JP7294100B2 - Terminal connection unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal connection unit for connecting conductors to terminals.

There is a so-called spring terminal type terminal connection unit for connecting conductors to terminals. This type of terminal connection unit includes a metal terminal plate and a leaf spring. When the end of the conductor is inserted into a predetermined terminal hole, the leaf spring presses the conductor wire against the terminal plate to make it conductive with the terminal plate and to prevent the conductor wire from coming off. When a driver is inserted through a predetermined operation hole, the driver comes into contact with the leaf spring and is elastically deformed to release the lead wire so that it can be removed.

The spring terminal type terminal connection unit is easier to attach and detach the conductor than the screw terminal type, and can prevent poor contact caused by forgetting to tighten the screw. As a spring terminal type terminal connection unit, for example, one described in Patent Document 1 can be cited.

In the terminal connection unit described in Patent Document 1, the conductive contact portion of the terminal plate is provided along the housing wall. A conductor wire inserted through the terminal hole is held between the leaf spring and the conductive contact portion.

JP 2017-162579 A

In the terminal connection unit described in Patent Document 1, even if the inserted conductor is to be pulled out as it is, a strong tightening force corresponding to the pull-out force is generated and the wire is not pulled out. However, if a pull-out force that exceeds the allowable limit is applied to the conductor due to improper handling or routing of the conductor, or the weight of an excessively long conductor, the clamping force generated by the leaf spring will become excessively large, resulting in poor conductivity. There is concern about deformation (mainly plastic deformation) of the contacts and housing walls. When such deformation occurs, the holding force of the lead wire by the leaf spring is weakened. Using high-strength members or thickening the conductive contacts and the housing wall can prevent such deformation, but adds weight and cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal connection unit in which a lead wire can be more reliably held by a leaf spring.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the terminal connection unit according to the present invention includes a housing, a terminal hole for guiding a conductor wire from the outside of the housing to the inside, and an operating member to the inside from the outside of the housing. a terminal plate having an operation hole for guiding; a conductive contact portion that contacts the conductive wire inserted into the terminal hole; a leaf spring positioned on an extension line of the center axis of the operation hole, wherein the terminal plate further has a bent piece bent from the tip of the conductive contact portion, and the housing includes: and a first supporting member supporting the bent piece from the back side in the pressing direction of the leaf spring, and a second supporting member supporting the conductive contact portion from the back side in the pressing direction.

Since such a terminal connection unit has the first support member that supports the bent piece from the back side and the second support member that supports the conductive contact portion from the back side, the urging force generated by the leaf spring is It is supported and distributed by one support member and a second support member. Therefore, plastic deformation of the conductive contact portion and the second support member is suppressed, and the lead wire can be more reliably held by the leaf spring.

The bent piece may be arranged in parallel with the conductive contact portion in the pressing direction.

The bent piece may have a protruding portion protruding from the housing, and the protruding portion may be fitted into an input/output hole of an accessory unit combined with the terminal connection unit and electrically connected to the input/output hole.

The first support member may be supported by a portion of the accessory unit.

The protruding portion may protrude further than the base end portion of the conductive contact portion in the direction of the center line between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece.

The housing may have a first housing including the first support member and a second housing including the second support member.

A bent portion between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece may be sandwiched between the first housing and the second housing in a plate thickness direction.

A bent portion between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece may have a curved shape, and an end portion of the bent portion may contact the electric contact portion side of the terminal hole.

The conductive contact portion may be arranged parallel to the extension line of the terminal hole, and the bent piece may be arranged at an acute angle to the extension line of the terminal hole.

The terminal plate may further have a bottom piece that is bent from the base end of the conductive contact portion and orthogonal to the extension line of the terminal hole.

The terminal connection unit according to the present invention can more reliably hold the lead wire by the plate spring.

