JP3523030B2 - Terminal structure - 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 structure having a conductive contact plate portion that elastically presses against the surface of a male tab terminal to be inserted on the mating side, and more particularly to a general-purpose female terminal. Shape terminal structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a terminal structure of a connector, as shown in FIG. 7, a box-shaped female terminal 1 and a plate-shaped male tab terminal 2 are used. Inserting the male tab terminal 2 between the contact plate portion 4 formed in a cantilever shape and having a spring property to bring the terminals into contact with each other allows the electric wires connected to the terminals 1 and 2 to be electrically connected to each other. There is something to plan.

In order to suppress an increase in the electric resistance at the electric connection between the terminals due to the use of the terminals over time or under the adverse environment, for example, "Terminal of JP-A-59-59480" is disclosed. In the "electrode portion", as shown in FIG. 8, the contact plate portion 4 of the female terminal 1 is formed on the curved surface 8 recessed in the width direction, and both edges 9 extending in the extending direction of the contact plate portion 4 are male. It has been proposed that the projection 7 contacting the tab terminal forms a local electrical contact. As a result, the electric connecting portion is provided airtightly while elastic pressing force is concentrated on a very small area,
The contact surface with the outside air was reduced and the rise in electrical contact resistance could be suppressed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional terminal structure, regardless of the form of the contact plate portion 4 of the female terminal 1, only the male tab terminal having a predetermined size is suitable. It was That is, the male tab terminal 2 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, in the case where the insertion into the female terminal 1 is formed to have the predetermined size of (a), it reaches the apex of the contact plate portion 4 and good contact with the contact plate portion 4 can be achieved. In contrast,
In the case of the short dimension of (b), the contact plate portion 4 did not reach the apex, and good connection could not be achieved. Temporarily, one type of female terminal can be connected to the mating male tab terminal to which the connector is fitted, or it can be connected to a short bus bar terminal formed by the bus bar on the circuit board, resulting in different shape dimensions. If it can be applied to the male tab terminal, it will be compatible and the number of parts will be reduced, and it is desirable that the management cost can be reduced. However, as described above, since the conventional structure lacks versatility, only the corresponding terminals can be applied, which causes a problem such as an increase in the number of parts. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a terminal structure of a female terminal that can be applied without being affected by the form of a male tab terminal, and to ensure versatility and reduce management costs. And

[0005]

The terminal structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object has a terminal having a conductive contact plate portion elastically pressed against the surface of the male tab terminal by inserting the male tab terminal. In the structure, a plurality of contact protrusions protruding from the plate surface of the contact plate portion and contacting the male tab terminal surface are formed on a straight line in the terminal insertion direction.

In this terminal structure, since a plurality of contact protrusions that come into contact with the surface of the male tab terminal are formed along the terminal insertion direction, the contact protrusions are formed even for short male tab terminals with a small insertion amount. One of them can contact and always connect.

Further, in the terminal structure according to the present invention, the plurality of contact protrusions are projected from the free end side of the contact plate portion formed by bending the substrate portion into a cantilever shape toward the bent base portion. It may be characterized in that it is formed so that the amount increases sequentially.

In this terminal structure, the plurality of contact protrusions are
Since it is formed so that it gradually increases from the free end side of the contact plate portion toward the bent base portion, the spring force may be insufficient by contacting the male tab terminal only with the contact protrusions near the bent base portion. Even in such a case, it is possible to compensate for the insufficient engagement force by the amount of protrusion.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a terminal structure according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the terminal structure according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an essential part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a terminal structure for explaining the operation. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector terminal structure 1
0 is a female terminal 11 formed by bending one conductive metal plate.
The male tab terminal 2 in the mating connector housing is housed in a connector housing (not shown).
(See FIG. 7).

The female terminal 11 has an electric wire connecting portion 12a for crimping and crimping the electric wire 60 and a conductor connecting portion 12b for crimping and crimping the conductor 62 on the rear end side, and a male tab terminal on the front end side. An electrical connection portion 14 is formed that makes electrical contact with the second electrode 2.

The electrical connection portion 14 is formed by bending a pair of shoulder pieces extending from the base plate portion 13 from the left and right sides to form a box shape, and bending the tip end of the base plate portion 13 toward the rear side to form a cantilever. It has a contact plate portion 15 formed in a box shape and arranged in the box body. The contact plate portion 15 is formed in a high mountain shape in the central portion, and the front surface side and the rear surface side are inclined surfaces 17 and 19. The contact plate portion 15 sandwiches the male tab terminal with the box-shaped electrode surface so that the male tab terminal surface can be elastically press-contacted in the vicinity of the central portion of the chevron. As clearly shown in FIG. 2, a conical first contact protrusion 21 is formed on the top. Also, the front side inclined surface 1
A second conical second contact protrusion 23 is formed at the top of 7 as well. That is, these contact protrusions 2
Nos. 1 and 23 are provided so as to project along the terminal insertion direction, and elastic pressing force can be concentrated on the male tab terminal surface. In addition, the contact plate portion 15 has an inclined surface 17 on the front surface that applies a spring pressure to the male tab terminal and serves as an insertion guide surface for the male tab terminal.

