JP3444398B2 - Terminal fitting connection structure and male terminal fittings - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal metal fitting connection structure and a male terminal metal fitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, a male terminal fitting and a female terminal fitting are connected to each other by forming an arcuate embossed portion c on the upper surface of an elastic contact piece b of a female terminal fitting a, and A tab e is formed on the terminal fitting d so that the left and right edges are folded back inward, and the embossed portion c is brought into contact with the surface of the tab e opposite to the folding side while elastically bending the elastic contact piece b. I am trying. In this contact mode, since the arc-shaped embossed portion c is formed on the elastic contact piece b and the tab e is brought into point contact therewith, sliding resistance at the time of fitting both the terminal fittings a and d is reduced. At the same time, the oxide on the surface of the contact portion is effectively removed by the sliding.

[0003]

As described above, the tab e is formed by folding both side edges of the tab e inward. However, it is difficult to bring the abutting ends of the folded portion f into close contact with each other. It is unavoidable that there is a slight gap g between them. If, as shown in FIG. 7, the abutting end side of the gap g is brought into contact with the embossed portion c, the protruding end of the embossed portion c bites into the gap g between the abutted ends like a wedge. , The resistance at the time of fitting becomes significantly large. Therefore, conventionally, the folded portion f of the tab e is directed to the opposite side of the embossed portion c. That is, in the conventional connection structure, the embossed portion c and the folded portion f impose a restriction on the orientation of the tab e with respect to the elastic contact piece b, and there is a problem that the degree of freedom in design is low. The present invention was created in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to eliminate restrictions on the orientation of the tab with respect to the elastic contact piece.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting having tabs formed by bending both side edges of a plate member inwardly, and a receiving portion and an elastic contact piece facing each other. A connecting structure of a terminal metal fitting, comprising: a female terminal metal fitting including: a tab between the receiving portion and the elastic contact piece so as to be able to conduct electricity. The contact surface of the tab with the tab is formed to be continuous in the width direction in a flat manner, and the surface on the outer side of the bend in both folded portions of the tab has a direction of insertion of the tab
A convex contact portion extending along the
Is in contact with the flat contact surface of the elastic contact piece.
It has a configuration.

[0005] The invention according to claim 2, comprising a tab formed by bending the both side edges of the plate material folded shape inward, the flat receiving portion and a flat resilient contact piece of the female terminal fittings that tab A male terminal fitting that is connected to the female terminal fitting so as to be able to conduct by being inserted between the tabs, and the surface of the tab that is on the outside of the bend at both folded portions is aligned with the insertion direction of the tab.
A convex contact portion that extends through the
It is possible to contact the flat contact surface of the elastic contact piece.
It has been configured.

[0006]

[Invention 1] The convex contact portion of the tab comes into line contact or point contact with the receiving portion or the elastic contact piece, and the embossed portion is not formed on the female terminal fitting side. However, the sliding resistance at the time of fitting can be reduced and the oxide on the surface of the contact portion can be removed. Since the embossed portion is not provided on either the receiving portion or the elastic contact piece on the contact surface on the female terminal metal fitting side, the orientation of the tab with respect to the female terminal metal fitting is not restricted.

[Invention of Claim 2] The convex contact portion of the tab comes into line contact or point contact with the receiving portion or the elastic contact piece, so that the embossed portion is not formed on the contact surface of the female terminal fitting side. The sliding resistance at the time of fitting can be reduced and the oxide on the surface of the contact portion can be removed. Since the embossed portion on the female terminal fitting side is unnecessary, the fitting direction of the tab and the elastic contact piece is not restricted due to the positional relationship between the embossed portion and the folded portion of the tab.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the female terminal fitting 10 according to the present embodiment, an electric wire crimping portion (not shown) is formed at the rear end portion, and a square tubular fitting portion 11 is formed at the front end portion. The fitting portion 11 is open to the front, and the tab 23 of the male terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the fitting portion 11 from the front (left side in FIG. 3) from this opening. The fitting portion 11 includes a bottom plate portion 12,
Side wall portions 13 raised from the left and right edges of the bottom plate portion 12
And an upper surface plate portion 14 in which the upper end edges of both side wall portions 13 are horizontally bent and closely adhered to each other. From the front edge of the bottom plate portion 12, an elastic contact piece 15 that is folded back into the fitting portion 11 is elastically flexibly connected. The elastic contact piece 15 is bent in a mountain shape when viewed from the side, and its extending end (folding end) is elastically contacted with the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 12. The top of the elastic contact piece 15 has a contact surface 15A with the tab 23.
When viewed from the front, it has a form in which it is continuous in the width direction with the same height. That is, the elastic contact piece 15 of the present embodiment does not have an embossed portion that bulges upward unlike the conventional elastic contact piece. Further, in the lower plate part of the two-layered upper plate part 14,
The elastic contact piece 15 is formed by tapping a part of it downward.
A receiving portion 16 is formed to face the. This receiving part 1
The lower surface of 6 is a contact surface 16A with the tab 23, and like the contact surface 15A of the elastic contact piece 15, when viewed from the front, it has a form of being flush and continuous at the same height in the width direction. There is. The tab 23 of the male terminal fitting 20 is elastically clamped between the receiving portion 16 and the elastic contact piece 15, and the male terminal fitting 20 and the female terminal fitting 10 are connected in a conductive manner.

