Abstract:
A connector having favorable crosstalk characteristics and common conversion characteristics and high noise immunity is provided. The connector includes a first connector having at least one pair of first terminals disposed in one housing and a second connector that includes at least one pair of second terminals disposed in another housing, and configured to be connected to the one pair of first terminals. The connector includes at least one first terminal surrounding conductors fixed inside the one housing, individually surrounding the pairs of first terminals, and are insulated from other members, and at least one second terminal surrounding conductors are fixed inside the other housing, individually surrounding the pairs of second terminals, and are insulated from other members. When the first terminals are respectively connected to the second terminals, the first terminal surrounding conductors are respectively connected to the corresponding second terminal surrounding conductors as well.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is the U.S. national stage of PCT/JP2015/084795 filed Dec. 11, 2015, which claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2014-255456 filed Dec. 17, 2014. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a connector that includes a first connector including a pair or a plurality of pairs of first terminals and a second connector including a pair or a plurality of pairs of second terminals and that connects high speed communication lines (Ethernet (registered trademark)), and an electrical wire unit in which twisted pair lines serving as the high speed communication lines are connected to the connector. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Many electrical devices are installed in a vehicle, and many wire harnesses are used in order to supply power to these electrical devices and enable communication between the electrical devices. If the pair of wires of the wire harness are parallel lines, the influence of disturbance noise increases. 
         [0004]    Therefore, if wire harnesses including high speed communication lines are connected by a standard connector for automobiles (0.64 type, multi-pin), twisted pair lines having high noise immunity are used for the high speed communication lines in order to suppress influence of disturbance noise. 
         [0005]    However, because terminals in a connector portion are not configured as a twisted pair, the terminals in the connector portion are influenced by other lines that are arranged in proximity thereto, and as a result, crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics degrade, and noise immunity decreases. 
         [0006]    Therefore, heretofore, special connectors for high speed communication, such as completely shielded connectors, have been used. 
         [0007]    In JP 2008-525972A, a differential electrical connector is disclosed that includes differential pairs that are held in an insulating housing in a plurality of rows, and that connects printed circuit boards in an electronic system to each other. 
         [0008]    A communication connector that includes a casing and a foil that at least partially covers the casing, and in which the foil is constituted by two portions separated by a gap, is disclosed in JP 2013-93335A. 
         [0009]    As described above, there is a problem in that, if special connectors for high speed communication such as a completely shielded connector is used to connect wire harnesses, the component cost increases. Also, if the connector is provided with open pins (about 4 pins), although noise immunity improves, unnecessary pins increase, and therefore, this idea is unrealistic. 
         [0010]    The present invention was made in view of circumstances such as those described above, and it is an object thereof to provide a connector that has preferable crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics and high noise immunity. 
         [0011]    Also, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical wire unit in which twisted pair lines are connected to a connector that has preferable crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics and high noise immunity. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    A connector according to a first invention, in a connector including a first connector that includes one pair or a plurality of pairs of first terminals that are provided in one housing, and that are configured to be connected to non-shielded electric wires and a second connector that includes one pair or a plurality of pairs of second terminals that are provided in another housing, and that are configured to be connected to the one pair or the plurality of pairs of first terminals, includes one or a plurality of first terminal surrounding conductors that are fixed inside the one housing, that individually surround the pairs of first terminals, and that are insulated from other members, and one or a plurality of second terminal surrounding conductors that are fixed inside the other housing, that individually surround the pairs of second terminals, and that are insulated from other members. The first terminals and the second terminals are respectively surrounded by the first terminal surrounding conductors and the second terminal surrounding conductors such that a cross-section of each terminal pair and the corresponding terminal surrounding conductor has a mirror symmetric shape whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the terminals. When the first terminals are respectively connected to the second terminals, the first terminal surrounding conductors are respectively connected to the corresponding second terminal surrounding conductors as well. 
         [0013]    In the connector, a first connector includes one pair or a plurality of pairs of first terminals that are provided in one housing, and that are configured to be connected to non-shielded electric wires, and a second connector includes one pair or a plurality of pairs of second terminals that are provided in another housing, and are respectively to be connected to the one pair or the plurality of pairs of first terminals. One or a plurality of first terminal surrounding conductors are fixed inside the one housing, individually surround the pairs of first terminals, and are insulated from other members, and one or a plurality of second terminal surrounding conductors are fixed inside the other housing, individually surround the pairs of second terminals, and are insulated from other members. The first terminals are surrounded by the first terminal surrounding conductors such that a cross-section of each terminal pair and the corresponding terminal surrounding conductor has a mirror symmetric shape whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the terminals. The second terminals are surrounded by the second terminal surrounding conductors such that a cross-section of each terminal pair and the corresponding terminal surrounding conductor has a mirror symmetric shape whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the terminals. When the first terminals are respectively connected to the second terminals, the first terminal surrounding conductors are respectively connected to the corresponding second terminal surrounding conductors as well. 
