阅读说明：本技术 端子盖 (Terminal cover ) 是由 加藤孝幸 于 2021-03-18 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于覆盖端子的端子盖,端子装接到电线的端部并且连接到配对装置,端子盖包括第一盖和第二盖,第一盖具有多边形管状并且被构造为覆盖端子装接到电线的部分,第二盖与第一盖连续并且被构造为覆盖端子连接到配对装置的部分。(A terminal cover for covering a terminal attached to an end of an electric wire and connected to a counterpart device includes a first cover having a polygonal tubular shape and configured to cover a portion where the terminal is attached to the electric wire, and a second cover continuous with the first cover and configured to cover a portion where the terminal is connected to the counterpart device.)

1. A terminal cover for covering a terminal attached to an end of an electric wire and connected to a counterpart device, the terminal cover comprising:

a first cover having a polygonal tubular shape and configured to cover a portion of the terminal attached to the electric wire; and

a second cover continuous with the first cover and configured to cover a portion of the terminal connected to the counterpart device.

2. The terminal cover according to claim 1,

wherein the first cover has a rectangular tube shape.

3. The terminal cover according to claim 1 or 2,

wherein the first cover has at least one extension piece extending inwardly from a peripheral portion of an open end of the first cover.

4. The terminal cover according to claim 3,

wherein the at least one extension tab is a plurality of extension tabs; and is

Wherein slit-like gaps defined between the plurality of extension pieces extend inward from corners of the open end of the first cover.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a terminal cover.

Background

Recently, a terminal for connecting with a battery, an alternator, or the like mounted on a vehicle has been proposed.

For example, a terminal cover according to the related art includes: a dome-shaped portion that covers a portion where the terminal is bolted to an electrode portion of the battery or the like; and a cylindrical portion extending along the terminal and the electric wire. When the terminal cover is attached to the terminal, the electric wire is drawn out from an open end (so-called opening or front end) of the cylindrical portion of the terminal cover (see, for example, JP-B-4973942).

When the terminal cover according to the above-described related art is actually used, when the bolt connecting portion of the terminal is covered by the dome-shaped portion of the terminal cover, the cylindrical portion (particularly, the opening) of the terminal cover may come into contact with the terminal or the electric wire, which is caused by dimensional tolerance of the terminal (so-called manufacturing variation), unexpected deformation of the terminal (so-called kick-up and kick-down) that may occur during operation, and the like. In this case, for example, displacement of the dome-shaped portion of the terminal cover or the like may occur. It is desirable to suppress such displacement of the terminal cover as much as possible because the original function (water stop property and the like) of the terminal cover may be impaired.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a terminal cover whose displacement during use can be suppressed.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a terminal cover for covering a terminal which is attached to an end of an electric wire and connected to a counterpart device, the terminal cover comprising:

a first cover having a polygonal tubular shape and configured to cover a portion of the terminal attached to the electric wire; and

a second cover continuous with the first cover and configured to cover a portion of the terminal connected to the counterpart device.

As described above, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a terminal cover capable of preventing displacement of the terminal cover during use of a terminal.

The present disclosure has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present disclosure will be further clarified by reading through the embodiments described below for carrying out the present disclosure with reference to the drawings.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal cover according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the terminal cover shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of an open end of a tube portion of the terminal cover shown in fig. 1 (illustration of electric wires is omitted).

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line a-a in fig. 1 and 3.

Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to fig. 4 according to a modification.

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to fig. 3 according to another modification.

Detailed Description

< example >

Hereinafter, the terminal cover 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the terminal cover 1 is a cover as follows: which is connected to an end of an electric wire 4 and covers a terminal 3 fixed to a counterpart device 2 (see fig. 4), and the terminal cover 1 has a function of protecting the terminal 3. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, "front-rear direction", "width direction", "up-down direction", "front", "rear", "up", and "down" as shown in fig. 1 are defined. The "front-rear direction", "width direction", and "up-down direction" are orthogonal to each other.

A battery, an alternator, and the like mounted on the vehicle are assumed as the pairing device 2. In this example, as shown in fig. 4, an electrode portion 31 of bolt-shaped metal protruding upward and a bush 32 made of resin supporting the root outer periphery of the electrode portion 31 are provided at a corner of the upper surface of the counterpart device 2. The counterpart 2 and the terminal 3 are electrically connected to each other by fixing an electrode connection portion 41 (described later) of the terminal 3 to the electrode portion 31.

