JP2006049254A - Planar heater connection terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a planer heater connection terminal preventing a male terminal from coming off from a female terminal capable of easily connecting the male terminal to the female terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The connection terminal 4 of the planar heater 10 formed by connecting many heat generating units 1 is composed of the female terminal 40 connecting the connection terminal 4 to the heat generating units 1, and a male terminal 50 which can be inserted into the female terminal 40. A tapered protrusion 53 gradually rising from an insertion direction is formed on a part of the outside of the male terminal 50, and a notch 45 into which the protrusion of the male terminal 50 is fitted is formed on a part of the female terminal 40. The protrusion of the male terminal is made deformable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection terminal for a planar heater in which a large number of heating element units are arranged.

There is an electric heater for heating that uses a large number of heating element units and can be installed on the floor according to the size and shape of the site (Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-241683 A

In the invention shown in Patent Document 1, a large number of heating element units are arranged side by side while connecting a male terminal and a female terminal to each other.
In this case, the male terminal is inserted between the female terminals, and the male terminal is fixed by a force for pinching the female terminal.
However, such a terminal configuration has a drawback in that the male terminal is easily pulled out of the female terminal, and suddenly comes out during use.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a planar heater connection terminal in which a male terminal does not come out of a female terminal and the male terminal can be easily connected to the female terminal.

In order to achieve the above object, the connection terminal of the planar heater of the present invention is a connection terminal of a planar heater formed by connecting a number of heating element units, and the connection terminal is used as a heating element unit. A female terminal attached to the female terminal and a male terminal that can be inserted into the female terminal. A tapered protrusion that gradually rises from the insertion direction is formed on a part of the outer side of the male terminal. A notch for engaging the projection of the male terminal is formed in the portion.
Moreover, the connection terminal of the planar heater of the present invention is configured by deforming the protrusion of the male terminal.

The effect | action by the said problem-solving means is as follows.
Insert the male terminal into the female terminal of the heating element unit.
Here, the male terminal is provided with a tapered protrusion that gradually rises from the insertion direction, and the female terminal is provided with a notch that engages with the protrusion.
In addition, since the protrusion of the male terminal can be deformed, when inserting the male terminal into the female terminal, the protrusion of the male terminal is pushed into the female terminal while being deformed, and when passing through the notch of the female terminal Then, the protrusion is restored and enters the notch, and engages with each other in contact with each other.
In this way, a number of heating element units are sequentially connected while inserting the male terminal into the female terminal.
Since the protrusion of the male terminal is engaged with the notch of the female terminal, the male terminal does not come out of the female terminal suddenly during use.
Since the protrusion of the male terminal can be deformed, when releasing the connection of the heating element unit, it is only necessary to remove the male terminal from the female terminal by removing the protrusion from the notch while pushing down the protrusion.

Since the connection terminal of the planar heater of the present invention is as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
<A> Since the protrusion of the male terminal engages with the notch of the female terminal, the male terminal does not come out of the female terminal suddenly during use.
<B> Since the projection of the male terminal is formed in a tapered shape and can be deformed, it can be easily connected by simply inserting it into the female terminal.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a female terminal and a male terminal. 2A is a perspective view of a male terminal, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view thereof. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of the heating element unit. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the heating element units are connected to the female terminal via the male terminal, and FIG. 5 is a similar sectional side view. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an electrical connection state of the heating element unit. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a floor heating material sandwiching a heating element unit, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a connection state of a large number of heating element units.

<I> Overall (FIGS. 1, 3, and 8)
The connection terminal 4 of the present invention includes a female terminal 40 attached to the heating element unit 1 and a male terminal 50 that can be connected to the female terminal 40. By inserting the male terminal 50 into the female terminal 40, a large amount of heat is generated. The body units 1 can be sequentially connected via the male terminals 50 to form the planar heater 10 having a required heat generation area.

