JP2014107079A - Multi-contact type female terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-contact type female terminal with a novel structure capable of reducing a contact resistance, in a multi-contact type female terminal contacting and connecting a plurality of elastic contact pieces with a male terminal having a circular cross section.SOLUTION: To each of a plurality of elastic contact pieces 26a-26f configuring a connection part 20 to be connected with a male terminal 12, and elastically deformably projected from a base 18 formed in a cylindrical shape by bending a metal plate 10', a plurality of contact projection parts 32 contacting with the male terminal 12 are formed on the same circumference of the connection part 20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a female terminal provided at an end of an electric wire and connected to a male terminal, and more particularly to a multi-contact type female terminal in which a plurality of elastic contact pieces are in contact with a male terminal.

  Conventionally, a multi-contact type female terminal described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-10972 (Patent Document 1) is known as a female terminal used in an electrical system such as an automobile. Such a multi-contact female terminal is formed by bending a stamped plate-like metal plate, and a plurality of elastic contact pieces projecting from a base formed in a cylindrical shape. A cylindrical connection portion is formed by the elastic contact piece. And a male terminal is inserted in a connection part, and it connects with a male terminal by making it contact with a some elastic contact piece.

  By the way, a male terminal having a circular cross section may be used as a male terminal connected to such a multi-contact type female terminal. In such a case, the connecting portion of the multi-contact type female terminal is formed in a cylindrical shape corresponding to the outer surface of the male terminal.

  However, although each elastic contact piece of the connection portion is curved in an arc shape, it is difficult to make the curvature of the elastic contact piece completely coincide with the curvature of the male terminal. Therefore, the elastic contact piece is actually in point contact with the male terminal, and an increase in contact resistance has been a problem.

  Therefore, in order to increase the contact area with the male terminal, it is conceivable to increase the number of elastic contact pieces. However, when the number of elastic contact pieces is increased, there is a problem in that the diameter of the connection portion increases and the size of the multi-contact female terminal increases. On the other hand, if the size of each elastic contact piece is reduced and the number of elastic contact pieces is increased without changing the overall dimensions, the contact load of each elastic contact piece may be reduced, leading to an increase in contact resistance. there were.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-10972

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its solution is a novel, which can reduce contact resistance in a multi-contact female terminal connected to a male terminal having a circular cross section. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-contact female terminal having a simple structure.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a cylinder comprising a base portion formed in a cylindrical shape by bending a metal plate, and a plurality of elastic contact pieces protruding from a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction of the base portion to be elastically deformable. A multi-contact type female terminal in which a male terminal having a circular cross section is inserted into the connection part and is brought into contact with the plurality of elastic contact pieces, and each of the plurality of elastic contact pieces A plurality of contact protrusions protruding inward of the connection portion are formed, and the plurality of contact protrusions of each of the elastic contact pieces are formed on the same circumference of the connection portion, To do.

  According to the multi-contact type female terminal structured according to the present invention, each elastic contact piece is brought into contact with the male terminal at the plurality of contact protrusions. Thereby, the number of contact points with the male terminal of an elastic contact piece can be increased, and reduction of contact resistance can be aimed at. In particular, by increasing the contact point of the elastic contact piece, it is possible to reduce the contact resistance without increasing the size of the elastic contact piece. Furthermore, all the contact protrusions are formed on the same circumference of the connection portion, and the distance from the base portion to the contact point with the male terminal in each elastic contact piece is made equal. Thereby, the electric resistance of each elastic contact piece can be made equal, and it can avoid that electricity supply with a male terminal is biased locally, and can also aim at stability of electricity supply.

  The number of elastic contact pieces can be arbitrarily set. Moreover, if the number of the contact protrusions formed in each elastic contact piece is plural, it is not limited. Furthermore, the shape of the contact protrusion is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a hemispherical shape protruding toward the male terminal, or a protrusion extending along the extending direction of the elastic contact piece. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the elastic contact piece according to the first aspect, wherein each of the plurality of elastic contact pieces includes two contact protrusions in a circumferential direction of the connection portion. Are formed at equal distances from the center of the.

