JP2014093157A - Joint terminal and joint connector including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a joint terminal which allows for excellent conductive connection by following up positional deviation smoothly during connection, and can be manufactured at a low cost, and to provide a joint connector including the same.SOLUTION: A joint terminal includes a planar coupling part 22, and a plurality of contacts 21 extended from the coupling part 22 in the same direction and arranged in parallel while spaced apart from each other. The contact 21 is a joint terminal 20 for connection with a female terminal, that is a mating terminal. The contact 21 has a contact part 27 coming into contact with the female terminal, and a connection 28 narrower than the contact part 27 that is continuous to the contact part 27 and connected with the coupling part 22.

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint terminal and a joint connector in which the joint terminal is accommodated in a housing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a joint connector in which a joint terminal having a plurality of contacts is press-fitted in a resin housing as a joint connector that is connected to a counterpart connector to ensure a conductive state (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, the neck has an upper slot plate and a lower slot plate, and has a width that is narrower than the width of the upper slot plate and the lower slot plate in the middle of the upper slot plate and the lower slot plate and can be twisted. A connector having an electrical terminal provided with a portion is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2004-179032 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-89749

  By the way, in order to hold the joint terminal in the housing with a high holding force, when the joint terminal is press-fitted into the housing and fixed, it becomes difficult to follow the positional deviation with the counterpart terminal when fitting with the counterpart connector. This requires a large insertion force when mating with the mating connector, and the connection workability is reduced.

  In particular, as in Patent Document 1, in a connector including a joint terminal in which a plurality of contacts are connected on the base end side, when the misalignment of the mating connector with the mating terminal is an arrangement direction that is the width direction of the contact, Like the connector described in Patent Document 2, even if a neck portion that can be twisted is provided, followability with respect to the counterpart terminal was poor.

  Moreover, the complicated shape terminal which formed the neck part used for the connector of patent document 2 has the bad yield, and will cause a cost increase.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and the purpose thereof is a joint terminal that can smoothly follow a positional shift at the time of connection and can be connected in a favorable conductive manner, and can be manufactured at low cost. It is providing the joint connector provided with it.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the joint terminal according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1).
(1) A joint terminal including a flat plate-like connecting portion and a plurality of contacts extending in the same direction from the connecting portion and arranged in parallel at intervals, the contact being connected to a counterpart terminal There,
The contact has a contact portion that comes into contact with the counterpart terminal, and a connection portion that is connected to the contact portion and is connected to the connecting portion and is narrower than the contact portion.

In the joint terminal configured as described in (1) above, the connecting portion connected to the connecting portion and connected to the connecting portion has a contact formed narrower than the contacting portion. Therefore, even if the counterpart terminal is displaced vertically or horizontally with respect to the contact or is inclined, the contact is guided and connected to the counterpart terminal by elastic deformation of the narrow connection portion. The
Therefore, even if the plurality of contacts extend in the same direction from the connecting portion and are arranged in parallel, the contacts can be smoothly followed and connected to the counterpart terminal. In addition, since only the connecting portion is narrowed to facilitate the elastic deformation of the contact, the area of the contact portion with which the counterpart terminal comes into contact can be sufficiently secured, and high connection reliability with the counterpart terminal is obtained. be able to.
In addition, the joint terminal has a plurality of contacts each having a connection portion narrower than the contact portion extending in the same direction from the connecting portion and arranged in parallel. Therefore, when laying out a metal plate to manufacture a joint terminal by punching, regions that serve as connecting portions are provided in parallel, and portions that serve as contacts are alternately arranged between these regions that serve as connecting portions. Thereby, the part used as a contact part can be arrange | positioned between the parts used as a connection part. Thereby, the part used as a contact can be arrange | positioned in the high-density state which opened the slight clearance gap mutually. Therefore, a joint terminal can be efficiently obtained from a metal plate, and the yield can be greatly improved and the cost can be reduced.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the joint connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following (2).
(2) A joint connector provided with the joint terminal of (1) above,
A housing having a recess into which a mating housing of the mating connector is fitted, and a press-fitting hole formed in a wall portion opposite to the opening side of the recess;
The connection portion of the joint terminal is press-fitted into the press-fitting hole of the housing, and the contact is disposed in the recess,
The counterpart terminal is brought into contact with the contact portion of the joint terminal by fitting the counterpart housing into the recess.