In the terminal structure 10 thus configured, when the tab size of the male tab terminal 2 is long, as shown in FIG. The contact projection 21 presses the surface of the male tab terminal under pressure to establish an electrical connection. On the other hand, the tab size of the male tab terminal 2 is short, and as shown in FIG. 3B, the male tab terminal 2 reaches the central portion of the chevron of the contact plate portion 15 with the male tab terminal 2 inserted in the electrical connection portion 14. If not, the second contact protrusion 23 presses the surface of the male tab terminal to establish an electrical connection. That is, in this terminal structure 10, since a plurality of contact protrusions that come into contact with the male tab terminal surface are formed along the terminal insertion direction, the contact plate portion 15 is always irrespective of the tab size of the male tab terminal 2. An electric connection can always be made with a contact allowance.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the shape of the contact protrusions is different from that of the previous embodiment, and the other portions are formed in the same manner, so the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the terminal structure 30 of this embodiment, the corrugated first contact protrusion portion 31 having a shape orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction is formed on the top of the contact plate portion 15. Further, a corrugated second contact protrusion 33 having a shape that is also orthogonal to the terminal insertion direction is formed at a portion near the top of the inclined surface 17 on the front surface side. That is, these contact protrusions 31, 33
Is provided so as to project along the terminal insertion direction, and the elastic pressing force can be concentrated on the male tab terminal surface. In addition, the contact plate portion 15 has an inclined surface 17 on the front surface that applies a spring pressure to the male tab terminal and serves as an insertion guide surface for the male tab terminal.

In the terminal structure 30 thus constructed, the first and second contact protrusions 31 and 33 act in the same manner as in the previous embodiment, and can always contact the male tab terminal.
However, because it is formed in such a wave shape,
The contact plate portion 1 that abuts the male tab terminal, assuming that the spring pressure of the contact plate portion 15 is equivalent to that of the previous embodiment.
The insertion force of the male tab terminal can be reduced as much as the contact surface of 5 increases due to the wave shape.

Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In these embodiments, the contact protrusions of FIG. 5 have a conical shape similar to the contact protrusions of FIG. 2, and the contact protrusions of FIG. 6 have a wavy shape similar to the contact protrusions of FIG. Only the difference is formed,
Since both embodiments are substantially the same, these embodiments will be described simultaneously.

In the terminal structures 40 and 50 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first contact protrusions 41 and 51 are formed on the top of the contact plate portion 15. In addition, the inclined surface 1 on the front surface side of the contact plate portion 15
Second contact protrusions 43 and 53 are formed on the top of the contact point 7. These contact protrusions 41, 51, 43,
Reference numeral 53 is formed so that the amount of protrusion is gradually increased from the free end side of the contact plate portion 15 which is formed into a cantilever shape by bending the substrate portion 13 from the tip end toward the bent base portion. That is, the second contact protrusions 43, 53 are formed to have a larger protrusion amount than the first contact protrusions 41, 51. The other forms are formed in the same manner as the above-mentioned respective embodiments.

In the terminal structures 40 and 50 constructed in this way, when the tab size of the male tab terminal is long, the small first contact point protrusions 41 and 5 are used as described in the previous embodiment.
1 press-contacts the male tab terminal surface to establish an electrical connection.
On the other hand, when the tab size of the male tab terminal is short, the large second contact protrusions 43 and 53 press-contact the surface of the male tab terminal for electrical connection. In this case, since the second contact protrusions 43, 53 are formed in the portion of the contact plate portion 15 near the bent base portion, the distance from the male tab terminal increases and the engagement force becomes insufficient. However, since the amount of protrusion is large so as to make up for this lack of engagement force, the first contact point protrusions 41, 51 make contact with the same pressing force as when pressing the male tab terminal surface. it can.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the contact protrusions are formed on the two contact plate portions, but the present invention is not limited to this, and two or more contact members may be provided. You can Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the terminal structure of a connector is described, but the terminal structure of the present invention may be applied to a relay connector, a joint connector, a bus bar terminal, or the like.

[0019]

As described in detail above, the terminal structure according to the present invention can always provide good electrical connection regardless of the tab size of the male tab terminal. As a result, the terminal structures have compatibility, and for example, it is possible to prevent an increase in the number of parts and reduce management costs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a terminal structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view explaining the operation of the terminal structure of FIG.
(A) is a case of a long male tab terminal, (b) is a case of a short male tab terminal.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a terminal structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a terminal structure according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a terminal structure according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional terminal structure.

8 is an enlarged view of a main part of the terminal structure of FIG. 7, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of (a).

9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the terminal structure of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Male tab terminals 10, 30, 40, 50 terminal structure 13 Board part 14 Electrical connection 15 Contact plate 17 Inclined surface 21, 31, 41, 51 First contact protrusion 23, 33, 43, 53 Second contact protrusion

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/115 H01R 13/11

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a terminal structure having a conductive contact plate portion that elastically presses against the surface of the male tab terminal when the male tab terminal is inserted, the terminal structure projects from the plate surface of the contact plate portion and contacts the surface of the male tab terminal. Align the contact protrusions that come into contact with
A terminal structure characterized in that a plurality of terminals are formed . 2. A protruding portion of the plurality of contact protrusions is sequentially increased from a free end side of the contact plate portion formed by bending the substrate portion into a cantilever shape toward a bent base portion. The terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein: