JP5347820B2 - Terminal bracket connection structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection structure for a terminal fitting.

  As a connection structure of a terminal fitting comprising a male terminal fitting having a tab, a cylindrical main body portion into which the tab of the male terminal fitting can be inserted, and a female terminal fitting having an elastic contact piece provided in the main body portion. For example, the thing of patent document 1 etc. are known.

  In the thing of the said patent document 1, a female terminal metal fitting and a male terminal metal fitting are electrically connected as follows. When the tab of the male terminal fitting is inserted into the main body portion of the female terminal fitting, the tab enters between the elastic contact piece and the wall surface of the main body portion. Further, when the tab is inserted into the main body, the tab enters the main body while expanding the distance between the elastic contact piece and the wall surface of the main body while elastically deforming the elastic contact piece. When the tab is inserted to a position where it reaches a normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, the elastic contact piece and the tab are brought into elastic contact, whereby the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting are electrically connected.

JP 2006-294696 A

By the way, when the terminal fitting having the above structure is used in a circuit through which a large current flows, for example, the contact pressure of the elastic contact piece with respect to the tab of the male terminal fitting is increased, so that the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting It is conceivable to ensure electrical connection.
However, when the contact pressure of the elastic contact piece to the tab of the male terminal fitting is increased, the frictional force generated between the male terminal fitting and the elastic contact piece is large when the tab of the male terminal fitting elastically deforms the elastic contact piece. Become. As a result, the insertion force when inserting the tab of the male terminal fitting into the main body of the female terminal fitting is increased, the efficiency of the connection work between the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting is reduced, or the insertion of the tab causes the main body portion to be inserted. There is a concern that the inner wall and the elastic contact piece may be peeled off.

  This invention was completed based on the above situations, and it aims at providing the connection structure of the terminal metal fitting which reduced the insertion force at the time of inserting the tab of a male terminal metal fitting into a female terminal metal fitting. To do.

  The present invention is a connection structure of a terminal metal fitting, a male terminal metal fitting having a tab, a female terminal metal fitting having a cylindrical main body part into which the tab of the male terminal metal fitting can be inserted, and provided in the main body part. An elastic contact piece that contacts and is electrically connected to a tab of the male terminal fitting, and the elastic contact piece is pressed by a pressing portion that presses the elastic contact piece in a direction to bend and deform. The presser piece is held in a state of being elastically deformed until just before entering the normal connection position, and the presser part is arranged from both sides in the width direction of the elastic contact piece toward the central axis direction of the elastic contact piece. Immediately before entering the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, the elastic contact piece is in an elastically deformed state by being pushed away from the central axis of the elastic contact piece by the tab. Released and the tab Maximum width dimension, characterized by where it is more than the width of the resilient contact piece.

  In the present invention, when the tab of the male terminal fitting is inserted into the main body of the female terminal fitting, the elastic contact piece is in an elastically deformed state by the holding portion until just before the tab enters the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece. Since it is held, the tab can be inserted without receiving a resilient force from the elastic contact piece. Then, immediately before the tab enters the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, the elastic contact piece is released from the elastic deformation state by pressing the press piece of the holding portion in a direction away from the central axis of the elastic contact piece by the tab. Is done. Here, when the maximum width dimension of the tab is smaller than the width dimension of the elastic contact piece, a part of the elastic contact piece is pressed by the pressing portion and cannot be elastically restored to the position where it comes into contact with the tab. Since the maximum width of the tab is set to be equal to or greater than the width of the elastic contact piece, the presser is pushed so that there is a space greater than the width of the elastic contact piece, and the elastic contact piece is in contact with the tab. Restores elasticity. Thereby, a male terminal metal fitting and a female terminal metal fitting are electrically connected. As a result, according to this invention, the insertion force at the time of inserting the tab of a male terminal metal fitting into a female terminal metal fitting can be reduced.

