JP2012028149A - Female terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a female terminal which is capable of reliably guiding a male terminal into a male terminal fitting portion.SOLUTION: A female terminal 6 includes: a male terminal fitting portion 20 having a substantially rectangular tube-shape, into which a tab portion of a mating male terminal is to be inserted; and a wire barrel 21 connecting a conductor 24 of an electric wire 2 to the female terminal itself. A slope piece 37 inclined toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 and continuous with an inner top plate 32 is formed at an end of the male terminal fitting portion 20. The tab portion of the male terminal is guided into the male terminal fitting portion 20 by the slope piece 37.

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to the structure of a female terminal. In detail, it is related with the structure for guiding a male terminal inside the fitting part of a female terminal.

  Conventionally, a female terminal is connected to an end of an electric wire constituting a wire harness or the like, and the female terminal is accommodated in a housing to form a female connector. This type of female connector is disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example. A female terminal and a male terminal can be electrically connected by fitting a male connector containing a male terminal to the female connector.

  Generally, the female terminal has a rectangular tube-shaped male terminal fitting portion, and a contact portion is formed inside the male terminal fitting portion. The mating male terminal is brought into contact with the contact portion by being inserted into the male terminal fitting portion, whereby the male terminal and the female terminal are electrically connected.

JP-A-8-213092 JP 9-326271 A

  As described above, in order to electrically connect the female terminal and the male terminal, the male terminal needs to be inserted into the male terminal fitting portion. Conversely, if the female connector and the male connector are forcibly mated without the male terminal being inserted into the male terminal fitting part, the electrical connection between the terminals is not achieved and the cause of damage to the terminal It becomes. Therefore, conventionally, the female connector housing is formed with a tapered portion inclined toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion. The taper part naturally guides the male terminal toward the inside of the male terminal fitting part. Therefore, when fitting the female connector and the male connector, the male terminal can be easily placed inside the male terminal fitting part. Can be inserted.

  However, the taper portion may not be formed in the female connector housing due to the downsizing of the female connector. If the taper part is not formed in this way, the male terminal cannot be reliably guided to the inside of the male terminal fitting part, thus preventing contact failure and terminal damage when the male connector and female connector are fitted. Can not do it.

  This invention is made in view of the above situation, The objective is to provide the female terminal which can guide a male terminal reliably to the inside of a male terminal fitting part.

Means and effects for solving the problems

  The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, means for solving the problems and the effects thereof will be described.

  According to the 1st viewpoint of this invention, the female terminal of the following structures is provided. That is, this female terminal has a substantially rectangular tube-shaped male terminal fitting portion into which a tab of the mating male terminal is inserted, and a crimping portion for connecting a conductor of the electric wire. And the slope piece which follows the inner wall surface of the said male terminal fitting part while it inclines toward the inner side of the said male terminal fitting part is formed in the edge part of the said male terminal fitting part.

  Thus, by providing a slope piece at the end of the male terminal fitting portion, the tab of the male terminal can be guided into the male terminal fitting portion. As a result, the female terminal and the male terminal can be reliably connected.

  The female terminal is preferably configured as follows. That is, the male terminal fitting portion includes a bottom plate having an elastic contact piece, left and right side walls bent toward the one side from the bottom plate, an inner top plate bent from one of the side walls, It is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape surrounded by an outer top plate that is bent from the other side wall and overlaps the outside of the inner top plate. A contact portion that electrically contacts the tab is formed on a surface of the inner top plate that faces the elastic contact piece. And the said slope piece is extended and provided from the edge part of the said inner top plate.

  Thus, since the slope piece is formed so that it may extend from the surface in which the contact part was formed, the tab of a male terminal can be favorably guided to the contact part by the slope piece.

  The female terminal is preferably configured as follows. That is, the inner top plate and the outer top plate overlap each other with a space therebetween. And the said slope piece is arrange | positioned so that the entrance of the said space may be plugged up.

