JP2000208194A - Connector terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector terminal excellent in durability and reliability preventing an elastic contact piece from being damaged or deformed by an excessive external force. SOLUTION: A connector terminal 1 has an electric wire crimping part 2 at the rear, and an elastic contact piece 4 in a plate spring form at the front, which contacts a corresponding conductor for electric connection, and is provided continuously from a front-end folded-back part 5 protruded from a terminal bottom plate 7. A deflection regulating walls 10 are elected outside of the elastic contact piece 4 on the both ends of the terminal bottom plate 7. When the elastic contact piece 4 is displaced more than a setting, the deflection regulating walls 10 and its upper ends abut against a corresponding conductor or a plate holding the conductor to prevent the excessive displacement of the elastic contact piece 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal structure of a connection terminal used for connection of an electric system of an automobile or the like, and more particularly to a connection which is conductively connected to a conductor on a substrate in an electric connection box. It relates to the structure around the contact piece of the terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of terminal structures of connection terminals that are conductively connected by contacting conductors on a substrate in an electric connection box used for connection of an electric system of an automobile or the like are known. I have. For example, the connection terminal 3 as shown in FIG.
1 has an electric wire caulking portion 32 and a core wire caulking portion 33 at the rear portion, and a leaf spring-like elastic contact piece 34 at the front portion for making electrical connection by contact with a counter conductor portion (not shown).
6 is a contact piece exposed type connection terminal provided continuously with the front end folded portion 35 protruding from 6. Under the elastic contact piece 34, both side plates 38 erected from both side ends of the terminal bottom plate 36.
Is provided with a bending prevention piece 39 which is formed by bending an upper end portion inward. The connection terminal 31 is housed in a predetermined connector housing, and can contact an end of the bus bar or a predetermined position of a printed circuit on a substrate to obtain an electrical connection state. Therefore, in a state where the elastic contact piece 34 is in contact with the counterpart conductor, the elastic contact piece 34 is always elastically displaced toward the terminal bottom plate 36.

At the time of the connection operation of the connection terminal 31 having the above-described structure, the mating conductor is moved from the front or from above to the front end folded portion 3.
5 is guided by a connector housing (not shown) and makes surface contact while pressing the elastic contact piece 34. At this time, the elastic contact piece 34 and the front end folded portion 35 bend and press the mating conductor portion to be electrically connected. If the elastic contact piece 34 is excessively bent by an external force such as vibration in a state where the opposing conductor portion is in contact with the elastic contact piece 34, the elastic contact piece 3
The lower surface of 4 touches the deflection preventing piece 39, and excessive bending is restricted.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional connection terminal 31, the same portion is not bent.
In this case, there is a problem that the contact portion is deteriorated or damaged due to hitting No. 9 and a good connection state is reduced. Further, when an external force exceeding the allowable limit is applied, the elastic contact piece 34 suddenly abuts against the deflection preventing piece 39 and is plastically deformed, so that there is a problem that a good connection state with the counterpart conductor cannot be secured. .

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a connection terminal excellent in durability and reliability in which an elastic contact piece is not damaged or deformed by excessive external force. is there.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a flat spring-shaped elastic contact piece which has a wire caulking portion at a rear portion and a front portion which makes electrical connection with a mating conductor portion. In the connection terminal connected to the front end folded portion protruding from the terminal bottom plate, a bending restricting wall is erected from both ends of the terminal bottom plate to the outside of the elastic contact piece, and the elastic contact piece is provided between the bending restricting walls. When is displaced more than a set, the upper end portion of the deflection control wall abuts on the mating conductor portion or the substrate holding the conductor portion to prevent excessive displacement of the elastic contact piece. This can be solved by connecting terminals.

