JPH10270142A - Electrical terminal, connector comprising it and assembly of the connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical terminal capable of providing a highly reliable electrical connection between a flexible circuit board and a wire conductor, and to provide a connector comprising it and an assembling method of the connector. SOLUTION: An electrical terminal 10 has a barrel-shaped wire clamping part 11 for connecting a wire on its one side, and also has a circuit board connection part 12 connected to a flexible circuit board on the opposite side. The circuit board connection part 12 has a barrel-shaped clamping fixed part 15 and a contact part 16 electrically connected to the flexible circuit board. The contact part 16 comprises a box-shaped part 17 formed by folding a metal plate, an elastic piece 18 positioned in overlapping relation with the box-shaped part 17, and a latch part 21. A projecting piece 18a capable engaging with the latch part 21 is provided at both ends of the elastic piece 18. The electrical terminal 10 is accommodated in a case housing equipped with a waterproof seal member after connected to the wire and the flexible circuit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrical terminal for interconnecting a wire conductor and a circuit of a flexible circuit board, a connector including the same, and a method of assembling the connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a demand for interconnecting a flexible circuit board and a wire conductor with one terminal in applications such as automobiles. In particular, in applications such as automobiles, it is important to maintain a highly reliable connection by protecting the connection portion with a waterproof structure.

A structure similar to the required structure is disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,247,316 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-48891.
No. 1993. The former discloses an electric terminal including a crimping part connected to a wire conductor and a circuit board connecting part pierced and electrically connected to the circuit board.
The latter discloses an electric terminal including a crimp portion connected to a wire conductor and a circuit board connection portion configured to sandwich the circuit conductor. However, in these configurations, especially in an environment such as an automobile which receives vibration, the connection portion may be loosened and a contact failure may occur, so that sufficient connection reliability cannot be guaranteed. In addition, in particular, the former configuration involves a problem that a relatively large area is required for the circuit board connection portion in order to obtain a highly reliable electric connection between the circuit board and the electric terminals.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a relatively small electric terminal capable of providing a reliable electric connection between a flexible circuit board and a wire conductor.

[0005] Further, when such an electric terminal is used in an automobile or the like, environmental resistance, particularly waterproofness, is required. Therefore, the above-mentioned electric terminals need to be accommodated in a waterproof housing.

Accordingly, a second object of the present invention is to provide a connector in which electrical terminals interconnecting a flexible circuit board and a wire conductor are housed in an easily assembled case housing so as to be effectively waterproofed. It is in.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an assembling method for relatively easily manufacturing a waterproof connector including an electric terminal for interconnecting a flexible circuit board and a wire conductor.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a circuit including a crimp fixing portion for crimping and fixing a flexible circuit board on which a circuit conductor is formed, and a contact portion which is in contact with the circuit conductor at a position away from the crimp fixing portion. Provided is an electric terminal, wherein a board connecting part and a wire crimping part to which a wire is crimped and connected are provided at positions facing each other in a longitudinal direction.

Preferably, the contact portion includes an elastic piece acting to elastically sandwich the flexible circuit board between a part of the electric terminal. It is preferable that a substantially box-shaped portion is provided near the elastic piece, and the box-shaped portion surrounds a contact portion of the elastic piece with the flexible circuit board.

[0010] Preferably, the direction of receiving the flexible circuit board of the crimp fixing portion and the direction of receiving the wire of the wire connection portion are substantially the same.

Further, the present invention provides a circuit board connecting portion including a crimp fixing portion for crimping and fixing a flexible circuit board on which a circuit conductor is formed, and a contact portion for contacting the circuit conductor, and a wire crimping portion for crimping a wire. And an electric terminal provided at a position facing each other in the length direction, and a pair of housing members, a seal member is disposed on substantially the entire inner surface of the pair of housing members, and the flexible circuit board is formed by combining the pair of housing members. And a connector housing having a case housing for holding the entire electric terminal connected to the wire between the seal members.

Preferably, the pair of housing members are connected by a hinge structure.

Preferably, the pair of housing members are provided with engaging means for engaging and fixing each other.