1 is a perspective view of a terminal connection unit according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a terminal connection unit and a transformer unit combined with the terminal connection unit. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the terminal connection unit. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a terminal; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the terminal connection unit with conductors attached. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing how the terminal plate is deformed by the biasing force of the plate spring. FIG. 7 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of a state in which the terminal connection unit and the transformer unit are combined. FIG. 8 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of the combined terminal connection unit and transformer unit, with terminals omitted.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment of the terminal connection unit concerning this invention is described in detail based on drawing. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a terminal connection unit 10 that is an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal connection unit 10 connects a conductor 12 to a terminal 14, and is of a so-called spring terminal type. In the following description, the front-back direction, the up-down direction, and the left-right direction (also referred to as the width direction) of the terminal connection unit 10 are defined as arrows shown in FIG. The front side of the terminal connection unit 10 is basically the side operated by the operator. In the following description, directions such as up/down, horizontal, left/right, and vertical are for the sake of convenience based on the drawings, and the terminal connection unit 10 is not limited in its orientation.

The terminal connection unit 10 is box-shaped and has four terminal holes 15 provided obliquely forward and four operation holes 16 provided on the upper surface. The terminal hole 15 is a hole through which the conducting wire 12 is led inside from the outside. The operation hole 16 is a hole through which a driver 20 as an operation member is introduced from the outside. The terminal holes 15 and the operation holes 16 are grouped two by two on the left and right, and are arranged in the left-right direction. The terminal hole 15 and the operation hole 16 are arranged in the front-rear direction. The terminal connection unit 10 has four projections 18 on the bottom. The protrusions 18 are conductors and are arranged below the terminal holes 15 respectively. The two projecting portions 18 on the left and right are electrically connected inside. Conductive wires 12 are individually inserted into the terminal holes 15 and electrically connected to the projections 18 . A driver 20 is individually inserted into each of the operation holes 16 to release the lead wire 12 inserted into and fixed to the terminal hole 15 .

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the terminal connection unit 10 and a transformer unit (accompanying unit) 24 combined with the terminal connection unit 10. As shown in FIG. The accessory unit combined with the terminal connection unit 10 is not limited to the transformer unit 24, and may be, for example, a switch unit or an illumination unit. The transformer unit 24 may be further combined with a switch unit, a lighting unit, and the like.

The terminal connection unit 10 has a first housing 26 , a second housing 28 and two terminals 14 . The first housing 26 and the second housing 28 are made of resin, for example. The transformer unit 24 has a transformer body 30 and a case 32 . The upper surface of the transformer main body 30 is provided with four input holes (input/output holes) 34 into which the four projections 18 of the terminal connection unit 10 are individually fitted (including press-fitting) to conduct. The input hole 34 serves as a primary side terminal of the transformer. The transformer main body 30 steps up or steps down the voltage input from the input hole 34 and outputs it from the output section on the secondary side. The input and output of transformer unit 24 may be reversed.

The case 32 is a cylindrical body covering four surfaces of the transformer body 30 and has a function of holding the transformer body 30 and a function of attaching/detaching it to/from the terminal connection unit 10 . Engagement holes 32a are provided in the side surfaces of the case 32, and the terminal connection unit 10 and the transformer unit 24 are combined by engaging the claws 35 of the terminal connection unit 10 with the engagement holes 32a. The terminal connection unit 10 and the transformer unit 24 may be fixedly combined by press-fitting means or the like, or may be detachably combined.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the terminal connection unit 10. FIG. The first housing 26 forms five surfaces of the terminal connection unit 10 excluding the bottom surface, and serves as a cover member for the terminal connection unit 10 . The second housing 28 is fitted into the first housing 26 from below. The second housing 28 also serves as an insulating member for the terminals 14 with respect to the transformer unit 24 . Most of the terminals 14 are arranged within the space defined by the first housing 26 and the second housing 28 .

The first housing 26 includes an upper ceiling wall 26a, a front wall (first support member) 26b, and a rear wall 26c. The ceiling wall 26a forms the upper surface 10a as a whole. The terminal hole 15 is formed at the boundary between the ceiling wall 26a and the front wall 26b. The terminal hole 15 is formed by connecting an upper hole 15a having a slightly larger diameter and a lower hole 15b having a smaller diameter. The terminal hole 15 is a hole into which the conductor 12 is inserted, the conductor portion 12a at the tip thereof can be inserted into the lower hole 15b, and the covering portion 12b is inserted through the upper hole 15a but not through the lower hole 15b. However, the insertion depth is regulated to be appropriate. The conducting wire 12 is, for example, a ferrule terminal, a single wire, a stranded wire, or the like.

