JP2003331968A - Female-side terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease an insertion force of a counterpart male-side terminal fitting. <P>SOLUTION: A cantilever elastic contact piece 24 is set from a front end of a bottom wall making up a fitting body part 11, and a rest part 29 thrusting downward is set on a ceiling wall 15 opposing the elastic contact piece 24. A point-contact part 32 is set protruded downward which can make a point contact with a male-side terminal fitting M and inserted from the front between the rest part 29 and the elastic contact piece at a front end part in a bottom wall part 31 making up the rest part 29. At a rear end part in the bottom wall part making up the rest part 29, a linear-contact part 33 protruded downward which can make a linear contact with the male-side terminal fitting M along its width direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of a female-side terminal fitting, one described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-63077 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, this one is provided with a main body 1 having a substantially rectangular tube shape that is opened in the front and rear, and a cantilevered elastic contact piece 2 that is folded back from the front end of the bottom wall forming the main body 1. The ceiling wall is provided with a receiving portion 3 that faces the elastic contact piece 2 and projects inward. A mating male terminal fitting can be inserted into the main body 1 from the front, and the inserted male terminal fitting is elastically compressed between the elastic contact piece 2 and the receiving portion 3. It is supposed to be retained.

[0003]

By the way, the above-mentioned receiving part 3 is formed in a plane shape along the insertion direction of the male side terminal fitting, and by abutting against the male side terminal fitting, the male side terminal fitting. Can be supported in a horizontal position.
Therefore, in the process of inserting the male side metal terminal, the entire area of the receiving portion 3 is in sliding contact with the male side metal terminal. Therefore, there is a problem that the frictional resistance generated between the male-side terminal fitting and the receiving portion 3 due to the insertion increases, and the inserting force of the male-side terminal fitting increases. The present invention was completed in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce the insertion force of a mating male side terminal fitting.

[0004]

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is an elastic contact piece capable of elastically contacting a mating male side terminal fitting inserted from the front,
In a female-side terminal fitting including a receiving portion capable of sandwiching the mating male-side terminal fitting with the elastic contact piece, the female-side terminal fitting protrudes toward the elastic contact piece side at a position apart from the front and rear of the receiving portion. In addition, the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of supporting portions are provided so as to come into contact with and support the mating male side terminal fitting. The invention of claim 2 relates to claim 1
The support portion arranged on the front end side is characterized in that it is a point contact portion capable of point contact with the mating male side terminal fitting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the supporting portion disposed on the rear end side is oriented in a direction substantially orthogonal to the inserting direction with respect to the mating male side terminal fitting. It is characterized in that it is a line contact portion that can be in line contact along the line. The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 2 or claim 3.
The point contact portion is characterized in that the point contact portion is arranged at a position in front of a contact portion of the elastic contact piece with respect to the mating male side terminal fitting. A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the fourth aspect, the wire contact portion is disposed at a position rearward of the contact portion.

[0006]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> When the mating male side metal terminal is inserted between the elastic contact piece and the receiving portion,
The mating male side metal terminal is elastically contacted by the elastic contact piece and is clamped by the receiving portion. At this time, the mating male-side terminal fitting is supported in a proper posture by being brought into contact with a plurality of support portions arranged at positions spaced apart in the front-rear direction in the receiving portion. Since this support part is provided so as to partially project from the receiving part, compared to the conventional case where the receiving part is in full contact with the mating male side terminal fitting, the mating male part is inserted during the insertion process. It is possible to reduce the frictional resistance generated between the side terminal fitting and the side terminal fitting, and thus to reduce the insertion force of the mating male side terminal fitting. <Invention of Claim 2> Since the support portion on the front end side that first contacts the mating male side terminal fitting in the insertion process is the point contact portion, the frictional resistance generated in the insertion process can be minimized,
It is possible to reduce the insertion force of the mating male side terminal fitting.

<Invention of Claim 3> In the connected state, since the mating male side terminal fitting is supported by the line contacting portion which is in line contact along the direction substantially orthogonal to the inserting direction, the mating male side terminal is provided. It is possible to prevent the metal fitting from tilting around its axis from the normal posture, and to stabilize the connection state. Although this line contact part has a larger contact area with the mating male side terminal fitting than the point contact part,
By arranging the receiving portion on the rear end side, the contact with the mating male side metal terminal is started at the end of the insertion process, so that the insertion force can be suppressed as low as possible.