The present invention may have the following configuration.
The pressing piece may be arranged with an end face directed toward a contact surface with the tab of the elastic contact piece.
In the configuration as described above, by further inserting the tab in contact with the presser piece, the surface that is not the end face of the presser piece (the surface with a large area) is pushed in a direction away from the central axis of the elastic contact piece, The elastic deformation state of the elastic contact piece is released. As a result, according to the above configuration, the elastically deformed state of the elastic contact piece can be released simply by entering the tab in the insertion direction, so that a large force is not required for releasing the elastically deformed state.

The tab may be formed narrower as it approaches the tip.
With such a configuration, since the tab is guided by the presser piece, the tab can be smoothly advanced to the normal connection position.

The pressing piece may be formed in an inclined shape that gradually approaches the central axis direction of the elastic contact piece from both sides in the width direction of the elastic contact piece.
With such a configuration, since the tab is guided by the pressing piece formed in an inclined shape, the tab can be smoothly inserted into the female terminal fitting.

A relief portion may be formed on the rear end side of the portion having the largest width dimension of the tab so as to be narrower and allow the presser piece to escape.
After the tab is inserted to the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, if the tab and the presser piece are in contact, the tab is held from the width direction by the presser piece, and the contact pressure between the elastic contact piece and the tab There is a concern that will become smaller. Therefore, with the above configuration, the pressing piece is formed on the rear side after the elastic contact piece is released from the elastic deformation state by being pressed by the portion where the width of the tab is maximum. Since it is escaped by the relief portion, even if the presser piece does not contact the tab or comes into contact when the tab reaches the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, the contact pressure between the presser piece and the tab is small. As a result, according to the above configuration, the contact pressure between the tab and the elastic contact piece can be increased.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the insertion force at the time of inserting the tab of a male terminal metal fitting into a female terminal metal fitting can be reduced.

Partial sectional view of the tab and the main body of the first embodiment FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of the tab and main body of FIG. Partial cross-sectional view of the main body when the tab enters a position where it abuts the connecting portion of the elastic contact piece FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway plan view of the main body in the state of FIG. Partially cutaway plan view of the main body when the tab enters a position where it abuts the presser piece Partial sectional view of the main body when the tab enters the proper connection position 6 is a partially cutaway plan view of the main body in the state of FIG. Partially cutaway plan view of the tab and body part of the second embodiment Partial sectional view of the main body just before the tab enters the proper connection position 9 is a partially cutaway plan view of the main body in the state of FIG. Partial sectional view of the main body when the tab enters the proper connection position FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway plan view of the main body in the state of FIG. Partially cutaway plan view of the main body described in another embodiment (4)

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the left side in FIGS.
The present embodiment is a terminal fitting connection structure 10 that connects a female terminal fitting 20 and a male terminal fitting having a tab 50. First, the tab 50 of the male terminal fitting will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tab 50 has a tapered shape (a shape that becomes narrower as it approaches the tip 50A). Specifically, the tab 50 has a width dimension that gradually increases backward from the tip 50A, and a portion 52 (a relief portion 52, a narrow portion) formed on the rear side of the portion where the width dimension is maximum. The details will be described later), and the rear side of the escape portion 52 is formed wide. The maximum width dimension of the tab 50 is set larger than the width dimension of the elastic contact piece 30 (see FIG. 5).

  Next, the female terminal fitting 20 connected to the male terminal fitting having the tab 50 will be described. The female terminal fitting 20 includes a cylindrical main body portion 21 and an elastic contact piece 30 provided inside the main body portion 21 and electrically connected to the tab 50 of the male terminal fitting. A tab 50 of the male terminal fitting can be inserted into the main body portion 21 of the female terminal fitting 20 from the front.

