Title of Invention	"A JOINT TERMINAL, A JOINT CONNECTOR AND A PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR"
Abstract	An object of the present invention is to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production. Since joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and a housing 10 are united by a press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure. Upon bending a coupling portion 21, upper and lower supporting portions26, 27 at the opposite sides of an intermediate portion 28 are bent substantially at right angles while the intermediate portion 28 is held in flush with a carrier 31. Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10.

Title of Invention

"A JOINT TERMINAL, A JOINT CONNECTOR AND A PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR"

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production. Since joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and a housing 10 are united by a press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure. Upon bending a coupling portion 21, upper and lower supporting portions26, 27 at the opposite sides of an intermediate portion 28 are bent substantially at right angles while the intermediate portion 28 is held in flush with a carrier 31. Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10.

Full Text	A Joint Terminal, A Joint Connector and a Production Method therefor The present invention relates to a joint terminal for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings, a joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings and a production method therefor A joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No H09-115612 This joint connector includes a resin-made housing connectable with a mating housing provided with a plurality of terminal fittings, and the housing is provided with a joint terminal having a plurality of connecting portions to be connected with the terminal fittings Upon producing this joint connector, the joint terminal is set in a mold to be united with the housing by insert molding According to the production method by insert molding, there is a possibility that the joint terminal set in the mold is deformed by an injection pressure Particularly, in the case of a smaller joint connector, a joint terminal is thinner and smaller Thus, there is a problem of being easily influenced by the injection pressure Further, in the case of shorting terminal fittings arranged at two upper and lower stages, a U-shaped joint terminal is used Since the U-shaped joint terminal has two plate surfaces substantially at right angles, it is more easily influenced by the injection pressure as compared to flat joint terminals Further, in the case of insert molding, only one product can be produced in one molding process, which leads to a poor production efficiency The present invention was developed in view of the above problems and an object thereof is to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production This object is solved according to the invention by the features of the independent claims Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims According to the invention, there is provided a joint terminal for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two first and second stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S- or snake-shaped or bent coupling portion and can be mounted into a housing of the joint connector by being at least partly pressed or engaged or inserted thereinto Moreover, according to the invention, there is provided a joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two (preferably upper and lower) stages, wherein a joint terminal constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion is mounted into a housing preferably made of a synthetic resin by being pressed thereinto Since the joint terminal and the housing are or can be united by an press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminal is deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure Further, by using a mounting method by the press-in operation, production efficiency can be improved by setting a plurality of housings side by side in an automatic machine and mounting joint terminals into these housing in one step According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while preferably feeding the chained terminals substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier Preferably, during the bending, a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second supporting portions while the intermediate portion is held substantially in flush with the carrier Further preferably, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while feeding the chained terminals in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and during the bending, an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage are bent substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the upper and lower supporting portions while the intermediate portion is held in flush with the carrier As a method for bending the chained terminals into substantially L- or U-or S-shape, a leading section of the chained terminals with respect to feeding direction may be bent twice If this double bending method is applied not to a special press machine, but to an automatic mounting machine for mounting already-produced joint terminals into housings, it is difficult to obtain a high dimensional precision In the present preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second (preferably upper and lower) supporting portions at the substantially opposite sides of the intermediate portion are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion while the intermediate portion is held substantially in flush with the carrier Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to the automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals into the housing Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier Still further preferably, during the bending, at least one tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the first supporting portion and those coupled to the second supporting portion are separated or cut off from the carrier, and after the bending, the tab piece(s) is/are separated or cut off from the intermediate portion Still further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged in parallel with the carrier, during the bending, the tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the upper supporting portion and those coupled to the lower supporting portion are separated or cut off from the carrier, and after the bending, the intermediate portion is cut off from the tab piece Since all the tab pieces are coupled to the carrier before the bending, the deformation of the tab pieces in the feeding process can be avoided Further, since the tab piece is separated or cut off from the intermediate portion requiring no tab piece after the bending, the tab pieces can be arranged at specified intervals and the numbers of the tab pieces at the upper and lower stages can be flexibly dealt with Most preferably, the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral ends or end portions of the carrier, and a part of the carrier forms the intermediate portion with the already-bent coupling portion separated or cut off from the carrier Since the intermediate portion includes a part of the carrier, a material loss is smaller as compared to a case where the entire coupling portion or a major part thereof is formed separately from the carrier According to the invention, there is further provided a joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof are at least partly mounted into a housing of the joint connector by being pressed or engaged or inserted thereinto According to the invention, there is still further provided a production method for joint terminal, in particular according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion and can be mounted into a housing by being at least partly pressed thereinto Furthermore, according to the invention there is provided a production method for joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two upper and lower stages, characterized in that a joint terminal constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion is mounted into a housing (preferably made of a synthetic resin) by being pressed thereinto According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U-shape while feeding the chained terminals preferably substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier Preferably, during the bending, a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second supporting portions with the intermediate portion held substantially in flush with the carrier Further preferably, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S- or snake-shape while feeding the chained terminals in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and during the bending, an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage are bent substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions with the intermediate portion held substantially in flush with the carrier Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier Still further preferably, during the bending, at least one tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the first supporting portion and those coupled to the second supporting portion are separated from the carrier, and after the bending, the tab piece(s) is/are separated from the intermediate portion Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged in parallel with the carrier, during the bending, the tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the upper supporting portion and those coupled to the lower supporting portion are cut off from the carrier, and after the bending, the intermediate portion is cut off from the tab piece Most preferably, the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral ends of the carrier, and the already-bent coupling portion is so separated or cut off from the carrier that at least a part of the carrier is included in the intermediate portion According to the invention, there is further provided a production method for joint connector, in particular according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, wherein one or more joint terminals produced with a method according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, is at least partly mounted into a housing of the joint connector by pressing or fitting or inserting it thereinto