JP2017174502A - Female terminal fitting and terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress vibration of a male terminal fitting in the width direction.SOLUTION: A female terminal fitting includes a cylinder part 23 having an insertion port at one end, and capable of inserting a flat male terminal fitting 15 from that insertion port, a leaf spring-like elastic contact piece placed in the cylinder part 23, and clamping the male terminal fitting 15 between the inner wall of the cylinder part 23, and a pair of clamp pieces 47 capable of clamping the male terminal fitting 15 elastically from the opposite sides thereof in the width direction. In the state before inserting the male terminal fitting 15, and the clamp piece 47 is locked to a position deviated from the insertion path of the male terminal fitting 15, by the elastic contact piece, and in a state where the elastic contact piece is deflected by insertion of the male terminal fitting 15, locking is released and the male terminal fitting 15 is clamped elastically.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

  The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting and a terminal fitting comprising the female terminal fitting and a male terminal fitting.

  Generally, the female terminal fitting includes a cylindrical portion into which the male terminal fitting can be inserted and a connection portion that can be connected to an external circuit such as an electric wire. For example, a female terminal fitting disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4678341 (Patent Document 1 below) includes a tubular portion into which a tab-shaped male terminal fitting can be inserted, and a leaf spring-like contact piece disposed inside the tubular portion. And a connecting portion with the electric wire. In this female terminal fitting, the contact piece is curved in a U-shape, and when the male terminal fitting is inserted into the tubular portion, the male terminal fitting is sandwiched between the tubular portion and the apex portion of the curved contact piece. Thus, the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting are electrically connected.

Japanese Patent No. 4678341

  In the female terminal fitting described in Japanese Patent No. 4678341 (the above-mentioned Patent Document 1), the male terminal fitting is sandwiched between the contact piece and the cylindrical portion (vertical direction), and the male terminal fitting is not easily vibrated. However, no countermeasure is taken against vibration in the direction intersecting the vertical direction (lateral direction, that is, the width direction of the tab-shaped male terminal fitting). For this reason, when the male terminal fitting moves in the lateral direction, sliding occurs at the contact portion, which may cause contact wear.

  The female terminal fitting disclosed in the present specification includes an insertion opening at one end, a cylindrical portion into which a flat male terminal fitting can be inserted from the insertion opening, and the cylindrical portion disposed inside the cylindrical portion. A leaf spring-like elastic contact piece for sandwiching the male terminal fitting between the inner wall and a pair of sandwiching pieces capable of elastically sandwiching the male terminal fitting from both sides in the width direction of the male terminal fitting. The sandwiching piece is locked by the elastic contact piece at a position off the insertion path of the male terminal fitting before the male terminal fitting is inserted, and the elastic piece is inserted by the insertion of the male terminal fitting. When the contact piece is bent, the locking is released and the male terminal fitting is elastically sandwiched.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress a shift due to vibration of the male terminal fitting by sandwiching the male terminal fitting from both sides in the width direction as well as the bending direction of the elastic contact piece. In addition, before the elastic contact piece bends (before the male terminal fitting and the elastic contact piece contact), the sandwiching piece is locked at a position off the insertion path of the male terminal fitting, and the elastic contact piece is The pinching piece sandwiches the male terminal fitting only after the pinching piece is unlocked by bending. Therefore, the generation timing of the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting generated by the sandwiching piece is different from the generation timing of the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting by the elastic contact piece, so the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting by using the sandwiching piece is reduced. The insertion force of the male terminal fitting can be reduced.

As an embodiment of the female terminal fitting disclosed in this specification, the following configuration may be adopted.
The elastic contact piece may be separate from the cylindrical portion, and the sandwiching piece may be integrated with the elastic contact piece.

  In such a configuration, the elastic contact piece and the sandwiching piece can be easily made of a material different from that of the cylindrical portion and a different thickness. In addition, since the elastic contact piece and the sandwiching piece are integrated, it is possible to perform an operation of locking the sandwiching piece to the elastic contact piece before the elastic contact piece is disposed in the cylindrical portion.

In addition, as an embodiment of the terminal fitting using the female terminal fitting and the male terminal fitting disclosed in this specification, the following configuration may be used.
The sandwiching piece may be provided with a convex portion protruding toward the male terminal fitting, and the male terminal fitting may be provided with a concave portion into which the convex portion is fitted.