  In the joint connector having the above configuration (2), the contact of the joint terminal is elastically deformed to smoothly follow the mating terminal and be securely connected, so that the insertion force when mating with the mating connector is reduced. Can do. Thereby, the improvement of connection workability and connection reliability with a counterpart connector can be aimed at.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a joint terminal that can smoothly follow a positional shift at the time of connection and can be connected well and can be manufactured at low cost, and a joint connector including the joint terminal.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a front view of a joint connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the joint connector according to the present embodiment. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are views showing the joint connector according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is the perspective view cut | disconnected by AA in FIG. 4 (a) and 4 (b) are views showing the joint connector according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 4 (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 (b) is FIG. It is the perspective view cut | disconnected by BB in FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing the joint terminal according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a perspective view and FIG. 5B is a plan view. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams showing a layout at the time of manufacturing the joint terminal according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 6 (b) is a plan view. is there. FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (c) are views showing a housing constituting the joint connector. FIG. 7 (a) is a front view, and FIG. 7 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 7 (a). Sectional drawing and FIG.7 (c) are DD sectional drawings in Fig.7 (a). FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion F in FIG. 10 (a) and 10 (b) are diagrams showing the joint connector and the mating connector in a non-fitted state, where FIG. 10 (a) is a perspective view and FIG. 10 (b) is a cross-sectional view. 11 (a) and 11 (b) are views showing the joint connector and the mating connector in a fitted state, where FIG. 11 (a) is a perspective view and FIG. 11 (b) is a cross-sectional view. FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the mating connector. FIG. 13 is a side view of the female terminal connected to the electric wire. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the female terminal box. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GG in FIG. FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of a portion H in FIG. FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a joint terminal according to a reference example.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a joint terminal concerning the present invention and a joint connector provided with it is explained with reference to drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a joint connector according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the joint connector according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are joints according to the present embodiment. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3B is a perspective view cut along the line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4A and FIG. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the joint connector according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view cut along the line BB in FIG. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are diagrams showing the joint terminal according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 5 (a) is a perspective view, FIG. 5 (b) is a plan view, and FIG. 6 (a). ) And FIG. 6B are diagrams showing a layout at the time of manufacturing the joint terminal according to the present embodiment, and FIG. Is a perspective view, FIG. 6 (b) is a plan view, and FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (c) are views showing a housing constituting the joint connector, where FIG. 7 (a) is a front view, FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 7A, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a portion F in FIG. 3B, and FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing the joint connector and the mating connector in a non-fitted state, and FIG. FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B are diagrams showing the joint connector and the mating connector in a fitted state, and FIG. 11A is a perspective view. 11B is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the mating connector, FIG. 13 is a side view of the female terminal connected to the electric wire, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the box portion of the female terminal, FIG. 15, G-G cross-sectional view in FIG. 11 (b), the 16 is H enlarged view in FIG. 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4B, the joint connector 10 includes two joint terminals 20 and a housing 30.

  The joint connector 10 is to be mated and connected with a mating connector 50 described later, and the mating connector 20 is mated and connected so that the joint terminal 20 is connected to a female terminal (counter terminal) 51 described later of the mating connector 50. Conducted.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the joint terminal 20 is formed by pressing a conductive metal plate made of copper or a copper alloy, and has a contact 21 and a connecting portion 22. doing. The joint terminal 20 is preferably subjected to tin plating on the surface for improving electrical connection performance.

  The connecting portion 22 is formed in a flat plate shape and is provided across the width direction of the joint terminal 20. A plurality of contacts 21 are connected to one side of the connecting portion 22.

  The contacts 21 extend from the connecting portion 22 in the same direction, and are arranged in parallel at intervals.

  The contact 21 includes a contact portion 27 that contacts the female terminal 51 and a connection portion 28 that is connected to the contact portion 27 and is connected to the connecting portion 22. The connection portion 28 is formed to be narrower than the contact portion 27.

  The connecting portion 22 has a plurality of protruding plate portions 24 protruding to the opposite side of the contact 21, and a locking hole 25 is formed in the protruding plate portion 24 at the center portion in the width direction. ing. Locking claw portions 26 are formed on both side portions of each protruding plate portion 24. The locking claw portion 26 protrudes obliquely toward the side opposite to the protruding direction of the protruding plate portion 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the joint terminal 20 is formed by punching from a metal plate in a state where the connecting portions 22 are connected to each other, and then divided. In the punching process, two rows of connecting portion forming regions 22A in which the connecting portions 22 are connected to each other are provided on the metal plate in parallel to each other, and the contacts that become the contacts 21 are formed between these connecting portion forming regions 22A. The formation regions 21A are provided so as to extend in opposite directions and to be alternately arranged. In this way, when the connecting portion forming region 22A and the contact forming region 21A are laid out on the metal plate, the connecting portion forming region 22A and the contact forming region 21A are punched from the metal plate, and then divided into a plurality of joints. Terminal 20 is obtained.

