JP7428590B2 - terminal conversion adapter - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal conversion adapter.

Wire harnesses used for power supply are generally provided with crimp terminals at the tips of the harnesses so that stable electrical connections can be made with connected electrodes and electrical equipment. The crimp terminals are typically round terminals (R terminals, LA terminals) made of an annular thin plate metal part with a screw hole formed in the center, as well as Y-shaped terminals with an open tip (open end shape). It is widely used, and its dimensions, such as its thread diameter, are determined by standards.

By the way, the above-mentioned crimp terminal provided at the tip of the harness can be used when you want to select either a round terminal or a Y-shaped terminal when connecting, or if you use it as a round terminal and then change it to a Y-shaped terminal as the situation changes. There are times when you want to. As a means to deal with this situation, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which two grooves are provided from the screw hole of the round terminal to the tip, thereby cutting the tip of the round terminal and deforming it into a flared shape. A possible crimp terminal is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-259962

However, in situations where it is necessary to change the connection point of the harness, if the screw diameter is different before and after the connection point is changed, or if the connection point to be changed is of a standard other than round terminal or Y-type terminal, the above The conventional technology cannot deal with this problem. Therefore, in these cases where the connection destination is changed, it is necessary to replace the terminal to modify the crimp terminal, or to replace the entire harness, which greatly increases the work and cost burden associated with changing the connection destination. There is a risk that this will increase.

The present invention has been made in view of this situation, and its purpose is to suppress the increase in work and cost burden even when changing the connection destination of the harness. Our goal is to provide terminal conversion adapters that can.

<First aspect of the present invention>
A first aspect of the present invention includes a main body having an insulating property and formed with a terminal accommodating portion for removably accommodating a round crimp terminal, a connecting terminal protruding from the main body, and a connecting terminal inserted into the main body. A terminal conversion adapter comprising: a conduction part that connects the round crimp terminal and the connection terminal, the conduction part including an elastic holding part that elastically holds the round crimp terminal in the terminal accommodating part. It is.

In the terminal conversion adapter according to the first aspect of the present invention, by inserting a round crimp terminal provided in an existing harness into a terminal accommodating part, a connecting terminal formed as a crimp terminal of an arbitrary standard can be connected to a conductive part. It is electrically connected to the round crimp terminal through. At this time, the round crimp terminal is elastically held in the terminal accommodating part by the elastic holding part. As a result, existing harnesses can be easily converted to the connection terminal standard by simply attaching a terminal conversion adapter to the round crimp terminal at the tip, and can be adapted to the connection destination without modification or replacement. . Therefore, according to the terminal conversion adapter according to the first aspect of the present invention, even when changing the connection destination of the harness, it is possible to suppress an increase in the burden in terms of work and cost.

<Second aspect of the present invention>
In a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention described above, the elastic holding portion is formed of a pair of leaf springs that sandwich the outer circumferential side surface of the round crimp terminal in a curved shape along the outer circumferential side surface of the round crimp terminal. This is a terminal conversion adapter consisting of two parts.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the second aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the terminal conversion adapter can be suppressed by the elastic holding portion holding the round crimp terminal on the outer peripheral side surface. At this time, the elastic holding section composed of the pair of leaf spring sections is formed into a curved shape along the outer circumferential side of the round terminal, so that it can stably hold the round terminal.

<Third aspect of the present invention>
A third aspect of the present invention is the terminal conversion adapter according to the second aspect of the present invention described above, wherein the elastic holding portion is curved in a direction in which tips of the pair of leaf spring portions are separated from each other. .

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the third aspect of the present invention, when inserting the round crimp terminal into the terminal accommodating portion, the tips of the pair of leaf spring portions serve as guides to hold the round crimp terminal in a predetermined position. Since the round crimp terminal can be guided to the desired position, the round crimp terminal can be easily inserted into the terminal accommodating portion.

