JP2002015803A - Connecting structure of terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the peak value of insertion resistance caused by the restoring force of an elastic flexible piece. SOLUTION: In the insertion process of a male terminal fitting 10, the elastic flexible piece 23 elastically bends slightly, as the first abutting part 11 of the male terminal fitting 10 abuts on the base surface 24 of a female terminal fitting 20, and insertion resistance is produced by its elastic restoring force. After that, if the insertion proceeded, a recessed part 13 passes through an emboss part 25 and a second abutting part 12 abuts on the emboss part 25. Thereby, the amount of elastic deflection of the elastic flexible piece 23 increases, and the insertion resistance becomes larger. Since the amount of the elastic deflection of the elastic flexible piece 23 is made to gradually increase in the insertion process, a peak value Pa of the insertion resistance caused by the elastic deflection of the elastic flexible piece 23 is small in comparison with a structure where the elastic deflection of the elastic flexible piece reaches maximum amount at a stretch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection structure for terminal fittings.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As means for connecting a male terminal fitting and a female terminal fitting, conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a male terminal fitting 100 is inserted into a female terminal fitting 101 and is elastically connected to a ceiling wall 102 thereof. The male terminal fitting 100 between the bending piece 103
There is a configuration in which the connection is performed while securing a predetermined contact pressure by elastically clamping the pressure. In addition, the elastic bending piece 10
3 has an embossed portion 104 formed thereon,
Is designed to come into contact with the male terminal fitting 100 at the embossed portion 104.

[0003]

When the male terminal fitting 100 is elastically pressed and connected as described above, the process of inserting the male terminal fitting 100 into the female terminal fitting 101 is performed as shown in FIG.
11A, when the distal end of the male terminal fitting 100 comes into contact with the embossed portion 104, a large insertion resistance Pm due to the elastic restoring force of the elastic bending piece 103 as shown in the graph of FIG. Then, when the embossed portion 104 and the male terminal fitting 100 come into sliding contact with each other as shown in FIG. 12A, the insertion resistance is stabilized at a low value Pn as shown in FIG. become. As described above, in the related art, since the peak value Pm of the insertion resistance in the insertion process is large, the operation feeling is poor when the male terminal fitting 100 and the female terminal fitting 101 are manually connected. In particular,
As the number of poles increases, the operation feeling deteriorates more remarkably.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reduce the peak value of the insertion resistance caused by the elastic restoring force of the elastic bending piece.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the female terminal fitting includes an elastic bending piece and a receiving portion, and at least one of the elastic bending piece and the receiving portion has an embossed portion. Is formed, the male terminal fitting is inserted between the elastic bending piece and the receiving portion, the elastic bending piece is elastically bent, and the embossed portion is substantially perpendicular to the insertion direction with respect to the male terminal fitting. In the terminal fitting connection structure in which the male and female terminal fittings are connected in a state where the male and female terminal fittings are in contact with each other in a direction, a base surface on which the embossed portion is formed at a tip end in the insertion direction of the male terminal fitting. A first contact portion capable of contacting the first contact portion and a concave portion that does not interfere with the embossed portion and the male terminal fitting when the first contact portion contacts the base surface are orthogonal to the insertion direction. And the male terminal fittings Wherein the insertion direction rearward of the recess that,
A second contact portion capable of contacting the embossed portion is formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of the female terminal fittings are arranged in parallel so that the positions of the embossed portions in the insertion direction coincide with each other. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the male terminal fittings are individually inserted, and a boundary position between the concave portion and the second contact portion is set between the plurality of male terminal fittings in the insertion direction. The arrangement is different.

[0007]

In the process of inserting the male terminal fitting between the elastic locking piece and the receiving portion, first, the first contact portion at the tip of the male terminal fitting is formed on the base surface. , The elastic bending piece slightly elastically bends, and insertion resistance is generated due to the elastic restoring force. Thereafter, as the insertion proceeds, the concave portion passes through the embossed portion, and the second contact portion abuts on the embossed portion, whereby the amount of elastic flexure of the elastic flexure increases and the insertion resistance further increases. As described above, in the insertion process, the elastic bending amount of the elastic bending piece is increased in a stepwise manner. , The peak value of the insertion resistance becomes smaller.

