JP2916001B2 - Manufacturing method of low insertion force terminal - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a terminal having a low insertion force for reducing the insertion force in connecting terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a conventional male and female terminal. The female terminal 14 is formed by punching and bending a single conductive metal plate (not shown) to form an electric wire connection portion 15 on one side and a corresponding terminal connection portion 16 on the other side. An elastic electric contact portion 18 bent in a V-shape is coupled to the inside of the torso 17
Further, a convex electric contact portion 20 facing the top portion 19 of the spring piece 18 is formed.

The flat electric contact 2 of the male terminal 21 is provided between the elastic electric contact 18 and the convex electric contact 20.
2 is inserted and connected. The flat electric contact portion 22
A chamfered portion 23 for improving the insertability is formed at the tip of the male terminal 21, and a wire connection portion (not shown) is formed at the rear portion of the male terminal 21. The surfaces of these terminals 14 and 21 are plated with tin or nickel to prevent rust.

The terminals 14 and 21 are accommodated in male and female connector housings (not shown), and the terminals 14 and 21 are connected to each other by connector connection. However, with the recent increase in the number of connectors, the terminals 14, 21
The total terminal insertion force, that is, the coupling force (especially the initial coupling force) of the connector increases in proportion to the number of connectors, so that the coupling workability of the connector deteriorates and the ergonomic limit insertion force (about 10 kg) decreases. In addition, there is a problem that the burden on the worker increases. Therefore, it has been proposed to lower the insertion force by attaching a low friction resin material (not shown) to the electric contact portions 18, 20, 22 of the terminals 14, 21.
When each of the electrical contact portions 18, 20, 22 is brought into contact with each other via the low friction resin material, a new problem arises in that electrical connectivity (conductivity) is deteriorated.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above points, the present invention not only makes it easy to connect a multi-pole connector, but also makes it possible to use a low friction resin material for electrical connection. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a low insertion force terminal capable of preventing deterioration of performance.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that a low friction resin material is fixed to a portion corresponding to an electric contact portion of a terminal material, and the terminal material is processed into a terminal shape. In the method of manufacturing a terminal having a low insertion force, a finely divided conductive metal is mixed with the low-friction resin material, and the resin material containing the ultra-fine powder is replaced with a low-friction resin material, and a portion corresponding to an electric contact portion of the terminal material To form a low friction conductive layer.

[0007]

The low friction conductive layer reduces the insertion force between the terminals and facilitates the connection of the connector, and the low friction conductive layer containing the conductive metal is located between the electric contact portions of the terminals, so that Good electrical continuity between the electrical contacts is maintained.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a low insertion force terminal according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the same female terminal housed in a connector housing. In the figure, 1 indicates a male terminal as a low insertion force terminal, 2 indicates a female terminal, and
Since these shapes are the same as the conventional ones, the description is omitted.

The front and back surfaces of the flat electric contact portion 3 of the male terminal 1 are coated with a low friction material 5 having conductivity from the chamfered portion 4 at the tip to the middle. The low friction material 5
For example, a material obtained by mixing ultrafine pulverized tin or nickel of about 2 to 3 μm with Teflon resin to have conductivity is suitable.

As a method of manufacturing the low insertion force terminals 1 and 2, a Teflon containing ultrafine powder is sprayed on a portion corresponding to the electric contact portion 3 on a terminal material (not shown) to form a layer of about 2 to 4 μm. A typical method is to perform baking, and then obtain the terminal shape by the same press working as in the past.

Further, the elastic electric contact portion 6 of the female terminal 2
The same low friction material 9 is coated on the top 7 and its vicinity and the convex electric contact 8 facing the elastic electric contact 6. It should be noted that portions other than the bases of the terminals 1 and 2 or the coatings 5 and 9 of the low friction material are plated with tin, nickel, or the like as in the related art.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the connectors 10 are connected to each other (the connector for the male terminal 1 is not shown), the male terminal 1 is connected to the female terminal 2 through the front opening 12 of the connector housing 11. It is inserted between the elastic contact part 6 and the convex electric contact part 8.