<Fourth aspect of the present invention>
A fourth aspect of the present invention is that, in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention described above, the main body has a shape that abuts a tip of the round crimp terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating portion. This is a terminal conversion adapter that is provided with a stopper that defines the insertion position of the round crimp terminal.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the stopper provided in the terminal accommodating portion can prevent the round crimp terminal from being excessively inserted inside the main body, so that the round crimp terminal can be more reliably shaped. The crimp terminal can be held at a predetermined holding position.

<Fifth aspect of the present invention>
A fifth aspect of the present invention is the terminal conversion adapter according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the stopper is a protrusion of the main body that protrudes into the terminal accommodating portion.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the stopper that defines the insertion position of the round crimp terminal is formed as a part of the main body, and is particularly formed as a simple-shaped protrusion. , the stopper can be easily provided without using a separate member.

<Sixth aspect of the present invention>
A sixth aspect of the present invention is that in the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention described above, displacement of the conductive portion with respect to the main body is regulated by providing an engaging portion that engages with the stopper. It is a terminal conversion adapter.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the relative displacement between the main body and the conductive portion is reduced by providing the engaging portion that engages with the stopper of the main body in the conductive portion as a member separate from the main body. It can function as a regulating positioning mechanism.

<Seventh aspect of the present invention>
A seventh aspect of the present invention is that in any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention described above, the conductive portion is attached to the flat surface of the round crimp terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating portion. This is a terminal conversion adapter that has a flat spring structure that is biased.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the round crimp terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating portion is pressed by the urging force of the conductive portion in which the leaf spring structure is formed, so that the conductive portion A good electrical connection can be maintained.

<Eighth aspect of the present invention>
An eighth aspect of the present invention is a terminal conversion adapter according to any one of the first to seventh aspects of the present invention, in which the connection terminal and the conductive portion are made of a single sheet metal.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the connection terminal formed according to the standard of the conversion destination and the conductive part that electrically conducts while holding the round crimp terminal are connected in a continuous manner. Since it is integrally formed by processing a single sheet metal, it is possible to suppress manufacturing costs due to a reduction in the number of parts.

<Ninth aspect of the present invention>
A ninth aspect of the present invention is the terminal conversion adapter according to any one of the first to seventh aspects of the present invention, wherein the connection terminal is a plurality of branch terminals connected to different destinations.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, by using the connection terminal as a plurality of branch terminals, the number of connection destinations of the harness can be increased without increasing the burden in terms of work and cost. Can be done.

<Tenth aspect of the present invention>
A tenth aspect of the present invention is a terminal conversion adapter based on the ninth aspect of the present invention described above, in which the plurality of branch terminals extend from the conductive portion via flexible wiring.

According to the terminal conversion adapter according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, each branch terminal can be connected to each connection destination using flexible wiring, regardless of the combination of the distances and positions of the plurality of connection destinations. Can be connected.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a terminal conversion adapter that can suppress an increase in work and cost burdens even when changing the connection destination of a harness.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the terminal conversion adapter according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a connection form between a terminal conversion adapter and an existing harness. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the internal shape of the main body. FIG. 3 is a three-sided view showing the detailed structure of a metal component including a connection terminal. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the state inside the main body before and after the round crimp terminal is inserted into the terminal conversion adapter. It is a sectional view showing the cross section in the XZ plane of the terminal conversion adapter concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is a sectional view showing the cross section in the XZ plane of the terminal conversion adapter concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is a block diagram which transparently shows the structure of the terminal conversion adapter based on 4th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the invention is not limited to the content described below, and can be implemented with arbitrary changes within the scope of not changing the gist of the invention. In addition, the drawings used to explain the embodiments schematically show the constituent members, and parts of the drawings are emphasized, enlarged, reduced, or omitted for better understanding. It may not accurately represent the scale, shape, etc.

<First embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal conversion adapter 1 according to the first embodiment. The terminal conversion adapter 1 includes a main body 10, a connection terminal 20, and a conductive section 30 (not shown in FIG. 1) provided inside the main body 10. The terminal conversion adapter 1 is a conversion adapter for converting to a terminal of a different standard by being connected to an existing wire harness provided with a round crimp terminal.