  In this aspect, two contact protrusions are formed on each elastic contact piece. Thereby, a contact resistance can be reduced by doubling the number of contact points with a male terminal compared with the case where there is no contact protrusion. And since the two contact protrusions of each elastic contact piece are formed equidistantly from the center of the elastic contact piece, both of the two contact protrusions are connected to the male terminal having a circular cross section. Contact can be made stably, and the effect of reducing contact resistance can be obtained more reliably.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the one described in the second aspect, wherein the two contact protrusions are formed at both ends of the elastic contact piece in a circumferential direction of the connection portion. .

  According to this aspect, the elastic contact piece can be more stably brought into contact with the male terminal by separating the two contact protrusions as much as possible.

  In the present invention, a plurality of contact protrusions are formed on each elastic contact piece on the same circumference of the connection portion on which the plurality of elastic contact pieces are formed. Thereby, the number of contact points with the male terminal of an elastic contact piece can be increased, and reduction of contact resistance can be aimed at. And since each contact protrusion was formed on the same periphery of a connection part, the electrical resistance of each elastic contact piece can be made equal, and stability of electricity supply with a male terminal can be aimed at.

The perspective view of the multi-contact type female terminal as one embodiment of the present invention. The side view which shows the multi-contact type female terminal shown in FIG. 1, and a male terminal together. The front view of the multi-contact type female terminal shown in FIG. The expanded view of the multi-contact type female terminal shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the relationship between contact load and contact resistance. Sectional drawing equivalent to the VI-VI cross section in FIG. 2 in a connection state with a male terminal.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show a multi-contact female terminal 10 as one embodiment of the present invention. Note that FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 to be described later are shown slightly enlarged from FIG. The multi-contact female terminal 10 is connected to the male terminal 12 shown in FIG. The male terminal 12 has a circular cross-sectional shape and is connected to a terminal of an electric wire (not shown), an electric device, or the like. The multi-contact type female terminal 10 and the male terminal 12 are connected from the left-right direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the multi-contact female terminal 10 is an integrally formed product formed by bending a metal plate 10 ′ formed by press-punching a plate-like member made of a copper alloy or the like in a developed shape. It is said that. The surface of the multi-contact female terminal 10 is plated with gold, silver, tin or the like.

  The multi-contact female terminal 10 extends from the barrel portion 14 to the front of the male terminal 12 in the connecting direction with the male terminal 12 (leftward in FIG. 2). A connecting portion 16, a base portion 18 extending forward from the connecting portion 16 in the connecting direction with the male terminal 12, and a connecting portion 20 extending further forward from the base portion 18 are integrally formed. The barrel portion 14 and the base portion 18 are connected by an inclined connecting portion 16. As a result, the base portion 18 is offset from the barrel portion 14 in the downward direction in FIG. An engaging hole 22 that engages with a cover (not shown) that is assembled to the multi-contact female terminal 10 is provided through the connecting portion between the connecting portion 16 and the base portion 18.

  The base 18 has a cylindrical shape as a whole. The base 18 is formed into a cylindrical shape by bending so that the end edges 24a and 24b of the metal plate 10 'shown in FIG. The axis of the base 18 extends in the direction of connection with the male terminal 12 (in the left-right direction in FIG. 2).

  The connecting portion 20 is configured by a plurality (six in this embodiment) of elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f that protrude forward from the base portion 18 in the connecting direction with the male terminal 12. As is clear from FIG. 4, the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f have the same shape. In addition, the width | variety dimension of the protrusion front-end | tip part 28 from the base 18 of the elastic contact pieces 26a-26f is made small gradually as it goes to the protrusion direction front (left side in FIG. 4). In the protruding tip portion 28, a tapered introduction portion 30 is formed on the protruding tip portion side of the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f. Has been. These elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f are formed at equal intervals in the length direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) of the base portion 18 in the expanded state.

