JP2008123913A - Inner conductor terminal and coaxial connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inner conductor terminal that is satisfactory in high frequency performance and has no risk of poor connections, or the like, by protecting a contact part, and to provide a coaxial connector. <P>SOLUTION: A female inner conductor terminal 1 is connected to a signal conductor of a coaxial cable, while being stored inside the coaxial connector. The terminal is provided with a terminal insertion port for a male terminal, when it is fitted to a connector and comprises a terminal-holding part 9, which is provided with a contact piece 4, having a contact part 4, inside a cylindrical body 5 that is the side of the terminal insertion port 2, and a wire barrel 3 formed to the signal conductor connection side of the cylindrical body 5; and the contact piece 4 has spring functions comprising folding back of a piece, which is provided at the end part of the cylindrical body 5 on the side of the terminal insertion port 2, in the inner side direction of the cylindrical body 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inner conductor terminal and a coaxial connector used for connection of a coaxial cable having a shield conductor.

  Conventionally, coaxial cables and coaxial connectors have been used to transmit signals between electrical components mounted on automobiles. Since these electric signals are high-frequency signals, the coaxial connector is required to have excellent high-frequency characteristics.

  In the structure of the coaxial cable, the outer periphery of the signal conductor made of a core wire is covered with a shield conductor made of a braided wire with an insulator interposed, and the outer periphery of the braided wire is covered with an insulating sheath (skin). . The general structure of the coaxial connector includes an inner conductor terminal connected to the signal conductor of the coaxial cable, an outer conductor terminal connected to the shield conductor and electromagnetically covering the outer periphery of the inner conductor terminal, and an inner conductor terminal. It is comprised from the dielectric material interposed between a conductor terminal and an outer conductor terminal.

  As a conventional inner conductor terminal, one having a circular cross-sectional shape (for example, see Patent Document 1) or one having a square cross-sectional shape (for example, see Patent Document 2) is known.

  The inner conductor terminal described in Patent Document 1 is composed of a female terminal portion formed of a tapered hollow cylindrical body and a crimping portion that is caulked and fixed to a signal conductor of a shielded electric wire. The terminal portion is constituted by a contact piece having a circular arc cross section provided with a slit in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical body and divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. When the connector including the inner conductor terminal is joined to the male connector, the male terminal of the male connector is inserted into a terminal portion formed of a cylindrical body of the inner conductor terminal. When the male terminal is inserted into the terminal portion of the inner conductor terminal, the outer surface of the male terminal elastically contacts the inner surface of the inner conductor terminal cylindrical body (contact piece), and the inner conductor terminal and the male terminal are electrically connected. Connected.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the inner conductor terminal 101 having a quadrangular cross section described in Patent Document 2 has a rectangular cross section with a terminal insertion port 102 provided at the end. A body 105 and a signal line barrel 103 are included. Inside the cylindrical body 105, a spring-like contact piece 104 for attaching and holding the male terminal inserted from the terminal insertion port 102 is attached. The spring-like contact piece 104 is protected by a cylindrical body 105 having a square cross section so as not to be exposed to the outside.

JP 2003-297493 A (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-270304 (FIG. 1)

  However, the above-mentioned conventional inner conductor terminal with a circular cross-section has good high-frequency performance, but the cylindrical body with the slit is exposed to the outside, and the contact piece is not protected by exposure, so the terminal insertion There was a problem that the contact piece was easily turned over during assembly work. If the contact piece of the inner conductor terminal is turned over, there is a risk of poor connection with the male terminal.

  On the other hand, the inner conductor terminal having a square cross section has a contact piece inside the cylindrical body and is protected by the cylindrical body. There is no problem of poor contact due to deformation of the contact piece. However, since the inner conductor terminal has a quadrangular cross section, there is a problem that the high frequency performance is lower than that of the inner conductor terminal having a circular cross section.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, in order to secure an effective contact allowance between the contact piece 104 and the male terminal 201, the cylinder of the contact piece 104 from the contact portion 106 between the contact piece 104 and the male terminal 201. It is necessary to increase the length (indicated by the dimension D1 in the drawing) up to the fixing portion 107 to the shape body 105. However, when the dimension D1 is long, there is a problem that the entire length of the inner conductor terminal 101 becomes long. When the total length of the inner conductor terminal is increased, it is necessary to increase the total length of the coaxial connector, and the high frequency performance of the coaxial connector is degraded.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an inner conductor terminal and a coaxial connector that have good high-frequency performance, protect the contact portion, and do not cause connection failure.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an inner conductor terminal of the present invention includes a terminal insertion port that is accommodated in a coaxial connector and connected to a signal conductor of a coaxial cable, and a male terminal is inserted when the connector is fitted. A female inner conductor terminal comprising a terminal holding portion having a contact piece having a contact portion inside a cylindrical body on the terminal insertion port side, and a wire barrel formed on the signal conductor connecting side of the cylindrical body Thus, the gist of the present invention is that the contact piece has a spring function in which the contact piece constituting piece provided at the terminal insertion port side end of the cylindrical body is folded back in the inner direction of the cylindrical body.

