JP5892385B2 - Multi-contact female terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-contact female terminal, and more particularly to a multi-contact female terminal into which a flat tab of a male terminal is inserted / removed.

  Conventionally, as a female terminal used in electrical systems such as automobiles, it is possible to reduce the contact resistance and keep the heat generation low by contacting the flat tab of the male terminal with a large number of contacts. Female terminals are known and are suitably used as connection terminals for large currents.

  Such a multi-contact type female terminal includes, for example, a box-shaped main body portion and a plurality of flexibly deformable protrusions protruding toward the inside of the main body portion as described in JP-A-2005-166300 (Patent Document 1). The contact portion of the elastic contact piece is elastically contacted at a plurality of locations on the tab surface of the male terminal inserted from the opening of the main body portion, so that stable conduction between the male and female terminals is achieved. It has come to be illustrated.

  However, in such a conventional multi-contact type female terminal, all of the plurality of elastic contact pieces have the same shape. Therefore, the contact portion of each elastic contact piece simultaneously contacts and bends to the tab of the male terminal inserted from the opening of the main body, so that the load applied to the male terminal at that time becomes excessive and the male contact is excessive. There was a problem that the insertion force of the terminal was felt large.

  In addition, in the case of a connection terminal for a large current, external force such as vehicle vibration transmitted from an electric wire or the like becomes relatively large, so that the tab of the male terminal connected to the multi-contact type female terminal is vertically or twisted ( It becomes easy to be displaced so as to be twisted in the direction of rotation around the central axis of the tab, and there is a possibility that problems such as misalignment and poor contact may occur. On the other hand, in the multi-contact type female terminal described in Patent Document 1, the tab is firmly positioned and held between the elastic contact pieces not only in the plate thickness direction but also in the plate width direction of the tabular tab. A configuration that prevents misalignment is employed.

  However, in the configuration in which the flat tab is sandwiched between the elastic contact pieces in the plate width direction in addition to the plate thickness direction, the displacement of the tab of the male terminal with respect to the multi-contact type female terminal is prevented, and the contact stability is improved. However, the insertion force of the tab of the male terminal was eventually increased, which was not preferable.

JP-A-2005-166300

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its solution is to improve the contact stability of the male terminal with respect to the flat tab, and to disperse the insertion force of the tab of the male terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-contact female terminal having a novel structure that can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention made to solve the above-described problems will be described. In addition, the component employ | adopted in each aspect as described below is employable by arbitrary combinations as much as possible.

A first aspect of the present invention includes a box-shaped main body portion having an opening at a front end, and a plurality of elastically deformable elastic contact pieces protruding toward the inside of the main body portion, and the opening of the main body portion In the multi-contact type female terminal in which the contact portions of the plurality of elastic contact pieces that are bent and deformed are elastically contacted with the flat tab of the male terminal inserted from the portion, the plurality of elasticity The contact piece extends inward in a cantilevered manner from the folded portion provided at the front end of each of the pair of opposing side walls that constitute the main body, and can be bent and deformed in the opposing direction of the side walls. In addition, the contact portions provided on each elastic contact piece are pressed from both sides in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab so that they can be independently displaced. The contact of the elastic contact piece pressed against But than the contact portion of the resilient contact piece is pressed against the plate width direction intermediate portion of the flat tab, distance has been greatly from the opening in the insertion direction of the flat tabs, the plate The width of the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against both sides in the plate width direction of the tab is larger than that of the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against the plate width direction intermediate portion of the flat tab. It is characterized by being.

  According to this aspect, in the insertion direction of the flat tab, the distance of the contact portion of the elastic contact piece from the opening is such that the elastic contact piece pressed against both sides of the flat tab in the plate width direction is flat. It is made larger than the elastic contact piece pressed against the middle part of the tab width direction of the tab. As a result, the time when the contact portions of the plurality of elastic contact pieces abut on the flat tab inserted from the opening is shifted, and it is avoided that an excessive load is applied to the flat tab at a time. The tab insertion force is distributed and the insertion force felt by the operator is reduced.

  In addition, the contact portions of the elastic contact pieces arranged on both sides of the flat tab in the plate width direction are farther from the opening than the contact portions of the elastic contact pieces arranged in the plate width direction intermediate portion of the flat tab. Thus, an elastic pressure contact force is applied in contact with the flat tab. Thereby, the contact pressure (spring force) by the elastic contact piece applied to the flat tab can be ensured at the outer portion of the flat tab in the plate width direction. Therefore, it is possible to advantageously prevent the twisting displacement in the twist direction, which is a problem with the flat tab.

  Furthermore, since the position of the contact portion of each elastic contact piece is shifted in the insertion direction of the flat tab and the elastic contact pieces can be independently displaced from each other, Each elastic contact piece can flexibly follow the twisting displacement in the direction and twist direction. Thereby, the contact stability to the flat tab of the contact part of a some elastic contact piece can be improved reliably.

Furthermore, in this aspect, the elastic contact piece which press-contacts both sides of a flat tab becomes wide, and it can exhibit a bigger press-contact force. Thereby, the twisting displacement of the flat tab can be prevented more advantageously, and the problem of poor contact due to misalignment can be advantageously prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the multi-contact female terminal according to the first aspect, the plurality of elastic contact pieces are arranged symmetrically on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab. Is.

  According to this aspect, since the flat tabs are arranged symmetrically on both sides in the plate thickness direction, the positioning and holding performance by the pressure contact force from both sides of the flat tabs by the elastic contact pieces, and the flat tabs The followability of each elastic contact piece to the displacement can be secured more stably.

  According to the multi-contact female terminal of the present invention, the separation distance of the contact portion of the elastic contact piece from the opening portion is larger on both sides in the plate width direction than the middle in the plate width direction. The time when the contact portions of the plurality of elastic contact pieces abut on the flat plate tab is shifted. Thereby, dispersion | distribution of the insertion force of a flat tab and reduction of the insertion force which an operator feels are achieved. In addition, the contact portions on both sides in the plate width direction contact the flat tabs in the back than the middle contact portions in the plate width direction and apply an elastic pressure contact force, so that the contact pressure applied to the flat tabs is reduced. A large amount can be secured at the outer side portion from the central portion in the plate width direction, and the plate-like tab can be advantageously prevented from being twisted.

It is a perspective view of the multi-contact type female terminal as a first embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where an electric wire is attached. The top view of the multi-contact type female terminal shown in FIG. III-III sectional drawing in FIG. IV-IV sectional drawing in FIG. The expanded view of the multi-contact type female terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the state at the time of male terminal metal fitting insertion to the multi-contact type female terminal of this embodiment, Comprising: Sectional drawing equivalent to FIG. 3 ((a) in the middle of insertion, (b) at the time of completion of insertion). VII-VII sectional drawing in FIG. Sectional drawing equivalent to FIG. 4 which shows the multi-contact type female terminal as 2nd embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 4 show a multi-contact female terminal 10 as a first embodiment of the present invention. The multi-contact type female terminal 10 includes a box-shaped main body portion 14 having an opening 12 at a front end, and a barrel portion 16 having a core wire crimping portion 52 that is crimped and fixed to a core wire 54 of a covered electric wire 62 described later. , And are integrally configured. A flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 can be inserted into the opening 12 of the main body 14 from the front, whereby electrical connection between the multi-contact female terminal 10 and the male terminal 18 is achieved. It is like that. In the following description, “upper” means the upper side in FIG. 1, and “lower” means the lower side in FIG.

  More specifically, the multi-contact female terminal 10 is made of various metal materials that have conductivity and can be pressed or punched, such as brass, copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, and the like. It is formed using. In the present embodiment, the thickness dimension of the multi-contact female terminal 10 is substantially constant throughout.

  The main body portion 14 is formed in a substantially box shape, and includes a pair of side walls 22a and 22b facing each other in the vertical direction and another pair of side walls 24a and 24b facing each other in the left and right direction. .

