JP2015053222A - Terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an easy-to-process terminal fitting that can be made compact, while satisfying both characteristics of spring property and conductivity.SOLUTION: A terminal fitting 10 has a flexible elastic piece 16 coming into elastic contact with a mating male terminal 80. The plurality of elastic piece 16 are extended from a proximal end 17, becoming the fulcrum of bending operation, to the tip side, and arranged in the circumferential direction crossing the extension direction. The terminal fitting 10 is constituted of a clad material consisting of a first member 21 becoming a base material, and a second member 22 having spring property higher than that of the first member 21 and extending continuously in the circumferential direction while including the proximal end 17 of each elastic piece 16.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a female terminal having a cylindrical connecting portion into which a mating male terminal is inserted. An elastic piece that can be bent is disposed in the connecting portion. The elastic piece extends from the base end portion serving as a fulcrum of the bending operation to the distal end side, and can be elastically contacted with the male terminal via the electrical contact at the bending portion in the middle of the extension. It has become.

JP 2012-234651 A

  By the way, in the case of the said conventional terminal metal fittings, except the surface treatment layers, such as a plating layer formed in the surface, the whole base material (base material) was comprised with copper, brass, or a copper alloy. Although the base material is made of copper or the like in this way, the electrical conductivity of the terminal fitting can be improved, but on the other hand, the spring property (0.2% proof stress) tends to be insufficient. In order to compensate for this, it is necessary to lengthen the elastic piece to reduce the stress, and it is difficult to meet the demand for miniaturization of the terminal fitting. On the other hand, even if the base material is made of a highly springy material, the thickness of the base material is unavoidable for reducing the conductor resistance, so it is still difficult to cope with downsizing. there were.

  In addition, for example, beryllium copper has high spring properties and good conductivity, but is expensive, so that it is not practical to apply to the entire substrate. For these reasons, it has been considered that a clad material in which beryllium copper or the like is bonded only to a portion that requires a spring property to a base material such as copper or the like. However, in the case of such a clad material, it is necessary to efficiently bond expensive beryllium copper or the like to the base material, and as a result, the joint region is scattered in a discontinuous manner in the arrangement direction of the chain-like terminal fittings at the time of deployment. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to perform the cladding process.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and is a terminal that can be reduced in size, can be easily processed, and can satisfy both spring characteristics and conductivity characteristics. It aims at providing metal fittings.

  The present invention includes a bendable elastic piece that is formed by bending a metal plate and elastically contacts a mating male terminal, and the elastic piece has a distal end from a base end that serves as a fulcrum of the bending operation. A plurality of terminal fittings arranged in a circumferential direction intersecting with the extending direction, and having a first member as a base material and a spring property higher than that of the first member. And it is characterized by being comprised by the clad material which consists of the 2nd member continuously extended in the said circumferential direction, including the base end part of these elastic pieces.

  Since the base end portion of each elastic piece is composed of a second member having a higher spring property than the first member, a predetermined spring property can be ensured without increasing the plate thickness. As a result, the terminal fitting can be downsized. In particular, the portion of the terminal fitting other than the base end of the elastic piece can be made of the first member having good conductivity, so that the cost can be reduced and both the characteristics of spring and conductivity can be satisfied. Can do. Moreover, since the terminal fitting is made of a clad material composed of the first member and the second member, the second member is configured to continuously extend in the circumferential direction while including the base end portions of the plurality of elastic pieces. In addition, the second member is efficiently provided at the base end portion of each elastic piece as a necessary portion, and the difficulty of the clad processing is eliminated.