[0014] Preferably, a terminal positioning structure is provided on one inner surface of the pair of housing members.

Preferably, at least one of the pair of housing members has a support structure for supporting the wire.

[0016] Preferably, a strain relief structure for supporting the flexible circuit board is provided near an end of the inner surface of the pair of housing members.

Preferably, at least one of the pair of housing members is provided with a positioning structure for the flexible circuit board.

The present invention further provides a circuit board connecting portion connected to a flexible circuit board on one side, and a wire connecting portion connected to a wire on the opposite side. Press-connecting, connecting the flexible circuit board to the circuit board connection portion, arranging a seal member on a pair of housing members, combining the pair of housing members, Interposing and accommodating the wire and the electrical terminal connected to the flexible circuit board therebetween.

Preferably, the step of combining the pair of housing members includes a step of rotating one side approximately 180 degrees around a hinge portion configured to connect the pair of housings.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric terminal according to a preferred embodiment. The electric terminal 10 has a barrel-shaped wire crimping portion (or wire connecting portion) 11 to which a wire conductor is crimped and connected on one side, and a circuit board connecting portion 12 connected to a flexible circuit board on the opposite side. Wire crimping part 1
1 has a structure similar to that found in known crimp terminals, and includes a lead crimp portion 13 and an insulation coating crimp portion 14.
The circuit board connecting part 12 has a barrel-shaped crimp fixing part 15 and a contact part 16 electrically connected to the flexible circuit board.
Having. As shown in the figure, a plurality of crimp tongue pieces 15a of the crimp fixing portion 15 are formed two at each asymmetric position on both sides. A plurality of projections (or ridges) 15c separated by grooves 15d are formed on the bottom plate portion 15b of the crimp fixing portion 15. The contact portion 16 includes a box-shaped portion 17 formed by bending a metal plate, an elastic piece 18 positioned so as to overlap the box-shaped portion 17, and a protruding piece 18a formed at an end of the elastic piece 18.
And a latch portion 21 having a shape engageable with the latch portion 21. Projection piece 18a
Are formed on both sides of the distal end of the elastic piece 18, so that the distal end portion has a substantially T shape. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the elastic piece 18 is bent inward at a right angle on the top side of the one side wall 17 a of the box-shaped portion 17 and is rearward from the second top wall 17 c disposed on the inside of the first top wall 17 b. Extend to This configuration is shown in FIG. 6 to be referenced later. The operation of the above configuration will be described later. In particular, it should be noted that the protruding piece 18a and the latch portion 21 are not engaged in the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a connection state between the electric terminals and the wires. In the first step of the assembling connection, the wire W is crimped to the electric terminal 10. The method of crimp connection is a well-known method and will not be described in detail. However, a conductor lead or stranded conductor W1 of the wire W, which has been subjected to an appropriate end strip processing in advance, is crimped to the conductor crimping portion 13 to form a wire. The insulating coating W2 is fixed to the insulating coating crimping section 14 by pressure bonding.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a pair of electric terminals connected to the wires are fixed to the holder.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the shape of the holder. In the second step of assembly, a pair of the electric terminals 10 connected to the wires W are fixed to the holder 40 and arranged in parallel. As shown in FIG. 4, the holder 40 has two pairs of opposing claws 41a, 41b,
41c and 41d. The electrical terminals 10, 10 have their box-shaped portions 17, 17 forming pairs of claws 41 a, 41 b, 41.
It is received and fixed between c and 41d. At this time, holder 4
The zero projections 44, 44 engage with recesses 24b, 24b defined by forming blocking projections 24a, 24a on the bases 24, 24 of the bottom walls of the electrical terminals 10, 10, as described below. (See FIG. 6) A space 43 is formed at the center of the holder 40 to ensure that the claws 41b and 41c near the center are bent. The circuit board connecting portions 12, 12 of the pair of electric terminals 10, 10 are juxtaposed at a predetermined pitch by the holder 40, which enables connection with a flexible circuit board as described below.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the electric terminals and the flexible circuit board are further connected. In particular, FIG. 5 shows the flexible circuit boards before connection side by side. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the details of the connection between the electric terminal and the flexible circuit board, in which the electric terminal is sectioned along the length direction.

