JP4840386B2 - Contact device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a contact device suitable for a power load relay, an electromagnetic switch or the like.

  Conventionally, a so-called normally-open contact device in which the contact is turned off in an initial state is known, and is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Hereinafter, a conventional example of this type of contact device will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the vertical direction in FIG. 6 is defined as the vertical direction. In this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 6, a pair of fixed terminals 11 having a fixed contact 11a and a movable contact 20 having a movable contact portion 20b contacting and separating from the fixed contact 11a are accommodated in a sealing container 10. A contact block A, a drive block B that drives the movable contact 20 so that the movable contact portion 20b contacts and separates from the fixed contact 11a, and a box-shaped case 5 in which the contact block A and the drive block B are housed. Be prepared.

  The sealing container 10 is formed in a box shape whose one surface is opened by a heat-resistant material such as ceramic, and through holes 10a are provided at two places on the upper bottom portion thereof. A part of the fixed terminal 11 formed in a substantially bottomed cylindrical shape with, for example, a copper-based material or the like is inserted into the through holes 10a. A fixed contact 11a is fixed to the lower end portion of the fixed terminal 11, and a flange portion 11b is provided at the upper end portion. The fixed terminal 11 is hermetically joined to the sealing container 10 by brazing or the like in the vicinity of the flange 11b with the upper end portion protruding from the sealing container 10. Further, the fixed terminal 11 is formed with a thread groove 11c from the opening side toward the inside, and one end of the external terminal 12 for connecting to an external electric circuit (not shown) is connected to the fixed terminal 11. The fixed terminal 11 and the external terminal 12 are joined by contacting the upper end and screwing the fixing screw 13 into the screw groove 11c.

  A movable contact 20 is disposed below the fixed terminal 11. The movable contact 20 is formed, for example, in a flat plate shape using a copper-based material or the like, and has an interval that makes contact with and separates from the fixed contact 11a. An insertion hole 20a is provided at the center of the movable contact 20, and the upper end of the movable shaft 21 is inserted through the insertion hole 20a. The movable contact 20 is elastically biased in a direction (upward) in which the movable contact portion 20b contacts the fixed contact 11a by a contact pressure spring 22 described later.

  A fixed iron core 30 is disposed on the upper portion of the movable shaft 21 so as to cover the entire circumference thereof. The fixed iron core 30 is formed in a substantially columnar shape, and an insertion hole 30a through which the movable shaft 21 is inserted is provided along the axial direction at the center of the cross section. The fixed core 30 is disposed so that the upper end portion is fixedly inserted through an insertion hole 34a of the fixed plate 34 described later, and the lower end portion is opposed to the upper end portion of the movable core 31 described later. Further, a cap 36 for preventing the fixed iron core 30 from coming off is covered on the upper end portion of the fixed iron core 30.

  A movable iron core 31 is disposed below the movable shaft 21 so as to cover the entire circumference. The movable iron core 31 is formed in a substantially columnar shape, and an insertion hole 31a through which the movable shaft 21 is inserted is provided along the axial direction at the approximate center of the cross section. The movable core 31 has an upper end in the axial direction facing a lower end of the fixed core 30, and a recess 31 b having an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the insertion hole 31 a is provided at the lower end. Further, the movable iron core 31 is a sliding surface whose outer peripheral surface slides on an inner peripheral surface of a bottomed cylindrical portion 33 described later.

  A return spring 32 is disposed in the insertion hole 30 a of the fixed iron core 30. The return spring 32 elastically biases the movable iron core 31 in a direction in which the movable contact portion 20b is separated from the fixed contact 11a, and has a small inner diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the insertion hole 30a of the fixed iron core 30. Consists of. The return spring 32 is extrapolated to the movable shaft 21 inserted through the insertion hole 30 a of the fixed core 30, and a lower end portion thereof is fixed to the upper end portion of the movable core 31 and an upper end portion is fixed to the cap 36. The bottomed cylindrical part 33 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape with a nonmagnetic material, and houses the movable iron core 31 on the lower bottom part side, and houses the fixed iron core 30 facing the movable iron core 31 on the opening part side.