<B> Heating element unit (Fig. 3)
The heating element unit 1 has, for example, a sheet-like heat generation in which a heat generation layer 21 and conductive strips 30 and 31 are formed on the surface of an insulating sheet (resin film) 20 having a substantially rectangular shape (about 60 centimeters long and about 60 centimeters wide). Is the body.
In this example, as can be seen from the figure, four heat generating layers 21 are formed on a surface of the insulating sheet 20 by applying or printing a carbon paint mainly composed of carbon powder in a striped manner at a predetermined interval.
The two conductive strips 30 and 31 are for supplying electric power to each heat generating layer 21, and are formed by printing a silver paint mainly containing silver powder on the insulating sheet 20.
As shown in FIG. 3, each heat generating layer 21 is connected along one side of the conductive strip 30, and the conductive strip 31 and each heat generating layer 21 are connected by electric cords 32, 32.
Four female terminals 40 are attached to the center of each side of the insulating sheet 20.
The female terminal 40 is electrically connected to the conductive strips 30 and 31 through the electrical cords 33 and 34 as will be described later.
Therefore, the female terminal 40, the electric cords 33 and 34, the conductive strips 30 and 31, and each heat generating layer 21 are electrically connected, and each heat generating layer 21 constitutes an independent electric circuit (see FIG. 6).

FIG. 7 shows an example of a floor heating material sandwiching the heating element unit 1.
The floor heating material is configured by layering the backing material 11, the heat insulating material 12, the heating element unit 1, the heat conduction plate 14, and the flooring material 15 in order from the lower side.
The heating element unit 1 is locally heated to generate heat at the portion of the heat generating layer 21 coated or printed with carbon, so that the temperature becomes uneven. However, the temperature of the heating element unit 1 can be increased by applying a heat conductive plate 14 such as an aluminum plate to one surface. Can be made uniform.
On each side of the heat insulating material 12, four notches 13 for attaching the four female terminals 40 are provided.

<C> Female terminal (Figs. 1, 4 and 5)
The female terminal 40 has an insertion port 42 formed in a box-shaped plastic housing 41, and a pair of I-shaped slits 43 43 formed from the insertion port 42.
A pair of receiving terminals 44, 44 are fixed inside the housing 41 so as to correspond to the slits 43, 43, and has the same structure as a commonly used AC outlet.
A part of the housing 41 is provided with a notch 45 for engaging a projection 53 of a male terminal 50 described later.
The notch 45 is large enough to accommodate the protrusion 53 (see FIG. 5).
Both receiving terminals 44 and 44 are connected to the conductive strips 30 and 31 via electric cords 33 and 34, respectively, as can be seen from FIG.
As described above, the female terminals 40 are not projected from the respective sides of the heating element unit 1 by arranging the female terminals 40 in the notch 13 of the heat insulating material 12.

<D> Male terminal (FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5)
The male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 40 to electrically connect the heating element units 1 to each other.
The male terminal 50 is configured by projecting a pair of conductive metal plug terminals 52, 52 from a side surface in a plastic housing 51 having a box shape, for example.
The projecting plug-shaped plug terminals 52 and 52 are fixed to the housing 51 in parallel with each other and can be inserted into the I-shaped slits 43 and 43 of the female terminal 40.
As shown in FIG. 2A, a part of the upper surface of the housing 51 is cut out, and a tapered protrusion 53 that gradually rises from the insertion direction is provided there.
A tongue piece 53a is provided at the tip of the projection 53, and by pressing the tongue piece 53a, the tongue piece 53a can be deformed as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
If the dent 53b is provided, the deformation is easy.
As described above, since the male terminal 50 is for connecting the heating element units 1 to each other, the pair of plug terminals 52, 52 protrude from the two opposite side surfaces of the housing 51, and there are also two protrusions 53. Provided.
A pair of plug terminals 52, 52 are inserted from the I-shaped slits 43, 43 of the female terminal 40, and the plug terminals 52, 52 are sandwiched between the pair of receiving terminals 44, 44, thereby receiving the plug terminals 52, 52 and the plug terminals 52, 52. The terminals 44 and 44 are in contact with each other and are electrically connected.

A male terminal 50 having the same structure is also attached to one end of the electric cord 25 connected to a household outlet (see FIGS. 6 and 8).
The power cord 25 is preferably provided with a control panel 26 for detecting temperature adjustment and detecting leakage and shutting off the power.

In a state where the male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 40, the protrusion 53 enters the notch 45, and both end surfaces abut and engage.
In this state, a gap 46 is formed on the upper surface of the female terminal 40 so that the tongue piece 53a can be pushed (see FIG. 5).
In this way, the male terminals 50 can be inserted into the female terminals 40 one after another, and a large number of the heating element units 1 can be electrically connected sequentially.