  Here, in the joint terminal 20 of the present embodiment, a plurality of contacts 21 having connection portions 28 narrower than the contact portions 27 are extended in the same direction from the connection portions 22 and arranged in parallel. Therefore, when the joint terminal 20 is laid out with respect to the metal plate at the time of punching, a portion that becomes the contact portion 27 is disposed between the portions that become the connection portion 28 between the connection portion forming regions 22A. The contact formation regions 21A can be arranged in a high density state with a slight gap therebetween. Thereby, the joint terminal 20 can be efficiently obtained from the metal plate, and the yield can be greatly improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, the housing 30 is formed from, for example, a synthetic resin such as plastic, and the counterpart connector 50 is inserted into the connection side with the counterpart connector 50. It is formed in a box shape having a fitting recess (recess) 31. A wall 32 is provided on the opposite side of the fitting recess 31 of the housing 30 from the opening 31a.

  The wall portion 32 is formed with a press-fitting hole 33 into which the joint terminal 20 is press-fitted. The press-fitting holes 33 are formed along the width direction of the housing 30, and two press-fitting holes 33 are arranged in parallel to each other at positions spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction.

  The press-fitting hole 33 has locking recesses 37 at portions corresponding to the protruding plate portions 24 of the joint terminals 20, and the protruding plate portions 24 of the joint terminals 20 are fitted into these locking recesses 37. . A locking projection 38 is formed in the locking recess 37 on the surface facing the protruding plate portion 24 to be fitted, and the locking projection 38 locks the protruding plate portion 24 to be fitted. The protruding plate portion 24 is locked by entering the hole 25.

  In the housing 30, the joint terminal 20 is assembled to the housing 30 by press-fitting the connecting portion 22 into the upper and lower press-fitting holes 33 of the housing 30 from the opening 31 a side of the fitting recess 31.

  When the joint terminal 20 is assembled in this manner, the protruding plate portion 24 is fitted into the locking concave portion 37, so that the locking claw portion 26 of the protruding plate portion 24 is connected to the locking concave portion 37 as shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 9, the locking projection 38 enters the locking hole 25 of the protruding plate portion 24 while biting into the side wall 37 a. As a result, the joint terminal 20 is maintained in a state where it is securely press-fitted into the press-fitting hole 33.

  As described above, the joint terminal 20 is press-fitted into the press-fitting hole 33, whereby the plurality of contacts 21 provided on the joint terminal 20 are disposed in the fitting recess 31.

  10 (a), 10 (b), 11 (a), and 11 (b), the joint connector 10 having the above structure is connected to the mating connector 50.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the mating connector 50 includes a plurality of female terminals 51 and a housing (mating housing) 61.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the female terminal 51 includes a box part 52 formed in a hollow rectangular tube shape, and a wire crimping part 53 extending from the rear end of the box part 52. The female terminal 51 is formed by pressing a conductive metal plate such as copper.

  The contact 21 of the joint terminal 20 is inserted into the box portion 52. Thereby, the joint terminal 20 is connected to the female terminal 51, and the female terminal 51 and the joint terminal 20 are electrically connected.

  The electric wire crimping portion 53 includes a conductor crimping piece 53a for crimping the conductor of the electric wire 54 and a covering crimping piece 53b for fixing the electric wire 54 by crimping to the coating portion of the electric wire 54.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51 has a contact accommodating space 55 inside, and the contact 21 of the joint terminal 20 is inserted and removed on the front end side opposite to the wire crimping portion 13. The insertion port 56 is used.

  A contact 57 that protrudes toward the contact accommodating space 55 is formed in the box portion 12. A contact spring 59 having a contact 58 is provided at a position opposite to the contact 57, and the contact 58 of the contact spring 59 protrudes toward the contact accommodating space 55.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the housing 61 is formed from a synthetic resin such as plastic, for example, and has a fitting portion 62 that can be fitted into the fitting recess 31 formed in the housing 30 of the joint connector 10. doing. The housing 61 is formed with a plurality of cavities 63 penetrating in the front-rear direction. The cavities 63 accommodate the female terminals 51 inserted from the rear end side of the housing 61. The cavities 63 are arranged in the width direction in two upper and lower stages so as to correspond to the contacts 21 of the joint terminals 20 of the joint connector 10.

  Next, a case where the joint connector 10 and the mating connector 50 are fitted will be described.

  The fitting portion 62 of the housing 61 of the mating connector 50 is inserted into the fitting recess 31 of the housing 30 of the joint connector 10 through the opening 31a (see FIGS. 11A and 11B). .

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 15, the contact 21 of the joint terminal 20 of the joint connector 10 enters the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51 accommodated in the cavity 63 from the insertion port 56.

