JP2006100232A - Terminal fitting and connector using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal fitting wherein a spring part is prevented from being excessively bent and deformed, and a connector using it. <P>SOLUTION: In a female terminal fitting 12 provided with a main spring piece 27 extending frontward in a cantilever shape, and an auxiliary spring piece 30 extending frontward in a cantilever shape on the outer surface side of the main spring piece 27 in a sleeve part 19 in which a male terminal fitting 10 is inserted, a stopper part 32 to regulate the displacement of the auxiliary spring piece 30 in a direction for pushing it up, when the free end side of the auxiliary spring piece 30 is pushed up from the outside, is formed so as to be stretched out to both sides of the width direction of the auxiliary spring piece 30, and on the other hand, an opening edge formed by cutting out the auxiliary spring piece 30 in the sleeve part 19 serves as a receiving part 33 brought into abutting contact with the stopper part 32. Therefore, even if a foreign matter hits against the auxiliary spring piece 30, the auxiliary spring piece 30 can be prevented from being excessively bent and deformed in the direction for pushing it up. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting and a connector using the same.

As the terminal fitting, one described in Patent Document 1 is known. This is provided with a cylindrical portion into which a mating terminal is inserted, and in this cylindrical portion, an elastically deformable spring piece, and an outer surface of the spring piece which is cantilevered forward on the outer surface side of this spring piece And an auxiliary spring member disposed on the surface. The auxiliary spring member is exposed on the side surface of the cylindrical portion. When the mating terminal fitting is inserted into the cylindrical portion, the mating terminal fitting and the spring piece come into contact with each other, the spring piece is elastically deformed, and the spring piece is pressed against the mating terminal fitting by the elastic force of this spring piece. Thus, electrical connection is made. At this time, the auxiliary spring member abuts from the outer surface side of the spring piece to reinforce the elastic force of the spring piece.
JP 11-224709 A

  However, according to the above configuration, since the auxiliary spring member is exposed on the side surface of the cylindrical portion, there is a case where a foreign object hits the auxiliary spring member and bends and deforms excessively.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at providing the terminal metal fitting which the spring part was prevented from being deformed excessively, and a connector using the same.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a spring part having a free end at the front is provided in a cylindrical part into which a mating terminal is inserted, and the spring part is a side surface of the cylindrical part. A terminal fitting exposed to the stopper, wherein the spring portion is provided with a stopper portion, and the stopper portion is brought into contact with the cylindrical portion when the free end side of the spring portion is pushed up from the outside. And a receiving portion for restricting displacement of the spring portion in the push-up direction is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the spring portion is a main spring piece that extends in a cantilevered manner forward in the cylindrical portion, and the main spring piece of the cylindrical portion is opposed to the main spring piece. The auxiliary spring piece is cut out from the surface to be extended and cantilevered forward on the outer surface side of the main spring piece, and the stopper portion is formed to protrude on both sides in the width direction of the auxiliary spring piece. On the other hand, an opening edge formed by cutting out the auxiliary spring piece in the cylindrical portion serves as the receiving portion.

  The invention of claim 3 is a connector comprising the terminal fitting of claim 1 or claim 2 and a connector housing in which a cavity for accommodating the terminal fitting is formed, wherein the terminal fitting includes the cylindrical portion. A barrel portion connected to the electric wire is provided at the rear of the tube portion, and a height dimension from the bottom surface of the barrel portion is larger than a height dimension from the bottom surface of the cylindrical portion, while the cavity The inside is characterized in that a step is provided at the boundary between the accommodating portions so that the height of the accommodating portion of the barrel portion is larger than the height of the accommodating portion of the cylindrical portion.

<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the stopper portion is provided on the spring portion and the receiving portion is provided on the cylindrical portion, and the stopper portion is brought into contact with the receiving portion when a foreign object hits the spring portion exposed on the side surface of the cylindrical portion. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the spring portion from being excessively bent and deformed in the push-up direction.