  Flat plate portions 28 and 28 are provided at the front ends of the pair of side walls 22a and 22b opposite to each other in the vertical direction, and as shown in FIG. Is formed. As shown in FIG. 4, each flat plate portion 28 is divided into three elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, and 28 c through cutout portions 32 and 32 at the portion protruding inward from the folded portion 30 to the main body portion 14. . Thereby, the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, and 28c are configured to extend in a cantilever shape from the folded portion 30 serving as the base end portion to the inside of the main body portion 14. Further, the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, and 28c protrude from the folded-back portion 30 toward the inside of the main body portion 14 and extend in an inclined manner toward the center of the main body portion 14 in the vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3). Further, the front end portion in the extending direction is inclined and bent outward in the vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) of the main body 14. As a result, of the elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, 28 c, the most protruding portions on the center side in the vertical direction of the main body portion 14 are contact portions 34 a, 34 b, 34 c that contact the flat tab 20.

  The elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c facing each other in the facing direction of the side walls 22a, 22b (vertical direction in FIG. 3) can be bent and deformed so as to be separated from each other, and inserted between them. The contact portions 34a, 34b, 34c of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c and their peripheral regions are brought into elastic contact with the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 to be inserted. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 12 of the main body 14 is constituted by the gap between the folded portions 30 and 30 of the flat plate portions 28 and 28 on the base end side of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b and 28c. ing. Further, the separation distance between the contact portions 34 a, 34 b, 34 c of the elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, 28 c facing vertically is set smaller than the plate thickness dimension of the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the contact portions 34a of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28c that are disposed on both sides of the side walls 22a, 22b in the width direction and are pressed against both sides of the plate-like tab 20 in the plate width direction. A distance L2 from the opening 12 of 34c is disposed at the intermediate portion in the width direction of the side walls 22a and 22b, and the elastic contact piece 28b is brought into pressure contact with the intermediate portion in the plate width direction of the flat tab 20 The distance from the opening 12 of the portion 34b is set larger than L1.

  By the way, the multi-contact type female terminal 10 having such a structure can be manufactured by the following method. For example, a metal flat plate is press punched into a developed shape as shown in FIG. In the developed shape shown in FIG. 5, the base end portions of the flat plate portions 28, 28 provided extending from the front ends (left side in FIG. 5) of the pair of side walls 22 a, 22 b are the formation portions of the folded portions 30. Further, a portion extending further forward is divided into three elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, 28 c via the notches 32, 32. Then, the entire flat plate portions 28 and 28 are folded back in a mountain shape from the turned-up portion 30 toward the side walls 22a and 22b, and the distal end portions of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b and 28c are bent in the opposite direction. Contact portions 34a, 34b, and 34c to which an elastic force is applied are formed. In addition, the folding | returning part 30 which gives elastic force to each elastic contact piece 28a, 28b, 28c is comprised by the same flat plate part 28, and the base end part of each elastic contact piece 28a, 28b, 28c uses the folding | returning part 30. As a result, the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c are ensured to be rigid and durable.

  Next, both side walls 24a and 24b are bent from the side wall 22b which hits the bottom plate so as to face each other, and the side wall 22a which hits the continuous ceiling plate from the side wall 24a is bent so as to face the side wall 22b, thereby opening the front and rear ends. A box-shaped main body 14 is assembled. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, in FIG. 5, the bending part is shown with the virtual line.

  As shown in FIG. 5, an engagement hole 42 is provided through the side edge portion 40 of the side wall 24b, and the side edge portion 44 of the side wall 22a is engaged with the engagement hole 42. A portion 46 is projected. After fitting the locking portion 46 into the engagement hole 42, the side edge 24 of the side wall 24b is bent until it abuts against the side wall 22a, whereby the side wall 24b and the side wall 22a are engaged and fixed. In this state, the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c folded inward from the front ends of the pair of side walls 22a, 22b of the main body 14 are opposed to each other with a gap, and the pair of side walls 22a, 22b. The elastic contact pieces are formed so as to be able to bend and deform independently of each other in the opposing direction. Further, the thickness of the flat tab 20 is such that the contact portions 34a, 34b, 34c that are provided at the leading end portions in the extending direction of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c and protrude most toward the center of the main body portion 14 can be independently displaced. It is designed to be pressed from both sides of the direction. In addition, the elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, 28 c are symmetrical on both sides in the vertical direction, which is the thickness direction of the flat tab 20.

