JP2007179987A - Female terminal structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a female terminal structure in which a spring part can maintain a contact force for fixing a male terminal even at high temperature without decreasing terminal insertion force of the male terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The female terminal structure is provided with a terminal current flowing part 31 which is formed in a frame shape by a high conductive material and into which the male terminal 10 is inserted, and a spring part 33 which is provided in the terminal current flowing part 31 and fixes the male terminal 10 to be inserted. A terminal box 32 is provided so as to cover the terminal current flowing part 31 by using a material with a strength higher than the above high conductive material, and the spring part 33 is formed integrally with the terminal box 32. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric terminal structure for energizing a large current, and more particularly to a female terminal structure of a metal fitting to which a male terminal metal fitting is inserted and connected.

  At present, HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) that can reduce harmful gas emissions and have a significant fuel consumption reduction effect are attracting a great deal of attention. The connection between the motor driving the HEV and the inverter is made by a connector, and a large current of 100 A or more is energized depending on the HEV system. As the electric control technology for automobiles advances, connectors are increasingly used in automobiles, but there are few connectors that can handle large currents. As a terminal used for a connector corresponding to a large current, for example, there are a flat male terminal as shown in FIG. 11 and a female terminal as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the male terminal 50 is formed of a single thin plate material, one end of which is formed in the electric wire connection portion 51 that connects to another electrical device, and the other end contacts the female terminal. Part 52 is formed. The wire connection portion 51 is formed with a device connection hole 53 for fastening and fixing the male terminal 50 to another device with a bolt. The size of the male terminal 50 is, for example, about 95 mm wide and about 1.2 mm thick.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the female terminal 60 includes a terminal energizing portion 61 that fixes and electrically connects the male terminal 50, and a wire crimping portion 62 that caulks and connects the wires to bend the plate material. Is formed. A leaf spring 63 for fixing the male terminal 50 inside is provided in the terminal energizing portion 61.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the male terminal 50 is inserted into the female terminal 60, the insertion contact portion 52 of the male terminal 50 is pushed and fixed to the terminal energization portion 61 by the leaf spring 63 and is electrically connected.

  The male terminal 50 and the female terminal 60 shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 are formed using, for example, copper which is a material having high conductivity. Among copper materials, it is preferable to suppress heat generation during energization as much as possible by using a highly conductive material.

  However, since the relationship between the conductivity and strength of the terminal material is in a trade-off relationship, the strength of the formed terminal tends to decrease when a material with high conductivity is used. For example, when a terminal is formed using copper having a conductivity of 90% or more, a desired strength cannot be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to form the terminal using a material with sufficient strength at the expense of the conductivity of the terminal material to some extent.

  Moreover, since the spring part 63 is provided in the female terminal 60 as well as the relationship between the electrical conductivity and strength of the material, the terminal material must be considered so that the formed spring part 63 has an elastic force.

  At present, there is no material that has excellent properties in all of such conductivity, strength, and elastic force, but as a solution, the spring part of the female terminal and the terminal energizing part are formed separately to have high conductivity. There is a female terminal having a structure in which an energizing portion is combined with a spring portion having high spring characteristics and high strength.

  The prior art document information on the female terminal structure according to the present invention includes the following.

JP-A-11-233182 JP 2005-56792 A

  However, when such female terminals are used as automobile terminals, there are the following problems.

  Terminals for automobiles may be exposed to high temperature conditions (150 ° C). Under such circumstances, if the stress relaxation characteristics of the material forming the terminals are large, the female terminal box part (terminal energization part 61) opens. May end up. For example, the plate material bent at 90 ° is bent back in the direction opposite to the bent direction, and the plate material opens about 100 °.

  When the terminal box is opened, the distance between the spring part and the terminal box part (the space in which the male terminal is inserted) increases. At this time, since the amount of displacement applied to the spring portion is reduced, that is, the contact force with which the spring portion clamps the male terminal is weakened, the electrical device connected via the female terminal 30 satisfies the predetermined characteristics. Can not be.