In the terminal metal fitting of Example 1 of this invention, it is sectional drawing of the planar view direction showing the state which several elastic pieces contacted the other party's male terminal. It is sectional drawing of a side view direction. It is an expanded view showing the state in which two terminal fittings are arranged in a chain. It is a side view. It is a top view. It is a front view. In the terminal metal fitting of Example 2 of this invention, it is sectional drawing of the side view direction showing the state which several elastic pieces contacted the other party's male terminal. It is an expanded view showing the state in which two terminal fittings are arranged in a chain. It is a top view. It is a front view.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The elastic piece is bent at the base end portion, and the second member is provided on the inner surface when the elastic piece is bent. If the second member is provided on the outer surface of the elastic piece when bent, the second member may not follow the bending of the elastic piece and may peel off at the joint surface with the first member. In this respect, if the second member is provided on the inner surface by bending the elastic piece as in this configuration, the adhesion of the second member to the first member is enhanced by bending the elastic piece, and the first The joined state of the second member is stably maintained.

  The second member is made of beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, or a Corson copper alloy. Thereby, high spring property is reliably provided to the base end part of the elastic piece.

<Example 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The terminal fitting 10 of Example 1 is formed into an elongated shape in the front-rear direction as a whole by bending a metal plate or the like. Specifically, the terminal fitting 10 has a substantially cylindrical connection portion 11, an open barrel-shaped barrel portion 12 disposed behind the connection portion 11, and a U-shaped cross section that connects the barrel portion 12 and the connection portion 11. The connection part 13 of a shape is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the barrel portion 12 is arranged so as to be shifted to a higher position with respect to the connecting portion 11, and the connecting portion 13 is a bottom portion 14 that is inclined upward from the connecting portion 11 toward the barrel portion 12. have. As shown in FIG. 1, the barrel portion 12 is wound around the core wire 62 exposed by the removal of the coating 61 at the front end portion of the electric wire 60 and connected by crimping.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the connecting portion 11 has a plurality of split grooves 15 extending in the front-rear direction and opening at the front end, and a plurality of split grooves 15 divided in the circumferential direction between the split grooves 15. An elastic piece 16 is provided. In the case of the first embodiment, six elastic pieces 16 are arranged in the connecting portion 11 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. In addition, each elastic piece 16 can be bent and deformed, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the elastic piece 16 is narrowed from the proximal end portion 17 at the rear end position serving as a fulcrum of the bending operation to the front end (front end) (axial center) Side) and extending in a slanting direction. Further, the front end portion of the elastic piece 16 is configured to become narrower in the circumferential direction toward the front end, and has a tapered guide surface 18 that expands toward the front end on the inner surface thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, a mating male terminal 80 is inserted into the connecting portion 11 from the front, and the inserted male terminal 80 elastically contacts the inner surface of each elastic piece 16, so that the terminal fitting 10. Is electrically connected to the male terminal 80. On the inner surface of each elastic piece 16, a contact portion 19 for making an electrical connection with the inserted male terminal 80 is provided in the vicinity of the constricted end immediately after the guiding surface 18.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the male terminal 80 includes a connection pin 81 that is elongated in the front-rear direction, specifically a columnar connection pin 81, and the connection pin 81 can be inserted into the connection portion 11. Then, in the process in which the connection pin 81 is inserted into the connection portion 11, the outer peripheral surface of the distal end portion of the connection pin 81 slides on the guide surface 18, thereby causing the elastic pieces 16 to bend and connecting the connection pins 81. 81 is invited into the connecting portion 11. Thereafter, when the connection pin 81 is inserted into the connection portion 11 at a normal depth, the contact portions 19 of the elastic pieces 16 are elastically formed at a plurality of positions spaced in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the connection pin 81. By contact, both terminal fittings 10 and 80 are conductively connected. Note that the male terminal 80 and the terminal fitting 10 are respectively accommodated in corresponding connector housings (not shown), and the connection between the two terminal fittings 10 and 80 is performed when the connector housings are fitted to each other.

