JP2013206695A - Connection terminal for connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection terminal for a connector capable of suppressing raise in terminal insertion force due to increase in the number of times of insertion and withdrawal, and of securing high connection reliability.SOLUTION: On the outermost surface of a contact part 16b of a connection terminal 10, an Ag layer is formed. On the outermost surface of a sliding part 16a of the connection terminal 10, which slides by the time when a contact part of a partner side connection terminal reaches the contact part 16b of the connection terminal 10 when inserted into or withdrawn from the partner side connection terminal, a layer having a hardness higher than Ag, and consisting of a low-mutual solvability second metal having a mutual solvability with Ag of 0.1% or less or its alloy is formed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector connection terminal, and more particularly to a connector connection terminal in which an Ag layer is formed at a contact portion.

  A large current connection terminal corresponding to a large current is used for a power supply line of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. In order to ensure connection reliability, an Ag layer that is highly conductive and hardly oxidizes is often formed at the contact portion of the connection terminal for large current.

  Since the connection terminal for large current is usually thick and has a large cross-sectional area, the terminal insertion force during connector fitting is relatively large. When the contact load between the connection terminals at the time of connector fitting is increased in order to improve the connection reliability, the terminal insertion force at the time of connector fitting is further increased. Therefore, in the connection terminal for large current, when repeated insertion and extraction are performed, the surface of the Ag layer is likely to be shaved and roughened. Moreover, when Ag layers contact between connection terminals, metal adhesion tends to occur. If it does so, terminal insertion force will increase with the increase in the frequency | count of insertion / extraction. Therefore, measures for reducing the terminal insertion force during connector fitting have been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a self-assembled monolayer is formed on a sliding surface that slides on the connection terminal of the mating connector when mated with the mating connector to reduce the frictional force between the connection terminals during mating. Is described.

  In Patent Document 2, a film made of a composite material in which carbon particles are uniformly dispersed during Ag plating is formed on the material using an Ag plating solution in which carbon particles are uniformly dispersed. It is described to increase wear resistance.

  Patent Document 3 describes that the Ag layer formed on the base material of the connection terminal is made of an alloy with Sn, thereby preventing discoloration due to sulfuration and maintaining a low coefficient of dynamic friction.

JP 2008-293819 A Japanese Patent No. 46669967 JP 2011-198683 A

  The technique of Patent Document 1 causes an increase in cost due to the addition of a process for forming a self-assembled monolayer on the sliding surface of the connection terminal and the management of the forming material. In addition, the techniques of Patent Documents 2 and 3 cause an increase in cost due to complicated plating processes and management of plating quality. Therefore, a measure for reducing the terminal insertion force at the time of connector fitting more easily is desired without forming a self-assembled monolayer or improving plating.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a connector connection terminal capable of suppressing an increase in terminal insertion force accompanying an increase in the number of insertions / removals and ensuring high connection reliability.

  In order to solve the above problems, a connector connection terminal according to the present invention is a connection terminal having a contact portion that is in contact with a contact portion of a mating connection terminal and is electrically connected when the connector is fitted. An Ag layer is formed on the outermost surface of the contact portion, and when the contact portion of the counterpart connection terminal reaches the contact portion of the connection terminal when being inserted into and extracted from the counterpart connection terminal. On the outermost surface of the sliding portion of the sliding connection terminal, a layer made of a second metal having a hardness higher than Ag and low mutual solubility with Ag of 0.1% or less or an alloy thereof is formed. It is a summary.

  At this time, it is preferable that a layer made of Ni, Fe, Cr, Co, W, or an alloy thereof is formed on the outermost surface of the sliding portion of the connection terminal.

