JP3541748B2 - Terminal relay structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a terminal relay structure in which a pair of tab pieces are connected to each other by a relay terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a structure for conducting a pair of tab pieces through a relay terminal, there is a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-102345 (see FIGS. 9 and 10). The relay terminal 1 includes a pair of connecting portions 2A and 2B formed in a substantially B-shaped cross section. A pair of tab pieces are inserted into the connecting portions 2A and 2B in opposite directions to be connectable. I have. In addition, a pair of elastic retaining pieces 3 project inward from both left and right sides of one connecting portion 2A. Further, one of the tab pieces 4 of the pair of tab pieces connected to the relay terminal 1 is provided with a pair of retaining recesses 5 capable of engaging with the elastic retaining piece 3. When connecting the two tab pieces, the other tab piece (not shown) is inserted into the connecting portion 2B, and the tab piece 4 is inserted into the connecting portion 2A, and the elastic retaining piece 3 is inserted. And the retaining recess 5 are engaged. By engaging the elastic retaining piece 3 and the retaining recess 5 in this manner, the relay terminal 1 and the tab piece 4 are in the retaining state. Therefore, when the other tab piece is pulled out after the two tab pieces are connected by the relay terminal 1, the relay terminal 1 is prevented from moving along with the pulled out tab piece and falling out of the tab piece 4. ing.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above structure, since both connecting portions 2A and 2B of the relay terminal 1 have a shape very similar to each other, a tab piece is mistakenly attached to the connecting portion 2B without the elastic retaining piece 3 at the time of connecting work. 4 and the other tab piece may be connected to the connection portion 2A side. In such a case, it is necessary to temporarily remove the relay terminal 1 and both the tab pieces, turn the relay terminal 1 in the reverse direction, and then perform the connection again, and the connection work is complicated.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal relay structure capable of improving workability at the time of connection.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal relay structure for solving the above-mentioned problems , comprising: a retaining tab portion protruding from a deep portion of a cavity of a housing; and a relay terminal housed in the cavity. It is a relay structure of a terminal provided with an insertion-side tab piece that is electrically connected to the retaining-side tab piece through the relay terminal, wherein both sides of the relay terminal are connection portions into which the two tab pieces can be inserted. And the both connecting portions are provided with retaining stopper receiving portions, respectively, and the insertion / removal side tab pieces are freely inserted / removed with respect to both of the both connecting portions. On the other hand, the retaining tab portion is provided with a retaining portion that is connected to the retaining receiving portion to prevent the retaining tab portion and the connection portion from being removed, and the retaining receiving portion is Press the tab piece inserted in the connection part Elastic retaining piece that urges as described above, the retaining portion is a retaining concave portion that can be engaged with this elastic retaining piece, and further, the relay terminal has a symmetrical structure in the triaxial direction, It is characterized in that the cavity can be accommodated in any of a front-back inversion and a front-back inversion in the insertion direction .
[0009]
Function and Effect of the Invention
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the pair of tab pieces are connected to the connection portion of the relay terminal, a retaining receiving portion provided on the connecting portion of the relay terminal and a retaining recess provided on the retaining side tab piece. Are connected to each other, so that both are stopped. Therefore, after the connection of the two tabs piece to the relay terminal, pull an insert or remove side tab pieces, the relay terminal is held in retaining state retaining side tabs piece without motion bring the tab piece is pulled out. At this time, the relay terminal has a symmetrical structure in the triaxial direction, and can be used in a posture in which the relay terminal is turned upside down and upside down, so that workability at the time of connection is further improved.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
<First embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views of a relay terminal 30 and a pair of tab pieces 10 and 20 to which the terminal relay structure of the present embodiment is applied, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the relay terminal 30. In the following description, the front (F) and rear (B), the left (L) right (R), and the upper (Up) and lower (Lo) directions are indicated by reference numerals indicated by arrows in the drawing.
[0014]
One of the pair of tab pieces is an insertion / removal side tab piece 20 (corresponding to “one side tab piece” of the present invention), and is provided at one end of a terminal fitting (not shown) as a whole. The insertion / removal-side tab piece 20 is formed of a conductive metal material in a flat plate shape, and its length is slightly smaller than half the length of a cavity 13 described later.
