JP2009277546A - Terminal metal fitting, and connector having the terminal metal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal metal fitting superior in a material yield, and to provide a connector having the terminal metal fitting. <P>SOLUTION: This terminal metal fitting 1 for constituting the connector 10 has a cylindrical part 20 formed in a square cylindrical shape out of a bottom wall 22, a pair of side walls 23 and 24 and a ceiling wall 21 and inserting a mating side terminal 7 inside, and a pair of energizing parts 25a and 25b for energizing the mating side terminal 7 toward an inner surface of the cylindrical part 20. These energizing parts 25a and 25b are arranged by being rolled so that a part between a pair of slits mutually arranged at an interval on the bottom wall 22 and the ceiling wall 21, projects to the inner surface side. A hole 4 capable of locking parts 88A and 88B of a housing 8 is also arranged in a position adjacent to an edge part 5 of a second bottom wall 30 extended from the edge part 5 of the bottom wall 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting used for a wire harness and the like, and a connector having the terminal fitting.

  Conventionally known female terminal fittings include those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a part of a conventional terminal fitting. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a chain body in which terminal fitting equivalent members constituting the terminal fitting shown in FIG. 5 are connected to each other.

  A terminal fitting 201 shown in FIG. 5 is formed by bending a terminal fitting equivalent member 201a obtained by punching the conductive metal plate shown in FIG. 6 into a predetermined shape. The terminal fitting 201 includes an electrical connection portion 202 that is electrically connected to a rod-like mating terminal, and a second connection portion (not shown) that is connected to an electric wire. The electrical connection portion 202 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by a plurality of outer walls, and a cylindrical portion 220 into which the counterpart terminal is inserted, and a biasing force that biases the counterpart terminal toward the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 220. And a spring piece 225 as a biasing portion.

  Further, the spring piece 225 is a portion extending in a band shape from the edge of one outer wall constituting the cylindrical portion 220 along the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion 220, that is, a spring piece equivalent portion 225a shown in FIG. Is folded and provided inside the cylindrical portion 220. That is, one end of the spring piece 225 is connected to the edge of the outer wall, and the other end is a free end. Accordingly, the spring piece 225 is formed to be elastically deformable in a direction in which the portion on the other end side approaches or separates from the outer wall. An arrow Z2 in FIG. 5 is a direction parallel to the central axis of the cylindrical portion 220 and the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical portion 220. An arrow Y2 in FIG. 5 is a direction orthogonal to the arrow Z2 and parallel to the height direction of the cylindrical portion 220. An arrow X2 in FIG. 5 is a direction that is orthogonal to both the arrow Z2 and the arrow Y2 and is parallel to the width direction of the cylindrical portion 220.

The terminal fitting equivalent member 201a is bent so that the spring piece equivalent portion 225a constituting the spring piece 225, the cylinder equivalent portion 220a constituting the cylinder portion when bent similarly, and the first member corresponding to the first piece. The second connection portion equivalent portion 203a constituting the two connection portions is formed in a shape continuously connected along the arrow Z2. In addition, the terminal fitting equivalent member 201a is connected to the connecting band 209 extending along the arrow X2 at the other end C of the spring piece equivalent portion 225a away from the tube portion equivalent portion 220a. A plurality of terminal fitting equivalent members 201a are connected to the connection band 209 in a direction parallel to each other. A combination of the connecting band 209 and the plurality of terminal fitting equivalent members 201a connected to the connecting band 209 is referred to as a “chain 200”.
JP 2003-59565 A

  However, the above-described conventional terminal fitting 201 has the following problems. That is, the terminal fitting 201 is provided with the spring piece 225 extending from the edge of one outer wall constituting the cylindrical portion 220 along the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion 220 and folded back to the inside of the cylindrical portion 220. Therefore, in the state of the chain 200, the spring piece equivalent part 225a of one terminal fitting equivalent member 201a and the spring piece equivalent part 225a of another terminal fitting equivalent member 201a are spaced apart by a large distance S. Therefore, there is a problem that the material yield is poor. That is, the chain body 200 is obtained by punching from a single metal plate. Since the chain body 200 has a large interval S, the metal plate chain body 200 is punched out. There was a problem that the area of the remaining portion (the portion that was cut off and not used) was increased, resulting in a lot of waste.