  As the connection terminal for a connector according to the present invention, the entire surface of the base material surface of the connection terminal that corresponds to the area where the contact part of the connection terminal on the other side including the contact part and the sliding part of the connection terminal slides. A first metal layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is formed, and a surface of the first metal layer in which an Ag layer is formed in a portion corresponding to the contact portion of the connection terminal is preferable. Can be shown. In this case, it is preferable that the thickness of the contact portion of the connection terminal is greater than the thickness of the sliding portion of the connection terminal.

  Moreover, as the connector connection terminal according to the present invention, a portion of the base material surface of the connection terminal that corresponds to a region where the contact portion of the mating connection terminal including the contact portion and the sliding portion of the connection terminal slides An Ag layer is formed on the entire surface, and a portion of the surface of the Ag layer in which a layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is formed on a portion corresponding to the sliding portion of the connection terminal can be preferably shown. .

  Furthermore, as the connection terminal for a connector according to the present invention, an Ag layer is formed in a portion of the base material surface of the connection terminal that contacts the contact portion of the connection terminal, and a portion that contacts the sliding portion of the connection terminal, What has the layer by the 2nd metal or its alloy can be shown suitably. In this case, it is preferable that the Ag layer on the surface of the base material of the connection terminal and the layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof are formed without a step.

  According to the connector connection terminal according to the present invention, the metal layer formed on the outermost surface of the contact portion of the connection terminal is an Ag layer, and the connection that slides until the contact portion of the counterpart connection terminal reaches the contact portion. The metal layer formed on the outermost surface of the sliding part of the terminal is a layer made of the second metal or its alloy whose hardness is higher than Ag and low mutual solubility, so when mating the connector (when inserting the terminal) Since the second metal layer formed on the outermost surface of the sliding portion of the connection terminal or an alloy thereof contacts the Ag layer formed on the outermost surface of the contact portion of the connecting terminal, the Ag layers are in contact with each other. Adhesive wear can be kept lower than in the case of doing so. Thereby, the rise in the terminal insertion force accompanying the increase in the number of insertion / extraction is suppressed. Further, since the hardness is higher than that of Ag, wear due to friction is also suppressed, so that the effect is maintained over a long period of time. And after connector fitting, the contact parts of a terminal contact. Since Ag layers are formed on the outermost surfaces of the contact portions, high connection reliability is ensured by contact between Ag layers that are highly conductive and difficult to be oxidized.

  At this time, when a layer made of any of Ni, Fe, Cr, Co, W and alloys thereof is formed on the outermost surface of the sliding portion of the connection terminal, the outermost surface of the contact portion of the mating connection terminal Since the effect of suppressing the adhesion wear is high with respect to the Ag layer formed on the metal layer, the effect of suppressing the increase in the terminal insertion force accompanying the increase in the number of insertion / extraction is high.

  At this time, the first metal made of the second metal or its alloy is formed on the entire portion of the surface of the base material of the connection terminal where the contact portion of the connection terminal on the other side including the contact portion and the sliding portion of the connection terminal slides. When a layer is formed and an Ag layer is formed on a portion of the surface of the first metal layer that contacts the contact portion of the connection terminal, the thickness of the contact portion of the connection terminal is made larger than the thickness of the sliding portion of the connection terminal. Easy to make thick. As a result, the contact pressure from the contact portion of the mating connection terminal can be made smaller at the sliding portion of the connection terminal than the contact portion of the connection terminal, so the contact portion of the mating connection terminal slips at the sliding portion of the connection terminal. It is easy and high contact pressure is secured at the contact portion of the connection terminal, and high connection reliability is ensured. In addition, the first metal layer serves as a base layer, and the metal of the base material can be prevented from moving to the Ag layer.

  Then, an Ag layer is formed on the entire surface of the base material surface of the connection terminal corresponding to a region where the contact portion of the mating connection terminal including the contact portion and the sliding portion of the connection terminal slides. When a layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is formed on the portion that contacts the sliding portion of the connection terminal, when the contact portion of the mating connection terminal moves from the sliding portion of the connection terminal to the contact portion, Since the edge of the Ag layer does not appear, wear of the Ag layer at the boundary between the sliding portion of the connection terminal and the contact portion can be prevented.

