JP2003272743A - Connection terminal, its manufacturing method and electric connection structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the reliability of the electrical connection to an outside electric component. <P>SOLUTION: A fork terminal 1 is formed by stamping out a sheet metal base material made of a Cu alloy or the like, and composed of a terminal part 2 and a connection end 3. The terminal part 2 is provided with terminal lock part 10a and 10b having a shape branched into a bifurcated structure, and composed with a solder layer 5 formed on its surface. In connecting the terminal to a leg 108a of a fuse 108, the solder part 5 of the facing ends 11a and 11b of the terminal lock parts 10a and 10b is collapsed to expand its contacts area to the leg 108a. Thereby, the connection reliability can be improved, and contact resistance can be reduced to restrain the amount of the generated heat. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connection terminal electrically connected to an external electric component such as a connector or a fuse, and particularly to a connection terminal capable of improving the reliability of electric connection with the external electric component. The manufacturing method and the electrical connection structure are related.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fork terminal (a connecting terminal whose tip is bifurcated in the width direction) as a conventional connecting terminal is shown in FIG.
It shows in (a). The fork terminal 100 is branched into a tip portion (terminal portion) 110 in a bifurcated structure and is formed, for example, at a position where a foot (connecting portion) 108a of a fuse 108 as an external electric component is locked. , 101
b. Terminal locking portions 101a, 10
1b has contact surfaces 102a and 102b whose surfaces facing each other come into contact with the foot 108a. The foot 108a of the fuse 108 is inserted between the terminal locking portions 101a and 101b, and these are pressed with a predetermined pressing force. Contact surface 102a,
It is held between 102b. As a result, the fork terminal 1
00 and the fuse 108 are electrically connected.

[0003]

However, as shown in FIG. 1B, the connection between the fuse 108 and the fork terminal 100 is normally made by the foot 10 as shown by the mark X in the figure.
8a and the contact surfaces 102a and 102b are infinitely susceptible to point contact or line contact, resulting in low connection reliability.
Since the contact area between the two is small, the contact resistance increases, the amount of heat generated when electricity is applied increases, and there is a high possibility that the wiring or circuit connected to the fork terminal 100 may cause smoking or ignition.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a connection terminal capable of improving the reliability of electric connection with an external electric component, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electric connection structure. With the goal.

[0005]

A connection terminal according to the present invention is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit in which a wiring made of a conductive pattern is formed on an insulating film to connect the wiring to an external electric component. A plate-shaped connection terminal, which is connected to the external electrical component,
The terminal portion is configured to include a connection end portion that extends from the base end side and is connected to the wiring, and the terminal portion includes a solder layer on a surface thereof.

A method of manufacturing a connection terminal according to the present invention is a connection terminal which is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit in which a wiring made of a conductive pattern is formed on an insulating film to connect the wiring to an external electric component. A method for manufacturing the same, comprising: a terminal portion connecting the plate-shaped metal base material to the external electrical component; and a connection end portion extending from a base end side of the terminal portion and connected to the wiring. And a step of forming a solder layer on the surface of the terminal portion by immersing the terminal portion formed in this step in molten solder.

The electrical connection structure according to the present invention is a plate-shaped connection which is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit formed by forming a wiring made of a conductive pattern on an insulating film to connect the wiring to an external electric component. In the electrical connection structure of a terminal, the connection terminal includes a terminal portion connected to the external electrical component having a solder layer on a surface, and a connection end portion extending from a base end side of the terminal portion and connected to the wiring. When the external electrical component and the terminal portion are connected to each other, the solder layer is crushed to increase a contact area.

According to the present invention, since the solder layer is formed on the surface of the terminal portion of the connection terminal, the solder layer is crushed at the time of connection with the external electric component to be in close contact with the external electric component and the contact area is reduced. Expanding. Thereby, the electrical connection reliability can be improved. In addition, since the contact resistance can be reduced by increasing the contact area, the amount of heat generation is suppressed and the temperature rise of the circuit and wiring connected to the connection terminal is suppressed,
It can be expected that problems such as smoking and ignition will be less likely to occur.

