JP2000223195A - Female-side terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a female-side metallic terminal fitting capable of preventing a burr produced on a hole edge of a slip-off lock hole in a mating tab from abutting on an elastic contact piece. SOLUTION: An elastic contact piece 40 is provided with a slip-off lock protrusion 45, and when two terminal fittings are connected, a tab 50 is slip-off locked by the slip-off lock protrusion 45 engaging with a slip-off lock hole 51 opened in the mating tab 50. In some cases, a burr B is produced on a hole edge of the slip-off lock hole 51 due to pressing work, but the elastic contact piece 40 can be prevented from abutting on the burr B because the elastic contact piece 40 is provided with a recess 44 in a portion confronting the hole edge of the slip-off lock hole 51.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting having an elastic contact piece which elastically contacts a tab of a male terminal fitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A female terminal fitting of this type is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-75492.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a plurality of the female terminal fittings 1 are assembled in a socket 2, and a plurality of tabs 4 projecting from the rear side of the halogen lamp 3 are connected to the respective terminals. It has become so. The elastic contact piece 5 of the female terminal fitting 1 has a retaining projection 6 formed therein.
Is connected, the elastic contact piece 5 elastically contacts the tab 4 and the retaining projection 6 engages with the retaining hole 7 opened in the tab 4 to prevent the tab 4 from being removed.

[0003]

However, in the female terminal fitting of the type in which the tab is stopped by the elastic contact piece as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. When the burr 12 is formed on the edge of the hole by the press working, the elastic contact piece 13 may come into contact with the burr 12 and the portion to be in contact with the tab 10 may be in a floating state. In such a case, the retaining projection 14 and the retaining hole 1
It is possible that the locking margin with 1 is reduced and the normal locking force cannot be maintained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a female terminal fitting capable of avoiding contact between a burr generated at a hole edge of a retaining hole of a mating tab and an elastic contact piece. To provide.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a female terminal fitting having a connecting portion capable of receiving a tab of a male terminal fitting, and a connecting portion provided at the connecting portion. An elastic contact piece capable of elastically contacting the tab is provided, and the elastic contact piece is punched out of the tab when the tab is pushed to a proper connection position with respect to the connection portion. A female terminal fitting provided with a retaining projection that engages with the inside of the retaining hole opened by the retaining tab to prevent the tab from being removed, and when the tab reaches the regular connection position, The portion of the elastic contact piece that faces the hole edge of the retaining hole is characterized in that a concave portion that can avoid interference with a burr generated at the hole edge is formed.

[0006]

When the male and female terminal fittings are connected, the elastic contact piece can avoid contact with the burr.
Burrs do not cause floating portions of the terminal fittings to contact. In addition, since the retaining projection can be reliably engaged with the retaining hole, the locking force of both terminal fittings can be maintained well.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The female terminal fitting 20 of the present embodiment is connected to a tab 50 (only a tip portion is shown in the figure) of the male terminal fitting. The tab 50 is formed in a flat plate shape by a conductive metal member, and a retaining hole 51 is provided at a predetermined position by punching a press.

[0008] The female terminal fitting 20 is formed by pressing a conductive metal plate, and has a front end side (tab 5).
0), a connecting portion 21 capable of receiving the tab 50, a pair of left and right stoppers 22 for restricting excessive insertion of the tab 50, and a pair of right and left for caulking the core of an electric wire (not shown). A wire barrel 23 and a pair of left and right insulation barrels 24 for caulking the electric wire are provided.

In the lower portion of the connecting portion 21, side walls 32, 32 are formed upright so as to sandwich an elastic contact piece 40 described later. Further, from the upper ends of the side walls 32, 32, step portions 33, 33 project horizontally outward, and from the side ends of the step portions 33, 33, a cross section is formed so as to cover above the step portions 33, 33. Upper wall 3 formed by folding back in the shape of
4,34 are continuous. The top edges of the upper walls 34, 34 are bent so as to face each other along the length direction to form pressing portions 34A, 34A, and the tab 50 is formed by pressing the tabs 50 with the pressing portions 34A, 34A and the step portions 33, 33. It can be inserted while being sandwiched between them.