  And, when the Ag layer is formed in the portion of the base material surface of the connection terminal that contacts the contact portion of the connection terminal and the layer of the second metal or its alloy is formed in the portion of the connection terminal that contacts the sliding portion, the connection terminal It is easy to form a metal layer in a portion corresponding to the contact portion and a metal layer in a portion corresponding to the sliding portion without a step. Then, when the contact part of the connection terminal on the other side moves from the sliding part of the connection terminal to the contact part, the edge of the Ag layer of the connection terminal does not come out, so Ag at the boundary between the sliding part of the connection terminal and the contact part Layer wear can be prevented.

It is the top view (a) and AA sectional view (b) of the connector connecting terminal which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of an example of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed in the connecting terminal for connectors of this invention. It is sectional drawing of an example of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed in the connecting terminal for connectors of this invention. It is sectional drawing of an example of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed in the connecting terminal for connectors of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the effect | action of the connecting terminal for connectors of this invention. It is the comparative example (a) and Example (b) which graphed the relationship between the insertion amount (mm) of a tab and load (N) when the tab of a male terminal was repeatedly inserted between the contact parts of a female terminal. Comparison example (a) and graph showing the average load (N) when the contact part of the female terminal slides on the flat part of the tab when the tab of the male terminal is repeatedly inserted between the contact parts of the female terminal Example (b).

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a connector connection terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention by taking a male terminal as an example. The male terminal 10 is formed by pressing a relatively thick plate-shaped base material made of a conductive metal such as copper, a copper alloy, aluminum, or an aluminum alloy or a base material on which a predetermined metal layer is formed. It is formed. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the base end of the male terminal 10 is provided with a wire barrel that is crimped to an end of a conductor made of a core wire of a covered electric wire. And the tab 10a which makes a tongue piece shape of equal width is extended and formed in the front end side rather than the wire barrel.

  At the base end of the tab 10a, a hole 12 is formed to be fastened with a device-side bus bar or the like by a bolt. And the inclined surface 14 which guides the contact part of the female terminal used as the other party of a connection to the contact part of the male terminal 10 in the front-end | tip part of the tab 10a is the plate | board thickness of the tab 10a toward the base end from the front-end | tip of the tab 10a. Is formed to be thick.

  A flat surface 16 continues on the base end side of the base end side edge 14a of the inclined surface 14 formed at the front end portion of the tab 10a. The flat surface 16 is in contact with the contact portion of the female terminal and the sliding portion 16a (part indicated by the region B) where the contact portion of the female terminal, which is the counterpart of the connection when the connector is fitted, contacts the contact portion of the female terminal. And a contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 (portion indicated by region C). The contact portion 16b and the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 are regions where the contact portion of the female terminal slides.

  An Ag layer is formed on the outermost surface of the contact portion 16 b of the male terminal 10. Then, the outermost surface of the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 connected to the contact portion 16b has a second hardness that is higher than Ag and has a low mutual solubility of 0.1% or less with Ag. A layer made of metal or an alloy thereof is formed. That is, on the outermost surface of the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10, a layer made of a second metal or an alloy thereof that hardly adheres to Ag or does not adhere to Ag is formed. Examples of such second metal include Ni, Fe, Cr, Co, and W.

