CONNECTOR DEVICE AND WIRE HARNESS MANUFACTURING METHOD

Abstract

A connector device includes a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a terminal configured to be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, an electric wire configured to be connected to the terminal, a corrosion-proof material to be disposed at a position facing the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber and a corrosion-proof target portion of the electric wire, and a corrosion-proof material support portion retaining the corrosion-proof material above the connector housing such that the corrosion-proof material can be moved toward the corrosion-proof target portion. A melting point of the corrosion-proof material is set to be lower than a melting point of a material forming the connector housing, and the corrosion-proof material is configured to be melted and then cured while covering the corrosion-proof target portion.

Claims

1. A connector device comprising: a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber; a terminal configured to be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber; an electric wire configured to be connected to the terminal; a corrosion-proof material to be disposed at a position facing the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber and a corrosion-proof target portion of the electric wire; and a corrosion-proof material support portion retaining the corrosion-proof material above the connector housing such that the corrosion-proof material can be moved toward the corrosion-proof target portion, wherein a melting point of the corrosion-proof material is set to be lower than a melting point of a material forming the connector housing, and the corrosion-proof material is configured to be melted and then cured while covering the corrosion-proof target portion.

2. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the corrosion-proof material is melted after the corrosion-proof material moves to a position close to the corrosion-proof target portion while being retained by the corrosion-proof material support portion.

3. The connector device according to claim 1, further comprising: a cover member configured to be engaged with the connector housing and to cover an opening of the connector housing, the opening being formed at a position corresponding to the terminal accommodating chamber, wherein the opening and the cover member are disposed at positions facing the corrosion-proof target portion, and wherein the corrosion-proof material support portion is provided in the cover member.

4. The connector device according to claim 3, wherein the opening is formed at a position facing the corrosion-proof target portion in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the terminal and the electric wire.

5. The connector device according to claim 3, wherein the terminal accommodating chamber is a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, wherein the opening of the connector housing is formed over the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, and wherein the cover member covers an entirety of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers.

6. A wire harness manufacturing method for manufacturing a wire harness including a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a terminal configured to be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, and an electric wire configured to be connected to the terminal, the wire harness manufacturing method including: disposing the terminal in the terminal accommodating chamber and fixing the terminal to the terminal accommodating chamber; fixing the electric wire to the terminal by physically and electrically connecting the electric wire to the terminal; bringing a corrosion-proof material close to a corrosion-proof target portion including a connection portion at which the terminal and the electric wire are connected to each other; and melting and then curing the corrosion-proof material to perform a corrosion-proof operation to the corrosion-proof target portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a connector housing and a cover thereof of a connector device according to an embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter;

[0014] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are perspective views showing a metal terminal and a sheathed electric wire before and after attachment, respectively;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing outer appearance of the connector housing in a state in which the sheathed electric wires and the cover are attached to each other;

[0016] FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are longitudinal sectional views showing different states of a portion made of a corrosion-proof material in a manufacturing process; and

[0017] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure in the manufacturing process of the connector device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0018] A specific embodiment according to the presently disclosed subject matter will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0019] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a connector housing and a cover thereof of a connector device 1 according to the embodiment of the presently disclosed subject matter.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, a connector housing 10 is a main body forming a female side of a pair of connectors to be fitted to each other. The pair of female connector and male connector can be integrated by being attached in a connector inserting and removing direction Az2 in FIG. 1. Although only the female connector will be described in the following description, the male connector can be configured in the same manner as the female connector.

[0021] The connector housing 10 shown in FIG. 1 is configured such that electric circuits can be connected at five connection points arranged in a row in a connector width direction Aw. Specifically, elongated spaces running in the connector inserting and removing direction Az2 from a connector front end portion 10a to a rear end portion on an opposite side thereof are formed as cavities (terminal accommodating chamber) 10b. A cross-sectional shape of each cavity 10b is, for example, a rectangular shape or a circular shape.

[0022] In the example of FIG. 1, the five cavities 10b are arranged in a row in the connector width direction Aw. The five cavities 10b form spaces independent of each other, and are used as, for example, five spaces each for disposing a metal terminal 13 and a sheathed electric wire 14 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, an upper opening portion 10c is formed in an upper portion of the connector housing 10. The upper opening portion 10c allows upper portions of the five cavities 10b to be exposed to the outside of the connector housing 10. The upper opening portion 10c is used for a welding operation and a corrosion-proof operation, which will be described later.

