JP2000294331A - Connecting terminal structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the connecting workability and to minimize a terminal structure in a connected state by forming a slit from a point narrow part of a plate-shaped male terminal to a basic connection part, and widening a part corresponding to the point narrow part, of the slit in comparison with the other part. SOLUTION: A male terminal 2 is formed by a metal plate, and consists of a narrow point part, an intermediate widening part gradually widening from the narrow point part, a contact part 2c having both sides in parallel to each other to keep a contact condition with a female terminal 4 after engagement, and a basic connection part connected to an electric circuit. Both front and rear ends of the contact part 2c are provided with the projections 2e, 2f for applying the moderation feeling in the insertion into the female terminal 4. The part of a slit 3 corresponding to the narrow point part is widened in comparison with the other part. When the male terminal 2 is inserted from a rear side of a substrate 1 into a slit 5 of the female terminal 4 through an opening 1a, the intermediate widened part of the male terminal 2 is contacted with the slit 5 and elastically deformed, and the contact part 2c is contacted with a wall part of the slit 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection terminal structure, and more particularly, to a connection terminal structure in which a plate-shaped male terminal connected to one electric circuit is fitted into a slit-shaped female terminal connected to another electric circuit. And a connection terminal structure for electrically connecting the terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, to connect leads to each other or to a substrate, a plate-like male terminal is inserted into a bridge on the substrate or a slit-like female terminal formed directly on the substrate to electrically connect the leads. There is a connection terminal structure to connect. This structure does not require soldering work, and only needs to fit the male terminal into the slit. This structure is useful in cases where soldering work is difficult or where work efficiency needs to be increased.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show a cross section of a main part of the connection terminal structure. The opening and the through hole of the slit-shaped through hole 14 formed on the substrate 11 and functioning as a female terminal and having a longitudinal direction in the vertical direction of the paper surface are covered with a copper foil 15. On the other hand, the male terminal 12 has a metal plate shape, and includes a base neck portion 12a and a substantially elliptical widened head portion 12b at the distal end side. The width of the widened head 12b is slightly larger than the length of the through hole 14 in the longitudinal direction. Also, a slit 1 is provided on the widened head 12b of the male terminal 12.
3 are formed and can be elastically deformed in the width direction. Therefore, when the male terminal 12 is fitted into the through hole 14, the widened head portion 12b is elastically deformed, and after the fitting, the contact between them is maintained by the elastic force.

[0004]

However, in the above structure, since the slit 13 formed in the widened head portion 12b has a uniform width, the male terminal 12 is located at the center of the slit 13 which is most easily deformed. As shown in FIG. 6B, in order to maintain the contact state after the fitting, it is necessary to increase the length of the widened head portion 12b protruding to the rear surface side of the substrate 11, The entire apparatus tends to be large in the width direction of the substrate.

Since the widened head 12b has a substantially elliptical shape, the through-hole 14
It is difficult to determine the position of engagement with the connector, and there is a concern that the connector may be inserted too much or insufficiently at the time of assembly, resulting in poor contact.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a connection terminal structure which can be miniaturized in a connected state and a connection terminal having high connection workability. The purpose is to provide a structure.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plate-shaped male terminal connected to one electric circuit is fitted into a slit of a female terminal connected to the other electric circuit. A connection terminal structure for electrically connecting the two circuits, wherein the plate-shaped male terminal is a narrow end portion, an intermediate wide portion gradually widens from the narrow end portion,
A contact portion having both sides parallel to each other to maintain a contact state with the female terminal after the engagement, and a base end connecting portion connected to the one electric circuit; A connection terminal structure is provided, wherein a slit reaching the connection portion is formed, and a portion of the slit located at the narrow end portion is wider than other portions. In particular, it is preferable that the contact portion of the plate-shaped male terminal has projections at front and rear ends thereof so as to generate a sense of moderation when being fitted into the female terminal. It is more preferable that the slit width of the slit is wider than other portions, or that both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slit of the female terminal form an arc centered on the slit when viewed from the insertion direction of the male terminal.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connection terminal structure to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a male terminal 2, FIG. 3 (a), FIG.
(B) is a figure which shows the structure of the female terminal 4. As best shown in FIG. 2, the male terminal 2 has a metal plate shape and has a narrow end portion 2.
a, an intermediate wide portion 2b gradually widening from the narrow end portion 2a, and a contact portion 2c whose both sides are parallel to each other to maintain a contact state with a female terminal 4 described later after engagement.
And a base connecting portion 2d connected to an electric circuit such as another board or a lead wire (not shown).
Protrusions 2e and 2f are formed at front and rear ends of both sides of the contact portion 2c to give a sense of moderation when the female terminal 4 is fitted.
Further, a slit 3 is formed from the distal narrow portion 2a to the proximal connecting portion 2d. In the slit 3, the width L1 of the portion 3a located at the tip narrow portion 2a is wider than the width L2 of the other portion 3b.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the female terminal 4 is provided in an arch shape on the substrate 1, and a slit 5 is formed in the center thereof. This slit 5
The length L3 is slightly shorter than the width L4 of the male terminal 2. As shown in FIG. 3B, the width W1 of the slit 5 at both ends 5a in the longitudinal direction of the slit 5 is wider than the width W2 of the other portion 5b. As a result, as shown by the imaginary line, even if the male terminal 2 is inclinedly fitted into the slit 5 due to an assembling accuracy error or the like, the male terminal 2 is securely fitted into the slit 5 and comes into contact with the slit 5 without being twisted.