  The elastic contact piece 30 provided inside the main body 21 is formed by bending a metal plate punched into a predetermined shape, and is provided separately from the main body 21. The elastic contact piece 30 is cantilevered by folding back an extending end extending from the front end of the bottom plate portion 31 disposed along the bottom wall 24 (lower wall in FIG. 1) of the main body portion 21. The width dimension is set smaller than the bottom plate part 31. The elastic contact piece 30 has a generally chevron shape as a whole, and can be tilted and flexibly deformed with the turning portion 32 by folding back as a fulcrum. The top 34 of the peak of the elastic contact piece 30 is a contact portion 34 that is in contact with and electrically connected to the tab 50.

  Now, above the contact portion 34 of the elastic contact piece 30, there is provided a presser portion 40 that presses the elastic contact piece 30 in the direction of bending deformation. The pressing portion 40 is provided by cutting up a part of a side wall portion 33 formed by bending an extended end extending from the bottom plate portion 31 toward the side wall 25 of the main body portion 21 along the side wall 25 of the main body portion 21. ing.

  The presser portion 40 includes presser pieces 41 formed in an inclined shape that gradually approaches the side walls 33 disposed on both sides in the width direction of the elastic contact piece 30 in the direction of the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30. The presser piece 41 has a substantially square shape and is arranged with the end surface 41B facing the upper surface (contact surface with the tab 50) side of the elastic contact piece 30, and the tab 50 is in a normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30. Immediately before entering, the elastic contact piece 30 in a deformed state is pressed from the upper side and held in an elastically deformed state (see FIGS. 1 and 3).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
The tab 50 of the male terminal fitting is inserted along the ceiling wall 23 (the upper wall 23 shown in FIG. 1) of the main body 21 of the female terminal fitting 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).
When the tab 50 enters a position where the width dimension of the tab 50 and the distance between the presser pieces 41 coincide with each other, the tab 50 and the presser piece 41 come into contact with each other, and the presser pieces 41 having the end surfaces of the tab 50 provided on both sides are moved. , And begins to push in the direction of increasing the distance (the direction away from the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30). Further, when the tab 50 is moved forward, the tab 50 is guided to the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41 formed in an inclined shape, and smoothly advances forward while sliding on the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41. At this time, in the present embodiment, the tab 50 having a narrow shape is used as it approaches the tip 50A. Therefore, as the tab 50 is advanced forward, the distance between the presser pieces 41 is gradually increased by the end surface in the width direction of the tab 50. To be spread.

  3 and 4, when the tab 50 enters a position where the width dimension of the tab 50 and the width dimension of the elastic contact piece 30 coincide with each other, the distance between the presser pieces 41 matches the width of the elastic contact piece 30. It expands to the position to do. At this time, the presser piece 41 that has pressed the elastic contact piece 30 from above is pushed outward in the width direction of the elastic contact piece 30 (in a direction away from the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30), In this state, the presser piece 41 is not disposed, the elastically deformed state is released, and the elastic contact piece 30 starts to be elastically restored.

  When the tab 50 is advanced to the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the contact portion 34 of the elastic contact piece 30 restored elastically and the tab 50 come into contact with each other. The metal fitting and the female terminal metal fitting 20 are electrically connected. At this time, the pressing piece 41 is elastically restored and enters the escape portion 52 formed on the rear side of the portion of the maximum width dimension of the tab 50 and is disposed on the elastic contact piece 30 (see FIG. 7). ).

Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.
According to the present embodiment, until the tab 50 enters a position where the width dimension of the tab 50 and the width dimension of the elastic contact piece 30 coincide, that is, the tab 50 enters a normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30. The elastic contact piece 30 is held in an elastically deformed state until just before the tab 50 can be inserted without receiving a resilient force from the elastic contact piece 30. As a result, according to this embodiment, the insertion force when inserting the tab 50 of the male terminal fitting into the female terminal fitting 20 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, since the pressing piece 41 is arranged with the end surface 41B facing the contact surface side of the elastic contact piece 30 with the tab 50, the tab 50 is further inserted after contacting the holding piece 41. As a result, the inclined surface 41 </ b> A (the surface that is not the end surface 41 </ b> B) of the pressing piece 41 is pressed in a direction away from the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30, and the elastic deformation state of the elastic contact piece 30 is released. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the elastically deformed state of the elastic contact piece 30 can be released simply by causing the tab 50 to enter the insertion direction, so that a large force is not required when releasing the elastically deformed state.