It is preferable that the connection terminal is a fork terminal in which the tip of the terminal portion is bifurcated in the width direction and the external electric component is sandwiched between the opposed ends. In a fork terminal, usually, a point contact or a line contact is likely to occur particularly in a contact portion with an external electric component. Therefore, if a solder layer is provided as in the terminal portion of the present invention, the contact area is expanded more effectively. Can be made.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a connection terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a so-called fork terminal is used as the connection terminal for description. The fork terminal 1 is formed by punching out a plate-shaped metal base material made of, for example, a Cu alloy, and has a terminal portion 2 connected to an external electric component such as a fuse, a relay, a resistor, an LED or a connector, a circuit, It has a structure including a connection end 3 that is directly connected to a wiring or the like. Terminal part 2
Is a forked terminal locking portion 10a, 10
b, the solder layer 5 is formed on the surface, and the solder layer 5 is provided at a position where, for example, a connection terminal of an external electrical component is locked. The mutually opposing end portions 11a and 11b of the terminal locking portions 10a and 10b are contact surfaces with connection terminals and the like of external electrical components.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a part of the flow of the manufacturing process of this fork terminal, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining one of the manufacturing processes. First, a fork terminal 1 including a terminal portion 2 and a connection end portion 3 is formed by punching a plate-shaped metal base material made of a Cu alloy or the like, which is a raw material of the fork terminal 1, by punching, which is a type of punching.
Punch in the shape of (S1). Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the punched and formed terminal portion 2 of the fork terminal 1 is dipped in, for example, a solder pool 6 in which the solder 4 has been melted and accumulated to form a solder layer 5 on the surface thereof (S2). ).

According to the fork terminal 1 formed in this way, when the fuse 108 is connected to the foot 108a,
As shown in FIG. 4A, the terminal locking portion 10 of the terminal portion 2
Since the solder layers 5 at the opposite end portions 11a and 11b of the a and 10b are crushed and connection is made, as shown in FIG.
For example, in the range of a from the x mark to the x mark, the foot 10
8a and the opposite ends 11a and 11b are in surface contact with each other.
It is possible to significantly reduce the contact resistance as compared with the case described in. This makes it possible to improve the reliability of electrical connection. In this example, the fork terminal is taken as an example of the connection terminal, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to general connection terminals such as so-called male connection terminals and female connection terminals. .

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the solder layer is formed on the surface of the terminal portion of the connection terminal, the solder layer is crushed at the time of connection with the external electric component and adheres to the external electric component to expand the contact area. This allows
The electrical connection reliability can be improved. In addition, since the contact area can be increased to reduce the contact resistance, it is possible to suppress the amount of heat generation and suppress the temperature rise of the circuit and wiring connected to the connection terminal, thereby making it difficult to cause problems such as smoking and ignition. Can be expected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a connection terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a part of a manufacturing process of the connection terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining one manufacturing process of the manufacturing processes.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how the connection terminals are connected.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a fork terminal as a conventional connection terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Fork terminal, 2 ... Terminal part, 3 ... Connection end part, 4 ... Solder, 5 ... Solder layer, 6 ... Solder pool, 10a, 10b ... Terminal locking part, 11a, 11b ... Opposite end part.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Ichiro Terunuma             Fuji Co., Ltd. 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture             Kura Sakura Office (72) Inventor, right sentence Seo             Fuji Co., Ltd. 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture             Kura Sakura Office F-term (reference) 5E063 GA02 GA05 GA07 XA01                 5E077 BB11 BB32 CC24 DD14 EE12                       FF22 JJ05 JJ15 JJ25

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plate-shaped connection terminal which is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit formed by forming a wiring made of a conductive pattern on an insulating film to connect the wiring to an external electrical component, It is configured to include a terminal portion connected to the electrical component and a connection end portion extending from the base end side of the terminal portion and connected to the wiring, and the terminal portion includes a solder layer on the surface. A connection terminal characterized in that. 2. The connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal is a fork terminal in which a tip end of the terminal portion is bifurcated and the opposite end portion sandwiches the external electrical component. 3. A method of manufacturing a connection terminal, which is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit formed by forming a wiring of a conductive pattern on an insulating film to connect the wiring and an external electric component, A step of punching the metal base material into a desired terminal shape including a terminal portion connected to the external electrical component and a base end side of the terminal portion and a connection end portion connected to the wiring; And a step of immersing the terminal portion formed in this step in molten solder to form a solder layer on the surface of the terminal portion. 4. The terminal portion formed by the punching process is formed such that the tip end is bifurcated in the width direction and the opposite electrical end portion sandwiches the external electrical component. The manufacturing method according to claim 3. 5. An electrical connection structure of a plate-like connection terminal which is connected to the wiring of a flexible printed circuit formed by forming a wiring of a conductive pattern on an insulating film and connects the wiring and an external electrical component, The connection terminal is configured to include a terminal portion that is connected to the external electrical component having a solder layer on the surface, and a connection end portion that extends from the base end side of the terminal portion and that is connected to the wiring. An electrical connection structure characterized in that, when connecting the external electrical component and the terminal portion, the solder layer is crushed to increase a contact area. 6. The electrical connection according to claim 5, wherein the connection terminal is a fork terminal in which a tip end of the terminal portion is bifurcated in a width direction, and the external electrical component is sandwiched between opposing end portions thereof. Connection structure.