The male terminal fitting 20 has a barrel-shaped wire crimping portion 21 formed at the rear end thereof and a box-shaped portion 22 at the center thereof.
And a tab 23 is formed at the front end. The tab 23 symmetrically folds both side edges of the elongated plate material inward toward the upper surface side (lower surface side in FIGS. 2 to 4) of FIG. It is a thing. The two folded-back portions 24 are not simply inverted by 180 ° without changing the thickness, but are deformed by a press so that the outer surface of the bend is raised in a triangular mountain shape. The raised portion is a convex contact portion 24A extending in the same direction as the inserting direction of the tab 23 into the female terminal fitting 10, and the convex contact portion 24A contacts the contact surface 15A of the elastic contact piece 15. It is supposed to be done. On the other hand, the folded portion 2 of the substrate portion 25
The outer surface on the side opposite to 4 is in contact with the contact surface 16A of the receiving portion 16 with a wide surface. Although a slight flat portion 24B is formed at the tip of the convex contact portion 24A, the tip may be angular. Further, the convex contact portion 24A is not limited to the triangular mountain shape, but may be an arc shape.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When connecting the male and female terminal fittings 10, 20, the elastic contact piece 1
The female terminal fitting 10 is housed in a connector housing (not shown) in the direction in which 5 is on the lower side, and the male terminal fitting 20 is oriented in the direction in which the folded-back portion 24 of the tab 23 is on the lower side (not shown). House inside. When both connector housings are fitted together in this orientation, the tab 23 is inserted into the fitting portion 11 of the female terminal fitting 10, and the tab 23 enters between the receiving portion 16 while elastically bending the elastic contact piece 15. To do. At this time, since the projecting end of the convex contact portion 24A of the tab 23 slides in contact with the flat contact surface 15A of the elastic contact piece 15 in a substantially point contact state, the elastic contact piece 15 does not have an embossed portion. Also, the sliding resistance at the time of fitting is reduced, and the oxides on the surfaces of the contact surface 15A and the convex contact portions 24A are rubbed and removed. As described above, since the contact surface 15A on the female terminal fitting 10 side does not require an embossed portion, the fitting between the tab 23 and the elastic contact piece 15 is caused by the positional relationship between the embossed portion and the folded portion 24 of the tab 23. The orientation of the match is not restricted.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment,
The tab 2 for the elastic contact piece 15 in the first embodiment
The direction of 3 is turned upside down. Since the configurations of the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description of the structure will be omitted. In the second embodiment, when connecting the two terminal fittings 10 and 20, the elastic contact piece 15 of the female terminal fitting 10 is the same as that of the first embodiment.
Is accommodated in a connector housing (not shown) with the lower side facing downward, while the male terminal fitting 20 is
Conversely, the tab 23 is housed in a connector housing (not shown) in such a manner that the folded-back portion 24 of the tab 23 faces upward. And if both connector housings are fitted in this direction,
The tab 23 is inserted into the fitting portion 11 of the female terminal fitting 10, and the tab 23 enters between the receiving portion 16 and the elastic contact piece 15 while elastically bending the elastic contact piece 15. At this time, since the convex contact portion 24A of the tab 23 slidably contacts the flat contact surface 16A of the receiving portion 16 in a line contact state, the sliding resistance at the time of fitting is reduced and the contact surface 16A and the convex shape. The oxide on the surface of the contact portion 24A is rubbed and removed. Also in the second embodiment, since the contact surface 15A on the female terminal fitting 10 side does not require an embossed portion, the tab 23 and the elastic contact piece 15 are caused by the positional relationship between the embossed portion and the folded portion 24 of the tab 23. There is no restriction on the direction of fitting with.

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

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal fitting according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the male terminal fitting of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which both male and female terminal fittings are fitted in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state in which both male and female terminal fittings are fitted in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state in which both male and female terminal fittings are fitted in Embodiment 2.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a virtual diagram of a conventional example in which a tab is turned upside down.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Female terminal fitting 15 ... Elastic contact piece 15A ... Contact surface 16 ... Receiver 16A ... Contact surface 20 ... Male terminal fitting 23 ... Tab 24 ... Folding section 24A ... Convex contact part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A male terminal fitting having tabs formed by bending both side edges of a plate member inwardly in a folded shape, and a female terminal fitting having a receiving portion and an elastic contact piece facing each other, A connection structure of a terminal fitting for connecting in a conductive manner by inserting a tab between the receiving portion and the elastic contact piece, wherein a contact surface between the receiving portion and the elastic contact piece with the tab is in a width direction. It is in the form of a continuous flat shape, the surface on the outer side of the bending in both folded portions of the tab,
Forming a convex contact portion extending along the inserting direction of the tab
And the convex contact portion is a flat contact surface of the elastic contact piece.
The connection structure of terminal fittings is characterized by being in contact with . 2. A plate member is provided with a tab formed by bending both side edges of the plate member inward so as to be folded back, and the tab is a flat plate of a female terminal fitting.
A male terminal fitting to be connected to be conductive with the female terminal fitting by inserting between the tongue of the receiving portion and a flat resilient contact piece, outside the surface from the bending in both folded-back portion of the tab ,
Forming a convex contact portion extending along the inserting direction of the tab
And the convex contact portion is a flat contact surface of the elastic contact piece.
The male terminal fitting is characterized in that it can be contacted with .