[0008] When a plurality of male terminal fittings are simultaneously inserted, the ends of all male terminal fittings first come into contact with the female terminal fittings, and the elastic bending of all the elastic bending pieces is started. Thereafter, the boundary position between the concave portion and the second contact portion abuts on the female terminal fitting in order from the male terminal fitting near the tip in the insertion direction,
The elastic bending of the elastic bending piece increases in order from the female terminal fitting having the earlier contact timing. Since the timing of the increase in the insertion resistance caused by the contact between the second contact portion and the embossed portion is shifted between the respective terminal fittings, the insertion as a whole after the first contact portion and the base surface come into contact with each other. The resistance does not need to fluctuate greatly. When the male terminal fittings and the female terminal fittings first contact each other, the first contact portions of all the male terminal fittings contact the base surface at the same time. There is no danger of tilting between the sub fitting rows.

[0009]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. The male terminal fitting 10 is attached to a connector housing (not shown), and at least a region to be inserted into the female terminal fitting 20 from the front end (the end in the insertion direction with respect to the female terminal fitting 20) is elongated and linearly extended. On the lower surface at the front end of the male terminal fitting 10, a recess 13 is formed by cutting out the center in the width direction by crushing and deforming by pressing. This recess 13
Is formed over a predetermined length from the leading edge of the male terminal fitting 10 to the rear in parallel with the insertion direction, and the formed length is
It is determined by the position of the embossed portion 25 of the female terminal fitting 20, the insertion length of the male terminal fitting 10 into the female terminal fitting 20, and the like. The depth of the concave portion 13 with respect to the lower surface of the male terminal fitting 10 is approximately １ ／ of the thickness of the male terminal fitting 10.
However, the dimension is set to be at least larger than the protruding height of the embossed portion 25 from the base surface 24 of the female terminal fitting 20.

The left and right sides of the recess 13 on the lower surface side of the front end of the male terminal fitting 10 are provided with a pair of first contact portions 11.
It has become. The lower surface of the first contact portion 11 is
It is flush with the lower surface of the region behind the contact portion 11 and is continuous. The lower surface of the distal end of the first contact portion 11 is a tapered guiding slope 11A. Further, a region behind the recess 13 in the insertion direction on the lower surface of the male terminal fitting 10 is a second contact portion 12. The lower surface of the second contact portion 12 is flush with the lower surface of the first contact portion 11 and the lower surface of the region behind the second contact portion 12. still,
The lower surface of the front end portion of the second contact portion 12 is a tapered guide slope 12 </ b> A connected to the lower surface of the second contact portion 12.

The female terminal fitting 20 has a square tubular fitting portion 21 formed at the front end (left end in FIG. 1), and the ceiling wall of the fitting portion 21 serves as a receiving portion 22. At the same time, an elastic bending piece 23 extending in a folded manner from the front end edge of the bottom wall of the fitting portion 21 is disposed in the fitting portion 21.
The elastic bending piece 23 has a plate shape with a constant width, and is bent in a gentle mountain shape when viewed from the side. The upper surface of the top of the elastic bending piece 23 is formed as a base surface 24, and the base surface 24 is formed with an embossed portion 25 projecting upward from the center in the width direction in a substantially spherical shape. Elastic bending piece 2
The vertical distance between the base surface 24 and the lower surface of the receiving portion 22 in a free state where the elastic terminal 3 is not elastically bent is set to a size slightly smaller than the thickness of the male terminal fitting 10.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The connection between the male terminal fitting 10 and the female terminal fitting 20 is performed using the male terminal fitting 10.
Into the fitting portion 21 of the female terminal fitting 20 to receive the receiving portion 2
2 and the elastic bending piece 23. In the connected state, the elastic bending piece 23 is elastically bent, and the embossed portion 25 extends in the direction substantially perpendicular to the insertion direction with respect to the male terminal fitting 10. The contact comes into contact, and a predetermined contact pressure is secured by the elastic restoring force of the elastic bending piece 23.

In the process of inserting the male terminal fitting 10, first, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first contact portion 11 of the male terminal fitting 10 comes into contact with the base surface 24 of the elastic bending piece 23. The elastic bending piece 23 slightly elastically bends, and an insertion resistance against the insertion operation of the male terminal fitting 10 is generated due to the elastic restoring force of the elastic bending piece 23. The value of the insertion resistance at this time is indicated by a point Pa on the curve X in the graph of FIG. The curve Y in this graph represents the value of the insertion resistance when a conventional male terminal fitting having the same dimensions as the present embodiment but having no recess is inserted into the same female terminal fitting 20 as the present embodiment. The conventional insertion resistance peak value Pm
The peak value Pa of the insertion resistance of the present embodiment is suppressed to a lower value than that of the embodiment. This is because the elastic bending amount of the elastic bending piece 23 when the male terminal fitting 10 of the present embodiment is inserted is equal to the projection height of the embossed portion 25 compared to when the conventional male terminal fitting 10 is inserted. This is due to the smaller size. While the first contact portion 11 is in contact with the base surface 24, the embossed portion 25 is housed in the concave portion 13, so that the embossed portion 25 and the male terminal fitting 10 are not in contact with each other.