Adjacent to the terminal hole 15, the operation hole 16 extends through the ceiling wall 26a from the upper surface 10a to the inside. The terminal hole 15 and the operation hole 16 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction and are inclined rearward from the top to the bottom. In this case, the inclination angles of the terminal hole 15 and the operation hole 16 are about 60° with respect to the horizontal. An opening 16a of the operation hole 16 is formed in the upper surface 10a. The operation hole 16 has a slightly tapered shape downward so that the driver 20 can be guided in the correct direction. The terminal holes 15 and the operation holes 16 are provided in four sets in parallel in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in accordance with two conductive contact portions 36a to be described later. good. The insertion of the lead wire 12 into the terminal hole 15 and the insertion of the driver 20 into the operation hole 16 are performed manually.

The second housing 28 includes a lower bottom wall 28a, a front wall (second support member) 28b, a rear wall 28c, an inclination restricting portion 28d, and an engaging arm 28e. A front end portion of the bottom wall 28a forms a gently sloping portion 28aa downward facing forward. The front wall 28b extends forward and upward from the front end of the gently sloping portion 28aa. The gently sloping portion 28aa and the front wall 28b are perpendicular to each other. In this case, the inclination angle of the front wall 28b is approximately 60° with respect to the horizontal, and is parallel to the extending direction of the terminal hole 15 and the operation hole 16. As shown in FIG.

The engaging arm 28e extends downward from the upper end of the front wall 28b, and its tip engages with an engaged hole 36bb (see FIG. 4) of a bending piece 36b, which will be described later, and is bent. The piece 36b is elastically pressed. The rear wall 28c is stable with its upper and lower ends in contact with the front surface of the rear wall 26c. The tilt regulating portion 28d regulates the tilt angle of the action portion 38a, which will be described later. Both left and right sides of the terminal connection unit 10 (both sides parallel to the plane of FIG. 3) are covered with side plates that are part of the first housing 26 .

Terminal 14 includes terminal plate 36 and leaf spring 38 . The terminal plate 36 is a component that contacts and conducts the inserted lead wire 12 . The leaf spring 38 presses and fixes the lead wire 12 against the terminal plate 36 with an elastic force, and is elastically deformable by being pushed by the tip of the driver 20, so that the lead wire 12 is released by the elastic deformation.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the terminal 14. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal plate 36 is a metal component formed by cutting and bending a single plate material. The terminal plate 36 is made of a material suitable as a conductive material, such as copper or its alloy. The terminal plate 36 has appropriate thickness and strength suitable for pressing the lead wire 12 by the leaf spring 38 .

The leaf spring 38 is an elastic component formed by cutting and bending a single plate material. The leaf spring 38 is made of a material suitable as an elastic material, such as stainless steel or a resin plate. When the leaf spring 38 is used for voltage detection, it is preferable to use a conductive material. The leaf spring 38 is thin so as to be easily elastically deformed. The terminal plate 36 and the leaf spring 38 are separate parts, and have suitable materials and thicknesses for each.

First, the terminal board 36 will be described. The terminal plate 36 has two conductive contact portions 36a against which the lead wire 12 is pressed by a plate spring 38, a bent piece 36b bent from the tip of the conductive contact portion 36a, and a space between the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b. an inclined bottom piece 36d bent from the base end (lower end) of the conductive contact portion 36a; a horizontal bottom piece 36e connected from the inclined bottom piece 36d; piece 36f.

The bent portion 36c has a loosely bent shape with some width in the front-rear direction. Two bent portions 36c and inclined bottom pieces 36d are provided to match the two conductive contact portions 36a, but each may be provided one by one. A notch 36g is formed between the two bent portions 36c, the conductive contact portion 36a and the inclined bottom piece 36d. A partition plate, which is part of the housing, is fitted into the notch 36g.

The conductive contact portion 36a is a plate member extending obliquely and has a backward projection 36i near its upper end. The protrusion 36i is formed by, for example, press working, and extends over the entire widthwise length of the conductive contact portion 36a.

The bent piece 36b has an upper piece 36ba and the two protrusions 18 described above. The upper piece 36ba has a horizontally long rectangular shape, and an engaged hole 36bb is formed in the center. A tip protrusion of the engaging arm 28e is engaged with the engaged hole 36bb to prevent the terminal 14 from coming off. Further, the upper piece 36ba is pressed by the engaging arm 28e and stabilized. The projecting portion 18 of the bent piece 36b is electrically connected to the input hole 34 of the transformer unit 24. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the bent piece 36b also serves as an input/output section for the accompanying unit. In other words, the bent piece 36b serves as both a reinforcing means and a current-carrying means.