By the way, when the tab 50 set so that the width dimension of the tip 50A is maximized is used, the elastic contact piece 30 is elastically restored immediately when the tip 50A of the tab 50 comes into contact with the presser piece 41. There is a concern that the insertion resistance suddenly increases before the tab 50 reaches the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30.
However, in this embodiment, since the tab 50 formed narrower as it approaches the tip 50A is used, as the tab 50 is advanced forward, the interval between the presser pieces 41 is gradually increased, and the width of the tab 50 is increased. When the tab 50 enters so that the dimension becomes equal to or larger than the width of the elastic contact piece 30, the distance between the presser pieces 41 is expanded beyond the width of the elastic contact piece 30 and the elastically deformed state is released. As a result, according to the present embodiment, the insertion resistance when the tab 50 is inserted into the female terminal fitting 20 is rapidly increased before the tab 50 reaches the regular connection position with the elastic contact piece 30. There is nothing.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the narrow tab 50 is guided to the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41 as it approaches the tip 50A, and enters forward while sliding on the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41. Therefore, the tab 50 can be smoothly inserted into the female terminal fitting 20.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, after the elastic deformation state of the elastic contact piece 30 is released, the presser piece 41 is released to the escape portion 52 and is disposed on the elastic contact piece 30. As a result, according to the present embodiment, no contact pressure is applied between the pressing piece 41 and the tab 50 in a state where the tab 50 has reached the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30. The contact pressure with the contact piece 30 can be increased.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the description which overlaps about the structure and effect similar to Embodiment 1 is abbreviate | omitted, and let the left side in FIGS. 8-12 be the front and the right side is back.
In the present embodiment, the shape of the tab 50 is different from that of the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 8, the tab 50 used in the present embodiment has a narrow tapered shape as it approaches the tip 50 </ b> A, and protrudes on both sides in the width direction behind the tapered portion including the tip. A protrusion 53 is provided. The width dimension of the tab 50 is smaller than that of the elastic contact piece 30 in the front end portion region 51 on the front side of the protruding portion, and is maximum in the protruding portion forming region 53A where the protruding portion 53 is formed. The maximum width dimension of the tab 50 in the protruding portion forming region 53A is larger than the width dimension of the elastic contact piece 30 (see FIG. 11).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
The tab 50 of the male terminal fitting is inserted along the ceiling wall 23 of the main body 21 of the female terminal fitting 20 (see FIG. 9).
Since the width dimension of the tab 50 is set narrower than that of the elastic contact piece 30 in the tip end region 51, even if the tip 50A of the tab 50 enters to the place where the pressing pieces 41 are provided on both sides, The elastic contact piece 30 is held in an elastically deformed state without immediately coming into contact with the presser piece 41. When the tab 50 is advanced until a part of the tab 50 and the presser piece 41 come into contact with each other, the end surface of the tab 50 is guided by the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41 while sliding on the inclined surface 41A of the presser piece 41. Entering forward, the presser pieces 41 provided on both sides start to be pushed in a direction in which the interval is increased (a direction away from the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30).

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the tab 50 is advanced to a position where the protruding portion 53 of the tab 50 and the presser piece 41 come into contact with each other, the distance between the presser pieces 41 expands to a position where the distance between the elastic contact pieces 30 is equal to or greater. At this time, the pressing piece 41 that has pressed the elastic contact piece 30 from above is pressed to the outside of the elastic contact piece 30 in the width direction, and the pressing piece 41 is not disposed on the elastic contact piece 30. The elastic deformation state is released, and the elastic contact piece 30 starts to be elastically restored.