  Thereby, it can prevent that the tab of a male terminal is accidentally inserted in the space between an inner side top plate and an outer side top plate. Further, since the inner top plate and the outer top plate are arranged with a certain amount of space therebetween, the slope pieces arranged so as to close the space can be formed with a certain length. Thus, since the slope piece can be formed long, the range in which the tab can be guided by the slope piece can be widened.

  The said female terminal WHEREIN: It is preferable that the stopper piece folded back from the said side wall is contacting the said inner top plate from the outer side of the said male terminal fitting part separately from the said outer top plate.

  That is, when a space is formed between the inner top plate and the outer top plate, the inner top plate cannot be pressed by the outer top plate, so the stopper piece for pressing the inner top plate is the outer top plate. Provided separately. Thereby, it can prevent that an inner top plate opens and can contact the contact part and tab which were formed in the said inner top plate reliably.

  According to the 2nd viewpoint of this invention, a wire harness provided with said female terminal and the female connector housing which accommodated the said female terminal is provided.

  This wire harness can reliably guide the tab of the male terminal inside the male terminal fitting part when the female connector is fitted to the male connector, thus preventing contact failure and terminal damage Can do.

The external appearance perspective view of the female connector with which the wire harness which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is equipped, and the male connector fitted to the said female connector. Sectional drawing of a female connector and a male connector. Sectional drawing which shows a mode when a female connector and a male connector are made to fit. The external appearance perspective view of a female terminal. Side surface sectional drawing of a female terminal. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. The external appearance perspective view of a male terminal fitting part. The external appearance perspective view of a male terminal fitting part. The external appearance perspective view of a male terminal fitting part. Sectional drawing of a female connector housing. The perspective view which expanded the opening part vicinity of the female connector.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The wire harness 1 according to the present embodiment is a bundle of a plurality of electric wires 2 and has a predetermined branching structure (not shown). Although illustration of the entire wire harness 1 is omitted, a female connector 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is disposed at each of the branches of the wire harness 1.

  The female connector 3 has a female connector housing 4. A plurality of cavities 5 are formed in the female connector housing 4 as shown in FIG. A female terminal 6 is accommodated in each of the plurality of cavities 5. The female terminal 6 is electrically connected to the conductor of the electric wire 2. Moreover, this female terminal 6 is provided with the male terminal fitting part 20 which can insert the tab part of a male terminal.

  On the other hand, an electrical component (not shown) connected to the wire harness 1 has a male connector 7 as shown in FIGS. The male connector housing 8 included in the male connector 7 is formed so as to be fitted to the female connector housing 4 on the wire harness 1 side. A plurality of male terminals 9 are accommodated in the male connector housing 8. Each male terminal 9 includes a tab portion 11 protruding from the male connector housing 8.

  And as shown in FIG. 3, the tab parts 11 of each male terminal 9 are inserted in the cavity 5 in a corresponding position by fitting the connector housings 4 and 8 together. . The tab portion 11 inserted into the cavity 5 is inserted into the male terminal fitting portion 20 of the female terminal 6 disposed in the cavity 5. Thereby, the female terminal 6 and the male terminal 9 are in electrical contact, and the electrical component can be connected to the wire harness 1.

