JP2018101556A - Terminal module and connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate foreign matter, in a terminal metal-fitting that is electrically connected to a mating contact by butt-contacting, between the mating contact and itself, even when a current value becomes large and a plate thickness increases.SOLUTION: A terminal module 10 comprises: a case 20 in which is provided an opening 27 which a mating contact 90 gets into; an electric contact member 50 arranged in the case 20 so as to face the opening 27 and urged toward the opening 27 side by an elastic member 40 and pressed by the mating contact 90 to move while compressing the elastic member 40; and a guide unit 33 for guiding the movement of the electric contact member 50 so as to slip to one side relative to the get-in direction of the mating contact 90. The electric contact member 50 has a connection piece 61 formed by bending so as to rise against a contact face 51A which the mating contact 90 comes into contact, and a flexible conductor 45 for connecting the electric contact member 50 to an external circuit is connected at an end to the connection piece 61 along the rise direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The technology disclosed in this specification relates to a terminal module and a connector that accommodates the terminal module.

  For example, when electrical connection is made in an automobile or the like, a method is known in which electrical connection is made by abutting and contacting the opposing contacts. In such a method, if foreign matter adheres between the contacts, conduction failure occurs, which is not preferable. For this reason, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-274290 (the following Patent Document 1), foreign substances between the contacts are eliminated by sliding each other at the time of abutment of both the contacts.

  Specifically, in the power feeding device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-274290 (the following Patent Document 1), an end plate facing the inside of the case and a coil spring sandwiched and compressed between the end plates are provided at the female junction. Is provided. The end plate exposed to the outside is provided with a leaf spring member having elasticity. The leaf spring member is provided with an inclined free end portion that is easily elastically deformed by being bent after extending outward from the end plate, and has a male contact point and a female contact point (free end portion). ), The two contacts slide with each other to remove foreign matter between the contacts.

JP 2002-274290 A

  However, the configuration of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-274290 (Patent Document 1) cannot be used in the case of a large current application. This is because in the case of a large current application, the leaf spring member becomes thick and the rigidity becomes high, so that the bent portion cannot be deformed and the free end portion cannot be elastically deformed freely. Therefore, when the free end comes into contact with the male contact, it cannot be elastically deformed and cannot slide, and foreign matter cannot be excluded.

  The terminal module disclosed in the present specification is provided with a case provided with an opening into which a mating contact enters, and in the case so as to face the opening, and is directed toward the opening by an elastic member. An electrical contact member that is urged and pressed by the counterpart contact to move while compressing the elastic member, and a guide portion that guides the movement of the electrical contact member so as to be laterally displaced with respect to the entry direction of the counterpart contact. The electrical contact member has a connecting piece formed so as to be raised with respect to a contact surface portion with which the counterpart contact contacts, and a flexible conductor for connecting the electrical contact member to an external circuit. An end portion is connected to the connecting piece portion along the rising direction.

  In this terminal module, when the electrical contact member moves while being pressed by the counterpart contact, it is guided by the guide portion so as to shift laterally with respect to the entry direction of the counterpart contact, so that the contact point with the counterpart contact is the counterpart contact Moves in a direction that intersects the direction of entry. Therefore, even if a foreign object adheres to the contact surface part where the mating contact of the electrical contact member contacts or even if a foreign object adheres to the mating contact, the electrical connection is secured without being obstructed by the foreign object. Is done.

  In order to connect this electrical contact member to an external circuit, a flexible conductor having flexibility is used, but the same surface on which such a flexible conductor is provided with a contact surface portion with the mating contact of the electrical contact member is provided. If it is configured to be connected to the top, there is a concern that the dimension of the entire terminal module in the lateral direction (direction perpendicular to the entry direction of the mating contact) becomes large in order to secure a connection allowance with the flexible conductor.

