JPH0996570A - Thermocouple connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the breaking of thermocouple wires and the defective connection even by repeating the attaching and removing operations of a connector. SOLUTION: This connector comprises a connector main body 1, a pair of connector pins 3, whose one ends are fixed to the connector main body 1 and other ends protrude from the connector main body 1, and a pair of thermocouple wires 7, which are electrically connected and fixed to the one-end sides of a pair of the connector pins 3. A fixing screw 5, which fixes a pair of connector pins 3 to the connector main body 1, and a connecting/fixing screw 6, which connects and fixes a pair of the thermocouple wires 7 to the connector pins, are independently provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermocouple connector used for connecting a thermocouple sensor to a measuring instrument or the like, and in particular, even if the connector is repeatedly attached and detached, the thermocouple wire is disconnected or has a poor connection. The present invention relates to a thermocouple connector that does not generate the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a thermocouple sensor that utilizes the Seebeck effect in a dissimilar two-metal junction such as copper and constantan to measure temperature from its electromotive force has a simple structure and is mechanically strong. Since the measurement temperature range is wide, and the upper limit of high temperature is as high as about 1000 to 1500 ° C., it is widely used as a temperature sensor for high temperature measurement.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a thermocouple connector used in this type of conventional thermocouple sensor. As shown in the figure,
A conventional thermocouple sensor is, for example, a constantan wire 70a.
And a pair of thermocouple wires 70 composed of two kinds of different conductors such as copper wire 70b are connected at one end (not shown) to form a temperature measuring contact, and the other end of the thermocouple wire 70 opposite to the temperature measuring contact is connected. The temperature of the temperature measurement target is measured using the electromotive force generated by the temperature difference.

The other end of the temperature measuring contact of the thermocouple wire 70 is connected to the thermocouple connector 10, and the thermocouple connector 10 is connected to a measuring instrument (not shown) or the like to measure and display the temperature of the object to be measured. It is supposed to do. Reference numeral 20 denotes a connector body that constitutes the thermocouple connector 10, and a pair of connector pins 30 are provided in a protruding manner.

The pair of connector pins 30 comprises a minus pin 30a which is a constantan pin and a plus pin 30b which is a copper pin. One end of the connector pin 30 protrudes from the through hole 10a on the side surface of the connector body 10 and the other end thereof. The side is a flat plate-shaped terminal portion 40 (40a, 40b). The terminal portion 40 is fixed to the connector main body 20 by the fixing screws 50 (50a, 50b).
It is screwed to.

The thermocouple wire 70 connected to the thermocouple connector 10 is also connected to the guide groove 10 on the upper surface of the connector body 10.
The constantan wire 70a and the copper wire 70b engage with the terminal b of the connector pin 30, respectively.
a and 40b are fixed to the shaft portion of the fixing screw 50, which is wound around and screwed to the negative pin 30a and the positive pin 30.
b. That is, the connector pin 30 and the thermocouple wire 70 are fixed to the connector body 20 by the same fixing screw 50 and are electrically connected.

The thermocouple connector 10 to which the thermocouple wire 70 is connected in this manner is electrically connected and fixed to the measuring instrument by inserting the minus pin 30a and the plus pin 30b into a mating connector (not shown) on the measuring instrument side. Thus, the temperature of the temperature measurement target can be measured and displayed. Examples of the technology of the thermocouple connector used for such a thermocouple sensor include, for example, the thermocouple connector described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 129672/1990 and the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-23079.
There is a thermocouple device disclosed in the publication.

[0008]

However, in such a conventional thermocouple connector, a connector attaching / detaching operation,
That is, there is a problem that the thermocouple wire is apt to be broken or defective in continuity due to repeated insertion / removal of the mating connector.

Generally, a wire used for a thermocouple wire is soft and has a small diameter. Especially, when a copper wire is used for one wire,
Since the wire material is very flexible and the wire diameter is as thin as about 0.2 mm, there is a problem that the copper wire will break if a large force is intermittently applied to this copper wire due to repeated attachment / detachment operations of the connector. It was

That is, in the conventional thermocouple connector, as described above, since the terminal portion of the connector pin and the thermocouple wire are fixed by the same fixing screw, as shown in FIG. When an external force (arrow A in FIG. 5) is applied to the tip of the connector pin 30 at this time, stress (arrow B in FIG. 5) is also generated in the fixed portion of the terminal portion 40 by the lever principle.