  Therefore, considering the opening of the terminal at high temperature, even if the female terminal is formed by setting the contact force of the spring part high even at normal temperature, even if the box part of the terminal opens at high temperature, the specified characteristics Need to get. When the spring force is formed by increasing the contact force, the force required to insert the male terminal into the female terminal (terminal insertion force) also increases, which makes it difficult to insert the male terminal.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a female terminal structure in which the spring portion can maintain the contact force for fixing the male terminal even at high temperatures without increasing the terminal insertion force of the male terminal. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 fixes a terminal energization part formed in a frame body with a highly conductive material and into which a male terminal is inserted, and a male terminal provided and inserted in the terminal energization part. In the female terminal structure provided with a spring part, a female terminal is provided in which a terminal box is provided so as to cover the terminal energization part using a material having a higher strength than the highly conductive material, and the spring part is formed integrally with the terminal box. It is a structure.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, an opening is formed on one surface of the terminal box, a fixed claw is provided on the opening, and the surface of the terminal energizing portion in contact with the surface on which the opening is formed has a fixed claw. 2. The female terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein an engagement concave portion that engages with the portion is formed, and the fixing claw portion is bent into the concave portion to fix the terminal box and the terminal energization portion to each other.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, each of the terminal energizing portion and the terminal box is formed by bending a single plate material into a rectangular cross section, and the joints of the terminal energizing portion and the terminal box are provided to face each other. The female terminal structure according to claim 1 or 2.

  According to the present invention, an excellent effect is exhibited in that the contact force with which the spring portion fixes the male terminal can be maintained even at a high temperature without increasing the terminal insertion force of the male terminal.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 to 4 are views showing a preferred embodiment of the female terminal according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional perspective view, FIG. 3 is an upper perspective view, and FIG. It is a surface perspective view.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the female terminal 30 includes a terminal energizing portion 31 that is formed in a frame body with a highly conductive material and into which the male terminal 10 is inserted. The male energizing portion 31 is inserted into the terminal energizing portion 31. A spring portion 33 for fixing the terminal is provided. The female terminal 30 is characterized in that a terminal box 32 is provided so as to cover the terminal energizing portion 31 using a material having a strength higher than that of a highly conductive material, and a spring portion 33 is formed integrally with the terminal box 32.

  The terminal energizing portion 31 is formed in a substantially rectangular cross section, and the terminal box 32 is also formed in a substantially rectangular cross section so as to be fitted to the terminal energizing portion 31. A part of one surface 34 (upper surface in the figure) of the terminal box 32 is formed so as to extend from the male terminal insertion side into the terminal energizing part 31, and a part of the extended terminal box 32 is the terminal energizing part 31. It is bent inward and formed in a leaf spring-like spring portion 33. The spring portion 33 is in contact with the convex portion 35 formed on the bottom surface (the lower surface in the drawing) of the terminal energizing portion 31 and pinches the male terminal 10 inserted from the male terminal insertion side to the convex portion 35, thereby energizing the terminal. The male terminal 10 is fixed in the portion 31.

  An opening 36 is formed in the upper surface 34 of the terminal box 32. The opening 36 is provided with a fixing claw portion 37 for fixing the terminal energizing portion 31. On the other hand, an engagement recess 38 that engages with the fixing claw portion 37 is formed on the surface (the upper surface in the drawing) of the terminal energizing portion 31 that is in contact with the surface where the opening 36 is formed. In the female terminal 60, when the claw portion 37 is bent toward the terminal energizing portion 31 (inside the female terminal), the fixing claw portion 37 engages with the engaging recess 38, and the terminal box 32 and the terminal energizing portion 31 are fixed to each other. The

  Thereby, the terminal energization part 31 and the terminal box 32 which are separately formed of different metal plate materials are always fixed at a fixed position, and the terminal energization part 31 does not come out of the terminal box 32 and constitutes a stable female terminal 30. be able to.