These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments FIG 1 is a front view of a joint connector according to a first embodiment, FIG 2(A) is a front view of a housing showing a state before joint terminals are pressed into, FIG 2(B) is a schematic drawing showing the shorted terminal fitting groups, FIG 3 is a vertical section of the joint connector, IG 4 is a vertical section of the housing showing the state before the joint terminals are pressed into, FIG 5 is a section along A-A of FIG 4, FIG 6 is a partial enlarged vertical section of a press-in groove, FIG 7 is a partial enlarged horizontal section of the press-in groove, FIG 8 is a partial enlarged front view of the press-in groove, FIG 9 is a plan view of chained terminals, FIG 10 is a plan view showing a state where a first or second joint terminal is cut off from the chained terminals, FIG 11 is a plan view showing a state where a coupling portion of the third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals, FIG 12 is a front view showing a state where the coupling portion of the third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals, FIG 13 is a front view of the third joint terminal, FIG 14 is a side view of the third joint terminal, FIG 15js a plan view of chained terminals according to a second embodiment, FIG 16 is a plan view showing a state where a coupling portion of a third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals, and FIG 17 is a side view of the third joint terminal Hereinafter, a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS 1 to 14 In the following description of a joint connector, a projecting direction FD of contact portions 23 of tab pieces 22 from a coupling portion 21 is referred to as a forward direction FD, and reference is made to FIGS 1 and 2(A) concerning transverse direction TD The joint connector of this embodiment is constructed such that two or more (e g three first to third) joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are at least partly mounted in a housing 10 made e g of a synthetic resin, and is to be connected with a mating connector (not shown) in which a plurality (e g six) unillustrated terminal fittings are horizontally (transversely) arranged substantially side by side at specified (predetermined or predetermmable) intervals at each of one or more (e g two upper and lower) stages When the joint connector is connected with the mating connector, the e g twelve terminal fittings are shorted in a specified (predetermined or predetermmable) pattern in one or more, e g three separate groups by the one or more, e g three joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c Specifically as shown in Fig 2(B), four terminal fittings arranged at the left side of the upper stage are shorted by the first joint terminal 20a (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a first terminal fitting group 1TFG, four terminal fittings arranged at the left side of the lower stage are shorted by the second joint terminal 20b (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a second terminal fitting group 2TFG, and two terminal fittings at the right side of the upper stage and two terminal fittings at the right side of the lower stage are shorted by the third joint terminal 20c (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a third terminal fitting group 3TFG The housing 10 includes a fitting recess 11 into which the mating connector is at least partly fittable from front, and a press-in groove 12 is formed in the back end surface of the fitting recess 11 The press-in groove 12 is comprised of a first (upper) groove 13 preferably in the form of a substantially horizontal slit, a second (lower) groove 14 likewise preferably in the form of a substantially horizontal slit, and a third (vertical) groove 15 (as a preferred interconnecting groove for interconnecting two or more stages) having the distal (upper and bottom) ends thereof coupled to the right ends of the first (upper) and second (lower) grooves 13, 14 A connection portion between the first (upper) groove 13 and the third (vertical) groove 15 and the one between the second (lower) groove 14 and the third (vertical) groove 15 preferably are substantially arcuate The width (along transverse direction TD) of the third (vertical) groove 15 is set to be larger than the heights (vertical dimension) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14 Slanted guiding surfaces 16 are formed at the opening edges (edges facing the fitting recess 11) of these grooves 13, 14,15 One or more (eg six) narrow holding holes 17 open in the back end surface of each of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14 and extending substantially backward from this back end surface are substantially horizontally formed at specified (predetermined or predetermmable) intervals in the housing 10 The height of the holding holes 17 preferably is substantially equal to those of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the first (upper) groove 13 and those of the holding holes 17, and the lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the second (lower) groove 14 and those of the holding holes 17 preferably are substantially in flush with and continuous with each other The lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the first (upper) groove 13 and the holding holes 17 are formed with narrow and long ribs 18 substantially continuously extending along forward and backward directions (directions substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the holding holes 17 and/or to an inserting direction of the joint terminals 20 into the housing 10 and/or to the forward direction FD) from the front end of the first (upper) groove 13 to the rear ends (back ends) of the holding holes 17 The lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the second (lower) groove 14 and the holding holes 17 are also formed with narrow and long ribs 18 preferably having a substantially semicircular cross section and substantially continuously extending along forward and backward directions (directions substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the holding holes 17 and/or to an inserting direction of the joint terminals 20 into the housing 10 and/or to the forward direction FD) from the front end of the lower groove 14 to the rear ends (back ends) of the holding holes 17 The ribs 18 are narrower than the holding holes 17 and are arranged in an intermediate portion (preferably substantially in the widthwise middles) of the holding holes 17, and the slanted front end surfaces of the ribs 18 are substantially in flush or continuous with the guiding surfaces 16 The first, second and third joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c preferably are all produced by cutting chained terminals 30 at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) positions The chained terminals 30 are such that a multitude of tab pieces 22 project at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles from a (preferably substantially narrow) carrier 31 preferably having a substantially constant width while being arranged at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) intervals All the tab pieces 22 are coupled by the (narrow) coupling portion 21 having a constant width and substantially in parallel with the carrier 31 One tab piece 22 is comprised of the (preferably substantially narrow) contact portion 23 projecting from a lateral edge or edge portion of the coupling portion 21 toward a side (front side) opposite from the carrier 31, and the (preferably substantially narrow) press-in portion 24 extending from the coupling portion 21 toward the carrier 31 (toward a side opposite from the contact portion 23) and coupled to a lateral edge of the carrier 31 The contact portions 23 and the press-in portions 24 are arranged substantially along straight lines and/or in parallel with each other, the width of the contact portions 23 preferably is substantially equal to that of the press-in portions 24, and/or the length thereof preferably is longer than that of the press-in portions 24 One or more locking projections 25 project preferably from the substantially opposite lateral edges of the rear ends (portions coupled to the carrier 31) of the press-in portions 24, and the width and/or thickness of the press-in portions 24 is gradually narrowed from the locking projections 25 toward the back On the other hand, protruding portions 32 project from the lateral edge of the carrier 31 toward the respective press-in portions 24 and are coupled to the rear ends of the press-in portions 24, and the width and/or thickness of projecting ends (portions coupled to the press-in portions 24) of these protruding portions 32 is gradually narrowed toward the press-in portions 24 Such chained terminals 30 are supplied to an automatic mounting machine (not shown) for pressing (mounting) the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10, and intermittently fed in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier 31 While the chained terminals 30 are intermittently fed, the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are cut off from the chained terminals 30 and the third joint terminal 20c is cut off after being bent The respective cut-off joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are mounted into the housing 10 In the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b, the coupling portion 21 and the tab pieces 22 are substantially in flush with each other, i e a substantially continuous piece of a substantially flat plate Upon producing these joint terminals 20a, 20b, the leading ends (rear ends) of e g four press-in portions 24 of the joint terminal 20a, 20b are cut at or near boundaries to the leading ends of the protruding portions 32 such that the cut leading ends of the press-in portions 24 preferably have substantially arcuate or rounded contours, and the coupling portion 21 is cut, whereby the joint terminal 20a, 20b is separated from the carrier 31 (see FIG 10) The cut-off first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are at least partly pressed or fitted or inserted into the press-in groove 12 with the press-in portions 24 faced forward At this time, the four press-in portions 24 of each joint terminal 20a, 20b are individually pressed into the holding holes 17 through the first (upper) groove 13 or the second (lower) groove 14 while plastically at least partly deforming the ribs 18, and the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the first (upper) groove 