  Now, the terminal fitting 10 includes a first member 21 made of copper, brass, copper alloy, or the like serving as a base material (a portion not including a surface treatment layer such as a plating layer), and a spring property higher than that of the first member 21. It has (tensile strength) and is made of beryllium copper, phosphor bronze or corson copper alloy, etc., and is installed only in a portion that requires substantially high elasticity, such as the base end portion 17 of each elastic piece 16. And a second member 22 (including a thin ink portion in the figure). In particular, the second member 22 made of beryllium copper can be preferably used here because both the tensile strength and the electrical conductivity can be maintained at a high level.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second member 22 in the chain-like terminal fitting 10 at the time of deployment crosses a plurality of elastic pieces 16 arranged in the arrangement direction of the terminal fittings 10 in the arrangement direction. The elastic piece 16 includes a base end portion 17 and extends in a band shape in the arrangement direction. Then, when the terminal fitting 10 is bent from the developed state of FIG. 3 and the connecting portion 11 is formed into a cylindrical shape, the elastic pieces 16 are arranged in the circumferential direction as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second member 22 includes a base end portion 17 of each elastic piece 16, and the inner peripheral surface of the connection portion 11 is formed in a belt shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction. It will be extended and arranged. Further, when the base end portion 17 of each elastic piece 16 is bent inward, the middle part of the second member 22 in the front-rear direction is also bent slightly inward.

  The first member 21 is provided in the base material portion of the entire terminal fitting 10 excluding the second member 22. In particular, by providing the first member 21 at the contact portion 19 and the barrel portion 12 of each elastic piece 16, it becomes possible to ensure good conductivity between the mating male terminal 80 and the electric wire 60. ing.

  According to the first embodiment, since the second member 22 is provided at the base end portion 17 of each elastic piece 16, the thickness of the base end portion 17 is not increased and each elastic piece 18 is not lengthened. However, the spring property of each elastic piece 16 is ensured satisfactorily. Moreover, since it can complete | finish with the 1st member 21 about the part except the base end part 17 which does not require high spring property among the terminal metal fittings 10, cost can be restrained cheaply. And since the contact part 19 and the barrel part 12 are comprised with the 1st member 21 with favorable electroconductivity, connection reliability is ensured. Therefore, according to Example 1, the terminal metal fitting 10 provided with high spring property and favorable electroconductivity with sufficient balance is provided.

  Further, unlike the first embodiment, if the entire base material of the terminal fitting 10 is composed of the first member 21, the terminal including the base end portion 17 to ensure the spring property of the base end portion 17. Although there is a concern that the overall thickness of the metal fitting 10 is thick, in the case of Example 1, the spring property of the base end portion 17 is ensured by providing the second member 22 on the base end portion 17, The plate thickness does not increase, and it is possible to meet the demand for downsizing of the terminal fitting 10.

  Furthermore, according to Example 1, the 2nd member 22 is extended in the strip | belt shape in the circumferential direction including the base end part 17 of each elastic piece 16 arrange | positioned along with the circumferential direction, and crosses the connection part 11 in the expansion | deployment shape. Therefore, the second member 22 requires a particularly complicated process compared to the case where the second member 22 is partially provided in a circumferentially discontinuous form in the intermediate portion of the connection portion 11 or the like. Therefore, the difficulty of clad processing is eliminated. In particular, in the case of the first embodiment, since the base end portion 17 of each elastic piece 16 is provided over substantially the entire circumference of the connection portion 11, waste of material removal of the second member 22 can be reduced. it can.

<Example 2>
7 to 10 show a second embodiment of the present invention. The terminal fitting 10A of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the shape of the connecting portion 11A including the elastic piece 16A. However, in the second embodiment, the same structural portion as that of the first embodiment is also included like the barrel portion 12, and therefore, the same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the connecting portion 11 </ b> A has a substantially polygonal cylindrical shape that is slightly larger than the connecting portion 11 </ b> A of the first embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, a plurality of elastic pieces 16 </ b> A are arranged in the connecting portion 11 </ b> A so as to be able to bend at intervals in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 8, each elastic piece 16 </ b> A is formed by folding a belt-like portion extending forward in a developed shape to the inside of the connection portion 11 </ b> A as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, each elastic piece 16A is configured to extend rearward from the front end of the connection portion 11A, contrary to the first embodiment, and the base end portion 17A serving as a fulcrum for the bending operation of the front end of the connection portion 11A. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, at the rear end portion of each elastic piece 16A, a contact portion 19A is provided at a position closest to the axial center side in the connecting portion 11A. As in the first embodiment, the contact portions 19A of the respective elastic pieces 16A make contact with the connection pins 81 of the male terminals 80 inserted into the connection portions 11A to make an electrical connection.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a plurality of projecting pieces 25 projecting forward are provided at a portion between the elastic pieces 16 </ b> A at the front end of the connecting portion 11 </ b> A. The base end portion 17A of each elastic piece 16A is protected by the protruding pieces 25 located on both sides thereof. Each elastic piece 16A is provided corresponding to each side of the connecting portion 11A having a polygonal shape, and each protruding piece 25 is provided so as to bend over each adjacent side.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a lock receiving portion 26 is provided through one end edge in the circumferential direction of the connecting portion 11A, and a lock portion 27 is projected from the other end edge in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the lock portion 27 is inserted into and locked to the lock receiving portion 26, so that the cylindrical shape of the connecting portion 11A can be stably maintained.