  Then, this invention pays attention to said problem, and it aims at providing the terminal metal fitting with a favorable material yield, and the connector which has this terminal metal fitting.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention described in claim 1 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by a plurality of outer walls, and has a cylindrical portion into which a mating terminal is inserted, and the mating terminal is connected to the cylindrical portion. A terminal fitting having at least one biasing portion biased toward the inner surface, wherein the biasing portion includes a portion between a pair of slits provided on the outer wall facing the inner surface at a distance from each other. The terminal fitting is rolled and provided so as to be convex toward the inner surface side.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the pair of outer walls facing each other out of the plurality of outer walls are symmetrical with respect to each other across the central axis of the cylindrical portion. The urging portion is provided in the case.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of outer walls are extended from the edge of one outer wall along the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion. The extended wall and a hole provided at a position adjacent to the edge of the extended wall are provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector comprising the terminal fitting according to one of the first to third aspects and a housing that accommodates the terminal fitting. .

  According to the invention described in claim 1, the biasing portion is formed such that a portion between a pair of slits provided on the outer wall facing the inner surface with a space therebetween is convex toward the inner surface side. Since it is rolled and provided, when the terminal fitting is in the unfolded state, the urging portion equivalent portion constituting the urging portion does not protrude from the edge of the cylinder portion equivalent portion constituting the cylinder portion. For this reason, since the area of a portion (unused portion) that is cut off when punching a member corresponding to a terminal fitting from a single metal plate can be reduced, a terminal fitting with a good material yield is provided. can do.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, the urging portion is provided on each of the pair of outer walls facing each other among the plurality of outer walls so as to be symmetrical with respect to each other across the central axis of the cylindrical portion. Therefore, the terminal fitting can be used in the upside down direction or the left and right reverse direction with respect to the connector housing. Therefore, the design freedom of the connector can be improved.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, the extending wall that extends from the edge of one outer wall of the plurality of outer walls along the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion, and the extension wall A hole provided at a position adjacent to the edge portion, and when the terminal fitting is assembled to the connector housing, a housing locking portion provided to prevent the terminal fitting from being detached, It can be made to latch in the suitable one of the edge part of the outer wall facing the said one outer wall, and the said hole. In addition, the terminal fitting can be used upside down or left and right with respect to the connector housing. Therefore, the design freedom of the connector can be improved.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the terminal fitting according to one of claims 1 to 3 and the housing for housing the terminal fitting are provided, the material yield is good. It is possible to provide a connector having a simple terminal fitting, that is, an inexpensive connector.

  Hereinafter, a terminal fitting and a connector having the terminal fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a terminal fitting and a connector having the terminal fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the terminal fitting shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the terminal fitting shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the end of the electric wire, as a cross section taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a chain body in which the terminal fitting equivalent members constituting the terminal fitting shown in FIG. 2 are connected to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 1 is accommodated in a housing 8 to constitute a connector 10. The terminal fitting 1 is formed by bending a terminal fitting equivalent member 101 obtained by punching a conductive metal plate shown in FIG. 4 into a predetermined shape. The metal plate is a conductive metal plate made of copper or a copper alloy (including brass, beryllium copper, etc.). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the terminal fitting 1 is connected to an electric connection portion 2 that is electrically connected to a rod-like mating terminal 7 (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 and the like) and an electric wire 6. And a second connection portion 3 to be connected.

  Further, an arrow Z in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a direction parallel to the central axis P of the cylindrical portion 20 and the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical portion 20. An arrow Y in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a direction orthogonal to the arrow Z and parallel to the height direction of the cylindrical portion 20. An arrow X in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a direction that is orthogonal to both the arrow Z and the arrow Y and is parallel to the width direction of the cylindrical portion 20.