Further, two elastic members such as an O-ring 54 are provided outside the housing 51, and a gap is generated between the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 50 when the male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 40. There is no trash and no ingress.
A groove 46 is provided on the inner side of the insertion port 42 of the female terminal 40, and a protrusion 55 is provided on the outer side of the housing 51 of the male terminal 50. It is preferable that this is not possible (FIG. 1).
Note that the male terminals 50 may be prevented from being inserted upside down by shifting the positions of the slits 43 and 43 and the plug terminals 52 and 52 to the left and right without providing the groove 46 and the protrusion 55 (FIG. 2). (A)).

<E> Action Plug terminals 52 and 52 of male terminal 50 are inserted into slits 43 and 43 of female terminal 40 of heating element unit 1.
Here, the male terminal 50 is provided with a tapered projection 53 that gradually rises from the insertion direction, and this projection 53 can be deformed. Therefore, when the male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 40, the projection 53 becomes a female projection. It is pushed by the terminal 40 and inserted while being deformed.
When the deformed protrusion 53 passes through the notch 45 of the female terminal 40, it is restored and the protrusion 53 enters the notch 45, and engages with the end surfaces in contact with each other.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8, the male terminal 50 of the power cord 25 is connected to the female terminal 40 of the heating element unit 1a.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, two heating element units 1 b and 1 c are connected to the female terminals 40 on the two sides of the heating element unit 1 a via the male terminal 50.
A heating element unit 1d is connected to the heating element unit 1b via a male terminal 50, and a heating element unit 1f is connected to the heating element unit 1d via a male terminal 50.
In a heating element unit that does not require heat generation, a lid-shaped blocking member 7 made of plastic or the like is attached to the insertion port 42 of the female terminal 40 to block the electric circuit.
In this example, the heating element unit 1 c is connected to the heating element units 1 d and 1 e via the blocking members 7 and 7, and the heating element unit 1 e and the heating element unit 1 f are also connected to each other via the blocking member 7.
In this way, the male terminal 50 or the blocking member 7 is inserted into the female terminals 40 of the large number of heating element units 1a to 1f, and these are sequentially connected.
When the blocking member 7 is also connected to each of the peripheral female terminals 40 and power is supplied via the power cord 25, the heating element units 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1f are energized, and the heating element unit 1e is removed. The heating element units 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1f generate heat.

According to the connection terminal 4 of the present invention, the protrusion 53 of the male terminal 50 enters the notch 45 of the female terminal 40 and the end surfaces of the connection terminals 4 are engaged with each other, so that the male terminal 50 suddenly comes out of the female terminal 40 during use. There is nothing.
Since the protrusion 53 of the male terminal 50 can be deformed by pushing the tongue piece 53a, if the tongue piece 53a is pushed down from the gap 46, the protrusion 53 can be easily detached from the notch 45 and the heating element unit 1 can be removed. it can.
As described above, according to the connection terminal 4 of the present invention, it is possible to easily connect a large number of the heating element units 1 only by inserting the male terminal 50 into the female terminal 40. There is no problem of getting out of the female terminal.

The perspective view which shows the relationship between a female terminal and a male terminal. It is a figure which shows a male terminal, (A) is a perspective view, (B) is the sectional drawing. The top view which shows an example of a heat generating unit. The top view which shows the state which connected the heat generating unit to the female terminal via the male terminal. Sectional side view similar to FIG. Schematic which shows the electrical connection state of a heat generating body unit. The perspective view which shows an example of the floor heating material which pinched | interposed the heat generating body unit. Explanatory drawing which shows the connection state of many heat generating unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heating unit 21 ... Heat generating layer 30, 31 ... Conductive strips 32-37 ... Electrical cord 4 ... Connection terminal 40 ... Female terminal 42 ... Insertion 43 ... slit 44 ... receiving terminal 45 ... notch 50 ... male terminal 52 ... plug terminal 53 ... projection

Claims (2)

  A connection terminal of a planar heater formed by connecting a large number of heating element units, the connection terminal comprising a female terminal attached to the heating element unit and a male terminal insertable into the female terminal, A taper-shaped protrusion that gradually rises from the insertion direction is formed on a part of the outer side of the terminal, and a notch for engaging the protrusion of the male terminal is formed on a part of the female terminal. Connect the surface heater.   The connection terminal of the planar heater according to claim 1, wherein the projection of the male terminal is configured to be deformable.

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