16
was further reduced.
Furthermore, the sheathed wire
1
is gripped by the pair of wire gripping piece portions
16
and
16
, and therefore in the case where wires of various diameters were used, these wire gripping piece portions could not meet a variety of wire diameters since the opposition space
17
between the wire gripping piece portions
17
is fixed, and there was a possibility that there were needed various plate-like housings
11
each for exclusive use with the corresponding wire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to eliminate the undesirable possibilities of the above-described techniques, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire holding structure capable of rapidly and positively holding wire shaving the relatively-wide range of wire diameters.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wire holding structure which comprises: a wiring board; a wire receiving groove, formed in the wiring board, for linearly mounting a sheathed wire therein; opposed wire gripping piece portions, for gripping the sheathed wire, provided in a predetermined position on the wire receiving groove; and an interconnecting portion interconnecting the wire gripping piece portions, the interconnecting portion being provided at a region below the wire gripping piece portions.
In the first aspect of the present invention, when inserting the sheathed wire between the wire gripping piece portions, the bottom portion of the wire receiving groove, forming the region disposed between and below the wire gripping piece portions, will not be warped upwardly, and therefore the opposition space between the wire gripping piece portions will not be expanded. Accordingly, the sheathed wire can be rapidly and firmly held between the wire gripping piece portions, thereby positively preventing the sheathed wire from being withdrawn in the axial direction and the upward direction.
Further, to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wire holding structure which comprises: a wiring board; a wire receiving groove, formed in the wiring board, for linearly mounting one of a thick sheathed wire and a thin sheathed wire therein; a pair of opposed, first wire gripping piece portions, for gripping the thick sheathed wire, provided in a first predetermined position on the wire receiving groove; a pair of opposed, second wire gripping piece portions, provided in a second predetermined position on the wire receiving groove, for gripping the thin sheathed wire, the second wire gripping piece portions being disposed adjacent to the first wire gripping piece portions, so that the first and second wire gripping piece portions are arranged serially on the wire receiving groove, wherein a centerline between the first wire gripping piece portions and a centerline between the second wire gripping piece portions coincide with each other; a first interconnecting portion interconnecting the first wire gripping piece portions, the first interconnecting portion being provided at a region below the first wire gripping piece portions; and a second interconnecting portion interconnecting the second wire gripping piece portions, the second interconnecting portion being provided at a region below the second wire gripping piece portions.
In the second aspect of the present invention, when inserting the sheathed wire between the first wire gripping piece portions or between the second wire gripping piece portions, the bottom portion of the wire receiving groove, forming the region disposed between and below the wire gripping piece portions, will not be warped upwardly, and therefore the opposition space will not be expanded. Therefore, the sheathed wire can be rapidly and firmly held between the first or the second wire gripping piece portions, thereby positively preventing the sheathed wire from being withdrawn in the axial direction and the upward direction.
Moreover, the portion of the wire holding structure for gripping a sheathed wire is divi

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