  However, in the terminal module disclosed in this specification, the connection piece for connecting the flexible conductor to the electrical contact member is provided so as to rise from the contact surface where the counterpart contact contacts, and the flexible conductor is arranged in the rising direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to secure the connection allowance with the flexible conductor in the lateral direction, and the lateral dimension can be reduced accordingly.

As an embodiment of the terminal module disclosed in this specification, the following configuration may be adopted.
An external connection member connected to the flexible conductor at an external connection surface and extending in the rising direction of the connection piece portion is provided, and the external connection surface is the same as the connection surface of the flexible conductor to the connection piece portion It is good also as a structure provided on the surface or a parallel surface.

  By connecting the external connection member to the flexible conductor, the flexible conductor is connected to the external circuit via the external connection member. At this time, if the external connection surface and the connection surface between the flexible conductor and the connection piece are provided at a position where the surfaces obtained by expanding the respective surfaces intersect with each other, the flexible conductor is sufficiently bent. In order to accommodate the surplus part for providing the flexibility between the external connection member and the connection piece, it is necessary to bend the flexible conductor into a shape such as an S-shape in advance, and management of the shape is necessary during manufacturing. become. Therefore, when the external connection member and the connection piece are provided on the same surface or parallel surfaces as in the terminal module described in the present specification, the shape of the flexible conductor becomes a linear shape. There is no need to bend the flexible conductor in advance, and the work during manufacture is simplified.

  Moreover, the connection surface to the said connection piece part of a flexible conductor is good also as a structure which becomes the surface of the side away from the said elastic member of the said connection piece part.

  Since the connection surface of the flexible conductor and the connection piece is a surface on the side away from the surface close to the elastic member, it is difficult to contact the elastic member when the flexible conductor bends.

  Moreover, it is good also as a connector provided with the connector housing which can accommodate the terminal module disclosed by this specification.

  According to the terminal module disclosed in this specification, it is possible to remove foreign matter between the mating contacts even when the current value increases and the plate thickness increases.

The perspective view of the terminal module in an embodiment Front view of terminal module Side view of terminal module Plan view of terminal module AA line sectional view in FIG. Sectional view showing the state before the connector and mating connector are mated

<Embodiment>
The embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings of FIGS.
The terminal module 10 of the present embodiment is electrically connected to the counterpart contact 90 by being abutted against the counterpart contact 90. In the following description, the upper side in FIG. 6 will be referred to as the upper side, and the lower side in FIG. 6 (the counterpart contact 90 side) will be described as the lower side. Also, the left side in FIG. 3 is the front side, and the right side (braided wire 45 side) in FIG. 3 is the rear side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal module 10 of the present embodiment includes a case 20, a coil spring 40 (an example of an “elastic member”) housed in a compressed state inside the case 20, and the coil spring 40. The electrical contact member 50 urged toward the opening 27 side, the external connection member 70, and the braided wire 45 (“flexible conductor” of the “flexible conductor”) that connects the electrical contact member 50 and the external connection member 70 in a conductive manner. An example).

  The case 20 is formed by pressing a metal plate material such as SUS material. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the case 20 extends downward from both side edges of the ceiling wall portion 21 and the ceiling wall portion 21 to each other. A pair of parallel left and right side wall portions 23 and a pair of front wall portions 25 bent and extended from the front edge of the lower end portion of the side wall portion 23 are provided. The case 20 is formed in a box shape opened in the front-rear direction and downward by the ceiling wall portion 21, the side wall portion 23, and the front wall portion 25, and the lower opening is an opening portion into which the mating contact 90 can enter. 27.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the ceiling wall portion 21 is provided with a fixing hole 21 </ b> A through which the holding shaft 41 is fixed.
As shown in FIG.1 and FIG.3, each side wall part 23 becomes a shape which combined the upper end part 23A of the side view rectangular shape, and the lower end part 23B of the side view rectangular shape, The lower end part 23B direction Has a shape protruding rearward from the upper end 23A. The dimension in the front-rear direction of the upper end 23 </ b> A of the side wall part 23 is slightly larger than the outer dimension of the coil spring 40, and is the same as the dimension in the front-rear direction of the ceiling wall part 21. On the other hand, the dimension in the front-rear direction of the lower end part 23B is larger by the dimension of the connection part 61 and the connection part of the braided wire 45 to be described later. The upper surface of the rear end portion of the lower end portion 23B is an abutment surface 31 that abuts a positioning portion 65 of the electrical contact member 50 described later.