When stress is applied to the terminal portion 40, this stress causes the terminal portion 40 to move slightly up and down. And
This slight vertical movement applies pressure to the copper wire 70 held between the terminal portion 40 and the fixing screw 50. As a result, in the copper wire 70, the portion held between the terminal portion 40 and the fixing screw 50 is intermittently pressed while the connector is repeatedly inserted and removed, and the fixed portion of the copper wire 70 is crushed. Eventually, the wire will be broken.

Further, when the copper wire 70 is sandwiched between the terminal portion 40 and the fixing screw 50 and gradually crushed, a gap is generated between the terminal portion 40 and the fixing screw 50 even if the wire is not finally broken. Looseness occurs in the fixing of the terminal portion 40,
The contact state between the copper wire 70 and the copper wire 70 becomes unstable, and poor conduction occurs.

In JP-A-3-273122, a thermocouple wire is screwed to a terminal board, the terminal board is fixed to a terminal box, and the lead wire connected to the terminal box is connected to a measuring instrument. Although the technology of the thermocouple sensor to be used as is has been proposed, in this thermocouple sensor, the conductor wire connected to the measuring instrument is not a connector, so it is not possible to solve the problem of inserting and removing the connector as described above. There wasn't.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and the thermocouple does not cause disconnection or connection failure of the thermocouple wire even if the connector is repeatedly attached and detached. The purpose is to provide a connector.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, a thermocouple connector according to claim 1 of the present invention has a connector main body and one end fixed to the connector main body.
A thermocouple connector comprising a pair of connector pins, the other end of which protrudes from the connector body, and a pair of thermocouple wires electrically connected and fixed to one end of the pair of connector pins, respectively. The fixing means for fixing the connector pin to the connector body and the connecting means for connecting and fixing the pair of thermocouple wires to the connector pin are independently provided.

The thermocouple connector according to claim 2 is
The fixing means for fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body is constituted by a pair of fixing screws that penetrate each one end side of the pair of connector pins and are screwed into the connector body, and the pair of thermocouple wires. Connecting means for connecting and fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body by penetrating in the vicinity of the rear side of the fixing screw on each one end side of the pair of connector pins and screwing into the connector body. Is composed of a connection fixing screw that is wound around the shaft to be connected and fixed.

Further, in the thermocouple connector according to a third aspect of the present invention, fixing means for fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body is screwed into the connector body by penetrating each one end side of the pair of connector pins. Each of the pair of connector pins, which comprises a pair of fixing screws, and which holds the connecting means for connecting and fixing the pair of thermocouple wires to the pair of connector pins by crimping the pair of thermocouple wires. It is composed of a crimp terminal provided at one end.

According to the thermocouple connector of the present invention having such a structure, the fixing means for fixing the connector pin to the connector body and the connecting means for electrically connecting and fixing the thermocouple wire to the connector pin are independent. Therefore, even if an external force is applied to the tip of the connector pin, the external force is blocked by the fixing means of the connector pin and is not transmitted to the fixed portion of the thermocouple wire. As a result, even if the connector pins are repeatedly inserted and removed, it is possible to effectively prevent the disconnection of the thermocouple wire and the occurrence of connection failure.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a thermocouple connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment First, a first embodiment of the thermocouple connector of the present invention will be described. 1A and 1B show a thermocouple connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a partially cutaway side view.

As shown in these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a thermocouple connector of this embodiment, which includes a connector body 2 and a pair of connector pins 3 fixed to the connector body 2 and having tips protruding from the connector body 2. It consists of And
A pair of thermocouple wires 7 are electrically connected to the rear ends of the connector pins 3, and the connector pins 3 can be used as a thermocouple sensor by connecting to a mating connector such as a measuring instrument (not shown).

First, the thermocouple wire 7 connected to the thermocouple connector 1 of this embodiment will be described. The types of thermocouples used for the thermocouple wire 7 include, for example, copper and constantan,
There are platinum and platinum rhodium, tungsten and molybdenum, etc., and the thermocouple wire 7 of the present embodiment uses a thermocouple formed by combining a constantan wire 7a and a copper wire 7b. Then, the constantan wire 7a and the copper wire 7b are covered with each other by an insulating tube, and are integrated as one thermocouple wire 7.

Next, the thermocouple connector 1 for connecting the thermocouple wire 7 will be described. The connector body 2 that constitutes the thermocouple connector 1 has a pair of through holes 2a formed at one end thereof so that the tip ends of the connector pins 3 can project. The through hole 2a is formed in a size slightly larger than the connector pin 3 so that the connector pin 3 can be bent to some extent.

In the center of the upper surface of the connector body 2, there is formed a guide groove 2b with which the thermocouple wire 7 can be engaged. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the connector body 2 is open, and the mounting portions of the connector pins 3 and the thermocouple wires 7 are exposed, but by fitting a cover or the like,
This top opening can be covered.

The pair of connector pins 3 attached to the connector body 2 are two pairs of connector pins consisting of a minus pin 3a and a plus pin 3b, which are arranged in parallel with each other on the upper surface of the connector body 2 and whose tip portions are Connector body 2
It penetrates through the through hole 2a and projects forward from the side surface of the connector body 2.

The rear end side of the connector pin 3 is a flat plate-shaped terminal portion 4 (4a, 4b), which can be fixed in surface contact with the upper surface of the connector body 2. The member forming the connector pin 3 corresponds to two different metals forming the thermocouple wire 7. In the present embodiment, the minus pin 3a is a constantan pin and the plus pin 3b is a copper pin. Has become.

The terminal portion 4 has a fixing screw 5 (5a, 5b) and a connecting fixing screw 6 (6) at two positions on the front end side and the rear end side.
a, 6b) penetrates and is screwed onto the upper surface of the connector body 2. The fixing screw 5 is a fixing means for fixing the connector pin 3 to the connector body 2, and is adapted to penetrate the pin tip side of the terminal portion 4 and be screwed onto the upper surface of the connector body 2.

On the other hand, the connection fixing screw 6 is a connecting means for connecting and fixing the thermocouple wire 7 to the connector pin 3, and penetrates in the vicinity of the rear side where the fixing screw 5 of the terminal portion 4 penetrates and the upper surface of the connector body 2. It is designed to be screwed into. The constantan 7a of the thermocouple wire 7 and the copper wire 7b are respectively wound around the shaft portions of the connection fixing screws 6a and 6b, so that the thermocouple wire 7 is electrically connected to the connector pin 3. It is like this.

According to the thermocouple connector of this embodiment having such a configuration, the minus pin 3a and the plus pin 3b of the pair of connector pins 3 are respectively fixed with the fixing screw 5.
a, 5b, which are firmly screwed to the connector main body 2, and the constantan wire 7a and the copper wire 7b of the thermocouple wire 7 are independent of the fixing screw 5, and are connected and fixed to the connection fixing screw 6a,
By 6b, the terminal portions 4a and 4b of the minus pin 3a and the plus pin 3b are respectively screwed and fixed.

As a result, when the thermocouple connector 1 of the present embodiment is attached / detached, even if an external force (arrow A in FIG. 2) is applied to the minus pin 3a and the plus pin 3b, as shown in FIG. Since each connector pin 3 is firmly fixed to the connector body 2 by the fixing screw 5, this external force is blocked by the fixing screw 5.

That is, the external force applied to the minus pin 3a and the plus pin 3b is not transmitted to the thermocouple wire 7 fixed to the terminal portion 4 of the connector body 2 and the connector pin 3 with the connection fixing screw 6. Therefore, the pressure applied to the fixed portion of the thermocouple wire 7 which occurs in the conventional thermocouple connector is eliminated, and the thermocouple wire 7 is not crushed by being sandwiched by the terminal portion 4 and the fixing screw 5. , Even when using a flexible thin copper wire with a diameter of about 0.2 mm,
The thermocouple wire will not be broken.

Further, even if the thermocouple connector 1 is repeatedly attached and detached, the external force applied to the minus pin 3a and the plus pin 3b is completely blocked by the fixing screw 5, so that the pressure on the thermocouple wire 7 and The crush of the thermocouple wire 7 accompanying it disappears. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the thermocouple wire 7 is gradually crushed, so that no gap is generated between the terminal portion 4 and the thermocouple wire 7, and the conduction failure due to the looseness of the terminal portion 4 is prevented. Occurrence can also be prevented.