  Further, the barrel portion 16 on the flat state is provided behind the side wall 22b that hits the bottom plate, and a plurality of protrusions 50, 50 extending in parallel with each other are provided to protrude upward. A pair of core wire crimping portions 52 and 52 are formed by bending both side portions in the width direction of the barrel portion 16 on the flat plate upward.

  In the case of the developed shape of the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, after the metal flat plate is press-punched, the connector region 56 that becomes a contact point with the flat tab 20 of the male terminal 18 and requires noble metal plating such as silver plating is formed. It can be summarized in a narrow portion at the left end in FIG. As a result, the connector region 56 requiring expensive noble metal plating and the other non-connector region 58 sufficient by tin plating or the like can be separated into stripes, so that the connector region 56 and the non-connector can be efficiently formed by the stripe plating method. Necessary plating treatment can be applied to the region 58. Further, since the connector region 56 is concentrated in a relatively narrow region, the amount of noble metal plating can be suppressed and the cost can be reduced.

  The covered electric wire 62 is crimped to the rear end side of the multi-contact female terminal 10 of the present embodiment having such a structure. In order to crimp the coated electric wire 62, the insulating coating 64 on the distal end side of the coated electric wire 62 is peeled to expose the core wire 54, and the distal end portion of the coated electric wire 62 where the core wire 54 is exposed is connected to the multi-contact female terminal 10. It mounts on the upper surface of the protrusion 50 in the barrel part 16. Under such a state, the barrel part 16 provided with the core wire crimping parts 52 and 52 is plastically deformed by performing crimping processing on the core wire crimping parts 52 and 52 using a known crimping device, and the core wire Crimping is performed so that 54 is wrapped from the outer peripheral surface.

  Such a multi-contact female terminal 10 can be connected to a male terminal 18. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the flat tabs 20 of the male terminal 18 are elastic contact pieces provided on the upper and lower side walls 22a and 22b from the opening 12 on the front surface of the main body 14, respectively. 28a, 28b and 28c are inserted while being bent and deformed. First, the flat tab 20 is elastically sandwiched between the contact portions 34b, 34b of the elastic contact pieces 28b, 28b pressed against the intermediate portion in the plate width direction to be connected. Next, as shown in FIGS. 6B and 7B, when the flat tab 20 is further inserted, in addition to the connection with the contact portion 34b, both sides of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction. The contact portions 34a and 34c of the pair of elastic contact pieces 28a and 28c that are in pressure contact with each other are elastically sandwiched and connected. In short, the contact portions 34a and 34c of the elastic contact pieces 28a and 28c pressed against both sides of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction are contact portions of the elastic contact pieces 28b pressed into the intermediate portion of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction. The separation distance of the opening 12 is made larger in the insertion direction of the flat tab 20 than 34b (L1 <L2). Thereby, the time when the contact portions 34a, 34b, 34c of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c abut on the flat tab 20 is shifted. As a result, the insertion force of the flat tab 20 is distributed, and the insertion force of the flat tab 20 is increased step by step to reduce the insertion force felt by the worker and realize smooth installation. It is done.

  Further, in the multi-contact female terminal 10 of the present embodiment, the contact portions 34 a and 34 c of the elastic contact pieces 28 a and 28 c that are press-contacted to both sides of the flat tab 20 are in the plate width direction of the flat tab 20. The elastic contact force is applied by contacting the flat tab 20 at a depth farther from the opening 12 than the contact portion 34b of the elastic contact piece 28b pressed against the intermediate portion. Thereby, the contact pressure (spring force) by the elastic contact pieces 28 a, 28 b, 28 c applied to the flat tab 20 can be ensured to be larger at the outer portion than the central portion in the plate width direction of the flat tab 20. Therefore, it is possible to advantageously prevent the twisting displacement in the twisting direction, which is a problem with the flat tab 20.