  In the inner conductor terminal, it is preferable that a plurality of contact pieces are provided and the terminals are held by a plurality of springs. Further, it is more preferable that four contact pieces are provided at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction, and the terminals are held by four springs.

  In the coaxial connector of the present invention, an inner conductor terminal is connected to the signal conductor of the coaxial cable in which a signal conductor and a shield conductor are arranged coaxially with an insulator covered with a sheath, and the inner conductor terminal is connected to the signal conductor. The gist is that the above-described inner conductor terminal is used in a coaxial connector which is accommodated in an outer conductor terminal via a dielectric and the shield conductor is connected to the outer conductor terminal.

  According to the inner conductor terminal of the present invention, since the terminal holding portion is a cylindrical body having a circular cross section, the high frequency performance is excellent as compared with the inner conductor terminal having a square cross section. Furthermore, the terminal holding part is folded inward from the terminal insertion port end of the cylindrical body and is provided with a contact piece having a contact part inside the cylindrical body. In addition, the contact piece exists inside the cylindrical body, and the cylindrical body functions as a protective body. Even if a separate protective body is not provided, there is a problem that the contact piece is turned up by external stress. do not do. As a result, when connecting to the male terminal, there is no risk of connection failure due to turning of the contact piece, and the reliability of connection with the male terminal is improved.

  Further, the inner conductor terminal of the present invention can be formed integrally with the cylindrical body by simply bending the contact piece constituent piece provided at the terminal insertion port side end of the cylindrical body. As a result, a complicated process such as preparing a separate cylindrical body for protecting the contact piece and joining the contact piece inside the cylindrical body, like a conventional inner conductor terminal having a square cross section, is provided. Therefore, an inner conductor terminal having a contact protection structure can be easily obtained.

  Furthermore, the total length of the inner conductor terminal can be shortened, and the total length of the coaxial connector can be shortened, so that the high frequency performance can be further improved. Also, the coaxial connector can be miniaturized.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an inner conductor terminal of the present invention. 2 (a) is a front view of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 (b) is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (c) is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A to 2C, the inner conductor terminal 1 is a female inner conductor terminal including a terminal insertion port 2 into which a male terminal of a coaxial connector is inserted. The inner conductor terminal 1 has a terminal insertion portion 2 side formed as a terminal holding portion 9 having a contact piece 4 inside a cylindrical body 5 (hereinafter also referred to as a cylindrical body 5) having a circular cross section. 5 is formed as a wire barrel 3 connected to the signal conductor of the coaxial connector.

  The wire barrel 3 has a U-shaped cross section and includes a pair of opposing crimping pieces 3a and 3b as crimping parts to which signal conductors of coaxial cables are caulked and connected. The crimping part 3 can caulk the inner conductor terminal to the signal conductor by inserting the signal conductor from the opening between the pair of crimping pieces 3a and 3b and crimping the crimping pieces 3a and 3b.

  On the terminal insertion port 2 side of the cylindrical body 5, four contact pieces 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, which are formed by folding back a contact piece constituent piece extending at the end of the cylindrical body 5 toward the inner side of the cylindrical body 5, 4d is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A, the four contact pieces 4a to 4d are provided vertically and horizontally at 90 degree intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 5. In each of the contact pieces 4 a to 4 d, contact portions 6 a to 6 d that are in contact with the male terminals are located on the inner side of the cylindrical body 5. Further, the contact pieces 4 a to 4 d have a spring function and are urged in the direction of the central axis of the cylindrical body 5.

  Further, a protruding piece 8 that protrudes outward from the end of the cylindrical body is provided at the end of the cylindrical body 5 on the wire barrel 3 side.

  3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a male terminal is inserted into the inner conductor terminal of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, when the terminal portion 11 of the male terminal 10 is inserted from the terminal insertion port 2 of the inner conductor terminal 1, the terminal portion 11 is connected to the contact portions 6 (6 a to 6 d) of the four contact pieces 4 (4 a to 4 d). 6d) and the spring composed of the four contact pieces 4 is urged in the direction of the central axis of the cylindrical body 5, that is, in the direction of the terminal portion 11. Therefore, the terminal part 11 and the contact piece 4 are in reliable contact, and the male terminal 10 and the inner conductor terminal 1 are joined.