13 or the second (lower) groove 14 After the press-in operation is completed, the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are located at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) positions by the contact of the rear edges of the coupling portions 21 (leading edges with respect to press-in direction) with the back end surfaces (rear end surfaces) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the locking projections 25 at the rear ends of the press-in portions 24 bite in the substantially opposite lateral (left and right) walls of the holding holes 17, whereby the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are so held as not to come out The plurality of (e g four) contact portions 23 of each joint terminal 20a, 20b are so held as to project forward in the fitting recess 11, thereby being connectable with the terminal fittings Next, the third joint terminal 20c and a production method therefor are described The third joint terminal 20c is such that a plurality of (e g four) tab pieces 22 are coupled by the coupling portion 21 bent into a substantially L- or U-shape, and this coupling portion 21 is comprised of a first (upper) supporting portion 26 in the form of a (preferably substantially horizontal) flat plate substantially corresponding to the first (upper) groove 13 of the press-in groove 12, a second (lower) supporting portion 27 in the form of a (preferably substantially horizontal) flat plate substantially corresponding to the second (lower) groove 14, and a flat intermediate portion 28 substantially corresponding to the third (vertical) groove 15 and having the opposite distal (upper and bottom) ends or end portions coupled to the lateral (right) ends of both first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 Portions coupling the intermediate portion 28 and the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 are substantially rounded or arcuate One or more, (e g two) lateral (left and right) tab pieces 22 are supported on each of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27, but no tab piece 22 is supported on the intermediate portion 28 Next, the production method for the third joint terminal 20c is described First, the coupling portion 21 of the chained terminals 30 is cut at a specified (predetermined or predeterminable) position to obtain a section in which one coupling portion 21 couples a number of (e g five) tab pieces 22 in parallel one after another (five tab pieces 22 project from one coupling portion 21), the number of tab pieces 22 being greater than the actual number of terminal fittings to be shortened by the joint terminal 20c, and the press-in portions 24 of four tab pieces 22 excluding the one in an intermediate portion (preferably in the middle) are so cut off from the protruding portions 32 (carrier 31) as to have substantially arcuate or rounded contours In this way, the third joint terminal 20c is coupled to the carrier 31 only via the press-in portion 24 of the one or more middle tab piece(s) 22 projecting from the intermediate portion 28 It should be understood that the third joint terminal 20c as a preferred intermediate or bridging joint terminal is to be arranged such that it is arranged between two or more different stages comprising terminal fittings to be shortened and spans or bridges over them in a direction at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially normal to the lateral or arrangement direction AD in which the terminal fittings are arranged in each stage Next, the middle tab-piece(s) 22, the protruding portion 32 coupled thereto and the intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 are so pressed from above and below as to be substantially in flush with the carrier 31 by an unillustrated jig, and the upper and lower supporting portions 26, 27 located at the opposite sides of the intermediate portion 28 and the respective (e g four) tab pieces 22 supported thereby are so bent as to be substantially at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 28 (see FIGS 11 and 12) These bent portions are substantially arcuate or round The substantially L- or U-shaped coupling portion 21 is formed by this bending and, thereafter, the contact portion 23 and/or the press-in portion 24 of the middle tab piece(s) 22 projecting from the intermediate portion 28 are cut off preferably substantially along the lateral edges of the intermediate portion 28, with the result that substantially no tab piece 22 projects from the intermediate portion 28 In this way, the third joint terminal 20c preferably is cut off from the carrier 31, thereby completing its production It should be understood that the press-in portion 24 of the intermediate portion 28 may be at least partly left connected to the intermediate portion 28 while separating it from the carrier 31 Moreover, it should be understood that the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 may be bent from the intermediate portion 28 in directions substantially opposite (i e the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 are arranged on different or opposite sides of the intermediate portion when seen e g in the front view) so that the third joint terminal 20c may have substantially a (flat) S-shape, even though it is preferred to bent the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 from the intermediate portion 28 in the substantially same directions (i e the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 are arranged on the same side of the intermediate portion when seen e g in the front view), as in particular the bending step is more easily performed Such a third joint terminal 20c is at least partly pressed or fitted or inserted into the press-in groove 12 with the press-in portions 24 faced forward At this time, one or more (e g two in the embodiment) press-in portions 24 are individually pressed into the holding holes 17 at each of the upper and lower stages through the right side of each of the upper and lower grooves 13, 14 while plastically deforming the ribs 18, and the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the upper and lower grooves 13, 14 After the press-in operation is completed, the third joint terminal 20c is located at a specified (predetermined or predeterminable) position by the contact of the rear edge of the coupling portion 21 (leading edge with respect to press-in direction) with the back end surfaces (rear end surfaces) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the locking projections 25 at the rear ends of the press-in portions 24 bite in the opposite lateral (left and right) walls of the holding holes 17, whereby the third joint terminal 20c is so held as not to come out The plurality of (e g four in the embodiment) contact portions 23 of the third joint terminal 20c are so held as to project forward at two or more (e g two upper and lower) stages in the fitting recess 11, thereby being connectable with the respective one or more terminal fittings provided at these stages The intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the third (vertical) groove 15 of the press-in groove 12, i e in the intermediate groove 15 interconnecting two or more stages (directly neighboring stages or separated stages having additional stages arranged therebetween) Since the width of the third (vertical) groove 15 preferably is larger than the thickness of the intermediate portion 28, there is a clearance between the intermediate portion 28 and the third (vertical) groove 15 A bending error of the coupling portion 21 can be taken up by this clearance Moreover, it should be understood that in case the third joint terminal is to be provided for shorting terminal fittings arranged at two stages being separated by one or more intermediate stages, the intermediate portion 28 has to have a corresponding length so as to span or bridge over the increased distance between the stages containing the terminal fittings to be shortened or connected Furthermore, it should be understood that in case the third joint terminal is to be provided for shorting terminal fittings arranged at three or more stages, the intermediate portion may comprise an intermediate supporting portion (not shown) which carries an appropriate number of tab pieces (i e one or more tab pieces) for shortening or connecting the terminal fittings of the one or more intermediate stages, the intermediate supporting portion being arranged at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially normal to the intermediate portion Such intermediate supporting portion (having the tab piece(s) thereon) may be formed by bending the intermediate portion in a substantially S- or bent or snake shape having two or more windings or by appropriately folding the intermediate portion onto itself, wherein the intermediate portion may itself form at least a part of the intermediate supporting portion As described above, according to this embodiment, the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and the housing 10 are united by the press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding Thus, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure Further, using a mounting method by the press-in operation, production efficiency can be improved by setting a plurality of housings 10 side by side in an automatic machine (not shown) and mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into these housings 10 in one step As a method for producing a joint terminal corresponding to the third joint terminal 20c of this embodiment by bending the chained terminals 30 into substantially U-shape, a leading section of the chained terminals with respect to feeding direction may be bent twice If this double bending method is applied not to a special press machine, but to an automatic mounting machine for mounting already-produced joint terminals into housings, it is difficult to obtain a high dimensional precision According to this embodiment, the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 at the substantially opposite sides of the intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 28 while the intermediate portion 28 preferably is held substantially in flush with the carrier 31 Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals into the housing 10 Since all the tab pieces 2? are coupled to the carrier 31 before the coupling portion 21 of the third joint terminal 20c is bent, the deformation of the tab pieces 22 in the feeding process can be avoided Further, since the tab piece 22 is cut off from