JP2002124332A - Insertion-coupled type connecting terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an insertion-coupled type connecting terminal, which effectively reduces a terminal inserting force at insertion connection of a male terminal and a female terminal, without damaging the solder wetting property of the male terminal, after a secure electrical contact between the male terminal and the female terminal. SOLUTION: With the insertion-coupled type connecting terminal 1, an elastic piece part 13 is provided at the tip of a slender board part 11 of a male terminal 5. When the male terminal 5 is inserted into a female terminal 3, with a structure such that a contacting projection 19 of the elastic piece part 13 of the male terminal 5 is locally contacted for secure electrical connection with a ceiling surface 7a of a terminal storing part 7 of the female terminal 3, a tin-plate thickness applied to the female terminal 3 side is made smaller than that applied to the male terminal 5 side after an area of an electrical contacting surface (the ceiling surface 7a) of the female terminal 3 side at the movement of terminal insertion- coupling is made wider than that of an electrical contact surface (the contacting projection 19) of the male terminal 5 side. With this, a contacting resistance between the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 at insertion connection can be effectively reduced with a difference of the tin-plate thickness applied to each terminal 3, 5, which reduces terminal inserting force, and at the same time, secures sufficient thickness of tin plate at the male terminal 5 side, so that solder wetting property of a soldering part 15 of the male terminal 5 can be prevented from being damaged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fitting type connection terminal for connecting electric wires for supplying electric signals and electric power in automobiles, industrial equipment and electric / electronic equipment attached thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional fitting type connection terminal, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
And the corresponding female terminal 60 is connected to the male terminal 50.
The tab portion 51 is provided with a rectangular cylindrical terminal storage portion 61 which can be inserted and removed, and the terminal storage portion 61 is provided with an elastic piece portion 62 which is elastically deformable.

[0003] When the tab portion 51 of the male terminal 50 is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 61 of the female terminal 60, the elastic piece 62 provided in the terminal accommodating portion 61 is elastically deformed. The tab portion 51 is sandwiched between the ceiling surface of the terminal accommodating portion 61 and the elastic piece portion 62 by the elastic restoring force of the piece portion 62, so that the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60 are electrically connected.

At this time, a contact protrusion 64 is formed on the elastic pressing piece 62 on the female terminal 60 side, and the tab portion 51 on the male terminal 50 side is locally pressed by the contact protrusion 64 so that contact is made. A sufficiently large contact pressure is generated between the protruding portion 64 and the tab portion 51, whereby the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60 are reliably brought into electrical contact.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned fitting type connection terminal, the surfaces of the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60 are usually tin-plated to form a contact portion between the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60. The contact resistance is reduced, and the male terminal 50 is connected to the female terminal 6.
The terminal insertion force at the time of insertion into the inside is reduced.

However, the tab portion 51 on the male terminal 50 side
And the contact protrusion 64 on the female terminal 60 side,
The above-mentioned sufficiently large contact pressure generated at the contact portion causes deformation or adhesion of the tin plating applied to each. The deformation or adhesion of the tin plating is caused by the frictional resistance and the friction when the male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 60 and the tab 51 on the male terminal 50 slides on the contact protrusion 64 on the female terminal 60 side. Adhesive wear is caused, and the frictional resistance and the adhesive wear cause an increase in the terminal insertion force when the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60 are fitted and connected.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-302864 discloses a means for suppressing an increase in the terminal insertion force at the time of fitting and connecting the male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60. A thin tin plating of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm and a thick tin plating of 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm are disclosed.

[0008] According to this method, the female terminal 6 in the fitting connection terminal is compared with the case where both are plated with thick tin.
When the 0 side, that is, the contact protrusion 64 is made of thin tin plating, the terminal insertion force can be reduced by about 10%, and when the male terminal 50 side, that is, the tab portion 51 is made of thin tin plating, It is disclosed that the terminal insertion force can be reduced by about 30%. (From this result, thin tin plating is applied to the larger area of the pair of surfaces slidingly contacting each other, and thick tin plating is applied to the smaller area. It can be considered that a greater effect of reducing the terminal insertion force can be obtained. Therefore, in order to effectively reduce the terminal insertion force at the time of fitting connection of the fitting type connection terminal, the male terminal 50 side, that is, the tab portion 51 may be plated with thin tin.