  Thereby, as shown in FIG. 16, the contact portion 27 of the contact 21 is arranged between the contact 57 in the contact accommodating space 55 and the contact 58 of the contact spring 59. 58. Therefore, the joint terminal 20 of the joint connector 10 is conductively connected to the female terminal 51 of the counterpart connector 50.

  If the joint connector 10 and the mating connector 50 are thus fitted and connected, the female terminals 51 that are in contact with the upper joint terminal 20 are electrically connected to each other, and the female terminals 51 that are in contact with the lower joint terminal 20 are connected. They will be conducted to each other.

  Here, the joint terminal 20 has a contact 21 that is connected to the contact portion 27 and connected to the connecting portion 22 so that the connection portion 28 is narrower than the contact portion 27. Therefore, even if the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51 is displaced vertically or horizontally with respect to the contact 21, and the contact 21 is elastically deformed by the narrow connection portion 28, the contact portion 27 is It smoothly follows the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51 and is guided to the contact accommodating space 55 and is sandwiched between the contacts 57 and 58.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17, in the joint terminal in which the narrow connection portion 28 is not provided in the contact 21 extending in parallel from the coupling portion 22, the contact 21 is not easily elastically deformed vertically and horizontally. . In particular, elastic deformation in the width direction is difficult. For this reason, if the box part 52 of the female terminal 51 is displaced or tilted vertically or horizontally with respect to the contact 21, the contact 21 does not smoothly follow the box part 52 of the female terminal 51. When fitting with 50, a large insertion force is required, and connection workability is reduced. In particular, if the box portion 52 is displaced or tilted to the left and right in the width direction of the contact 21 with respect to the contact 21, the contact 21 may not be guided to the contact accommodating space 55 and a connection failure may occur.

  As described above, according to the joint connector 10 according to the present embodiment, the contact 21 connected to the contact portion 27 and connected to the connection portion 22 is formed with the contact 21 narrower than the contact portion 27. Have. Therefore, even if the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51 is displaced vertically or horizontally with respect to the contact 21, and the contact 21 is elastically deformed by the narrow connection portion 28, the contact portion 27 is Conducted and connected to the female terminal 51.

  Therefore, even if the plurality of contacts 21 extend from the connecting portion 22 in the same direction and are arranged in parallel, the contacts 21 can smoothly follow the female terminal 51 and can be conductively connected. Further, since only the connecting portion 28 is narrowed to facilitate the elastic deformation of the contact 21, the area of the contact portion 27 with which the contacts 57, 58 of the female terminal 51 come into contact can be sufficiently ensured. High connection reliability with the terminal 51 can be obtained.

  Moreover, the joint terminal 20 has a plurality of contacts 21 each having a connection portion 28 narrower than the contact portion 27 extending from the connecting portion 22 in the same direction and arranged in parallel. Accordingly, when the joint terminal 20 is laid out to produce the joint terminal 20 by punching, the connecting portion forming regions 22A are provided in parallel, and the contact forming regions 21A are alternately arranged between these connecting portion forming regions 22A. By doing so, the part which becomes the contact part 27 can be arrange | positioned between the parts used as the connection part 28. FIG. Thereby, the contact formation region 21A can be arranged in a high density state with a slight gap therebetween. Therefore, the joint terminal 20 can be efficiently obtained from the metal plate, and the yield can be greatly improved and the cost can be reduced.

  In the joint connector 10 provided with the joint terminal 20, the contact 21 of the joint terminal 20 is elastically deformed and smoothly follows the female terminal 51 to be securely connected. The insertion force can be reduced. Thereby, the improvement of connection workability and connection reliability with the other party connector 50 can be aimed at.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Joint connector 20 Joint terminal 21 Contact 22 Connection part 27 Contact part 28 Connection part 30 Housing 31 Fitting recessed part (recessed part)
32 Wall 33 Press-fit hole 50 Mating connector 51 Female terminal (mating terminal)
61 Housing (mating housing)

Claims (2)

A flat joint and a plurality of contacts extending in the same direction from the joint and arranged in parallel at intervals, the joint being a joint terminal connected to a counterpart terminal,
The contact has a contact portion that comes into contact with the counterpart terminal, and a connection portion that is connected to the contact portion and is connected to the connection portion and is narrower than the contact portion. A joint connector comprising the joint terminal according to claim 1,
A housing having a recess into which a mating housing of the mating connector is fitted, and a press-fitting hole formed in a wall portion opposite to the opening side of the recess;
The connection portion of the joint terminal is press-fitted into the press-fitting hole of the housing, and the contact is disposed in the recess,
The mating connector is brought into contact with the contact portion of the joint terminal by fitting the mating housing into the recess.

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