Linked electrical connectors

A linked electrical connector has a carrier formed with V-cuts. When a series of electrical connectors are separated by a cutter at V-cut portion, corners of the carrier are shaped as chamfered or curved surfaces. Thus, a linked electrical connector can be smoothly inserted in and removed from a connector box.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the invention 
The present invention relates to a linked electrical connector, and 
specifically to linked electrical connectors used as plural connected 
electrical connectors in a common power supply circuit connected with 
fuses and installed in a motor vehicle. Common examples of such linked 
electrical connectors include joint boxes, relay boxes, and fuse boxes. 
2. Description of the prior art 
In an automotive fuse box as shown in FIGS. 14a and 14b, plural electrical 
connectors 1A, 1B and 1C (generally indicated as 1) to which fuses are 
separately connected are installed in individual terminal sockets 4 in the 
connector box 3. In each common power supply circuit, one electrical 
connector 1A is connected to the power supply via a wire 6, and jumpers 8 
are used to short circuit (electrically connect) the one electrical 
connector 1A with the other electrical connectors 1B, 1C in the same power 
supply circuit. 
As shown in FIG. 12, the common carrier 2 of the electrical connectors 1 is 
conventionally used for the jumpers 8. 
The electrical connectors 1 are stamped from metal plate using a press, and 
the stamped plate is then bent and shaped to form a connector series in 
which the individual electrical connectors 1 formed in series at a uniform 
pitch are connected to a common carrier 2 at the wire crimping ends 
thereof. 
The carrier 2 is cut appropriately so that the linked electrical connectors 
can be used in series of two electrical connectors 1A and 1B or three 
electrical connectors 1A, 1B and 1C according to the circuit design of the 
connector box 3. 
FIGS. 12 and 13 show examples of a series of two linked electrical 
connectors 1A and 1B connected at the wire crimping end of the electrical 
connectors 1A and 1B to the carrier 2, which is then cut by a cutter 9. A 
series of three linked electrical connectors is similarly connected at the 
wire crimping end of the electrical connectors 1A, 1B and 1C to the 
carrier 2, which is then cut by a cutter 9. 
The cut end of the carrier 2 in both the two and three linked electrical 
connectors series is a square end with square corners 2a. As a result, 
when inserted to the terminal sockets 4, or removed from the terminal 
sockets 4, of the connector box 3 as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the 
square corners 2a will tend to catch the inside walls of the connector box 
3 when the connectors become biased to the sides, thereby preventing 
smooth insertion or removal of the connectors. 
As the number of electrical connectors 1 in a single series increases and a 
single wire must be held to insert or remove these plural connectors, it 
becomes even easier for the carrier 2 to become biased to the connector 
box 3 walls, and the square corners 2a catch even more easily. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a linked 
electrical connector that enables smooth insertion to and removal from the 
connector box of the linked electrical connector series. 
To achieve this object, a linked electrical connector according to the 
present invention comprises plural electrical connectors formed in series 
at a uniform pitch on a carrier with the carrier cut at appropriate 
positions to link plural electrical connectors in series, 
and is characterized by the cut corners of the carrier being chamfered or 
curved. 
The cutting operation providing the cut corners of the carrier can be 
executed during formation of the linked electrical connectors series, or 
during crimping of the wires to each of the electrical connectors. 
In a linked electrical connector according to the present invention, the 
corners of the cut ends of the carrier are cut using a cutter during the 
electrical connector carrier cutting process to form a chamfered face or a 
curved face. As a result, the chamfered or curved faces of the carrier 
will not catch the inside wall of the connector box when the carrier 
becomes biased to said walls during insertion to or removal from the 
connector box, and these operations can be completed smoothly.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with 
reference to the accompanying figures. 
A series of three linked electrical connectors 10 according to the first 
embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a single metal plate is 
stamped in a press to form the electrical connectors 12A, 12B and 12C in 
series at a constant pitch along the length of the carrier 11 at the 
middle of the connectors. 