  In the present invention, it is only necessary that the outermost metal layer of the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 and the outermost metal layer of the sliding portion 16a have the above-described configuration. Specific examples of such a laminated structure of metal layers include the laminated structure of metal layers shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first form of the laminated structure of the metal layers formed on the contact portion 16 b and the sliding portion 16 a of the male terminal 10 is the contact of the male terminal 10 among the surfaces of the base material 11 of the male terminal 10. The second metal is applied to both the portion corresponding to the portion 16b (portion indicated by the region C) and the portion corresponding to the sliding portion 16a (portion indicated by the region B), that is, the entire portion corresponding to the region where the contact portion of the female terminal slides. Alternatively, a first metal layer 22 made of the alloy is formed, and a portion of the surface of the first metal layer 22 corresponding to the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 (portion indicated by the region C) is a second layer made of an Ag layer. The metal layer 24 is formed. In the first embodiment, the thickness of the portion of the male terminal 10 that contacts the contact portion 16b is thicker than the thickness of the portion of the male terminal 10 that contacts the sliding portion 16a. There is a raised step.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second form of the laminated structure of the metal layers formed on the contact portion 16 b and the sliding portion 16 a of the male terminal 10 is the contact of the male terminal 10 in the surface of the base material 11 of the male terminal 10. Both the portion corresponding to the portion 16b (the portion indicated by the region C) and the portion corresponding to the sliding portion 16a (the portion indicated by the region B), that is, the entire portion corresponding to the region where the contact portion 16b of the female terminal slides are formed by the Ag layer. A first metal layer 26 is formed, and a portion of the surface of the first metal layer 26 that corresponds to the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 (portion indicated by the region B) is a second metal or an alloy thereof. Two metal layers 28 are formed. In the second form, the thickness of the portion of the male terminal 10 that contacts the contact portion 16b is thinner than the thickness of the portion of the male terminal 10 that contacts the sliding portion 16a. There is a step that is lowered.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the third form of the laminated configuration of the metal layers formed on the contact portion 16 b and the sliding portion 16 a of the male terminal 10 is the contact of the male terminal 10 among the surfaces of the base material 11 of the male terminal 10. An Ag layer 32 is formed in a portion corresponding to the portion 16b (portion indicated by the region C), and a layer 34 made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is applied to a portion corresponding to the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 (portion indicated by the region B). Is formed. In the third embodiment, the thickness of the portion that contacts the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 and the thickness of the portion that contacts the sliding portion 16a are the same, and there is no step between the contact portion 16b and the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10.

  As with the male terminal 10, the female terminal connected to the male terminal 10 when the connector is fitted presses a relatively thick plate-shaped base material made of a conductive metal such as copper, copper alloy, aluminum, or aluminum alloy. It is formed by processing by means such as. In FIG. 5, a part of the female terminal 40 connected to the male terminal 10 when the connector is fitted is shown together with the tab 10 a of the male terminal 10.

  The female terminal 40 has a flat rectangular tube shape in which the tab 10a of the male terminal 10 is inserted into the distal end side of the wire barrel (not shown) of the female terminal 40 that is crimped to the end of the conductor made of the core wire of the covered electric wire. A connecting cylinder portion 42 is provided. An insertion port 44 into which the tab 10a of the male terminal 10 is inserted is opened at the distal end of the connection tube portion 42. In the connection cylinder part 42, elastic contact pieces 46a and 46b related to the tab 10a of the male terminal 10 inserted from the insertion port 44 are formed in a pair of upper and lower sides.

  The upper elastic contact piece 46a is fixed at the base end to the base end side of the upper inner surface 42a of the connection tube portion 42, and the tip thereof extends toward the insertion port 44 on the front end side of the connection tube portion 42. ing. Therefore, the tip of the upper elastic contact piece 46a is adapted to perform a spring motion in the vertical direction with the base end as a fulcrum. The lower elastic contact piece 46b is similarly configured. Further, the upper elastic contact piece 46 a has a bent portion 48 a that is bent upward at the tip end side, and a lower curved surface of the bent portion 48 a is a contact portion 50 a with the male terminal 10. The lower elastic contact piece 46b is similarly configured. The contact portion 50a of the upper elastic contact piece 46a and the contact portion 50b of the lower elastic contact piece 46b are opposed to each other at a position close to the insertion port 44 in the connection cylinder portion 42 with a predetermined interval. The predetermined interval is shorter than the thickness of the tab 10a of the male terminal 10, and is an interval at which a desired contact pressure load is applied from the tab 10a of the male terminal 10 to the contact portion 16b of the elastic contact piece. An Ag layer is formed on the outermost surfaces of the contact portions 50 a and 50 b of the female terminal 40, similarly to the contact portion 16 b of the male terminal 10.

