JP2814921B2 - Female terminal fitting - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting having a box-shaped main body provided with elastic contact pieces for elastically contacting tabs of male terminal fittings. The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting having a function of preventing bending.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a female terminal fitting having a function of preventing an elastic contact piece of this kind from being excessively bent, one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-77382 is known. This is, as shown in FIG.
The side surface 32 of the elastic contact piece 34 is provided with a projection 33 in a vertical position corresponding to a position below the distal end of the elastic contact piece 34. And the tab 35 of the mating male terminal fitting is the main body 3
As shown in FIG. 8, if the insertion direction is proper when inserted from the front end side into the inside 1, the tab 35 bends the elastic contact piece 34 so that the elastic contact piece 34 does not contact the projection 33, and It is inserted and connected between 34 and the ceiling surface 36 of the main body 31. Here, when the insertion direction of the tab 35 is obliquely downward, the elastic contact piece 34 bends further downward than the state shown in FIG. However, if the insertion angle is not so large, the resilient contact piece 34 will abut the projection 33 before exceeding the elastic limit, preventing further downward deflection. That is, the elastic contact piece 34 functions to prevent excessive bending and prevent plastic deformation.

[0003]

However, the tab 3
If the inclination when the 5 is inserted is large, the tab 35
For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the elastic member abuts at an intermediate position between the folded portion 37 of the elastic contact piece 34 and a portion that comes into contact with the protrusion 33. However, since this abutting portion has nothing to support from below, if this portion is strongly pushed by the tab 35, plastic deformation occurs relatively easily.

On the other hand, as a countermeasure, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
In Japanese Patent Publication No. 31 (1993), a laterally elongated projection is formed in the longitudinal direction of the elastic contact piece by cutting and raising the side surface of the main body portion. The elastic piece has been proposed to prevent the elastic contact piece from being excessively bent by receiving two points of the projecting piece at the front end side and the central portion in the length direction. However, this has another drawback that the strength of the side surface of the main body portion is reduced because the side surface of the main body portion is cut and raised over a wide area to open.

Therefore, the present invention can prevent excessive flexure of the elastic contact piece caused by improper insertion of the tab of the male terminal fitting over a wide range, and does not cause a reduction in the strength of the main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a female terminal fitting as described above.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a box-shaped main body, and an elastic contact piece bent inward from a tip of the main body. ,
In a female terminal fitting in which a tab of a male terminal fitting is elastically contactable with the elastic contact piece while bending the elastic contact piece from the front end side of the main body, the side of the main body has an elastic contact piece. A stopper that prevents excessive bending of the resilient contact piece by enabling contact with at least two locations in the longitudinal direction,
It has a feature in that it is formed by swelling out from the side surface of the main body by tapping.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the female terminal fitting according to the first aspect, at least one of the portions of the stopper contacting the elastic contact piece is in contact with the elastic contact piece over a predetermined length range. It has features in the place.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the elastic contact piece is excessively bent, at least two positions in the longitudinal direction of the elastic contact piece are received by the stopper provided on the side surface of the main body.
Further bending is prevented. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the elastic contact piece is received by the stopper, at least one of the elastic contact pieces is received within a predetermined length range.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the elastic contact piece is received by the stopper at least at two locations in the longitudinal direction, so that the elastic contact piece can exhibit a function of suppressing excessive deformation of the elastic contact piece. The range is expanded. Moreover,
Because the stopper is swelled from the side of the main body,
A double effect is obtained, such as that the stopper itself also provides a reinforcing effect on the side surface of the main body.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, a part of the elastic contact piece can be received within a predetermined length range by the stopper, so that the elastic contact piece can be kept in a more stable state. Since the load is received and the load can be dispersed, the excessive bending of the elastic contact piece can be more reliably prevented.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The female terminal fitting of this embodiment is formed by bending a thin metal plate having a predetermined shape.
As shown in FIG. 1, an insulation barrel 11 to which the end of the sheath 2 of the electric wire 1 is crimped, and a wire barrel 12 to crimp the end of the core wire 3 stripped from the sheath 2.
And a main body 13 provided in front of it.