  The terminal energizing portion 31 is formed integrally with the electric wire caulking portion 39 by bending a plate material made of a highly conductive material. The electric wire caulking portion 39 is a member that is formed of a highly conductive material and that fixes the electric wire to the female terminal 30 by caulking the electric wire.

  The terminal box 32 is formed by bending a single plate material into a substantially cross-sectional rectangular shape, and is formed such that a joint 42 is positioned on a surface 41 facing the surface 34 on which the opening 36 is formed (see FIG. Middle, bottom). The terminal energizing portion 31 is also formed by bending a single plate material into a substantially cross-sectional rectangular shape, and the joint 43 of the terminal energizing portion 31 is on the surface (upper surface in the drawing) facing the joint 42 of the terminal box 32. It is formed to be located.

The joint 43 of the terminal energizing section 31 and the joint 42 of the terminal box 32 are formed so as to face each other, and the terminal energizing section 31 is fitted and fixed to the terminal box 32, so When the terminal 10 is inserted, the terminal 10 becomes strong against a force from the inside of the terminal energizing portion 31.
Since the conventional female terminal 60 is composed only of the terminal energizing portion 61 formed of a single plate material, when a force is applied to the terminal energizing portion 61 by insertion of the male terminal when the joint has a joint, the terminal energizing is performed. The part 61 has been deformed from the joint. That is, due to the force of twisting the terminal energizing portion 61, the plate materials are separated from each other at the joint, and the frame cannot be held. Therefore, in the female terminal structure of the present embodiment, the frame body can be held by disposing the joints on the opposite surfaces.

  The high conductivity material for forming the terminal energizing portion 31 and the wire caulking portion 39 preferably has a conductivity of 60% IACS or more, more preferably 93% IACS or more.

  In this embodiment, oxygen-free copper having a conductivity of 97% IACS is used as the high conductivity material. Moreover, the terminal box 32 was formed using SUS excellent in stress relaxation characteristics.

  Here, FIG. 5 shows the stress relaxation characteristics of oxygen-free copper and SUS. The stress relaxation characteristics of FIG. 5 are obtained by measuring the stress relaxation rate of a plate material that changes depending on the heating time by exposing a SUS plate material and an oxygen-free copper plate material to an environment heated to 150 ° C.

  As shown in FIG. 5, according to the characteristic line 71 of oxygen-free copper, the stress relaxation rate of oxygen-free copper increases immediately at a temperature of 150 ° C., whereas according to the characteristic line 72 of SUS, It can be seen that even when SUS is kept at a temperature of 150 ° C. for a long time, the stress relaxation rate hardly changes. Therefore, the shape of the terminal box 32 formed using SUS according to the graph of FIG. 5 hardly changes at a high temperature (150 ° C.).

  According to the female terminal structure of the present embodiment, the female terminal is provided by providing the terminal box 32 made of the SUS material having a small stress relaxation characteristic so as to cover the terminal conducting part 31 made of the highly conductive material. Even if 30 is exposed to a high temperature environment, the portion bent at 90 ° of the terminal box does not open at an angle larger than that, and the terminal box 32 is not deformed. Therefore, the spring portion 33 formed integrally with the terminal box 32 is not displaced from the energizing terminal portion 31 (the force pushing the terminal energization 31 is weakened), and the contact force of the male terminal by the spring portion 33 can be maintained. it can.

  That is, the female terminal 30 of the present embodiment forms the terminal energizing portion 31 with high conductivity, thereby reducing heat generation due to large current energization and covering the terminal energizing portion 31 with the terminal box 32. By forming the spring portion 33 integrally with 32, stable large current conduction can be maintained.

  In addition, since it is not necessary to design the spring portion 33 to reduce the spring elastic force at high temperatures, the contact force can be reduced, and the force required when inserting the male terminal 10 into the female terminal 60 (terminal insertion) Force) can also be reduced.

