JP2000215959A - Lamp socket - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a play in a terminal metal fitting. SOLUTION: A through hole 15 of this bulb socket into which a tab 24 of a terminal metal fitting is to be inserted is formed with holding projection parts 16A, 16B for pressing two faces of the tab 24 out of alignment. Pinching of the tab 24 with the holding projection parts 16A, 16B prevents a play of the terminal metal fitting to a socket main body 10. Because the press positions of the holding projection parts 16A, 16B are out of alignment on the two faces of the tab 24, the tab 24 can be elastically bent so as not to generate excessive friction between the tab 24 and the holding projection parts 16A, 16B. Accordingly, buckling deformation or breaking of the tab 24 can be avoided when the tab 24 is inserted into the through hole 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a valve socket.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-22087 discloses a conventional valve socket. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a terminal fitting b is assembled to a socket body a, a contact piece c of the terminal fitting b faces a valve mounting hole d, and a tab t of the terminal fitting b is fitted into a connector. This is a structure facing the joint e. When a wire harness-side connector (not shown) is fitted into the connector fitting portion e and its terminal fitting is connected to the tab t, the valve f is inserted into the valve mounting hole d and brought into contact with the contact piece c. Power is supplied to the valve f via the harness and the terminal fitting.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned valve socket, a lance g that can be elastically bent by cutting and raising the terminal fitting b is formed. In the process of assembling the terminal fitting b, the lance g is elastically bent, and the terminal fitting b When the lance g is properly assembled, the lance g returns elastically and the socket body a
And the terminal fitting b is stopped from the socket body a. In such a retaining structure by the engagement between the lance g and the engaging portion h, in order to smoothly perform the bending operation of the lance g, the clearance is maintained between the lance g and the engaging portion h even in the retaining state. The dimensions are set so that they can be secured. Therefore, when the valve socket is subjected to vibration during traveling of the vehicle, the terminal fitting b is connected to the valve f.
There was a case where an unusual sound was generated with rattling while holding the sound.

As means for preventing backlash of the terminal fittings b, attention is paid to a structure in which a tab t is penetrated from the valve mounting hole d to the connector fitting portion e.
It is conceivable that the tab t is press-fitted into the partition wall i between the connector fitting portion e and the terminal fitting b to prevent backlash due to friction caused by the press-fitting. However, in the press-fitting, the tab t is brought into contact with the inner wall surface of the hole to be press-fitted while being deformed over a wide range, so that the resistance due to the deformation is large and the workability is not good. Further, when the size of the valve socket is to be reduced, the thickness of the tab t is also reduced accordingly, so that the tab t may be buckled or broken due to resistance during press-fitting. Therefore, the press-fitting method cannot cope with a small valve socket.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to prevent rattling of terminal fittings.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket body having a valve mounting portion and a connector fitting portion separated by a partition, a valve contact piece facing the valve mounting portion, and the connector fitting portion. A terminal fitting having a band-shaped tab facing the portion, wherein the terminal fitting is assembled to the socket body so as to allow the tab to pass through a through hole of the partition wall. The configuration is such that the holding projections for pressing the front and back surfaces of the tab are formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the pressing position of the holding projection against the tab is:
The tab is configured to be shifted between the front and back surfaces. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the holding protrusion has a rib shape extending along a direction in which the tab extends.

[0008] The invention of claim 4 is the first to third aspects of the present invention.
In any one of the inventions, the tab has a form in which both edge portions are folded back to one surface side and end edges of the folded portion are abutted with each other, and in a surface opposite to the folded portion of the tab, the tab is The position corresponding to the joint of the folded part is pressed by the holding projection. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, a tapered guide slope is formed in an opening of the through hole on the insertion side of the tab.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the tab is sandwiched between the front and rear sides by the holding projections and held by friction, so that the terminal fitting is prevented from floating with respect to the socket body. The resistance generated between the two when the tab is passed through the through hole is due to the deformation of the holding projection by the tab, and the tab abuts on the entire inner wall surface of the through hole to cover a large area. As compared with the case of deformation, the resistance at the time of penetration is small, and the penetration operation can be smoothly performed without buckling deformation or breakage.

[Invention of Claim 2] Since the pressing positions of the holding projections are shifted from each other on the front side and the back side, the tabs can be slightly elastically bent. Therefore, when the tab passes through the through-hole, the resistance is reduced by elastically bending, and the smoothing operation can be further facilitated. In addition, even when the holding protrusion is crushed and deformed with time, the elastic restoring force of the tab maintains the frictional resistance with the holding protrusion, that is, the holding force, and prevents the terminal fitting from rattling. [Invention of claim 3] Since the holding protrusion has a rib shape along the penetrating direction, the frictional resistance at the time of penetration is further reduced.

