Terminal connector with a crimping portion with recesses

• US 8,246,394 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2009
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autonetworks Technologies, Ltd. (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Autonetworks Technologies, Ltd. (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Ono, Junichi, Hirai, Hiroki, Tanaka, Tetsuji, Shimoda, Hiroki, Otsuka, Takuji, Okamura, Kenji, Tabata, Masaaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Prasad, Chandrika
• Application Number:
  US12/867,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20110009014A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,168 Days
• Field of Search: 439877-882, 174/84.C, 174/74.R, 174/94.R
• US Class Current: 439/877
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/11 Resilient sockets carrying separate resilient parts H01R13/15
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/185 combined with a U-shaped insulation-receiving portion
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/188 having an uneven wire-receiving surface to improve the contact
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/62 Connections between conductors of different materials; Connections between or with aluminium or steel-core aluminium conductors H01R4/68 takes precedence

Abstract

A plurality of recesses are formed on a surface of a wire barrel where an electric wire is provided. In a state before the electric wire is crimped onto the wire, barrel, at least one of sides comprising rims of an opening of each recess of a quadrangular shape is a crossing side crossing at an angle of from 85 degrees to 95 degrees to an extending direction. In a state before the electric wire is crimped onto the wire barrel 16, the crossing sides of a plurality of recesses positioned adjacent to each other in the extending direction are so arranged as to overlap with each other in the extending direction.

Claims

1. A terminal connector comprising:

a crimping portion that is crimped onto a conductor exposed at an end of an electric wire so as to surround the exposed conductor, wherein

a plurality of recesses are formed on a surface of the crimping portion where the electric wire is provided, and the recesses are arranged with a distance therebetween in an extending direction in which the electric wire that is crimped onto the crimping portion extends, and in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, the recesses are formed to be arranged in a crossing direction crossing to the extending direction with a distance therebetween,

wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, rims of an opening of each recess form a quadrangular shape and at least one of sides comprising the rims of the opening of each recess is a crossing side that crosses at an angle ranging from 85 degrees to 95 degrees to the extending direction, and

wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, a length of the crossing side is set to be equal to or greater than a distance between the facing terminal ends of the crossing sides of the recesses that are arranged adjacent to each other in the crossing direction, and the crossing sides of the recesses that are arranged adjacent to each other in the extending direction are arranged to overlap with each other in the extending direction so that the crossing sides are present over the entire length of all of the plurality of recesses on the crimping portion in the crossing direction.

2. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein the crossing side is one of the sides comprising the rims of the opening of each recess, the one of the sides being positioned closer to an end side of the electric wire.

3. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein the crossing side is one of the sides comprising the rims of the opening of each recess, the one of the sides being positioned closer to an opposite side from the end side of the electric wire.

4. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein the crossing side is comprised of a first crossing side and a second crossing side, the first crossing side being positioned closer to an end side of the electric wire and the second crossing side being positioned closer to an opposite side from the end side of the electric wire.

5. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, a pitch distance between the recesses in the crossing direction is from 0.1 mm to 0.8 mm.

6. The terminal connector according to claim 5, wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, a distance between the recesses that are arranged adjacent to each other in the crossing direction is between 0.1 mm and half of the pitch distance between the recesses in the crossing direction.

7. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, a pitch distance between the recesses in the extending direction is from 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm.

8. The terminal connector according to claim 7, wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, a distance between the facing rims of the recesses that are arranged adjacent to each other in the extending direction is between 0.1 mm to a value of 0.1 mm less than the pitch distance between the recesses in the extending direction.

9. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein in a state before the crimping portion is crimped onto the electric wire, the rims of the opening of each recess are connected to a bottom surface of each recess by four inclined surfaces that spread from the bottom surface of each recess toward the rims of the opening of each recess, and an angle formed by a crossing inclined surface and a surface of the crimping portion where the electric wire is provided and no recess is formed is from 90 degrees to 110 degrees, the crossing inclined surface being one of the four inclined surfaces and connecting the crossing side and the bottom surface of each recess.

10. The terminal connector according to claim 1, wherein the crossing sides of one recess of the recesses overlap with the crossing sides of another plurality of recesses of the recesses in the extending direction, and the another recesses are positioned adjacent to the one recess in the extending direction and are aligned along the crossing direction.

11. An electric wire with a terminal connector comprising:

an electric wire having a conductor; and

the terminal connector according to claim 1, the terminal connector being crimped onto an end of the electric wire.

12. The electric wire with a terminal connector according to claim 11, wherein the conductor is formed of aluminum or aluminum alloy.

13. The electric wire with a terminal connector according to claim 11, wherein when a compression rate of the conductor that is crimped onto the crimping portion is expressed by a percent of a cross-sectional area of the conductor after being crimped onto the crimping portion with respect to a cross-sectional area of the conductor before being crimped onto the crimping portion, the compression rate is from 40% to 70%.