Wire connection unit

#The present invention relates to a wire connection unit and more particularly to a wire connection unit which accommodates a metallic connector for connecting together ends of two wires including a shielded wire.

#In recent years, many coaxial cables (hereinafter, referred to as shielded wires) are used as antenna cables in audio equipment installed on automotive vehicles. For such a shielded wire to be connected with a general wire (non-shielded wire), in many cases, a core wire of the shielded wire and a core wire of the general wire are clamped together by a metallic connector, and a metal piece which extends from a metallic wire device called an earth plate is clamped to a braided wire which surrounds concentrically the core wire of the shielded wire, so that the braided wire is earthed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

#In the connecting construction described above, normally, a short circuit between the metallic connector and the earth plate is prevented by covering an area which includes the metallic connector which connects the core wires together and a distal end side of the braided wire with an insulative heat-shrinkable tube. The heat-shrinkable tube used here is such as to be shrunk by being applied with heat while allowing an adhesive provided in the tube to melt, so that the tube so shrunk bonds the metallic connector and the like together.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a lower case of a wire connection unit of a first embodiment of the invention that is to be revealed when the wire connection unit is opened.

#FIG. 2 is a side view showing an upper case of the wire connection unit of the first embodiment of the invention with the lower case.

#FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the wire connection unit of the first embodiment of the invention in which the upper and lower cases are closed.

#Hereinafter, an embodiment to which the invention is applied will be described by reference to the drawings.

#In this embodiment, although a wire connection unit will be described which accommodates a connecting portion between a shielded wire and a general wire (a non-shielded wire), two wires to be connected are not limited to those described in the embodiment. For example, the wire connection unit of the embodiment can also be applied to a case in which two shielded wires are connected together.

#The shield wire is a coaxial cable which is connected to an antenna installed on a vehicle and is, made up of a core wire, an insulation layer which covers the core wire concentrically, a braided wire which is made up of a conductor which covers an insulation material concentrically and a covering portion of a synthetic resin which covers the braided wire. The general wire and the earth wire are a wire which is made up of a core wire into which a plurality of metallic threads of aluminum or the like are bundled up and a covering portion of a synthetic resin which covers the core wire.