  In such a structure, a male terminal metal fitting can be positioned in an insertion direction because a convex part fits into a recessed part.

  According to the female terminal fitting and the terminal fitting disclosed in this specification, the male terminal fitting can be prevented from vibrating in the width direction.

The perspective view of the female terminal metal fitting in embodiment Front view of female terminal fitting Side view of female terminal fitting The perspective view of a spring member in the state where the pinching piece was locked Bottom view of the spring member with the sandwiching piece locked Sectional drawing in the VI-VI position in FIG. Bottom view of the spring member in a state where the pinching piece is unlocked Sectional drawing in the VIII-VIII position in FIG. Perspective view with male terminal fitting inserted into female terminal fitting Front view with male terminal fitting inserted into female terminal fitting Sectional drawing in the XI-XI position in FIG. Sectional drawing in the XII-XII position in FIG.

<Embodiment>
Embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.
As shown in FIG. 9, the terminal fitting 10 of this embodiment includes a female terminal fitting 11 and a male terminal fitting 15. In the following description, with respect to the front-rear direction, the insertion direction of the male terminal fitting 15 is used as a reference, and the left side in FIG. 3 is the front side and the right side in FIG. Further, regarding the vertical direction, FIG. 2 is used as a reference, and the upper side of FIG. 2 is the upper side and the lower side of FIG. 2 is the lower side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the female terminal fitting 11 includes a terminal main body portion 13 configured by using a conductive plate material having a relatively large plate thickness corresponding to a thick electric wire for a large current, and a terminal main body portion. 13 and a spring part 40 which is a separate body. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the terminal main body 13 is bent into a rectangular tube shape including the flat substrate 21 extending in the front-rear direction and the front substrate 21 including the substrate 21. A cylindrical portion 23 and a wire connecting portion for connecting an electric wire while including the substrate 21 at the rear portion of the substrate 21.

