JP3316198B2 - Male contact - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a male contact formed by bending a single metal plate and having a base and a fitting portion for fitting to a female contact.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fitting portion is provided at one end of a base, which is manufactured by punching or bending a single metal plate.
A male contact having a wire connection at the other end is known. The base is a part for fixing the male contact to the housing. The fitting portion is a portion that fits with the female contact and makes electrical contact with an elastic contact piece having a predetermined width of the female contact. The electric wire connection part is a part that connects the male contact and the electric wire.

FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (e) are views showing respective fitting portions of a conventional male contact manufactured by punching or bending a single metal plate. .

[0004] Of these figures, FIG. 10 (a) is a cross-sectional view in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction of a fitting portion of a certain male contact (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-162191).

The fitting portion 10a has two end portions 51 extending in the fitting direction of one plate member 50a indicated by a dotted line in the drawing.
a and 51a are folded back (see arrow a in the figure),
It is formed by abutting ends at the center of the plate member.

FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction of the fitting portion of another male contact (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-192793).

The fitting portion 10b has two ends 51 extending in the fitting direction of one plate member 50b indicated by a dotted line in the drawing.
b and 51b are respectively rewound (see arrow b in the figure),
It is formed by abutting ends at the center of the plate member. Therefore, unlike the fitting portion 10a formed by folding both ends as shown in FIG. 10A, the hollow portions 52b and 52b are formed at both ends by the winding.

FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction of the fitting portion of another male contact (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-162191).

In the fitting portion 10c, the plate member 50c is folded back at a center axis extending in the fitting direction of one plate member 50c indicated by a dotted line in the figure (see arrow c in the figure). A hollow portion 52c is formed by abutting the ends of the plate member 50c side by side.

FIG. 10D is a perspective view showing a state before another bending process of a fitting portion of another male contact (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-147947).

The fitting portion formed at one end of the base portion 20d is
One plate member 50 having twice the length of the fitting portion in the fitting direction
d is the longitudinal middle portion 53 of the plate member to be the tip of the fitting portion.
At d, it is formed by folding back to the base 20d side (see arrow d in the figure).

FIG. 10 (e) is a perspective view showing a state before the bending process of the fitting portion of the male contact different from that described above, and a perspective view of the fitting portion formed by the bending process. See JP-A-9-147947).

The fitting part 10e shown in the right figure is the same as the fitting part 10e shown in the left figure.
It is formed by bending a plate member 50e. This bending is performed at both ends 51e, which extend in the fitting direction from a base (not shown) to a position just before the distal end 54d of the plate member 50e.
Each of the plate members 51e is folded back (see arrow e1 in the figure), and ends of the plate members 50e are joined at the center of the plate member 50e.
This is performed by folding the distal end side of the distal end portion 54d of the plate member toward the base side (not shown) (see arrow e2 in the figure).

[0014]

At present, depending on the intended use, it is desired to reduce the size of the male contact from the viewpoint of standards and space saving. However, it may be difficult to manufacture a conventional fitting portion as shown in FIG. 10 with a plate member having a plate thickness that satisfies a desired strength.
That is, when the fitting portion 10a formed by folding both ends as shown in FIG. 10A is formed using a plate member having a thickness that satisfies a desired strength, the width w ( 10 (a), the narrower it is, the more difficult it is to turn both ends. Also, even if both ends are folded, it is likely to be a fitting portion having a circular cross section, the contact area of the female contact with the elastic contact piece is reduced, and the reliability of electrical contact may be reduced. is there. FIG.
Fitting portion 10b formed by rewinding both ends as shown in FIG.
Has no flat portion on the upper surface and has a small contact area with the elastic contact piece of the female contact, so that the reliability of the electrical contact is low. The fitting portion 10c formed by folding the central axis as shown in FIG. 10C is formed by using a plate member having a thickness that satisfies a desired strength. As the width w becomes smaller, the fold side becomes more arcuate and the contact area of the female contact with the elastic contact piece becomes smaller, so that the reliability of the electrical contact is lower. further,
The fitting portion formed by bending the base portion toward the base side described with reference to FIG. 10D requires a plate member twice as long as the fitting portion in the fitting direction. Although the contact area is secured, there is a basic problem that productivity is low and yield is low. Further, FIG.
In addition to the basic problem that the number of steps of the folding process is large and the efficiency of productivity is low, the fitting portion 10e formed by folding at three places as shown in FIG. May damage the piece.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention can be made small with a plate member having high reliability of electrical contact with a female contact, high productivity, and a plate thickness satisfying a desired strength. It is an object to provide a male contact having a possible fitting.

[0016]

A male contact according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a base formed by bending a single metal plate and a fitting portion fitted to the female contact. In the male contact having the fitting portion, the fitting portion is formed by bending two plate members separately extending from the base portion so as to be overlapped with each other by bending the base portion, and the fitting portions are overlapped with each other. The two plate members have a flat portion formed flat on the surface of each of the two plate members on the opposite side to the surfaces that are in contact with each other and extending in the fitting direction. I do.