In this series of three electrical connectors 12A-12C, a wire barrel 13, 
insulation barrel 14, and electrical contacts 15 are formed in the center 
connector 12B by bending, and electrical contacts 15 are formed in the 
side connectors 12A and 12C by bending. 
Between the two series of three connectors, the opposite sides of the 
carrier 11 is formed with V-cuts 11a to provide chamfers in a manner 
described later. 
The carrier is bent between connectors 12A and 12B and between 12B and 12C 
to reduce the pitch, but the carrier is not bent between the end 
connectors 12A and 12C of different series, and is therefore left at a 
greater width W. 
As shown in FIG. 2, this wide part W of the carrier 11 is placed on the 
stand 16 during the carrier 11 cutting process, and is cut from above by a 
cutter 17. 
The shape of the cutter 17 is designed to leave either chamfered or curved 
faces on the cut corners 11a of the carrier 11. 
As a result, all four corners 11a on both ends of the cut carrier 11 in 
this series of three linked electrical connectors 10 are chamfered or 
curved as shown in FIG. 5b. It should also be noted that the four corners 
11a on both ends of the cut carrier 11 in a series of two linked 
electrical connectors 20 are also chamfered or curved as shown in FIG. 5a. 
The cutting step providing chamfered faces to the carrier 11 corners 11a is 
executed before the wire crimping step in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 
to form the series of two or three electrical connectors. 
In addition, the wire is crimped only to the one electrical connector 
having the wire barrel 13 and insulation barrel 14 in the series of three 
or two linked electrical connectors 10, 20. 
It should also be noted that it is not necessary to cut the carrier 11 
during the linked electrical connector stamping process, and the carrier 
11 can be cut to provide the chamfered faces during the wire crimping 
step. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the series of three or two linked electrical 
connectors 10 and 20 is then inserted to the terminal sockets 22 of the 
connector box 21. 
When the series of two linked electrical connectors 20 is inserted to or 
removed from the connector box 21 terminal sockets 22 as shown in FIG. 6a, 
or when the series of three linked electrical connectors 10 inserted to or 
removed from the connector box 21 terminal sockets 22 as shown in FIG. 6b, 
the chamfers or curves provided on the cut corners 11a of the carrier 11 
do not catch the inside walls of the connector box 21 even if the carrier 
11 becomes biased to the walls, and both insertion and removal operations 
can be completed smoothly. 
In addition, a carrier 11 in which the corners 11a are curved is 
particularly effective with connectors of many electrical connectors 12 in 
series where the carrier 11 is easily deformed, and with connectors 
connected at the center to the carrier 11 and inserted to or removed from 
the connector box 21 through a long stroke. 
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a linked electrical 10 connector 120 according 
to a second embodiment is shown. As shown in FIG. 7, a single metal plate 
is stamped in a press to form first linked electrical connectors 122 on 
one side 121a (the top in FIG. 7) of a narrow carrier 121, and a second 
linked electrical connectors 126 on the other side 121b (the bottom in 
FIG. 7) of the carrier 121. A series of four linked electrical connectors 
and three linked electrical connectors are connected by a common carrier 
121. 
Between the two series of four linked connectors and three linked 
connectors, the opposite sides of the carrier 11 is formed with V-cuts 11a 
to provide chamfers in the same manner as that in the first embodiment. 
The first linked electrical connectors 122 are connected to the carrier 121 
at the wire crimping end 122a thereof at a constant pitch B along the 
carrier 121 length. A wire barrel 123, insulation barrel 124, and 
electrical contacts 125 are formed in the normal front of each of the 
first linked electrical connectors 122 by bending. 
The second linked electrical connectors 126 are similarly connected to the 
carrier 121 at the wire crimping end 126a thereof at the same constant 
pitch B along the carrier 121 length. The second linked electrical 
connectors 126, however, are offset by one-half pitch B to the first 
linked electrical connectors 122. As with the first linked electrical 
connectors 122, a wire barrel 123, insulation barrel 124, and electrical 
contacts 125 are also formed in the second linked electrical connectors 
126, but are formed on the side opposite that to which they are formed on 
the first linked electrical connectors 122, as shown in FIG. 11. 
