Insertion method for terminal to connector housing

Abstract

To reduce a possibility of erroneous insertion of a terminal of a wire.SOLUTION: A wire 2 with a terminal 1 to be inserted into a terminal storage chamber 11 of a female connector housing 10 is divided into groups for each of first to fourth double lines F1 to F4, and the terminal storage chamber is also similarly divided into groups. The terminal storage chambers of terminal storage chamber groups TG1 to TG4 are arrayed to be disposed in one row in an X direction, and priorities N1 to N3 are applied in the order of arrays. In each of the double line groups FG1 to FG4, the priorities N1 to N3 corresponding to the arrays of the terminal storage chambers are added to the plurality of wires 2. The first rank of priority is a white wire W, the second rank is a black wire B, and the third rank is a red wire R. In accordance with the priority, the terminals of the wires included in the groups are inserted into the terminal storage chamber 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for inserting a terminal into a connector housing.

Background Art

[0002] An electrical connector used in an automobile or the like is generally configured by inserting and locking a terminal connected to the end of an electric wire into each of a plurality of terminal accommodation chambers provided in a connector housing from the rear of the connector housing. In the connector housing, a plurality of terminal accommodation chambers are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions when viewed from the rear, and which terminal of which electric wire is to be inserted into which terminal accommodation chamber is determined in advance at the design stage.

[0003] When an operator manually inserts the terminals of a plurality of electric wires into the terminal accommodation chambers of a connector housing, the electric wires are distinguished by the color of the electric wires (the color of the insulating coating), and the terminal insertion operation is performed while referring to a correspondence table between the electric wire colors and the arrangement of the terminal accommodation chambers (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the above-described general terminal insertion operation, if the operator does not carefully check the correspondence table between the electric wire colors and the terminal accommodation chambers, there is a risk that the terminals of the appropriate electric wires cannot be inserted into the appropriate terminal accommodation chambers.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a method for inserting a terminal into a connector housing that can reduce the possibility of incorrect insertion of the terminal of the end of an electric wire into the connector housing.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the method for inserting a terminal into a connector housing according to the present invention is characterized as follows. In a method of inserting a terminal of an electric wire with a terminal into each terminal housing chamber of a connector housing in which a plurality of terminal housing chambers are arranged along a first direction and a second direction that intersect each other, Corresponding to a multi-wire group including a plurality of electric wires with terminals to be inserted one by one into each of the terminal housing chambers, each of the terminal housing chambers is arranged in a row in one of the first direction or the second direction, and priorities are assigned in order from the end of the row in the order of the arrangement, Priorities corresponding to the arrangement of the terminal housing chambers to be inserted are assigned to the plurality of electric wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group, According to the priorities, the terminals of the electric wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group are inserted into the corresponding terminal housing chambers. A method for inserting a terminal into a connector housing.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the possibility of incorrect insertion of the terminal of the end of an electric wire into the connector housing can be reduced.

[0009] The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

[0011] Prior to describing specific embodiments of the present invention, the problem to be solved by the present invention will be described in detail.

[0012] The electric wires to be inserted into the connector housing may be provided to the worker as single wires, or may be provided as double wires. A double wire is a group of multiple electric wires, such as a twisted wire, a shielded wire, or multiple single wires bound together with tape. When provided as a double wire, it is common to treat the multiple electric wires in the double wire as a single group.

[0013] When inserting terminals at the ends of electric wires included in such a multiple wire into a connector housing, for example, the terminal accommodating chambers 11 are grouped into terminal accommodating chamber groups TG1 to TG4 for each of the multiple wires F1 to F4 as shown in Fig. 4. Then, the terminals of the electric wires included in the corresponding multiple wires F1 to F4 are inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 11 in the terminal accommodating chamber groups TG1 to TG4.

[0014] In the female connector housing 10 shown in Fig. 4, a plurality of terminal accommodation chambers 11 are arranged in the horizontal direction (the first direction = X direction) and the vertical direction (the second direction = Y direction) when viewed from the rear surface, and for each of the first to fourth multi-conductors F1 to F4, terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG4 to be inserted are set. The first to third multi-conductors F1 to F3 are each of a type including only two electric wires, and the electric wire colors are determined so that the two electric wires can be distinguished. That is, the first multi-conductor F1 is a combination of a red electric wire R and a blue electric wire L. Also, the second and third multi-conductors F2 and F3 are combinations of a white electric wire W and a black electric wire B. Further, the fourth multi-conductor F4 includes five electric wires, and is a combination of a black electric wire B, a white electric wire W, a red electric wire R, a blue electric wire L, and a yellow electric wire Ye so that the five electric wires can be distinguished.