  The insertion port 44 of the connecting cylinder part 42 is formed with a tapered surface 42b that narrows along the direction in which the tab 10a of the male terminal 10 is inserted (from the distal end side to the proximal end side of the connecting cylinder part 42). Ten tabs 10a are easily guided between the contact portions 50a and 50b of the elastic contact pieces 46a and 46b in the connecting cylinder portion 42.

  The female terminal 40 is also accommodated in the housing of the female terminal 40. The male terminal 10 and the female terminal 40 are connected by connector fitting.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the tab 10 a of the male terminal 10 is inserted into the insertion port 44 of the connection cylinder portion 42, it is invited between the contact portions 50 a and 50 b of the elastic contact pieces 46 a and 46 b of the female terminal 40. The upper and lower elastic contact pieces 46a and 46b are inserted into the contact portions 50a and 50b while being elastically displaced. At this time, the contact portions 50 a and 50 b of the female terminal 40 climb up the inclined surface 14 at the tip of the tab 10 a of the male terminal 10 and reach the flat surface 16. Subsequently, the sliding part 16a of the male terminal 10 on the flat surface 16 of the male terminal 10 is slid to reach the contact part 16b of the male terminal 10 (FIG. 5B). The tab 10a of the male terminal 10 inserted normally is elastically held between the contact portions 50a and 50b of the elastic contact pieces 46a and 46b of the female terminal 40. Thereby, the male terminal 10 and the female terminal 40 are electrically connected to each other.

  When Ag layers are formed on the outermost surfaces of the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 and the outermost surface of the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10, the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 connected to the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 is formed. If an Ag layer is also formed on the outermost surface of the, the Ag layers come into contact with each other when the contact portions 50a, 50b of the female terminal 40 slide on the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10, and adhesion occurs. Then, by repeatedly inserting and extracting the male terminal 10, the surface of the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 is scraped to increase the surface roughness, and the terminal insertion force increases due to adhesive wear. Particularly, since the connection terminal for large current is usually thick and has a large cross-sectional area, the terminal insertion force when the connector is fitted is relatively large. When the contact load between the connection terminals at the time of connector fitting is increased in order to improve the connection reliability, the terminal insertion force at the time of connector fitting is further increased. If it does so, the said problem will occur especially easily.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the outermost surface of the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 connected to the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 is not Ag layer but has a hardness higher than Ag and the mutual solubility with Ag is 0. The metal layer when the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 slide on the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 by forming a layer made of the second metal having a low mutual solubility of 1% or less or an alloy thereof. Adhesion between each other is suppressed. For this reason, even if it repeats insertion / extraction of the male terminal 10, adhesive wear does not generate | occur | produce easily and the raise of terminal insertion force is suppressed. Further, since the hardness is higher than that of Ag, wear due to friction is also suppressed, so that the effect is maintained over a long period of time. When the male terminal 10 is properly inserted, the contact portions 50 a and 50 b of the female terminal 40 come into contact with the contact portion 16 b of the male terminal 10. At this time, Ag layers that are highly conductive and hardly oxidized are brought into contact with each other, so that high connection reliability is ensured. Therefore, according to the present invention, without using a lubricant such as a self-assembled monolayer or improving the plating, the metal insertion characteristics of the metal layer can be used more easily by using the metal characteristics of the metal layer. Can be reduced.

  When a layer made of Ni, Fe, Cr, Co, W, or an alloy thereof is formed on the outermost surface of the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10, the Ag layer of the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 On the other hand, since the effect of suppressing the adhesive wear is high, the effect of suppressing the increase in the terminal insertion force accompanying the increase in the number of insertion / extraction is high.

