JP3082613B2 - 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 an insertion opening into which a male terminal fitting can be inserted and an elastic contact portion capable of contacting the male terminal fitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional female terminal fitting 1 is shown in FIG. This is formed by punching a single conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and bending the metal plate along a predetermined fold to form an electric wire connection portion 2 for connecting terminals of electric wires (not shown). And a terminal fitting portion 3 for fitting with a tab at the tip of a male terminal fitting (not shown).

[0005] The terminal fitting portion 3 has a box shape, and has a front end face opened as an insertion port 4 over the entire surface. The bottom plate 5 of the terminal fitting portion 3 is elongated from its front end, and the extended portion is bent so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion 3 to form an elastic contact portion 6. The male terminal fitting fitted into the terminal fitting portion 3 from the insertion opening 4 is elastically pinched between the upper surface thereof and the ceiling surface 7 of the terminal fitting portion 3 while elastically bending the elastic contact portion 6. The male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting 1 are electrically connected.

[0004]

A female terminal fitting of this kind 1
In order to ensure a large current capacity when the male and female terminal fittings are fitted and energized, it is desirable to increase the thickness of the female terminal fitting 1. However, increasing the plate thickness causes the following two problems. One is that, as the plate thickness increases, the ratio of the peripheral edge 9 of the insertion port 4 to the ratio of the peripheral edge 9 of the insertion port 4 to the percentage of the entire area of the front end face of the terminal fitting portion 3 decreases. Becomes larger, and consequently,
Probability that the tip of the male terminal fitting abuts the peripheral edge 9 without being inserted into the insertion opening 4 when the male terminal fitting is inserted into the insertion opening 4 with the insertion direction and the insertion position shifted from the normal state. Is higher.

Conventionally, as a countermeasure, hitting process 10 is performed on the inner peripheral portion of the opening edge of the insertion opening 4 to reduce the thickness of the portion, thereby increasing the opening area of the insertion opening 4 and causing the male terminal fitting to abut. To reduce the likelihood of occurrence. However, in this method, a step of hitting is required in the step of forming the female terminal fitting, so that there is a drawback that the number of processing steps is increased and the molding work efficiency is reduced.

Another problem is that when the plate thickness is increased, the elasticity of the elastic contact portion 6 is increased, so that the fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting the two terminal fittings is increased, and as a result, the smoothness is obtained. That is, there is a risk that the fitting operation may be hindered. However, no effective solution has been disclosed in this case, and the actual situation is that it is impossible to achieve both the securing of the current capacity and the reduction of the fitting resistance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and at the same time, while ensuring sufficient current capacity, improves the effect of preventing male terminal fittings from abutting without increasing the number of molding steps. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to reduce a fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric wire connecting portion formed by bending a plate material having a predetermined shape and connected to an electric wire, and a male terminal fitting on a side opposite to the electric wire connecting portion. A box-shaped terminal fitting portion having an insertion opening for inserting the same, and an elastic contact portion extending from the edge of the insertion opening so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion and capable of contacting the male terminal fitting. In the above, the plate material is formed of a deformed material in which the plate thickness of the region on the elastic contact portion side is thinner than the plate thickness of the region on the wire connection portion side with respect to the boundary arranged along the edge of the insertion port. However, it has features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the deformed member has two surfaces, that is, an elastic contact portion side and an electric wire connection portion side on the outer peripheral side of the insertion port, and are flush with each other. By providing a step between the two regions on the surface on the inner peripheral side of the insertion port, the thickness of the two regions is made different from each other.

