Ultrasonic welding jig, terminal-equipped electric cable manufacturing method, and terminal-equipped electric cable

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11007602-B2
Application number	US-201716082475-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2017
Priority date	Mar 9, 2016
Publication date	May 18, 2021
Grant date	May 18, 2021

Abstract

An ultrasonic welding jig includes: an anvil that supports a plate-like electric cable connection portion of a terminal; and a welding horn that is disposed so as to oppose the anvil, and in which a fitting groove is formed in an opposing surface, the fitting groove being a groove in which a portion of a core wire of an electric cable is fitted. In a state in which the core wire and the electric cable connection portion are clamped between the welding horn and the anvil, ultrasonic welding is performed by ultrasonically vibrating the welding horn in an axial direction of the core wire. In a bottom surface of the fitting groove of the welding horn, a plurality of slippage prevention grooves that are obliquely oriented and intersect an axis of the fitting groove are formed spaced apart in a direction of the axis of the fitting groove.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An ultrasonic welding jig for fixedly attaching a core wire of a core wire-equipped electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal through ultrasonic welding, the ultrasonic welding jig comprising:
an anvil that supports the electric cable connection portion of the terminal; and
a welding horn that is disposed so as to oppose the anvil, and in which a fitting groove is formed in an opposing surface, the fitting groove being a groove into which a portion of the core wire of the electric cable is fitted,
wherein, in a condition in which the core wire and the electric cable connection portion are clamped between the welding horn and the anvil, ultrasonic welding is performed by ultrasonically vibrating the welding horn in an axial direction of the core wire, and
in a bottom surface of the fitting groove of the welding horn, a plurality of slippage prevention grooves that are obliquely oriented and intersect an axis of the fitting groove are formed spaced apart in a direction of the axis of the fitting groove, and each of the slippage prevention grooves is nonintersecting with all other slippage prevention grooves on the bottom surface.

2. The ultrasonic welding jig according to claim 1 ,
wherein the core wire is a stranded wire in which a plurality of strands are twisted together, and
the slippage prevention grooves are oriented and intersect the axis of the fitting groove at an angle that is substantially equal to a twist angle of the strands that constitute the core wire.

3. The ultrasonic welding jig according to claim 2 ,
wherein the slippage prevention grooves are formed so as to have a width that allows the strands of the core wire to be fitted therein.

4. An ultrasonic welding jig for fixedly attaching a core wire of a core wire-equipped electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal through ultrasonic welding, the ultrasonic welding jig comprising:
an anvil that supports the electric cable connection portion of the terminal; and
a welding horn that is disposed so as to oppose the anvil, and in which a fitting groove is formed in an opposing surface, the fitting groove being a groove into which a portion of the core wire of the electric cable is fitted,
wherein, in a condition in which the core wire and the electric cable connection portion are clamped between the welding horn and the anvil, ultrasonic welding is performed by ultrasonically vibrating the welding horn in an axial direction of the core wire,
in a bottom surface of the fitting groove of the welding horn, a plurality of slippage prevention grooves that are obliquely oriented and intersect an axis of the fitting groove are formed spaced apart in a direction of the axis of the fitting groove,
the core wire is a stranded wire in which a plurality of strands are twisted together,
the slippage prevention grooves are oriented and intersect the axis of the fitting groove at an angle that is substantially equal to a twist angle of the strands that constitute the core wire,
the slippage prevention grooves are formed so as to have a width that allows the strands of the core wire to be fitted therein, and
wherein, in the bottom surface of the fitting groove of the welding horn, in addition to the slippage prevention grooves, a plurality of auxiliary grooves that have a width that is smaller than the width of the slippage prevention grooves are formed so as to be oriented perpendicular to the slippage prevention grooves.

5. The ultrasonic welding jig according to claim 1 ,
wherein a knurled groove is formed in the bottom surface of the fitting groove of the welding horn.

6. A terminal-equipped electric cable manufacturing method comprising:
ultrasonically welding a core wire of an electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal by using the ultrasonic welding jig according to claim 1 .

7. A terminal-equipped electric cable manufacturing method comprising:
ultrasonically welding a core wire, which is a stranded wire, of an electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal by using the ultrasonic welding jig according to claim 2 .

8. A terminal-equipped electric cable obtained by ultrasonically welding a core wire of a core wire-equipped electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal,
wherein, on an outer surface of a welded portion of the core wire, a plurality of ridges that are obliquely oriented and intersect an axis of the core wire are formed spaced apart in an axial direction of the welded portion, and each of the ridges is nonintersecting with all other ridges on the outer surface.

9. A terminal-equipped electric cable obtained by ultrasonically welding a core wire of a core wire-equipped electric cable to a plate-shaped electric cable connection portion of a terminal,
wherein, on an outer surface of a welded portion of the core wire, a plurality of ridges that are obliquely oriented and intersect an axis of the core wire are formed spaced apart in an axial direction of the welded portion,
wherein the core wire is a stranded wire in which a plurality of strands are twisted together, and
the ridges are oriented and intersect the axis of the core wire at an angle that is substantially equal to a twist angle of the strands that constitute the core wire.

Assignees

• Autonetworks Technologies Ltd
• Sumitomo Wiring Systems
• Sumitomo Electric Industries

Inventors

• IDOTA Tomoki
• OKAMOTO Ryouya
• Shimizu Hiroshi
• Takeda Hitoshi

Classifications

• H01R43/0207

  Ultrasonic-, H.F.-, cold- or impact welding · CPC title

• B23K2101/32

  Wires · CPC title

• B23K20/10 Primary

  making use of vibrations, e.g. ultrasonic welding · CPC title

• H01R43/0263

  for positioning or holding parts during soldering or welding process · CPC title

• H01R4/027

  comprising means for positioning or holding the parts to be soldered or welded · CPC title