According to the connection terminal having the above-described structure, the bending restricting walls are provided upright from both ends of the terminal bottom plate to the outside of the elastic contact pieces. The upper end of the deflection control wall abuts on the mating conductor or the substrate holding the conductor, thereby preventing the elastic contact piece from being excessively displaced. That is, even if the elastic contact piece receives an excessive external force, the elastic contact piece does not come into contact with the deflection control wall. Regulate deflection. Therefore, the elastic contact piece is not damaged or deformed by excessive external force, and a connection terminal excellent in durability and reliability can be obtained.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a connection terminal according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the connection terminal of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a development view in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a state where the connection terminal in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 4 showing the relationship with the mating substrate. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship with the mating conductor portion in FIG. 4 omitting the connector housing. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which the elastic contact piece and the mating conductor in FIG. 6 are in contact with each other.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connection terminal 1 of this embodiment is housed in a connector housing and contacts an end portion of a bus bar or a predetermined position of a printed circuit on a substrate to establish an electrical connection state. This is a contact piece exposed type connection terminal to be obtained. The connection terminal 1 has a wire caulking portion 2 and a core wire caulking portion 3
And a fixed rising angle θ from the front end of the terminal bottom plate 7 at the front.
Thus, a rising portion 6 linearly extending obliquely upward and forward is formed. An R-shaped front-end folded portion 5 protruding from the front end is connected to the rising portion 6 and extends obliquely upward and rearward from the front-end folded portion 5 to press a partner conductor. Are provided in series. The electrical connection is performed by the contact between the elastic contact piece 4 and the opposing conductor portion.

In addition, a pair of flexure restricting walls 10, 10 are erected outside the elastic contact piece 4 from both side ends of the terminal bottom plate 7. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the width d between the deflection control walls 10 and 10 opposed to each other with the elastic contact piece 4 interposed therebetween is set to be larger than the width b of the elastic contact piece 4. The deflection restricting wall 10 is for preventing the elastic contact piece 4 from being excessively displaced when an external force for displacing the elastic contact piece 4 by a predetermined amount or more is applied. That is, when an excessive external force is applied, the upper end of the deflection regulating wall 10 abuts on the mating conductor portion 26 or the substrate 25 holding the conductor portion, whereby the displacement of the elastic contact piece 4 can be regulated.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the developed view of the connection terminal, a portion surrounded by a U-shaped punched hole is a terminal lance 8 to be engaged with a connector housing (not shown). Numeral 9 is that which is locked to a housing lance of the connector housing. Also, at the right end in the figure, a wire crimping portion 2 for crimping the covering portion of the wire end.
And a core wire caulking portion 3 for crimping the core wire portion, and deflection control walls 10 are provided on both sides at the center in the figure. further,
At the left end in the figure, the above-mentioned elastic contact piece 4, front end folded portion 5, and rising portion 6 are continuously provided in a belt shape. Then, it is finished as shown in FIG. 1 by appropriately bending the portion shown by the imaginary line in the figure.

Next, the operation of the connection terminal having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, the connection operation to the mating conductor 26 formed on the substrate 25 will be described. The case where the width dimension c of the mating conductor portion 26 is narrower than the width dimension d between the deflection control walls 10 and 10 which is wider than the width dimension b of the elastic contact piece 4 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the connection terminal 1 is formed in a connector housing 21 of the connector 20, and is housed in a terminal housing chamber 22 in which at least one half (upper side in the figure) is open. At this time, the square hole 9 of the terminal bottom plate 7 and the housing lance 23 erected on the bottom wall in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 are engaged with each other, and the deflection control wall 10 is engaged with the two partition walls 28 forming the terminal accommodating chamber 22. It is locked while being guided by the formed locking groove 24. In this state, the elastic contact piece 4 of the connection terminal 1
Is completely exposed upward in the figure. Further, the substrate 25 includes a conductor portion 26 forming a predetermined circuit, and a through hole 2 through which the partition wall 28 escapes when connected to the connector housing 21.
7 and is fixed to a device body (not shown).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, in a state where the connection terminal 1 is completely accommodated in the connector housing 21,
Substrate 25 fixed at a predetermined position of equipment not shown
The upper conductor 26 is brought into contact with the connection portion on the connector housing 21 where the elastic contact piece 4 is exposed. At this time, in addition to the elastic contact piece 4 and the front end folded portion 5, the rising portion 6 also bends due to the pressing force of the conductor portion 26, so that the connection force does not suddenly increase, and the pressing force is almost constant, and it is sure Can be connected. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the opposing conductor portion 26 on the substrate 25 comes into contact with the elastic contact piece 4 with an appropriate pressing force, the elastic contact piece 4 bends toward the terminal bottom plate 7. Due to this bending, a biasing force is generated in the elastic contact piece 4 with respect to the opposing conductor portion 26. As a result, the elastic contact piece 4 comes into contact with the opposing conductor portion 26 with an appropriate contact pressure to be electrically connected.