  Next, the structure of the female terminal 6 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the female terminal 6 includes a male terminal fitting part 20, a wire barrel (crimp part) 21, and an insulation barrel 22. The female terminal 6 is formed by punching one copper plate with a press and then bending it appropriately. In the following description, of both ends of the female terminal 6 in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5), the end on the side where the insulation barrel 22 is arranged is called the base end, and the opposite end May be referred to as the tip side.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the insulation barrel 22 is crimped to the insulating coating 23 of the electric wire 2. Thereby, the female terminal 6 can be fixed to the electric wire 2. The wire barrel 21 is crimped to the conductor 24 of the electric wire 2. Thereby, the female terminal 6 and the conductor 24 are electrically connected.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the male terminal fitting portion 20 faces the bottom plate 30, left and right side walls 31 bent upward from the bottom plate 30, and further bent from one side wall 31. It is formed in a rectangular tube shape surrounded by an inner top plate 32 and an outer top plate 33 that is further bent from the other side wall and overlaps the outside of the inner top plate 32. The rectangular cylindrical male terminal fitting portion 20 is configured so that the tab portion 11 of the male terminal 9 can be inserted therein.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a tongue piece (elastic contact piece) 34 is formed on the bottom plate 30. The tongue piece 34 is formed to extend from the distal end side of the bottom plate 30 and is folded back substantially in a letter shape (L shape) toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20. The bottom plate 30 is formed with an elastic piece 35 that supports the tongue piece 34 toward the inner top plate 32 side. On the other hand, a bead (contact portion) 36 for contacting the tab portion 11 is formed on the surface of the inner top plate 32 facing the tongue piece 34. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the bead 36 is formed as a convex portion that is convex toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20.

  With the above configuration, the tab portion 11 inserted inside the male terminal fitting portion 20 is inserted between the bead 36 and the tongue piece 34. At this time, the tab portion 11 is configured to be pressed against the bead 36 by the elastic force of the tongue piece 34 and the elastic piece 35. Thereby, since the tab part 11 can be made to contact the bead 36 reliably, the male terminal 9 and the female terminal 6 can be electrically connected reliably.

  As shown in FIG. 4 and the like, a lance engagement hole 38 is formed in the outer top plate 33. The lance engagement hole 38 can be engaged with a lance 40 described later formed in the female connector housing 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9 and the like, a slope piece 37 is formed to extend from the distal end side of the inner top plate 32. The slope piece 37 is bent so as to incline toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20. By providing the slope piece 37 inclined in this way, the tab portion 11 can be guided to the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20.

  Since the slope piece 37 is formed by extending the inner top plate 32, the slope piece 37 is continuous with the wall surface of the inner top plate 32, and a step or the like is provided between the slope piece 37 and the inner top plate 32. Is not formed. Therefore, the tab portion 11 can be smoothly guided to the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 by the slope piece 37. In particular, since the bead 36 is formed on the wall surface of the inner top plate 32 where the slope piece 37 is continuous, the tab portion 11 can be smoothly guided to the bead 36 by the slope piece.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the tip portion of the slope piece 37 is brought into contact with the tip side end surface of the outer top plate 33. This prevents the tip portion of the slope piece 37 from moving toward the base end side. Therefore, when the tab portion 11 is guided to the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 by the slope piece 37, even if the slope piece 37 is pushed toward the proximal end side by the tab portion 11, the slope piece 37 is deformed. Can be prevented.

  Further, the tip portion of the slope piece 37 is configured not to protrude from the plane formed by the outer top plate 33. Thereby, since the slope piece 37 does not protrude outside the male terminal fitting portion 20, the slope piece 37 is caught and becomes an obstacle when the female terminal 6 is inserted into the cavity 5 of the female connector housing 4. There is nothing.

  By the way, in the conventional female terminal, the inner top plate and the outer top plate are overlapped so as to be in close contact with each other. That is, in the conventional female terminal, no space is formed between the inner top plate and the outer top plate. On the other hand, the slope piece 37 of this embodiment is arrange | positioned so that the front end side end surface of the inner top plate 32 and the front end side end surface of the outer top plate 33 may be tied, as shown in FIG. Therefore, if the inner top plate and the outer top plate are in close contact like a conventional female terminal, the length of the slope piece 37 is extremely short. Thus, when the length of the slope piece 37 is short, the range in which the tab portion 11 can be guided by the slope piece 37 is narrowed, and therefore the slope piece 37 that guides the tab portion 11 into the male terminal fitting portion 20 is provided. It becomes difficult to demonstrate the effect.

  Therefore, in the female terminal 6 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33 are bent from the side wall 31 in a stepwise manner. Thereby, a predetermined space is formed between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33. Accordingly, since the slope piece 37 can be formed long, the area of the slope piece 37 can be increased, and the tab portion 11 can be effectively guided by the slope piece 37.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the slope piece 37 is disposed so as to block the entrance to the space between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the tab portion 11 from being erroneously inserted into the space between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33.