  A plurality (two in the present embodiment) of contact protrusions 32 are formed on each of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. Each of the contact protrusions 32 has the same shape, and has a protrusion shape protruding inward of the connection part 20. The contact protrusions 32 of the present embodiment are formed in a hemispherical shape, and the protruding dimensions t (see FIG. 3) from the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f are all equal.

  As is clear from FIG. 4, the contact protrusions 32 formed on the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f are in the protruding direction from the base 18 of the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f (from right to left in FIG. 4). All are formed in the same position, and are formed so as to be located on the same circumference of the connecting portion 20 in the circumferential direction of the connecting portion 20 (vertical direction in FIG. 4). More specifically, each contact protrusion 32 is formed on the base side edge 34 on the base 18 side in the introduction part 30 in each of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f, and all the contact protrusions 32 are The connecting portion 20 is formed on the same circumference where the inner diameter dimension is the smallest.

  Moreover, the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 of each elastic contact piece 26a-26f are formed in the both ends of each elastic contact piece 26a-26f in the circumferential direction (up-down direction in FIG. 4) of the connection part 20. As shown in FIG. Yes. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 as an example of the elastic contact piece 26a, in each of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f, the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 are formed in the circumferential direction of the connecting portion 20 in the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. The center of 26f is formed at an equal interval d from O. Here, the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 need only be provided at equal intervals from the center: O, and the size of the distance between the center: O and each contact protrusion 32: d can be arbitrarily set. Therefore, although it is possible to make it smaller than the space | interval: d shown in figure, it is preferable that the space | interval: d is large. That is, when the separation distance between the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 is large, even if one contact protrusion 32 easily comes into contact with the surface of the male terminal 12 due to tolerance, the other contact protrusion 32 is not connected to the male terminal 12. Therefore, the bending angle of the elastic contact piece 26 required for abutting with can be kept small. Therefore, a large tolerance can be ensured as compared with the case where the separation distance between the two contact protrusions 32 is small.

The contact resistance between conductors decreases in proportion to the number of contacts if the contact load and the contact area are equal. On the other hand, when the contact load decreases, the contact resistance increases exponentially as shown in FIG. Therefore, if the contact load is greatly reduced by providing a plurality of contact protrusions 32, the contact resistance may increase. Therefore, without forming a contact projection 32, the contact load of the resilient contact piece 26a~26f contact number = 1 as F _1, the contact protruding part 32 forms two as in this embodiment, the number of contacts = when the contact load 2 becomes _{F 2 (= F 1/2} ) , the contact load: contact from F ₁ load: as the amount of change decreases the contact resistance to F ₂ falls within a small area, i.e. , when the contact load is reduced from F ₁ to F _2, contact load: contact resistance at the F _2: R ₂ is, contact load: contact resistance F _1: as not to exceed two times of R _1, resilient contact The spring force of the pieces 26a to 26f is set.

  Then, the metal plate 10 ′ is bent and the base 18 is formed in a cylindrical shape. Thereby, the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f are positioned at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the base portion 18, and the cylindrical contact portion 20 is formed by the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. The elastic contact pieces 26a, 26b, and 26c and the elastic contact pieces 26f, 26e, and 26d are positioned symmetrically in FIG. The elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f protrude in a cantilevered manner from the base 18 to the front of the male terminal 12 in the connection direction (leftward in FIG. 2), and are elastically deformable in the radial direction of the connection part 20. Yes.

  The elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f are slightly inclined so as to approach each other as they go forward in the protruding direction from the base 18, and the connecting portion 20 goes forward in the protruding direction from the base 18. The taper shape is reduced in diameter. Further, the distal end portion of the connection portion 20 is slightly expanded in diameter by the introduction portion 30 of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. The inner diameter dimension of the connecting portion 20 is the smallest at the base side end edge portion 34 of the introduction portion 30 and smaller than the outer diameter size of the male terminal 12, and is on the circumference of the base side end edge portion 34. The contact protrusions 32 of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f are formed.