The elastic contact piece 40 is formed by folding back so as to have an upward slope rearward from the front edge of the bottom wall 31 and has an appropriate elastic force. In addition, the tip of the elastic contact piece 40 is bent in a U-shape to serve as a contact portion 41 that elastically contacts the tab 50. Also, the elastic contact piece 4
The wing pieces 42, 42 protrude in the left-right direction from the front end portion of the zero. Correspondingly, a through hole 35 through which the wing piece 42 is inserted is formed in a portion from the side wall 32 to the upper wall 34.
35 is provided, and the wing piece 42 projects through the through hole 35 to the outside of the connecting portion 21. When the tab 50 is connected to the connecting portion 21, the wing piece 42 is pushed down by the pushing-down operation so that the retaining protrusion 4 described later can be used.
5 to release the engagement between the retaining hole 5 and the retaining hole 51.

On the upper surface of the elastic contact piece 40, a circular concave portion 44 is formed which is concave toward the bottom wall 31 side. The diameter of the concave portion 44 is larger than the diameter of the retaining hole 51 and the tab 50
Is set at the proper connection position, the portion of the retaining hole 51 facing the hole edge is entirely located inside the concave portion 44 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). In the center of the concave portion 44, a retaining protrusion 45 cut and raised so that the rear end side is lifted is provided. When the tab 50 is connected, the retaining projection 45 engages with the inside of the retaining hole 51 to prevent the tab 50 from being removed. The position of the tab 50 when the retaining projection 45 engages with the retaining hole 51 is defined as a regular connection position.

The stopper 22 has a structure in which a pair of left and right projecting pieces project upward, and the tip of the tab 50 inserted into the connecting portion 21 abuts the stopper 22 so that the tab 50 is Overinsertion is regulated.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the tab 50 is inserted from the front end side of the connecting portion 21, the retaining projection 45 contacts the tab 50 and the elastic contact piece 40
Is bent toward the bottom wall 31 side. When the tab 50 is further inserted and the retaining projection 45 reaches the retaining hole 51, the elastic contact piece 40
The retaining projection 45 enters the inside of the retaining hole 51 while returning, and the two are engaged to prevent the tab 50 from being removed.
At this time, the contact 41 elastically contacts the tab 50, and the electrical connection between the two terminal fittings is secured. Then, when the tip of the tab 50 abuts on the stopper 22, further insertion of the tab 50 is restricted, and the tab 50 is maintained at the regular connection position (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

By the way, burrs may be formed at the edge of the retaining hole 51 by press working. However, since the elastic contact piece 40 is provided with the concave portion 44 at a portion facing the retaining hole 51, even when the burr B projects toward the elastic contact piece 40 as shown in FIG. The contact between 40 and burr B is avoided. For this reason, the elastic contact piece 40
And the burrs B can be prevented from coming into contact with each other and the portion to be brought into contact with the tab 50 from being floated. Also, the retaining projection 45
Can be reliably engaged with the retaining holes 51, so that the locking force of both terminal fittings can be maintained well.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the followings are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. (1) In this embodiment, the retaining hole 51 is formed in the elastic contact piece.
Although the concave portion 44 is provided in a portion facing the edge of the hole, according to the present invention, it is sufficient that this portion has a concave shape so as to avoid contact with a burr. The gap between the edge of the retaining hole and the resilient contact piece may be ensured by making the tip end portion bend to the tab side with an L-shaped cross section and bringing the bent tip end portion into contact with the tab. (2) According to the present invention, the connecting portion is not limited to the one in the present embodiment, and may be, for example, a cylindrical one.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a female terminal fitting of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a female terminal fitting.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the female terminal fitting.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the female terminal fitting.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state when tabs are connected.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a state when tabs are connected.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Female terminal metal fitting 21 ... Connecting part 40 ... Elastic contact piece 44 ... Concave part 45 ... Detachable protrusion 50 ... Tab 51 ... Detachable hole B ... Burr

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A connecting portion capable of receiving a tab of a male terminal fitting, and an elastic contact piece provided at the connecting portion and capable of elastically contacting the tab are provided. When the tab is pushed into the regular connection position with respect to the connection portion, a stopper projection is provided which engages inside the stopper hole formed by punching the tab to prevent the tab from being removed. A female terminal fitting, wherein when the tab reaches the regular connection position, a portion of the elastic contact piece that faces a hole edge of the retaining hole is
A female terminal fitting, wherein a recess is formed at the edge of the hole so as to avoid interference with burrs.