A third aspect of the present invention is the configuration according to the first or second aspect, wherein a boundary between two regions having different plate thicknesses on the inner peripheral surface of the insertion opening is an inclined surface. However, it has features.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since most of the terminal fitting portion except for the insertion opening portion and the wire connection portion are thick, a large current capacity at the time of energization is ensured. In addition, since the portion along the edge of the insertion port and the elastic contact portion are thin, the opening area of the insertion port is large and the male terminal fittings are less likely to end as compared with the case where the thickness is large. In addition, the elasticity of the elastic contact portion is weakened, and the fitting resistance with the male terminal fitting is reduced. In addition, a processing step for preventing the male terminal fitting from abutting is unnecessary.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the difference in plate thickness between the rim portion of the insertion opening and the portion deeper than the opening is reduced by a step provided only on the inner peripheral surface of the insertion opening. As a result, the difference in plate thickness directly contributes to an increase in the opening area of the insertion port.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the male terminal fitting comes into contact with the inner periphery of the edge of the insertion port, the male terminal fitting is smoothly guided without being caught by the inclined surface by being guided by the inclined surface. It is guided to the back side of.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the effect of preventing the male terminal fitting from abutting can be enhanced without increasing the number of molding steps while ensuring a large current capacity. The fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the reduced thickness directly contributes to the expansion of the opening area of the insertion opening, a step is provided on both sides of the plate to obtain the difference in thickness. As compared with the case, the opening area of the insertion port can be secured wider, and the effect of preventing the male terminal fitting from abutting is excellent.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the sheet having a thickness difference of 2
By making the boundary between the two regions an inclined surface, it is possible to prevent the male terminal fitting from being caught on the inner periphery of the terminal fitting portion, so that a smooth fitting operation with the male terminal fitting can be reliably performed.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Female terminal fitting 20 of this embodiment
Is formed by punching a single plate-shaped deformed material into a predetermined shape and bending it into a predetermined shape, as described later in detail. It consists of a mating part 24 and an elastic contact part 32.

The electric wire connection portion 21 is provided with a bottom plate
And has a well-known shape in which two pairs of front and rear side walls 23F and 23R rise from both side edges. That is, an insulation barrel 21R is formed by the rear end portion of the bottom plate portion 22 and the rear side wall portions 23R, and the insulation barrel 21R is sandwiched between the resin coating portions of the electric wires (not shown) from both sides. It is crimped. Further, in front of the insulation barrel 21R, a wire barrel 21F is formed by the bottom plate portion 22 and the front side walls 23F, and the wire barrel 21F is formed on both sides of a core wire exposed by exposing the resin coating of the electric wire. It is crimped so that it is sandwiched.

The terminal fitting portion 24 is arranged forward of the electric wire connection portion 21. It has a box shape with a rectangular cross section as a whole, and an insertion port 25 through which a male terminal fitting (not shown) can enter is opened over the entire front surface. The terminal fitting portion 24 includes a bottom plate portion 26 extending forward from the bottom plate portion 22 of the wire connection portion 21, a side wall portion 27 rising from both side edges of the bottom plate portion 26, and an upper end edge of the both side wall portions 27. Two ceiling plates 28L and 28U that extend inward and overlap each other
Consists of

A lock hole 29 is formed in the bottom plate portion 26 so that a lance provided in a cavity (not shown) in which the female terminal fitting 20 is mounted is fitted to lock the female terminal fitting 20 in a retaining state. Is formed. Also, two ceiling plates 28
Among the L and 28U, the lower ceiling plate 28L is knocked downward from a position deeper than the opening edge 25A of the insertion slot 25 by a predetermined distance to a rearward over a predetermined length.
This is a tab contact portion 30 for elastically pressing the tab of the male terminal fitting with an elastic contact portion 32 described later.

The elastic contact portion 32 is formed by bending a portion of the terminal fitting portion 24 extending in a lengthwise direction from the front edge of the bottom plate portion 26 into a U-shape at an angle close to 180 ° upward to fit the terminal. The portion 24 is folded back into the hollow, and the folded-back portion is bent downward at an angle of about 180 ° into a U-shape, and the bent end portion is brought into contact with the bottom plate portion 26. It is molded. At the upper end of the turning portion 33 located on the rear side of the elastic contact portion 32, a contact portion 34 projecting upward in a substantially hemispherical shape is formed. The contact portion 34 elastically presses the tab of the male terminal fitting with a predetermined contact pressure in cooperation with the tab contact portion 30.

Next, the material used for forming the female terminal fitting 20 will be described. The material used is a deformed material 20A formed by rolling a conductive metal material into a long band shape with a certain width by rolling and making the thickness in the width direction non-uniform. The surface 20B of the deformed material 20A which is outside the female terminal fitting 20 is entirely flat, whereas the surface 20B which is inside the female terminal fitting 20 is
In C, one region 20D is low and the other region 20E is high near the center in the width direction, and the boundary 20F between the two regions 20D and 20E having different heights.
Here, the inclined surface 35 is formed (see FIGS. 3 and 4). That is, in the deformed material 20A, the plate thickness of one region 20D of the two regions 20D and 20E bordering substantially at the center in the width direction is smaller than the other region 20E.

