GB2159006A

GB2159006A - Tab receptacle terminal

Info

Publication number: GB2159006A
Application number: GB08412579A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sucha Singh Sian
Original assignee: Essex Group LLC
Current assignee: Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire USA LLC
Priority date: 1984-05-16
Filing date: 1984-05-17
Publication date: 1985-11-20
Also published as: GB2159006B; DE3418249A1; GB8412579D0

Abstract

A tab receptacle terminal formed from a single blank of sheet metal and which adapted to be inserted in an insulating housing 62 comprises a box-like main body portion and two cantilever spring contact members 40 extending from the tab-entry end of the body portion and bent back inside the body portion. A spring retention tang 52 struck from each of two opposed side members 26, 28 of the body portion has an inwardly directed projection 58 engageable by a respective one of the contact members 40 upon flexing of the latter responsive to insertion of a blade tab 46 between the contact members 40 to bias the tang 52 into retaining relation with an abutment shoulder 80 formed in the housing 62. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tab receptacle terminal This invention relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical tab receptacle terminals ofthe type having a pair of cantilever spring contact members disposed within a box-like bodythat is adapted for mounting in an insulating housing.

A known type of tab receptacle terminals formed from sheet metal comprises a box-like main body portion with extensions of two opposed sides bent backwithin the body portion to form cantilever spring contacts between which a tab or pin may be inserted and gripped. Examples ofthis type of terminals are disclosed in U.S. patent Nos. 3,609,640,3,713,080, 3,718,895,3,992,076 and 4,076,369. The terminal shown in patent No.3,992,076 has an outwardly projecting resilient retention tang struck from one side of its body portion for securing the terminal in a cavity of an insulating housing. Other examples ofterminals provided with a resilient retention tang are disclosed in U.S. patent Nos. 3,562,698,4,068,915 and 4,306,761.

Tab receptacle terminals ofthe type referred to above are commonly produced in continuous strip form with a plurality ofterminals connected attheir ends in side-by-side relation to either one ortwo carrier strips. The strips of terminals are commonly wound on a reel for subsequent application to electric wires by a terminal presswhichsequentiallysepa- rates the terminals from the carrier strips and crimps a wire connecting portion of each terminal to a wire.

During handling ofthe strips ofterminals, the outwardly projecting retention tang of a terminal may be accidentally depressed into the mai body portion ol the terminal and not return to its original position.

After such a damaged terminal is inserted into an insulating housing, its retention tang is ineffective to adequately secure the terminal to the housing. Conse quently,theterminal may be pushed outofthe housing by the engagement forces produced when an attempt is madeto mate the terminal with a complementarytab.

The present invention provides an improved tab receptacleterminal of the type comprising a box-like main body portion having an extension atitsforward tab-entryend bent back inside the body portion from each of two opposed side membersto provide two cantilever spring contact members between which a bladetab may be inserted and gripped. A spring retentiontang struck from each ofthe opposed side members extends generally lengthwise of the body portion with a forward end portion connected to its respective side member and a free inclined rear portion extending rearwardlyand outwardly with respect to its associated side member. The forward end portion of each tang is inwardly bowed to define a projection adjacentthe contact member ofthe associ- ate side member.These projections are engageable by the respective contact members upon flexing of the latter responsive to insertion of a blade tab therebe- tween to bias the respective rear portions of the tang outwardly.

The tab receptacle terminal of the present invention is adapted to be inserted in an insulating housing having a terminal receiving passageway therein open to the rear of the housing which has a forward stop and a pair of opposed walls each providing an intermediately located internal abutment shoulderfor engagement by a respective one of the tangs of the terminal. Afterthe terminal is inserted in the passageway ofthe housing, the insertion of a blade tab between the contact members results in the flexing of the contact members against the projections of the tangs to ensure that the tangs are each in a retaining relation with respect to an abutment shoulder.

For a better understanding ofthe invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. lisa sectional view showing the terminal ofthe present invention disposed within an insulating housing for reception of a complementai tab shown fragmentariiy; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the terminal and insulating housing showing the tab inserted into the terminal; Fig. 3 is a top perspective view partly broken away and partly in section of the terminal; Fig. 3A is a bottom perspective view to a reduced scale of the terminal ; Fig. 4 is a sectional viewtaken along the line 4-4 of Fig.3;; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sheet metal blank from which the terminal of Fig. 1 formed; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view partly broken away and partly in section of the insulating housing.

