connector

Abstract

To improve heat dissipation property of a connector having a bus bar and a housing.SOLUTION: A connector 1 is provided, assembled in wire harness for an automobile and distributing a power source, and comprises: a plurality of bus bars 2; and a housing 3 housing the bus bars 2. The housing 3 includes a bus bar holding portion 32 in the one side of the housing 3 and includes in the other side, a terminal housing chamber 39 housing a terminal 9 electrically connected to each of the bus bar 2. The bus bar holding portion 32 includes a pair of nipping plates 33 and 34 in which both of the bus bars 2 are nipped from both sides in a thickness direction. The housing 3 includes a plurality of heat dissipation plates 35 vertically standing from the nipping plate 34. Also, each heat dissipation plate 35 standing to the bus bar holding portion 32 side on a lower step side from the nipping plate 34 of the bus bar holding portion 32 on an upper step side has an interval from the nipping plate 33 of the bus bar holding portion 32 on the down step side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector including a bus bar and a housing. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Automotive connectors (also called "joint connectors") that include bus bars and a housing and interconnect a plurality of terminals are known.

[0003] For example, the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a bus bar having a strip-shaped base plate from which multiple tab terminals extend, and a housing that accommodates the bus bar. One side of the housing is formed with a bus bar holding groove that holds the base plate, and the other side is formed with an accommodation space that accommodates the multiple tab terminals. A female terminal connected to an end of an electric wire is inserted into this accommodation space, and the female terminal is mated with the tab terminal. This connector interconnects the female terminals that are mated with the multiple tab terminals. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-17531 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that when a current flows through the electric wire, terminal, and bus bar in that order, Joule heat is generated, causing the temperature inside the housing to rise, and there is room for improvement.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the heat dissipation performance of a connector having a bus bar and a housing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention providesMultiple a bus bar; Multiple a housing that accommodates the bus bar, the housing having a bus bar holding portion on one side thereof multiple The bus bar holding portion has a pair of clamping plates that clamp the bus bar from both sides in the thickness direction, and the housing has a terminal accommodating chamber on the other side that accommodates a terminal to be electrically connected to the bus bar, and the housing has a heat sink that stands upright from one of the pair of clamping plates. The plurality of bus bar holding portions are arranged in a thickness direction of the bus bar, and the heat dissipation plate erected from the clamping plate of one bus bar holding portion is spaced apart from the clamping plates of the other bus bar holding portions. The connector is characterized by the above. The present invention provides a connector comprising a bus bar and a housing that accommodates the bus bar, the housing having a bus bar holding portion on one side thereof, the bus bar holding portion having a pair of clamping plates that sandwich the bus bar from both sides in the thickness direction thereof, the housing having a terminal accommodating chamber on the other side thereof that accommodates a terminal to be electrically connected to the bus bar, the housing having a heat sink erected from one of the pair of clamping plates, and the longitudinal direction of the heat sink coinciding with the insertion direction of the bus bar into the bus bar holding portion and the insertion direction of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, the housing has a heat dissipation plate that stands upright from one of the pair of holding plates that sandwich the bus bar, thereby improving heat dissipation performance. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the connector of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1 taken in the horizontal direction. [Figure 4] 2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1 taken in the vertical direction. [Figure 5] 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the connector of FIG. 1. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A "connector" according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0011] 1 to 5, a connector 1 of this example is incorporated into an automobile wire harness to distribute power. The connector 1 includes a plurality of bus bars 2 and a housing 3 that accommodates these bus bars 2.

[0012] The busbar 2 is obtained by pressing a metal plate or the like, and as shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of tab terminals 22 extend from a band-shaped base plate 21. The tab terminals 22 are tongue-shaped and extend perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the base plate 21. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a locking protrusion 23 that locks into the housing 2 is formed on the base end of the tab terminal 22 closer to the base plate 21. As shown in Fig. 4, the tip side of the tab terminal 22 is fitted with a female terminal 9 connected to the end of the electric wire 8. Note that the terminal 9 is not shown in Fig. 3.

[0013] The housing 3 is made of insulating synthetic resin. The housing 3 is formed in a rectangular tubular shape having an upper wall 30a, a lower wall 30b, and a pair of left and right side walls 30c, 30d, with a bus bar holding portion 32 on its rear side (one side) and a terminal accommodating chamber 39 on its front side (the other side) for accommodating terminals 9 electrically connected to the bus bars 2. In addition, a locking portion 31 is provided on the outer surface of the lower wall 30b for attaching the housing 3 to a structure (such as a vehicle body, an electrical junction box, or an electronic unit).

[0014] It should be noted that the designations "upper wall 30a," "lower wall 30b," "side walls 30c, 30d," etc. are used for the convenience of explanation in this specification, and do not necessarily correspond to the actual up, down, left, right, front, and rear directions when the connector 1 is mounted on an automobile.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 2, in this example, twelve terminal accommodating chambers 39 are lined up in the horizontal direction of the housing 3 (the direction in which the side walls 30c and 30d face each other), and these horizontal terminal accommodating chambers 39 are arranged in three rows in the vertical direction of the housing 3 (the direction in which the top wall 30a and the bottom wall 30b face each other). These terminal accommodating chambers 39 are formed by dividing the space within the housing 3 by eleven vertical partition walls 38 provided between the side walls 30c and 30d and two horizontal partition walls 37 provided between the top wall 30a and the bottom wall 30b. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a lance 40 that engages with a terminal 9 is provided within each terminal accommodating chamber 39.