The terminal 3 is made of metal, and in this example, the terminal 3 integrally includes an electrode connecting portion 41 and an electric wire connecting portion 42, the electrode connecting portion 41 being fixed to the electrode portion 31 of the counterpart 2, the electric wire connecting portion 42 being connected to an end of the electric wire 4. The electrode connecting portion 41 has a flat plate shape extending in the front-rear direction, and a through hole (not shown) penetrating in the up-down direction, into which the electrode portion 31 is inserted, is formed in a rear end portion of the electrode connecting portion 41.

The electric wire connection portion 42 has a shape extending obliquely forward and downward from the front end portion of the electrode connection portion 41. A pair of core wire crimping pieces 43 for crimping and fixing the core wire 51 of the electric wire 4 is provided on the root side (the side close to the electrode connecting part 41) of the electric wire connecting part 42, and a pair of covered crimping pieces 44 for crimping and fixing the cover 52 covering the core wire 51 of the electric wire 4 is provided on the tip side (the side away from the electrode connecting part 41) of the electric wire connecting part 42. The core wire 51 exposed after removing the cover 52 at the end of the electric wire 4 is crimped and fixed by the pair of core wire crimping pieces 43, and the cover 52 at the end of the electric wire 4 is crimped and fixed by the pair of cover crimping pieces 44, and thereby, the electric wire 4 is fixed to the terminal 3 and electrically connected to the terminal 3.

The configuration of the terminal cover 1 will be described below. The terminal cover 1 is made of elastic rubber, and as shown in fig. 1 to 4, integrally includes: a base 10, the base 10 covering a portion where the terminal 3 and the counterpart 2 are fixed to each other (specifically, the electrode portion 31 and the periphery of the electrode connecting portion 41 of the terminal 3); and a tube part 20 extending from the base part 10 and covering a portion where the terminal 3 and the electric wire 4 are connected to each other (specifically, the periphery of the electric wire connection part 42 of the terminal 3).

The base 10 has a substantially hemispherical outer shape, and a substantially circular opening 11 is formed on a lower surface of the base 10. An inner space 10a continuous with the opening 11 and recessed upward is formed inside the base 10. The electrode portion 31, the electrode connecting portion 41 of the terminal 3, and the like are accommodated in the internal space 10 a. As shown in fig. 1, a notch portion 13 extending upward from the peripheral edge portion of the opening 11 is formed on the rear side portion of the base portion 10. The notch portion 13 is used to temporarily widen the opening 11 of the base portion 10 to improve operability when an operation of attaching the terminal cover 1 to the terminal 3 is performed. The structure of the internal space 10a will be described later in more detail.

The tube part 20 has a rectangular tubular shape, and extends obliquely forward and downward from the front side of the base part 10 to correspond to the extending direction of the wire connecting part 42 of the terminal 3. The inner space 20a of the tube portion 20 communicates with the inner space 10a of the base portion 10, and the cross-sectional shape of the inner space 20a is square. The wire connecting portion 42 of the terminal 3 and the electric wire 4 extending from the wire connecting portion 42 are accommodated in the internal space 20 a.

An end edge 21 (see fig. 4) of the lower sidewall of the root portion (portion connected to the base portion 10) of the tube portion 20 has an arc shape when viewed from above, and constitutes a part of the peripheral edge portion of the opening 11 of the base portion 10. In this example, the inner wall surface 22 of the upper side wall of the root of the tube portion 20 is continuous with the inner wall surface 12 of the upper side wall of the base portion 10 without any step (see fig. 4). In a state where the terminal cover 1 is attached to the terminal 3, the inner wall surface 12 (particularly, around the side wall portion 12a of the nut 33) covers the nut 33 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, even when an external force in the width direction or the forward direction is applied to the terminal cover 1, the nut 33 and the side wall portion 12a of the inner wall surface 12 contact each other, and the base portion 10 and the like are prevented from being displaced upward by a frictional force generated between the nut 33 and the side wall portion 12 a.

As shown in fig. 3, the square open end 23 of the extended end portion of the tube portion 20 is provided with a plurality of (four in this example) extending pieces 24 extending inward from the peripheral portion of the open end 23. An insertion passage 26 through which the electric wire 4 is inserted is defined by the extended ends of the plurality of extension pieces 24. Slit-like gaps 25 are formed between the adjacent extending pieces 24. The gaps 25 extend inwardly (i.e., toward the insertion channel 26) from the corners of the square open end 23.

Since the gap 25 is formed between the adjacent extension pieces 24 as described above, the rigidity of the extension pieces 24 is reduced, and the extension pieces 24 can be easily bent. Further, when the terminal cover 1 is molded using a mold, the formation of the gap 25 facilitates an operation of removing the terminal cover 1 after molding. The configuration of the terminal cover 1 has been described above.

