JP2016009570A - Method of manufacturing contact part - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing a contact part capable of reducing contact resistance, without upsizing a terminal, and without complicating as much as possible.SOLUTION: In a method of manufacturing a contact part, where the indent 4 of a box 2 slides on the contact surface 12a of a tab 12, and the indent 4 comes into contact with the tab 12 at a terminal insertion completion position, reflow processing after plating a base material 12A composing the box 2 and tab 12 is performed only for the base material 12A composing the tab 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a contact portion that performs electrical connection between a first contact portion (first terminal) and a second contact portion (second terminal).

  4 and 5 show a female terminal 51 and a male terminal 61 to which a conventional contact connection structure is applied (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 as similar techniques).

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the female terminal 51 includes a rectangular box portion 52 and an elastic bending portion 53 that is provided integrally with the box portion 52 and disposed in the box portion 52. doing.
The elastic bending portion 53 is provided with an indent portion 54 that protrudes toward the bottom surface portion 52 a side of the box portion 52.

The indented portion 54 has a substantially spherical outer peripheral surface, and the center vertex is located at the lowest position.
Although not shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the entire outer surface of the female terminal 51 is provided from the viewpoint of improving connection reliability in a high temperature environment, improving corrosion resistance in a corrosive environment, and the like. Plating (for example, tin plating) is performed and a plating layer is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, the male terminal 61 has a flat tab portion 62.
4, 5, and 7, illustration is omitted, but the entire area of the outer surface of the male terminal 61 is improved in connection reliability in a high-temperature environment, improved in corrosion resistance in a corrosive environment, and the like. From this point of view, plating (for example, tin plating) is performed and a plating layer is provided.

When plating (tin plating) is performed as described above and then a reflow process is performed, for example, a structure as shown in FIG. 10 is obtained.
That is, if the copper alloy base material 62A constituting the male terminal 61 (tab portion 62) is plated, for example, tin-plated, the surface of the base material 62A is applied to the surface as shown in FIG. A plating layer 63 having irregularities is formed.

Then, when reflow processing is performed to remove the stress at the time of plating or to reduce the change over time by forming a diffusion layer with the base material 62A, as shown in FIG. The surface of the layer 63 is planarized, and an oxide film 64 is formed on the outer surface side of the plating layer 63.
The plating layer 63 is formed of a copper / tin alloy layer (diffusion layer) formed on the outer surface of the base material 62A and a tin plating layer formed outside the copper / tin alloy layer.
Similarly, the reflow process is performed on the base material of the female terminal 51 after plating, and a plating layer and an oxide film are formed.

In the above configuration, when the tab portion 62 of the male terminal 61 located at the position of FIG. 4 is inserted into the box portion 52 of the female terminal 51, the elastic bending portion 53 is bent and deformed by being pushed by the tab portion 62. Accordingly, the insertion of the tab portion 62 is allowed.
In the insertion process of the tab portion 62, the indent portion 54 of the elastic bending portion 53 slides on the contact surface 62a of the tab portion 62, and at the terminal insertion completion position, as shown in FIGS. The indent portion 54 and the contact surface 62a of the tab portion 62 come into contact with each other.

At the terminal insertion completion position, the bending return force of the elastic bending portion 53 acts as a contact load, so that the indent portion 54 of the female terminal 51 and the tab portion 62 (contact surface 62a) of the male terminal 61 are electrically connected. Contact.
Then, when a current flows between the indent portion 54 and the tab portion 62, the female terminal 51 and the male terminal 61 are electrically connected.

JP 2007-280825 A JP 2013-105642 A

However, in the conventional structure described above, the indent portion 54 of the female terminal 51 has a substantially spherical shape, so that it contacts the contact surface 62a of the tab portion 62 only at the apex of the outer peripheral surface of the indent portion 54.
Here, as shown in FIG. 9A (the apparent contact surface E2 is hatched for clarity), both the contact surfaces are of the apparent contact surface E2 (apparent contact surface diameter D2). It is not in substantial contact in the entire region, and as shown in FIG. 9B, only the surface that actually contacts (true contact surface A) in the apparent contact surface E2 is responsible for electrical conduction. Yes.