  The fixed plate 34 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape by a magnetic metal material such as iron, and is connected to a yoke 42 described later to form a magnetic circuit together with the fixed core 30 and the movable core 31. As described above, the fixing plate 34 is provided with the insertion hole 34a through which the upper end of the fixed iron core 30 is fixed before being fixed, and the vicinity of the insertion hole 34a is hermetically joined to the bottomed cylindrical portion 33. . A contact pressure spring 22 made of a compression coil spring is disposed between the fixed plate 34 and the movable contact 20 in a state of being extrapolated to the movable shaft 21, and the movable contact 20 contacts the fixed contact 11a. The movable contact 20 is elastically biased in a direction (upward).

  A joining member 35 is disposed between the sealing container 10 and the fixed plate 34. The joining member 35 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape from a metal material, and the inner peripheral edge of the opening on the upper end side is located inside the inner peripheral surface of the sealing container 10. An upper end portion of the joining member 35 is hermetically joined to the opening end portion of the sealing container 10, and a lower end portion thereof is hermetically joined to the fixing plate 34. Further, the joining member 35 is bent along the entire circumference of the cylindrical portion, and the opening cross section on the lower end side is formed larger than the opening cross section on the upper end side. The joining member 35 is hermetically joined to the sealing container 10 and the fixed plate 34 described above, thereby forming an airtight space for accommodating the fixed contact 11a and the movable contact portion 20b, the fixed iron core 30 and the movable iron core 31. In addition, a gas mainly composed of hydrogen is hermetically sealed in this hermetic space.

  Next, the drive block B will be described. The drive block B includes a coil 41 formed by winding a coil winding around a coil bobbin 40 and a yoke 42 surrounding the coil 41. The yoke 42 is formed in a substantially U shape with a central piece and both opposing pieces, and a through hole 42a through which the bottomed cylindrical portion 33 is inserted is provided in the central piece. The yoke 42 forms a magnetic circuit together with the fixed iron core 30, the movable iron core 31, and the fixed plate 34.

The operation of the above-described conventional example will be described below. Before the coil 41 is excited, the movable contact portion 20b faces the fixed contact 11a with a predetermined distance (contact gap). When the coil 41 is excited, the movable iron core 31 is attracted to the fixed iron core 30 and moved, whereby the movable shaft 21 is driven as the movable iron core 31 moves, and the movable contact portion 20b gradually reduces the contact gap. Eventually, it comes into contact with the fixed contact 11a. When the excitation of the coil 41 is cut, the movable contact 20 is returned mainly by the urging force of the return spring 32 and displaced in the reverse direction, the movable contact portion 20b is separated from the fixed contact 11a, and the movable iron core 31 is also predetermined. It returns by the distance of and returns to the original state.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-326530

  However, in the above conventional example, in order to join the external terminal 12 and the fixed terminal 11, the fixed terminal 11 must be provided with the screw groove 11 c, and therefore, a process for providing the screw groove 11 c is required. There was a problem that the cost increased. In addition, it is necessary to design the fixed terminal 11 so that the diameter dimension of the fixed terminal 11 is larger than the diameter dimension of the screw groove 11c (diameter dimension of the fixed screw 13).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a contact device capable of reducing the manufacturing cost and increasing the degree of freedom in designing the fixed terminal.

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a contact block including a fixed terminal having a fixed contact portion, a movable contact having a movable contact portion contacting and separating from the fixed contact portion, and a fixed contact portion. A drive block that drives the movable contact so that the movable contact portion contacts and separates, and an external terminal that is connected to the fixed terminal and connected to an external electric circuit. The fixed terminal is in close contact with and joined to the external terminal by elastic deformation, and a part of the fixed terminal that is plastically deformed and elastically deformed is a convex part protruding toward the external terminal, and the convex part is inserted into the external terminal. The insertion portion is provided with a notch communicating with one end edge in the width direction of the external terminal .

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 , a taper is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the insertion portion so as to expand toward the insertion direction of the projection.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, at least one of the convex portion and the insertion portion is formed such that a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the insertion direction of the convex portion is a shape other than a circular shape. Features.