<Invention of Claim 2>
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the stopper portion is formed on the auxiliary spring piece, even if a foreign object hits the auxiliary spring piece, the auxiliary spring piece can be prevented from being excessively bent and deformed in the push-up direction. Moreover, since the opening edge formed by cutting out an auxiliary spring piece in the cylinder part is made into the receiving part, the new process for forming a receiving part is unnecessary.

<Invention of Claim 3>
In recent years, miniaturization of connectors has been demanded. When the connector is miniaturized, the terminal fitting is also miniaturized. Then, the barrel part connected with an electric wire may become higher than the cylinder part connected with the other party terminal metal fitting from the relative relationship with an electric wire diameter. Corresponding to the difference in height in such a terminal fitting, if the part corresponding to the barrel part is also made higher on the outer surface of the female connector housing and conversely the part corresponding to the cylindrical part is made lower, the female connector Since the hood part of the male connector housing is fitted to the relatively low cylindrical part corresponding to the housing, compared to the case where the outer surface of the female connector housing is formed to be aligned with the height of the barrel part. Low profile can be achieved.

  According to the above configuration, the height of the connector can be reduced. However, when the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity, the stepped portion and the terminal fitting may abut against each other. In particular, there is a concern that when the spring portion and the step portion of the terminal fitting abut against each other, the spring portion is excessively bent and deformed.

  Since the connector according to the invention of claim 3 includes the terminal fitting according to the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, even when the spring portion and the stepped portion abut each other, the spring portion is excessively bent and deformed. Can be prevented. Thus, according to the invention of claim 3, it is possible to effectively reduce the height of the connector.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector of this embodiment includes a male connector housing 11 provided with a male terminal fitting 10 (mating terminal according to the present invention) and a female connector housing 13 provided with a female terminal fitting 12 (terminal fitting according to the present invention). The connector housings 11 and 13 can be fitted and detached from each other. In the following description, the direction in which the connector housings 11 and 13 are fitted together is the front direction. Further, the vertical direction of the connector housing is based on FIG. 1, but in the description of the female terminal fitting 12 alone, FIGS. 2 and 7 are based on the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the male connector housing 11 is made of a synthetic resin, includes a hood portion 14 that opens forward, and a male terminal fitting 10 is attached through the bottom wall of the hood portion 14. The male terminal fitting 10 faces the hood portion 14.

  The female connector housing 13 is made of synthetic resin, and includes a cavity 15 that accommodates the female terminal fitting 12. In the front wall of the female connector housing 13, corresponding to each cavity 15, an insertion port 16 for inserting the male terminal fitting 10 is opened.

  The female terminal fitting 12 is inserted into the cavity 15 from the rear in an upside down orientation. The female terminal fitting 12 is inserted from the lance 17 formed in the cavity 15 and the female connector housing 13 from below. The retainer 18 is double-locked to prevent it from coming off.

  The female terminal fitting 12 is manufactured in a shape elongated in the front-rear direction by bending a metal plate punched into a predetermined shape (see FIG. 5). A rectangular tube portion 19 into which the male terminal fitting 10 is inserted is formed in a substantially first half region of the female terminal fitting 12, and a barrel portion 20 to which a wire 21 is caulked is formed in a substantially latter half region.

  The barrel portion 20 has a form in which a pair of front and rear caulking pieces are raised from the left and right side edges of the bottom plate. The coating of the electric wire 21 is attached to 20B. The height dimension of the wire barrel 20A is set to be substantially the same as the height dimension of the cylindrical portion 19, and is set to be lower than the height dimension of the insulation barrel 20B. Therefore, on the bottom surface of the cavity 15, an inclined stepped portion 22 is formed at the boundary between the accommodating portion 37 </ b> A in which the cylindrical portion 19 and the wire barrel 20 </ b> A are accommodated and the accommodating portion 37 </ b> B in which the insulation barrel 20 </ b> B is accommodated. Is formed. On the other hand, the ceiling surface of the cavity 15 is continuous at the same height across both the front and rear accommodation portions 37A and 37B.