<Invention of Claim 4> In the insertion process, the mating male side metal terminal is brought into contact with the point contact portion before the contact portion of the elastic contact piece. The fitting can be pre-positioned. <Invention of Claim 5> Since the point contact portion and the line contact portion are arranged in front of and behind the contact portion, respectively, the mating male side terminal fitting can be supported more stably.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The female terminal fitting 10 shown in this embodiment is formed into a shape as shown in FIG. 1 by bending a developed shape obtained by punching out a metal plate as a base material. In the following description, the left side in FIG. 1 is referred to as the front and the right side is referred to as the rear, and the description in the up-down direction is based on FIGS. 1 and 2.

The female terminal fitting 10 is, as shown in FIG.
It has a substantially rectangular tube-shaped main body portion 11 that opens in the front and rear direction, and the male side metal fitting M of the counterpart can be inserted into the main body portion 11 from the front. A receiving portion 29 and an elastic contact piece 24, which will be described in detail later, are arranged in the main body portion 11 so as to face each other in the vertical direction, and the male-side terminal fitting M can be elastically sandwiched between the two. There is. Also, on the rear side of the main body 11,
An electric wire connection portion (both electric wires are not shown) that can be connected to the electric wire is provided. In addition, the male terminal fitting M of the other party
Has a tab T that is elongated in the front-rear direction and has a substantially square cross-sectional shape (see FIG. 2). The tab T has a tip portion that is tapered in the height direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 11 includes a bottom wall 12 elongated in the front and rear direction, a pair of side walls 13 and 14 rising from both side edges of the bottom wall 12, and a right side wall 1 in FIG.
3 and a ceiling wall 15 that projects to the left and faces the bottom wall 12, and an outer wall 16 that projects from the left side wall 14 in FIG. 2 to the right and is superposed on the outside of the ceiling wall 15. Of these, approximately in the center of the outer wall 16,
The notch 17 is formed so as to open upward and to the left in FIG.
An overhanging piece 18 provided at the projecting end of the ceiling wall 15 is inserted therein and is in contact with the upper end surface of the left side wall 14.
A first locking projection 19 is provided at the front edge of the cutout portion 17, and a second locking projection 20 is provided at the rear end portion of the outer wall 16 by tapping upward. The first locking projection 19 and the second locking projection 20 include a first locking means and a first locking means provided in the housing when the female-side terminal fitting 10 is housed in a housing (not shown). The two engaging means can be engaged with each other, and the female terminal fitting 10 can be prevented from coming off from the housing. From the rear end of the protruding end of the outer wall 16,
A stabilizer 21 that projects upward is provided, and a projecting piece 23 that projects downward and is inserted into a groove 22 formed in a notch in the right side wall 13 is provided on the front side of the stabilizer 21. The main body 11 can be supported in a predetermined shape by the projecting piece 23 and the overhanging piece 18.

The bottom wall 12 is, as shown in FIG. 1, another wall 1.
The front end is arranged at a position retracted rearward as compared with 3, 14, 15, and 16, and the elastic contact piece 24 is projected from the front end. The elastic contact piece 24 is formed by folding back a tongue piece protruding forward from the front end of the bottom wall 12 toward the rear side.
It is opposed to the bottom wall 12 and the ceiling wall 15 and is formed in a cantilever shape which is generally mountain-shaped. The elastic contact piece 24 has a structure in which a forwardly inclined portion and a backwardly inclined portion are sequentially connected to the rear side of the folded portion 25 having a substantially U-shape, and the elastically contacted piece 24 is formed in a region extending between the forwardly inclined portion and the backward inclined portion. Is formed by swelling portions 26 that are elongated in the front-rear direction and have a substantially oval shape and are struck out upward. The apex portion of the bulging portion 26 serves as a contact portion 27 that can contact the male-side terminal fitting M. This contact part 2
As 7 is pressed by the male-side terminal fitting M, the elastic contact piece 24 can be bent and deformed downward with the folded-back portion 25 as a bending fulcrum. At the time of bending deformation, the rear end portion of the elastic contact piece 24 can contact the inner surface of the bottom wall 12. In addition, an excessive bending restriction protrusion 28 is provided at a position facing the contact portion 27 downward on the bottom wall 12 by being pushed upward. By engaging the elastic contact piece 24 with the excessive bending restriction protrusion 28, it is possible to prevent the elastic contact piece 24 from being deformed beyond the elastic limit.

At a position closer to the front of the ceiling wall 15, a receiving portion 29 is formed so as to project downward (toward the elastic contact piece 24) over a wider area than the bulging portion 26.
The receiving portion 29 is formed in a generally shallow dish shape in which the peripheral wall portion 30 is inclined inward toward the bottom wall portion 31 as a whole, so that the bottom wall portion 31 can receive the male side terminal fitting M. It has become.