  When the male terminal 12 is inserted into the multi-contact female terminal 10 from the introduction part 30 side of the connection part 20, the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f are pressed against the outer periphery of the male terminal 12 to be expanded and deformed. The Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f are pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the male terminal 12 due to elasticity, thereby contacting the male terminal 12 and the multi-contact female terminal 10.

  In the multi-contact female terminal 10 having a structure according to the present embodiment, a plurality of contact protrusions 32 are formed on each of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. Thereby, the contact point to the male terminal 12 of each elastic contact piece 26a-26f can be increased, and contact resistance can be reduced. Since the number of contact points can be increased without changing the sizes of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f, the number of the elastic contact pieces 26 is increased to increase the diameter of the connecting portion 20 or the large size of the connecting portion 20. In order to avoid the reduction, the contact resistance can be reduced without reducing the elastic contact piece 26 and reducing the spring force of the elastic contact piece 26.

  In particular, all the contact protrusions 32 provided on the elastic contact pieces 26 a to 26 f are formed on the same circumference of the connection portion 20. Thereby, the positions of the contact points of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f to the male terminal 12 can be made equal in the extending direction of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f (left and right direction in FIG. 2). The electrical resistances of the contact pieces 26a to 26f can be made equal. As a result, it is possible to allow a current to flow evenly through the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f, to stably maintain the energization with the male terminal 12, and to supply current to a specific one of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f. Local heat generation due to concentration can also be prevented.

  Further, each elastic contact piece 26a to 26f is formed with two contact protrusions 32 and 32, respectively. Thereby, compared with the case where three contact protrusions 32 are provided, for example, all the contact protrusions 32 and 32 can be stably brought into contact with the male terminal 12 having a circular cross section. Can be more reliably reduced. In addition, since the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 are formed at an equal distance from the center O (see FIG. 4) of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f in the circumferential direction of the connecting portion 20, The contact protrusions 32 and 32 can be brought into contact with the male terminal 12 more stably. Furthermore, the two contact protrusions 32 and 32 are formed at the ends of the elastic contact pieces 26a to 26f in the circumferential direction of the connection part 20, and the separation distance between the contact protrusions 32 and 32 is as large as possible. By ensuring, the contact state of each elastic contact piece 26a-26f to the male terminal 12 can be maintained more stably.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by the specific description. For example, the number of elastic contact pieces is not limited, and an arbitrary number can be set. Further, the number of contact protrusions provided on the elastic contact piece is not limited, and an arbitrary number of 2 or more can be set. Furthermore, the shape of the contact protrusion is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment. For example, the contact protrusion may be formed on a protrusion extending in the extending direction of the elastic contact piece.

10: Multi-contact type female terminal, 10 ': Metal plate, 12: Male terminal, 14: Barrel part, 16: Connection part, 18: Base part, 20: Connection part, 26a-f: Elastic contact piece, 32: Contact protrusion Part

Claims (3)

A base portion formed into a cylindrical shape by bending a metal plate, and a cylindrical connection portion formed of a plurality of elastic contact pieces protruding from a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction of the base portion to be elastically deformable; In the multi-contact type female terminal in which a male terminal having a circular cross section is inserted into the connecting portion and is in contact with the plurality of elastic contact pieces,
Each of the plurality of elastic contact pieces is formed with a plurality of contact protrusions protruding inward of the connection portion, and the plurality of contact protrusions of each of the elastic contact pieces are the same circumference of the connection portion. A multi-contact type female terminal formed on the top. 2. The multi-contact according to claim 1, wherein two contact protrusions are formed on each of the plurality of elastic contact pieces at an equal distance from the center of the elastic contact piece in a circumferential direction of the connection portion. Type female terminal. The multi-contact type female terminal according to claim 2, wherein the two contact protrusions are formed at both ends of the elastic contact piece in a circumferential direction of the connection portion.

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