  In the conventional female terminal, since the inner top plate and the outer top plate are in close contact with each other, the outer top plate plays a role of pressing the inner top plate. That is, when the tab portion 11 is inserted into the male terminal fitting portion 20, the tab portion 11 is pressed against the bead 36. As a result, a force in the direction in which the inner top plate 32 opens is applied to the inner top plate 32. In the conventional female terminal, the inner top plate is prevented from opening by pressing the inner top plate with the outer top plate.

  On the other hand, in the female terminal 6 of this embodiment, since the space is formed between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33, the inner top plate 32 cannot be pressed by the outer top plate 33. Therefore, in the female terminal 6 of this embodiment, a cutout is formed in a part of the outer top plate 33, and the inner top plate 32 is bent by bending the cutout portion at a position one step lower than the outer top plate 33. A stopper piece 39 that is pressed from the outside is formed (see FIG. 7). Thus, the inner top plate 32 can be pressed from the outside by the stopper piece 39 provided separately from the outer top plate 33, so that the tab portion 11 is inserted between the bead 36 and the tongue piece 34 and the inner top plate is inserted. Even if a force is applied in the direction in which 32 opens, the inner top plate 32 can be prevented from opening.

  Next, the female connector housing 4 will be described.

  As described above, the cavity 5 for accommodating the female terminal 6 is formed in the female connector housing 4. As shown in FIG. 11, a lance 40 is formed in the cavity 5, and the female terminal 6 comes out of the cavity 5 when the lance 40 engages with the lance engagement hole 38 of the female terminal 6. It is configured to prevent this.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the female connector housing 4 is formed with a tapered portion 41 that is inclined toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 in the cavity 5. When the female connector and the male connector are fitted, the tab portion 11 can be guided into the male terminal fitting portion 20 by the taper portion 41.

  However, in recent years, there is a demand for miniaturizing the connector, and the female connector housing 4 may have to be formed small. If the connector is miniaturized in this way, there may be a case where a sufficient space for forming the tapered portion in the female connector housing 4 cannot be secured. In such a case, the tapered portion 41 may be omitted. For example, in the female connector housing 4 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the taper portion corresponding to the outer top plate 33 is omitted. Thus, since the taper part is partially omitted, the tab part 11 cannot be reliably guided toward the inside of the male terminal fitting part 20 only by the taper part 41 formed in the female connector housing 4.

  However, since the female terminal 6 of the present embodiment is provided with a slope piece 37 having a function equivalent to that of the tapered portion (tab portion guiding function) on the end surface of the outer top plate 33, the tab portion 11. Can be appropriately led to the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20. Thus, even if it is a case where a taper part cannot be formed in the female connector housing 4 because the female terminal 6 itself has the slope piece 37, the tab part 11 is properly guided to the inside of the male terminal fitting part 20. Can do.

  As described above, the female terminal 6 of the present embodiment connects the male terminal fitting portion 20 having a substantially rectangular tube shape into which the tab portion 11 of the mating male terminal 9 is inserted, and the conductor 24 of the electric wire 2. A wire barrel 21 to be used. A slope piece 37 that is inclined toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 and continues to the inner top plate 32 is formed at the end of the male terminal fitting portion 20.

  Thus, by providing the slope piece 37 at the end of the male terminal fitting portion 20, the tab portion 11 of the male terminal 9 can be guided into the male terminal fitting portion 20. As a result, the female terminal 6 and the male terminal 9 can be reliably connected.

  Moreover, the female terminal 6 of this embodiment is comprised as follows. That is, the male terminal fitting portion 20 includes a bottom plate 30 having a tongue piece 34, left and right side walls 31 bent toward the one side from the bottom plate 30, and an inner top plate 32 bent from one of the side walls 31. And an outer top plate 33 that is bent from the other side wall 31 and overlaps the outer side of the inner top plate 32, and is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape. A bead 36 that is in electrical contact with the tab portion 11 is formed on the surface of the inner top plate 32 facing the tongue piece 34. A slope piece 37 is extended from the end of the inner top plate 32.