Notches 121c extending to the center of the width of the carrier 121 are 
also formed on the other side 121b of the carrier 121 on both sides of the 
base end 126a of each second linked electrical connector 126. 
At around the last step of the linked electrical connector 120 
manufacturing process, each of the second linked electrical connectors 126 
formed on the other side 121b of the carrier 121 is inverted 180 degrees 
from the base of the notches 121c (near the center of the carrier 121 
width) to the one side 121a. As a result, the first linked electrical 
connectors 122 and second linked electrical connectors 126 form a single 
connector series on the one side 121a of the carrier 121 with the face of 
each connector facing the same direction as shown in FIG. 8. The pitch B' 
between adjacent first and second linked electrical connectors 122,126 is 
one-half pitch B of the stamping, and equal to pitch A of the terminal 
sockets 22 in the connector box 21. 
The carrier 121 is cut in the above described manner to provide series of 
four connectors and three connectors. The number connectors in one series 
can be other than four or three, such as two according to the circuit 
design of the connector box 21. 
As will be obvious from the above description, according to the second 
embodiment, it is possible to eliminate the step for bending the carrier 
in a U-shape as required in the first embodiment to reduce the pitch B' of 
the electrical connectors 122, 126 to half of pitch B. In addition, 
because the carrier 121 can be simply folded over through part of the 
carrier 121 width, special shaping dies or processes are unnecessary. 
Carrier 121 strength is also increased because the carrier 121 is doubled 
in parts. The carrier 121 is also more resistant to deformation by 
external forces, and to compression, stretching, and deflection 
side-to-side. The dimensional stability of the carrier 121 and linked 
electrical connector 120 is therefore improved. 
Furthermore, according to the second embodiment, it is also easier to wind 
the linked electrical connector 120 to a reel because the carrier 121 will 
not stretch or compress along the length thereof. 
A linked electrical connector 128 according to a third embodiment of the 
invention is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. 
In addition to the V-cuts 11a, a rhombus opening 11b is formed at the 
center of the carrier 121 width, i.e., between the V-cuts 11a at opposite 
sides to provide chamfers in a similar manner to that in the first 
embodiment. 
The first and second linked electrical connectors 122, 126 are shaped as in 
the second embodiment above, but the notches 121c to the center of the 
carrier 121 width on each side of the second linked electrical connectors 
126 ends 126a are not formed. 
As a result, the second linked electrical connectors 126 formed on the 
other side 121b of the carrier 121 are inverted 180 degrees to the one 
side 121a from the width-wise center of the carrier 121 in the third 
embodiment. Because the carrier 121 is doubled from the center along the 
full length thereof in the third embodiment, carrier 121 strength is even 
greater. The other effects and benefits of this design are the same as 
those of the linked electrical connector 120 according to the second 
embodiment above. 
As will be obvious from the above description, the cut corners of the 
carrier in a linked electrical connector according to the present 
invention are shaped with a cutter to form chamfered or curved faces 
during the electrical connector carrier cutting step. As a result, these 
chamfered or curved corners will not catch on the walls of the connector 
box even if the carrier becomes biased to the walls during insertion or 
removal, and these operations can be completed smoothly. 
Furthermore, according to the second and third embodiments, a linked 
electrical connector can reduce the pitch between the linked electrical 
connectors by one-half because the second linked electrical connectors 
formed on the other side of the carrier are inverted 180 degrees to the 
first side of the carrier to form a single series of first and second 
linked electrical connectors on the same side of the carrier. In addition, 
because the linked electrical connector can be formed by folding the 
carrier over in two through the carrier width along part or the full 
length of the carrier, special shaping dies and processes are unnecessary, 
and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. 
In addition, strength is improved because the carrier is doubled over, 
making the carrier more resistant to deformation by external forces, 
eliminating side-to-side stretching, compression, and deflection, 
improving dimensional stability, and enabling easier reel winding. 
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be 
varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure 
from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as 
would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included 
within the scope of the following claims.