[0024] In addition, the connector device 1 includes a cover 11 that can be fitted to the connector housing 10. The cover 11 has a shape matching the upper opening portion 10c of the connector housing 10. Therefore, by fitting the cover 11 to the upper opening portion 10c from above as shown in FIG. 1, the cover 11 can be fixed in a state of covering the entire upper opening portion 10c and all the plurality of cavities 10b.

[0025] The cover 11 holds a corrosion-proof material 12 in a corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a in advance. The corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a holds the corrosion-proof material 12 in a manner in which when a force is applied to the corrosion-proof material 12 from above, the corrosion-proof material 12 can move downward with respect to the cover 11.

[0026] The corrosion-proof material 12 is held at a position corresponding to each position of the five cavities 10b facing the cover 11. The corrosion-proof material 12 is solid at a room temperature, melts at a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined melting point, and is cured when the temperature gets low enough again. The melting point of the corrosion-proof material 12 is set to be sufficiently lower than that of the connector housing 10.

[0027] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are perspective views showing the metal terminal and the sheathed electric wire before and after attachment, respectively. In FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, only a front-end portion of the sheathed electric wire 14 is shown.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the metal terminal 13 includes a fitting portion 13a and an electric wire coupling portion 13b. The fitting portion 13a is in a region on a front side of the metal terminal 13, and has a shape that can be fitted to a pin-shaped male terminal in the male connector.

[0029] The electric wire coupling portion 13b of the metal terminal 13 is a metal plate having a flat plate shape or a curved surface shape that is capable of coming into contact with a front-end region of the sheathed electric wire 14, and is in a region on a rear side of the metal terminal 13 as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.

[0030] The sheathed electric wire 14 includes an electric wire core wire 14a and an insulating sheath 14b made of resin or the like that covers the electric wire core wire 14a. When the sheathed electric wire 14 is to be attached to the metal terminal 13, the insulating sheath 14b at a front-end portion of the sheathed electric wire 14 is peeled off, and the electric wire core wire 14a is exposed as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B.

[0031] Then, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the entirety of the exposed part of the electric wire core wire 14a and a portion of a front end of the insulating sheath 14b align with the electric wire coupling portion 13b so as to overlap the electric wire coupling portion 13b. In this state, a predetermined laser welding machine is used to irradiate the electric wire core wire 14a with a laser beam via the upper opening portion 10c, thereby welding the electric wire core wire 14a to the electric wire coupling portion 13b.

[0032] In the present embodiment, the metal terminals 13 are disposed in advance at positions corresponding to the respective cavities 10b of the connector housing 10. Therefore, in a state where the upper opening portion 10c is opened as shown in FIG. 1, the sheathed electric wires 14 are moved in an electric wire inserting direction Az1 to be inserted into the respective cavities 10b from a rear end side of the connector housing 10. After the electric wire core wire 14a and the electric wire front end portion having the sheath are aligned with a position of the electric wire coupling portion 13b of the corresponding metal terminal 13 so as to overlap the position of the electric wire coupling portion 13b of the corresponding metal terminal 13, the laser welding is performed.

[0033] For example, when a laser welding machine equipped with a galvano scanner is used, it is easy to perform the welding by sequentially positioning a laser beam at each of the electric wire coupling portions 13b of the plurality of metal terminals 13 accommodated in the cavities 10b of the connector housing 10.

[0034] In a case where a crimping terminal is used instead of the metal terminal 13 as in a general connector, since a crimping operation cannot be performed or is difficult to be performed inside the connector housing, it is necessary to crimp an electric wire to the crimping terminal and then insert the electric wire into the cavity of the connector housing.

[0035] In contrast, in the present embodiment, since it is assumed that the metal terminals 13 and the sheathed electric wires 14 are fixed by the laser welding using the upper opening portion 10c, the metal terminals 13 can be mounted in the connector housing 10 in advance, and the sheathed electric wires 14 can be inserted into the cavities 10b and welded later.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing outer appearance of the connector housing in a state in which the sheathed electric wires and the cover are attached.

[0037] When the sheathed electric wires 14 are respectively inserted into the five cavities 10b of the connector housing 10, the electric wire coupling portions 13b and the electric wire core wires 14a in the respective cavities 10b are subjected to the laser welding, and the cover 11 is attached to the connector housing 10 and the upper opening portion 10c is closed, the connector device 1 is brought into a state shown in FIG. 3. In addition, after the assembly in the state of FIG. 3, the corrosion-proof operation to be described later is performed as necessary.