[0016] Terminal 9 is obtained by subjecting a metal plate to press working or the like. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, terminal 9 has a coating crimping piece 91 that crimps the portion covered with the coating at the end of electric wire 8, a core crimping piece 92 that crimps the core wire exposed when the coating is peeled off, and a fitting portion 93. Fitting portion 93 has a square tube portion 94 that receives tab terminal 22 and a spring piece 95 that elastically contacts tab terminal 22 inserted into square tube portion 94.

[0017] 1, in this example, three bus bar holding portions 32 are lined up in the horizontal direction of the housing 3, and these horizontal bus bar holding portions 32 are arranged in three rows in the vertical direction of the housing 3. The bus bar 2 is accommodated in the housing 3 with the longitudinal direction of the board portion 21 coinciding with the horizontal direction of the housing 3 and with its thickness direction coinciding with the vertical direction of the housing 3.

[0018] Each bus bar holding portion 32 has a pair of clamping plates 33, 34 that sandwich the bus bar 2 from both sides in the thickness direction. The clamping plate 33 is connected to the rear end of the horizontal bulkhead 37 and extends rearward. The clamping plate 34 is connected to the rear end of the vertical bulkhead 38 and extends rearward. For the uppermost bus bar holding portion 32, the upper wall 30a serves as the clamping plate 33, and the bus bar 2 is sandwiched between the upper wall 30a and the clamping plate 34. As shown in FIG. 3 , adjacent bus bar holding portions 32 in the horizontal direction are separated by the vertical bulkhead 38 extending to the rear end of the housing 3. This prevents short circuits between adjacent bus bars 2.

[0019] 3, the internal space of bus bar holding portion 32 communicates with the internal space of terminal accommodating chamber 39. At the boundary between bus bar holding portion 32 and terminal accommodating chamber 39, a locked portion 41 is formed to lock onto locking protrusion 23 of bus bar 2.

[0020] The bus bar 2 is assembled to the housing 3 by inserting it into the bus bar holding portion 32 from the rear end side of the housing 3 and engaging the locking projections 23 with the locked portions 41 of the housing 3. When the bus bar 2 is assembled to the housing 3, the base portion 21 is positioned in the bus bar holding portion 32 and the plurality of tab terminals 22 are positioned in the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 39, respectively.

[0021] When the busbar 2 is assembled to the housing 3, the rear end surface 20 of the substrate portion 21 is pressed with a jig to insert the busbar 2 into the busbar holding portion 32. For this purpose, the busbar holding portion 32 is formed with jig guide grooves 36a, 36b, and 36c.

[0022] Furthermore, the housing 3 has a plurality of heat sinks 35 standing upright from the clamping plate 34. Each heat sink 35 stands vertically from the clamping plate 34 and is connected to the rear end of the vertical partition wall 38. The heat sink 35 standing upright (hanging down) from the clamping plate 34 of the upper bus bar holding portion 32 toward the lower bus bar holding portion 32 is spaced apart from the clamping plate 33 of the lower bus bar holding portion 32. As shown in FIG. 4 , the longitudinal direction of the heat sink 35 coincides with the insertion direction of the bus bar 2 into the bus bar holding portion 32 and the insertion direction of the terminal 9 into the terminal accommodating chamber 39.

[0023] In the connector 1 configured as described above, current flows in the order of the electric wire 8, terminal 9, and bus bar 2, as shown by the dashed arrow in FIG. 5 . Joule heat is generated when each component is energized in this manner. The generated heat is diffused from the bus bar 2 to the surrounding housing 3, as shown by the dashed arrow in FIG. 5 , and then diffused from the surface of the housing 3 into the air. The provision of the heat sink 35 described above in this connector 1 increases the surface area of ​​the housing 3 around the bus bar 2, improving heat dissipation from the surface of the housing 3 into the air. Furthermore, the heat sink 35 extends perpendicularly from the clamping plate 34 and is connected to the rear end of the vertical bulkhead 38, thereby improving the rigidity of the bus bar holding portion 32.

[0024] The above-described embodiment merely shows a typical form of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the gist of the present invention. As long as such modifications still include the configuration of the present invention, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 1 connector 2 Busbar 3. Housing 9 terminals 32 Bus bar holding part 35 Heat sink 39 Terminal housing

Claims

1. A power supply comprising: a plurality of bus bars; and a housing that accommodates the plurality of bus bars; the housing has a plurality of bus bar holding portions on one side thereof, and the bus bar holding portions have a pair of clamping plates that clamp the bus bars from both sides in a thickness direction thereof; the housing has a terminal accommodating chamber on the other side thereof for accommodating a terminal to be electrically connected to the bus bar, the housing has a heat sink standing upright from one of the pair of clamping plates, the plurality of bus bar holding portions are aligned in a thickness direction of the bus bar, The heat sink erected from the clamping plate of one bus bar holding portion is spaced apart from the clamping plate of another bus bar holding portion. A connector characterized by:

2. A device comprising: a bus bar; and a housing that accommodates the bus bar; the housing has a bus bar holding portion on one side thereof, the bus bar holding portion having a pair of clamping plates that clamp the bus bar from both sides in a thickness direction thereof, the housing has a terminal accommodating chamber on the other side thereof for accommodating a terminal to be electrically connected to the bus bar, the housing has a heat sink standing upright from one of the pair of clamping plates, The longitudinal direction of the heat sink coincides with the insertion direction of the bus bar into the bus bar holding portion and the insertion direction of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber. A connector characterized by:

3. The heat sink is provided vertically from one of the pair of clamping plates.

3. The connector according to claim 1 or 2.

Images