  In the inner conductor terminal 1, the number of the contact pieces 4 may be one, but it is preferable to provide two or more, more preferably four at equal intervals as in the above embodiment. Thus, when a some contact piece is provided in the terminal holding part, the terminal holding force by a spring becomes large and it can join a more reliable terminal. When the holding force is increased, the holding force of one spring may be small, so that the length of the contact piece (the length from the folded portion to the tip: indicated by the dimension D2 in FIG. 3) can be formed short. it can. As a result, the overall length of the inner conductor terminal can be further shortened, and further improvement in high frequency performance and reduction in size can be achieved.

  The inner conductor terminal 1 can be manufactured by, for example, punching a plate made of a conductive metal or the like into a predetermined shape, and then forming the cylindrical body 5 and the wire barrel 3 into a predetermined shape by pressing or the like. The contact piece 4 is formed by forming the cylindrical body 5 from the plate material, and then forming the contact piece constituent piece extending from the terminal insertion port side end of the plate material constituting the cylindrical body 5 from the terminal insertion port side. 5 can be formed integrally with the cylindrical body 5. In addition, the inner conductor terminal 1 may be formed into a cylindrical body after the contact piece 4 is formed by bending a contact piece constituting piece of a plate material formed in a predetermined shape in advance.

  The coaxial connector of the present invention is used for connection of a coaxial cable in which a signal conductor and a shield conductor are coaxially arranged via an insulator and an outer periphery is covered with a sheath. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the coaxial connector of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a coaxial connector using the conventional inner conductor terminals of FIGS. 5A to 5C having a square cross section. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, the coaxial connector of the present invention is such that the inner conductor terminal 1 is accommodated in a female connector 21 that is fitted and connected to a male connector 31. A signal conductor of a coaxial cable is connected to the wire barrel 3 of the inner conductor terminal 1. The inner conductor terminal 1 is accommodated in the outer conductor terminal 23 via the dielectric 22 and the shield conductor of the coaxial cable is connected to the outer conductor terminal 23.

  The total length of the female connector 21 of the coaxial connector of the present invention in FIG. 4A is indicated by E2, and the total length of the female connector 121 using the inner conductor terminal having a square cross section in FIG. Indicated. As apparent from FIGS. 4A and 4B, the coaxial connector 21 of the present invention is formed so that the total length of the inner conductor terminal 1 is shorter than the total length of the conventional inner conductor terminal 101. The full length E2 can be shorter than the full length E1. Thus, the high frequency performance is improved when the total length of the coaxial connector is shortened. Further, the coaxial connector can be reduced in size.

  The inner conductor terminal and the coaxial connector of the present invention are excellent in high frequency performance, have high bonding reliability, and can be miniaturized. Therefore, the inner conductor terminal and the coaxial connector are ideal for coaxial connectors for coaxial cables for electrical signal transmission between electrical components mounted on automobiles. Can be used.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the inner conductor terminal of this invention. (A) is a front view of FIG. 1, (b) is a side view of FIG. 1, (c) is a BB longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which inserted the male terminal in the inner conductor terminal of FIG. (A) is sectional drawing which shows an example of the coaxial connector using the inner conductor terminal of FIG. 1, (b) is sectional drawing of the coaxial connector using the conventional inner conductor terminal of FIG. (A) is a perspective view showing a conventional inner conductor terminal having a quadrangular cross section, (b) is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB of (a), and (c) is an inner conductor terminal of (b). It is sectional drawing which shows the state by which the male type terminal was inserted.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inner conductor terminal 2 Terminal insertion port 3 Wire barrel 4 (4a-4d) Contact piece 5 Cylindrical body 6 (6a-6d) Contact part 9 Terminal holding part

Claims (4)

  A female-type inner conductor terminal that is housed in a coaxial connector and connected to a signal conductor of a coaxial cable and having a terminal insertion port into which a male terminal is inserted when the connector is fitted, the terminal insertion port side and A terminal holding portion having a contact piece having a contact portion inside the cylindrical body, and a wire barrel formed on the signal conductor connection side of the cylindrical body, and the contact piece is at the terminal insertion port side end of the cylindrical body An inner conductor terminal having a spring function in which a contact piece constituting piece provided in a portion is folded back in an inner direction of a cylindrical body.   The inner conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of contact pieces are provided, and the terminal is held by a plurality of springs.   The inner conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein four contact pieces are provided at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction, and the terminal is held by four springs.   An inner conductor terminal is connected to the signal conductor of the coaxial cable in which a signal conductor and a shield conductor are arranged coaxially via an insulator and covered with a sheath, and the inner conductor terminal is connected to an outer conductor terminal via a dielectric. In the coaxial connector in which the shield conductor is connected to the outer conductor terminal, the inner conductor terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used.

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