  The electrical connecting portion 2 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by a plurality of outer walls 22, 23, 24, 21, and a cylindrical portion 20 into which the mating terminal 7 is inserted inside, and the mating terminal 7 is connected to the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 20 And a pair of urging portions 25a and 25b urging toward.

  The plurality of outer walls 22, 23, 24, and 21 are each formed in a rectangular plate shape in plan view. Hereinafter, one of the outer walls 22, 23, 24, and 21 is referred to as a “bottom wall”. In addition, the outer walls 23 and 24 erected from both ends in the width direction of the bottom wall 22 are referred to as “side walls”. The side walls 23 and 24 are opposed to each other and are arranged in parallel to each other. In addition, the outer wall 21 connected to the end of one side wall 23 and facing the bottom wall 22 is referred to as a “ceiling wall”. The bottom wall 22 and the ceiling wall 21 are opposed to each other and are arranged in parallel to each other. Such a cylindrical portion 20 receives the mating terminal 7 from one opening 26 on the side away from the second connection portion 3.

  Of the pair of urging portions 25a and 25b, one urging portion 25a has a portion 125 between the pair of slits 11 provided on the bottom wall 22 so as to be spaced from each other. It is rolled and provided so as to be convex on the side (see FIG. 4). Further, in the other urging portion 25b, a portion 125 between the pair of slits 11 provided on the ceiling wall 21 at a distance from each other is on the inner surface (corresponding to the inner surface in the claims) side of the bottom wall 22. It is rolled so as to be convex (see FIG. 4). Further, the pair of urging portions 25a and 25b are provided so as to be symmetrical with respect to each other across the central axis P (shown in FIG. 3) of the cylindrical portion 20. The pair of urging portions 25a and 25b are formed so as to be elastically deformable along the direction in which the bottom wall 22 and the ceiling wall 21 face each other, and the counterpart terminal 7 is elastically sandwiched between them. To do.

  The second connecting portion 3 includes a second bottom wall 30 on which the terminal of the electric wire 6 is placed, a pair of core wire caulking pieces 31 erected from both ends in the width direction of the second bottom wall 30, and a second bottom A pair of covering caulking pieces 32 erected from both ends of the wall 30 in the width direction. The pair of core wire caulking pieces 31 caulk the core wire 62 of the electric wire 6 and are electrically connected to the core wire 62. Further, the pair of covering caulking pieces 32 are mechanically connected to the electric wires 6 by caulking the covering portions 61 of the electric wires 6. Further, the pair of covering caulking pieces 32 are provided at positions farther from the cylindrical portion 20 than the pair of core wire caulking pieces 31.

  The second bottom wall 30 is a portion extending from the edge 5 in the central axis P direction of the bottom wall 22 along the central axis P direction. That is, the second bottom wall 30 is continuous with the bottom wall 22. A hole 4 penetrating the second bottom wall 30 is provided at a position adjacent to the edge 5 of the second bottom wall 30. The hole 4 can be locked with locking portions 88A and 88B of the housing 8 described later. Further, the second bottom wall 30 is an “extending wall” described in the claims.

  The electric wire 6 is a well-known covered electric wire having a conductive core wire 62 and an insulating covering portion 61 covering the core wire 62. Moreover, in the terminal of the electric wire 6, the coating | coated part 61 is removed and the core wire 62 is exposed.

  The housing 8 is made of a synthetic resin and is formed in a box shape by a plurality of outer walls 81 as shown in FIG. In addition, a plurality of terminal accommodating spaces 85 are provided in the space inside the outer wall 81 by being partitioned by a plurality of inner walls 82. The terminal fitting 1 is housed in the terminal housing space 85. Also, the outer wall 81 has an opening 84 for inserting each terminal fitting 1 into each terminal accommodating space 85, an opening 83 for receiving each counterpart terminal 7 in each terminal accommodating space 85, and Is provided. Each terminal accommodating space 85 is provided with locking portions 88A and 88B for preventing the inserted terminal fitting 1 from coming off.