[0038] When a material of the electric wire core wire 14a of the sheathed electric wire 14 connected to the metal terminal 13 is aluminum, the corrosion-proof operation is required to prevent corrosion of a connection portion. In addition, the corrosion-proof operation needs to be performed after the laser welding of the connection portion between the electric wire coupling portion 13b and the electric wire core wire 14a is completed.

[0039] When the material of the electric wire core wire 14a is copper, the corrosion-proof operation can be omitted. In addition, when a plurality of sheathed electric wires 14 having different types of electric wires are connected to one connector in a mixed state, the corrosion-proof operation may be selectively performed only on the sheathed electric wire 14 in which the material of the electric wire core wire 14a is aluminum.

[0040] In addition, in the present embodiment, the metal terminal 13 is formed of a material that can be commonly used for connection with both the sheathed electric wires 14 respectively made of aluminum and copper so as to be compatible with both the sheathed electric wires 14 respectively made of aluminum and copper in a common manufacturing process.

[0041] FIGS. 4A, 48, and 4C are longitudinal sectional views showing different states of a portion made of the corrosion-proof material in the manufacturing process. In the state shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, the electric wire coupling portion 13b of the metal terminal 13 disposed in the cavity 10b and the electric wire core wire 14a are fixed to each other by the laser welding. In addition, the corrosion-proof material 12 is disposed in the corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a of the cover 1 at a position directly above each position to be welded in a state of facing each portion to be welded.

[0042] In the state shown in FIG. 4A, when a force is applied from the outside to a position of the corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a so as to push the corrosion-proof material 12 downward from above, the state shown in FIG. 4B is obtained. That is, the corrosion-proof material 12 held on the cover 11 comes close to or comes into contact with the electric wire core wire 14a and the front end of the insulating sheath 14b for each cavity 10b.

[0043] In the state shown in FIG. 4B, heat is applied to the corrosion-proof material 12 at each position to heat the corrosion-proof material 12 to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the corrosion-proof material 12. For example, the corrosion-proof material 12 is heated by irradiating the corrosion-proof material 12 with a laser beam while reducing an output of the laser welding machine.

[0044] When the corrosion-proof material 12 is melted by being heated, as shown in FIG. 4C, the corrosion-proof material 12 is melted and falls, and a shape thereof changes so as to cover an outer side of each electric wire core wire 14a and the front-end portion of the insulating sheath 14b. Then, when the temperature is lowered after the heating is finished, the corrosion-proof material 12 is cured in this shape. As a result, the sheath of the corrosion-proof material 12 is formed and protects the electric wire core wire 14a and a vicinity of a welded portion, so that corrosion is prevented. In addition, since the melting point of the corrosion-proof material 12 is sufficiently lower than that of the connector housing 10, it is possible to prevent deformation of the connector housing 10 when the corrosion-proof material 12 is heated.

[0045] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure in the manufacturing process of the connector device 1. This processing procedure can be performed manually by an operator, or can be performed using an automated assembling apparatus or inspection apparatus. The processing procedure of FIG. 5 will be described below.

[0046] First, in step S11, all the metal terminals 13 to be attached to the connector are incorporated into the respective cavities 10b in the connector housing 10. When the connector housing 10 to which the metal terminals 13 are attached in advance can be used as a component, this step is unnecessary.

[0047] Next, the sheathed electric wire 14 in which the insulating sheath 14b is peeled off so that the electric wire core wire 14a at the front end portion is exposed is prepared in advance, and the sheathed electric wire 14 is inserted into a portion of each cavity 10b of the connector housing 10 from the electric wire inserting direction Az1. Then, the electric wire coupling portion 13b of the metal terminal 13 and the electric wire core wire 14a in each cavity 10b are aligned to be overlapped with each other, and a portion to be joint is irradiated with a laser beam from the upper opening portion 10c to be subjected to the laser welding and fixed (S12).

[0048] Next, the cover 11 is attached to the upper opening portion 10c of the connector housing 10 (S13). As a result, the state shown in FIG. 3 is obtained, and the upper opening portion 10c is closed. In addition, the cover 11 and the corrosion-proof material 12 are disposed on the connector housing 10. A position where the corrosion-proof material 12 is disposed is a position directly above and facing the electric wire coupling portion 13b of each metal terminal 13 and the electric wire core wire 14a of the sheathed electric wire 14 in the connector housing 10.