The main body 10 is made of an insulating material such as resin, and in this embodiment is configured as a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing.

The connection terminal 20 is a metal terminal provided so as to protrude from the main body 10, and in this embodiment, a so-called round terminal of an annular thin plate is formed. More specifically, the connection terminal 20 according to the present embodiment has a φ4 mm screw hole 20b formed in the center of the flat terminal surface 20a, and can be electrically connected to the electrode or electric device to be connected by screwing. It is configured to be possible. However, the diameter of the screw hole 20b of the connection terminal 20 is not limited to this, and furthermore, it is not limited to a round terminal. That is, the connection terminal 20 may be a Y-shaped terminal with a tip opening, and various terminal shapes such as a flat connection terminal, which is also a type of crimp terminal, can be adopted.

Here, in the three-dimensional space of each figure, the directions that are orthogonal to each other are represented by symbols X, Y, and Z, and the direction in which the connecting terminal 20 protrudes from the main body 10 is defined as the X direction, and the terminal of the connecting terminal 20 is The Y direction is defined so that the surface 20a forms an XY plane, and the direction perpendicular to the XY plane is defined as the Z direction.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a connection form between the terminal conversion adapter 1 and the existing harness 2. In the existing harness 2, a round crimp terminal 2b in which a screw hole of, for example, φ3 mm is formed is provided on one end side of the wiring part 2a, and the other end side (not shown) is connected to other equipment such as a power supply device, or Extending from inside another device. The terminal conversion adapter 1 has an opening 11 formed on the surface of the main body 10 opposite to the direction in which the connecting terminal 20 projects, for accommodating the round crimp terminal 2b of the existing harness 2 in a removable manner. There is. Thereby, in the existing harness 2, by inserting the round crimp terminal 2b into the opening 11 of the terminal conversion adapter 1, the terminal on one end side can be converted into the connection terminal 20.

Next, the internal structure of the main body 10 will be explained in more detail. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the internal shape of the main body 10. More specifically, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view when the main body 10 is cut along a plane parallel to the XY plane at the height of the upper surface of the connection terminal 20.

The main body 10 has a terminal accommodating part 12 formed therein, which can accommodate the round crimp terminal 2b inserted through the opening 11, as well as metal parts including the connecting terminal 20. Further, the main body 10 is provided with a protrusion 13 that protrudes into the space of the terminal accommodating portion 12 on the inner bottom surface. In the main body 10, metal parts including the connection terminals 20 are arranged on the inner bottom surface thereof.

FIG. 4 is a three-sided view showing the detailed structure of the metal component including the connection terminal 20. More specifically, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the connection terminal 20 when viewed from the XY plane, YZ plane, and ZX plane, and the positions of the main body 10 and the terminal accommodating portion 12 are indicated by broken lines and chain lines, respectively. represents.

The connection terminal 20 and the conductive part 30 in this embodiment are constructed from one continuous sheet metal, and when the above-mentioned round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the main body 10 comes into contact with the flat plate part of the conductive part 30, a circular The shaped crimp terminal 2b and the connecting terminal 20 are electrically connected.

Further, the conduction section 30 includes an elastic holding section 31 that elastically holds the round crimp terminal 2b accommodated in the terminal accommodating section 12. The elastic holding part 31 in this embodiment is formed by bending band-shaped parts provided on both sides of the conduction part 30 in the Y direction perpendicularly to the XY plane, and is configured as a pair of leaf spring parts extending from the conduction part 30. has been done. The elastic holding portion 31 has a curved shape along the outer circumferential side of the round terminal, and thereby holds the round crimp terminal 2b accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 12 from both sides in the Y direction. Here, the elastic holding portion 31 functions as a guide when inserting the round crimp terminal 2b because the tips of the pair of leaf spring portions are curved in a direction (Y direction) that separates them from each other.