However, the male terminal 50 is often provided on the electronic device side. In this case, since the male terminal 50 is directly soldered to a printed wiring board in the electric device, the male terminal 50 is connected in accordance with the above conclusion. In the case of thin tin plating, the solderability of the male terminal 50 is impaired, which causes a problem that good soldering cannot be performed.

In order to solve this problem, in order to improve the wettability of the solder, a method has been proposed in which the portion of the male terminal 50 to be soldered is later plated with tin and the portion is plated with thick tin. However, in this case, problems such as an increase in man-hours and costs are newly generated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide reliable electrical contact between a male terminal and a female terminal, and to prevent the male terminal from being damaged by soldering. An object of the present invention is to provide a fitting-type connection terminal capable of effectively reducing a terminal insertion force at the time.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a female terminal having a terminal accommodating portion having a ceiling surface and a bottom surface arranged in parallel, and an elongated plate. And an elastic piece portion formed by folding back from the distal end of the elongated plate portion toward the base end side and forming a contact projection protruding outward at an intermediate portion of the folded portion, A male terminal connected to the female terminal by sliding while contacting the contact protrusion and the elongated plate portion of the elastic piece portion with the ceiling surface and the bottom surface of the terminal accommodating portion, respectively;
Wherein the surface of the female terminal is plated with tin thinner than the tin plating applied to the surface of the male terminal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the surface of the male terminal is plated with tin of about 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm, and the surface of the female terminal is plated with tin of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm. It was done.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a projection is formed on the bottom surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal so as to extend along an insertion direction in which the male terminal is inserted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the corner of the peripheral edge of the opening of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal is rounded.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A fitting type connection terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic cross-sectional views of the fitting type connection terminal according to the present embodiment at the time of separation and fitting connection, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fitting type connection terminal 1 includes a female terminal 3 and a male terminal 5;
The electrical connection is obtained by the fitting connection of No. 5.

The female terminal 3 includes a terminal receiving portion 7 formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape into which the distal end of the male terminal 5 can be inserted and removed, and a terminal receiving portion 7.
And a crimping portion 9 for crimping with the electric wire W which is continuously provided along the extension line in the axial direction of the cylinder.

The male terminal 5 has an elongated plate portion 11, and an elastic piece portion 13 is provided at the distal end of the elongated plate portion 11 so as to be folded toward the base end thereof. A soldering portion 15 used for soldering to a printed wiring board or the like is continuously provided along a longitudinal extension of the elongated plate portion 11 at a base end of the portion 11.

The elastic piece 13 is bent from the tip of the elongated plate portion 11 and folded back.
Is gradually inclined outwardly toward the base end side, and is bent so as to be inclined again inwardly, thereby forming a substantially O-shaped contact projection 19 at an intermediate portion, and an elongated plate portion at its distal end. The contact portion 21 is formed to be curved so as to protrude toward 11.

At this time, the elastic piece 13 is
9, the height h1 from the top 19a to the lower surface 11a of the elongated plate portion 11 is in a natural state in which no pressing force is applied from above.
It is formed so as to be larger than the height width h2 from the ceiling surface 7a to the bottom surface 7b of the terminal accommodating portion 7 on the female terminal 3 side.

When the contact portion 21 is brought into contact with the elongated plate portion 11 with respect to the pressing force from above, the contact projection 19 is formed from a substantially rectangular shape. By elastically deforming in a flat shape and by elastically deforming the curved portion 17 so as to bend more strongly, the entire portion is elastically deformed in a compressive manner in the vertical direction.

As a result, the contact projection 19 of the elastic piece 13
The height h1 from the apex 19a to the lower surface 11a of the elongated plate portion 11 can be elastically changed by compression, and the elastic restoring force at that time is locally concentrated on the contact protrusion 19, so that the contact The inner surface of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3 is strongly pressed by the protrusion 19.