  Furthermore, in the multi-contact female terminal 10 of the present embodiment, the positions of the contact portions 34a and 34c of the elastic contact pieces 28a and 28c and the contact portion 34b of the elastic contact piece 28b are shifted in the insertion direction of the flat tab 20. At the same time, the contact portions 34a, 34b, 34c of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c can be displaced independently of each other. Thereby, each elastic contact piece 28a, 28b, 28c can flexibly follow the vertical and twisting displacement of the flat tab 20. Further, since the respective contact portions 34a, 34b, 34c are provided at the distal end portions in the extending direction of the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c, the followability to the displacement of the flat tabs 20 is further improved. In addition to being able to contact the flat tab 20 more stably.

  Further, according to the multi-contact type female terminal 10 of the present embodiment, since the elastic contact pieces 28a, 28b, 28c are arranged symmetrically on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab 20, the flat tab A symmetrical elastic force can be applied to the displacement in the plate thickness direction of 20. Therefore, it is possible to stably secure the positioning and holding property for maintaining the position of the flat tab 20 and improve the followability of each elastic contact piece with respect to the displacement of the flat tab 20.

  Next, a multi-contact type female terminal 70 as a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the following embodiments, members and parts having the same structure as in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment in the drawings, and detailed descriptions thereof are given. Omitted.

  That is, the multi-contact female terminal 70 as the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 8 has the width of the contact portions 74a, 74b, 74c of the elastic contact pieces 72a, 72b, 72c in the first embodiment. It differs from that of the first embodiment with respect to the differences.

  More specifically, the width dimension W1 of the contact portions 74a and 74c of the elastic contact pieces 72a and 72c pressed against both sides of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction is pressed against the intermediate portion of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction. The width dimension of the contact portion 74b of the elastic contact piece 72b is larger than W2. As a result, the contact portions 74a and 74c of the elastic contact pieces 72a and 72c that press-contact both sides of the flat tab 20 are widened, and a larger pressing force can be exhibited. Thereby, the twisting displacement in the twisting direction of the flat tab 20 can be more advantageously prevented, and the problem of poor contact due to misalignment can be advantageously prevented.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been described, this invention is not limited at all by the specific description in this embodiment. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the contact portion of the elastic contact piece is provided at the distal end portion in the extending direction of the elastic contact piece. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and may be provided at the central portion of the elastic contact piece. Good. In short, the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against both sides of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction is more flat than the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against the intermediate portion of the flat tab 20 in the plate width direction. As long as it is far away from the opening 12 in the insertion direction, any may be used.

  Further, a plurality of elastic contact pieces 28 a and 28 c that press-contact both sides of the flat tab 20 may be provided, or a plurality of elastic contact pieces 28 b that press-contact an intermediate portion in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab 20 may be provided. The shape of the elastic contact piece, the number of contact portions, and the like can be appropriately set according to the required pressure contact force.

10, 70: Multi-contact female terminal, 12: Opening part, 14: Main body part, 18: Male terminal, 20: Flat tab, 22ab: Side wall, 28a-c, 72a-c: Elastic contact piece, 34a-c 74a-c: contact portion

Claims (2)

A male terminal flat plate having a box-shaped main body portion having an opening at the front end and a plurality of flexibly deformable elastic contact pieces protruding toward the inside of the main body portion and inserted from the opening of the main body portion In the multi-contact type female terminal in which each contact portion of the plurality of elastic contact pieces that is bent and deformed is elastically contacted with the tab,
The plurality of elastic contact pieces extend in a cantilever shape inwardly from folded portions provided at the front ends of a pair of opposing side walls constituting the main body portion, and bend and deform in the opposing direction of the side walls. While being made possible , the contact portions provided in each elastic contact piece are adapted to be pressed from both sides in the plate thickness direction of the flat tab so that they can be independently displaced,
The contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against both sides of the plate-like tab in the plate width direction is more flat than the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against the plate width direction intermediate portion of the plate-like tab. The distance from the opening in the insertion direction of the tab is increased ,
The contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against both sides of the plate-like tab in the plate width direction is wider than the contact portion of the elastic contact piece pressed against the plate width direction intermediate portion of the plate-like tab. Has been increased ,
A multi-contact female terminal characterized by that. 2. The multi-contact type female terminal according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of elastic contact pieces are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the plate-like tab in the plate thickness direction.

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