the intermediate portion 28 preferably requiring no tab piece 22 after the bending, the tab pieces 22 of the chained terminals 30 can be arranged at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) intervals and the numbers of the tab pieces 22 at the first and second (upper and lower) stages can be flexibly dealt with Accordingly, to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production, since joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and a housing 10 are united by a press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure Upon bending a coupling portion 21, upper and lower supporting portions 26, 27 at the substantially opposite sides of an intermediate portion 28 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles while the intermediate portion 28 is held substantially in flush with a carrier 31 Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10 Next, a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS 15 to 17 The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the shape of chained terminals 50 used to produce a third joint terminal 40 and the production method for the third joint terminal 40 Since the other construction is similar or same as in the first embodiment, no description is given on the structure, functions and effects thereof by identifying it by the same reference numerals The chained terminals 50 of the second embodiment is such that a first (upper) supporting portion 42 and a lower supporting portion 43 of a coupling portion 41 project from the opposite lateral (left and right) edges or edge portions of a carrier 51 at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction LD of the carrier 51 and substantially in flush with the carrier 51, and one or more (e g two in the embodiment) tab pieces 44 project substantially in parallel with the carrier 51 from each of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 In other words, a part of the carrier 51 also serves as an intermediate portion 45 of the coupling portion 41 Upon producing the third joint terminal 40, a part of the carrier 51 corresponding to the intermediate portion 45 is first so held as not to move vertically, and the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 45 in this state (see FIG 16) In this way, the substantially L- or U-shaped coupling portion 41 is formed Thereafter, the carrier 51 is cut substantially along or near the opposite lateral edges of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 to cut the third joint terminal 40 off from the chained terminals 50 (see FIG 17) In the second embodiment, the chained terminals 50 are such that the coupling portions 41 extend from the opposite lateral edges or edge portions of the carrier 51 and a part of the carrier 51 forms the intermediate portion 45 with the already-bent coupling portion 41 cut off from the carrier 51 Since the intermediate portion 45 preferably includes the part of the carrier 51, a material loss is smaller as compared to a case where the entire coupling portion is formed separately from the carrier The present invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiments For example, the following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of the present invention as defined by the claims Beside the following embodiments, various changes can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the claims (1) Although two tab pieces are provided at each of the first and second (upper and lower) stages in the third joint terminal of the foregoing embodiments, one, three or more tab pieces may be provided at both upper and lower stages according to the present invention In case only one tab piece is provided at one stage, the third joint terminal may substantially have an L-shape (2) Although the tab pieces project from the front and rear edges or edge of the coupling portion by crossing the coupling portion in the foregoing embodiments, the tab pieces may project only from the front edge of the coupling portion according to the present invention (3) Although the number of the terminal fittings is twelve in the foregoing embodiments, it may eleven or less or thirteen or more according to the present invention (4) Although the terminal fittings are shorted while being divided into three groups in the foregoing embodiments, such a shorting pattern as to divide the terminal fittings into two, four or more groups may be adopted according to the present invention (5) Although the third joint terminal couples terminal fittings provided on different stages being close to each other in the above embodiments, the third joint terminal may couple terminal fittings provided on different stages separated from each other by further stages In such case, the intermediate portion has a dimension or length which substantially corresponds to the distance separating the stages to be coupled LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS [0044] 10 housing 20c third joint terminal (joint terminal) 21 coupling portion 22 tab piece 26 upper supporting portion 27 lower supporting portion 28 intermediate portion 30 chained terminals 31 carrier 40 joint terminal 41 coupling portion 42 upper supporting portion 43 lower supporting portion 44 tab piece 45 intermediate portion 50 chained terminals 51 carrier We Claims :- 1 A joint terminal (20c, 40) for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two first and second stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion (21, 41) and can be mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being at least partly pressed thereinto 2 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to claim 1, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals (30, 50) that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier (31, 51) into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while preferably feeding the chained terminals (30, 50) substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction (LD) of the carrier (50) 3 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein during the bending, a first supporting portion (26, 42) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27, 43) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion (28, 45) of the coupling portion (21, 41) between the first and second supporting portions (26, 27, 42, 43) while the intermediate portion (28, 45) is held substantially in flush with the carrier (31, 51) 4 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the chained terminals (30) are such that the tab pieces (22) extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier (31) and the coupling portion (21) is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier (31) 5 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to claim 4, wherein during the bending, at least one tab piece (22) coupled to an intermediate portion (28) of the coupling portion (21) between a first supporting portion (26) supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27) supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the second stage is left coupled to the carrier (31), and the tab pieces (22) coupled to the first supporting portion (26) and those coupled to the second supporting portion (27) are separated from the carrier (31), and after the bending, the tab piece(s) (44) is/are separated from the intermediate portion (45) 6 A joint terminal according to one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral end portions of the carrier, and a part of the carrier forms the intermediate portion with the already-bent coupling portion separated from the carrier 7 A joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals (20c, 40) according to one or more of the preceding claims are at least partly mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being pressed thereinto 8 A production method for joint terminal (20c, 40) for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion (21, 41) and can be mounted into a housing (10) by being at least partly pressed thereinto 9 A production method according to claim 8, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals (30, 50) that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier (31, 51) into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while feeding the chained terminals (30, 50) preferably substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction (LD) of the carrier (31, 51) 10 A production method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein during the bending, a first supporting portion (26, 42) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27, 43) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion (28, 45) of the coupling portion (21, 41) between the first and second supporting portions (26, 27, 42, 43) with the intermediate portion (28, 45) held substantially in flush with the carrier (31, 51) 11 A production method according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the chained terminals (30) are such that the tab pieces (22) extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier (31) and the coupling portion (21) is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier (31) 12 A production method according to claim 11, wherein during the bending, at least one tab piece (22) coupled to an intermediate portion (28) of the coupling portion (21) between a first supporting portion (26) supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27) supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the second stage is left coupled to the carrier (31), and the tab pieces (22) coupled to the first supporting portion (26) and those coupled to the second supporting portion (27) are separated from the carrier (31), and after the bending, the the tab piece(s) (44) is/are separated from the intermediate portion (45) 13 A production method according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral end portions of the carrier, and the aiready-bent coupling portion is so separated from the carrier that a part of the carrier is included in the intermediate portion 14 A production method for joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals (20c, 40) produced with a method according to one or more of the preceding claims 8 to 13 is at least partly mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being pressed thereinto 15 A joint terminal substantially as hereinbefore descnbed with reference to the accompanying drawings 16 A joint connector substantially as hereinbefore descnbed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Full Text