As described above, according to the thermocouple connector of this embodiment, the fixing means for fixing the connector pin to the connector body and the connecting means for electrically connecting and fixing the thermocouple wire to the connector pin are independent. Therefore, even if an external force is applied to the tip of the connector pin, the external force is blocked by the fixing means of the connector pin and is not transmitted to the fixed portion of the thermocouple wire. As a result, even if the connector pins are repeatedly inserted and removed, it is possible to effectively prevent the disconnection of the thermocouple wire and the occurrence of connection failure.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the thermocouple connector of the present invention will be described. FIG.
The thermocouple connector of 2nd embodiment of this invention is shown, (a) is a top view, (b) is a partially cutaway side view.

As shown in these figures, the thermocouple connector of this embodiment is a modification of the above-mentioned first embodiment, and as a connecting means for connecting the thermocouple wire 7 to the terminal portion 4, Instead of the connection fixing screw 6 in the first embodiment, the crimp terminal 8 (8a, 8a) provided at the rear end portion of the terminal portion 4 is provided.
b) is used.

That is, the thermocouple connector 1 of this embodiment
As a connecting means for connecting and fixing the thermocouple wire 7 to the terminal portion 4, a crimp terminal 8 for crimping and holding the thermocouple wire 7 is integrally provided at the rear end of each terminal portion 4 of the pair of connector pins 3. It is provided. The crimp terminal 8 is for firmly holding the thermocouple wire 7 by inserting the wire material of the thermocouple wire 7 into the terminal body portion and tightening and crimping the body with a dedicated crimping tool. Is electrically connected to.

As described above, since the crimp terminal 8 is used as the connecting means of the thermocouple wire 7 and the thermocouple wire 7 is connected by screwing and crimping, the external force from the connector pin 3 is propagated in the first place. However, the thermocouple wire 7 can be connected to the terminal portion 4 without transmitting an external force applied to the connector pin 3, and the copper wire is not crushed and the screw can be used, as in the case of the first embodiment described above. There is no conduction failure due to looseness.

[0037]

As described above, according to the thermocouple connector of the present invention, the disconnection of the thermocouple wire and the occurrence of connection failure can be effectively prevented even by repeating the attaching / detaching operation of the connector. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a thermocouple connector of a first embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a partially cutaway side view.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the thermocouple connector shown in FIG.

3A and 3B show a thermocouple connector of a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a partially cutaway side view.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional thermocouple connector, in which (a) is a plan view and (b) is a partially cutaway side view.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of essential parts of the conventional thermocouple connector shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Thermocouple connector 2 ... Connector body 3 ... Connector pin 4 ... Terminal part 5 ... Fixing screw 6 ... Connection fixing screw 7 ... Thermocouple wire 8 ... Crimp terminal

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector body, a pair of connector pins having one end fixed to the connector body and the other end protruding from the connector body, and electrically connected and fixed to one end sides of the pair of connector pins, respectively. A pair of thermocouple wires, comprising: fixing means for fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body; and connecting means for connecting and fixing the pair of thermocouple wires to the connector pin. The thermocouple connector is characterized by being independently provided. 2. The fixing means for fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body is constituted by a pair of fixing screws that penetrate each one end of the pair of connector pins and are screwed into the connector body. Connect a pair of thermocouple wires to the pair of connector pins,
The connecting means for fixing is passed through the vicinity of the rear of the fixing screw on each one end side of the pair of connector pins and screwed into the connector body, and the pair of thermocouple wires are wound around the shaft portion to be connected. The thermocouple connector according to claim 1, wherein the thermocouple connector comprises a connection fixing screw that is fixed. 3. The fixing means for fixing the pair of connector pins to the connector body is constituted by a pair of fixing screws that penetrate each one end side of the pair of connector pins and are screwed into the connector body. Connect a pair of thermocouple wires to the pair of connector pins,
2. The thermocouple connector according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means for fixing is constituted by a crimp terminal provided at each end of the pair of connector pins for crimping and holding the pair of thermocouple wires.