Furthermore, the conductive portion 30 is formed with an engaging portion 32 that engages with the above-mentioned protrusion 13 that protrudes into the space of the terminal accommodating portion 12 . In this embodiment, the engaging portion 32 is a through hole provided in the conductive portion 30 made of a sheet metal, and is formed so that its cross-sectional shape in the XY plane is the same as the outline of the protrusion 13 . Thereby, the engaging portion 32 functions as a positioning mechanism that restricts relative displacement between the main body 10 and the conductive portion 30.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the state inside the main body 10 before and after the round crimp terminal 2b is inserted into the terminal conversion adapter 1. By inserting the round crimp terminal 2b of the existing harness 2 into the opening 11 provided in the main body 10, the elastic holding portion 31 serving as a pair of leaf springs is expanded in the Y direction, and the protrusion serving as a stopper is released. It is inserted into the terminal accommodating part 12 until it contacts 13.

At this time, the protrusion 13 prevents excessive insertion by coming into contact with the tip of the round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12, and functions as a stopper that defines the insertion position of the round crimp terminal 2b. .

As a result, the round crimp terminal 2b is housed in a predetermined position defined by the protrusion 13 and the elastic holding part 31, and is held in place by the terminal conversion adapter 1 with a holding force corresponding to the elastic force of the elastic holding part 31. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the material will come off without being removed. In the existing harness 2, the round crimp terminal 2b is electrically connected to the connecting terminal 20 via the conductive portion 30, so that electrical continuity can be achieved with the connection destination of the connecting terminal 20.

In other words, even if the standard of the connection destination is changed from the round crimp terminal 2b, the existing harness 2 can be crimped by using the terminal conversion adapter 1 provided with the connection terminal 20 that conforms to the standard of the connection destination. It is possible to connect to a changed connection destination without having to replace the terminal to modify the terminal or replace the entire harness.

Therefore, the terminal conversion adapter 1 can suppress an increase in work and cost burden even when changing the connection destination of the harness.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a terminal conversion adapter 3 according to a second embodiment will be explained. The terminal conversion adapter 3 according to the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the shape of the conductive portion 30 in the terminal conversion adapter 1 of the first embodiment described above. Hereinafter, parts that are different from the first embodiment will be explained, and constituent elements common to the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a cross section parallel to the XZ plane of the terminal conversion adapter 3 according to the second embodiment. More specifically, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a cross section of the terminal conversion adapter 3 cut through the protrusion 13 of the main body 10.

The terminal conversion adapter 3 has a warped part in which a part of the conductive part 30 is slightly spaced from the inner bottom surface of the terminal accommodating part 12 so that the round crimp terminal 2 b inserted into the terminal accommodating part 12 protrudes at a predetermined position. 30a is formed. That is, the conductive portion 30 disposed on the inner bottom surface of the main body 10 has a leaf spring structure that is biased against the flat surface of the round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12.

Thereby, when the round crimp terminal 2b is inserted into a predetermined position of the terminal accommodating portion 12, the electrical connection state with the conductive portion 30 is maintained in a good manner at the warped portion 30a. Although the shape of the warped portion 30a is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6, it is preferable that the warped portion 30a has a shape that maximizes the contact area with the flat surface of the round crimp terminal 2b.

<Third embodiment>
Next, a terminal conversion adapter 3 according to a third embodiment will be described. The terminal conversion adapter 4 according to the third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the internal shape of the main body 10 in the terminal conversion adapter 1 of the first embodiment described above. Hereinafter, parts that are different from the first embodiment will be explained, and constituent elements common to the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a cross section parallel to the XZ plane of the terminal conversion adapter 4 according to the third embodiment. More specifically, FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a cross section when the terminal conversion adapter 4 is cut so as to pass through the protrusion 13 of the main body 10.

The terminal conversion adapter 4 is provided with a narrowed portion 14 on the surface of the main body 10 facing the inner bottom surface so as to protrude at a predetermined position of the round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12. As a result, the flat surface of the round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the terminal accommodating part 12 is pressed against the conductive part 30 by the narrowed part 14, and the electrical connection state with the conductive part 30 is maintained well. Although the shape of the narrowed portion 14 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 7, it is preferable that the shape is such that the round crimp terminal 2b and the conductive portion 30 are in reliable surface contact.