  And the guide part 33 is provided in the lower end part 23B of each side wall part 23, respectively. The guide portion 33 is a through hole provided in each side wall portion 23, and the edge of the hole portion is rearward (laterally shifted with respect to the entry direction of the counterpart contact 90) rather than the position of the lower end portion. It is an inclined long hole that is shifted in the direction of That is, the hole edge of the guide portion 33 is a straight line that is oblique to the entry direction of the counterpart contact 93. And the 2nd overhang | projection part 55 of the electrical contact member 50 mentioned later contacts the hole edge of the guide part 33, and when the electrical contact member 50 moves upwards, it also moves back. Moreover, the folding | returning part 35 is provided because the piece provided in the hole edge part of the guide part 33 is folded 180 degree | times outside so that it may overlap with the side wall part 23. FIG. Note that, in the guide portion 33, the position where the folded portion 35 is provided is in sliding contact with the second projecting portion 55. And the guide part 33 of the both ends of the up-down direction of the position in which the folding | returning part 35 was provided is provided with the long hole-shaped part in which the dimension of the front-back direction was a little larger than the other part.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pair of front wall portions 25 is formed by being bent at a right angle from the lower end portion 23B of the side wall portion 23, and includes a narrow portion 25A and a wide portion 25B. . In the narrow portion 25A, the dimension between the narrow portions 25A of the pair of front wall portions 25 is the same as or slightly larger than the width dimension (the dimension in the left-right direction) of the first projecting portion 53 of the electrical contact member 50 described later. The width is of the order so that the movement of the first overhanging portion 53 is not hindered. On the other hand, the wide portion 25B has a larger dimension in the left-right direction than the narrow portion 25A, and enters the inside. Therefore, the lower surface of the first projecting portion 53 is in contact with the upper surface of the wide portion 25B, so that the first projecting portion 53 (main body portion 51) is prevented from falling below the wide portion 25B. Note that the upper end position of the wide portion 25B is slightly above the lower end position of the folded portion 35 of the guide portion 33, and even when the first overhang portion 53 is located at the lowest position, the second overhang portion 55 does not fall below the folded portion 35 of the guide portion 33.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the coil spring 40 is obtained by winding a metal wire such as SUS in a coil shape, and is sandwiched between the ceiling wall portion 21 and the electric contact member 50 in a compressed state. . The coil spring 40 is in contact with the ceiling wall portion 21 and the electrical contact member 50 for approximately one turn of the winding and is biased. The electric contact member 50 is urged downward by the urging force of the coil spring 40, pressed against the case 20, and held between the case 20 and the coil spring 40.

  And the holding shaft 41 is accommodated in the inside of the coil spring 40 as shown in FIG.1 and FIG.5. The holding shaft 41 protrudes in the axial direction of the coil spring 40, and the upper end portion 41 </ b> A of the holding shaft 41 is disposed through the fixing hole 21 </ b> A provided in the ceiling wall portion 21. The holding shaft 41 is made of a metal such as brass and has a cylindrical shape. The upper end portion 41A of the holding shaft 41 is crimped to the hole edge portion of the fixing hole 21A by being struck and caulked from above.