Referring now to the drawings, a tao receptacle terminal 10 according to the present invention in clues a box-iike main body portion 12 of elongate form and a wire connecting portion 14 extending from the rear end ofthe main body portion 12. As is well known, the wire connecting portion 14 comprises two initially open U-shaped ferrules 16 and 18forcrimplny respectively to the conductive core 20 and the outer insulation 22 of a wire 24. The terminal 10 may be formed from asuitable electrically conductive sheet metal such as cartridge brass by shaping a blank 26 of the form shown in Fig. 5.It will be apparentthat the sheet metal should be sufficiently hard and resilientto impart a spring quality to elements of the main body portion 12 yet be sufficiently malleable to permit crimping ofthewire connecting portion 12 aboutthe end of a wire 24.

The main body portion 12 2 includes four generally flat side members 26,28,30 and 32 arranged with the side members 26 and 28 in opposed relation and the side members 30 and 32 in opposed relation. The side members are joined at respective edges ofthe btey portion 12 with a seam 34 extending generally along the length ofthe side member 32. The side member 28 hasan inwardly offset portion or outer recess 28Ain which is engaged a locking tongue 32A extending from one section ofthe side member 32 through a The drawing(s) originally filed was (were) informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy.

notch in the other section to prevent separating movement ofthe body portion 12 at the seam 34. At the forwardtab-entryend 36 ofthe body portion 12, each ofthe side members 26 and 28 has an extension 38 bent back inside the body portion 12 to form a cantileverspring contact member 40 extending from a bight 42 back into the interior ofthe body portion 12.

The contact members 40 converge to engage each other adjacent the free or rearward ends 44 thereof and thus define an open mouth guide into which a blade tab 46 of convention construction may be inserted. The contact members 40 are spread apart upon insertion of a blade tab 46 therebetween and resiliently exert contact pressure on the inserted tab 46. The free ends 44 are outwardly bent toward the respective side members 26 and 28 for engagement therewith to resiliently limitthe spreading apart of the contact members 40. At its extremity, each free end 44 may be longitudinally divided by a slot 48.A stop flat 50 is formed as an extension ofthe side member 28 at the rear end thereof and is inwardly bent to extend acrossthe rear end ofthe body portion 12 for limiting insertion ofthe tab 46 into the body portion 12. The wire connecting portion 14 constitutes an extension of the side member 26.

A spring retention tang 52 is struck from at least one and preferably each ofthe side members 26 and 28.

Each tang 52 has a forward end portion 54 integrally connectedto its respective side member26 or 28 and a free inclined rear portion 56 extending rearwardly and outwardlywith respect to the body portion 12. The forward end portion 54 of each tang 52 is inwardly bowed to define a projection 58 disposed close to the adjacent contact member 40 ofthe associatee side member 26 or 28. When the contact members 40 are spread apart upon a receiving a blade tab 46 therebetween, the contact members 40 engage the respective projections 58 to bias the respective rear portions 56 of the tangs 52 outwardly with respect two their associated side members.

As shown in Fig. 1, the terminal 10 is adapted to be inserted longitudinally into theterminal receiving passageway 60 of a conventional insulating body or housing 62. The housing 62 is in the form of a tube having a pair of spaced parallel side walls 64joined by top and bottom walls 66 and 68. Atthefront or mating end ofthe housing 62, a pair of inwardly directed stop members 70 depend from each ofthe walls 66 and 68 adjacent the side walls 64. These stop members 70 serve as aforward stop to limitforward movement of a terminal 10 inserted into the passageway60 and also serve as a guide for insertion of a tab 46 into the tab-entry end 36 ofthe body portion 12. The top and bottom walls 66 and 68 ofthe housing 62 each have an identical forwardly located boss portion 72 projecting into the passageway 60.Each boss portion 72 has a rearward ramp portion 74 spaced forwardly ofthe rear opening 76 and a forward longitudinal slot 78 providing a forwardlyfacing abutment shoulder 80.