  The locking portions 88 </ b> A and 88 </ b> B have a flexible arm portion 87 extending from the inner wall 82, and a hook portion 86 provided at the distal end portion of the arm portion 87. The hanging portion 86 includes a base portion 86a extending along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 1 into the terminal accommodating space 85, that is, an arrow Z, and a protruding portion 86b projecting from the base portion 86a to the inside of the terminal accommodating space 85. And the cross-sectional shape is L-shaped.

  Further, the locking portion 88A is disposed below the terminal accommodating space 85, and the protruding portion 86b protrudes upward. Then, the protruding portion 86 b enters the hole 4 of the terminal fitting 1 to prevent the terminal fitting 1 from coming off. Further, the locking portion 88B is disposed on the upper side of the terminal accommodating space 85, and the protruding portion 86b protrudes downward. Then, the L-shaped section of the hooking portion 86 follows the locking receiving portion 5a of the terminal fitting 1 to prevent the terminal fitting 1 from coming off. Moreover, the said latching receiving part 5a says the edge part by the side of the 2nd connection part 3 of the ceiling wall 21. FIG.

  Thus, the hooking portion 86 of the locking portions 88A and 88B can be locked to either the locking receiving portion 5a or the hole 4 of the terminal fitting 1. Further, since the terminal fitting 1 is provided so that the pair of urging portions 25a and 25b are symmetrical with each other across the central axis P of the cylindrical portion 20 as described above, the orientation shown in FIG. It can also be accommodated in the terminal accommodating space 85 in the upside down direction. In that case, the locking portion 88A is locked to the locking receiving portion 5a of the terminal fitting 1, and the locking portion 88B is locked to the hole 4 of the terminal fitting 1.

  In such a connector 10, the terminal fitting 1 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating space 85 with the electric wire 6 connected to the second connecting portion 3. When the mating terminal 7 of the mating connector is inserted into the cylindrical portion 20, each of the pair of biasing portions 25a and 25b causes the mating terminal 7 to face the other biasing portion 25a and 25b. It biases toward the inner surface of the cylinder part 20.

  The terminal fitting equivalent member 101 is bent so that the ceiling wall equivalent part 121 constituting the ceiling wall 21, the side wall equivalent part 123 constituting the side wall 23, the bottom wall equivalent part 122 constituting the bottom wall 22, and the side wall 24, the side wall corresponding parts 124 constituting the reference numeral 24 are successively connected along the arrow X. Further, the second bottom wall equivalent portion 130 constituting the second bottom wall 30 and the bottom wall equivalent portion 122 are connected along the arrow Z. Also, reference numeral 105 in FIG. 4 is an edge of the bottom wall equivalent portion 122. Then, both ends of the second bottom wall equivalent portion 130 along the arrow X, a pair of core wire caulking piece equivalent portions 131 constituting the pair of core wire caulking pieces 31, and a pair of covering caulking pieces 32 constituting the pair of covering caulking pieces 32 The covering caulking piece equivalent part 132 is continued. Further, the ceiling wall equivalent part 121 and the bottom wall equivalent part 122 are provided with a pair of slits 11 extending linearly along the arrow Z and spaced apart from each other along the arrow X. Yes. A hole 4 is provided at a position adjacent to the edge portion 105 of the second bottom wall equivalent portion 130.

  In such a terminal fitting equivalent member 101, the end B of the second bottom wall equivalent part 130 and the covering caulking piece equivalent part 132 away from the bottom wall equivalent part 122 is connected to the connecting band 9 extending along the arrow X. It is. In addition, a plurality of terminal metal fitting equivalent members 101 are connected to the connecting band 9 in a direction parallel to each other. Further, a combination of the connecting band 9 and the plurality of terminal metal fitting equivalent members 101 connected to the connecting band 9 is referred to as a “chain 100”. Further, reference numeral 91 in FIG. 4 is a hole in which a feed claw or the like of the transport mechanism is locked when the chain 100 is fed out.

