Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Limited

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Yukimitsu Hattori

Mitsuhiko Matsuoka

Tsutomu Sakata

Koji Kasai

Takeharu Ito

Akinori Oishi

Kazuo Hirano

Tatsuya Kondoh

Hiroo Fujita

Yasuhiro Kasahara

Tetsuo Sugimoto

Yoshinori Fujita

Haruhiro Muto

Yoshikatsu Takamura

Kenji Kotani

A joint connector includes a connecting unit provided with a bus bar on an insulating plate. The bus bar includes a joint area connecting plural pressure welding areas of the bus bar, to which wires may be pressure welded. The joint connector also includes a joint plate with plural pressure welding slots in which connecting units may be inserted to establish connection between the joint plate and joint areas of the connecting units. By stacking plural pressure-welded connecting units and pressure fitting their insulating plates into pressure welding slots of a joint plate, wires pressure-welded to upper and lower connecting units are connected together.

Joint connector having plural connecting units and a joint plate

A grommet is provided that can be engaged in a through hole of the vehicle body panel by a single motion of pushing the grommet in only one direction. The grommet has a small diameter tubular part to tightly engage a wire harness inserted therein, an enlarged diameter part that continues from an end of the small diameter tubular part into the conical tubular shape, and a generally annular vehicle body engaging recess on the outer peripheral face of the enlarged diameter tubular part. The wall thickness of the enlarged diameter tubular part is approximately the same from the position of continuation with the small diameter tubular part to a bottom end of a first side wall of the vehicle body engaging recess. The first side wall is formed to have a turned-back portion from a tip of an inclined part that continues from the conical tubular shape to the bottom end to provide a space at the back face of the first side wall and an inclined part having an inclination is formed from a bottom face of the recess extending toward a second side wall of the recess. A thick wall forms a second side wall portion and a front end face of the enlarged diameter tubular part, and a lip projects from the second side wall toward the first side wall.

Grommet and method for fixing said grommet to a panel

A joint connector is provided that includes a plurality of divisional joint connectors and a joint terminal. Each divisional joint connector includes a case having a pressure contact terminal and at least one opening. The pressure contact terminal has a wire connection portion and a terminal contact portion. The wire connection portion has at least one pressure contact blade configured to make pressure contact with a wire extending from a wire harness subassembly. The joint terminal extends into the respective openings, and is connected to a respective one of the terminal contact portions of the pressure contact terminals that are accommodated respectively in the cases of the divisional joint connectors. Consequently, electrical connection is made between the wires extending from a plurality of the wire harness subassemblies. With the above construction, it is possible to eliminate terminal fittings which have to be assembled subsequently in final harness assembly of a complete wire harness and to reduce the number of wires to be connected to the joint connector.

Joint connector

The circuitry contained in an electrical connector housing is standardized, so that its manufacturing, modification and addition can be simplified. To this end, a circuitry is designed so as to include a plurality of unit circuits, both ends of which are to be connected to an electrical part such as a relay, fuse or connector. The unit circuits are made of an identical electrically conductive material and formed into long thin elements. The unit circuits are arranged in parallel at a given spacing relative to one another. The electrically conductive element of each unit circuit is connected to the electrical part through another electrically conductive element arranged substantially perpendicular thereto.

Electrical connector housing

To facilitate the mounting of a grommet in a hole formed in a body panel of a vehicle only by inserting it in one direction with a small force. There is provided a turnup portion 5d folded back from the outer radial end of a large diameter tubular portion 5c toward a small diameter tubular portion 5a. A locking groove 5e having a U-shaped cross is formed in the outer surface of the turnup portion 5d. At the leading end of the turnup portion 5d extending toward the small diameter tubular portion 5a, a locking portion 5g projects radially inwardly. A locking stepped portion 5h projects from the outer surface of the large diameter tubular portion 5c in a position corresponding to the locking groove 5e. When the locking portion 5g is engaged with the locking stepped portion 5h after pulling back the small diameter tubular portion 5a to locate the locking stepped portion 5h more backward than the locking portion 5g, the locking groove 5e comes to have an L-shaped cross section and be located at the front end of the grommet, thereby allowing the grommet to be inserted into a hole 6a in a body panel. When the locking portion 5g is disengaged from the locking stepped portion 5h after the insertion, the locking groove 5e is restored to have a U-shaped cross section so as to be fittable to the hole 6a in the body panel.

Grommet and a method for mounting a grommet

A multiplex communication control unit includes a multiplex communication control circuit and an electric circuit formed in the proximity of the multiplex communication control circuit. Both the multiplex communication control circuit and the electric circuit are formed on a flexible circuit board and are electrically connected with each other via the flexible circuit board.

Multiplex communication control unit

A single connector is respectively mounted at the tip ends of each of a plurality of branch wire groups to be branched and which are pulled out from optional positions of one wire harness. A connector receiver, composed of a lower case an upper case is mounted in a further wire harness composed of a flexible printed circuit with the branch circuit being secured at a necessary position. The lower case supports the wire harness and the further upper case is mounted detachably in the lower case and is provided with a connector inserting portion, with the single connector being detachably inserted therein. Accordingly, the wire harness can be made lighter in weight and can save space, and the circuit in the branch connector can be easily changed.

Branch connector

A wiper control apparatus includes a main relay switch for passing the voltage received from a power supply to make the wiper control apparatus operable, an ignition switch for passing the voltage from the power supply to make the vehicle operable, and control means for controlling the ON/OFF operation of the main relay switch. The control means operates in response to the conductive state of the ignition switch to render the main relay switch conductive. After a predetermined time in response to a cut-off state of the ignition switch, the control means renders the main relay switch non-conductive. The predetermined time allows the wiper blade to move down to a predetermined park position of a windshield after the ignition switch is turned off.

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Yokkaichi, Japan

Yukimitsu Hattori