The bottom wall portion 31 has a middle portion 31b formed substantially horizontally, whereas a front portion 31a is formed so as to be inclined forward so as to project downward toward the front end side, and a rear portion 31c extends downward toward the rear end side. It is formed to be inclined rearward so as to project. The front portion 31a of the bottom wall portion 31 is, as shown in FIG.
It is shaped like a semicircle that is tapered when viewed from below, and its pointed front end portion (lower end portion) is a point contact portion 32 capable of making point contact with the tab T of the male terminal fitting M. The point contact portion 32 has a dot shape in which both the length in the front-rear direction and the length in the width direction are slightly set. On the other hand, the rear portion 31c of the bottom wall portion 31 is formed so that the width thereof becomes slightly narrower toward the rear side, and the rear end portion (lower end portion) thereof has a linear shape along the width direction. The line contact portion 33 is capable of line contact with the tab T in the width direction (direction substantially orthogonal to the insertion direction). The line contact portion 33 has a linear shape whose length in the front-rear direction is slightly set. Further, the middle portion 31b of the bottom wall portion 31 is formed so that its width becomes gradually narrower toward the front side.

As described above, of the bottom wall portion 31, only the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33, which partially project downward, are brought into contact with the tab T of the male terminal fitting M. In other words, the portion of the bottom wall portion 31 excluding the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 is in non-contact / non-interference with the tab T of the male terminal fitting M (FIG. 5 (C)). ). Since the height positions of the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 are set to be substantially the same, the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 are respectively brought into contact with the upper surface of the tab T of the male terminal fitting M inserted in the main body portion 11. As a result, the tab T can be supported in a substantially horizontal posture (FIG. 4). The point contact portion 32 arranged at the front end of the bottom wall portion 31 is arranged in front of the contact portion 27 of the lower elastic contact piece 24, while the line contact portion arranged at the rear end of the bottom wall portion 31. The portion 33 is arranged behind the contact portion 27. The distance between the point contact portion 32 and the contact portion 27 is set shorter than the distance between the line contact portion 33 and the contact portion 27.

The peripheral wall portion 30 has a straight portion corresponding to the rear portion 31c of the bottom wall portion 31 (FIG. 2B).
While the line contact portion 33 is connected to the flat surface portion, the remaining portion has a curved shape (FIGS. 2A and 2C), and the point contact portion 32 is connected to the curved surface portion. Has been.

The present embodiment has the structure as described above, and its operation will be described subsequently. The female terminal fitting 10 is
After being connected to the wire and housed in the housing,
It is conductively connected to the mating male side terminal fitting M.

When the tab T of the male terminal fitting M enters the main body 11 and is inserted between the receiving portion 29 and the elastic contact piece 24, the upper surface of the tab T first contacts the point contact portion 32. (FIG. 5 (A)). As a result, the tab T can be positioned in the height direction, so that both terminal fittings 10, M
Even if the alignment between them is a little wrong, it will be corrected. When the tab T further moves inward, the lower surface of the tab T is bulged out 2
6 of the elastic contact piece 2 is gradually contacted with the forwardly inclined front part 2
4 is flexed and deformed downward and is brought into contact with the contact portion 27 (FIG. 5 (C)). The rear end of the bent elastic contact piece 24 is brought into contact with the inner surface of the bottom wall 12. When the insertion work further progresses to the end, the upper surface of the tab T is brought into contact with the line contact portion 33 (FIG. 5 (B)).

When the tip of the tab T is inserted deeper than the line contact portion 33, both terminal fittings 10 and M reach a proper connection state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this state, the tab T is supported in a substantially horizontal posture by the line contact portion 33 and the point contact portion 32 contacting the upper surface and the contact portion 27 contacting the lower surface. At this time, since the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 whose height positions are aligned with each other are arranged at positions separated from each other in the front-rear direction, the tab T is changed from the horizontal posture under the influence of external vibration. It is possible to regulate the displacement so as to tilt the axis in the height direction. Moreover, since the line contact portion 33 is in line contact with the tab T along the width direction (FIG. 5 (B)), it is possible to prevent the tab T from tilting around the axis due to the influence of vibration or the like. it can. Further, the contact portion 2 that is brought into contact with the lower surface of the tab T
Since 7 is arranged between the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33, the tab T can be supported in a balanced manner. As described above, the connection state of both terminal fittings 10 and M can be made stable.