  Corresponding to such a difference in height in the female terminal fitting 12, the part corresponding to the insulation barrel 20B is made higher on the outer surface of the female connector housing 13, and conversely, the part corresponding to the cylindrical part 19 is made lower. (See FIG. 1). As a result, the hood portion 14 of the male connector housing 11 is fitted to the female connector housing 13 in a portion corresponding to the relatively low cylindrical portion 19, so that the female connector housing 13 is aligned with the height of the insulation barrel 20 </ b> B. The height can be reduced compared to the case of forming the outer surface.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the cylindrical portion 19 includes a bottom wall 23 that is elongated in the front-rear direction and is flush with the bottom plate of the barrel portion 20, a side wall 24 that rises from the left and right edges of the bottom wall 23, The ceiling wall 25 is formed so as to face the bottom wall 23 from the upper edge of the side wall 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a connecting portion 26 that extends downward from the rear end portion of the ceiling wall 25 is disposed along the other side wall 24, and the bottom wall 23 extends from the lower end edge of the connecting portion 26. A plate-like main spring piece 27 (a spring portion according to the present invention) is arranged along the line.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the main spring piece 27 is cantilevered from the rear end portion of the cylindrical portion 19 to the front, and the front end portion is a free end. . The main spring piece 27 roughly includes a first region P that occupies approximately a quarter from the rear end to the front, and an approximate dimension in the front-rear direction of the main spring piece 27 from the front end of the first region P. The second region Q occupies up to a half portion and the third region R occupies from the front end of the second region Q to the front end of the main spring piece 27. In the first region P, the main spring piece 27 is disposed so as to be in contact with the bottom wall 23. In the second region Q, the main spring piece 27 is disposed so as to be slightly separated from the bottom wall 23. And the third region R are in contact with the bottom wall 23. In the third region R, the main spring piece 27 extends diagonally forward and upward, and the front end portion is bent slightly diagonally downward to form an apex portion. A contact portion 28 is formed by stamping upward at the apex portion. In the third region R of the main spring piece 27, the width is slightly narrower as it goes to the front end.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the region of the ceiling wall 25 that is located above the contact portion 28 of the main spring piece 27 is stamped and formed downward in a substantially rectangular shape, and the contact portion 28 and the male terminal The pressure receiving portion 29 is used to ensure a contact pressure with the metal fitting 10. In addition, a lance hole 35 is formed behind the pressure receiving portion 29 for locking the female terminal fitting 12 by locking with the lance 17 described above.

  In the vicinity of the center of the bottom wall 23, an auxiliary spring piece 30 (a spring portion according to the present invention) having a substantially rectangular shape and a substantially square shape extending obliquely forward and upward in a cantilevered manner attaches the bottom wall 23 to the bottom wall 23. It is formed by partially cutting and raising (see FIG. 5), and is exposed to the outer surface (lower surface) of the cylindrical portion 19. The auxiliary spring pieces 30 are arranged along the lower surface side (outer surface side) of the third region R of the main spring pieces 27 and at substantially the same inclination angle as the main spring pieces 27. The front end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30 is set so as to be located slightly obliquely behind the contact portion 28 of the main spring piece 27.

  The main spring piece 27 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 are separated from each other when both the main spring piece 27 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 are in a free state in which the main spring piece 27 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 are not deformed, but when the main spring piece 27 is bent and deformed downward. The lower surface of the main spring piece 27 is set so as to come into contact with the front end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30 in a free state from above (see FIGS. 2 and 8).

  A bulging portion 31 bulging upward by knocking is formed at the base end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30. The bulging portion 31 improves the rigidity of the auxiliary spring piece 30 (see FIGS. 7 and 9). The bulging portion 31 is formed in a generally circular shape (specifically, a water droplet shape). Further, when both the main spring piece 27 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 are in a free state where they are not bent and deformed, the bulging portion 31 is separated from the main spring piece 27.