[0015] The terminals 1 of each electric wire 2 constituting each of these multi-conductors F1 to F4 are inserted into the respective terminal accommodation chambers 11 of the corresponding terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG4 as shown in the figure, for example, based on a correspondence table between the electric wire color and the terminal accommodation chamber.

[0016] By the way, in the example shown in Fig. 4, the arrangement directions of the terminal accommodation chambers 11 for inserting the electric wires of each of the multi-conductors F1 to F4 are various (the horizontal direction and the vertical direction are mixed), and there is no uniformity. Also, there is no particular rule for the arrangement of the electric wire colors for each terminal accommodation chamber group and it is arbitrary, and there was a risk that the operator could not insert the terminals of the appropriate electric wires into the appropriate terminal accommodation chambers unless carefully working while referring to the correspondence table between the electric wire color and the terminal accommodation chamber. Therefore, misinsertion was likely to occur.

[0017] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to each figure. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the outline of a method for inserting the terminal of the end of an electric wire into a female connector housing as an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a rear view of the female connector in which the terminal is inserted in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

[0018] As shown in Fig. 1, in the female connector housing 10 to be inserted, a plurality of terminal accommodation chambers 11 are arranged along a first direction X (the horizontal direction in Fig. 1) and a second direction Y (the vertical direction in Fig. 1) that intersect each other. In the illustrated example, a total of 21 terminal accommodation chambers 11 are arranged in three rows, seven in each of the upper, middle, and lower rows. The method according to this embodiment is a method of inserting each terminal 1 provided at the end of each electric wire 2 into each terminal accommodation chamber 11 of this female connector housing 10.

[0019] Here, electric wires 2 to be inserted in the form of first to fourth multi-wires F1 to F4 are provided. Each multi-wire F1 to F4 includes at least two electric wires 2. The first to third multi-wires F1 to F3 include only two electric wires 2, and the fourth multi-wire F4 includes five electric wires 2. It can be said that all the electric wires 2 included in the first to fourth multi-wires F1 to F4 are grouped into a plurality of multi-wire groups FG1 to FG4, with each multi-wire F1 to F4 as one group.

[0020] On the other hand, corresponding to each multi-wire group FG1 to FG4, the terminal accommodation chambers 11 of the female connector housing 10 are grouped into a plurality of terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG4. In this case, the terminal accommodation chambers 11 included in each terminal accommodation chamber group TG1 to TG4 are arranged in a line in the X direction, which is one of the first direction or the second direction. That is, the terminal accommodation chambers 11 for inserting the electric wires included in each multi-wire group FG1 to FG4 are arranged in a line in the X direction.

[0021] Specifically, the position of the first terminal accommodation chamber group TG1 is set at the left end of the arrangement of the lower terminal accommodation chambers 11 (the leading side in the X-direction arrangement). Also, the position of the second terminal accommodation chamber group TG2 is set adjacent to the first terminal accommodation chamber group TG1 in the arrangement of the lower terminal accommodation chambers 11. Further, the position of the third terminal accommodation chamber group TG3 is set at the left end of the arrangement of the middle terminal accommodation chambers 11 (the leading side in the X-direction arrangement), that is, above the first terminal accommodation chamber group TG1. Also, the position of the fourth terminal accommodation chamber group TG4 is set at the right end of the arrangement of the upper terminal accommodation chambers 11 (the terminal side in the X-direction arrangement).

[0022] Then, the terminal accommodation chambers 11 included in each of the terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG4 are virtually assigned priority ranks from the first priority rank N1 to the third priority rank N3 in order from the head of the column in the order of the arrangement. The priority ranks of the terminal accommodation chambers 11 are set in the order along the X-direction from the left end to the right end. That is, each of the first to third terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG3 includes only two terminal accommodation chambers 11, and only the leftmost terminal accommodation chamber 11 is set as the first priority rank N1. Also, the fourth terminal accommodation chamber group TG4 includes five terminal accommodation chambers 11, and the left end of the arrangement of the five terminal accommodation chambers 11 is the first priority rank N1, the adjacent one (right adjacent) in the X-direction is the second priority rank N2, and the further adjacent one (right adjacent) in the X-direction is set as the third priority rank N3.