A Joint Terminal, A Joint Connector and a Production Method therefor
The present invention relates to a joint terminal for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings, a joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings and a production method therefor
A joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No H09-115612 This joint connector includes a resin-made housing connectable with a mating housing provided with a plurality of terminal fittings, and the housing is provided with a joint terminal having a plurality of connecting portions to be connected with the terminal fittings Upon producing this joint connector, the joint terminal is set in a mold to be united with the housing by insert molding
According to the production method by insert molding, there is a possibility that the joint terminal set in the mold is deformed by an injection pressure Particularly, in the case of a smaller joint connector, a joint terminal is thinner and smaller Thus, there is a problem of being easily influenced by the injection pressure Further, in the case of shorting terminal fittings arranged at two upper and lower stages, a U-shaped joint terminal is used Since the U-shaped joint terminal has two plate surfaces substantially at right angles, it is more easily influenced by the injection pressure as compared to flat joint
terminals Further, in the case of insert molding, only one product can be produced in one molding process, which leads to a poor production efficiency
The present invention was developed in view of the above problems and an object thereof is to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production
This object is solved according to the invention by the features of the independent claims Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims
According to the invention, there is provided a joint terminal for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two first and second stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S- or snake-shaped or bent coupling portion and can be mounted into a housing of the joint connector by being at least partly pressed or engaged or inserted thereinto
Moreover, according to the invention, there is provided a joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two (preferably upper and lower) stages, wherein a joint terminal constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion is mounted into a housing preferably made of a synthetic resin by being pressed thereinto
Since the joint terminal and the housing are or can be united by an press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminal is deformed by being influenced by an injection
pressure Further, by using a mounting method by the press-in operation, production efficiency can be improved by setting a plurality of housings side by side in an automatic machine and mounting joint terminals into these housing in one step
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while preferably feeding the chained terminals substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier
Preferably, during the bending, a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second supporting portions while the intermediate portion is held substantially in flush with the carrier
Further preferably, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while feeding the chained terminals in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and
during the bending, an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage are bent substantially at right angles to an
intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the upper and lower supporting portions while the intermediate portion is held in flush with the carrier
As a method for bending the chained terminals into substantially L- or U-or S-shape, a leading section of the chained terminals with respect to feeding direction may be bent twice If this double bending method is applied not to a special press machine, but to an automatic mounting machine for mounting already-produced joint terminals into housings, it is difficult to obtain a high dimensional precision In the present preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second (preferably upper and lower) supporting portions at the substantially opposite sides of the intermediate portion are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion while the intermediate portion is held substantially in flush with the carrier Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to the automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals into the housing
Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier
Still further preferably, during the bending, at least one tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage is left
coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the first supporting portion and those coupled to the second supporting portion are separated or cut off from the carrier, and
after the bending, the tab piece(s) is/are separated or cut off from the intermediate portion
Still further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged in parallel with the carrier,
during the bending, the tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the upper supporting portion and those coupled to the lower supporting portion are separated or cut off from the carrier, and
after the bending, the intermediate portion is cut off from the tab piece
Since all the tab pieces are coupled to the carrier before the bending, the deformation of the tab pieces in the feeding process can be avoided Further, since the tab piece is separated or cut off from the intermediate portion requiring no tab piece after the bending, the tab pieces can be arranged at specified intervals and the numbers of the tab pieces at the upper and lower stages can be flexibly dealt with
Most preferably, the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral ends or end portions of the carrier, and a part
of the carrier forms the intermediate portion with the already-bent coupling portion separated or cut off from the carrier
Since the intermediate portion includes a part of the carrier, a material loss is smaller as compared to a case where the entire coupling portion or a major part thereof is formed separately from the carrier
According to the invention, there is further provided a joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof are at least partly mounted into a housing of the joint connector by being pressed or engaged or inserted thereinto
According to the invention, there is still further provided a production method for joint terminal, in particular according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion and can be mounted into a housing by being at least partly pressed thereinto
Furthermore, according to the invention there is provided a production method for joint connector for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two upper and lower stages, characterized in that a joint terminal constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped
coupling portion is mounted into a housing (preferably made of a synthetic resin) by being pressed thereinto
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U-shape while feeding the chained terminals preferably substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier
Preferably, during the bending, a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second supporting portions with the intermediate portion held substantially in flush with the carrier
Further preferably, the joint terminal is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals that a plurality of tab pieces are supported by a narrow and long carrier into substantially L- or U- or S- or snake-shape while feeding the chained terminals in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and during the bending, an upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage are bent substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions with the intermediate portion held substantially in flush with the carrier
Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier
Still further preferably, during the bending, at least one tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between a first supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the first stage and a second supporting portion supporting one or more tab pieces at the second stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the first supporting portion and those coupled to the second supporting portion are separated from the carrier, and
after the bending, the tab piece(s) is/are separated from the intermediate portion
Further preferably, the chained terminals are such that the tab pieces extend from a lateral edge of the carrier and the coupling portion is arranged in parallel with the carrier,
during the bending, the tab piece coupled to an intermediate portion of the coupling portion between upper supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the upper stage and a lower supporting portion supporting the tab pieces at the lower stage is left coupled to the carrier, and the tab pieces coupled to the upper supporting portion and those coupled to the lower supporting portion are cut off from the carrier, and
after the bending, the intermediate portion is cut off from the tab piece
Most preferably, the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral ends of the carrier, and the already-bent coupling portion is so separated or cut off from the carrier that at least a part of the carrier is included in the intermediate portion
According to the invention, there is further provided a production method for joint connector, in particular according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, wherein one or more joint terminals produced with a method according to the invention or a preferred embodiment thereof, is at least partly mounted into a housing of the joint connector by pressing or fitting or inserting it thereinto
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments
FIG 1 is a front view of a joint connector according to a first embodiment,
FIG 2(A) is a front view of a housing showing a state before joint terminals are pressed into,
FIG 2(B) is a schematic drawing showing the shorted terminal fitting groups,
FIG 3 is a vertical section of the joint connector,
IG 4 is a vertical section of the housing showing the state before the joint terminals are pressed into,
FIG 5 is a section along A-A of FIG 4,
FIG 6 is a partial enlarged vertical section of a press-in groove,
FIG 7 is a partial enlarged horizontal section of the press-in groove,
FIG 8 is a partial enlarged front view of the press-in groove,
FIG 9 is a plan view of chained terminals,
FIG 10 is a plan view showing a state where a first or second joint terminal is cut off from the chained terminals,
FIG 11 is a plan view showing a state where a coupling portion of the third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals,
FIG 12 is a front view showing a state where the coupling portion of the third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals,
FIG 13 is a front view of the third joint terminal,
FIG 14 is a side view of the third joint terminal,
FIG 15js a plan view of chained terminals according to a second embodiment,
FIG 16 is a plan view showing a state where a coupling portion of a third joint terminal is bent in the chained terminals, and
FIG 17 is a side view of the third joint terminal Hereinafter, a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS 1 to 14 In the following description of a joint
connector, a projecting direction FD of contact portions 23 of tab pieces 22 from a coupling portion 21 is referred to as a forward direction FD, and reference is made to FIGS 1 and 2(A) concerning transverse direction TD