[0015]
The other of the pair of tab pieces is a retaining tab piece 10 (corresponding to the “tab piece on the other side” of the present invention), and is a terminal fitting (not shown) embedded in a synthetic resin housing 11. ) Part of. The housing 11 includes a cavity 13 that can accommodate the relay terminal 30, and an insertion port 12 is opened on the front surface (the lower side in FIGS. 1 and 2). The retaining-side tab piece 10 is formed of a conductive metal member into a substantially flat plate shape having substantially the same shape as the insertion-side tab piece 20, and is slightly more than half along the length direction of the cavity 13 from the back of the cavity 13. Projected to short dimensions. The retaining side tab piece 10 is provided with a pair of U-shaped notch retaining recesses 15 (corresponding to the “retaining retaining portion” of the present invention) near the tips of both side edges in the width direction. . Both retaining recesses 15 can be engaged with elastic retaining pieces 36 provided on the relay terminal 30 as described later.
[0016]
On the other hand, the relay terminal 30 is formed in a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape having left and right side walls 31 and upper and lower walls 37 by bending a conductive metal plate material. As will be described below, the relay terminals 30 move in the front (F) and rear (B) directions (up and down directions in FIGS. 1 and 2), left (L) and right (R) directions (left and right directions in FIG. 1) and upward. The structure is substantially symmetrical in three directions of (Up) lower (Lo) direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2). The relay terminal 30 can be accommodated in the cavity 13 along the front-rear direction, and the center of the left and right side walls 31 is provided with a rattling preventing projection 32 capable of contacting the inner wall of the cavity 13. I have. The front part and the rear part of the relay terminal 30 are connection parts 33 to which both of the tab pieces 10 and 20 can be connected. Tab piece insertion openings 34 are respectively opened in the front and rear end faces of the relay terminal 30, from which the two tab pieces 10 and 20 are connected to each other from opposite directions along the axis X shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 33 can be inserted. Each of the pair of front and rear tab insertion holes 34 is provided with a pair of elastic contact pieces 35 that are folded back from the center of each of the upper and lower walls 37 toward the inside of the tab insertion hole 34. When the tab pieces (10 or 20) are inserted between the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 35, the distal end portions bend outwardly to deform each other, and can be elastically contacted with the tab pieces.
[0017]
In addition, each of the pair of front and rear connection portions 33 is provided with a pair of elastic retaining pieces 36 formed by cutting and raising the left and right side walls 31 from the vicinity of the hole edge of the tab piece insertion port 34 toward the center. "Corresponding to a" retaining stopper "). The pair of left and right elastic retaining pieces 36 elastically abut against the tab pieces (10 or 20) inserted into the connecting portion 33 and can be urged to press the tab pieces from the width direction thereof. . The pair of left and right elastic retaining pieces 36 can be engaged with the pair of retaining recesses 15 of the retaining side tab piece 10. And the relay terminal 30 are prevented from coming off.
[0018]
This embodiment has the above configuration, and its operation will be described next.
To connect the two tab pieces 10 and 20, first, the relay terminal 30 is inserted into the cavity 13 from the insertion opening 12 of the housing 11. At this time, since the pair of connecting portions 33 provided on the relay terminal 30 have the same configuration, any one of the connecting portions 33 may be inserted into the cavity 13 with the back side being the back side. In addition, the relay terminal 30 has a substantially symmetrical structure in the vertical and horizontal directions. That is, since the relay terminal 30 has a substantially point-symmetrical structure with respect to the axis X in the insertion direction of the tab pieces 10 and 20, if the horizontal direction (or the vertical direction) is adjusted to the direction of the cavity 13, It may be inserted into the cavity 13 in a posture inverted around X.