After that, when the insertion of the male terminal fitting 10 proceeds and the concave portion 13 passes through the embossed portion 25, FIG.
As shown in (A), the second contact part 12 is formed by the embossed part 25.
, And the elastically deformable piece 23
And the insertion resistance is further increased. The increase in the amount of elastic bending of the elastic bending piece 23 at this time corresponds to the projection of the embossed portion 25 with respect to the base surface 24. The amount of increase in the elastic bending is smaller than the amount of elastic bending in the conventional case where the male terminal fitting comes into contact with the embossed portion at a stretch from the state of non-contact with the elastic bending piece. As shown in the graph of FIG. 4B, the peak value Pb of the insertion resistance when the second contact portion 12 contacts the embossed portion 25 is such that the first contact portion 11 contacts the base surface 24. It is smaller than the peak value Pa of the insertion resistance at the time of contact.
When the insertion of the male terminal fitting 10 proceeds further, FIG.
As shown in the graph, the value of the insertion resistance is stabilized at a low value Pc, and this stable value Pc is the same value as the conventional case.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the embossed portion 25 is provided at the distal end of the male terminal fitting 10 in the insertion direction.
Abutment portion 11 that can abut against base surface 24 formed with
In the state where the first contact portion 11 contacts the male terminal fitting 10, the embossed portion 25 and the concave portion 13 which does not interfere with each other are arranged in the width direction orthogonal to the insertion direction. A second contact portion 12 capable of contacting the embossed portion 25 was formed behind the recess 13 in the insertion direction. Thereby, in the insertion process, the amount of elastic bending of the elastic bending piece 23 gradually increases due to the contact with the male terminal fitting 10, and the elastic bending amount of the elastic bending piece reaches the maximum amount at a stroke. Thus, the peak value of the insertion resistance caused by the elastic bending of the elastic bending piece 23 is suppressed to be small.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment,
The male terminal fitting 30 has a configuration different from that of the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description of the structures, operations, and effects will be omitted. In the first embodiment, the recess 13 is formed by pressing the male terminal fitting 10. In the second embodiment, the male terminal fitting 30 is formed by bending a plate material 35 punched into a predetermined shape, and the first contact portion 31 and the second contact portion are located at substantially the same positions as in the first embodiment. 32 and recess 3
3 is formed.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Embodiment 1
In the embodiment, the embossed portion 25 is formed on the elastic bending piece 23, whereas the embossed portion 45 is formed so as to protrude downward from the receiving portion 42 in the female terminal fitting 40 of the third embodiment. The lower surface of the portion 42 is a base surface 44. In the male terminal fitting 50, a concave portion 53, a first contact portion 51, and a second contact portion 52 are formed on the upper surface side.

[Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Embodiment 4
In FIG. 10, the same number (four in the fourth embodiment) of female terminal fittings 20 as those of the first embodiment are arranged in parallel so that the positions of the embossed portions 25 in the insertion direction coincide with each other. Only the piece 23 is shown), and a plurality of male terminal fittings 60 are
A to 60D are individually inserted. The male terminal fittings 60 </ b> A to 60 </ b> D are
Boundary positions 66A to 66D between 3A to 63D and second contact portions 62A to 62D are different from each other. The positions of the tips of the male terminal fittings 60A to 60D are set at the same position in the insertion direction.

When a plurality of male terminal fittings 60A to 60D are simultaneously inserted into a plurality of female terminal fittings 20, first, first contact portions 61 at the tips of all male terminal fittings 60A to 60D are inserted.
A to 61D simultaneously contact the base surface 24 of the elastic bending piece 23, and the elastic bending of all the elastic bending pieces 23 starts at the same time. The amount of elastic bending of the elastic bending piece 23 at this time is the same in all the male terminal fittings 60A to 60D. Thereafter, the boundary positions 66A to 66D between the concave portions 63A to 63D and the second contact portions 62A to 62D are sequentially arranged from the male terminal fittings 60A to 60D near the distal end in the insertion direction.
D comes into contact with the embossed portion 25, and the elastic bending of the elastic bending piece 23 increases in order from the female terminal fitting 20 having the earlier timing of the contact.

In the fourth embodiment, the second contact portions 62A to 62A-6
Since the timing of the increase of the insertion resistance caused by the contact between the 2D and the embossed portion 25 is shifted between the terminal fittings, the overall contact after the first contact portions 61A to 61D and the base surface 24 contact each other. The insertion resistance does not need to fluctuate greatly. Also,
When the male terminal fittings 60 </ b> A to 60 </ b> D first contact the female terminal fittings 20, the first of all the male terminal fittings 60 </ b> A to 60 </ b> D
Since the contact portions 61A to 61D simultaneously contact the base surface 24, the male terminal fitting group 6
There is no risk of tilting or skewing between the group of female terminal fittings 20A to 60D.