The joint connector of this embodiment is constructed such that two or more (e g three first to third) joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are at least partly mounted in a housing 10 made e g of a synthetic resin, and is to be connected with a mating connector (not shown) in which a plurality (e g six) unillustrated terminal fittings are horizontally (transversely) arranged substantially side by side at specified (predetermined or predetermmable) intervals at each of one or more (e g two upper and lower) stages When the joint connector is connected with the mating connector, the e g twelve terminal fittings are shorted in a specified (predetermined or predetermmable) pattern in one or more, e g three separate groups by the one or more, e g three joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c Specifically as shown in Fig 2(B), four terminal fittings arranged at the left side of the upper stage are shorted by the first joint terminal 20a (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a first terminal fitting group 1TFG, four terminal fittings arranged at the left side of the lower stage are shorted by the second joint terminal 20b (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a second terminal fitting group 2TFG, and two terminal fittings at the right side of the upper stage and two terminal fittings at the right side of the lower stage are shorted by the third joint terminal 20c (schematically shown in FIG 2(B)) to form a third terminal fitting group 3TFG
The housing 10 includes a fitting recess 11 into which the mating connector is at least partly fittable from front, and a press-in groove 12 is formed in the back end surface of the fitting recess 11 The press-in groove 12 is comprised of a first (upper) groove 13 preferably in the form of a substantially horizontal slit, a second (lower) groove 14 likewise preferably in the form of a substantially horizontal slit, and a third (vertical) groove 15 (as a preferred interconnecting groove for interconnecting two or more stages) having the distal (upper and bottom) ends thereof coupled to the right ends of the first (upper) and second (lower) grooves 13, 14 A connection portion between the first (upper) groove 13 and the third (vertical) groove 15 and the one between the second (lower) groove 14 and the third (vertical) groove 15 preferably are substantially arcuate The width (along transverse direction TD) of the third (vertical) groove 15 is set to be larger than the heights (vertical dimension) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14 Slanted guiding surfaces 16 are formed at the opening edges (edges facing the fitting recess 11) of these grooves 13, 14,15
One or more (eg six) narrow holding holes 17 open in the back end surface of each of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14 and extending substantially backward from this back end surface are substantially horizontally formed at specified (predetermined or predetermmable) intervals in the housing 10 The height of the holding holes 17 preferably is substantially equal to those of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the first (upper) groove 13 and those of
the holding holes 17, and the lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the second (lower) groove 14 and those of the holding holes 17 preferably are substantially in flush with and continuous with each other The lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the first (upper) groove 13 and the holding holes 17 are formed with narrow and long ribs 18 substantially continuously extending along forward and backward directions (directions substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the holding holes 17 and/or to an inserting direction of the joint terminals 20 into the housing 10 and/or to the forward direction FD) from the front end of the first (upper) groove 13 to the rear ends (back ends) of the holding holes 17 The lateral (upper and lower) surfaces of the second (lower) groove 14 and the holding holes 17 are also formed with narrow and long ribs 18 preferably having a substantially semicircular cross section and substantially continuously extending along forward and backward directions (directions substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the holding holes 17 and/or to an inserting direction of the joint terminals 20 into the housing 10 and/or to the forward direction FD) from the front end of the lower groove 14 to the rear ends (back ends) of the holding holes 17 The ribs 18 are narrower than the holding holes 17 and are arranged in an intermediate portion (preferably substantially in the widthwise middles) of the holding holes 17, and the slanted front end surfaces of the ribs 18 are substantially in flush or continuous with the guiding surfaces 16
The first, second and third joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c preferably are all produced by cutting chained terminals 30 at specified (predetermined or
predeterminable) positions The chained terminals 30 are such that a multitude of tab pieces 22 project at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles from a (preferably substantially narrow) carrier 31 preferably having a substantially constant width while being arranged at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) intervals All the tab pieces 22 are coupled by the (narrow) coupling portion 21 having a constant width and substantially in parallel with the carrier 31 One tab piece 22 is comprised of the (preferably substantially narrow) contact portion 23 projecting from a lateral edge or edge portion of the coupling portion 21 toward a side (front side) opposite from the carrier 31, and the (preferably substantially narrow) press-in portion 24 extending from the coupling portion 21 toward the carrier 31 (toward a side opposite from the contact portion 23) and coupled to a lateral edge of the carrier 31 The contact portions 23 and the press-in portions 24 are arranged substantially along straight lines and/or in parallel with each other, the width of the contact portions 23 preferably is substantially equal to that of the press-in portions 24, and/or the length thereof preferably is longer than that of the press-in portions 24 One or more locking projections 25 project preferably from the substantially opposite lateral edges of the rear ends (portions coupled to the carrier 31) of the press-in portions 24, and the width and/or thickness of the press-in portions 24 is gradually narrowed from the locking projections 25 toward the back On the other hand, protruding portions 32 project from the lateral edge of the carrier 31 toward the respective press-in portions 24 and are coupled to the rear ends of the press-in portions 24, and the width and/or
thickness of projecting ends (portions coupled to the press-in portions 24) of these protruding portions 32 is gradually narrowed toward the press-in portions 24
Such chained terminals 30 are supplied to an automatic mounting machine (not shown) for pressing (mounting) the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10, and intermittently fed in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier 31 While the chained terminals 30 are intermittently fed, the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are cut off from the chained terminals 30 and the third joint terminal 20c is cut off after being bent The respective cut-off joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are mounted into the housing 10
In the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b, the coupling portion 21 and the tab pieces 22 are substantially in flush with each other, i e a substantially continuous piece of a substantially flat plate Upon producing these joint terminals 20a, 20b, the leading ends (rear ends) of e g four press-in portions 24 of the joint terminal 20a, 20b are cut at or near boundaries to the leading ends of the protruding portions 32 such that the cut leading ends of the press-in portions 24 preferably have substantially arcuate or rounded contours, and the coupling portion 21 is cut, whereby the joint terminal 20a, 20b is separated from the carrier 31 (see FIG 10)
The cut-off first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are at least partly pressed or fitted or inserted into the press-in groove 12 with the press-in portions 24 faced forward At this time, the four press-in portions 24 of each
joint terminal 20a, 20b are individually pressed into the holding holes 17 through the first (upper) groove 13 or the second (lower) groove 14 while plastically at least partly deforming the ribs 18, and the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the first (upper) groove 13 or the second (lower) groove 14 After the press-in operation is completed, the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are located at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) positions by the contact of the rear edges of the coupling portions 21 (leading edges with respect to press-in direction) with the back end surfaces (rear end surfaces) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the locking projections 25 at the rear ends of the press-in portions 24 bite in the substantially opposite lateral (left and right) walls of the holding holes 17, whereby the first and second joint terminals 20a, 20b are so held as not to come out The plurality of (e g four) contact portions 23 of each joint terminal 20a, 20b are so held as to project forward in the fitting recess 11, thereby being connectable with the terminal fittings
Next, the third joint terminal 20c and a production method therefor are described
The third joint terminal 20c is such that a plurality of (e g four) tab pieces 22 are coupled by the coupling portion 21 bent into a substantially L- or U-shape, and this coupling portion 21 is comprised of a first (upper) supporting portion 26 in the form of a (preferably substantially horizontal) flat plate substantially corresponding to the first (upper) groove 13 of the press-in groove 12, a second (lower) supporting portion 27 in the form of a (preferably
substantially horizontal) flat plate substantially corresponding to the second (lower) groove 14, and a flat intermediate portion 28 substantially corresponding to the third (vertical) groove 15 and having the opposite distal (upper and bottom) ends or end portions coupled to the lateral (right) ends of both first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 Portions coupling the intermediate portion 28 and the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 are substantially rounded or arcuate One or more, (e g two) lateral (left and right) tab pieces 22 are supported on each of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27, but no tab piece 22 is supported on the intermediate portion 28
Next, the production method for the third joint terminal 20c is described First, the coupling portion 21 of the chained terminals 30 is cut at a specified (predetermined or predeterminable) position to obtain a section in which one coupling portion 21 couples a number of (e g five) tab pieces 22 in parallel one after another (five tab pieces 22 project from one coupling portion 21), the number of tab pieces 22 being greater than the actual number of terminal fittings to be shortened by the joint terminal 20c, and the press-in portions 24 of four tab pieces 22 excluding the one in an intermediate portion (preferably in the middle) are so cut off from the protruding portions 32 (carrier 31) as to have substantially arcuate or rounded contours In this way, the third joint terminal 20c is coupled to the carrier 31 only via the press-in portion 24 of the one or more middle tab piece(s) 22 projecting from the intermediate portion 28 It should be understood that the third joint terminal 20c as a preferred