  The auxiliary spring piece 30 is formed with a pair of stopper portions 32 that form a square shape that protrudes outwardly from the front end portions at the left and right side edges. On the other hand, an opening is formed in the bottom wall 23 along with the formation of the auxiliary spring piece 30 and the stopper portion 32, and at the boundary portion between the bottom wall 23 and the left and right side walls 24 of the opening edge of the opening. The position is a pair of left and right receiving portions 33 corresponding to the stopper portion 32. When the auxiliary spring piece 30 is in a free state where it does not elastically bend, the stopper portion 32 is positioned below the receiving portion 33. However, when the auxiliary spring piece 30 is pushed up from the lower side (outside) by a foreign object, the stopper portion 32 is located with respect to the receiving portion 33. And are configured to contact from below. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the auxiliary spring piece 30 from being excessively bent and deformed upward (to the main spring piece 27 side). As shown in FIG. 8, the stopper portion 32 does not protrude from the side wall 24 of the cylindrical portion 19.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, an opening having a substantially rectangular shape is formed in the bottom wall 23 in front of the auxiliary spring piece 30 and below the front end portion of the main spring piece 27. When the main spring piece 27 is bent and deformed downward, an escape hole 34 is provided for avoiding interference with the tip portion. Further, the region of the bottom wall 23 corresponding to the contact portion 28 of the main spring piece 27 comes into contact with the lower surface of the main spring piece 27 from below when the main spring piece 27 is bent and deformed downward. Is an excessive bending restricting portion 36 for preventing excessive bending and deformation.

Next, functions and effects of this embodiment will be described.
The female terminal fitting 12 is inserted into the cavity 15 of the female connector housing 13 from behind. Then, the lance 17 is locked in the lance hole 35 and the female terminal fitting 12 is prevented from coming off. At this time, the cylindrical portion 19 and the wire barrel 20 </ b> A of the female terminal fitting 12 are accommodated in the cavity 15 in front of the step portion 22, and the insulation barrel 20 </ b> B is accommodated in the rear of the step portion 22. .

  When the female terminal fitting 12 is accommodated in the cavity 15, the retainer 18 is attached from below, and the retainer 18 is locked to the rear end portion of the cylindrical portion 19, thereby preventing the female terminal fitting 12 from coming off. .

  Next, the female connector housing 13 is fitted into the hood portion 14 of the male connector housing 11 from the front. When the fitting proceeds, the male terminal fitting 10 enters the cylindrical portion 19 from the insertion port 16 of the female terminal fitting 12. When the fitting further proceeds, the male terminal fitting 10 contacts the contact portion 28 of the main spring piece 27 and presses the main spring piece 27 downward. Then, the main spring piece 27 is elastically deformed downward and comes into contact with the front end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30 from above. As a result, the auxiliary spring piece 30 is also pressed downward and elastically deformed downward. As a result, since the elastic force from the main spring piece 27 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 acts on the male terminal fitting 10, the male terminal fitting 10 has the pressure receiving portion 29 of the ceiling wall 25 of the cylindrical portion 19 and the main spring piece 27. Between the contact portions 28 and the electrical connection.

  At this time, since the bulging portion 31 is formed by knocking out at the base end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30, the rigidity is improved. As a result, the main spring piece 27 is reinforced and the elastic force applied to the male terminal fitting 10 is improved, so that a high contact pressure can be obtained for the male terminal fitting 10.

  In addition, since the bulging portion 31 can be formed by a simple method of knocking out the base end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30, the auxiliary spring piece 30 can be easily reinforced.

  When the fitting of the two connector housings 11 and 13 is completed, the two connector housings 11 and 13 are held in a fitted state by a well-known lock mechanism (not shown).

  According to this embodiment, the part corresponding to the insulation barrel 20 </ b> B is higher on the outer surface of the female connector housing 13 corresponding to the height difference in the female terminal fitting 12, and conversely, the part corresponding to the cylindrical part 19 is provided. It is supposed to be lowered. As a result, the hood portion 14 of the male connector housing 11 is fitted into the portion corresponding to the cylindrical portion 19 that is relatively low with the female connector housing 13, so that the female connector housing is aligned with the height of the insulation barrel 20B. The height can be reduced as compared with the case where the outer surface of 13 is formed.