[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. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the concave portion is formed only on one of the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the male terminal fitting. However, according to the present invention, the concave portion is provided on both the upper and lower surfaces of the male terminal fitting, and the elastic bending piece is provided. An embossed portion may be provided on both of the receiving portions.

(2) In the above embodiment, the insertion resistance is maximized when the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting contact first (when the first contact portion contacts the base surface).
According to the present invention, the insertion resistance may be maximized when the second contact portion comes into contact with the embossed portion.
Both the insertion resistance when the contact portion abuts and the insertion resistance when the second contact portion abuts may have the same value. (3) In the fourth embodiment, the positions of the tips of the male terminal fittings in the insertion direction are set to the same position. However, according to the present invention, the positions of the tips of the male terminal fittings are different from each other in the insertion direction. It may be. In this case, the first
Since the generation timing of the insertion resistance caused by the contact between the contact portion and the base surface is shifted between the respective terminal fittings, it is possible to reduce the peak value of the insertion resistance as a whole and to reduce the increase rate of the insertion resistance. it can.

(4) In the fourth embodiment, the boundary position between the recess and the second contact portion is shifted between the male terminal fittings. However, according to the present invention, the male terminal fittings have the same shape and arrangement. Alternatively, the position of the embossed portion of the female terminal fitting may be shifted between the female terminal fittings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a state in which a male terminal and a female terminal are separated from each other in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state immediately before a first contact portion contacts a base surface.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a state immediately after a first contact portion contacts a base surface, wherein FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 3B is a graph showing a value of an insertion resistance.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a state immediately after a second contact portion comes into contact with an embossed portion, where FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 4B is a graph showing a value of insertion resistance.

5A and 5B show a state in which the insertion resistance value is stable after the second contact portion contacts the embossed portion, FIG. 5A is a sectional view, and FIG. 5B is a graph showing the value of the insertion resistance.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the female terminal fitting.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a male terminal fitting.

8 (A) is a front view, FIG. 8 (B) is a development view, and FIG. 8 (C) is a bottom view of the male terminal fitting of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of Embodiment 3.

FIG. 10 is a partial plan view of the fourth embodiment.

11A and 11B show a state where the insertion resistance has reached a peak value in a conventional example, FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 11B is a graph showing the value of the insertion resistance.

12A and 12B show a state in which the insertion resistance value is stable in a conventional example, FIG. 12A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 12B is a graph showing the value of the insertion resistance.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Male terminal fitting 11 ... 1st contact part 12 ... 2nd contact part 13 ... recessed part 20 ... female terminal fitting 22 ... receiving part 23 ... elastic bending piece 24 ... base surface 25 ... embossed part 30, 50, 60A, 60B, 60C, 60D: Male terminal fittings 31, 51, 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D: First contact portion 32, 52, 62A, 62B, 62C, 62D: Second contact portion 33, 53, 63A, 63B , 63C, 63D: concave portion 40: female terminal fitting 42: receiving portion 45: embossed portion 66A, 66B, 66C, 66D: boundary between the concave portion and the second contact portion

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The female terminal fitting is provided with an elastic bending piece and a receiving part, and at least one of the elastic bending piece and the receiving part is formed with an embossed part. The male member is inserted between a bending piece and the receiving portion to elastically bend the elastic bending piece, and the embossed portion is brought into contact with the male terminal fitting in a direction substantially orthogonal to an insertion direction. In a connection structure of a terminal fitting in which both female terminal fittings are connected, a first contacting portion capable of contacting a base surface on which the embossed portion is formed is provided at a tip end in the insertion direction of the male terminal fitting. ,
In a state where the first contact portion abuts on the base surface, the embossed portion and a concave portion that does not interfere with the male terminal fitting are arranged in a direction orthogonal to an insertion direction, and the male terminal fitting has A connection structure for terminal fittings, characterized in that a second contact portion that can contact the embossed portion is formed behind the recess in the insertion direction. 2. A plurality of said female terminal fittings are arranged in parallel so that the positions of said embossed portions in the insertion direction coincide with each other;
The invention according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of male terminal fittings are individually inserted into these female terminal fittings, wherein a boundary position between the recess and the second contact portion is the plurality of male terminals. A connection structure for terminal fittings, wherein the fittings are arranged so as to be different from each other in the insertion direction.