Next, an operation of attaching the terminal cover 1 to the terminal 3 will be described. First, the terminal 3 is attached to the end of the electric wire 4. Specifically, the core wire 51 exposed from the end of the electric wire 4 is crimped and fixed by the pair of core wire crimping pieces 43 of the terminal 3, and the cover 52 of the end of the electric wire 4 is crimped and fixed by the pair of cover crimping pieces 44. Thus, the electric wire 4 is fixed to the terminal 3 and electrically connected to the terminal 3. Next, the end of the electric wire 4 is inserted from the open end 23 (insertion passage 26) of the tube portion 20 of the terminal cover 1, and the end of the electric wire 4 is drawn out to the outside of the terminal cover 1 through the inner space 20a of the tube portion 20, the inner space 10a of the base portion 10, and the opening 11 of the base portion 10. Further, the electric wire 4 and the tube portion 20 are temporarily fixed to each other using an adhesive tape or the like.

Next, the base portion 10 of the terminal cover 1 is turned upside down, and the electrode connecting portion 41 of the terminal 3 is exposed from the terminal cover 1. Then, the electrode portion 31 of the counterpart 2 is inserted into the through hole of the electrode connecting portion 41 of the terminal 3 from below, and the electrode connecting portion 41 is placed on the upper surface of the bush 32. Next, in a state where the orientation of the terminal 3 is maintained such that the electric wire connection portion 42 extends forward, the electrode connection portion 41 is fastened and fixed to the electrode portion 31 using the nut 33 made of metal such that the electrode connection portion 41 is interposed between the nut 33 and the bush 32.

Next, the base portion 10 of the terminal cover 1 turned upside down is returned to the initial state, and the electrode connecting portion 41 and the periphery thereof are covered with the base portion 10. Therefore, as shown in fig. 4, a portion where the terminal 3 and the counterpart 2 are fixed to each other is covered by the base 10, and a portion where the terminal 3 and the electric wire 4 are connected to each other and the electric wire 4 located near the portion are covered by the tube part 20. Thus, the operation of attaching the terminal cover 1 to the terminal 3 is completed.

As another method of attaching the terminal cover 1 to the terminal 3, for example, the terminal 3 may be attached to the electric wire 4 in a state where the electric wire 4 is inserted into the base portion 10 and the tube portion 20 of the terminal cover 1. Further, instead of turning over the base 10 as described above, the electrode connecting portion 41 of the terminal 3 and the electrode portion 31 of the counterpart 2 may be fastened and fixed after the terminal cover 1 is moved to slide along the electric wire 4 in a direction away from the terminal 3.

In a state where the terminal cover 1 is attached to the terminal 3, the electric wire 4 connected to the terminal 3 is drawn out to the outside of the terminal cover 1 through the open end 23 of the tube part 20, and is supported in the insertion passage 26 of the open end 23 by the plurality of extending pieces 24. However, since the extension piece 24 can be easily bent, the electric wire 4 inserted into the insertion passage 26 can be freely moved in the inner region of the peripheral portion of the open end 23 by the bending of the extension piece 24.

< operations and effects >

As described above, according to the terminal cover 1 of the present embodiment, the tube portion 20 has a rectangular tube shape to roughly conform to the shape of the allowable space generally having a polygonal tube shape (in particular, a rectangular tube shape). Therefore, the allowable space can be effectively used, and a large area of the opening of the pipe portion 20 can be secured. Therefore, for example, even if dimensional tolerances of the terminal 3, unexpected deformation of the terminal 3 which may be caused during operation, or the like are generated, the electric wire 4 is less likely to come into contact with the peripheral edge portion of the open end portion 23 of the tube portion 20, and displacement of the terminal cover 1 can be prevented.

According to the terminal cover 1 of the present embodiment, the extension piece 24 is provided at the open end 23 of the tube part 20, and thereby, foreign matter is less likely to enter the inside of the terminal cover 1 (particularly, a portion where the counterpart device 2 is connected to the terminal 3 and a portion where the electric wire 4 is connected to the terminal 3). Although the opening area of the open end 23 is reduced by the extension piece 24, the rigidity of the extension piece 24 is generally small, and the extension piece 24 can be easily bent. Therefore, the effect of preventing the displacement of the terminal 3 is not particularly impaired.