<Fourth embodiment>
Next, a terminal conversion adapter 5 according to a fourth embodiment will be explained. The terminal conversion adapter 5 according to the fourth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the configuration and connection form of the connection terminals 20 in the terminal conversion adapter 1 of the first embodiment described above. Hereinafter, parts that are different from the first embodiment will be explained, and constituent elements common to the first embodiment will be given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram transparently showing the configuration of the terminal conversion adapter 5 according to the fourth embodiment. In the terminal conversion adapter 5, the connection terminal 40 is composed of a plurality of branch terminals 41, 42, and 43, and each terminal is configured so that it can be connected to a different connection destination. Therefore, the terminal conversion adapter 5 can branch the connection destination of the round crimp terminal 2b inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12 to the respective branch destinations of the plurality of branch terminals 41, 42, and 43.

More specifically, the branch terminal 41 in this embodiment includes a round terminal 41b and a round terminal 41c, each having a screw hole of 3 mm in diameter at both ends of a flexible wiring 41a. Here, inside the main body 10, a cylindrical support 15 protruding from the inner bottom surface is formed so as to penetrate through the conductive portion 30. A screw hole of a round terminal 41c provided at one end of the branch terminal 41 is provided so as to fit with the support 15, and is fixed inside the main body 10. Note that in this embodiment, the branch terminal 42 and the branch terminal 43 have the same shape and connection form with the conductive portion 30 as the branch terminal 41, so the description thereof will be omitted here.

In addition, since ready-made harnesses with crimp terminals can be used for each of the branch terminals 41, 42, and 43 in this embodiment, the manufacturing cost of the terminal conversion adapter 5 can be suppressed.

Further, the connection terminal 40 may have two or more terminal branches, and the diameter of the screw hole of each branch terminal is not limited to φ3 mm. Further, each branch terminal is not limited to a round terminal, but may be a Y-shaped terminal with a front opening, and various terminal shapes such as a flat connecting terminal can also be adopted. Furthermore, the respective branch terminals may be crimp terminals having different specifications. The connection terminal 40 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 8 in connection with the conductive part 30; for example, a lug terminal may be used instead of a crimp terminal, and the connection terminal 40 may be connected to the conductive part 30 by soldering. good.

1, 3 to 5 Terminal conversion adapter 2 Existing harness 2b Round crimp terminal 10 Main body 11 Opening 12 Terminal accommodating part 13 Protrusion 20, 40 Connection terminal 30 Conducting part 31 Elastic holding part 32 Engagement part

Claims (9)

A main body that has an insulating property and is formed with a terminal accommodating portion that accommodates a round crimp terminal in a removable manner;
a connection terminal protruding from the main body;
a conductive portion that connects the round crimp terminal inserted into the main body and the connection terminal;
The conductive part includes an elastic holding part that elastically holds the round crimp terminal in the terminal accommodating part,
In the terminal conversion adapter, the elastic holding section includes a pair of leaf spring sections that sandwich the outer circumferential side surface of the round crimp terminal by a curved shape along the outer circumferential side surface of the round crimp terminal . The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic holding portion is curved in a direction in which tips of the pair of leaf spring portions are separated from each other. 3. The stopper according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the main body is provided with a stopper that comes into contact with a tip of the round crimp terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating portion and defines an insertion position of the round crimp terminal. Terminal conversion adapter. The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 3 , wherein the stopper is a protrusion of the main body that protrudes into the terminal accommodating portion. 5. The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 3 , wherein displacement of the conductive portion with respect to the main body is regulated by providing an engaging portion that engages with the stopper. The terminal converter according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the conductive part has a plate spring structure that is biased against a flat surface of the round crimp terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating part. adapter. 7. The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal and the conductive portion are made of a single sheet metal. 7. The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal is a plurality of branch terminals with different connection destinations. The terminal conversion adapter according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of branch terminals extend from the conductive portion via flexible wiring.

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