The female terminal 3 and the male terminal 5 are each formed into the above-mentioned shape by a base material such as copper or a copper alloy, and are formed by uniformly applying tin plating on the entire surface. At this time, the thickness of the tin plating applied to the female terminal 3 is made smaller than the thickness of the tin plating applied to the male terminal 5.

As a result, the apparent hardness of the female terminal 3 becomes higher than the apparent hardness of the male terminal 5. The contact resistance and the resistance due to cohesive wear generated at the sliding contact portion between the terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 can be reduced. In particular, it is possible to effectively reduce the contact resistance generated between the contact protrusion 19 on the male terminal 5 side and the ceiling surface 7a on the female terminal 3 side and the resistance due to adhesive wear. In this embodiment, the female terminals 3 are plated with thin tin of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm, and the male terminals 5 are plated with thick tin of about 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm.

Next, how to connect the female terminal 3 and the male terminal 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the bending portion 17 which is the tip of the male terminal 5 is slightly inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3. In this state, the distal end of the lower surface 11a of the elongated plate portion 11 on the male terminal 5 side is slightly placed on the bottom surface 7b of the terminal accommodating portion 7 on the female terminal 3 side, and the elastic piece 13 on the male terminal 5 side is bent. The oblique side portion 13a from the portion 17 to the contact protrusion 19 is brought into contact with the opening peripheral portion 7c of the terminal accommodating portion 7 on the female terminal 3 side.

Then, from the state, the lower surface 11a of the elongated plate portion 11 of the male terminal 5 is connected to the bottom surface 7 of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3.
b) The leading end of the male terminal 5 is pressed into the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3 so as to slide on the terminal b. Thereby, the male terminal 5
The elastic piece portion 13 of the male terminal 5 has the elongated plate portion 11 of the female terminal 3.
Is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the
Due to the reaction force received from the opening peripheral edge 7c of the terminal accommodating portion 7 via the terminal 3a, the vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the insertion direction) gradually
While being elastically deformed in a compressed manner, it is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 7 from the bending portion 17 side.

At this time, the oblique side portion 13a of the elastic piece portion 13 is formed so as to be gradually outwardly inclined along the direction opposite to the insertion direction. However, the reaction force is not converted into a resistance force against the terminal insertion force, but is converted into a pressing force for effectively elastically deforming the elastic piece portion 13 in a vertical compression direction.

Then, the male terminal 5 is pressed into the female terminal 3 to a predetermined position by sliding the contact projection 19 of the elastic piece portion 13 on the ceiling surface 7a of the terminal accommodating portion 7. Then, the fitting connection between the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 is completed.

At this time, in a situation where the contact projection 19 of the elastic piece 13 contacts the ceiling surface 7a of the terminal accommodating section 7, the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece 13 is locally concentrated on the contact projection 19. Therefore, the contact protrusion 19 of the elastic piece 13 and the terminal accommodating portion 7
A sufficiently large contact pressure is secured between the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 at the contact portion.

At this time, the contact protrusion 1 of the elastic piece 13 is
Under the situation where the sliding member 9 slides on the ceiling surface 7a of the terminal accommodating portion 7, as described above, the ceiling surface 7a is tinned thinner than the contact protrusion 19 side, and apparently the hardness of the ceiling surface 7a is increased. Is made higher than the hardness of the contact projection 19, so that the deformation resistance of tin generated between the contact projection 19 and the ceiling surface 7a and the resistance due to cohesive wear are effectively reduced.

The fitting type connection terminal 1 configured as described above
According to this, the elastic piece 1 is attached to the tip of the elongated plate 11 of the male terminal 5.
3 is provided so as to be elastically resilient, and the distal end of the male terminal 5 is connected to the female terminal 3.
The elastic piece 1 of the male terminal 5
3 of the contact protrusion 19 on the ceiling surface 7 of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3.
a and the surface on the side of the male terminal 5 where the electrical connection is made (the contact protrusion 1).
The relationship between 9) and the surface on the female terminal 3 side (the ceiling surface 7a) is such that the area of the surface on the male terminal 5 side is smaller than the area of the surface on the female terminal 3 side.