The deformed material 20A is stamped into a predetermined shape shown in FIG. At this time, the direction of the female terminal fitting 20 in the front-rear direction is set to be the width direction of the deformed material 20A, and the thin region 20D corresponds to the front side (the elastic contact portion 32 side) of the female terminal fitting 20. To Further, the boundary 20F between the two regions 20D and 20E having different plate thicknesses is set to a position slightly shifted rearward from the opening edge 25A of the insertion slot 25 (see FIG. 3). The present embodiment is performed by bending the deformed members 20A having different thicknesses as described above along predetermined folds 20G, and punching out the tab contact portions 30 and the contact portions 34 of the elastic contact portions 32. The example female terminal fitting 20 is molded.

The female terminal fitting 20 thus formed
In the above, the elastic contact portion 32 and the rim 25A of the insertion port 25
Most of the terminal fitting portion 24 excluding the portion and the electric wire connection portion 21 correspond to the thick region 20E. With such a large plate thickness, it is possible to ensure a large current capacity when energized in a state of connection with the male terminal fitting.

On the other hand, the elastic contact portion 32 and the rim portion 25A of the insertion port 25 correspond to the thin region 20D. Since the plate thickness is small, the elasticity of the elastic contact portion 32 is reduced, and the fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting with the male terminal fitting is reduced. In addition, the upper and lower and left and right opening dimensions in a certain narrow range from the opening edge 25A of the insertion opening 25 to the back side are wider than the deeper part by the difference in plate thickness. Since the opening area of the insertion port 25 is thus widened, the male terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal fitting portion 24 while the insertion direction and the insertion position are shifted from the normal state, so that the insertion port 25 is not inserted. Is less likely to occur as compared with the case where the plate thickness is large.

In this embodiment, the boundary between the two regions 20D and 20E having different plate thicknesses is a tapered inclined surface 35 extending toward the insertion opening 25 side. 24, the tab contact portion 30
An inclined surface 30 </ b> A formed by tapping is continuous with the inclined surface 35. Therefore, when the tabs enter the inside of the insertion opening 25 well but hit the ceiling obliquely, the tabs are guided by the inclined surface 35 of the boundary 20F of the shaped member 20A and the inclined surface 30A of the tab contact portion 30. The male terminal fitting is relatively smoothly guided to the back side of the terminal fitting portion 24, and the elastic contact portion 32 is not caught halfway.
And the tab contact portion 30 is elastically pressed.

In this embodiment, since the deformed material 20A is used to increase the opening area of the insertion port 25, the thickness of the edge 25A of the insertion port 25 is reduced as in the conventional case. Has not been hit, and therefore
A reduction in the working efficiency of the molding process due to the increase in the number of processing steps is avoided.

As described above, the female terminal fitting 20 of this embodiment
Since the thickness of the necessary portion is set to an appropriate size by using the profiled material 20A, the large terminal capacity can be ensured, and the contact of the male terminal fitting can be prevented without lowering the molding efficiency. The effect can be enhanced, and at the same time, the fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting with the male terminal fitting is reduced.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view

FIG. 3 is a development view of a deformed material.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a deformed material in a developed state.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Female terminal fitting 20A ... Deformed material 21 ... Wire connection part 24 ... Terminal fitting part 25 ... Insertion opening 25A ... Edge 32 ... Elastic contact part 35 ... Inclined surface (boundary between areas with different plate thickness)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 11/11 H01R 13/10-13/11 H01R 43/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric wire connecting portion to be formed by bending a plate material having a predetermined shape to be connected to an electric wire, and an insertion opening for inserting a male terminal fitting into an opposite side to the electric wire connecting portion is opened. A box-shaped terminal fitting portion, and an elastic contact portion that extends from the edge of the insertion opening so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion and is capable of contacting the male terminal fitting. A female terminal comprising a deformed material in which a plate thickness in a region on the elastic contact portion side is smaller than a plate thickness in a region on the electric wire connection portion side with respect to a boundary arranged along an edge of the insertion port. Metal fittings. 2. The deformed material is formed such that two areas, that is, an elastic contact portion side and an electric wire connection portion side, are flush with each other on a surface which is an outer peripheral side of the insertion port, and a surface which is an inner peripheral side of the insertion port. 2. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein a step is provided between the two regions so that the plate thickness between the two regions is different. 3. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein a boundary between two regions having different plate thicknesses on an inner peripheral surface of the insertion port is an inclined surface.