  Of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed on the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 and the sliding portion 16a, the thickness of the portion corresponding to the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 is set to the thickness of the portion corresponding to the sliding portion 16a. It is easy to make it thicker than the thickness. Then, since the contact pressure from the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 can be made smaller by the sliding portion 16a than the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10, the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 The portion 16a is slippery, and the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 ensures a high contact pressure and ensures high connection reliability. Moreover, the 1st metal layer 22 becomes a base layer, and it can prevent that the metal of the base material 11 transfers to Ag layer (2nd metal layer 24).

  Of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed on the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 and the sliding portion 16a, the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 are contacted from the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 when the configuration of the second form is adopted. Since the edge of the Ag layer of the male terminal 10 does not come out when moving to the part 16b, it is possible to prevent the Ag layer from being worn at the boundary between the sliding part 16a and the contact part 16b of the male terminal 10.

  Of the laminated structure of the metal layer formed on the contact portion 16b and the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10, when the configuration of the third form is adopted, the portion of the metal layer corresponding to the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 and the portion corresponding to the sliding portion 16a It is easy to form a metal layer without a step. Then, when the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 move from the sliding portion 16a of the male terminal 10 to the contact portion 16b, the edge of the Ag layer of the male terminal 10 does not come out. It is possible to prevent the Ag layer from being worn at the boundary of the contact portion 16b.

  The thickness of the Ag layer of the male terminal 10 is preferably in the range of 1 to 20 μm. More preferably, it exists in the range of 5-15 micrometers. When the thickness of the Ag layer is 1 μm or more, the Ag layer hardly peels off. If the thickness of the Ag layer is 20 μm or less, adhesion between the contact portions 50a and 50b of the female terminal 40 is unlikely to occur. Further, the cost can be suppressed.

  The thickness of the second metal or its alloy layer of the male terminal 10 is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 5 μm. More preferably, it exists in the range of 1-3 micrometers. When the thickness of this layer is 0.5 μm or more, the contact portions 50 a and 50 b of the female terminal 40 can easily slide on the sliding portion 16 a of the male terminal 10. When the thickness of this layer is 5 μm or less, the resistance at the contact portion 16b of the male terminal 10 can be easily reduced.

  A metal layer such as an Ag layer, a second metal, or a layer of an alloy thereof can be formed according to various methods for forming a metal thin film. Specifically, methods such as an electrolytic plating method, an electroless plating method, a thermal spraying method, a sputtering method, and a cold spray method can be used.

  Although it does not specifically limit as a magnitude | size of the base material 11 of the male terminal 10, As a thing which is easy to exhibit the effect of this invention, it is a thick thing and a cross-sectional area is large. From this viewpoint, the thickness of the base material 11 is preferably 0.8 mm or more. More preferably, it exists in the range of 1.2-6 mm. The width of the base material 11 is preferably 4.8 mm or more. More preferably, it is in the range of 9.5 to 15 mm.

  The male terminal 10 can be suitably used as a connection terminal for large current.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples.

(Example)
A Ni layer having a thickness of 1 to 2 μm was applied to the surface of a tab having a width of 13 mm and a thickness of 4 mm obtained by pressing a plate material made of a Cu alloy to obtain a male terminal of the example. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the tab of the produced male terminal was repeatedly inserted between the contact portions of the female terminal at a constant speed. In the process of inserting the tab, the load (insertion force) was measured by the load cell, and the relationship between the insertion amount (mm) of the tab and the load (N) was graphed. The result is shown in FIG. Moreover, the average load (N) when the contact part of a female terminal slides on the flat part of a tab was calculated | required. The result is shown in FIG. The average load is an average load in a range where the insertion distance of the tab is 5 to 10 mm, and is an average load when the load is relatively flat as shown in FIG. It should be noted that the load is maximum when the insertion amount of the tab is 3 mm or less. This is because the contact portion of the female terminal is on the tip of the tab.