  However, according to said structure, the level | step-difference part 22 is needed in the boundary part of the accommodating part 37A of the cylinder part 19 and the wire barrel 20A, and the accommodating part 37B of the insulation barrel 20B. For this reason, when an operator mistakenly tries to insert the female terminal fitting 12 with the vertical direction reversed, the bottom wall 23 and the stepped portion 22 may come into contact with each other. Then, since the auxiliary spring piece 30 is exposed on the bottom wall 23, there is a concern that the stepped portion 22 hits the auxiliary spring piece 30 and the auxiliary spring piece 30 is bent and deformed in the push-up direction.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the stopper portion 32 is formed on the auxiliary spring piece 30, and the stopper portion 32 comes into contact with the receiving portion 33 of the cylindrical portion 19 from below. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the auxiliary spring piece 30 from being excessively bent and deformed.

  As described above, by using the female terminal fitting 12 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively reduce the height of the female connector housing 13.

  Moreover, since the opening edge formed by cutting out the auxiliary | assistant spring piece 30 in the cylinder part 19 is made into the receiving part 33, the new process for forming the receiving part 33 is unnecessary.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.

  (1) In the present embodiment, the stopper portion 32 is provided on the auxiliary spring piece 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the stopper portion 32 is provided on the main spring piece 27. You may contact | abut to the receiving part 33 formed in this. In this case, the auxiliary spring piece 30 may be omitted.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the front end portion of the auxiliary spring piece 30 is projected in the width direction, and this is used as the stopper portion 32. However, instead of this, the stopper portion 32 can be provided on the cylindrical portion 19 side. Yes, such a form is also included in the concept of claim 1.

  Sectional drawing of the connector which concerns on this embodiment   Side view of female terminal fitting according to this embodiment   Similarly, a plan view of the female terminal fitting   Similarly bottom view of female terminal fitting   Similarly, development view of female terminal fittings   Similarly, partly cut away side view of female terminal fitting   Similarly, an enlarged sectional side view of the female terminal fitting cylinder   Similarly, an enlarged bottom view of the tube part of the female terminal fitting   AA sectional view of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Male terminal fitting (mating terminal)
12 ... Female terminal fitting (terminal fitting)
13. Female connector housing (connector housing)
15 ... Cavity 19 ... Cylinder part 20A ... Wire barrel (barrel part 20)
20B ... Insulation barrel 20B (barrel portion 20)
22 ... Step part 27 ... Main spring piece (spring part)
30 ... Auxiliary spring piece (spring part)
32 ... Stopper 33 ... Receiver

Claims (3)

A spring part with a free end at the front is provided in the cylindrical part into which the mating terminal is inserted, and the spring part is a terminal fitting exposed on the side surface of the cylindrical part,
The spring part is provided with a stopper part,
The cylindrical portion is provided with a receiving portion that restricts displacement of the spring portion in the push-up direction by contacting the stopper portion when the free end side of the spring portion is pushed up from the outside. Characteristic terminal fitting. The spring portion is cut out from a main spring piece that cantilevered forward in the inside of the cylindrical portion, and a front surface of the cylindrical portion that faces the main spring piece, and forward on the outer surface side of the main spring piece. Consisting of an auxiliary spring piece extending like a cantilever
The stopper portion is formed so as to protrude on both sides in the width direction of the auxiliary spring piece, and an opening edge formed by cutting out the auxiliary spring piece in the cylindrical portion serves as the receiving portion. The terminal fitting according to 1. A connector comprising the terminal fitting of claim 1 or claim 2 and a connector housing in which a cavity for housing the terminal fitting is formed,
The terminal fitting is provided with a barrel portion connected to the electric wire behind the cylindrical portion, and a height dimension from the bottom surface of the barrel portion is larger than a height dimension from the bottom surface of the cylindrical portion. And
On the other hand, the inside of the cavity is provided with a step at the boundary between the accommodating portions so that the height of the accommodating portion of the barrel portion is larger than the height of the accommodating portion of the cylindrical portion. Characteristic connector.

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