In the third step, the flexible circuit board F and the electric terminals 10 and 10 supported by the holder 40 are electrically connected. According to the present preferred embodiment, the flexible circuit board F constitutes a part of a sensor for detecting a compressive force.
The flexible circuit board F is connected to a pair of electrical terminals 10, 10 and is connected to a pair of strips 4 extending substantially in parallel.
5, 45 and an opening 46. The width of the strip 45 is sized to be received inside the box 17 of the electrical terminal 10. A particularly important point in the structure of the flexible circuit board F is that the circuit conductor is composed of a printed circuit using a carbon conductor and a silver paste, and is relatively soft.

The flexible circuit board F and the electric terminals 10
When 10 is connected, first, each band 45 is aligned with each electric terminal 10 and received in the box-shaped portion 17. As shown in FIG. 6, a base 24 located on the bottom side of the box-shaped portion 17 is provided.
The belt-like portion 45 is inserted to a position where the tip of the belt-like portion 45 contacts the restraining projection 24a and is restrained. After the belt-like portion 45 is received at an appropriate position, crimping is performed in the crimp fixing portion 15. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of crimping tongue pieces 15a are deformed so as to be wound inward, and the vicinity of the end of the crimping tongue piece 15a protrudes from the flexible circuit board F.
It acts to press against the bottom plate portion 15b including 5c.
Thus, the flexible circuit board F is firmly held with respect to the electric terminals 10 and 10 (see FIG. 1). At the same time as the pressing operation, the elastic piece 18 is pressed downward to
Is engaged with the latch portion 21 (see FIG. 1). The cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 6 shows a state after the engagement between the two. As shown in the figure, the elastic piece 18 is formed to be bent in a substantially "L" shape, and has a contact portion 23 at the bending position. A through hole 25 is formed in the base 24 of the box-shaped portion 17. The flexible circuit board F is sandwiched between the contact portion 23 of the elastic piece 18 and the base 24 and pressed against the base 24. The strip 45 of the flexible circuit board F has a conductive layer 47 on the bottom side and an insulating layer 48 on the top side. Accordingly, an electrical connection between the conductive layer 47 and the base 24 is formed along the edge 26 of the through hole 25 substantially overlapping the contact portion 23. As a result, a highly reliable electrical connection can be realized in a relatively large area. Although the electrical terminals 10 and the flexible circuit board F are also electrically connected to each other in the crimp fixing section 15, the crimp fixing section 15 is mainly configured for flexible fixing.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a case housing for accommodating the electric terminals to which the wires and the flexible circuit board shown in FIG. 6 are connected. Case housing 50
Has a configuration in which first and second housing members 60 and 80 are connected via a hinge structure 51. The first housing member 60 includes a main body 60a and an extension 60b having a smaller width than the main body 60a. The main body 60a has a surface 61
a. Further, the housing member 60 has an outer peripheral wall 62 formed to be continuous with the main body portion 60a and the extension portion 60b and protrude from the surface 61a. The surface 61a has a substantially rectangular first shape.
Recess 63, second recess 6 smaller in size than the first recess 63
4. Projections 65a, 65 formed near the first recess 63
b, 65c. The extension 60b has a concave groove 66, a post 67 located at the center thereof, and a surface 68. Further, three pairs of engaging projections 69a are provided on the outer peripheral wall 62 along the outer portion.
69b and 69c are formed. (One side is not shown in FIG. 5.) Further, claws 71 and 7 supporting the wire W are provided at one end position in the length direction of the housing member 60.
1 is provided. The second housing member 80 has a similar outer shape, and includes a main body 80a and an extension 80b. The surface 81a is continuous with the main body portion 80a and the extension portion 80b.
Has an outer peripheral wall 82 formed to protrude therefrom. The first and second concave portions 83 and 84 are provided on the surface 81a of the main body 80.
Is formed. The extension 80b has a ridge 86, an opening 67 located at the center thereof, and a surface 88. Further, three pairs of engaging latches 89a, 89 are formed on the outer peripheral wall 82 along the side.
b, 89c are formed. At one end position in the length direction of the housing member 80, concave portions 91, 91 are provided corresponding to the positions of the claws 71, 71 of the housing member 60.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a seal member is arranged on the main body of the housing member. In the fourth step of the assembly, the sealing members 1 are
00 and 100 are attached. As the seal member 100, a material having sufficient elasticity and viscosity is selected. In the preferred embodiment, the seal member 100 is a sheet-shaped silicone gel material sold under the trademark "Gel Tech" by Raychem. As shown, the seal member 100 has a substantially plate shape,
0a, 80a when mounted on the respective surfaces 61a, 81a
Is located so as to cover substantially the entire surface of the. The seal member 100 according to the present preferred embodiment has viscosity or adhesiveness,
It can be fixed simply by pressing it against 1a, 81a.

