Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-21
2002-11-05
Nguyen, Chau N. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
C439S287000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06476325
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination plate terminal assembly capable of combining, in a pair, independent plate terminals respectively crimped onto ends portions of a plurality of electric wires so as to allow the electric wires wired for apparatuses mounted in a vehicle or the like to be collectively connected.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-078683, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a combination plate terminal assembly is shown in
FIGS. 5
to
8
. A combination plate terminal assembly
50
shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
is comprised of one combination plate terminal
51
which includes a wire connecting portion
53
to be crimped onto an end portion of an electric wire W and an assembling portion
65
having in its center a through hole
66
through which a tightening bolt is inserted, as well as another combination plate terminal
52
which can be fitted to the one combination plate terminal
51
and is formed in a substantially similar shape.
An assembling portion
55
of the other combination plate terminal
52
has a pair of base plate portions
57
and
58
which are disposed in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire W with a through hole
56
positioned therebetween, and which are opposed to and are brought into close contact with a pair of base plate portions
67
and
68
(which will be described later) of the one combination plate terminal
51
. Further, the assembling portion
55
of the other combination plate terminal
52
has a pair of retaining portions
61
and
62
which are disposed in a direction parallel to the axis of the wire W with the through hole
56
positioned therebetween and are fitted to a pair of retaining portions
71
and
72
(which will be described later) of the one combination plate terminal
51
.
In addition, outer surfaces of the retaining portions
61
and
62
of the other combination plate terminal
52
are formed such that portions between the pair of base plate portions
57
and
58
project in a stepped form toward the one combination plate terminal
51
to such an extent as to form interference fits with respect to inner surfaces of the retaining portions
71
and
72
. Further, a pair of elongated protrusions
63
and
64
are respectively provided projectingly on the base plate portions
57
and
58
at positions adjacent to the retaining portion
61
.
On the other hand, the assembling portion
65
of the one combination plate terminal
51
has a pair of base plate portions
67
and
68
which are disposed in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire W with the through hole
66
positioned therebetween, and which are opposed to and are brought into close contact with the pair of base plate portions
67
and
68
of the other combination plate terminal
52
. Further, the assembling portion
65
of the one combination plate terminal
51
has the pair of retaining portions
71
and
72
which are disposed in a direction parallel to the axis of the wire W with the through hole
66
positioned therebetween and are fitted to the pair of retaining portions
61
and
62
of the other combination plate terminal
52
.
In addition, the retaining portions
71
and
72
of the one combination plate terminal
51
are formed such that portions between the pair of base plate portions
67
and
68
project in a stepped form toward the other combination plate terminal
52
to such an extent as to form interference fits with respect to the retaining portions
61
and
62
. Further, a pair of elongated protrusions
73
and
74
are respectively provided projectingly on opposite surfaces of the base plate portions
67
and
68
at positions adjacent to the other retaining portion
72
.
Further, the retaining portions
61
,
62
,
71
, and
72
are respectively provided on both sides thereof with clearance grooves so that the corresponding retaining portions do not interfere with each other during fitting. During fitting, both combination plate terminals
51
and
52
are deflected in a state in which the base plate portions at the innermost portions of the clearance grooves serve as fulcrums
75
to
82
.
In addition, as locking mechanisms at the time when the assembling portions
55
and
65
are assembled, the retaining portions
61
,
62
,
71
, and
72
are respectively provided with locking holes
83
and
86
and locking projections
84
and
85
.
With the above-described combination plate terminal assembly
50
, after one retaining portion
71
of the one combination plate terminal
51
with the rear wire connecting portion
53
crimped onto the end portion of the wire W is fitted in the through hole
56
by being moved along the inner surface of the other retaining portion
62
of the other combination plate terminal
52
with a wire connecting portion
54
crimped onto the end portion of the wire W, the one retaining portion
71
of the one combination plate terminal
51
is continued to be fitted in such a manner as to traverse the through hole
56
.
Then, the base plate portions
57
and
58
are respectively slid on the corresponding base plate portions
67
and
68
, and the one retaining portion
71
of the one combination plate terminal
51
slips in along the outer surface of the one retaining portion
61
of the other combination plate terminal
52
, while the other retaining portion
72
of the one combination plate terminal
51
slips in along the outer surface of the other retaining portion
62
of the other combination plate terminal
52
.
Since the retaining portions
61
,
62
,
71
, and
72
are so set as to form interference fits as described above, their assembled state is not easily canceled, and the combination plate terminals
51
and
52
are positively assembled by the action of engagement between the locking projections
84
and
85
and the locking holes
83
and
86
.
In that case, since the base plate portions
57
,
58
,
67
, and
68
are provided with the protrusions
63
,
64
,
73
, and
74
, as shown in
FIG. 6
, the base plate portion
57
is deflected at the fulcrums
75
and
77
, and the base plate portion
58
is deflected at the fulcrums
76
and
78
. In addition, since the base plate portion
67
is similarly deflected at the fulcrums
79
and
81
, and the base plate portion
68
at the fulcrums
80
and
82
, the state of combination of the combination plate terminals
51
and
52
is further stabilized.
Next, referring to
FIGS. 7 and 8
, a description will be given of a combination plate terminal assembly
90
which is a modification of the related art. This combination plate terminal assembly
90
has a form in which the lengths, in the direction parallel to the axis of the wire W, of the other retaining portion
62
and the other retaining portion
72
in the above-described combination plate terminal assembly
50
are made short. Namely, the retaining portion
62
and the retaining portion
72
are replaced by a retaining portion
92
of one combination plate terminal
55
and a retaining portion
93
of the other combination plate terminal
65
. Accordingly, changes are only made in fulcrums
94
,
95
,
96
, and
97
whose intervals are made shorter than the intervals of the fulcrums
77
,
78
,
81
, and
82
in the above-described combination plate terminal assembly
50
, and the other members adopt arrangements equivalent to those of the combination plate terminal assembly
50
shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
. Hence, the identical parts and portions will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
However, with the above-described combination plate terminal assembly
50
, if variations in the finished dimensions occur to the projecting height of the aforementioned protrusions, the protrusions
63
,
64
,
73
,
74
become out of balance, and there are cases where only one protrusion is brought into contact, resulting in a decrease of the overall contact area. For example,
Nguyen Chau N.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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