  Thus, since the slope piece 37 is formed to extend from the surface on which the bead 36 is formed, the tab portion 11 of the male terminal 9 can be satisfactorily guided to the bead 36 by the slope piece 37. .

  Moreover, the female terminal 6 of this embodiment is comprised as follows. That is, the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33 overlap each other with a space therebetween. And the slope piece 37 is arrange | positioned so that the entrance of the said space may be plugged up.

  Thereby, it is possible to prevent the tab portion 11 of the male terminal 9 from being erroneously inserted into the space between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33. Moreover, since the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33 are disposed with a certain amount of space therebetween, the slope piece 37 disposed so as to close the space can be formed with a certain length. Thus, since the slope piece 37 can be formed long, the range which can guide the tab part 11 with the said slope piece 37 can be taken wide.

  Further, in the female terminal 6 of the present embodiment, a stopper piece 39 that is folded back from the side wall 31 is in contact with the inner top plate 32 from the outside of the male terminal fitting portion 20 separately from the outer top plate 33.

  That is, when a space is formed between the inner top plate 32 and the outer top plate 33 as in the present embodiment, the inner top plate 32 cannot be pressed by the outer top plate 33. A stopper piece 39 for pressing is provided separately from the outer top plate 33. Thereby, it can prevent that the inner top plate 32 opens, and can make the bead 36 and the tab part 11 which were formed in the said inner top plate 32 contact reliably.

  The wire harness 1 of the present embodiment includes a female terminal 6 and a female connector housing 4 that houses the female terminal 6.

  Since this wire harness 1 can reliably guide the tab portion 11 of the male terminal 9 into the male terminal fitting portion 20 when the female connector 3 is fitted to the male connector 7, contact failure or Terminal damage can be prevented.

  Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the above configuration can be changed as follows, for example.

  The female terminal of the present invention can be used not only for the wire harness but also for connecting various electric wires.

  The taper part may not be formed at all in the female connector housing. Even in this case, the tab portion can be guided into the inside of the male terminal fitting portion by the slope piece provided in the female terminal of the present invention.

  The configuration of the female connector housing shown in the drawings is an example, and for example, the shape and arrangement of the lance can be appropriately changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wire harness 2 Electric wire 4 Female connector housing 6 Female terminal 9 Male terminal 11 Tab part 20 Male terminal fitting part 21 Wire barrel (crimp part)
37 slope pieces

Claims (5)

A substantially rectangular tube-shaped male terminal fitting portion into which the tab of the mating male terminal is inserted;
A crimping part for connecting the conductor of the wire;
A female terminal having
A slope piece that is inclined toward the inside of the male terminal fitting portion and is continuous with the inner wall surface of the male terminal fitting portion is formed at the end of the male terminal fitting portion. Female terminal. The female terminal according to claim 1,
The male terminal fitting portion is
A bottom plate having elastic contact pieces;
Side walls on both the left and right sides respectively bent toward the one side from the bottom plate,
An inner top plate bent from one of the side walls;
An outer top plate that is bent from the other side wall and overlaps the outer side of the inner top plate;
Formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape surrounded by
On the surface of the inner top plate that faces the elastic contact piece, a contact portion that is in electrical contact with the tab is formed,
A female terminal, wherein the slope piece is extended from an end of the inner top plate. The female terminal according to claim 2,
The inner top plate and the outer top plate are overlapped with a space therebetween,
The female terminal, wherein the slope piece is disposed so as to close the entrance of the space. The female terminal according to claim 3,
A female terminal having a stopper piece folded back from the side wall separately from the outer top plate is in contact with the inner top plate from the outside of the male terminal fitting portion. A female terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A female connector housing containing the female terminals;
A wire harness comprising:

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