  Further, the lower end of the holding shaft 41 is located above the upper end position of the folded portion 35 of the guide portion 33. Specifically, the lower end of the holding shaft 41 is as far downward as possible within a range where the lower end of the holding shaft 41 and the electric contact member 50 do not interfere when the electric contact member 50 is lifted upward by the counterpart contact 90. It is arranged to be located. By doing in this way, it can suppress that the coil spring 40 inclines with the force from an up-down direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the electrical contact member 50 is obtained by press-working a metal plate material such as a copper alloy, and is formed by bending a main body 51 and a rear end portion of the main body 51. It has a portion 61 and is L-shaped in side view as a whole. The plate thickness of the electrical contact member 50 is set according to the current capacity required for the terminal module 10 and has a plate thickness and hardness that can be regarded as a rigid body when compared with the coil spring 40.

  The main body 51 is a flat plate having a rectangular shape in plan view, and the lower surface side is a contact surface portion 51 </ b> A that comes into contact with the counterpart contact 93 and faces the opening 27. Exposed. The upper surface side of the main body 51 is a spring receiving surface portion 51 </ b> B that contacts the lower end surface of the coil spring 40. The dimension in the front-rear direction of the main body 51 is slightly larger than the outer dimension of the coil spring 40 and is the same as the dimension in the front-rear direction of the ceiling wall part 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a first projecting portion 53 is provided so as to project forward from the front edge of the main body 51. The first overhang portion 53 is inserted into the opening between the narrow portions 25 </ b> A of the front wall portion 25. The first overhang portion 53 slightly protrudes forward from the front wall portion 25. A pair of second projecting portions 55 are provided so as to project outward from the left and right side edges of the main body 51. The second projecting portion 55 is inserted into the guide portion 33 and slightly protrudes outward from the folded portion 35. The front-rear dimension of the second overhang 55 is the same as or slightly smaller than the front-rear dimension of the lower end position of the guide 33.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the contact piece 61 is bent so as to rise from the contact surface portion 51 </ b> A of the main body 51. The rear surface of the contact piece 61 (the surface on the side away from the coil spring 40) is a connection surface 63 to which the braided wire 45 is connected. The upper end portion of the contact piece portion 61 is a positioning portion 65 that is in contact with the contact surface 31 of the case 20 so that the contact piece portion 61 does not move below a predetermined position. The positioning part 65 has a larger dimension in the left-right direction than the other part of the contact piece part 61, and protrudes outward in the left-right direction from the side wall part 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the external connection member 70 is formed by pressing a metal plate material such as a copper alloy, and is formed in a flat plate shape. The external connection member 70 is disposed outside the case 20 and extends in the vertical direction (the rising direction of the connection piece 61). The external connection member 70 is provided with an external connection surface 71 to which the braided wire 45 is connected and a long hole-shaped bolt hole 73. The external connection surface 71 is provided on a parallel surface located slightly ahead of the connection surface 63 of the connection piece 61.

  The braided wire 45 is made by braiding metal wires such as conductive copper. As shown in FIG. 5, both end portions 47 of the braided wire 45 are connected to the connection surface 63 of the connection piece portion 61 and the external connection surface 71 of the external connection member 70 by resistance welding. Both end portions 47 are in a state where rigidity is slightly increased by resistance welding. And the intermediate part 49 between the both ends 47 of the braided wire 45 is linear with a slight extra length. And if the electrical contact member 50 and the external connection member 70 move relatively, the intermediate part 49 will bend and deform | transform. Therefore, when the electrical contact member 50 moves to the external connection member 70 side, the braided wire 45 is not easily deformed to obstruct the movement of the electrical contact member 50.

  The terminal module 10 of this embodiment is accommodated in the connector housing 80, as shown in FIG. The connector housing 80 is configured by combining an upper split body 80U and a lower split body 80L made of a synthetic resin divided into upper and lower parts. The terminal module 10 and the connector housing 80 constitute a connector 15.

  The upper split body 80U of the connector housing 80 projects so that the rear end portion of the upper wall protrudes upward, and the projecting portion 81 accommodates the external connection surface 71 of the external connection member 70. It has become. In addition, a housing opening 85 that allows the mating contact 90 to enter is provided in the lower split body 80 </ b> L of the connector housing 80. The housing opening 85 is provided at substantially the same position as the opening 27 of the terminal module 10 so that the electric contact member 50 can be exposed to the lower side, and the fitting portion 97 described later can enter.