[0019]
When the relay terminal 30 is inserted into the cavity 13, the tip end of the retaining tab piece 10 enters the connecting portion 33 from the tab piece insertion port 34 on the back side, and the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 35 are moved outward from each other. Penetrating while bending. In addition, the left and right elastic retaining pieces 36 abut against both side edges of the retaining side tab piece 10, and are flexed and deformed outward. When the relay terminal 30 is further pushed in, the tip of the elastic retaining piece 36 slides on the left and right side edges of the retaining tab 10, reaches the retaining recess 15, and the elastic retaining piece 36 returns to the inside and deforms. Its tip engages with the retaining recess 15 (see FIG. 4). As a result, the relay terminal 30 is retained inside the cavity 13 by the retaining side tab pieces 10 in a retaining state, and the both terminals 10 and 30 are electrically connected via the elastic contact pieces 35.
[0020]
Next, the removal side tab piece 20 is inserted into the tab piece insertion port 34 on the front side of the relay terminal 30 through the insertion port 12 of the cavity 13. Then, the pair of upper and lower elastic contact pieces 35 are bent outwardly, and elastically contact the insertion / removal side tab pieces 20 pushed in between. Further, the left and right elastic retaining pieces 36 abut against the left and right side edges of the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 and are bent outward, and slide in contact with the left and right side edges until the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 is inserted with a regular length. (See FIGS. 5 and 6). Thus, the connection operation is completed, and both tab pieces 10 and 20 are brought into a conductive state via the relay terminal 30.
[0021]
By the way, in this connection state, the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 is elastically sandwiched by the two elastic contact pieces 35 with respect to the relay terminal 30, but is not particularly provided with a retaining structure. For this reason, if it pulls out so as to oppose the elastic force of both elastic contact pieces 35, the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 can be pulled out from the relay terminal 30. That is, when pulling out the insertion / removal side tab piece 20, a pulling force acts between the relay terminal 30 and the retaining side tab piece 10 due to a frictional force or the like between the two tab pieces 10, 20 and the respective elastic contact pieces 35. However, since the relay terminal 30 is prevented from being removed by the engagement between the left and right elastic retaining pieces 36 and the retaining recesses 15, the relay terminal 30 moves along with the insertion-side tab pieces 20, and the It will not be extracted.
[0022]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the retaining tab piece 10 is inserted into the one connection portion 33 of the relay terminal 30, the elastic retaining piece 36 and the retaining recess 15 are engaged, and The stop side tab piece 10 and the relay terminal 30 are in a retaining state. For this reason, if the removal-side tab piece 20 is pulled out after the two tab pieces 10 and 20 are connected to the relay terminal 30, the relay terminal 30 does not move along with the pulled-out tab piece 20, and the removal-side tab piece 10 does not move. Is held in a retaining state. The relay terminal 30 has a symmetrical structure in the front-rear direction, and the two connecting portions 33 have the same effect on any of the tab pieces 10 and 20, so that they may be assembled in any direction. Workability is improved.
[0023]
Further, since the relay terminal 30 has a substantially point-symmetrical structure with respect to the axis X in the inserting direction of the tab pieces 10, 20, the relay terminal 30 can be used even when it is inverted around the axis X. Therefore, workability at the time of connection is further improved.
[0024]
< Reference example >
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the structure similar to 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.
In the present embodiment, the width dimension A of the retaining side tab piece 40 (corresponding to the “retaining part” of the present invention) is formed larger than the width dimension B of the inserting / removing side tab piece 20. On the other hand, in the relay terminal 50, ribs 53 (corresponding to the “holding portion” of the present invention) are formed by inwardly projecting from the left and right side walls 52 of the pair of front and rear connection portions 51. The distal end surface of each rib 53 is a flat surface, and the interval C between the right and left ribs 53 is slightly smaller than the width A of the retaining side tab piece 40 and the width B of the inserting / removing side tab piece 20. (That is, each interval satisfies the magnitude relationship of A>C> B).
The relay terminal 50 has a symmetrical structure in the front-rear direction similarly to the first embodiment, and has a substantially point-symmetrical structure about the axis Y in the inserting direction of the tab pieces 20, 40. .