         [0014]    In a connector according to a third invention, the first connector further includes a plurality of other first terminals arranged with a gap between them that is smaller than a gap between the first terminals, and the second connector further includes a plurality of other second terminals arranged with a gap between them that is smaller than a gap between the second terminals. 
         [0015]    In the connector, the first connector further includes a plurality of other first terminals arranged with a gap between them that is smaller than a gap between the first terminals that are surrounded by the first terminal surrounding conductors, and the second connector further includes a plurality of other second terminals arranged with a gap between them that is smaller than a gap between the second terminals that are surrounded by the second terminal surrounding conductors. 
         [0016]    An electrical wire unit according to a fourth invention includes the connector according to the present invention, one or a plurality of non-shielded twisted pair lines that are respectively connected to first terminal pairs included in the connector, and one or a plurality of non-shielded twisted pair lines are respectively connected to second terminal pairs included in the connector. 
         [0017]    In the electrical wire unit, one or a plurality of twisted pair lines are respectively connected to the first terminal pairs included in the connector according to any of the first to third inventions, and one or a plurality of twisted pair lines are respectively connected to the second terminal pairs included in the connector. 
         [0018]    According to the connector according to the present invention, a connector having favorable crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics and having high noise immunity can be realized. 
         [0019]    According to the electrical wire unit according to the present invention, an electrical wire unit in which twisted pair lines are connected to a connector having favorable crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics and having high noise immunity can be realized. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0020]      FIG. 1A  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a plane cross section of an example of a connector and an electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a side cross section of the example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transverse section taken along line a-a′ in  FIG. 1A . 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating another example of transverse section taken along line a-a′ in  FIG. 1A . 
           [0024]      FIG. 4A  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a plane cross section of an example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0025]      FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a side cross section of the example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transverse section taken along line b-b′ in  FIG. 4A . 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view illustrating another example of transverse section taken along line b-b′ in  FIG. 4A . 
           [0028]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention, in which portions thereof are shown in a see-through manner. 
           [0029]      FIG. 8A  is a plan view illustrating an external appearance of an example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0030]      FIG. 8B  is a front view illustrating the external appearance of the example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
           [0031]      FIG. 9  is a side view illustrating the external appearance of the example of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0032]    Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the drawings illustrating examples of the present invention. 
       Example 1 
       [0033]      FIG. 1A  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a plane cross section of Example 1 of a connector and an electrical wire unit according to the present invention,  FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a side cross section of Example 1, and  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transverse section taken along line a-a′ in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , the connector and the electrical wire unit include a female connector  1  (first connector or second connector) to which two pairs of twisted pair lines  6  are connected and that includes a housing  3  having a cuboid shape, and a male connector  2  (second connector or first connector) to which two pairs of twisted pair lines  9  are connected and that includes an approximately cuboid-shaped housing  4  that is provided with a recess  4   a  into which the female connector  1  is to be fitted. 
         [0035]    Eight tube-shaped female terminals  5  (first terminals or second terminals) to each of which a pin-shaped male terminal  8  is fitted and connected are embedded into the female connector  1 , and are arrayed in 4×2 rows on a connection side (note that, here, one row is empty), as shown in  FIG. 2 . The length of the housing  3  in a thickness direction (length direction of the twisted pair lines  6 ) is slightly larger than the length of the female terminals  5 , as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . 
         [0036]    Pairs of the female terminals  5  that are adjacent to each other are respectively surrounded by a lattice-shaped female terminal surrounding conductor  7  (first terminal surrounding conductor or second terminal surrounding conductor), as shown in  FIG. 2 , and are connected to the twisted pair lines  6 . Each pair of the female terminals  5  and the portion of the female terminal surrounding conductor  7  that surrounds them have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the two terminals. The female terminal surrounding conductor  7  is embedded into the housing  3  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0037]    Eight pin-shaped male terminals  8  (second terminals or first terminals) are embedded into the male connector  2 , and are arrayed in 4×2 rows on a connection side (note that, here, one row is empty). The length of the housing  4  in a thickness direction (length direction of the twisted pair lines  9 ) is slightly larger than the length of the male terminals  8 , as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , and approximately half of the respective male terminals  8  on a side connected to the twisted pair lines  9  is embedded into the housing  4 , whereas the other half projects into the recess  4   a  into which the female connector  1  is to be fitted. 