Accordingly, in order to effectively reduce the contact resistance between the terminals 3 and 5 with respect to the terminal insertion force at the time of fitting connection between the terminals 3 and 5, especially the contact protrusion 19 of the male terminal 5 and the female In order to effectively reduce the contact resistance between the terminal 3 and the ceiling surface 7a, the terminals 3, 5
When the tin plating is performed, the thickness of the tin plating on the male terminal 5 side does not need to be reduced, and the conventional thick tin plating can be performed.

Thus, when the male terminal 5 is soldered and connected to a printed wiring board or the like, the thickness of the tin plating on the male terminal 5 side is sufficiently ensured.
Without impairing the solder wettability of the printed wiring board, and good soldering with a printed wiring board or the like can be performed.

That is, the terminal insertion force at the time of fitting connection between the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 can be effectively reduced without impairing the solderability of the soldering portion 15 of the male terminal 5. In particular, in this embodiment, the female terminal 3 is uniformly coated with a thin tin plating of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm, and the male terminal 5 has a thickness of about 0.3 μm to
Since the thick tin plating of 1.0 μm is applied, a terminal insertion force reduction effect of about 30% can be obtained as compared with the conventional fitting-type connection terminal.

Further, the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece 13 of the male terminal 5 is concentrated on the contact projection 19 of the elastic piece 13,
The contact projection 19 allows the ceiling surface 7 of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3.
a, a sufficiently large contact pressure can be secured between the contact projection 19 and the ceiling surface 7a, and reliable electrical contact between the male terminal 5 and the female terminal 3 can be ensured at the contact portion. can get.

<First Modification> In the fitting type connection terminal 1 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the corner of the opening peripheral portion 7c of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3 is provided. Part 7
You may take d and make that part round.

In this way, when the male terminal 5 is inserted into the female terminal 3, the peripheral edge 7 of the opening of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3 is formed.
The elastic piece 13 of the male terminal 5 is prevented from being damaged by the corner 7d of the male terminal 5c, and the elastic piece 13 of the male terminal 5 is also prevented from being caught on the corner 7d of the peripheral edge 7c of the female terminal 3. Is done.

<Second Modification> In the fitting type connection terminal 1 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, on the bottom surface 7b of the terminal accommodating portion 7 of the female terminal 3. A bead 25 is formed by projecting a ridge 25a extending along the insertion direction of the male terminal 5 and chamfering corners of both ends 25b in the longitudinal direction of the ridge 25a. It does not matter.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, when the male terminal 5 is inserted into the female terminal 3, the elongated plate portion 11 of the male terminal 5 is guided on the bead 25 along the bead 25. And the bottom plate 7b of the elongated plate portion 11 and the terminal accommodating portion 7
The contact area with the side is reduced, the contact resistance is reduced, and the contact resistance generated at the contact portion between the elongated plate portion 11 and the bead 25 is less likely to be affected, thereby contributing to a reduction in terminal insertion force.

Further, since the contact area between the elongated plate portion 11 and the bottom surface 7b of the terminal accommodating portion 7 is reduced, the pressing force from the male terminal 5 side is locally received on the upper surface of the bead 25. Slender plate portion 11 of terminal 5 and bead 25 of female terminal 3
Sufficiently large contact pressure is ensured between the upper surface of the substrate and the contact portion, and reliable electric contact can be obtained at the contact portion.

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an elastic piece is provided at the tip of the elongated plate portion of the male terminal, and when the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal, the elastic piece of the male terminal is removed. By making the contact protrusion locally press the ceiling surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal to make electrical contact, the surface on the male terminal side (contact protrusion) and the surface on the female terminal side where electrical connection is made (Ceiling surface)
The area of the surface on the male terminal side is made smaller than the area of the surface on the female terminal side.