< other examples >

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be used within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be appropriately modified, improved, or the like. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement position, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiments may be set as needed, and are not limited as long as the present disclosure can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the inner wall surface 22 of the upper side wall of the root of the tube portion 20 is continuous with the inner wall surface 12 of the upper side wall of the base portion 10 without any step (see fig. 4). On the other hand, as shown in fig. 5, the hanging portion 14 projecting downward may be provided on the inner wall surface 12 at a position near the boundary between the inner wall surface 22 and the inner wall surface 12. By providing the overhanging portion 14, a recess 15 is defined in the inner space 10a of the base portion 10 in a state where the terminal cover 1 is attached to the terminal 3, the recess 15 including a recess 16 covering the nut 33 in the circumferential direction and a second recess 17 covering the electrode portion 31 projecting upward from the nut 33 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, when an unexpected external force acts on the terminal cover 1, the terminal cover 1 is less likely to be separated from the terminal 3, as compared with the manner in which the overhanging portion 14 is not provided.

In the above embodiment, the gaps 25 provided between the plurality of extending pieces 24 provided at the open end 23 of the tube portion 20 extend from the insertion passage 26 to substantially the middle between the insertion passage 26 and the edges of the corners of the open end 23 (see fig. 3). On the other hand, as shown in fig. 6, the gaps 25 provided between the plurality of extending pieces 24 may extend from the insertion passage 26 to the vicinity of the edges of the corners of the open end 23. Further, the extension piece 24 may not be provided at the open end 23 of the tube portion 20.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the tube portion 20 has a rectangular tube shape. On the other hand, the tube portion 20 may have a polygonal tubular shape having five or more corners, such as a pentagonal tubular shape or a hexagonal tubular shape.

Here, the features of the embodiment of the terminal cover 1 according to the present disclosure described above will be briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [4 ].

[1] A terminal cover (1) for covering a terminal (3), the terminal (3) being attached to an end of an electric wire (4) and connected to a counterpart device (2), the terminal cover (1) comprising:

a first cover (20) having a polygonal tubular shape and configured to cover a portion where the terminal (3) is attached to the electric wire (4); and

a second cover (10) continuous with the first cover (20) and configured to cover a portion where the terminal (3) is connected to the counterpart device (2).

[2] The terminal cover (1) according to the above [1],

wherein the first cover (20) has a rectangular tube shape.

[3] The terminal cover (1) according to the above [1] or [2],

wherein the first cover (20) has at least one extension piece (24), the at least one extension piece (24) extending inwardly from a peripheral portion of the open end (23) of the first cover (20).

[4] The terminal cover (1) according to the above [3],

wherein the at least one extension piece (24) is a plurality of extension pieces (24), and

a slit-like gap (25) defined between adjacent two of the plurality of extending pieces (24) extends inward from a corner of the open end (23) of the first cover (20).

The terminal cover having the configuration of [1] will be described below. When the terminal cover is used for a terminal to be connected with an electrode portion of a battery or the like of a vehicle, the size and shape of the terminal cover are generally limited so that the terminal cover does not interfere with surrounding equipment. That is, the terminal cover is generally designed to fit in a space between surrounding apparatuses (hereinafter, referred to as "allowable space"). Since the external shape of the surrounding device can be viewed as a combination of planes, the allowed space is also often defined as a space separated by planes. Since the first cover of the terminal cover having the above-described configuration has a polygonal tubular shape, it is possible to effectively use a permissible space having a shape divided by such planes. In other words, when an undesired deformation such as an upward bend or a downward bend occurs in the terminal, the terminal or the electric wire is less likely to come into contact with the opening of the first cover, as compared with the above-described tubular terminal cover according to the related art. Therefore, the terminal cover having the present configuration can effectively utilize a limited allowable space, and can prevent displacement of the terminal cover during use.

The terminal cover having the configuration of [2] above will be described below. Generally, the above-mentioned allowable space generally has a rectangular tubular shape divided by four planes. Therefore, when the first cover of the terminal cover has a rectangular tube shape, the limited allowable space can be more effectively used, and the displacement of the terminal cover during use can be more appropriately prevented.

According to the terminal cover having the configuration of [3] above, at least one extending piece is provided at the open end (opening/front end) of the first cover, so that foreign matter is less likely to enter the inside of the terminal cover. When the extension piece is provided, the opening area of the opening is reduced. However, this does not particularly affect the above-described effect of preventing the displacement of the terminal cover. That is, since the extension piece can be easily bent, even if the terminal or the electric wire is temporarily brought into contact with the extension piece, an external force sufficient to cause displacement of the terminal cover does not reach the first cover or the like.

According to the terminal cover having the configuration of [4] above, the plurality of extending pieces are configured such that the slit-like gaps extend inward from the corners of the opening of the first cover. This facilitates the work of attaching the terminal cover to the terminal. Further, when actually manufacturing the terminal cover, it is also easy to remove the terminal cover from the mold after molding.