[Invention of Claim 4] Since the holding projection presses the joint between the folded portions from the back side, the tab easily elastically bends while expanding the joint. Can be. Thereby, the crush deformation of the holding projection is suppressed, and the function of holding the tab by the holding projection is maintained. [Invention of claim 5] When inserting the tab into the through hole,
Since the leading end of the tab slides into the tapered guide slope and is guided into the through hole, the leading end of the tab is prevented from hitting the opening edge of the through hole.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The valve socket S of the present embodiment includes a socket body 10 made of a synthetic resin and a pair of terminal fittings 20. The socket body 10 has a valve mounting part 11 opening upward and a connector fitting part 12 opening downward,
The valve mounting portion 11 and the connector fitting portion 12 are separated by a partition 13 having a thick horizontal plate shape. A locking projection 14 for preventing the terminal fitting 20 from coming off is formed on the inner wall of the valve mounting portion 11. Further, the base of the valve B is inserted into the valve mounting portion 11, and a wire harness-side connector (not shown) is fitted into the connector fitting portion 12.

The partition wall 13 has a through hole 15 for passing the tab 24 of the terminal fitting 20 from the valve mounting portion 11 side to the connector fitting portion 12 side. Through hole 15
Has an opening shape of a rectangular cross section as a whole, the inner dimension on the long side thereof is the same as or slightly larger than the width dimension of the tab 24, and the inner dimension on the short side is the tab 24.
The dimensions are slightly larger than the thickness. On the inner wall on the long side of the through-hole 15, rib-like holding projections 16 </ b> A, 16 elongate in the direction in which the tab 24 penetrates.
B is formed. Of the long side inner wall of the through hole 15,
One holding projection 16A is provided at the center in the width direction on the surface facing the surface of the tab 24 (in the present embodiment, the surface opposite to the folded side is the surface as described later). Two holding projections 16B are provided on the surface facing the back surface (the surface on which the folded portion 24A is present) of 24 at positions deviated left and right from the center in the width direction. Further, the side of the through hole 15 into which the tab 24 is inserted (the valve mounting portion 1).
A tapered guide slope 17 expanding toward the valve mounting portion 11 is formed at the opening edge of the first side.

The terminal fitting 20 is formed by bending a metal plate material punched into a predetermined shape, and has a vertically long flat plate-shaped main body 21 and a right angle forward from both left and right edges at the lower end of the main body 21. A pair of bent valve contact pieces 22 that are bent and raised upward, a flat plate-shaped abutment 23 that is bent inward from the lower edge of one of the valve contact pieces 22, and this abutment 23, an elongate tab 24 extending downwardly from the edge of 23. Tab 2
No. 4 is made of two sheets and is twice as thick as other parts in order to improve strength. That is, the tab 24 is symmetrically folded back to the left and right side edges to the back side, and the folded portion 2 is formed.
In this embodiment, the edges 24B of the 4A are abutted at the center in the width direction. Further, a lance 25 for retaining and retaining the terminal fitting 20 with respect to the socket main body 10 is formed in the main body 21 so as to be elastically bent by cutting and raising.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When assembling the terminal fitting 20, the tab 24 is inserted into the valve mounting portion 11 with the tab 24 facing forward, and the tab 24 is passed through the through hole 15. During the assembly, the lance 25 is elastically bent so as to interfere with the locking projection 14 and close. Then, when the terminal fitting 20 is assembled at a regular assembling position where the abutment portion 23 is brought into contact with the partition wall 13, the lance 25 is elastically restored and is locked to the locking projection 14, so that the terminal fitting 20 is moved. Is held in a retaining state.

In this assembled state, the lance 25 is pivotally displaced when the lance 25 is locked on the locking projection 14, so that the lance 25
A small gap is formed between the tip of the socket 10 and the locking projection 14, and the gap allows the terminal fitting 20 to be slightly displaced in the insertion / removal direction with respect to the socket body 10. However, the movement of the terminal fitting 20 is restricted as described below. That is, in the assembled state, the holding protrusions 16A, 16B formed in the through hole 15 are provided.
Abuts on the front and back surfaces of the tab 24, so that when the terminal fitting 20 tries to move, the tab 24 and the holding projections 16 </ b> A, 1
A frictional resistance is generated between the terminal fitting 20B and the terminal fitting 20B.