However, as shown in FIG.
When the elastic contact piece 4 is displaced more than the setting between 0 and 10, the upper end 10 a of the deflection control wall 10 abuts on the substrate 25 holding the conductor 26. Thereby, the elastic contact piece 4
Can prevent excessive deflection without contacting the deflection control wall 10. Therefore, excessive external force is applied to the elastic contact piece 4.
, The elastic contact piece 4 itself is not damaged or plastically deformed while maintaining a good connection state with the mating conductor portion 26. The connector housing 21 is fixed to a device body (not shown) to which the board 25 is fixed when the connection is completed.

As described above, in the connection terminal 1 of the present embodiment, the pair of deflection regulating walls 10, 10 are provided upright from the both ends of the terminal bottom plate 7 to the outside of the elastic contact piece 4.
When the elastic contact piece 4 is displaced more than the setting between the deflection control walls 10, the upper end of the deflection control wall 10 abuts on the substrate 25 holding the mating conductor 26. Therefore, excessive displacement of the elastic contact piece 4 is restricted, and the elastic contact piece 4 is not damaged or deformed by excessive external force, and a connection terminal excellent in durability and reliability can be obtained. .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be embodied in other forms by making appropriate changes. For example, in the present embodiment, the deflection control wall 10 is a substantially rectangular side wall having a corner portion, but by adopting a configuration in which the corner portion in contact with the substrate 25 is reduced, the deflection control wall 10 can be connected to the substrate 25 or the mating conductor portion 26. Can be minimized. For example, it is also possible to form the deflection control wall 10 in an arc shape instead of a rectangular shape, or to bend the upper end portion of the rectangular deflection control wall 10 outward in an R shape. In addition, if the width between the deflection control walls 10 and 10 can be made larger than the width of the elastic contact piece 4, the deflection control wall 10 can be bent inward so as not to interfere with the displaced elastic contact piece 4. It is.

[0017]

As described above, according to the connection terminal of the present invention, the bending restricting walls are erected from both ends of the terminal bottom plate to the outside of the elastic contact pieces, and the elastic contact pieces are set between the bending restricting walls. In the case of the above displacement, the upper end of the deflection control wall abuts on the mating conductor or the substrate holding the conductor, thereby preventing the elastic contact piece from being excessively displaced. Therefore, even if the elastic contact piece receives an excessive external force, the elastic contact piece does not come into contact with the deflection control wall, and the deflection control wall abuts against the mating conductor portion or the substrate surface to restrict excessive deflection of the elastic contact piece. Is not damaged or plastically deformed by excessive external force. Therefore, a connection terminal excellent in durability and reliability can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a connection terminal of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a development view in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state where the connection terminals in FIG. 1 are housed in a connector housing.

FIG. 5 is an EE cross-sectional view showing a relationship with a counterpart substrate in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view showing a positional relationship with a mating conductor part by omitting a connector housing in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a deflection regulating wall in FIG. 6 is in contact with a substrate surface.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional connection terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connection terminal 2 Wire crimping part 3 Core wire crimping part 4 Elastic contact piece 5 Front end folded part 6 Standing part 7 Terminal bottom plate 10 Deflection control wall 20 Connector 21 Connector housing 22 Terminal accommodating chamber 23 Housing lance 25 Substrate 26 Conductor part θ rising angle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A leaf spring-shaped elastic contact piece having a wire caulking portion at a rear portion and making electrical contact by contacting with a mating conductor portion at a front portion is connected to a front end folded portion protruding from a terminal bottom plate. In the connection terminal, a bending restricting wall is erected from both ends of the terminal bottom plate to the outside of the elastic contact piece, and when the elastic contact piece is displaced more than a setting between the bending restricting walls, A connection terminal, wherein an upper end portion of the connection terminal is in contact with the mating conductor portion or a substrate holding the conductor portion to prevent excessive displacement of the elastic contact piece.