The main body 13 is formed by bending both side surfaces 22 from the bottom plate 19, further bending the ceiling plate 15, and bending the whole into a box shape. The ceiling plate 15 is continuous from one side surface 22 and is connected to the other side surface 22.
The main body 13 is maintained in shape by being pressed by a pair of front and rear pressing pieces 27 having extending portions 27a formed at the central portions thereof and extending from both end portions of the main body 13. An opening 14 is provided at the tip end surface of the main body 13.
As shown in FIG. 4, the tab 5 of the male terminal fitting is inserted through the opening 14 thereof. At the center of the inner surface of the ceiling plate 15 of the main body 13,
The holding portion 16 is formed by being knocked out from the outer surface side in a rectangular shape.

An elastic contact piece 18 is provided in the main body 13. The elastic contact piece 18 is formed by folding a portion extending from the front edge of the bottom plate 19 in a state where the main body 13 is unfolded into a substantially U-shape before the step of bending the both side surfaces 22 of the main body 13. It was done. This elastic contact piece 1
The folded portion 18a of FIG. 8 is positioned so as to be retracted slightly inward from the front edge of the side surface of the main body portion 13. When the female terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity of the female housing (not shown), the front end wall in the cavity is formed. To prevent the folded portion 18a from directly abutting.

Further, in this embodiment, the elastic contact piece 18 has an upward slope toward the tip end, and is provided with appropriate elasticity. Further, a contact 20 is bulged substantially at the center of the elastic contact piece 18. The upper surface of the contact 20 is a flat surface, and the tab 5 is held between the surface and the holding portion 16 on the ceiling plate 15 side with elastic force. Note that the elastic contact piece 18 does not engage with the stopper 23 described below as long as the tab 5 is inserted in a normal state. However, for some reason (for example, as shown in FIG.
(When the insertion angle is large), the region closer to the distal end than the contact 20 is continuously in contact with the stopper 23 along the length direction when the member 23 is bent and deformed until the stopper 23 is engaged. .

Now, on the left and right side surfaces 22 of the main body 13,
A pair of stoppers 23 for preventing the elastic contact piece 18 from being excessively bent are provided at symmetric positions. Double stopper 23
Is formed by swelling the inside of the main body 13 by tapping the side surface 22 of the main body 13 from the outer surface side.
More specifically, the peripheral portion of the stopper 23 is an inclined surface having a substantially uniform width, and the central portion is parallel to the other side surface 22.

The swelling height of the stoppers 23 is such that the elastic contact piece 18 is elastically deformed by a certain amount.
Are set to such an extent that they can be securely engaged with the lower surface sides of the left and right side edges of the camera. Further, the stopper 23 is disposed at a height position below the elastic contact piece 18 in a natural state, and is in contact with the elastic contact piece 18 within the elastic limit. Further, the length range in which the stopper 23 is provided is the contact 2
The elastic contact pieces 18 are horizontally arranged in a range from a position corresponding to the leading edge of the zero to a position corresponding to the tip of the elastic contact piece 18.
As a result, when the elastic contact piece 18 engages with both stoppers 23, as shown in FIG. 6, the front edge of the contact 20 becomes the first contact portion C1, and the front end of the contact 20 extends over the contact 20 (freely). The range extending to the end) is referred to as a second contact portion C2, and as shown in the drawing, the second contact portion C2 comes into line contact with the stopper 23 along its length direction.

The bottom plate 19 of the main body 13 is formed with a locking hole 25 into which a lance provided in a cavity of a connector housing (not shown) for accommodating the female terminal fitting is formed. On the left and right side edges of the stop hole 25, stabilizers 26 which similarly fit into the fitting grooves of the cavity and function to prevent rattling at the time of storage are protruded.