Both the indented portion 54 and the contact surface 62a of the tab portion 62 are formed as smooth surfaces, but are actually surfaces on which few irregularities are formed.
In such a contact between the concave and convex surfaces, as shown in FIG. 9B, the number of the true contact surfaces A within the range of the apparent contact surface E2 decreases, so that the contact resistance increases.

  Therefore, in order to reduce the contact resistance by increasing the apparent contact surface diameter D2 of the apparent contact surface E2, the bending return force (contact load) of the elastic bending portion 53 is increased, or the contact portion (indent portion 54) is enlarged. However, there is a problem that the terminals 51 and 61 are enlarged or complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a method for manufacturing a contact portion that can reduce contact resistance without increasing the size of a terminal or complicating it as much as possible. It is.

  The contact portion manufacturing method of the present invention is such that the indent portion of the first contact portion slides on the contact surface of the second contact portion, and the indent portion contacts the second contact portion at the terminal insertion completion position. Part manufacturing method, wherein the reflow treatment after plating the base material constituting each contact portion is applied to any one of the plated base materials constituting each contact portion. It is characterized in that it is performed only for this.

According to the method for manufacturing a contact portion of the present invention, the reflow process after plating the base material constituting each contact portion is applied to any one of the plated base materials constituting each contact portion. By performing only on the surface, the surface of one contact portion is flattened, and the surface of the other contact portion remains in an uneven state.
In this way, the surface of one contact portion is flattened and the surface of the other contact portion remains in an uneven state, so that the contact surface of the indented portion and the contact surface of the second contact portion is a real contact surface in the apparent contact surface. A lot can be secured.
Therefore, the contact resistance can be reduced without increasing the size of the terminal or making it as complex as possible.

It is sectional drawing of the female terminal before connection and the male terminal of the end contact connection structure to which this invention is applied. It is sectional drawing of the female terminal and male terminal after a connection of the end contact connection structure to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows one Example of this invention, (a) Explanatory drawing which shows an apparent contact surface, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows a true contact surface. It is sectional drawing of the female terminal and male terminal before a connection of a prior art example. It is sectional drawing of the female terminal and male terminal after a connection of a prior art example. It is a figure which shows a prior art example, (a) is a principal part side view of the contact part of a female terminal, (b) is C arrow line view of Fig.6 (a). It is a figure which shows a prior art example, (a) is a principal part side view of the contact part of a male terminal, (b) is a principal part top view of the contact part of a male terminal. It is a principal part side view of the contact connection location of a prior art example. It is a figure which shows a prior art example, (a) Explanatory drawing which shows an apparent contact surface, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows a true contact surface. It is a figure which shows reflow processing, (a) is explanatory drawing equivalent to sectional drawing before reflow processing, (b) is explanatory drawing equivalent to sectional drawing after reflow processing.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When the copper alloy base material 12A constituting the male terminal (tab portion 12) is plated, for example, tin-plated, as shown in FIG. 10A, the outer surface of the base material 12A has irregularities on the surface. A plating layer 13 is formed.

When reflow treatment is performed on the base material 12A plated in this manner, for example, in air, after cooling to 350 ° C. and then cooling, the surface of the plating layer 13 is flattened as shown in FIG. Then, an oxide film 14 is formed on the outer surface side of the plating layer 13.
The plating layer 13 is formed of a copper / tin alloy layer (diffusion layer) formed on the outer surface of the base material 12A and a tin plating layer formed outside the copper / tin alloy layer.

In addition, after giving plating (for example, tin plating) to the base material of the copper alloy material which comprises a female terminal (a box part, an elastic bending part, an indent part), a reflow process is not performed with respect to this base material.
However, also in the female terminal, a plating layer (formed by a copper / tin alloy layer (diffusion layer) and a tin plating layer formed outside the copper / tin alloy layer), and the oxide film 14 are formed. Is formed.

  A contact connection structure to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.

A female terminal (first terminal) 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is disposed (accommodated) in a terminal accommodating chamber in a female connector housing (not shown).
The female terminal 1 is formed by punching and bending a conductive metal (for example, copper alloy) that has been plated as described above and not subjected to reflow treatment into a predetermined shape.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the female terminal 1 has a box portion 2 that is a first contact portion.
The box part 2 has a rectangular shape with the front (left side in FIG. 1) opened.
In the box part 2, an elastic bending part 3 bent from the upper surface part of the box part 2 is arranged.