[0049] Next, the materials of the electric wire core wires of the sheathed electric wires 14 mounted at respective cavity positions of the connector housing 10 are identified (S14). For example, the core wire material of the sheathed electric wire 14 at each cavity position for each connector can be identified based on information indicating a manufacturing specification of a wire harness to be manufactured. When the material is aluminum, the procedure proceeds from S14 to S15, and when the material is copper, the procedure proceeds to S18.

[0050] Next, in S15, a force is applied from above the corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a in the cover 11 in an upper portion of the corresponding cavity 10b, and the corrosion-proof material 12 is pushed into the cavity 10b that needs to be subjected to the corrosion-proof operation as shown in FIG. 4B.

[0051] Next, the corrosion-proof material 12 pushed into each cavity 10b is heated for, for example, a certain period of time to melt the corrosion-proof material 12 (S16). As a result, the melted corrosion-proof material 12 flows down to form a sheath so as to sheath a surface of the electric wire core wire 14a and the like of the connection portion for each cavity 10b as shown in FIG. 4C, and is cured when the temperature decreases.

[0052] The processes of S14 to S17 are performed on all the sheathed electric wires 14 connected to the same connector housing 10. When the processes performed on all the sheathed electric wires 14 are completed, the procedure proceeds from S17 to S18, and inspection of a portion subjected to the corrosion-proof operation is performed. For example, an operator performs visual inspection on the corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a, and inspects whether the sheath of the corrosion-proof material 12 is formed in a predetermined state at a portion where the corrosion-proof operation is necessary.

[0053] Incidentally, the processing procedure shown in FIG. 5 can be divided into a pre-process PR1 including S12 and S13 and a post-process PR2 including S14 to S18 to manage the manufacture. For example, the pre-process PR1 and the post-process PR2 can be efficiently performed in accordance with a production schedule of a vehicle at different times by using factories, facilities, personnel, and the like existing in a plurality of places different from each other.

[0054] On the other hand, in a case where the metal terminals 13 and the sheathed electric wires 14 are connected to each other before the metal terminals 13 are inserted into the connector housing 10 as in a general manufacturing process, it is necessary to perform the corrosion-proof operation and the inspection thereof in accordance with the type of the electric wire earlier during the pre-process PR1, and thus a degree of freedom in changing a process of manufacturing the wire harness is reduced. That is, by manufacturing the connector device 1 having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 4C by the procedure shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to efficiently produce the wire harness.

[0055] In the connector device 1 described above, since the corrosion-proof material 12 is held by the corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a of the cover 11 in advance, the connector housing 10, the cover 11, and the metal terminals 13 can be used as a common component regardless of whether the core wire material of the sheathed electric wire 14 to be attached to the connector is aluminum or copper. In addition, when the material of the sheathed electric wire 14 is aluminum, it is not necessary to separately prepare the corrosion-proof material as a special component.

[0056] In addition, since the processing of the laser welding and the corrosion-proof operation can be performed by using the portion of the upper opening portion 10c formed in the connector housing 10, the connection between the metal terminals 13 and the sheathed electric wires 14 and the corrosion-proof manufacturing process can be performed in a state where the metal terminals 13 are disposed in the cavities 10b of the connector housing 10. Therefore, automation of the manufacturing process is facilitated. In addition, the processing of the corrosion-proof operation can be performed in the post-process PR2.

[0057] According to an aspect of the embodiments described above, a connector device (1) includes a connector housing (10) having a terminal accommodating chamber (for example, cavity 10b, a terminal (for example, metal terminal 13) configured to be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber (10b), an electric wire (for example, sheathed electric wire 14) configured to be connected to the terminal, a corrosion-proof material (for example, corrosion-proof material 12) to be disposed at a position facing the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber and a corrosion-proof target portion of the electric wire, and a corrosion-proof material support portion (for example, corrosion-proof material holding portion 11a) retaining the corrosion-proof material above the connector housing such that the corrosion-proof material can be moved toward the corrosion-proof target portion. A melting point of the corrosion-proof material is set to be lower than a melting point of a material forming the connector housing, and the corrosion-proof material is configured to be melted and then cured while covering the corrosion-proof target portion.