This embodiment has the above structure, and its operation will be described below. Tab 5 of mating male terminal fitting
However, as shown in FIG.
When the tab 5 is inserted in a correct posture along the holding portion 16 of the ceiling plate 15 from the front, the tab 5 is resiliently contacted during the insertion process.
The elastic contact piece 18 is gradually pressed downward while passing through the contact 20 as the insertion proceeds. As a result, the elastic contact piece 18 gradually bends downward so as not to abut on the stopper 23 around the folded portion 18a, that is, elastically deforms within the elastic limit, and the tab 5
Is the contact 20 between the holding portion 16 of the ceiling plate 15 and the elastic contact piece 18
And the tab 5 and the elastic contact piece 18 are electrically connected to each other.

On the other hand, when the tab 5 is inserted in an obliquely downward orientation due to an alignment error (or insertion of another foreign matter), when the tab 5 enters the main body 13, as shown in FIG. The tip of the elastic contact piece 18 contacts the front side of the contact 20 of the elastic contact piece 18 at an angle to press the elastic contact piece 18. Then, the elastic contact piece 18 bends further downward than when the tab 5 is correctly inserted, but the first contact portion C1 is
The third contact portion C2 comes into point contact with the corner portion on the front side of No. 3 and the second contact portion C2 comes into line contact with the deep portion of the upper edge of the left and right stoppers 23. Thereby, the elastic contact piece 1
8 is prevented from flexing beyond the elastic limit.

Also, in the case where foreign matter such as dust adheres to the upper surface of the tab 5 even though the tab 5 is inserted in the correct direction, the elastic contact piece 23 tends to largely bend downward. However, also in this case, similarly to the above, the fixed length portion on the distal end side of the elastic contact piece 18 and the front side edge of the contact 20 abut against the left and right stoppers 23 respectively, and the elastic contact piece 18 Excessive flexing beyond the limit is prevented.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first and second contact portions C1 and C2 are engaged with the stopper 23 so that the elastic contact piece 18 receives the external force at the front and rear two places. As a result, it is possible to effectively resist an external force that causes the elastic contact piece 18 to be excessively bent in a wide range. Moreover, since the second contact portion C2 is in line contact with the stopper 23, the load can be dispersed and the excessive bending can be more reliably eliminated.

In particular, since the stopper 23 is formed by tapping the side surface 22 of the main body 13, the side surface 22 is not opened unlike the case where the stopper is cut and raised. This contributes to preventing deformation of the portion 13.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the distal end side of the elastic contact piece 18 comes into contact with the stopper 23 for a predetermined length range. A configuration may be adopted in which the contact piece 18 is received at two front and rear positions in the longitudinal direction. In this case as well, the elastic contact piece 18 is excessively It is possible to effectively prevent bending, and such a configuration is also included in the present invention.

(2) In the above embodiment, the stopper 2
3 are provided on the left and right side surfaces 22 of the main body portion 13. However, as long as the function of receiving the elastic contact piece 18 at the front and rear two positions in the length direction is achieved, the stopper 23 is merely provided on one of the left and right side surfaces 22. There may be.

(3) Further, instead of forming the stopper as a horizontally long and integral one as in the above-described embodiment, the stopper is provided so as to receive two portions in the longitudinal direction of the elastic contact piece 18 respectively. The individual stoppers may be formed separately by beating.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which tabs are correctly inserted.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where a tab is abnormally inserted.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a tab is correctly inserted in a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view when a tab is abnormally inserted in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Tab 13 ... Body part 14 ... Opening 18 ... Elastic contact piece 22 ... Side surface (of the body part 13) 23 ... Stopper C1, C2 ... Contact part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A box-shaped main body, and an elastic contact piece bent inward from a tip of the main body, wherein a tab of a male terminal fitting connects the elastic contact piece from a front end side of the main body. A female terminal fitting inserted into the elastic contact piece so as to be elastically contacted with the elastic contact piece while being bent, at least two places in the longitudinal direction of the elastic contact piece can be brought into contact with the side surface of the main body. A female terminal fitting, characterized in that a stopper for preventing excessive bending of the elastic contact piece is formed by swelling out from a side surface of the main body portion by tapping. 2. The female according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the portions of the stopper that comes into contact with the elastic contact piece has a shape that contacts the elastic contact piece over a predetermined length range. Shaped terminal fittings.