FIG. 9 shows a state where the electric terminals to which the wires and the flexible circuit board are connected are arranged on the housing member. In the fifth step of assembly, the electric terminals 10 to which the wires W and the flexible circuit board F shown in FIG. 3 are connected are arranged on the seal member 100 of the housing member 60. The electric terminals 10 are arranged in a pair. At this time, the opening 46 formed in the flexible circuit board F engages with the post 67, and the pair of wires W, W
The electrical terminals 10, 10 are held in the correct position on the housing member 60. At this time, the holder 40 supporting the box-shaped portion 17 is placed at a position overlapping the first concave portion 63, and the insulation coating crimping portions 14, 14 of the electric terminals 10, 10 are placed at a position overlapping the second concave portion 64.
As shown in FIG. 4, the holder 40 has a projection 48 protruding to one side.
Having. The projection 48 is for preventing the holder 40 from being placed in the wrong direction.
And the flexible circuit board F are arranged so that the leading-out direction of the flexible circuit board F is reversed, the protrusion 65 a
Interaction prevents the stable arrangement of the holder 40 holding the electrical terminals 10 and 10, and prevents the housing members 60 and 80 from being engaged in a later step.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which the housing members are engaged with each other. In the sixth step of assembly, the housing member 60 and the housing member 80 are engaged. As can be understood with reference to FIG. 7, when engaged, the housing member 80 is rotated with respect to the housing member 60 via the hinge structure 51, and engages with the engaging projections 69a, 69b, 69c. Latches 89a, 89b, 89c are engaged on both sides. Thereby, both are fixed, and the assembly of the case housing 50 that houses the electric terminal 10 is completed. At this time, through the sufficiently soft and deformable seal members 100, 100,
The holder 40 supporting the box-shaped part 17 of the electric terminal 10 is connected to the box-shaped parts 17, 17 and the lead connection parts 13, 13 of the wire crimping parts 11, 11 by the first recesses 63, 83 of both housing members 60, 80. Are the protrusions 65a, 65
By b and 65c, the insulation coating crimping portions 14 and 14 of the wire crimping portion 11 are further indirectly held by the second concave portions 64 and 84, respectively. When the two housings 60 and 80 are engaged with each other, the sealing members 100 and 100 receive a sufficient compressive force, so that the electric terminal 10 is stably held. Further, the wires W connected to the electric terminals 10 and the flexible circuit board F are also held tightly by the sealing members 100, 100, so that the electric terminals 10, 10 connected to the wires W, W and the flexible circuit board F It is protected with a sufficient sealing property (or waterproof property), and a stable connection state is maintained. As can be understood particularly with reference to FIG.
And the protruding strip 86 of the housing member 80, and are held by being sandwiched by the surfaces 68, 88 of the extension portions 60b, 80b, so that a sufficient strain relief action is provided and the flexible circuit board F is provided. And electrical terminal 1
A highly reliable connection with 0 can be maintained. In addition, the aforementioned nail 7
The support of the wires W, W by the 1, 71 and the sealing members 100, 100 provides an effective strain relief action for the wires W, W. The above steps complete the connection and assembly of the connector 5 according to the present invention.

As described above, the electric terminal, the connector, and the method of assembling the connector according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention have been described. However, this is merely an example, and various modifications and changes can be made by those skilled in the art. .