intermediate or bridging joint terminal is to be arranged such that it is arranged between two or more different stages comprising terminal fittings to be shortened and spans or bridges over them in a direction at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially normal to the lateral or arrangement direction AD in which the terminal fittings are arranged in each stage
Next, the middle tab-piece(s) 22, the protruding portion 32 coupled thereto and the intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 are so pressed from above and below as to be substantially in flush with the carrier 31 by an unillustrated jig, and the upper and lower supporting portions 26, 27 located at the opposite sides of the intermediate portion 28 and the respective (e g four) tab pieces 22 supported thereby are so bent as to be substantially at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 28 (see FIGS 11 and 12) These bent portions are substantially arcuate or round The substantially L- or U-shaped coupling portion 21 is formed by this bending and, thereafter, the contact portion 23 and/or the press-in portion 24 of the middle tab piece(s) 22 projecting from the intermediate portion 28 are cut off preferably substantially along the lateral edges of the intermediate portion 28, with the result that substantially no tab piece 22 projects from the intermediate portion 28 In this way, the third joint terminal 20c preferably is cut off from the carrier 31, thereby completing its production It should be understood that the press-in portion 24 of the intermediate portion 28 may be at least partly left connected to the intermediate portion 28 while separating it from the carrier 31 Moreover, it should be
understood that the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 may be bent from the intermediate portion 28 in directions substantially opposite (i e the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 are arranged on different or opposite sides of the intermediate portion when seen e g in the front view) so that the third joint terminal 20c may have substantially a (flat) S-shape, even though it is preferred to bent the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 from the intermediate portion 28 in the substantially same directions (i e the first and second supporting portions 26, 27 are arranged on the same side of the intermediate portion when seen e g in the front view), as in particular the bending step is more easily performed
Such a third joint terminal 20c is at least partly pressed or fitted or inserted into the press-in groove 12 with the press-in portions 24 faced forward At this time, one or more (e g two in the embodiment) press-in portions 24 are individually pressed into the holding holes 17 at each of the upper and lower stages through the right side of each of the upper and lower grooves 13, 14 while plastically deforming the ribs 18, and the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the upper and lower grooves 13, 14 After the press-in operation is completed, the third joint terminal 20c is located at a specified (predetermined or predeterminable) position by the contact of the rear edge of the coupling portion 21 (leading edge with respect to press-in direction) with the back end surfaces (rear end surfaces) of the first and second (upper and lower) grooves 13, 14, and the locking projections 25 at the rear ends of the press-in portions 24 bite in the opposite lateral (left and right) walls of the holding holes
17, whereby the third joint terminal 20c is so held as not to come out The plurality of (e g four in the embodiment) contact portions 23 of the third joint terminal 20c are so held as to project forward at two or more (e g two upper and lower) stages in the fitting recess 11, thereby being connectable with the respective one or more terminal fittings provided at these stages The intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 is accommodated in the third (vertical) groove 15 of the press-in groove 12, i e in the intermediate groove 15 interconnecting two or more stages (directly neighboring stages or separated stages having additional stages arranged therebetween) Since the width of the third (vertical) groove 15 preferably is larger than the thickness of the intermediate portion 28, there is a clearance between the intermediate portion 28 and the third (vertical) groove 15 A bending error of the coupling portion 21 can be taken up by this clearance
Moreover, it should be understood that in case the third joint terminal is to be provided for shorting terminal fittings arranged at two stages being separated by one or more intermediate stages, the intermediate portion 28 has to have a corresponding length so as to span or bridge over the increased distance between the stages containing the terminal fittings to be shortened or connected Furthermore, it should be understood that in case the third joint terminal is to be provided for shorting terminal fittings arranged at three or more stages, the intermediate portion may comprise an intermediate supporting portion (not shown) which carries an appropriate number of tab pieces (i e one or more tab pieces) for shortening or connecting the terminal fittings of the one
or more intermediate stages, the intermediate supporting portion being arranged at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially normal to the intermediate portion Such intermediate supporting portion (having the tab piece(s) thereon) may be formed by bending the intermediate portion in a substantially S- or bent or snake shape having two or more windings or by appropriately folding the intermediate portion onto itself, wherein the intermediate portion may itself form at least a part of the intermediate supporting portion
As described above, according to this embodiment, the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and the housing 10 are united by the press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding Thus, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure
Further, using a mounting method by the press-in operation, production efficiency can be improved by setting a plurality of housings 10 side by side in an automatic machine (not shown) and mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into these housings 10 in one step
As a method for producing a joint terminal corresponding to the third joint terminal 20c of this embodiment by bending the chained terminals 30 into substantially U-shape, a leading section of the chained terminals with respect to feeding direction may be bent twice If this double bending method is applied not to a special press machine, but to an automatic mounting machine for mounting already-produced joint terminals into housings, it is difficult to obtain a
high dimensional precision According to this embodiment, the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 26, 27 at the substantially opposite sides of the intermediate portion 28 of the coupling portion 21 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 28 while the intermediate portion 28 preferably is held substantially in flush with the carrier 31 Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals into the housing 10
Since all the tab pieces 2? are coupled to the carrier 31 before the coupling portion 21 of the third joint terminal 20c is bent, the deformation of the tab pieces 22 in the feeding process can be avoided Further, since the tab piece 22 is cut off from the intermediate portion 28 preferably requiring no tab piece 22 after the bending, the tab pieces 22 of the chained terminals 30 can be arranged at specified (predetermined or predeterminable) intervals and the numbers of the tab pieces 22 at the first and second (upper and lower) stages can be flexibly dealt with
Accordingly, to avoid the deformation of a joint terminal upon production, since joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c and a housing 10 are united by a press-in operation instead of being united by insert molding, there is no likelihood that the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c are deformed by being influenced by an injection pressure Upon bending a coupling portion 21, upper and lower supporting portions 26, 27 at the substantially opposite sides of an intermediate portion 28 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably
substantially at right angles while the intermediate portion 28 is held substantially in flush with a carrier 31 Thus, a high dimensional precision can be obtained even in the case of an application to an automatic mounting machine for mounting the joint terminals 20a, 20b, 20c into the housing 10 Next, a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS 15 to 17 The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the shape of chained terminals 50 used to produce a third joint terminal 40 and the production method for the third joint terminal 40 Since the other construction is similar or same as in the first embodiment, no description is given on the structure, functions and effects thereof by identifying it by the same reference numerals
The chained terminals 50 of the second embodiment is such that a first (upper) supporting portion 42 and a lower supporting portion 43 of a coupling portion 41 project from the opposite lateral (left and right) edges or edge portions of a carrier 51 at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction LD of the carrier 51 and substantially in flush with the carrier 51, and one or more (e g two in the embodiment) tab pieces 44 project substantially in parallel with the carrier 51 from each of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 In other words, a part of the carrier 51 also serves as an intermediate portion 45 of the coupling portion 41
Upon producing the third joint terminal 40, a part of the carrier 51 corresponding to the intermediate portion 45 is first so held as not to move vertically, and the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to the intermediate portion 45 in this state (see FIG 16) In this way, the substantially L- or U-shaped coupling portion 41 is formed Thereafter, the carrier 51 is cut substantially along or near the opposite lateral edges of the first and second (upper and lower) supporting portions 42, 43 to cut the third joint terminal 40 off from the chained terminals 50 (see FIG 17)
In the second embodiment, the chained terminals 50 are such that the coupling portions 41 extend from the opposite lateral edges or edge portions of the carrier 51 and a part of the carrier 51 forms the intermediate portion 45 with the already-bent coupling portion 41 cut off from the carrier 51 Since the intermediate portion 45 preferably includes the part of the carrier 51, a material loss is smaller as compared to a case where the entire coupling portion is formed separately from the carrier The present invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiments For example, the following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of the present invention as defined by the claims Beside the following embodiments, various changes can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the claims
(1) Although two tab pieces are provided at each of the first and second (upper and lower) stages in the third joint terminal of the foregoing embodiments, one, three or more tab pieces may be provided at both upper and lower stages according to the present invention In case only one tab piece is provided at one stage, the third joint terminal may substantially have an L-shape
(2) Although the tab pieces project from the front and rear edges or edge of the coupling portion by crossing the coupling portion in the foregoing embodiments, the tab pieces may project only from the front edge of the coupling portion according to the present invention
(3) Although the number of the terminal fittings is twelve in the foregoing embodiments, it may eleven or less or thirteen or more according to the present invention
(4) Although the terminal fittings are shorted while being divided into three groups in the foregoing embodiments, such a shorting pattern as to divide the terminal fittings into two, four or more groups may be adopted according to the present invention
(5) Although the third joint terminal couples terminal fittings provided on different stages being close to each other in the above embodiments, the third joint terminal may couple terminal fittings provided on different stages separated from each other by further stages In such case, the intermediate portion has a dimension or length which substantially corresponds to the distance separating the stages to be coupled
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS [0044]
10 housing
20c third joint terminal (joint terminal)
21 coupling portion
22 tab piece