  The mating connector C fitted to the connector 15 includes a mating contact 90 and a mating housing 95 made of synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 6, the mating contact 90 is made of a conductive metal, and is formed in a substantially L shape by bending a plate-like member extending in the vertical direction forward at a substantially right angle. Two spherical portions 93 arranged in the front-rear direction are formed on the upper surface of a portion of the counterpart contact 90 facing the electrical contact member 50 by knocking out from the lower surface side. The two spherical portions 93 are arranged in the diameter circle of the coil spring 40 when the connector 15 and the mating connector C are fitted.

  The mating contact 90 is held in the mating housing 95 by insert molding. The mating housing 95 is provided with a fitting portion 97 that can enter the housing opening 85, and the mating contact 90 is held by the fitting portion 97. And the flange part 99 is provided in the lower edge position of the fitting part 97 so that it may protrude outside. The flange portion 99 abuts against the lower surface of the connector housing 80, thereby preventing the counterpart contact 90 from entering beyond a predetermined position.

The terminal module 10 and the connector 15 of the present embodiment are configured as described above, and the operation thereof will be described subsequently.
The electrical contact member 50 is urged downward by the coil spring 40 while being supported and sandwiched by the case 20. Specifically, the first projecting portion 53 provided at the front end portion of the electrical contact member 50 is supported by the wide portion 25B of the front wall portion 25 and provided at the upper end portion of the contact piece portion 61 of the electrical contact member 50. The positioning part 65 is supported by contacting the contact surface 31 of the side wall part 23. That is, the electrical contact member 50 is supported by the case 20 at two locations, the front end portion and the rear end portion.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the connector 15 and the mating connector C relatively approach each other in the vertical direction, the mating contact 90 of the mating connector C is connected to the housing opening 85 of the connector housing 80 and the opening of the case 20. 25 enters the contact surface portion 51A of the electrical contact member 50. Then, the electric contact member 50 is pressed by the mating contact 90 and moves upward while compressing the coil spring 40. At this time, the second projecting portion 55 of the electrical contact member 50 is slidably contacted with the hole edge of the guide portion 33 of the case 20, so that the second projecting portion 55 is shifted to the rear side (an example of a direction orthogonal to the entry direction of the counterpart contact 90). Guided. The second projecting portion 55 is linearly guided rearward and obliquely by the guide portion 33. As a result, the electric contact member 50 slides rearward while moving upward. At this time, since the folded portion 35 is provided, it is possible to make a smooth sliding contact with the hole edge of the guide portion 33.

  And when the connector 15 and the other party connector C approach relatively relatively, the connector 15 and the other party connector C will fit. In this state, the main body 51 of the electrical contact member 50 is sandwiched between the urging force of the coil spring 40 and the pressing force of the counterpart contact 90. In this manner, the electrical contact member 50 is pressed against the counterpart contact 90 by the coil spring 40, whereby the electrical contact member 50 and the counterpart contact 90 are electrically connected.

  As described above, when the counterpart contact 90 and the electrical contact member 50 are connected, the sliding contact portion of the electrical contact member 50 with the counterpart contact 90 gradually shifts backward, It is abutted against the counterpart contact 90. For this reason, a shift phenomenon occurs in which the spherical portion 93 of the counterpart contact 90 rubs against the contact surface portion 51A of the electrical contact member 50, and foreign matter adheres to the contact surface portion 51A of the electrical contact member 50 or the spherical portion 93 of the counterpart contact 90. Even if it is, the foreign material is scraped off. Thus, according to the terminal module 10, it is not necessary to elastically deform the electrical contact member 50 in order to scrape foreign matter, so that the plate thickness of the electrical contact member 50 can be increased according to the current value.