[0058] According to the connector device having the above-described configuration, the corrosion-proof material is retained on the connector housing via the corrosion-proof material support portion. Therefore, after the terminal and the electric wire are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber inside the connector housing, the corrosion-proof operation can be performed by melting the corrosion-proof material as a post-process. In addition, since the corrosion-proof material support portion supports the corrosion-proof material in advance in the state in which the corrosion-proof material can be moved in the direction approaching the corrosion-proof target portion, it is not necessary to separately prepare the corrosion-proof material when the corrosion-proof operation is necessary. In addition, when the corrosion-proof operation is unnecessary, the corrosion-proof material does not affect a connection portion between the terminal and the electric wire. Therefore, even when a type of a core wire of the electric wire to be attached is aluminum or copper, a common component can be used as the corrosion-proof material support portion. In addition, since the melting point of the corrosion-proof material is set to be lower than the melting point of the material of the connector housing, the corrosion-proof operation can be performed only by heating the corrosion-proof material to melt the corrosion-proof material and to form a sheath without greatly affecting the connector housing.

[0059] The corrosion-proof material may be melted after the corrosion-proof material moves to a position close to the corrosion-proof target portion while being retained by the corrosion-proof material support portion.

[0060] With this configuration, since the corrosion-proof material is melted in a state of being close to the corrosion-proof target portion, the corrosion-proof target portion can be reliably covered.

[0061] The connector device may further include a cover member (for example, cover 11) configured to be engaged with the connector housing (10) and to cover an opening (for example, upper opening portion 10c) of the connector housing (10), the opening being formed at a position corresponding to the terminal accommodating chamber (10b). The opening (10c) and the cover member (11) may be disposed at positions facing the corrosion-proof target portion. The corrosion-proof material support portion (11a) may be provided in the cover member (11).

[0062] With this configuration, before the cover member is attached, a portion of the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector housing is exposed to the outside via the opening portion. Therefore, for example, when a laser welding machine is used, the material inside the terminal accommodating chamber can be welded from the outside of the connector housing via the opening portion. That is, after the terminal and the electric wire are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber inside the connector housing, an operation for joining the terminal and the electric wire can be performed. In addition, by attaching the cover member to the connector housing, it is easy to close the opening portion and protect a joint portion of the terminal and the electric wire in the terminal accommodating chamber.

[0063] The opening may be formed at a position facing the corrosion-proof target portion in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction (for example, electric wire inserting direction Az1) of the terminal and the electric wire.

[0064] With this configuration, since the opening portion is formed at the position where a component of the corrosion-proof target portion is easily processed, an operation of processing the internal component from the outside of the connector housing, that is, an operation such as the welding becomes easy.

[0065] The terminal accommodating chamber (10b) may be a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers. The opening of the connector housing may be formed over the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers, and the cover member may cover an entirety of the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers.

[0066] With this configuration, even when the number of terminals and electric wires to be accommodated in the connector housing is large, it is possible to cover the entire opening portion only by preparing one cover member, and it is possible to avoid an increase in the number of components of the connector and an increase in the number of operation steps when assembling the components.

[0067] According to another aspect of the embodiments described above, a wire harness manufacturing method for manufacturing a wire harness including a connector housing (10) having a terminal accommodating chamber, a terminal (for example, metal terminal 13) configured to be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, and an electric wire (for example, sheathed electric wire 14) configured to be connected to the terminal is provided. The wire harness manufacturing method includes disposing the terminal in the terminal accommodating chamber and fixing the terminal to the terminal accommodating chamber (S11), fixing the electric wire to the terminal by physically and electrically connecting the electric wire to the terminal (S12), bringing a corrosion-proof material close to a corrosion-proof target portion including a connection portion at which the terminal and the electric wire are connected to each other (S15) and melting and then curing the corrosion-proof material to perform a corrosion-proof operation to the corrosion-proof target portion (S16).

[0068] With this configuration, in a case where it is necessary to perform the corrosion-proof operation on the connection portion between the terminal and the electric wire, the corrosion-proof operation can be performed in a post-process. That is, since it is not necessary to perform the corrosion-proof operation before inserting the electric wire into the connector housing, an order of the manufacturing processes can be easily optimized as necessary. Therefore, for example, in a case where the manufacturing process of the wire harness is divided into a pre-process and the post-process, and manufacturing of the pre-process and manufacturing of the post-process are performed in different factories, it is possible to optimize allocation of manufacturing facilities installed for each factory and functions.