         [0038]    Portions of pairs of the male terminals  8  that are adjacent to each other that are embedded into the housing  4  are respectively surrounded by a lattice-shaped male terminal surrounding conductor  10  (second terminal surrounding conductor or first terminal surrounding conductor), and are connected to the twisted pair lines  9 . Each pair of the male terminals  8  and the portion of the male terminal surrounding conductor  10  that surrounds them have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the two terminals. The male terminal surrounding conductor  10  is embedded into the housing  4  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0039]    The female terminal surrounding conductor  7  and the corresponding male terminal surrounding conductor  10  have the same shape in cross-section. 
         [0040]    In the connector and the electrical wire unit having such a configuration, when the female connector  1  is fitted into the recess  4   a  of the male connector  2 , the pin-shaped male terminals  8  are respectively fitted into the tube-shaped female terminals  5  and are connected thereto. At this time, the corresponding female terminal surrounding conductor  7  and male terminal surrounding conductor  10  are connected, and the pairs of female terminals  5  and the pairs of male terminals  8  are surrounded by the female terminal surrounding conductor  7  and the male terminal surrounding conductor  10 . 
         [0041]    Accordingly, in the connector portion of the electrical wire unit, the characteristic impedance does not change much and crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics do not degrade, and noise immunity to disturbance noise improves. 
         [0042]    Note that the female terminal surrounding conductor  7  and the male terminal surrounding conductor  10  need not have a lattice shape or a tube shape completely surrounding each terminal pair without a gap, and a female terminal surrounding conductor  7   a  and a male terminal surrounding conductor in which gaps are provided in the four corners of each rectangle in cross-section, as shown in  FIG. 3 , for example, can achieve the same effects. 
       Example 2 
       [0043]      FIG. 4A  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a plane cross section of Example 2 of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention,  FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a side cross section of Example 2, and  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a transverse section taken along line b-b′ in  FIG. 4A . 
         [0044]    As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the connector and the electrical wire unit include a female connector  11  to which twisted pair lines  16  and two ordinary (non-twisted) wires  22  are connected and that includes a housing  13  having a cuboid shape, and a male connector  12  to which twisted pair lines  19  and two ordinary wires  24  are connected and that includes an approximately cuboid-shaped housing  14  that is provided with a recess  14   a  into which the female connector  11  is to be fitted. 
         [0045]    Two tube-shaped female terminals  15  and three female terminals  21  to which pin-shaped male terminals  18  and male terminal  23  are respectively fitted and connected are embedded into the female connector  11 , and are arrayed in (2+3)×2 rows on a connection side (note that, here, one row of female terminals  15  and  21  and one female terminal  21  are empty), as shown in  FIG. 5 . The length of the housing  13  in a thickness direction (length direction of the twisted pair lines  16 ) is slightly larger than the length of the female terminals  15 , as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
         [0046]    A pair of female terminals  15  that are adjacent to each other is surrounded by a lattice-shaped female terminal surrounding conductor  17 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , and are connected to the twisted pair lines  16 . The pair of the female terminals  15  and a portion of the female terminal surrounding conductor  17  that surrounds them have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the two terminals. The female terminal surrounding conductor  17  is embedded into the housing  13  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0047]    The female terminals  21  are not surrounded by the female terminal surrounding conductor  17 , and are each connected to an ordinary wire  22  such as a power line. 
         [0048]    Two pin-shaped male terminals  18  and three male terminals  23  are embedded into the male connector  12 , and are arrayed in (2+3)×2 rows on a connection side (note that, here, one row of male terminals  18  and  23  and one male terminal  23  are empty). The length of the housing  14  in a thickness direction (length direction of the twisted pair lines  19 ) is slightly larger than the length of the male terminals  18  and  23 , as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
         [0049]    Approximately half of the respective male terminals  18  on a side connected to the twisted pair lines  19  and approximately half of the respective male terminals  23  on a side connected to ordinary wires  24  are embedded into the housing  14 , and the other half thereof projects into the recess  14   a  into which the female connector  11  is to be fitted. 
         [0050]    Portions of the pair of the male terminals  18  that are adjacent to each other that are embedded into the housing  14  are surrounded by a lattice-shaped male terminal surrounding conductor  20 , and are connected to the twisted pair lines  19 . The pair of male terminals  18  and a portion of the male terminal surrounding conductor  20  that surrounds it have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the two terminals. The male terminal surrounding conductor  20  is embedded into the housing  14  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0051]    The female terminal surrounding conductor  17  and the corresponding male terminal surrounding conductor  20  have the same shape in cross-section. 
         [0052]    The female terminals  15  that are surrounded by the female terminal surrounding conductor  17  are arranged with a gap c between them that is larger than the gaps d between the female terminals  21  that are not surrounded by the female terminal surrounding conductor  17  such that the characteristic impedance does not change much in a length direction. For example, if the characteristic impedance is 100Ω, the gap c between the female terminals  15  is larger than the gaps d between the female terminals  21  by approximately 100 μm. 