26 upper supporting portion
27 lower supporting portion
28 intermediate portion

30 chained terminals
31 carrier

40 joint terminal
41 coupling portion
42 upper supporting portion
43 lower supporting portion
44 tab piece
45 intermediate portion

50 chained terminals
51 carrier

We Claims :-
1 A joint terminal (20c, 40) for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two first and second stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion (21, 41) and can be mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being at least partly pressed thereinto
2 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to claim 1, wherein
the joint terminal (20c, 40) is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals (30, 50) that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier (31, 51) into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while preferably feeding the chained terminals (30, 50) substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction (LD) of the carrier (50)
3 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to one or more of the
preceding claims, wherein during the bending, a first supporting portion (26, 42)
supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the first stage and a second
supporting portion (27, 43) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the
second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably
substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion (28, 45) of the coupling
portion (21, 41) between the first and second supporting portions (26, 27, 42,
43) while the intermediate portion (28, 45) is held substantially in flush with the
carrier (31, 51)
4 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to one or more of the
preceding claims, wherein
the chained terminals (30) are such that the tab pieces (22) extend from a lateral edge portion of the carrier (31) and the coupling portion (21) is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier (31)
5 A joint terminal (20c, 40) according to claim 4, wherein during the
bending, at least one tab piece (22) coupled to an intermediate portion (28) of
the coupling portion (21) between a first supporting portion (26) supporting one
or more tab pieces (22) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27)
supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the second stage is left coupled to
the carrier (31), and the tab pieces (22) coupled to the first supporting portion
(26) and those coupled to the second supporting portion (27) are separated
from the carrier (31), and
after the bending, the tab piece(s) (44) is/are separated from the intermediate portion (45)
6 A joint terminal according to one or more of the preceding claims 1 to 3, wherein the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral end portions of the carrier, and a part of the carrier forms the intermediate portion with the already-bent coupling portion separated from the carrier
7 A joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals (20c, 40) according to one or more of the preceding claims are at least partly mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being pressed thereinto
8 A production method for joint terminal (20c, 40) for shorting a plurality of terminal fittings arranged at two stages of a joint connector, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is constructed such that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) which can be brought into contact with the plurality of terminal fittings are coupled by a substantially L- or U- or S-shaped coupling portion (21, 41) and can be mounted into a housing (10) by being at least partly pressed thereinto
9 A production method according to claim 8, wherein the joint terminal (20c, 40) is obtained by bending a part of such chained terminals (30, 50) that a plurality of tab pieces (22, 44) are supported by a preferably narrow and long carrier (31, 51) into substantially L- or U- or S-shape while feeding the chained terminals (30, 50) preferably substantially in parallel with the longitudinal direction (LD) of the carrier (31, 51)
10 A production method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein during the bending, a first supporting portion (26, 42) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27, 43) supporting one or more tab pieces (22, 44) at the second stage are bent at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion (28, 45) of the coupling portion (21, 41) between the first and second supporting portions (26, 27, 42, 43) with the intermediate portion (28, 45) held substantially in flush with the carrier (31, 51)
11 A production method according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the chained terminals (30) are such that the tab pieces (22) extend from a lateral
edge portion of the carrier (31) and the coupling portion (21) is arranged substantially in parallel with the carrier (31)
12 A production method according to claim 11, wherein during the
bending, at least one tab piece (22) coupled to an intermediate portion (28) of
the coupling portion (21) between a first supporting portion (26) supporting one
or more tab pieces (22) at the first stage and a second supporting portion (27)
supporting one or more tab pieces (22) at the second stage is left coupled to
the carrier (31), and the tab pieces (22) coupled to the first supporting portion
(26) and those coupled to the second supporting portion (27) are separated
from the carrier (31), and
after the bending, the the tab piece(s) (44) is/are separated from the intermediate portion (45)
13 A production method according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein the chained terminals are such that the coupling portion extends from the opposite lateral end portions of the carrier, and the aiready-bent coupling portion is so separated from the carrier that a part of the carrier is included in the intermediate portion
14 A production method for joint connector wherein one or more joint terminals (20c, 40) produced with a method according to one or more of the preceding claims 8 to 13 is at least partly mounted into a housing (10) of the joint connector by being pressed thereinto
15 A joint terminal substantially as hereinbefore descnbed with reference to the accompanying drawings
16 A joint connector substantially as hereinbefore descnbed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

http://ipindiaonline.gov.in/patentsearch/GrantedSearch/viewdoc.aspx?id=+cbrEvhNCXdadpTvqaOVlA==&loc=+mN2fYxnTC4l0fUd8W4CAA==

« Previous Patent

Next Patent »

Patent Number

270900

Indian Patent Application Number

1967/DEL/2004

PG Journal Number

05/2016

Publication Date

29-Jan-2016

Grant Date

27-Jan-2016

Date of Filing

11-Oct-2004

Name of Patentee

SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.

Applicant Address

1-14 NISHISUEHIRO-CHO, YOKKAICHI-CITY, MIE 510-8503, JAPAN.

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	MASAYASU FUJII	C/O SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD., OF 1-14 NISHISUEHIRO-CHO, YOKKAICHI-CITY, MIE 510-8503, JAPAN.
2	TOSHIKAZU SAKURAI	C/O SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD., OF 1-14 NISHISUEHIRO-CHO, YOKKAICHI-CITY, MIE 510-8503, JAPAN.

PCT International Classification Number

H04B1/40

PCT International Application Number

N/A

PCT International Filing date

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1	2003-352480	2003-10-10	Japan