  When the tab 50 is advanced to the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30 shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the contact portion 34 of the elastic contact piece 30 restored elastically and the tab 50 come into contact with each other. The metal fitting and the female terminal metal fitting 20 are electrically connected. At this time, the presser piece 41 is disposed at the end of the protruding portion 53 of the tab 50.

Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.
According to the present embodiment, until the tab 50 enters a position where the protruding portion 53 of the tab 50 and the presser piece 41 abut, that is, until just before the tab 50 enters a normal connection position with the elastic contact piece 30. Since the elastic contact piece 30 is held in an elastically deformed state, the tab 50 can be inserted without receiving a resilient force from the elastic contact piece 30. As a result, according to this embodiment, the insertion force when inserting the tab 50 of the male terminal fitting into the female terminal fitting 20 can be reduced.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the pressing piece 41 is arranged with the end surface 41B facing the contact surface side of the elastic contact piece 30 with the tab 50, so that the tab 50 enters the insertion direction. Since the elastically deformed state of the elastic contact piece 30 can be released only by this, a large force is not required when releasing the elastically deformed state.

  Also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the tab 50 is guided by the inclined surface 41A of the holding piece 41 and enters forward while sliding on the inclined surface 41A of the holding piece 41. It can be smoothly inserted into the female terminal fitting 20.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the main body portion 21 and the elastic contact piece 30 are shown as separate bodies, but may be integrated.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the end surface 41B is provided with the presser piece 41 arranged toward the contact surface side with the tab 50 of the elastic contact piece 30, but the end surface 41B is a tab of the elastic contact piece 30. The presser piece 41 may be arranged so as to be parallel to the contact surface with 50.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the narrow tab 50 is provided as it approaches the tip 50A. However, the tab 50 having a constant width may be used.

  (4) In the above embodiment, the pressing piece 41 is formed in an inclined shape that gradually approaches the direction of the central axis L of the elastic contact piece 30 from both sides of the elastic contact piece 30 in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 13, the elastic contact piece 30 may be arranged perpendicular to the end surface of the elastic contact piece 30 from both sides in the width direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connection structure of a terminal metal fitting 20 ... Female terminal metal fitting 21 ... Main-body part 30 ... Elastic contact piece 34 ... Contact part 40 ... Holding part 41 ... Holding piece 42 ... Release | release part 50 ... Tab (male terminal metal fitting)
L ... Center axis of elastic contact piece

Claims (5)

A male terminal fitting having a tab;
A female terminal fitting having a cylindrical main body part into which a tab of the male terminal fitting can be inserted;
An elastic contact piece provided in the main body portion and electrically connected in contact with the tab of the male terminal fitting;
The elastic contact piece is held in a state of being elastically deformed until immediately before the tab enters a normal connection position with the elastic contact piece by a pressing portion that presses the elastic contact piece in a direction to bend and deform.
The presser portion includes a presser piece arranged from both sides in the width direction of the elastic contact piece toward the central axis direction of the elastic contact piece,
Immediately before entering the normal connection position with the elastic contact piece, the elastic contact piece is released from the elastic deformation state by the pressing piece being pushed away from the central axis of the elastic contact piece by the tab, And,
The terminal fitting connection structure, wherein a maximum width dimension of the tab is equal to or greater than a width dimension of the elastic contact piece. 2. The terminal fitting connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the pressing piece is arranged with an end face facing a contact surface side of the elastic contact piece with the tab. The terminal fitting connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the tab is formed narrower as it approaches the tip. The presser piece is formed in an inclined shape that gradually approaches the central axis direction of the elastic contact piece from both sides in the width direction of the elastic contact piece. The connection structure of the terminal metal fitting according to one item. 5. The relief portion according to claim 1, wherein a narrow portion is formed on a rear end side of a portion having the largest width dimension of the tab, and an escape portion is formed to allow the presser piece to escape. The connection structure of the terminal metal fitting as described in any one.

Images