Also, when the tab 24 passes through the through hole 15, frictional resistance is generated between the tab 24 and the holding projections 16A, 16B.
Since the contact positions of the tabs B with the tabs 24 are shifted from each other on the front and rear sides of the tabs 24, the tabs 24 may be slightly elastically bent (not shown) so as to bend in the width direction, though slightly. The frictional resistance between the holding projections 16A and 16B is reduced by the elastic bending of the tab 24. Therefore, the tab 24 does not receive excessive frictional resistance during the penetration, and the tab 24 is smoothly penetrated without causing buckling deformation or breakage due to the frictional resistance.

Further, even when the holding projections 16A and 16B are crushed and deformed with time, the frictional resistance between the tab 24 and the holding projections 16A and 16B, that is, the holding force is reduced by the elastic restoring force of the tab 24. Therefore, the function of preventing the terminal fitting 20 from rattling is maintained. Further, since the holding projections 16A and 16B are formed in a rib shape extending long in the direction of penetration of the tab 24, the frictional resistance between the tab 24 and the holding projections 16A and 16B during the penetration. And the workability of assembling the terminal fitting 20 is excellent.

The holding projection 16A which comes into contact with the surface of the tab 24 has a joint 24C between the folded portions 24A.
And the corresponding position is pushed from the opposite side. Therefore, the tab 24 elastically bends so as to expand the seam 24C, and there is no possibility that the edges 24B of the folded back portion 24A interfere with each other to restrict the bending. It's easier. Thereby, the temporal deformation of the holding projections 16A and 16B is reduced, and the elastically bent state of the tab 24 is maintained. As a result, the function of holding the tab 24 by the holding projections 16A and 16B is maintained for a long time.

When the tab 24 is inserted into the through hole 15, even if the tip of the tab 24 is displaced, it is guided by the tapered guide slope 17 and guided into the through hole 15 while sliding on the guide slope 17. Therefore, a smooth penetrating operation is performed. [Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the holding protrusion presses the tab at the front and back three places. However, according to the present invention, four or more places may be pressed. (2) In the above embodiment, the tab is pressed at a position where the holding protrusion is shifted from each other between the front side and the back side. However, according to the present invention, the same position may be pressed between the front side and the back side. Good. (3) In the above embodiment, the holding protruding portion has the shape of a rib extending along the direction in which the tab penetrates. Also,
In the case of a protrusion, the position of the protrusion may be a position spaced in the width direction of the tab as in the embodiment, or may be a position spaced in the penetrating direction.

(4) In the above embodiment, the tapered guide slope is formed at the entrance of the through hole.
The guide slope may not be formed. (5) In the above embodiment, the tab has a double-layered structure in which both edges are folded back by two folds. However, the present invention employs a form in which the tab is folded in two at one fold at the center in the width direction. The present invention can also be applied to a case where the tab is not folded and is a single plate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state where a terminal fitting is assembled to a socket body in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a terminal fitting is removed from a socket body.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a terminal fitting is removed from a socket body.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a through hole and a tab.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a through hole.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a through hole.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tab is made to pass through a through hole.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view in which a state in which a tab is penetrated through a through hole is shown by exaggerating a holding protrusion.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Socket main body 11 ... Valve mounting part 12 ... Connector fitting part 13 ... Partition wall 15 ... Through-hole 16A, 16B ... Retention protrusion 17 ... Guide slope 20 ... Terminal fitting 22 ... Valve contact piece 24 ... Tab 24A ... Folding part 24C ... seam

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A terminal having a socket body having a valve mounting portion and a connector fitting portion separated by a partition, a valve contact piece facing the valve mounting portion, and a strip-shaped tab facing the connector fitting portion. Wherein the terminal fitting is assembled to the socket body such that the tab penetrates through the through hole of the partition wall, wherein the through hole has a holding projection for pressing both front and back surfaces of the tab. A valve socket characterized by having a groove formed therein. 2. The valve socket according to claim 1, wherein the pressing position of the holding protrusion against the tab is a position shifted between the front and back surfaces of the tab. 3. The valve socket according to claim 1, wherein the holding projection has a rib shape extending along a direction in which the tab extends. 4. The tab is formed such that both edges thereof are folded back to one surface side and edges of the folded portions are abutted against each other, and on a surface opposite to the folded portion of the tab, the folded portion is formed. The valve socket according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a position corresponding to the joint is pressed by the holding projection. 5. The valve socket according to claim 1, wherein a tapered guide slope is formed at an opening of the through-hole on the tab insertion side.