JP2001266987A - Male terminal and connector and electric connection structure using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent erosion of a terminal by arc discharge and generation of vehicle fire accident. SOLUTION: As for a male terminal 1 that is inserted into a female type terminal 2 in contact the female terminal 2 is equipped with a plate-shaped insulation body 3 which is inserted into the female terminal 2 and a conductor part 4 which is arranged on the insulation body 3 and which is formed so that a part of it is instantly peeled off by discharge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a male terminal applicable to, for example, a connection portion of a harness connected to a large power load, a connection portion of a fuse block, and the like, which are used in a wiring system for an automobile, and to a use thereof. Related to a connector and an electrical connection structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector of a wire harness for an automobile has been known as this kind of electric connection structure. For the connector, both male and female terminals are used by pressing a copper or copper alloy plate, and the surface thereof is usually plated with tin. Further, some of the connector terminals for electric vehicles are silver-plated.

[0003]

In recent years, automotive equipment is changing from mechanical control to electric control due to environmental problems and demands for improved fuel efficiency. For example, power steering has conventionally generated power at the number of revolutions of the engine, but a so-called electric power steering that generates power electrically has also been developed. For this reason, electrical loads up to several watts at present are expected to reach several kilowatts in the future. At the same time, it has been considered to increase the power supply voltage of the vehicle from the current 14V to 42V from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of power supply.

If a user disconnects or inserts a harness connector connected to the load while a load supplied with a large amount of power from such a boosted power supply is operating, arc discharge occurs at the tips of the male terminal and the female terminal. It is assumed that the generated energy causes the connector terminals to be melted and damaged, or that the discharge fireworks continue, resulting in a vehicle fire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the occurrence of an arc in an electric connection portion and the occurrence of a vehicle fire due to melting and discharging of a terminal portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a male terminal, a connector, and an electrical connection structure that can be used.

[0006]

A first male terminal according to the present invention comprises a plate-like insulator inserted into a female terminal, and a part disposed on the insulator, and a part thereof is instantaneously discharged by discharge. And a conductor formed so as to be peeled off. Further, the first connector according to the present invention is provided with one or more male terminals, and the first electrical connection structure according to the present invention includes the male terminal and a female type into which the male terminal is inserted. And a terminal.

According to the present invention, even if a discharge occurs between the female terminal and the female terminal when the female terminal is inserted or removed, a portion of the conductor is instantaneously peeled off by the momentum. Can be shortened. Thus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of vehicle fire due to the melting and discharging of the terminals.

Further, a second male terminal according to the present invention comprises:
A plate-shaped insulator to be inserted into the female terminal, and formed on at least one surface of the insulator by vapor deposition, printing, plating, or pasting, and a part thereof is instantaneously peeled off by discharge. And a conductor body. Further, the second connector according to the present invention is provided with one or more male terminals, and the second connector according to the present invention.
The electric connection structure includes the male terminal and the female terminal into which the male terminal is inserted.

According to the second aspect, a conductor is provided on at least one surface of the plate-shaped insulator by a method such as vapor deposition, printing, plating, or sticking, and a part of the conductor is provided between the female terminal. Since the film is instantaneously peeled off by the discharge, the discharge time can be extremely shortened, and the terminal can be prevented from being melted or a vehicle fire can be prevented. Further, according to the present invention, the manufacturing process is simple, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[0010] If the tip of the conductor is formed thinner than other portions, the conductor is more easily peeled off. Further, the insulator is desirably made of a high heat-resistant material having a high melting point.

[0011]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the connector terminal in cross section. This connector includes a male terminal 1 and a female terminal 2 into which the male terminal 1 is inserted. The male terminal 1 includes an insulating plate 3 having a width, length, and thickness that can be inserted into the female terminal, a conductor 4 formed on the upper surface of the insulating plate 3 by vapor deposition, printing, plating, or the like. An electric wire connecting conductor 5 is attached to the base end of the conductor 4 and fixed by soldering or the like. At the base end of the electric wire connection conductor 5, a conductor fixing portion 7 for fixing the leading end of the electric wire 6 and a coating fixing portion 8 for fixing the covering portion of the electric wire 6 are formed. For example, in the case of printing, the conductor 4 is formed using a silver paste or the like so as to be instantaneously peelable by discharge. As the electric wire connecting conductor 5, for example, copper, brass, or the like can be used. Also, as the insulating plate 3,
For example, it is desirable to use a high heat-resistant material such as ceramic, enamel, aluminum nitride, or the like having a high melting point (for example, 2000 ° C. or higher).

On the other hand, the female terminal 2 has a structure similar to that of the conventional one, and has a tip portion curved from the side toward the center inside, and a conductor 4 of the male terminal 1 at the tip portion facing the inside. And a conductive plate 11 having a contact portion 12 formed therein. Similarly to the male terminal 1, a conductive wire fixing portion 14 for fixing the distal end portion of the electric wire 13 and a coating fixing portion 15 for fixing the coating portion of the electric wire 13 are also formed at the base end of the conductive plate 11.