  Here, the male terminal inserted in the female terminal 30 of this Embodiment is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the male terminal 10 is formed of an elongated plate material, has an electric wire connection portion 11 that is connected to an electric wire (electric device) at one end, and an insertion contact portion 12 that is inserted into the female terminal at the other end. Have. The male terminal 10 of the present embodiment is characterized in that the insertion contact portion 12 is formed with a U-shaped cross section of a flat plate material.

  The wire connection portion 11 and the insertion contact portion 12 are formed from a single plate material, and the wire connection portion 11 is formed in a flat plate shape. The wire connection portion 11 is formed with a device connection hole 13 that is electrically connected to a device such as an inverter and is fastened and fixed to the device with a bolt.

  The insertion contact portion (U-shaped portion) 12 which is the other end includes a bottom plate 14 formed in the same flat plate shape as the wire connection portion 11 and protrusion pieces 15 and 15 protruding from both sides of the bottom plate 14. The pieces 15 and 15 are formed by bending a plate material forming the bottom plate 14 at a substantially right angle.

  The insertion tip portion 16 of the insertion contact portion 12 is formed in a tapered shape. Specifically, the tips of the bottom plate 14 and the two projecting pieces 15 and 15 are formed in a taper shape in the plate thickness direction, and the tip is formed in a taper shape so that it can be inserted into the female terminal 60 (see FIG. 12). The insertion force is reduced.

  The insertion contact portion (U-shaped portion) 12 is formed so that the bottom plate 14 is substantially the same as the inner frame of the female terminal 60 and both the projecting pieces 15 and 15 are substantially the same as the height of the inner frame of the female terminal 60. Is preferred. By forming the width of the bottom plate 14 and the height of the protrusions 15 and 15 substantially equal to the inner frame of the female terminal 60, there is no play in the female terminal 60, and the male terminal 10 can be stably fixed. .

  Further, a stopper piece 17 that is engaged with a housing of a connector that accommodates the male terminal 10 is formed upright at the rear end of the insertion portion of the protrusion piece 15 (on the electric wire connection portion side of the insertion contact portion).

  7 and 8 are views showing a state in which the male terminal 10 of the present embodiment is inserted and connected to the female terminal 60. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the male terminal 10 is inserted into the terminal energizing portion 51 of the female terminal 60 with the stopper piece 17 facing down, the bottom plate 14 is moved to the terminal energizing portion 51 by the spring portion 53. It is clamped and fixed.

  According to the male terminal structure of the present embodiment, a flat male terminal having the same width and thickness (thickness of the plate material) is formed by forming the cross section of the insertion contact portion 12 of the male terminal 10 in a U shape. Compared to, the cross-sectional area and surface area can be increased. Therefore, by increasing the cross-sectional area of the male terminal 10, the resistance of the terminal can be reduced, and heat generation during energization can be reduced. Further, by increasing the surface area of the male terminal 10, it is possible to improve the heat dissipating property of heat generated during energization. Therefore, even if a large current is applied to the male terminal 10, the temperature rise of the terminal can be reduced, and the damage to the housing resin of the connector including the male terminal 10 and the influence on the devices arranged around the male terminal are suppressed. be able to.

  The male terminal 10 is used, for example, to connect an HEV motor and an inverter, and the electric wire connecting portion of the male terminal is connected to the inverter side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9A, the inverter and the motor are arranged side by side in order to perform three-phase energization. The male terminal 10 of the present embodiment is formed in a flat plate shape with the same thickness (t in the figure) shown in FIG. 9B because the insertion contact portion 12 has a U-shaped cross section. Compared to the case where three male terminals 50 are arranged in parallel, the distance in the terminal width direction can be shortened (d <f in the figure). This is because the male terminal 10 has a smaller terminal width than the male terminal 50 that has the same cross-sectional area and is formed in a flat plate shape (b <e in the figure), so that three male terminals 10 are arranged in parallel. In this case, the sum of the width b of the male terminal 10 and the inter-terminal distance c is reduced. Therefore, by reducing the terminal width b, it is possible to reduce the size of a connector for energizing a large current, in which three male terminals 10 are arranged in parallel.