By the way, in the insertion process of the male side terminal metal fitting M, a frictional resistance is generated between the two terminal metal fittings 10 and M, and it is necessary to give an inserting force against the frictional resistance to the male side terminal metal fitting M. is there. However, in the female-side terminal fitting 10, the point contact portion 32 and the bulging portion 26 that contact the tab T are provided.
Since the (contact point portion 27) and the line contact portion 33 are arranged so as to be offset from each other in the front-rear direction, the contact start timing of the tab T with respect to the respective portions 26, 32, 33 is dispersed, which prevents the insertion force from rapidly increasing. You can do it. In addition, since the portion of the female-side terminal fitting 10 that first contacts the tab T and is slidably contacted with the tab T for the longest time during the insertion process is the point contact portion 32, the generated frictional resistance is reduced. It can be made as low as possible, and the required insertion force can be reduced (FIG. 5 (A)). Furthermore, the tab T is more than the point contact portion 32.
Since the tab T comes into contact with the line contact portion 33 having a large contact area with the end portion of the insertion process, the frictional resistance can be minimized and the insertion force can be reduced.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since the tab T of the male-side terminal fitting M is supported by the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 that partially protrude from the receiving portion 29, the receiving portion is different from the male-side terminal fitting as in the conventional case. The frictional resistance generated in the insertion process can be reduced as compared with the case of abutting over the entire area, and thus the insertion force of the male side terminal fitting M can be reduced. Moreover, since the point contact portion 32 is the portion that first comes into contact with the male-side terminal fitting M during the insertion process, the frictional resistance that occurs during the insertion process can be minimized, and the insertion force of the male-side terminal fitting M can be reduced. You can

Further, in the connected state, since the male side terminal fitting M is supported by the line contact portion 33 which comes into line contact along the direction substantially orthogonal to the insertion direction, the male side terminal fitting M is in a normal posture. Therefore, it is possible to regulate the inclination around the axis, and the connection state can be made stable. Here, although the line contact portion 33 has a larger contact area with the male side terminal fitting M as compared with the point contact portion 32, the line contact portion 33 is arranged on the rear end side of the receiving portion 29, so that in the final stage of the insertion process. Since the contact with the male side terminal fitting M is started, the insertion force can be suppressed as low as possible.

Further, in the insertion process, the male side metal terminal M is brought into contact with the point contact portion 32 before the contact point 27, so that the male side metal terminal M can be pre-positioned with respect to the contact point 27. Further, since the point contact portion 32 and the line contact portion 33 are arranged in front of and behind the contact portion 27, the male side terminal fitting M can be supported more stably.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition to the above, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the point contact portion and the line contact portion are provided in the receiving portion is shown as the supporting portion described in the claims, but the shape and the number of the supporting portion are arbitrary. Can be set. For example, the support portion may be formed by protruding a part of the receiving portion in a rectangular shape or a triangular shape, or three or more point contact portions or line contact portions may be arranged in front and back. Alternatively, two or more line contact portions may be arranged in the width direction.

(2) In the above embodiment, the contact portion of the elastic contact portion is arranged between the point contact portion and the line contact portion, but the positional relationship can be set arbitrarily. . (3) In the above embodiment, the receiving portion is formed so as to project from the ceiling wall. However, the present invention is also one in which the supporting portion is formed on the ceiling wall itself as the receiving portion. include.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a female terminal fitting and a mating male terminal fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. (B) BB line sectional view of FIG. (C) C-C line sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a state in which both terminal fittings are properly connected.

5A is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. (B) BB line sectional view of FIG. (C) C-C line sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Female terminal fitting 24 ... Elastic contact piece 27 ... Contact part 29 ... Receiver 32 ... Point contact part (support part) 33 ... Line contact part (support part) M ... Male side terminal fitting

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A resilient contact piece capable of resiliently contacting a mating male side terminal fitting inserted from the front side, and a receiving portion capable of sandwiching the mating male side terminal fitting between the resilient contact piece. In the female-side terminal fitting, a plurality of supporting portions are provided at positions separated from each other in the front-rear direction of the receiving portion so as to project toward the elastic contact piece side and come into contact with and support the mating male-side terminal fitting. Female terminal fittings characterized by being. 2. The female terminal according to claim 1, wherein the supporting portion arranged on the front end side is a point contact portion capable of making point contact with the mating male terminal fitting. Metal fittings. 3. The support portion disposed on the rear end side is a line contact portion capable of making line contact with the mating male side metal terminal along a direction substantially orthogonal to the insertion direction thereof. The female-side terminal fitting according to claim 2, wherein 4. The point contact portion is arranged at a position in front of a contact portion of the elastic contact piece with respect to the mating male side metal terminal fitting. Female side terminal fitting. 5. The female-side terminal fitting according to claim 4, wherein the wire contact portion is disposed at a position rearward of the contact portion.