Since both the passageway 60 ofthe housing 62 and the body portion 12 of the terminal 10 are symmetrical with respectto respective horizontal bisecting planes, the terminal 10 may be inserted into the passageway 60 through the rear opening76with the orientation shown in Fig. t at with a reversed orientation. As the body portion 12 of the terminal 10 passes between the boss portions 72 of the housing 62, the ramp portions 74 engagethe rear portions 56 of the tangs 52 to depress the tangs 52 into the body portion 12. When the terminal lOis further inserted to the fully assembled position shown in Fig. 1, the rear portions 56 if thetangs 52 snap into the slots 78 and are retained therein bythe shoulders80.Thus engagementoftheshoulders80 bythetangs 52 prevents withdrawal ofthe terminal ? Oth rough the rear opening 76 while engagement ofthe body portion 12 with the stop members 70 preventstheterminal 10 from leaving the housing 62 at the otherend. lt will be apparent, however, that remcival oftheterminal 10 from the housing 62 could be effected, if desired, by inserting two narrow blades of asuitableteol (not shown) into the slots 78 from thefront ofthe housing 62 to depress the tangs 52 into the body portion 12.

Aftertheterminal 10 has been assembled with the housing 62, a bladetab46 maybe inserted through the forward end ofthe housing passageway 60 between the pairs of stop members 70 into the tab-entry end 36 ofthe terminal 10. Insertion ofthe tab 46 into the body portion 12 spreads the contact members 40 apart, bringing their free ends 44 into engagement with the respective side members 26 and 28. This flexing ofthe contact members 40 establishes a spring contact pressure of a desired value between the tab 46 and the contact members 40.Atthe sametime,the projections 58 ofthetangs 52 are engaged by the respective contactmembers40 upontheflexing ofthe latterto bias the respective rear portion 56 ofthe tangs 52 outwardlytherebyensuringthatthetangs52 remain in retaining relation with the housing 62. In the event that either of the tangs 52 had been accidentally depressed within the body portion 12 during handling priorto assemblyoftheterminal 10 with the housing 62 and had not returned to its extending condition, it will automatically be restored to its extended latching condition upon insertion of a tab 46 into the body portion 12.

While there has been described abovethe principles ofthe invention in connection with a specific tab receptacle terminal construction, it is to be understood that th is description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scopeofthe invention.

Claims

1. An electrical tab recepradeterminai adaptedto be inserted in an insulating housing having a terminal receiving passageway therein open to the rear ofthe housing which has a forward stop atthe front of the housing and a wall providing an intermediately located internal abutment shoulder, said terminal being of unitary sheet metal construction and comprising: a box-like main body portion of elongate form having an entry end for reception of a blade terminal; said body portion having four side members arranged with first and second side members in opposed relation and with third and fourth side members in opposed relation; each ofthe first and second side members including an extension bentbackinsidethe bQ4y portronfrom safd entry errd ta form a cantilever spring contact member extending frora bight back intothintertor of the-body portion; said contact members being convergent to engage each other adjacentthe free ends thereof to define a guide for insertion of a blade tabtherebetween; and a spring retention tang struckfrom said first side member and extending generally lengthwise thereof; said tang having a forward end portion connected to the first side member and a free inclined rear portion extending rearwardly and outwardly with respect to the first side memberfor engagement with said abutment should when the body portion is disposed in said passageway; the forward end portion of said tang being inwardly bowed to define a projection adjacent the contact member ofthefirst side member; said projection being engageable by the contact member ofthefirst side member upon flexing ofthe latter contact member toward the first side member responsive to insertion of a blade tab between the contact members to thereby bias the rear portion of the tang outwardly with respect to the first side member.

2. An electrical terminal for mating with a blade tab and adapted to be inserted in an insulating housing having a terminal receiving passageway therein open tothe rearofthe housing which has a forward stop and two opposed walls each providing an intermediately located internal abutment shoulder, said terminal being of unitary sheet metal construction and comprising: a box-like main body portion of elongate form having an entry end for reception of a blade terminal; said body portion having four side members arranged with first and second side members in opposed relation and with third and fourth side members in opposed relation; each ofthe first and second side members including an extension bent back inside the body portion from said entry end to form a cantilever spring contact member extending from a bight back into the interior ofthe body portion; said contact members being convergent to engage each other adjacent the free ends thereof to define a guide for insertion of a blade tabtherebetween; and a spring retention tang struck from each of said first and second side members and extending generally lengthwise of the body portion; each tang having a forward end portion connected to its respective side memberfor engagement with a corresponding one of said abutment shoulders when the body portion is disposed in said passageway; the forward end portion of each tang being inwardly bowed to define a projection adjacent the contact member of tl.e associated side member; said projections being engageable by the respective contact members upon fiexing of the latter toward their respective side members responsiveto insertion of a blade tab therebetween to thereby bias the respective rear portions of the tangs outwardly with respecttotheirassociated side members.