Although the male contact of the present invention is formed of one metal plate, the fitting portion is formed by laminating two plate members, and the fitting portion has a flat portion. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of a plate member having high reliability in electrical contact with the female contact, high productivity, and a plate thickness satisfying desired strength.

In the male contact according to the present invention, the fitting portion may be shifted from a tip end of each of the two plate members overlapped with each other in a fitting direction with the female contact. It is preferable that each protruding piece is provided with a protruding piece, and the protruding piece is obliquely bent toward each plate member side.

With this configuration, when the female contact is fitted with the female contact, the two plate members are prevented from opening even if the tip of the fitting portion collides with the housing or the like of the female contact. be able to.

Further, in the male contact of the present invention, the fitting portion has a convex portion protruding toward the other plate member on one of the two plate members stacked on each other. In addition, it is preferable that the other plate member has a concave portion with which the convex portion engages.

The engagement between the convex portion and the concave portion can prevent displacement between the two plate members in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction.

In the above-mentioned male contact of the present invention, when the both edges extending in the fitting direction of the flat portion are chamfered, the risk of damaging the female contact at the time of fitting with the female contact is reduced. And more preferred.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male contact according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The male contact 100 is formed by bending a single metal plate. The male contact 100 has a fitting portion 10 at one end of a base 20 and an electric wire connection portion 30 at the other end. The illustrated electric wires are electrically connected to each other at the electric wire connection portion 30, and are fitted to the female contacts (not shown) in the fitting direction P, and the fitting portions 10 are electrically connected to the elastic contact pieces of the female contacts. The contact to be connected. This male contact 10
Numerals 0 are fixed to a housing (not shown) and used as connectors.

Hereinafter, the male contact 100 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the male contact, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the male contact, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the male contact. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 4, respectively. FIG. 9 is a view showing a plate member before bending from a fitting portion of the male contact to a part of the base.

As shown in FIG. 9, the plate member 10p forming the fitting portion 10 has two plate members 11, 12 extending separately from the portion 20p forming the base portion 20. The two plate members 11 and 12 have the same shape and the same size, and extend separately in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1). Fitting part 1
0 is obtained by bending the two plate members 11 and 12 along the center line X in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1) of the portion 20p forming the base portion 20 and overlapping each other. The thickness of the fitting portion 10, which is the thinnest portion among the portions of the male contact 100, is about twice as large as the plate thickness of the plate member. It is possible to cope with downsizing of the fitting portion and processing is easy.

As shown in FIG. 6, the surfaces of the two plate members 11, 12 which are opposite to the surfaces of the two plate members 11, 12 which are superimposed on each other, ie, the upper plate member in FIG. Flat portions 15, 15 are provided on the upper surface 11-1 of the eleventh surface 11 and the bottom surface 12-1 of the lower plate member 12, respectively (see also FIGS. 2 to 4). This flat part 15, 1
5, even if the fitting with the female contact is slightly shifted in the left-right direction in FIG. 6, the contact of the female contact with the elastic contact piece at the flat portion 15 is ensured, and the set contact force is guaranteed. Is done. Therefore, the reliability of the electrical contact between the female contact and the elastic contact piece is improved.

In the preferred embodiment, the cross-sectional dimension of the fitting portion 10 is 0.64 mm × 0.64 mm and the flat portion 1
5 is secured 0.3 mm.

As shown in FIG. 9, two plate members 1 are provided.
Projecting pieces 13 and 14 projecting in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1) are provided at the respective distal ends of the first and second parts. The projecting pieces 13 and 14 are respectively provided with two plate members 11 and 1
2 Inner side surfaces 13-1, 14-1 extending in the extension direction of the plate member center line 1, Y2 in each fitting direction P (see FIG. 1)
And outer surfaces 13-2 and 14-2 forming the outer shape of the fitting portion 10 on the opposite side to the inner surfaces 13-1 and 14-1,
The plate members are inclined toward the ends of the projecting pieces 13 and 14 toward the center lines Y1 and Y2, respectively. Therefore, when the two plate members 11 and 12 are overlapped with each other by bending at a portion forming the base 20, the projecting positions are shifted from the respective tips of the two plate members 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. Each of them protrudes in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1).