[0023] Also, the electric wires 2 with terminals included in each of the multi-wire groups FG1 to FG4 are assigned priority ranks corresponding to the arrangement of the terminal accommodation chambers 11 to be inserted, and the electric wires 2 with terminals are arranged in a row in the X-direction in the order of the priority ranks. Here, the electric wires 2 are provided with a color scheme (reference color) that can be visually distinguished as an attribute for identification corresponding to the priority ranks. That is, the priority ranks can be identified by the wire color so that the operator can tell at a glance.

[0024] Specifically, the wire color of the first - priority N1 is set to "white W", the wire color of the second - priority N2 is set to "black B", and the wire color of the third - priority N3 is set to "red R". That is, the white wire W of the first - priority N1 should be inserted into the terminal accommodation chamber 11 (the head in the X - direction) of the first - priority N1, the black wire B of the second - priority N2 should be inserted into the terminal accommodation chamber 11 (the next after the head in the X - direction) of the second - priority N2, and the red wire R of the third - priority N3 should be inserted into the terminal accommodation chamber 11 (the next after the next after the head in the X - direction) of the third - priority N3, so that they can be distinguished.

[0025] In any case of multi - wires, the wire color is always determined to include a wire of "white", "black", or "red", which is the "reference color". When the combination of wires included in the multi - wire is two, one of them is fixed to the white wire. When the combination of wires included in the multi - wire is three, the first one is fixed to the white wire and the second one is fixed to the black wire. When the combination of wires included in the multi - wire is four or more, the first one is fixed to the white wire, the second one is fixed to the black wire, and the third one is fixed to the red wire.

[0026] Since the first to third multi - wires F1 to F3 in the illustrated example each include two wires 2, the wire color is determined so that the two wires 2 can be distinguished. That is, the first wire is the white wire, which is the first reference color as the common color. The remaining second wire is a wire of any color different among the first to third multi - wires F1 to F3. The significance of the color arrangement of this second wire will be described later.

[0027] Also, since the fourth multi - wire F4 includes five wires 2, the wire color is determined so that the five wires 2 can be distinguished. That is, the first one is white, the second one is black, the third one is red, and the fourth and fifth ones are set to green and yellow, which are arbitrary colors. For the fourth multi - wire F4 including five wires 2, the wire color of the fourth wire 2 may be fixed to green.

[0028] After the above correspondences are set, actual insertion is performed. That is, while maintaining the correspondences between the first to fourth double wires F1 to F4 and the terminal accommodating chambers 11 for each group FG1 to FG and TG1 to TG4, the terminals 1 at the ends of the electric wires 2 included in each double wire group FG1 to FG4 are inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers 11 in the order of priority in the corresponding terminal accommodating chamber groups TG1 to TG4.

[0029] Specifically, the white electric wire W of each of the double-wire groups FG1 to FG4 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11 with the first priority order N1 of each of the terminal accommodating chamber groups TG1 to TG4. The other electric wire (an electric wire of any color) of each of the first to third double-wire groups FG1 to FG3 is inserted into a terminal accommodating chamber 11 with no priority order (outside the priority order) of each of the first to third terminal accommodating chamber groups TG1 to TG3.

[0030] As for the other electric wires in the fourth double-wire group FG4, the black electric wire B next to the white electric wire W is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11 with the second priority N2 in the fourth terminal accommodating chamber group TG4, and the red electric wire R next to the black electric wire B is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 11 with the third priority N3. Then, the remaining two electric wires are inserted into terminal accommodating chambers 11 with lower priority based on other set rules.

[0031] By inserting the terminals according to the above procedure, a connector can be obtained in which the ends of the electric wires are inserted in the arrangement pattern shown in Fig. 2. The order in which the ends of the electric wires are actually inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers of the connector housing may be determined arbitrarily as long as the corresponding relationship between the electric wires and the terminal accommodating chambers is maintained. Inserting the first to fourth multiple wires F1 to F4 in this order has the advantage that the previously inserted electric wires are less likely to get in the way of the subsequently inserted electric wires, making the insertion work easier.

[0032] According to the insertion method of the above-described embodiment, the groups FG1 to FG4 of the first to fourth multi-wires F1 to F4 grouped in advance and the groups TG1 to TG4 of the terminal accommodation chambers 11 are in a corresponding relationship with each other. Further, the arrangement of the wires 2 arranged in a row in the X direction of each multi-wire group FG1 to FG4 and the arrangement of the terminal accommodation chambers 11 arranged in a row in the X direction of the corresponding terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1 to TG4 are in a corresponding relationship. That is, the arrangement directions of the wires 2 and the terminal accommodation chambers 11 of each group FG1 to FG4, TG1 to TG4 are unified in the X direction. In other words, within the same connector, "vertical arrangement" and "horizontal arrangement" are not mixed. In the case of horizontal arrangement, all are horizontal arrangements, and in the case of vertical arrangement, all are vertical arrangements. Furthermore, the order of the arrangement is also determined.

