JP3520676B2 - Female terminal fitting - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female-side terminal fitting assembled to a connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this type of female side metal terminal, the female side metal terminal disclosed in FIGS. 14 and 15 is known. This female-side terminal fitting is composed of a terminal main body 1 formed by bending a conductive thin metal plate, and a stainless steel protective cover 2 that covers the terminal main body 1. The terminal body 1 has an insertion portion 3 into which a male terminal metal fitting (not shown) that is a mating terminal metal fitting is inserted, and a barrel portion 4 to which a terminal of an electric wire can be caulked and connected is connected to a rear end of the insertion portion 3. It is shaped. further,
The insertion portion 3 has a pair of elastic contact pieces 6 and 6 formed by extending forward side walls 5 which are arranged on both left and right sides (upper and lower sides in FIG. 15) and extend in the lengthwise direction. The male terminal fitting is inserted between the elastic contact pieces 6 so as to be spread.

[0003]

However, if the both side walls are simply extended forward, the elastic force of the elastic contact piece will be determined by the plate thickness at the connecting portion with the side wall. In the case where the plate thickness is thin, it was not possible to secure sufficient contact pressure to the male side terminal fitting. In particular, as miniaturization of the connector is demanded, in order to miniaturize the female-side terminal fitting, there is no choice but to reduce the plate thickness of the female-side terminal fitting considerably. There is a fear that the contact pressure with respect to the male side terminal fitting cannot be sufficiently secured with the female side terminal fitting.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a female-side terminal metal fitting having an elastic contact piece capable of increasing the contact pressure.

[0005]

According to the invention of claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems, when a male terminal fitting on the mating side is inserted, the male terminal fitting is elastically bent and deformed. A female terminal body made of a copper alloy having an elastic contact piece for contact,
A cylindrical stainless steel that is fitted to the outside of this female terminal body.
And a protective cover made of stainless steel, the protective cover has a protective wall that covers the outside of the elastic contact piece, and extends inside the protective wall from the base side of the elastic contact piece toward the tip side. The female terminal fitting is characterized in that an auxiliary elastic piece is provided in contact with the surface of the elastic contact piece on the bending direction side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the female terminal fitting according to the first aspect, wherein the protective cover is provided with an excessive flexure prevention piece for preventing excessive flexure of the elastic contact piece. is there. A third aspect of the invention is the female-side terminal fitting according to the first or second aspect, wherein the width of the tip of the auxiliary elastic piece is wider than that of the base portion.

[0007]

According to the invention of claim 1,
When the male terminal fitting is inserted into the female terminal fitting, the elastic contact piece comes into contact with the male terminal fitting while elastically deforming. Along with the elastic deformation of the elastic contact piece, the auxiliary elastic piece of the protective cover provided outside thereof also elastically deforms. Therefore, the contact pressure between the male-side terminal fitting and the elastic contact piece is given by the elastic force of the elastic contact piece and the elastic force of the auxiliary elastic piece. The size of the male terminal fitting is considerably larger than that of the above, and the male-side terminal fitting can be securely sandwiched. Of course, even when the female terminal body is manufactured using a thin plate material, the contact pressure can be secured by adding the elastic force of the auxiliary elastic piece of the protective cover, so the female side terminal consisting only of the female terminal body. It is more advantageous than metal fittings for downsizing. Further, since the protective wall of the protective cover is located outside the auxiliary elastic piece, it is possible to reliably prevent the auxiliary elastic piece from being caught by an electric wire or a foreign matter, and the protection is ensured.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the protective cover is provided with the excessive bending preventing piece for restricting the excessive bending of the elastic contact piece. For this reason, for example, when inserting the male side metal terminal into the female side metal terminal, even if the male side metal terminal comes into contact with the female side metal terminal diagonally and is pushed in, the female side metal terminal is bent by a predetermined amount. At some point, the excessive deflection preventing piece of the protective cover is brought into contact with the protective cover to restrict excessive bending deformation. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the elastic contact piece from flexing excessively and leading to plastic deformation.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the auxiliary elastic piece provided on the protective cover is formed such that the tip thereof is wider than the base portion, the elastic contact piece is moved to the left and right when the male side terminal fitting is inserted, for example. Even if a force such as tilting acts on the elastic contact piece, the movement is suppressed by the wide portion at the tip of the auxiliary elastic piece that is in contact with the elastic contact piece. Therefore, even when the male side terminal fitting is twisted and inserted into the female side terminal fitting, the elastic contact piece can be stably maintained and an appropriate contact state can be obtained. In addition, since the tip end is formed wider than the base portion and only the tip end portion is provided with the stabilizing function of the elastic contact piece,
Unlike the case where the whole is widened, it is possible to prevent an excessive elastic force from acting on the elastic contact piece from the auxiliary elastic piece to increase the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the female terminal fitting of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. As shown in FIG. 1, the female-side terminal fitting D of this embodiment includes a terminal main body A formed by bending a conductive metal thin plate (for example, a copper alloy thin plate), and a stainless steel covering the terminal main body A. And a protective cover B made of the same.