The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 3 , at least two convex portions are provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since it is not necessary to screw the fixed terminal and the external terminal, it is possible to omit the step of providing a screw groove in the fixed terminal, and thus to reduce the manufacturing cost. Moreover, since it is not necessary to provide a screw groove in the fixed terminal, the diameter of the fixed terminal does not depend on the diameter of the screw groove, and the degree of freedom in designing the fixed terminal can be increased . Further, the convex portion can be caulked to the insertion portion by plastic deformation after the convex portion is inserted into the insertion portion, and thus the fixed terminal can be prevented from being detached from the external terminal .

According to the invention of claim 2 , by providing the insertion portion with a taper, the area where the plastically deformed convex portion comes into close contact can be increased, and therefore, the external terminal is prevented from rotating with respect to the fixed terminal at the joint portion. In addition, the contact resistance between the external terminal and the fixed terminal can be reduced.

According to invention of Claim 3 , it can prevent that an external terminal rotates with respect to a fixed terminal in a junction part.

According to invention of Claim 4 , it can prevent that an external terminal rotates with respect to a fixed terminal in a junction part.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a contact device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the conventional example, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the following description, the top and bottom in FIG. In the present embodiment, as in the conventional example, the fixed terminal 11 having the fixed contact 11a, the contact block A including the movable contact 20 having the movable contact portion 20b contacting and separating from the fixed contact 11a, and the fixed contact 11a A drive block B that drives the movable contact 20 so that the movable contact portion 20b contacts and separates, and an external terminal 12 that is connected to the fixed terminal 11 and connected to an external electric circuit (not shown) (FIG. 6). As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the fixed terminal 11 is in close contact with and joined to the external terminal 12 by plastic deformation and elastic deformation of a part thereof.

  In this embodiment, the fixed contact 11a made of a contact material fixed to the lower end portion of the fixed terminal 11 is the fixed contact portion. However, the lower end portion of the fixed terminal 11 is fixed to the fixed contact without providing the fixed contact 11a. It does not matter as part. Further, in this embodiment, the portion of the movable contact 20 where the fixed contact 11a contacts and separates is the movable contact portion 20b, but a movable contact (not shown) made of a contact material is fixed to the portion, The movable contact may be a movable contact portion.

  A protruding portion 11d that protrudes upward is provided on the upper surface of the flange portion 11b of the fixed terminal 11, and an insertion hole 12a having a substantially circular cross section that is an insertion portion through which the protruding portion 11d is inserted is provided on the external terminal 12. It is penetrating. The protrusion 11d is formed with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the insertion hole 12a, and as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the protrusion 11d is inserted through the insertion hole 12a. Thus, the convex portion 11d is joined to the external terminal 12 by performing caulking such as spin caulking or radial caulking. In this caulking step, the tip of the convex portion 11d is plastically deformed and spreads around the peripheral portion of the insertion hole 12a of the external terminal 12, and the convex portion 11d is pressed against the inner peripheral edge of the insertion hole 12a and elastically deformed. The fixed terminal 11 and the external terminal 12 are securely fixed to each other and are electrically connected to each other so as to be in close contact with the peripheral portion and the inner peripheral edge of the insertion hole 12a.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3A, a taper 12b is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the insertion hole 12a so as to expand toward the insertion direction (upward direction) of the convex portion 11d. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3B, since the convex portion 11d is spread and crimped so as to be in close contact with the taper 12b, the area where the plastically deformed convex portion 11d is in close contact with the inner peripheral edge of the insertion hole 12a is increased. It is possible to prevent the external terminal 12 from rotating with respect to the fixed terminal 11 at the joint portion, and to reduce the contact resistance between the external terminal 12 and the fixed terminal 11.

  As described above, the fixed terminal 11 is joined to the external terminal 12 by plastic deformation and elastic deformation in a state in which the convex portion 11d of the fixed terminal 11 is inserted into the insertion hole 12a of the external terminal 12, so that the fixed terminal 11 and the external terminal 12 are not required to be screwed, so that the step of providing the screw groove 11c in the fixed terminal 11 can be omitted, and thus the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to provide the screw groove 11c in the fixed terminal 11, the diameter dimension of the fixed terminal 11 is not affected by the diameter dimension of the screw groove 11c, and the degree of freedom in designing the fixed terminal 11 is increased. Can do.