[0033] Therefore, by aligning the corresponding wire 2 and the terminal accommodation chamber 11 and inserting the terminal 1 of the wire 2 into the corresponding terminal accommodation chamber 11, it is possible to prevent the incorrect insertion of the terminal of the wire into the terminal accommodation chamber.

[0034] In addition, by pre-ruling the positions where the wires of a small number of set priority colors (for example, three colors of white, black, and red) are inserted in each terminal accommodation chamber group TG1 to TG4, it becomes easier for the operator to remember and less likely to cause insertion errors.

[0035] By the way, when there are a plurality of multi-wire groups composed of the same number of wires, it is necessary to distinguish the multi-wire groups corresponding to each terminal accommodation chamber group other than the number. Therefore, for the distinction, the difference in the colors of the wires that are not arranged in priority is used.

[0036] For example, as in the example of FIG. 1, assume that there are three types (FG1, FG2, FG3) of multi-wire groups each composed of two wires. In that case, the first in the arrangement is fixed with a white wire, but the colors of the remaining wires are arbitrary. Therefore, it suffices to be able to identify any one of the corresponding terminal accommodation chamber groups TG1, TG2, TG3 by the colors of the remaining wires.

[0037] Specifically, for example, if the color of the remaining one wire is black, the first terminal housing group TG1 is specified; if the color of the remaining one wire is red, the second terminal housing group TG2 is specified; if the color of the remaining one wire is blue, the third terminal housing group TG3 is specified. Thus, it may be determined in advance.

[0038] By doing so, even when there are a plurality of multi-wires composed of the same number of wires, the terminal housing group to be inserted can be easily specified. In the case of a multi-wire composed of two wires, since one of the two wires is a white wire, the remaining wire can be of any color.

[0039] The above is an explanation of the method for inserting the terminal of the wire into the female connector housing. However, the same insertion method can also be applied to the male connector that mates with the female connector. However, the wiring patterns of the female connector and the male connector that mate with each other are in a relationship where the left and right are reversed. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, for the terminal housing 21 of the male connector housing 20, the arrangements of the groups FG1 to FG4, TG1 to TG4 and the arrangement of the wires (white W, black B, red R, green-white G, yellow Ye) are reversed. That is, the X direction is reversed.

[0040] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. In addition, the materials, shapes, dimensions, numerical values, forms, numbers, arrangement positions, etc. of the respective components in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

[0041] In the above embodiment, in the multi-wire group, an example in which the combination of the colors of the wires of a plurality of colors includes a reference color, and the priority order of the reference colors is determined in the order of "white", "black", and "red" is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to these colors, and the correspondence between the wire color and the priority order may be made into a rule.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the wire color is set as an attribute for identifying the wire. However, instead of, or in addition to, the difference in wire color, symbols or patterns that can be visually distinguished may be provided. For example, attaching symbols or patterns according to natural numbers starting from 1 to the wire makes it easier to recognize the priority order.

[0043] Here, the features of the method for inserting the terminals into the connector housing according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention are briefly summarized and listed as follows [1] to [4]. [1] In a method of inserting the terminal (1) of the wire (2) with a terminal into each of the terminal accommodating chambers (11, 21) of a connector housing (female connector housing 10, male connector housing 20) in which a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers are arranged along a first direction and a second direction intersecting each other, corresponding to a multi-wire group (FG1 to FG4) including a plurality of wires with terminals to be inserted one by one into each of the terminal accommodating chambers, each of the terminal accommodating chambers is arranged in a row in one of the first direction or the second direction, and a priority order (first place N1 to third place N3) is given in order from the end of the row in the order of the arrangement, a priority order (first place N1 to third place N3) corresponding to the arrangement of the terminal accommodating chambers to be inserted is given to the plurality of wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group, and according to the priority order, the terminals of the wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group are inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers. A method for inserting a terminal into a connector housing.