  As in the first embodiment, the terminal fitting 10A includes a first member 21A made of copper, brass, a copper alloy, or the like serving as a base material (a portion not including a surface treatment layer such as a plating layer), beryllium copper, The clad material is composed of a second member 22A (including a thin ink portion in the drawing) having a spring property (tensile strength) higher than that of the first member 21A such as phosphor bronze or a Corson copper alloy. As shown in FIG. 10, the second member 22 </ b> A continuously extends in a band shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction while including the proximal end portion 17 </ b> A of each elastic piece 16 </ b> A on the inner surface of the connection portion 11 </ b> A. As shown in FIG. 8, in the unfolded state, it includes a base end portion 17A of each elastic piece 16A and continuously crosses the connecting portion 11A in the arrangement direction of the elastic pieces 16A.

  In the case of Example 2, since the base end portion 17A of each elastic piece 16A is located at the front end portion of the connection portion 11A, the second member 22A is provided over the entire circumference on the inner peripheral surface of the front end portion of the connection portion 11A. Will be provided. In particular, as shown in FIG. 7, since the base end portion 17A of each elastic piece 16A is bent in a U shape, the second member 22A also has a U-shaped cross section. If the second member 22A is provided on the outer surface of the elastic piece 16A, unlike the second embodiment, the second member 22A cannot follow the bending of the elastic piece 16A and the first member 21A. There is a concern that peeling may occur at the joint surface. In that respect, according to the second embodiment, since the second member 22A is provided on the inner surface by bending the elastic piece 16A, the adhesion of the second member 22A to the first member 21A is improved, and the first The stability of the joined state between the member 21A and the second member 22A is improved. In this respect, the same applies to the case of Example 1, but in the case of Example 2, the bending angle of the base end portion 17A of each elastic piece 16A is large. Becomes big.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following aspects are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The first member is preferably a member having a higher conductivity than the second member, but is not necessarily limited thereto, but a member having a predetermined conductivity although having a conductivity lower than that of the second member. It may be configured.
(2) The form of the barrel portion is arbitrary. For example, the barrel portion may be formed in a closed barrel shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10A ... Terminal metal fitting 11, 11A ... Connection part 16, 16A ... Elastic piece 17, 17A ... Base end part 21, 21A ... 1st member 22, 22A ... 2nd member 80 ... Male terminal

Claims (3)

It is formed by bending a metal plate,
A flexible elastic piece that elastically contacts the male terminal on the other side,
The elastic piece is a terminal fitting that extends from the base end serving as a fulcrum of the bending operation to the distal end side and is arranged in a plurality in the circumferential direction intersecting the extending direction,
It consists of the 1st member used as a base material, and the 2nd member which has a spring property higher than the 1st member, and includes the base end part of a plurality of above-mentioned elastic pieces, and extends continuously in the above-mentioned circumferential direction A terminal fitting made of a clad material.   2. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the elastic piece is bent at the base end portion, and the second member is provided on a surface which becomes an inner side when the elastic piece is bent.   The terminal fitting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second member is made of beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, or a Corson copper alloy.