Crimp terminal having a conductor crimping part with an intermediate material with recessed parts and a thin-film layer on its top

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9831567-B2
Application number	US-201615224756-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2016
Priority date	Aug 3, 2015
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

In a manufacturing method of an aluminum wire crimp terminal formed by a base material made of a copper-based metal, at the step of forming an intermediate worked material having an unfolded shape of the crimp terminal, fine recessed parts for promoting the adhesive performance of the crimp terminal against a conductor of the wire are formed on a plate-body surface forming an inner face of a conductor crimping part of the intermediate worked material. Subsequently, a thin-film surface layer made of an aluminum-based metal is formed on at least the plate-body surface. Finally, the intermediate worked material is bent to a prescribed terminal shape.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A crimp terminal, comprising:
a conductor crimping part whose base material is made of a first metal and which is to be crimped to a conductor of an electric wire, the conductor being made of a second metal;
a plurality of fine recessed parts provided on an inner face of the conductor crimping part for promoting an adhesive performance of the conductor crimping part against the conductor, the fine recessed parts being formed, after an intermediate worked material having an unfolded shape of the crimp terminal has been formed by pressing either the base material made of the first metal and shaped like a flat plate or a material where a primary layer is formed on the surface of the base material, on a plate-body surface as the inner face of the conductor crimping part of the intermediate worked material;
a thin-film surface layer made of the second metal on at least the inner face of the conductor crimping part provided with the plurality of fine recessed parts, which is formed on at least the plate-body surface of the intermediate worked material after forming the fine recessed parts, the thin-film surface layer to be brought into contact with the conductor.

2. The crimp terminal of claim 1 , wherein
the first metal is a copper-based metal, while the second metal is an aluminum-based metal.

3. A wire assembly, comprising:
a crimp terminal whose base material is made of a first metal; and
a conductor as a core wire, to which the crimp terminal is crimped, the conductor being made of a second metal,
the crimp terminal comprising:
a conductor crimping part crimped to the conductor;
a plurality of fine recessed parts provided on an inner face of the conductor crimping part for promoting an adhesive performance of the conductor crimping part against the conductor, the fine recessed parts being formed, after an intermediate worked material having an unfolded shape of the crimp terminal has been formed by pressing either the base material made of the first metal and shaped like a flat plate or a material where a primary layer is formed on the surface of the base material, on a plate-body surface as the inner face of the conductor crimping part of the intermediate worked material; and
a thin-film surface layer made of the second metal on at least the inner face of the conductor crimping part provided with the plurality of fine recessed parts, which is formed on at least the plate-body surface of the intermediate worked material after forming the fine recessed parts, the thin-film surface layer being brought into contact with the conductor.

4. The wire assembly of claim 3 , wherein
the first metal is a copper-based metal, while the second metal is an aluminum-based metal.

5. A wire harness, comprising:
a plurality of wire assemblies each comprising a crimp terminal whose base material is made of a first metal, and a conductor as a core wire, to which the crimp terminal is crimped, the conductor being made of a second metal,
the crimp terminal comprising:
a conductor crimping part crimped to the conductor;
a plurality of fine recessed parts provided on an inner face of the conductor crimping part for promoting an adhesive performance of the conductor crimping part against the conductor, the fine recessed parts being formed, after an intermediate worked material having an unfolded shape of the crimp terminal has been formed by pressing either the base material made of the first metal and shaped like a flat plate or a material where a primary layer is formed on the surface of the base material, on a plate-body surface as the inner face of the conductor crimping part of the intermediate worked material; and
a thin-film surface layer made of the second metal on at least the inner face of the conductor crimping part provided with the plurality of fine recessed parts, which is formed on at least the plate-body surface of the intermediate worked material after forming the fine recessed parts, the thin-film surface layer being brought into contact with the conductor, wherein

the plurality of electric wires are bundled together to form a single entity.

6. The wire harness of claim 5 , wherein
the first metal is a copper-based metal, while the second metal is an aluminum-based metal.

7. The crimp terminal of claim 1 , wherein the fine recessed parts comprise a number of parallelogram shaped fine recessed parts.

8. The crimp terminal of claim 1 , wherein a size of each of the fine recessed parts corresponds to a thickness of the conductor of the electric wire.

9. The wire assembly of claim 3 , wherein the fine recessed parts comprise a number of parallelogram shaped fine recessed parts.

10. The wire assembly of claim 3 , wherein a size of each of the fine recessed parts corresponds to a thickness of the conductor of the electric wire.

11. The wire harness of claim 5 , wherein the fine recessed parts comprise a number of parallelogram shaped fine recessed parts.

12. The wire harness of claim 5 , wherein a size of each of the fine recessed parts corresponds to a thickness of the conductor of the electric wire.

Assignees

• Yazaki Corp
• Toppan Printing Co Ltd

Inventors

• Miyakawa Daisuke
• Kumai Koichi

Classifications

• H01R4/188 Primary

  having an uneven wire-receiving surface to improve the contact · CPC title

• H01R43/16

  for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending · CPC title

• C23C28/023

  only coatings of metal elements only · CPC title

• H01R4/62

  Connections between conductors of different materials; Connections between or with aluminium or steel-core aluminium conductors (H01R4/68 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01R4/185

  combined with a U-shaped insulation-receiving portion · CPC title