Thus, in order to effectively reduce the contact resistance between the two terminals with respect to the terminal insertion force when the two terminals are fitted and connected, in particular, the distance between the contact protrusion of the male terminal and the ceiling surface of the female terminal is reduced. In order to effectively reduce the contact resistance, when tin plating is applied to each terminal with different tin plating thickness, thick tin plating can be performed without reducing the thickness of tin plating on the male terminal side.

Thus, when the male terminal is connected by soldering to a printed circuit board or the like, the thickness of the tin plating on the male terminal side is sufficiently ensured, so that the solderability of the male terminal is not impaired. Good soldering with a printed wiring board can be performed.

That is, the terminal insertion force at the time of fitting and connecting the male terminal and the female terminal can be effectively reduced without impairing the solderability of the soldered portion of the male terminal.

Also, since the contact projection of the elastic piece of the male terminal locally contacts the ceiling surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal, the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece is reduced. A sufficiently large contact pressure can be secured between the contact protrusion and the ceiling surface by concentrating on the contact protrusion, and reliable electric contact can be obtained at the contact portion.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the female terminals are plated with thin tin of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm, and the male terminals are plated with thin tin of about 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm. As a result, a terminal insertion force reduction effect of about 30% can be obtained as compared with the conventional fitting-type connection terminal.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the projecting ridge extending in the terminal insertion direction is formed on the bottom surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal, the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal. In this case, the elongated plate portion of the male terminal slides on the ridge portion while being guided along the ridge portion. And the effect of contact resistance generated at the contact portion between the elongated plate portion and the ridge portion is reduced, which can contribute to a reduction in terminal insertion force.

Further, since the contact area between the elongated plate portion and the bottom surface side of the terminal accommodating portion is reduced, the pressing force from the male terminal side is locally received on the upper surface of the ridge portion. A sufficiently large contact pressure is ensured between the plate portion and the upper surface of the ridge portion of the female terminal, and reliable electrical contact can be obtained also at the contact portion.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the corner of the peripheral edge of the opening of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal is rounded,
When the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal, the elastic piece of the male terminal is prevented from being damaged by the corner of the opening peripheral portion of the terminal receiving portion of the female terminal, and the corner of the opening peripheral portion of the female terminal is prevented. The tip of the male terminal is also prevented from being caught on the portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a fitting type connection terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention at the time of separation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the fitting type connection terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention at the time of fitting connection.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a female terminal of a fitting connection terminal according to a first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a fitting connection terminal according to a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a bottom surface of a terminal accommodating portion of a female terminal of a fitting connection terminal according to a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional fitting-type connection terminal when separated.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional fitting-type connection terminal at the time of fitting connection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fitting type connection terminal 3 Female terminal 5 Male terminal 7 Terminal accommodating part 7a Ceiling surface 7b Bottom surface 11 Slender plate part 13 Elastic piece part 19 Contact projection 25 Protrusion

Claims (4)

[Claims] A female terminal having a terminal accommodating portion having a ceiling surface and a bottom surface arranged in parallel, an elongated plate portion, and a folded and extended portion extending from a distal end of the elongated plate portion toward a base end side thereof. An elastic piece having an outwardly protruding contact projection formed at an intermediate portion of the folded portion, wherein the contact projection and the elongated plate of the elastic piece are respectively connected to the ceiling of the terminal accommodating portion. A male terminal connected to the female terminal by sliding while being elastically in contact with the surface and the bottom surface, wherein a thinner tin plating than the tin plating applied to the male terminal surface is applied to the female terminal surface. A mating connection terminal. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the male terminal is about 0.3 μm to 1.0 μm.
The fitting connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the female terminal is plated with tin and the surface of the female terminal is plated with tin of about 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm. 3. A projection formed on the bottom surface of the terminal accommodating portion of the female terminal along a direction in which the male terminal is inserted. 3. The fitting connection terminal according to 2. 4. The fitting connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein a corner of an opening peripheral portion of said terminal accommodating portion of said female terminal is rounded.