         [0053]    In the connector and the electrical wire unit having such a configuration, when the female connector  11  is fitted into the recess  14   a  of the male connector  12 , the pin-shaped male terminals  18  and  21  are respectively fitted into the tube-shaped female terminals  15  and  21  and are connected thereto. At this time, the corresponding female terminal surrounding conductor  17  and male terminal surrounding conductor  20  are connected, and the pair of female terminals  15  and the pair of male terminals  18  are surrounded by the female terminal surrounding conductor  17  and the male terminal surrounding conductor  20 . 
         [0054]    Accordingly, the characteristic impedance does not change much in the connector portion of the electrical wire unit, and crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics do not degrade, and noise immunity to disturbance noise improves. 
         [0055]    Note that the cross-sections of the female terminal surrounding conductor  17  and the male terminal surrounding conductor  20  are not limited to a rectangle such as a lattice shape, and a female terminal surrounding conductor  17   a  and a male terminal surrounding conductor each having an elliptical shape, in cross-section, that surround the terminals with a mirror symmetric shape whose axis of symmetry is a line in the middle between the two terminals, can achieve the same effects. 
       Example 3 
       [0056]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of Example 3 of the connector and the electrical wire unit according to the present invention, in which portions thereof are shown in a see-through manner,  FIG. 8A  is a plan view illustrating an external appearance of Example 3,  FIG. 8B  is a front view illustrating the external appearance of Example 3, and  FIG. 9  is a side view illustrating the external appearance of Example 3. 
         [0057]    The connector and the electrical wire unit includes a male connector  31  to which a pair of twisted pair lines  36  are connected and that includes a housing  33  having a cuboid shape, and a male connector  32  to which a pair of twisted pair lines  39  are connected and that includes a housing  34  having an approximately cuboid shape. 
         [0058]    The male connector  31  includes two tube-shaped male terminals  35  that are embedded in a housing  33 , and are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing  33 , in cross-section. The two male terminals  35  are surrounded by a tube-shaped male terminal surrounding conductor  37 , and are connected to twisted pair lines  36 . The two male terminals  35  and the male terminal surrounding conductor  37  that surrounds them have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is the intermediate line of the two male terminals  35 . The male terminal surrounding conductor  37  is embedded into the housing  33  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0059]    In a space of the housing  33  other than the space occupied by the male terminal surrounding conductor  37 , two rows of six tube-shaped female terminals  21  that are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing  33 , in cross-section, are embedded. Here, no wires are connected to the female terminals  21 . 
         [0060]    The male connector  32  includes two female terminals  38 , each having a pin-shaped tip, that are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing  34 , in cross-section, so as to respectively correspond to the two male terminals  35 , and are embedded in the housing  34 . The two female terminals  38  are surrounded by a tube-shaped female terminal surrounding conductor  40 , and are connected to twisted pair lines  39 . The two female terminals  38  and the female terminal surrounding conductor  40  that surrounds them have a mirror symmetric shape, in cross-section, whose axis of symmetry is the intermediate line of the two female terminals  38 . The female terminal surrounding conductor  40  is embedded into the housing  34  in a state of being insulated from other members. 
         [0061]    In a space of the housing  34  other than the space occupied by the female terminal surrounding conductor  40 , two rows of six male terminals  23 , each having a pin-shaped tip, that are arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing  34 , in cross-section, are embedded. Here, no wires are connected to the male terminals  23 . 
         [0062]    The male terminal surrounding conductor  37  and the corresponding female terminal surrounding conductor  40  have the same shape in cross-section. 
         [0063]    In the connector and the electrical wire unit having such a configuration, the female terminals  38  each having a pin-shaped tip are respectively fitted into the tube-shaped male terminals  35  and are connected thereto. At this time, the corresponding male terminal surrounding conductor  37  and female terminal surrounding conductor  40  are connected, and the pair of male terminals  35  and the pair of female terminals  38  are surrounded by the male terminal surrounding conductor  37  and the female terminal surrounding conductor  40 . 
         [0064]    Accordingly, the characteristic impedance does not change much in the connector portion of the electrical wire unit, and crosstalk characteristics and normal/common conversion characteristics do not degrade, and noise immunity to disturbance noise improves. 
         [0065]    The examples disclosed herein are examples in all aspects, and should be considered to be not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated not by the above-stated meanings but by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications that are within the meanings and the scope that are equivalent to those of the scope of claims. 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
       [0066]    The present invention is applicable to a connector and an electrical wire unit that are used in a communication line and a power line, which connect electrical devices, such as a wire harness for a vehicle.