  In order to connect the electrical contact member 50 to an external circuit via the external connection member 70, a braided wire 45 having flexibility is used. At this time, the connecting piece portion 61 connected to the braided wire 45 is provided so as to rise from the main body portion 51 (contact surface portion 51A), and the connecting surface 63 to the braided wire 45 is provided in the rising direction (vertical direction). Therefore, compared to the case where the braided wire 45 is connected on the same surface as the main body 51 (contact surface portion 51A), the connection allowance is the lateral direction of the entire terminal module 10 (the direction orthogonal to the entry direction with the counterpart contact 90, It is not necessary to ensure in the front-rear direction, and the horizontal dimension can be reduced accordingly. Moreover, when the connection surface 63 is a surface (rear surface) on the side away from the coil spring 40, it is difficult to contact the coil spring 40 when the braided wire 45 is bent.

  In addition, since the connection surface 63 of the contact piece 61 and the external connection surface 71 of the external connection member 70 are provided on parallel surfaces, the shape of the braided wire 45 in a natural state is a straight line. Therefore, compared with the case where the connection surface 63 of the contact piece 61 and the external connection surface 71 of the external connection member 70 are provided at positions where virtual surfaces obtained by expanding the respective surfaces intersect with each other, the bending or the like in advance is performed. Becomes unnecessary, and the work at the time of manufacture is simplified.

<Other embodiments>
The technology disclosed in the present specification is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings, and includes, for example, the following various aspects.
(1) Although the external connection member 70 is provided in the above embodiment, the external connection member 70 may not be provided. In that case, the electric contact member may be directly connected to the outside by an electric wire or the like.

(2) In the above embodiment, the braided wire 45 is used, but a flexible electric wire may be used instead of the braided wire.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the connection surface 63 of the braided wire 45 to the connection piece 61 is a surface on the side away from the coil spring 40, but may be a surface on the near side.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the external connection surface 71 of the external connection member 70 is provided on a parallel surface located slightly forward of the connection surface 63 of the contact piece 61, but is the same as the connection surface 63. It may be provided on the surface.

  (5) In the above embodiment, the coil spring 40 is used as the elastic member, but other elastic members such as high-strength rubber may be used. Further, the holding shaft 41 may not be arranged at the center of the coil spring 40.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal module 15 ... Connector 20 ... Case 27 ... Opening part 33 ... Guide part 40 ... Coil spring (elastic member)
45 ... Braided wire (flexible conductor)
47 ... Both end portions 49 ... Intermediate portion 50 ... Electrical contact member 51 ... Main body portion 51A ... Contact surface portion 51B ... Spring receiving surface portion 61 ... Contact piece portion 63 ... Connection surface 70 ... External connection member 71 ... External connection surface 80 ... Connector housing 80U ... upper split body 80L ... lower split body 90 ... mating contact 95 ... mating housing C ... mating connector

Claims (4)

A case provided with an opening through which the counterpart contact enters,
An electrical contact member that is arranged in the case so as to face the opening, is urged toward the opening by an elastic member, is pressed against the counterpart contact, and moves while compressing the elastic member;
A guide portion that guides the movement of the electrical contact member so as to shift laterally with respect to the entry direction of the counterpart contact;
The electrical contact member has a connection piece portion that is bent so as to rise with respect to a contact surface portion with which the counterpart contact contacts, and a flexible conductor for connecting the electrical contact member to an external circuit A terminal module having an end connected to the connecting piece along the direction. An external connection member connected to the flexible conductor at an external connection surface and extending in a rising direction of the connection piece,
2. The terminal module according to claim 1, wherein the external connection surface is provided on the same surface or a parallel surface as a connection surface of the flexible conductor to the connection piece portion.   The terminal module according to claim 1, wherein a connection surface of the flexible conductor to the connection piece portion is a surface of the connection piece portion that is away from the elastic member.   The connector provided with the connector housing which can accommodate the terminal module as described in any one of Claims 1-3.

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