In the above connection terminal structure, as shown in FIG. 1, the male terminal 2 is fitted into the slit 5 of the female terminal 4 from the back side of the substrate 1 through the opening 1a from the narrow end portion 2a side. Good. Then, both sides of the male terminal 2 abut on the wall of the slit 5 of the female terminal 4 at the intermediate widened portion 2b, and the male terminal 2 is gradually elastically deformed, so that the contact portion 2c comes into contact with the wall of the slit 5. become.

At this time, it is possible to confirm that they are fitted together by a sense of moderation when climbing over the protrusion 2e on the distal end side of the male terminal 2. Moreover, the excessive insertion of the male terminal 2 into the female terminal 4 can be prevented by the base end side projection 2f. Furthermore, after the fitting, the left and right sides of the contact portion 2c are parallel to each other, and the presence of the projections 2e, 2f ensures that the contact state between the two can be maintained. FIG. 4 shows this state.

According to the structure of the present invention, since the slit on the base end side from the contact portion 2c is narrower than that of the conventional male terminal, the cross-sectional area of the male terminal 2 can be increased, and a larger current can be obtained. It is possible to correspond to.

In the above embodiment, the slit width at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slit 5 of the female terminal 4 is simply widened as compared with the width of other portions. However, as shown in FIG. When the male terminal 2 is inserted into the slit 5 at an angle, not only is it not twisted, but also the contact pressure does not change.

[0015]

As is clear from the above description, according to the connection terminal structure of the present invention, the plate-shaped male terminal fitted into the slit of the female terminal is gradually narrowed from the narrow end portion to the narrow end portion. An intermediate widened portion that widens, a contact portion that maintains the contact state with the female terminal on both sides and a contact portion that is parallel to each other, and a slit that extends from the narrow portion at the distal end to the proximal end connecting portion, and includes a base connecting portion, By adopting a structure in which the portion located at the tip narrow portion is wider than other portions, the portion located at the tip narrow portion of the slit of the male terminal at the time of fitting is larger than other portions. Even if the length of the male terminal is shortened due to elastic deformation, there is no fear of plastic deformation at the time of fitting. Therefore, the projecting length from the female terminal can be shortened, and the entire device can be reduced in size. Further, after the fitting, the desired elasticity, that is, the contact pressure can be obtained because the width of the slit located at the contact portion is relatively narrow.

Further, by forming projections that generate a sense of moderation at the time of fitting at the front and rear ends of the contact portions of the male terminals, it is easy to confirm the fitting at the time of work, and it is possible to prevent excessive fitting, thereby facilitating the work. Is improved. Furthermore, by making the slit width at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slit of the female terminal wider than other portions, the male terminal is not twisted or bent even when tilted at the time of fitting, and the reliability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connection terminal structure to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2A is a front view showing the structure of a male terminal.

FIG. 3A is a side sectional view showing a structure of a female terminal 4;
(B) is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing a state where the male terminal is fitted to the female terminal.

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 3B showing a modified embodiment of the female terminal.

6A is a front partial cross-sectional view showing a state before assembling a conventional connection terminal structure, and FIG. 6B is a view similar to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 1a Opening 2 Male terminal 2a Tip narrow part 2b Intermediate widening part 2c Contact part 2d Base end connecting part 2e, 2f Projection 3 Slit 3a, 3b Part 4 Female terminal 5 Slit 5a Longitudinal end 5b Other part 11 Substrate 12 Male terminal 12a Neck 12b Wide head 13 Slit 14 Through hole

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A connection for electrically connecting a male terminal connected to one electric circuit to a slit formed in a female terminal connected to the other electric circuit by inserting the male terminal into the female terminal. The terminal structure, wherein the plate-shaped male terminal has a narrow end portion, an intermediate wide portion gradually widening from the narrow end portion, and both sides for maintaining a contact state with the female terminal after engagement. It has a contact part parallel to each other and a base end connecting part connected to the one electric circuit, and a slit is formed from the narrow end part to the base end connecting part, and the narrow end of the slit is formed. A connection terminal structure characterized in that a portion located at a portion is wider than other portions. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the plate-shaped male terminal has projections at front and rear ends thereof, so as to generate a sense of moderation when fitted into the female terminal. Connection terminal structure described in 1. 3. The connection terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein slit widths at both ends in a longitudinal direction of the female terminal are wider than other portions. 4. The female terminal according to claim 1, wherein both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slit of the female terminal form an arc centered on the center of the slit when viewed from the insertion direction of the male terminal. The connection terminal structure according to any one of the above.