[0032]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric terminal comprising a circuit board connecting portion including a crimp fixing portion for crimping and fixing a flexible circuit board on which a circuit conductor is formed, a contact portion contacting the circuit conductor at a position away from the crimp fixing portion, and a wire. Is provided at a position opposed to the wire crimping portion in the length direction, so that a highly reliable electrical connection between the flexible circuit board and the wire is realized. In particular, according to this configuration, good electric connection is maintained even when the electric terminal is placed in an environment where vibration is received.

[0033] The connector of the present invention further comprises a crimping and fixing portion for crimping and fixing the flexible circuit board on which the circuit conductor is formed, a circuit board connecting portion including a contact portion for contacting the circuit conductor at a position away from the crimping and fixing portion, An electric terminal in which a wire crimping part to be connected is provided at a position facing the longitudinal direction,
And a pair of housing members, a seal member is arranged on substantially the entire inner surface of the pair of housing members, and the entire electric terminals connected to the flexible circuit board and the wire are sandwiched between the seal members by combining the pair of housings. Since the case has a case housing, the electric terminals to which the flexible circuit board and the wires are connected can be effectively waterproofed or sealed from the outside with a simple structure, and highly reliable electric connection can be maintained.

Further, according to the connector assembling method of the present invention, a circuit board connecting portion connected to a flexible circuit board is provided on one side and a wire connecting portion connected to a wire is provided on the opposite side. A step of crimping a wire to a wire connection part, a step of connecting a flexible circuit board to the circuit board connection part, a step of arranging a seal member on each of the pair of housing members, and combining the pair of housing members. And a step of interposing and accommodating the wires and the electric terminals connected to the flexible circuit board between the sealing members, so that highly reliable interconnection between the flexible circuit board and the wires can be realized by a relatively easy method. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a connection state between an electric terminal and a wire.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary perspective view showing a state in which a pair of electric terminals connected to wires are fixed to a holder;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the shape of a holder.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where wires and a flexible circuit board are connected to the electric terminals.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the details of connection between the electric terminal and the flexible circuit board, in which the electric terminal is sectioned along the length direction.

7 is a perspective view showing a case housing for accommodating electric terminals to which the wires and the flexible circuit board shown in FIG. 6 are connected.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a seal member is arranged on a main body of the housing member.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary perspective view showing a state where electric terminals to which wires and a flexible circuit board are connected are arranged on a housing member;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state where the housing members are engaged with each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Connector 10 Electric terminal 11 Wire crimping part 12 Circuit board connecting part 15 Crimp fixing part 16 Contact part 50 Case housing 60, 80 Housing member 100 Seal member F Flexible circuit board W Wire

Claims (3)

[Claims] A circuit board connecting part including a crimp fixing part for crimping and fixing a flexible circuit board on which a circuit conductor is formed, and a contact part contacting the circuit conductor at a position away from the crimp fixing part, and a wire is crimped. An electric terminal, wherein a wire crimping part to be connected is provided at a position facing the longitudinal direction. 2. A circuit board connecting part including a crimp fixing part for crimping and fixing a flexible circuit board on which a circuit conductor is formed, and a contact part contacting the circuit conductor at a position away from the crimp fixing part, and a wire is crimped. The wire crimping part to be connected includes an electric terminal provided at a position facing the longitudinal direction, and a pair of housing members, and a seal member is arranged on substantially the entire inner surface of the pair of housing members, and the pair of housing members is disposed. A connector having a case housing which is combined and accommodates the entirety of the electric terminals connected to the flexible circuit board and the wires sandwiched between the seal members. 3. A crimping connection of the wire to the wire crimping portion of the electric terminal, wherein a circuit board connecting portion connected to the flexible circuit board is provided on one side, and a wire crimping portion connected to the wire is provided on the opposite side. Performing the step of connecting the flexible circuit board to the circuit board connecting portion; the step of arranging a seal member on each of the pair of housing members; and combining the pair of housing members to form the seal member. Interposing the electrical terminal connected to the wire and the flexible circuit board between the wires and accommodating the electrical terminal.