According to this configuration, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), when the male terminal 1 is inserted into the female terminal 2, the conductor 4 of the male terminal 1 and the female terminal 2 are connected to each other. The contact portion 12 is in contact with the contact portion 12 to maintain a conductive state. As shown in FIG. 2B, in the process of pulling out the male terminal 1 from the female terminal 2, the contact portion 12 of the female terminal 2 moves to the tip of the conductor 4 of the male terminal 1, Contact portion 12 and conductor 4
2C, an arc discharge is generated between the conductor 4 and the contact portion 12 at the moment when the contact portion 12 is separated, but the tip of the conductor 4 is instantaneously peeled off by the discharge. Therefore, the discharge duration time can be extremely shortened.

FIG. 3 shows that the insulating plate 3 is made of ceramic,
An experimental result is shown in which the male terminal with the silver conductor 4 printed thereon and the conventional male terminal were used to examine the degree of erosion and the discharge duration of the female terminal. As shown in the figure, when the male terminal of the present embodiment is used, the discharge duration becomes 1/20 or less and the erosion of the female terminal is almost zero as compared with the case where the conventional male terminal is used. Met. Also,
Although the conductor 4 of the male terminal slightly peels off, if it is fitted again in a non-energized state, the conduction is restored.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The connector of this embodiment has a housing 31 and a female connector 32 fitted to the housing 31. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 5, a male connecting terminal 34 in which a wire harness 33 is soldered to a base end is built in the housing 31.
The male connecting terminal 34 is formed by forming a conductor 36 in a comb-teeth-shaped insulating base 35 at each comb tooth by vapor deposition, printing, plating, or the like so that the conductor 36 can be peeled off by discharge. In this example, the male connecting terminals 34 are arranged vertically in two stages.

One female connector 32 is the same as the conventional one, and has a female terminal (not shown) into which the respective comb teeth of the male serial terminal 34 are inserted. The base end of the female terminal is a wire harness. 37, for example, by caulking. When the housing 31 and the female connector 32 are fitted together, the snap engagement portions 38 and 39 are engaged with each other to prevent the housing 31 and the female connector 32 from coming off. Also in this embodiment, the housing 3
When the connector 1 and the female connector 32 are attached and detached, the tip of the conductor 36 at the tip of the male connecting terminal 34 is peeled off by the discharge and shortens the discharge duration, so that the terminal can be prevented from being damaged and the fire can be prevented. .

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment in which the female connectors 32 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a male connecting terminal 42 having male terminals at both ends is built in a housing 41 as shown in FIG. The male connection terminal 42 includes an insulator base 43 having both ends formed in a comb-teeth shape, and a conductor 44 formed on each comb-tooth portion of the insulator base 43 by vapor deposition, printing, plating, or the like. Note that, also in this embodiment, the male connecting terminals 42 are provided in two stages vertically.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another embodiment.
FIG. 5A shows the conductors 53, 5 on both sides of an insulating plate 52 constituting a male terminal 51 by a method such as vapor deposition, printing, and plating.
This is an example in which No. 4 is formed. This example is particularly suitable for manufacturing the male connecting terminal shown in FIGS. Also,
FIG. 2B shows that the distal end portion 64 of the conductor 63 formed on the upper surface of the insulating plate 62 constituting the male terminal 61 has a thin and branched shape, so that it can be more peeled off by discharge. It has the effect of becoming easier.

Each of the above-described embodiments has a very simple structure, has an advantage that the cost can be minimized, and a conventional female terminal or female connector can be used as it is. The present invention is applicable not only to the above-described connector, but also to any electrical connection structure connected to a large power load, such as a connection portion of a fuse.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if a discharge occurs between the female terminal and the female terminal when the female terminal is inserted or removed,
Since a part of the conductor is instantaneously peeled off by the momentum and the discharge continuation time is kept short, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a vehicle fire due to the terminal erosion and the discharge.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the connector in cross section.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the duration of discharge and the degree of terminal erosion of the connector and the conventional connector.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a male connecting terminal incorporated in a housing of the connector.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a connector according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a male connecting terminal incorporated in a housing of the connector.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a part of another embodiment of the present invention in cross section.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 51, 61 ... male terminal, 2 ... female terminal, 3, 5
2, 62: insulating plate, 4, 36, 44, 53, 54: conductor, 5: electric wire connection conductor, 6, 13: electric wire, 11: conductive plate, 31, 41: housing, 32: female connector, 3
4, 42: male connecting terminal; 35, 43: insulating base.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuki Ishikawa 1440 Mutsuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Fujikura Co., Ltd. Sakura Office F-term (reference) 5E087 EE02 EE14 FF02 FF22 KK02 PP09 QQ04 RR34 5G375 AA02 CA02 CA13 CA19 CC07 DA36 DB16

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a plate-shaped insulator inserted into a female terminal; and a conductor disposed on the insulator and formed such that a part thereof is instantaneously peeled off by discharge. A male terminal. 2. A plate-shaped insulator to be inserted into a female terminal, and provided on at least one surface of the insulator by vapor deposition, printing, plating or sticking, and a part thereof is instantaneously peeled off by discharge. A male terminal comprising: 3. The conductor according to claim 1, wherein a tip portion of the conductor is formed thinner than other portions.
Or the male terminal according to 2. 4. The male terminal according to claim 1, wherein the insulator is made of a highly heat-resistant material. 5. A connector comprising the male terminal according to claim 1. 6. A connector comprising a plurality of the male terminals according to claim 1. 7. An electrical connection structure comprising: the male terminal according to claim 1; and a female terminal into which the male terminal is inserted.