  In order to obtain the terminal fitting 1, first, the chain body 100 is obtained by pressing a punching die against the metal plate. Then, the portion between the pair of slits 11 described above, that is, the urging portion equivalent portion 125, is rolled to float from the ceiling wall equivalent portion 121 and the bottom wall equivalent portion 122, respectively. That is, the urging portions 25a and 25b are formed. 4 is bent into a valley fold and the end B is cut to obtain the terminal fitting 1 shown in FIG.

  According to the present invention, by providing the pair of urging portions 25a and 25b, when the terminal fitting 1 is in the unfolded state, the urging portion equivalent portion 125 constituting the urging portions 25a and 25b is the ceiling wall equivalent portion. It does not protrude from the edge of 121 and the bottom wall equivalent part 122. For this reason, since the area of the portion (unused portion) cut off when punching out the terminal fitting equivalent member 101, that is, the chain 100, from one metal plate can be reduced, the terminal fitting 1 having a good material yield, And the cheap connector 1 which has this terminal metal fitting 1 can be provided.

  The pair of urging portions 25 a and 25 b are provided so as to be line-symmetric with each other across the central axis P of the cylindrical portion 20, and the hole 4 is positioned adjacent to the edge portion 5 of the second bottom wall 30. Therefore, the terminal fitting 1 can be accommodated in the terminal accommodating space 85 in the direction upside down with respect to the direction shown in FIG. 1, and the engaging portions 88A and 88B are connected to the engaging receiving portions. 5a and the hole 4 can be locked to a suitable one. Therefore, the design freedom of the connector 10 can be improved.

  In the embodiment described above, the terminal fitting 1 has the pair of urging portions 25a and 25b. However, in the present invention, the terminal fitting only needs to have at least one urging portion. Moreover, this urging | biasing part may be provided in any outer wall among the some outer walls which comprise a cylinder part.

  Further, the above-described embodiments are merely representative forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is sectional drawing which shows the terminal metal fitting which concerns on one embodiment of this invention, and the connector which has this terminal metal fitting. It is a perspective view which shows the terminal metal fitting shown by FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in which the terminal metal fitting shown by FIG. 2 was attached to the terminal of an electric wire in the cross section along the AA in FIG. It is a top view which shows the chain body by which the terminal metal fitting equivalent member which comprises the terminal metal fitting shown by FIG. 2 was mutually connected. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of conventional terminal metal fitting. It is a top view which shows the chain body by which the terminal metal fitting equivalent member which comprises the terminal metal fitting shown by FIG. 5 was mutually connected.

Explanation of symbols

1 terminal fitting 4 hole 5 edge 7 mating terminal 8 housing 10 connector 11 slit 20 tube portion 21 ceiling wall (outer wall)
22 Bottom wall (outer wall)
23, 24 Side wall (outer wall)
25a, 25b Energizing part 30 2nd bottom wall (extension wall)
125 Energizing part equivalent part (part)

Claims (4)

A cylindrical portion that is formed into a rectangular tube shape by a plurality of outer walls and into which the counterpart terminal is inserted, and at least one biasing portion that biases the counterpart terminal toward the inner surface of the cylindrical portion. In terminal fittings,
The urging portion is provided by being rolled so that a portion between a pair of slits provided on the outer wall facing the inner surface at a distance from each other is convex toward the inner surface side. Terminal fitting.   The urging portion is provided on each of a pair of outer walls facing each other among the plurality of outer walls so as to be symmetrical with respect to each other with a central axis of the cylindrical portion interposed therebetween. Terminal fittings.   An extending wall that extends from the edge of one of the plurality of outer walls along the central axis direction of the cylindrical portion, and a hole that is provided at a position adjacent to the edge of the extending wall; The terminal fitting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal fitting is provided.   A connector comprising the terminal fitting according to claim 1 and a housing for housing the terminal fitting.

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