[0044] According to the method described in the above [1], there is a corresponding relationship between the priority order of the wires (2) in the multi-wire group and the priority order of the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers arranged in a row. That is, according to the priority order of the wires, the direction of the arrangement of the terminal insertion chambers is unified in one direction, and the order of the arrangement is also determined. Therefore, by inserting the terminal of the wire into the corresponding terminal accommodating chamber, the possibility of misinsertion into the terminal accommodating chamber can be reduced.

[0045] [2] The electric wire (2) is provided with an attribute for identification corresponding to the priority order (first priority N1 to third priority N3). The method for inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to [1] above.

[0046] According to the method described in [2] above, by looking at the attribute of the electric wire (2), the priority order (first priority N1 to third priority N3) can be grasped, so that the possibility of incorrect insertion of the electric wire with a terminal included in each multi-wire group can be effectively reduced.

[0047] [3] As the attribute, the electric wire (2) is provided with a color scheme that can be visually distinguished. The method for inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to [2] above.

[0048] According to the method described in [3] above, based on the color of the electric wire (2), the priority order (first priority N1 to third priority N3) of the electric wire (2) with a terminal included in each multi-wire group (FG1 to FG4) can be easily grasped. For example, assuming that the first priority is a white electric wire (W) and the electric wires of a multi-wire group (FG1 to FG3) consisting of two electric wires are inserted into the terminal housing chamber. In this case, among the arrangements of the terminal housing chambers included in the terminal housing chamber group (TG1 to TG3) corresponding to the multi-wire group (FG1 to FG3), the terminal (1) of the white electric wire (W) is inserted into the first terminal housing chamber. Then, the terminals of the remaining one electric wire are inserted into the remaining terminal housing chambers regardless of the electric wire color. Thereby, proper insertion is completed.

[0049] Also, assume a case where wires of a multi-wire group (FG4) consisting of five wires with the first priority given to white wires (W), the second priority to black wires (B), and the third priority to red wires (R) are inserted into the terminal accommodation chamber. In this case, the terminal (1) of the white wire (W) is inserted into the first terminal accommodation chamber among the arrangements of the terminal accommodation chambers included in the terminal accommodation chamber group (TG4) corresponding to the multi-wire group (FG4). Then, the terminal (1) of the black wire (B) is inserted into the second terminal accommodation chamber, the terminal (1) of the red wire (R) is inserted into the third terminal accommodation chamber, and the remaining two wires are inserted into the remaining terminal accommodation chambers regardless of the wire color. This completes the proper insertion.

[0050] [4] As the attribute, a symbol or pattern distinguishable by vision is given to the wire. The method of inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to [2] above.

[0051] According to the method described in [4] above, even if symbols or patterns are given to the wires instead of the wire color scheme, proper terminal insertion is possible in the same manner as in [3].

Explanation of Symbols

[0052] 10 Female connector housing 11 Terminal accommodation chamber 20 Male connector housing 21 Terminal accommodation chamber F1 First multi-wire F2 Second multi-wire F3 Third multi-wire F4 Fourth multi-wire FG1 First multi-wire group FG2 Second multi-wire group FG3 Third multi-wire group FG4 Fourth multi-wire group TG1 First terminal accommodation chamber group TG2 Second terminal accommodation chamber group TG3 Third terminal accommodation chamber group TG4 Fourth terminal accommodation chamber group N1 First priority Priority of N2: Second Priority of N3: Third W White wire (Priority: First) B Black wire (Priority: Second) R Red wire (Priority: Third) L Blue wire G Green - white wire Ye Yellow wire

Claims

1. In a method of inserting a terminal of a wire with a terminal into each terminal housing of a connector housing in which a plurality of terminal housing chambers are arranged along a first direction and a second direction intersecting each other, Corresponding to a multi-wire group including a plurality of wires with terminals to be inserted one by one into each of the terminal housing chambers, each of the terminal housing chambers is arranged in a row in one of the first direction or the second direction, and a priority is assigned in order from the end of the row in the order of the arrangement. Assign a priority corresponding to the arrangement of the terminal housing chambers to be inserted to the plurality of wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group. Insert the terminals of the wires with terminals included in the multi-wire group into the corresponding terminal housing chambers according to the priority. A method of inserting a terminal into a connector housing.

2. An attribute for identification corresponding to the priority is given to the wire. The method of inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to Claim 1.

3. As the attribute, the wire is provided with a color scheme that can be visually distinguished. The method of inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to Claim 2.

4. As the attribute, a symbol or pattern that can be visually distinguished is given to the wire. The method of inserting a terminal into the connector housing according to Claim 2.

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