By making the width of the flat male terminal equal to the width of the male terminal 10 having a U-shaped cross section and increasing the thickness, the cross-sectional area can be made the same as that of the male terminal 10 having a U-shaped cross section. In this case, the thickness of the male terminal becomes very large. Normally, the male terminal is plated on the terminal surface in order to prevent generation of an oxide film on the terminal surface and to obtain a stable electrical contact. However, it is difficult to plate a male terminal formed of a thick plate material. For example, when the male terminal is formed in a flat plate shape having a width of 13 mm and a cross-sectional area of 31.2 mm ² as with the male terminal 10 of the present embodiment, the thickness of the terminal (plate material) is 2.4 mm. It is very difficult to plate the plate material having a thickness of 2.4 mm with the current technology. Since the male terminal 10 of the present embodiment is formed with a narrow width using a thin plate material, it can be plated to prevent the generation of an oxide film.

  Moreover, since the electric wire contact part 13 is formed in flat form, the male terminal 10 can be easily bent to the electric wire contact part 13, for example, depending on the position of the apparatus side connected to the male terminal 10 Even if the male terminal 10 is L-shaped, it can be easily adapted.

  10 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a state where the male terminal 10 of FIG. 6 is inserted and connected to the female terminal 30 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the insertion contact portion 12 of the male terminal 10 is inserted into the terminal energization portion 31 of the female terminal 30 and fixed to the terminal energization portion bottom surface 44 by the spring portion 33. More specifically, the bottom plate 14 is fixed by the spring portion 33 of the female terminal 30. Although not shown, the male terminal 10 is accommodated in the housing of the connector, and the stopper piece 17 is engaged with the connector and fixed. In the terminal connection structure in which the male terminal 10 of the present embodiment is connected to the female terminal 30, as described above, the heat dissipation is high, and the contact force between the terminals is maintained even in a high temperature environment and the electrical connection is stable. Enable.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various other embodiments are assumed.

It is a perspective view which shows suitable embodiment of the female terminal structure which concerns on this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional perspective view which shows the female terminal of FIG. It is an upper perspective view which shows the female terminal of FIG. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the female terminal of FIG. It is a figure which shows the stress relaxation characteristic of oxygen-free copper and SUS. It is a perspective view which shows a male terminal. It is a perspective view which shows the state which inserted the male terminal of FIG. 6 in the female terminal. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the state which inserted the male terminal of FIG. 6 in the female terminal. (A) is sectional drawing which arranged three male terminals of Drawing 6 in parallel, (b) is a sectional view which arranged three flat male terminals in parallel. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the state which inserted and connected the female terminal of FIG. 1 and the male terminal of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional male terminal. It is a perspective view which shows the conventional female terminal. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the state which inserted the male terminal of FIG. 11 in the female terminal of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

30 Female terminal 31 Terminal energizing portion 32 Terminal box 33 Spring portion 36 Opening portion 37 Fixed claw portion 38 Engaging recess

Claims (3)

In a female terminal structure provided with a terminal energization part that is formed in a frame body with a highly conductive material and into which a male terminal is inserted, and a spring part that is provided in the terminal energization part and fixes a male terminal to be inserted,
A female terminal structure characterized in that a terminal box is provided so as to cover the terminal energizing portion using a material having a strength higher than that of the highly conductive material, and the spring portion is formed integrally with the terminal box.   An opening is formed on one surface of the terminal box and a fixed claw is provided on the opening, and the surface of the terminal energizing portion that is in contact with the surface on which the opening is formed is engaged with the fixed claw. The female terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion is formed and the fixing claw portion is bent into the concave portion to fix the terminal box and the terminal energizing portion to each other. The terminal energization part and the terminal box are each formed by bending a single plate material into a rectangular cross section, and are provided so that the seams of the terminal energization part and the terminal box are opposed to each other. 2. The female terminal structure according to 2.

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