The elastic bending portion 3 is provided with an indent portion 4 that protrudes toward the bottom surface portion 2 a side of the box portion 2.
The indented portion 4 has an outer peripheral surface (a surface facing the bottom surface portion 2 a of the box portion 2) having a substantially spherical shape, the center vertex is located at the lowest position, and is shifted upward by elastic deformation of the elastic bending portion 3.

The elastic bending part 3 and the bottom part 2a of the box part 2 which is a fixed surface part are arranged at intervals.
A male terminal 11 is inserted between the elastic bending portion 3 and the bottom surface portion 2 a of the box portion 2.

A male terminal (second terminal) 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is disposed (accommodated) in a terminal accommodating chamber in a male connector housing (not shown).
The male terminal 11 is formed by punching and bending a conductive metal (for example, copper alloy) that has been plated and reflowed as described above into a predetermined shape.

The male terminal 11 has a tab portion 12 that is a second contact portion.
The tab portion 12 has a flat plate shape.

  Next, the connection between the female terminal 1 and the male terminal 11 will be described.

When the tab portion 12 of the male terminal 11 located at the position of FIG. 1 is inserted into the box portion 2 of the female terminal 1, the elastic bending portion 3 is bent and deformed by being pushed by the tab portion 12, whereby the tab portion 12. Insertion is allowed.
In the insertion process of the tab portion 12, the indent portion 4 of the elastic bending portion 3 slides on the contact surface 12a of the tab portion 12, and at the terminal insertion completion position, as shown in FIG. 2, the indent portion of the elastic bending portion 3 4 is in pressure contact with the contact surface 12 a of the tab portion 12.

At the terminal insertion completion position, the bending return force of the elastic bending portion 13 acts as a contact load, so that the indent portion 4 of the female terminal 1 and the contact surface 12a of the tab portion 12 are in electrical contact.
Then, when a current flows between the indent portion 4 and the tab portion 12, the female terminal 51 and the male terminal 61 are electrically connected.

As shown in FIG. 3A (the apparent contact surface E1 is hatched for clarity), the contact surface between the indented portion 4 and the contact surface 12a of the tab portion 12 is apparent. Even if the contact surface E1 (apparent contact surface diameter D1) is the same as the conventional one, the surface of the indent portion 4 has irregularities as shown in FIG. As shown, the number of actual contact surfaces (true contact surfaces A) in the apparent contact surface E1 is greater than that in the past.
Therefore, the contact resistance can be reduced without increasing the size of the female terminal 1 and the male 11 or complicating them as much as possible.

According to one embodiment of the contact connection structure to which the present invention is applied, contact of the tab portion 12 is achieved by performing reflow processing after plating only the base material 12A constituting the tab portion 12 (male terminal 11). The surface of the surface 12a is flattened, and the surface of the indent portion 4 remains in an uneven state.
In this way, the surface of the contact surface 12a of the tab portion 12 is flattened, and the surface of the indent portion 4 remains in an uneven state, so that the true contact surface in the contact surface E1 is apparent between the indent 4 portion and the contact surface 12a. A large number of A and the number thereof can be secured.
Therefore, the contact resistance can be reduced without increasing the size of the terminals 1 and 11 and making them as complex as possible.

  In the embodiment described above, an example in which the reflow process is not performed on the box part 2 (first terminal 1) and the reflow process is performed on the tab part 12 (second terminal 11) is shown. Even when the reflow process is performed on 1) and the reflow process is not performed on the tab portion 12 (second terminal 11), the same effect can be obtained.

1 Female terminal (1st terminal)
2 Box part (first contact part)
2a Bottom (fixed surface)
3 Elastic Deflection Part 4 Indentation Part 11 Male Terminal (Second Terminal)
12 Tab part (second contact part)
12A Base material 12a Contact surface 13 Plating layer 14 Oxide film E1 Apparent contact surface D1 Apparent contact surface diameter A Real contact surface

Claims (1)

The indented portion of the first contact portion slides on the contact surface of the second contact portion, and at the terminal insertion completion position, the indented portion is a method of manufacturing a contact portion that contacts the second contact portion,
Reflow treatment after plating the base material constituting each contact part is performed only on one of the plated base materials constituting the contact part,
A method for manufacturing a contact portion.

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