[0025]
To connect the two tab pieces 20 and 40, first, the relay terminal 50 is inserted into the cavity 13 from the insertion port 12. Then, the retaining tab pieces 40 enter the connecting portion 51 through the tab insertion holes 34 on the rear side, the left and right side edges thereof abut against the left and right ribs 53, and the retaining tab pieces 40 are interposed therebetween. Pushed. When the relay terminal 50 is pushed in as it is, the retaining tab piece 40 enters the inside while rubbing against the left and right ribs 53, and is pushed in between while bending the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 35 outward. When the entire relay terminal 50 is inserted into the cavity 13 in this manner, the retaining tab piece 40 is held by the frictional force between the left and right ribs 53, so that the relay terminal 50 and the retaining tab piece 40 are retained. Connected in state. Next, when the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 is inserted into the front side tab piece insertion port 34 through the insertion port 12, the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 does not come into contact with the left and right ribs 53, but the upper and lower elastic contact pieces 35. The two are elastically connected to each other (see FIG. 8). Thereby, both tab pieces 20 and 40 are connected in a conductive state via relay terminal 50.
In this connection state, when the insertion / removal side tab piece 20 is pulled out of the cavity 13, since the retaining side tab piece 40 is held by the left and right ribs 53, the relay terminal 50 is connected to the insertion / removal side tab piece 20. It is retained in the retaining tab portion 40 in the retaining state without being moved.
[0026]
By Reference Example, the relay terminal 50 may be assembled in the side connected to one of the connection portions 51 to the retainer side tab piece 40, also centered on the axis Y of the insertion direction of both the tab pieces 20, 40 It is possible to assemble even in a state of being inverted around the axis Y. Therefore, workability at the time of connection is improved. Further, in the present embodiment, since a portion corresponding to the retaining portion of the present invention is formed by making the retaining side tab piece 40 wider than the inserting / removing side tab piece 20, manufacturing is easy.
[0027]
The technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiments. For example, the followings are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, the technical scope of the present invention extends to an equivalent range.
(1) In each of the above embodiments, the relay terminal 30 (or 50) has a symmetrical structure in the front-rear direction, and has a point-symmetrical structure with the insertion direction of the tab pieces 10, 20 (or 10, 40) as axes. However, according to the present invention, it is only necessary that the connecting portion has the same function with respect to both tab pieces, and it is not necessarily required to have a symmetrical structure in the front-rear direction, or the connection point may be positioned with respect to the axis in the insertion direction of both tab pieces. It does not have to be a symmetric structure.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view showing a state before connection in the first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state before connection; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a relay terminal; FIG. flat cross-section showing a state before connection in cross-sectional plan view and FIG. 5 cross-sectional plan view showing a connection completed state [6] a side sectional view showing a connection completed state [7] reference example showing the assembled state of the relay terminal FIG. 8 is a plan sectional view showing a connection completed state. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional terminal relay structure. FIG. 10 is a plan sectional view showing a conventional relay terminal and tab piece connected state. Description】
10: Tab pieces on the retaining side (tab pieces on the other side)
15: Retaining recess (retaining portion)
20 ... Removal side tab piece (one side tab piece)
Reference numeral 30: relay terminal 33: connecting part 36: elastic retaining piece (retaining receiving part)
40 ... tab pieces on the retaining side (tab pieces on the other side, retaining section)
50 relay terminal 51 connecting part 52 rib (holding part, retaining receiving part)
X, Y ... axes in the inserting direction of both tab pieces

Claims (1)

A retaining tab piece protruding from the inner part of the cavity of the housing, a relay terminal housed in the cavity, and an inserting / removing tab piece electrically connected to the retaining tab piece through the relay terminal. A terminal relay structure comprising:
The relay terminal is formed in a substantially square cylindrical shape on both sides of which are connection portions into which both tab pieces can be inserted,
Each of the two connection portions is provided with a retaining stopper receiving portion, and the insertion / removal-side tab piece is freely insertable / removable with respect to both of the two connection portions. A retaining portion is provided, which is connected to the retaining receiving portion to prevent the retaining tab portion and the connecting portion from being removed,
The retaining receiving portion is an elastic retaining piece that urges the tab piece inserted into the connecting portion so as to press the tab piece, and the retaining portion is configured to engage with the elastic retaining piece. Stop recess
Furthermore, the relay terminal is characterized in that the relay terminal has a symmetrical structure in three axial directions, and can be accommodated in the cavity in any of a front-back inversion and a front-back inversion in the insertion direction .

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