The terminal body A has a connecting portion 3 for connecting an insertion portion 10 into which a male terminal metal fitting C (see FIG. 5), which is a mating terminal metal fitting, is inserted, and a barrel portion 20 into which the end of the electric wire is caulked.
It is composed of 0s. The barrel portion 20 is composed of a wire barrel 21 for crimping the core wire exposed from the coating end of the electric wire and an insulation barrel 22 connected to the rear end side of the wire barrel 21 for crimping the coating end of the electric wire. 21 and 22 are a pair of caulking pieces 21
It has a shape in which a and 22a are projected upward, and the caulking pieces 21a and 22a wrap the core wire X of the electric wire W or the covering end to crimp.

The insertion portion 10 is bent into a rectangular tube shape, and a thin metal plate is doubled on an upper wall surface thereof, and a contact projection 11 is formed by punching out an inner wall surface thereof toward the inside of the cylinder. Has been done. On the lower surface of the insertion part 10, the rear connecting part 30
An elastic contact piece 12 of equal width extending from is formed so as to be elastically deformable vertically. The elastic contact piece 12 is directed obliquely upward toward the inside of the cylinder, but its tip portion is a tongue piece 13 that is narrowed and bent downward in the cylinder, and its front end portion is the upper end. Is a small contact surface 13a that is cut obliquely. The tongue piece 13 prevents the male side terminal fitting C from being inserted downward of the elastic contact piece 12 when the male side terminal fitting C and the female side terminal fitting D are joined. A certain distance is provided between the contact protrusion 11 and the elastic contact piece 12, and when the male-side terminal fitting C is inserted, fitting is performed by expanding this distance.
Then, the male side terminal fitting C is connected to the contact protrusion 11 and the elastic contact piece 1.
It is designed to be held with a predetermined elasticity between the two.

The connecting portion 30 is formed in a groove shape from the rear end of the insertion portion 10 to the front end of the barrel portion 20, and the pair of stabilizers 3 are provided on the side walls 31 facing each of the left and right sides thereof.
2, 32 are provided so as to project upward. At the front side wall 31 of the stabilizer 32, the fixing piece 4 of the protective cover B is attached.
3 can be assembled. Protective cover B
As shown in FIG. 1, a thin metal plate made of stainless steel is bent into a rectangular tube shape, the dimension in the lengthwise direction thereof is slightly longer than the length of the insertion portion 10, and the inner diameter is outside the insertion portion 10. It is set slightly larger than the diameter. That is, the protective cover B
Can be fitted from the distal end side so as to cover the insertion portion 10. The outer surface of the protective cover B serves as a protective wall 45 that protects the insertion portion 10 and the auxiliary elastic piece 44 from being deformed.

On the ceiling surface of the protective cover B, a lance 41 is formed by cutting and raising from the tip side to the outside. On the front end side of the protective cover B, an opening edge portion is bent inward, and an insertion port 42 for inserting the male side terminal fitting C is formed therein. At the rear end of the protective cover B, a pair of fixing pieces 43 are provided on both left and right side walls so as to project upward, and the protective cover B is inserted into the insertion portion 10.
The protective cover B is fixed by overlapping the side wall 31 of the connecting portion 30 from the outside in a state of being fitted in and then bending the fixing piece 43 inward (see FIG. 2).

The lower wall surface of the protective cover B is doubled, the outer side is a protective wall 45, and the inner side is an auxiliary elastic piece 44.
Are elastically deformable vertically. Auxiliary elastic piece 4
The tip portion of 4 has a tongue shape which is slightly protruded from the center side, and is directed obliquely forward inside the protective cover B. The auxiliary elastic piece 44 is approximately half the length of the elastic contact piece 12, and when the protective cover B and the terminal body A are assembled, the auxiliary elastic piece 44 comes into contact with the lower surface from the base of the elastic contact piece 12. Therefore, the elastic contact piece 12 and the contact protrusion 11 increase the contact pressure when engaging the male side terminal fitting C.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the female terminal fitting D is assembled to the connector housing 50. The connector housing 50 has cavities 51 arranged side by side in the lateral direction, each cavity 51 has a rear end side with a terminal assembling port 51a for assembling the female terminal fitting D, and a front end side with the terminal assembling port 51a. Is provided with a terminal insertion port 51b for inserting the male side terminal fitting C. Further, a locking portion 52 is formed in a notch on the outer inner wall surface of each cavity 51, and the lance 41 of the female terminal metal fitting D assembled in the cavity 51 through the terminal assembling port 51a is formed therein. It is designed to engage. That is, the female-side terminal fittings D are assembled in the cavity 51 with their bottom surfaces facing each other.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. After assembling the female side terminal fittings D into the connector housing 50, when the male and female connectors are combined, the male side terminal fittings C are inserted into the insertion openings 42 of the protective cover B via the terminal insertion openings 51b of the connector housing 50. , And further into the insertion portion 10 of the terminal body A. The male-side terminal metal fitting C that has entered the insertion portion 10 further enters between the elastic contact piece 12 and the contact projection portion 11 and pushes them to be inserted into the back side. Then,
The elastic contact piece 12 is pushed by the male side terminal fitting C and is bent and deformed outward (see FIG. 6). At this time, the elastic contact piece 12 is
It will bend outward together with the auxiliary elastic piece 44,
The male side terminal fitting C is strongly sandwiched by the combined force of the elastic forces of these two elastic pieces.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the protective cover B is provided with the auxiliary elastic piece 44 which comes into contact with the elastic contact piece 12 from the outside, so that the following effects can be obtained. By providing the auxiliary elastic piece 44, the male side metal terminal C
Acts on the elastic contact piece 12 and the auxiliary elastic piece 44 with a combined force. Therefore, it is possible to reliably pinch the male side terminal fitting C with a considerably large force as compared with the case of only the elastic contact piece 12. Since the force for holding the male side terminal fitting C can be increased without increasing the plate thickness of the terminal main body, it is useful for downsizing the terminal fitting. A protective wall 45 of the protective cover B is provided outside the auxiliary elastic piece 44.
Is located, it is possible to reliably prevent an electric wire or a foreign object from being caught by the auxiliary elastic piece 44, and the protection thereof is ensured.

The contact protrusion 1 is provided on the opposite surface of the elastic contact piece 12.
Since 1 is projectingly provided, the male-side terminal metal fitting C surely contacts the elastic contact piece 12 and the conductive state is secured. By inserting the male side terminal fitting C, the elastic contact piece 12
Since the force acting on the elastic contact piece 12 can be dispersed to the base end portion of the elastic contact piece 12 and the auxiliary elastic piece 44, the elastic contact piece 12 can be less likely to settle due to long-term use, and the service life can be extended. Since the protective cover B is attached to the insertion portion 10, it is possible to prevent the insertion portion 10 from being deformed by an external force.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the female terminal fitting of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the structure of the protective cover in particular, and in the terminal body 80, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

The elastic contact piece 59 of the present embodiment is formed in a tapered shape, and its tip portion is a tongue piece 60 bent downward. Further, the connecting portion 65 is narrower than the front thereof. The pair of barrel pieces 66a in the insulation barrel 66 is slightly longer than that of the first embodiment.

The lower surface of the protective cover 61 has a double thickness, and an auxiliary elastic piece 62 is cut and raised on the inner surface side thereof. The tip end portion of the auxiliary elastic piece 62 is wider than the root portion thereof, and has a substantially T-shape. The auxiliary elastic piece 62 is elastically deformable in the vertical direction, but the tip end portion is wider than the base portion. Therefore, for example, even when a force that tilts the elastic contact piece 59 to the left or right acts as the male terminal fitting C is inserted, the movement of the elastic contact piece 59 is wide at the tip of the auxiliary elastic piece 62 in contact with the elastic contact piece 59. It is held down by the part. When the protective cover 61 and the terminal main body 80 are assembled, the auxiliary elastic piece 62 assists the elastic contact piece 59 from below while contacting the base portion to the central portion.

Further, the front surface of the protective cover 61 is bent upward from the lower part to the central part so as to cover the front part. For this reason, the insertion port 64 is provided only in the upper portion. FIG. 11 shows a state in which the female terminal fitting E is assembled to the connector housing 67. The connector housing 67 is provided with one cavity 68, the rear end side of the cavity 68 is provided with a terminal assembling port 68a for assembling the female terminal fitting E, and the front end side is provided with a male side terminal. A terminal insertion port 68b for inserting the metal fitting C is provided. Further, a locking portion 69 is formed in a notch on the inner wall surface on the outer side of the cavity 68, and the lance 41 of the female terminal metal fitting E assembled in the cavity 68 through the terminal assembling port 68a is engaged therewith. It is supposed to meet.

Also in the present embodiment having such a configuration, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained in that the force for holding the male side terminal fitting C can be increased. Further, in the second embodiment, the auxiliary elastic piece 62 has a substantially T-shape in which the tip portion is wider than the base portion. For this reason,
Even if a force that tilts the elastic contact piece 59 to the left or right acts when inserting the male-side terminal fitting C, the movement is suppressed by the wide portion in front of the auxiliary elastic piece 62 that is in contact with the elastic contact piece 59. To be Therefore, even when the male side terminal fitting C is twisted and inserted into the female side terminal fitting E, the elastic contact piece 59 can be stably maintained and an appropriate contact state can be obtained.

Further, since the tip end is formed wider than the base part and the stabilizing function of the elastic contact piece 59 is given only to the tip end part, unlike the case where the whole is widened, the auxiliary elastic piece 62 to the elastic contact piece 59 are different. It is possible to prevent an excessive resilience force from acting on and to increase the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting C.

<Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the female terminal fitting of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. The difference between the present embodiment and the second embodiment lies in the structure of the protective cover, and since the terminal bodies are the same, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Now, the protective cover 7 of this embodiment
As shown in FIG. 12, an excessive bending preventing piece 71 is cut and raised in a substantially square shape at the front position of the auxiliary elastic piece 62 and stands upright on the inner side surface of the lower surface portion of No. 0. The upper end portion of the excessive deflection preventing piece 71 is located below the tongue piece 60 at the tip end portion of the elastic contact piece 59 with a predetermined gap therebetween, and regulates the amount of bending of the elastic contact piece 59.

Even if the male connector is joined to the female connector assembled with the female terminal fitting constructed as described above,
Similar to the first embodiment, the effect of increasing the force for sandwiching the male side terminal fitting C is obtained.

Further, in the third embodiment, the tongue piece 60 is used.
An excessive bending prevention piece 71 is provided below the elastic contact piece 59 so as not to bend the elastic contact piece 59 more than a predetermined amount. Therefore, for example, when inserting the male side terminal fitting C into the female side terminal fitting, even if the male side terminal fitting C comes into contact with the female side terminal fitting at an angle and is pushed in, the elastic contact piece 59 is located. When it bends a certain amount, it contacts the excessive bending prevention piece 71 of the protective cover 70, and further excessive bending deformation is restricted. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the elastic contact piece 59 from being excessively bent and causing plastic deformation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified and implemented as follows, for example, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Above Symbol embodiments, although the resilient contact piece has been distribution only below, it may be provided so as to face the upper and lower both.
In that case, the upper surface of the protective cover may have a double thickness, and the elastic auxiliary piece may be provided on the inner surface side. Further, the elastic contact piece may be provided on the right surface or the left surface of the terminal body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded side sectional view showing an entire first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view in which the protective cover of the same embodiment is assembled.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing an elastic contact piece in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of the protective cover of the same embodiment assembled.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state before the male-side terminal fitting is inserted in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state when a male-side terminal fitting is inserted in the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the connector housing is assembled in the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing an insertion portion of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan sectional view of the protective cover of the same embodiment assembled.

FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view showing the insertion portion of the same embodiment with a protective piece removed.

FIG. 11 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the same embodiment is assembled to a connector housing.

FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing an insertion portion in the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged side cross-sectional view showing a state in which the male terminal fitting is inserted in the same embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a side sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 15 is a plan sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

12, 59 ... Elastic contact pieces 44, 62 ... Auxiliary elastic piece 45 ... Protective wall 61, 70, B ... Protective cover 71 ... Excessive bending prevention piece A, 80 ... Terminal body C ... Male side terminal fitting D, E ... Female side terminal fitting

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Noriyoshi Okamura 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroyuki Oka 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Denso Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-7-176338 (JP, A) Actually developed 61-14472 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13 / 11 H01R 13/15 H01R 13/42

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A female terminal body made of copper alloy having an elastic contact piece that comes into contact with the male terminal fitting while elastically flexing and deforming when the mating male terminal fitting is inserted, and the female terminal. A protective cover made of stainless steel and having a tubular shape fitted to the outside of the main body, wherein the protective cover has a protective wall that covers the outer side of the elastic contact piece, and the protective wall A female terminal fitting, wherein an auxiliary elastic piece that extends from the base side of the elastic contact piece toward the tip side and contacts the surface of the elastic contact piece on the bending direction side is provided inside. 2. The female-side terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover is provided with an excessive flexure preventing piece for preventing excessive flexure of the elastic contact piece. 3. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the width of the tip of the auxiliary elastic piece is wider than that of the base portion.