Here, the male terminal 1 and the female terminal 2 make the low friction materials 5 and 9 slidably contact each other. For example, when the low friction materials 5 and 9 are made of Teflon resin, the friction coefficient μ becomes smaller than that of the conventional tin. It is about one fifth (μ = 0.1) of the plating, and the general formula F =
From μ · W · N (where F = terminal insertion force, W = contact load of female terminal 2, N = number of terminals), terminal insertion force, that is, coupling force between connectors is reduced to one-fifth of conventional one. You can see that

A sufficient effect can be obtained even if the coating 5 or 9 of the low friction material is applied to only one of the male terminal 1 and the female terminal 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a reference example of the low insertion force terminal. In the figure, reference numeral 25 denotes a male terminal as a low insertion force terminal, and 26 denotes a female terminal accommodated in the connector housing 11 '. The male terminal 25 is coated with a non-conductive low-friction material 28 at the tip of a flat electric contact portion 27.

The female terminal 26 has an elastic electric contact 2
9, that is, on the inclined surface 31 on the distal end side excluding the top 30 which is the contact point of the elastic electric contact portion 29, and the distal end or corner of the convex electric contact portion 32 facing the elastic electric contact portion 29. And a similar non-conductive low friction material 34 is coated.

As the low friction materials 28 and 34, for example, Teflon resin is used. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, a process of forming the male terminal 25 is shown in FIG. On the front and back surfaces of 35, a Teflon resin 36 is baked on a portion corresponding to the position of the coating 28 of the low friction material, or a tab 27 'after punching.
By performing the same treatment on the tip of the, efficient production becomes possible.

FIG. 6 shows a state where the male terminal 25 is inserted into the female terminal 26. When the male terminal 25 is inserted, the coating 28 of a low friction material on the distal end is applied to the female terminal 26.
Sliding contact with the coating 34 on the distal end of the electrical connection portions 29 and 32, and is smoothly inserted between the top portion 30 of the elastic electrical contact portion 29 and the convex electrical contact portion 32, so that the initial insertion force is reduced. . Then, with the insertion of the male terminal 25, the electrical contact portions 27, 30, and 32 of the two terminals 25 and 26 come into contact with each other to enable electrical connection.

FIG. 7 shows the insertion stroke on the horizontal axis and the insertion force on the vertical axis, and shows the low insertion force terminals 25 and 26 (shown by solid lines A) and the conventional terminals (14 and 21 in FIG. 8 and broken lines B). Show)
The resistance during the insertion stroke also decreases as the initial insertion force decreases.
This is considered to be due to the reduction of initial galling and the effect of initial familiarity.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, not only the low friction conductive layer can easily connect the multi-pole connectors, but also the conductive metal in the low friction conductive layer makes the electrical connection of each terminal. Since the conductivity between the contact portions is ensured, the electrical connection between the terminals is reliably performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a low insertion force terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a female terminal is housed in a connector housing.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a connection state of male and female terminals.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a reference example of a low insertion force terminal.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an example of a method for coating a low friction material.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a connection state of male and female terminals.

FIG. 7 is a graph comparing the insertion force of a terminal with a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,25 Male terminal 2,26 Female terminal 3,6,8,27,29,32 Electrical contact 5,9,28,34 Low friction material

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-54-215192 (JP, A) JP-A 49-139552 (JP, U) JP 5-18860 (JP, Y2) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01R 13/03 H01R 23/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing a terminal having a low insertion force, wherein a low friction resin material is fixed to a portion corresponding to an electrical contact portion of a terminal material, and the terminal material is processed into a terminal shape. A metal is mixed with the low-friction resin material, and the resin material containing the ultrafine powder is fixed to a portion corresponding to an electric contact portion of the terminal material instead of the low-friction resin material to form a low-friction conductive layer. Manufacturing method of low insertion force terminal.