  By the way, as shown in FIG.4 (d), when the cross-sectional shape of the convex part 11d and the insertion hole 12a is made into substantially circular shape, the junction part of the fixed terminal 11 and the external terminal 12 is added to the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 12a. There is a possibility that the external terminal 12 rotates relative to the fixed terminal 11 because it is weak against stress. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4A, the strength against the stress applied in the circumferential direction of the insertion hole 12a at the joint portion can be increased by making the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion 11d and the insertion hole 12a substantially elliptical. The external terminal 12 can be prevented from rotating with respect to the fixed terminal 11.

  Of course, the cross-sectional shape of the convex part 11d and the insertion hole 12a is not limited to the said shape, For example, as shown in FIG.4 (b), you may make cross-sectional shape into a substantially square shape. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), the cross-sectional shape of the convex portion 11d and the insertion hole 12a is substantially circular, and a plurality of (in the drawing, with a predetermined interval along the circumferential direction on the periphery of the insertion work 12a. Four) notches may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, an insertion hole 12a having a cross-sectional shape having the above-mentioned shapes as an insertion portion is provided through the external terminal 12. However, as shown in FIG. The notch 12a communicating with the one end edge may be used as the insertion portion. In this case, since the convex portion 11d can be easily inserted into the notch 12a, the workability during the caulking process is improved.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the contact device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a plurality of substantially cylindrical (two in the drawing) convex portions 11d are provided on the upper surface of the flange portion 11b of the fixed terminal 11 so as to be externally provided. The terminal 12 is characterized in that a plurality (two in the drawing) of substantially circular insertion holes 12a through which the convex portions 11d are inserted are provided.

  Thus, the strength against stress applied in the rotation direction about the thickness direction of the external terminal 12 can be increased at the joint portion between the convex portion 11d and the insertion hole 12a. To prevent rotation. As shown in FIG. 5B, a notch 12a communicating with one end edge in the width direction of the external terminal 12 may be used as the insertion portion. In this case, since each convex part 11d can be easily inserted into the notch 12a, the workability in the caulking process is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1 of the contact device which concerns on this invention, (a) is schematic, (b) is sectional drawing which expanded partially. (A)-(c) is sectional drawing which shows the joining method of a fixed terminal and external terminal same as the above, (d) is a perspective view which shows the other form of an insertion part. (A), (b) is sectional drawing which shows the joining method of a fixed terminal and an external terminal at the time of forming a taper in the insertion part same as the above. (A)-(c) is a top view which shows the other cross-sectional shape of the same insertion part and convex part, (d) is a top view which shows the case where the cross-sectional shape of an insertion part and a convex part is substantially circular shape. . It is a figure which shows Embodiment 2 of the contact apparatus which concerns on this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a top view, (c) is a perspective view which shows the other form of an insertion part. It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional contact apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

11 Fixed terminal 11a Fixed contact (fixed contact)
11d Convex part 12 External terminal 12a Insertion hole (insertion part)
20 movable contact 20b movable contact A contact block B drive block

Claims (4)

A fixed terminal having a fixed contact portion, a contact block having a movable contact portion having a movable contact portion that contacts and separates from the fixed contact portion, and a movable contact portion is driven so that the movable contact portion contacts and separates from the fixed contact portion. A drive block, and an external terminal connected to the fixed terminal and connected to an external electric circuit, the fixed terminal being in close contact with and bonded to the external terminal by plastic deformation and elastic deformation of a part thereof , A part of the fixed terminal that is plastically deformed and elastically deformed is a convex part that protrudes toward the external terminal, and the external terminal is provided with an insertion part through which the convex part is inserted. A contact device comprising a notch communicating with one end edge in the width direction . 2. The contact device according to claim 1, wherein a taper that expands toward an insertion direction of the convex portion is formed on an inner peripheral edge of the insertion portion . 3. The contact device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the convex portion and the insertion portion has a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the insertion direction of the convex portion having a shape other than a circular shape . The convex portion, the contact device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that provided at least two.

Images