Further, as shown in FIG.
The plates 3 and 14 are bent obliquely toward the respective plate members 11 and 12. That is, in FIG. 2, the projecting piece 13 of the upper plate member 11 is bent obliquely toward the lower plate member 12, and the projecting piece 14 of the lower plate member 12 is obliquely bent toward the upper plate member 11. It is bent. This is to prevent the two plate members 11 and 12 from opening even when the tip of the fitting portion 10 collides with the housing or the like of the female contact at the time of fitting with the female contact. is there.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when two plate members 11 and 12 are superimposed on each other, the surfaces of the two plate members that come into contact with each other are as follows. On each surface of the projecting pieces 13 and 14 on the opposite side,
Inclined portions 13-3 and 14-3 are formed such that the thickness of the protruding piece decreases toward the tip of the protruding piece (see also FIGS. 2 and 8).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, of the two plate members 11 and 12 forming the fitting portion 10, the plate member center line of the lower plate member 12 in FIGS. In the vicinity of Y2 (see FIG. 9), a convex portion 16 protruding toward the upper plate member 11 is provided. Further, the upper plate member 11 in FIGS. 7 and 8 is provided with a concave portion 17 with which the convex portion 16 is engaged near the plate member center line Y1 (see FIG. 9). The engagement between the convex portion 16 and the concave portion 17 prevents the two plate members 11 and 12 from being displaced from each other in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1). The upper plate member 11 may be provided with a protrusion projecting toward the lower plate member 12, and the lower plate member 12 may be provided with a concave portion with which the protrusion engages.

The male contact 100 further includes a base 20 and a wire connection 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the base 20 includes a lance 21 for fixing the male contact 100 to a housing (not shown), and a stabilizer 22 for stabilizing the posture of the male contact 100 in the housing. The connection part 30 is an insulation barrel 31 that presses a covering part of an electric wire (not shown).
And a wire barrel 32 for electrically connecting the core wires. Insulation barrel 31 and wire barrel 3
In the second step, the sheath portion and the core wire of the electric wire are tightened and crimped by bending.

In this embodiment, the thinner the plate member is, the more the material is saved and the easier the manufacture of the male contact is. Therefore, the strength of the male contact 10 is calculated as follows.
It is made of a plate member having a minimum thickness that satisfies the desired strength. On the other hand, the width and height of the fitting portion are defined by standards and the like. In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the thickness of the plate member to the minimum thickness that satisfies the desired strength and to satisfy the specified conditions of the width and height of the fitting portion, as shown in FIG. In the vicinity of both ends extending in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1) of each of the plate members 11, 12, legs 18, 18, 18, 18, which are obliquely erected in directions opposite to each other, are provided. ing. The inclined surfaces 18-1, 18 of the legs 18, 18, 18, 18 on the flat portions 15, 15 side.
-1, 18-1 and 18-1 indicate the fitting direction P of the fitting portion 10.
(See FIG. 1) also serves as a chamfer at each end extending to
It prevents the female contacts from being damaged during fitting. Further, with the formation of the legs 18, 18, 18, 18, a hollow portion 19 is formed near the central axis of the fitting portion 10 extending in the fitting direction P (see FIG. 1).

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the reliability of the electrical contact with the female contact, and at the same time, provide a plate member having a high productivity and a plate thickness satisfying the desired strength. A male contact having a fitting portion that can be formed small can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male contact according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a male contact.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a bottom view of a male contact.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a male contact.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a front view of a male contact.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view along AA in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a BB cross-sectional view in FIG. 3;

8 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a view showing a plate member before bending from a fitting portion of the male contact to a part of the base.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a fitting portion of a conventional male contact.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e Fitting portion 10p Plate member forming a fitting portion 11, 12 Plate member 11-1 Upper surface 12-1 Bottom surface 13, 14 Projection piece 13-1, 14-1 Inner surface 13-2, 14-2 Outer side surface 13-3, 14-3 Inclined portion 15 Flat portion 16 Convex portion 17 Concave portion 18 Leg portion 18-1 Inclined surface 19 Cavity portion 20 Base portion 20p Base forming portion 21 Lance 22 Stabilizer 30 Wire connection part 31 Insulation barrel 32 Wire barrel 100 Male contact P Fitting direction X Center line Y1, Y2 Plate member center line

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-31487 (JP, A) JP-A-8-77857 (JP, A) JP-A-10-3956 (JP, A) JP-A-8-162191 (JP) , A) JP-A-7-192793 (JP, A) JP-A-9-147947 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/14 H01R 43/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A male contact having a base portion formed by bending a single metal plate and a fitting portion fitted to a female contact, wherein the fitting portion is separately provided from the base portion. The two extending plate members are formed by being overlapped with each other by bending at the base portion, and the fitting portion is formed on the opposite side of the mutually contacting surfaces of the two plate members that are overlapped with each other. , Formed flat on each of the two plate members,
A male contact having a flat portion extending in a fitting direction. 2. The method according to claim 2, wherein the fitting portions are two
Protruding pieces that protrude in the fitting direction with the female contacts by displacing the protruding positions from the respective distal ends of the plate members, and the protruding pieces are obliquely bent toward the respective plate members. The male contact according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fitting portions are two
The one plate member of the sheet members has a convex portion protruding toward the other plate member, and the other plate member has a concave portion with which the convex portion engages. The male contact according to 1.