(Comparative example)
A 10 μm thick Ag layer was applied to the surface of a tab having a width of 13 mm and a thickness of 4 mm obtained by pressing a plate material made of a Cu alloy to obtain a male terminal of a comparative example. Next, in the same manner as in the example, the prepared male terminal tab was repeatedly inserted between the contact portions of the female terminal at a constant speed, and the relationship between the tab insertion amount (mm) and the load (N) at this time was graphed. did. The result is shown in FIG. Moreover, the average load (N) when the contact part of a female terminal slides on the flat part of a tab was calculated | required. The result is shown in FIG.

  From FIG. 7A, it can be seen that in the comparative example in which the Ag layer is formed on the outermost surface of the tab of the male terminal, the terminal insertion force greatly increases as the number of terminal insertions increases. In contrast, in FIG. 7B, in the example in which the Ni layer was formed on the outermost surface of the tab of the male terminal, the terminal insertion force did not increase so much even when the number of insertions of the terminal increased. Recognize. Therefore, by adopting the layer configuration of the sliding portion of the male terminal where the contact portion of the female terminal slides when the connector is fitted as the layer configuration of the present invention, adhesive wear occurs even when the male terminal is repeatedly inserted and removed. It was difficult to suppress the increase of the terminal insertion force.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, a male terminal is taken as an example, and a connector connection terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. However, the connector connection terminal according to the present invention is not limited to a male terminal. Absent. For example, if the contact part of the male terminal protrudes in an embossed shape and the contact part of the female terminal is in a flat part and has a sliding part in which the contact part of the male terminal slides before the contact part, The metal layer formed on the base material can have a layer structure according to the present invention.

10 Connector connection terminal (male terminal)
10a tab 11 base material 14 of terminal 14 inclined part 16 flat part 16a sliding part 16b of male terminal contact part of male terminal

Claims (7)

In the connection terminal having a contact portion that comes into contact with the contact portion of the mating connection terminal when the connector is fitted to achieve electrical conduction,
An Ag layer is formed on the outermost surface of the contact part of the connection terminal, and the contact part of the connection terminal on the counterpart side becomes the contact part of the connection terminal when being inserted into and extracted from the connection terminal on the counterpart side. The outermost surface of the sliding portion of the connection terminal that slides to reach the second metal or its alloy having a hardness higher than Ag and a low mutual solubility with Ag of 0.1% or less. A connection terminal for a connector, wherein a layer is formed.   2. The connector connection according to claim 1, wherein a layer made of any one of Ni, Fe, Cr, Co, W, and an alloy thereof is formed on the outermost surface of the sliding portion of the connection terminal. Terminal.   Of the surface of the base material of the connection terminal, the entire portion corresponding to the area where the contact portion of the mating connection terminal including the contact portion and the sliding portion of the connection terminal slides is made of the second metal or an alloy thereof. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein an Ag layer is formed on a portion of the surface of the first metal layer that contacts the contact portion of the connection terminal. Connection terminal.   4. The connector connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of a contact portion of the connection terminal is configured to be greater than a thickness of a sliding portion of the connection terminal. 5.   An Ag layer is formed on the entire surface of the base material of the connection terminal, where the contact portion of the mating connection terminal including the contact portion and the sliding portion of the connection terminal slides. 3. The connector connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein a layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is formed on a portion of the surface corresponding to the sliding portion of the connection terminal. 4.   Of the base material surface of the connection terminal, an Ag layer is formed on a portion corresponding to the contact portion of the connection terminal, and a layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof is formed on a portion corresponding to the sliding portion of the connection terminal. The connector connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the connector connection terminal is a connector terminal.   The connector connection terminal according to claim 6, wherein the Ag layer on the surface of the base material of the connection terminal and the layer made of the second metal or an alloy thereof are formed without a step.

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