  The substrate 21 is configured such that the front part is wider in the left-right direction, the rear part is narrower than the front part, and the intermediate part is gradually reduced in width. Two bead portions 25 extending in the front-rear direction are provided on the front portion of the substrate 21 (in the cylinder portion 23). The bead portion 25 is formed by knocking the substrate 21 upward, and two strips extend in parallel with each other. Further, the bead portion 25 has a substantially arc shape in a plan view, and the upper end positions of the two bead portions 25 are aligned.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cylindrical portion 23 includes a substrate 21, a pair of left and right side plates 27, and a pair of left and right opposing plates 29 facing the substrate 21, and is integrally formed by bending. Yes. The cylinder part 23 is opened in the front-rear direction, and the front opening is an insertion port 23A into which the male terminal fitting 15 can be inserted. The insertion port 23A is a horizontally long rectangular opening. The side plates 27 are bent at right angles from both side edges in the width direction of the substrate 21, the inner surface thereof is connected to the inner surface of the substrate 21 at a right angle, and the outer surface thereof is connected to the outer surface of the substrate 21 in an arc shape. Both opposing plates 29 are bent at right angles from the upper ends of both side plates 27, and their inner surfaces are connected to the inner surfaces of both side plates 27 at right angles, and their outer surfaces are connected to the outer surfaces of both side plates 27 in an arc shape. Both opposing plates 29 are symmetrically shaped and have the same size, and have slits 31 extending in the front-rear direction between the edges, and the edges are parallel to each other across the slit 31. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the opposing plates 29 are provided with a notch 33 at a substantially central position in the front-rear direction. The notch 33 has a shape in which the slit 31 is widened in the width direction, and the hole formed by both the notches 33 has a rectangular shape in plan view. In addition, an engagement hole 35 is formed so as to penetrate in the plate thickness direction across the opposing plates 29 and the side plates 27 connected to each other. The side plates 27 are each provided with a locking hole 37 extending in the front-rear direction and having a substantially rectangular shape in side view, penetrating in the plate thickness direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a spring part 40 that is separate from the cylinder part 23 is arranged inside the cylinder part 23. The spring portion 40 is made of a material having excellent strength such as stainless steel, and the plate thickness is thinner than that of the terminal main body portion 13. The spring part 40 is a pair of spring part main body part 41 that comes into contact with the opposing plate 29 of the cylinder part 23, an elastic contact piece 43 that extends rearward from the spring part main body part 41, and a side edge of the spring part main body part 41. Side wall portion 45 and a pair of sandwiching pieces 47 extending rearward from both side wall portions 45.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the spring part main body 41 is in a flat plate shape and is in contact with both opposing plates 29 of the cylindrical part 23, and closes the front end part of the slit 31. The outer dimension of the spring part main body 41 is the same as the inner dimension of the cylindrical part 23 in the width direction. A pair of engaging pieces 51 protrude from the both side edges of the spring portion main body 41 toward the outside in the width direction. The engagement piece 51 is formed by cutting and raising a part of the side wall portion 45, and is flush with the spring portion main body portion 41. The engagement piece 51 engages with the engagement hole 35 of the cylinder portion 23 and enters the engagement hole 35 of the cylinder portion 23. Further, the dimension of the engagement piece 51 in the front-rear direction is slightly smaller than the dimension of the engagement hole 35 in the front-rear direction. The position of the lower surface of the engagement piece 51 is the same as or slightly above the lower end position of the engagement hole 35.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the elastic contact piece 43 extends rearward so as to continue from the rear end portion of the spring portion main body 41, and is a strip-shaped leaf spring that can be elastically deformed in the vertical direction. . The dimension of the elastic contact piece 43 in the width direction is slightly narrower than the dimension of the spring part main body 41 in the width direction, and is the same as or slightly wider than the dimension in the width direction of the male terminal fitting 15 (see FIG. 12). . The elastic contact piece 43 is configured to be bent in a U shape (wave shape) as a whole, and a central portion in the extending direction (front-rear direction) is a lower end portion 43A closest to the substrate 21 side (lower side). . When the spring part 40 is assembled to the cylinder part 23, the male terminal fitting 15 (see FIG. 11) is provided between the lower end position (lower end part 43A) of the elastic contact piece 43 and the bead part 25 as shown in FIG. ) (The insertion path S of the male terminal fitting 15) smaller than the thickness (dimension in the vertical direction).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the side wall 45 is provided by being bent at right angles from both side edges in the width direction of the spring portion main body 41 and then extending rearward. The side wall part 45 is opposed to the inner surface of the side plate 27 of the cylinder part 23 in parallel. The dimension in the front-rear direction of the side wall 45 is longer than the dimension in the front-rear direction of the spring part main body 41, and the dimension in the vertical direction of the side wall 45 is shorter than the dimension in the front-rear direction of the side plate 27. The lower end position is the same as the upper end position of the bead portion 25.

  At a position slightly above the central position in the vertical direction of the side wall 45, the barb 53 protrudes from a part of the rear edge so as to be folded forward. The barb piece 53 extends outward in the width direction toward the front, and can be locked in the locking hole 37 (see FIG. 3). The dimension of the barb piece 53 in the front-rear direction is slightly smaller than the dimension in the front-rear direction of the locking hole 37, and enters the locking hole 37. Further, the positioning piece 55 is provided by being bent at a right angle from the front end edge at the lower end position of the side wall 45 and extending outward in the width direction. The positioning piece 55 positions the spring portion 40 so that the spring portion 40 does not move in a direction from a predetermined position by contacting the front surface of the side plate 27 of the cylinder portion 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the sandwiching piece 47 is bent inward from the rear end edge of the lower end position of the side wall portion 45 and extends rearward. The sandwiching piece 47 can be bent and deformed in the width direction. A convex portion 49 that protrudes in a U shape toward the inner side in the width direction (the side close to the male terminal fitting 15) is provided at the innermost portion of the sandwiching piece 47 (the rear end portion of the sandwiching piece 47). ing. The protruding position of the convex portion 49 in the front-rear direction is the same as the position of the curved lower end 43A (lower end position) of the elastic contact piece 43 in the front-rear direction. Further, the vertical dimension of the sandwiching piece 47 is about half of the vertical dimension of the side wall 45 and is approximately the same as the vertical dimension of the male terminal fitting 15 (see FIG. 11). . The dimension between the sandwiching pieces 47 (between the convex portions 49) is smaller than the outer dimension in the width direction of the elastic contact piece 43 in the natural state, and the concave portion 63 described later of the male terminal fitting 15 (see FIG. 12). It is smaller than the outer dimension in the width direction of the most concave part.

  The male terminal fitting 15 is formed by pressing a conductive plate material having a relatively large plate thickness corresponding to a large-diameter electric wire for large current. The rear part of the male terminal fitting 15 is connected to an electric wire (not shown), and the front part is a flat tab part 61 as shown in FIGS. At the center position in the front-rear direction of the tab portion 61, a pair of concave portions 63 that are recessed inward from both side surfaces in the width direction are provided. The front portion 63 </ b> A of the concave portion 63 is rounded from the other tab portion 61 and is abruptly narrowed so that the convex portion 49 can be fitted therein. Then, the width gradually increases toward the outside from the recess of the front portion 63 </ b> A of the concave portion 63, and is equal in width to the other tab portions 61. In addition, a contact portion 65 that protrudes outward in the width direction and contacts the positioning piece 55 is provided on the rear side of the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15. The abutting portion 65 has a larger dimension in the width direction than the tab portion 61, and is larger than the inner dimension in the width direction of the insertion port 23 </ b> A of the cylindrical portion 23. And since the contact part 65 contacts the positioning piece 55, the male terminal metal fitting 15 is no longer inserted forward.

Next, an example of the assembly procedure of the female terminal fitting 11 and the connection procedure of the terminal fitting 10 will be described.
First, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sandwiching piece 47 of the spring portion 40 is arranged in a state of being removed from the insertion path S (see FIGS. 2 and 11) of the male terminal fitting 15. Specifically, the sandwiching piece 47 is bent outward from the natural state of the sandwiching piece 47 shown in FIG. And it is set as the state which the convex part 49 of the clamping piece 47 contact | abutted and latched to the side surface of the lower end part 43A of the elastic contact piece 43. FIG.

  Thus, the spring part 40 in a state where the sandwiching piece 47 is locked to the elastic contact piece 43 is arranged in the cylindrical part 23. When the spring part 40 is arranged in the cylindrical part 23, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the positioning piece 55 abuts against the front surface of the side plate 27 of the cylindrical part 23, so that the spring part 40 is positioned more than the predetermined position. Positioning so that it does not move in the direction. In addition, the spring piece 40 is restrained from moving forward by being locked in the locking hole 37 so that the barb piece 53 spreads outward in the width direction as it goes rearward. The engaging piece 51 is engaged with the engaging hole 35 of the cylindrical portion 23, so that the engaging piece 51 abuts against the edge of the engaging hole 35, so that the engaging piece 51 extends in the front-rear direction and downward. Positioned so as not to be depressed. In this way, the female terminal fitting 11 is assembled by the spring part 40 being positioned and held in the cylinder part 23.

  Next, the male terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the female terminal fitting 11. In the state where the spring portion 40 is disposed in the cylindrical portion 23, the sandwiching piece 47 is out of the insertion path S, and the elastic contact piece 43 is in the natural state, the male terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the insertion port 23A of the cylindrical portion 23. Is inserted from. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when the male terminal fitting 15 is inserted, the front end portion of the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15 comes into contact with the lower end portion 43A of the elastic contact piece 43, and pushes up the elastic contact piece 43. To bend and deform. When the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15 comes into contact with the elastic contact piece 43 and the bead portion 25, insertion resistance by the elastic contact piece 43 to the male terminal fitting 15 is generated.

  Then, when the elastic contact piece 43 moves upward due to the bending deformation, the catch of the sandwiching piece 47 latched to the lower end portion 43A of the elastic contact piece 43 is released, and the sandwiching piece 47 is elastically returned to the inside. It contacts the side surface of the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15 and is elastically sandwiched. When the locking is released and the sandwiching piece 47 comes into contact with the side surface of the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15, insertion resistance by the sandwiching piece 47 with respect to the male terminal fitting 15 is generated.

  When the male terminal fitting 15 is further inserted rearward, the contact portion 65 contacts the positioning piece 55 and the insertion is stopped. Then, the positioning piece 55 is sandwiched between the contact portion 65 and the front surface of the side plate 27. On the other hand, at the position where the contact portion 65 contacts the positioning piece 55, the convex portion 49 of the sandwiching piece 47 fits into the concave portion 63 of the male terminal fitting 15. Therefore, the male terminal fitting 15 is positioned in the front-rear direction.

  In this way, the tab portion 61 of the male terminal fitting 15 is pressed downward (bead portion 25 side) by the elastic contact piece 43, so that the contact between the male terminal fitting 15 and the bead portion 25 is ensured, and the male terminal. The metal fitting 15 and the female terminal metal fitting 11 are electrically connected. Further, since the male terminal fitting 15 is sandwiched between the elastic contact piece 43 and the bead portion 25, the male terminal fitting 15 is suppressed from moving in the vertical direction. On the other hand, the protrusion 49 of the sandwiching piece 47 is fitted into the recess 63 of the male terminal fitting 15, and the sandwiching piece 47 elastically sandwiches the male terminal fitting 15 from both sides in the width direction of the male terminal fitting 15. It is suppressed that the metal fitting 15 moves in the width direction.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the male terminal fitting 15 is sandwiched not only in the bending direction (vertical direction) of the elastic contact piece 43 but also from both sides in the width direction, thereby suppressing deviation due to vibration of the male terminal fitting 15. can do. Further, in a state before the elastic contact piece 43 is bent (before the male terminal fitting 15 and the elastic contact piece 43 are in contact), the sandwiching piece 47 is locked at a position away from the insertion path S of the male terminal fitting 15. Thus, the sandwiching piece 47 sandwiches the male terminal fitting 15 only after the elastic contact piece 43 is bent and the latching of the sandwiching piece 47 is released. Therefore, the generation timing of the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting 15 generated by the sandwiching piece 47 is shifted from the generation timing of the insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting 15 by the elastic contact piece 43, so that the male terminal fitting 15 by using the sandwiching piece 47 is used. The insertion resistance of the male terminal fitting 15 can be reduced.

<Other embodiments>
The technology disclosed in this specification is not limited to the embodiment described with reference to the above description and drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope.
(1) In the above embodiment, the spring portion 40 is separated from the terminal main body portion 13, but may be integrated. Further, the spring portion 40 itself may be formed of a conductive material.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the concave portion 63 of the male terminal fitting 15 and the convex portion 49 of the sandwiching piece 47 are fitted, but the male terminal fitting 15 may not be provided with the concave portion 63. Further, the protrusion 49 may not be provided on the sandwiching piece 47.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the bead portion 25 is provided, and the male terminal fitting 15 is sandwiched between the elastic contact piece 43 and the bead portion 25. However, the elastic contact piece 43 is not provided with the bead portion. A male terminal fitting may be sandwiched between the inner wall of the tube portion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal metal fitting 11 ... Female terminal metal fitting 13 ... Terminal main-body part 15 ... Male terminal metal fitting 21 ... Board | substrate 23 ... Tube part 23A ... Insertion port 25 ... Bead part 35 ... Engagement hole 37 ... Locking hole 40 ... Spring part 41 ... Spring part main body 43 ... elastic contact piece 43A ... lower end part 45 ... side wall part 47 ... sandwiching piece 49 ... convex part 51 ... engagement piece 53 ... barb piece 61 ... tab part 63 ... concave part S ... insertion path

Claims (3)

A cylindrical portion provided with an insertion opening at one end, and a flat male terminal fitting can be inserted from the insertion opening;
A leaf spring-like elastic contact piece that is arranged inside the cylindrical portion and sandwiches the male terminal fitting between the inner wall of the cylindrical portion;
A pair of sandwiching pieces capable of elastically sandwiching the male terminal fitting from both sides in the width direction of the male terminal fitting,
The sandwiching piece is locked by the elastic contact piece at a position off the insertion path of the male terminal fitting before the male terminal fitting is inserted, and the elastic contact piece is inserted by inserting the male terminal fitting. In the bent state, the female terminal fitting is released from the latch and elastically sandwiches the male terminal fitting. The elastic contact piece is separate from the cylindrical portion,
The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the sandwiching piece is integrated with the elastic contact piece. A terminal fitting comprising the female terminal fitting according to claim 1 or 2, and the male terminal fitting,
The sandwiching piece is provided with a convex portion protruding to the male terminal fitting side,
The male terminal fitting is provided with a concave portion into which the convex portion is fitted.

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