The two protrusions 18 protrude downward from both ends of the upper piece 36ba, and a recess 18a is formed in the middle thereof. An elastic projection provided inside an input hole 34 (see FIG. 3) engages with the recess 18a. The tip of the projecting portion 18 is tapered so that it can be easily inserted into the input hole 34 .

The width of the bent piece 36b and the upper piece 36ba is wider than the total width of the two conductive contact portions 36a and the notch 36g. The width of the upper piece 36ba is preferably set wider than the conductive contact portion 36a within a layout tolerance. When there is one upper piece 36ba and two conductive contact portions 36a, the width of the upper piece 36ba should be at least twice the width of one conductive contact portion 36a. As shown in FIG. The width of the upper piece 36ba in this embodiment is about four times the width of one conductive contact portion 36a.

The length of the bent piece 36b in the vertical direction, that is, the total length of the upper piece 36ba and the projecting portion 18 is preferably longer than the length along the extending direction of the conductive contact portion 36a. The vertical length of the bent piece 36b in this embodiment is about 1.7 times the length of the conductive contact portion 36a.

The horizontal bottom piece 36e is a plate material that bends from the rear ends of the two inclined bottom pieces 36d and extends horizontally toward the rear. A pair of steps 36j are formed between the horizontal bottom piece 36e and the inclined bottom piece 36d, and the horizontal bottom piece 36e is narrower than the total width of the two inclined bottom pieces 36d and the notch 36g. A rectangular spring fixing hole 36k penetrating vertically is formed in the rear end portion of the horizontal bottom piece 36e. A protrusion 36m slightly protruding forward is provided in the center of the fixed piece 36f.

The terminal plate 36 has a simple shape obtained by cutting and bending a rectangular material, which is low in cost and high in yield from the base material. The terminal plate 36 has four bent portions. That is, a 90° bent portion between the conductive contact portion 36a and the inclined bottom piece 36d, a bent portion between the inclined bottom piece 36d and the horizontal bottom piece 36e, a 90° bent portion between the horizontal bottom piece 36e and the fixed piece 36f, and a bent portion. 36c. All of these bent portions are creases in the short direction (that is, width direction) of the base material, and all the creases along the longitudinal direction of the base material are parallel, so that cost reduction can be achieved.

Next, the leaf spring 38 will be explained. The leaf spring 38 includes a pair of action portions 38a, a pair of arc portions 38b, and a common fixing portion 38c. That is, the leaf spring 38 has a front end that presses the conductor portion 12a against the conductive contact portion 36a, and a rear end that is a fixing portion 38c that is fixed to the terminal plate 36. As shown in FIG. The action portion 38a and the arc portion 38b are connected to form a spring body 38d. A pair of spring bodies 38d are arranged in parallel in the width direction, and a notch 38e is formed therebetween. Each spring body 38d has the same width as the conductive contact portion 36a, and is aligned with the corresponding conductive contact portion 36a in the width direction.

The acting portion 38a is a slightly elongated plate, and the tip thereof extends obliquely forward and downward. The rear end of the action portion 38a is continuously connected to the arc portion 38b. The entire leaf spring 38 is an elastic body, but when it is displaced by the operation of the driver 20, it is mostly due to the deformation of the circular arc portion 38b. This is because the circular arc portion 38b is a portion that is bent in advance and is an intermediate portion between the contact portion of the driver 20 and the fixing portion 38c.

The arc portion 38b has an arc shape of about 240°, for example, when viewed from the side. The arc portion 38b elastically deforms so that the arc angle increases or decreases. The circular arc portion 38b is moderately long, and the total length is equal to or longer than that of the action portion 38a. Since the circular arc portion 38b has a large circular arc angle and a long overall length, it is likely to be elastically deformed.

The fixing portion 38c includes a connecting portion 38f connected to the two spring bodies 38d, a projecting piece 38g projecting downward from the connecting portion 38f and fitted into the spring fixing hole 36k, and a fitting hole 38h formed substantially in the center. Prepare. The plate spring 38 is fixed to the terminal plate 36 by fitting the projecting piece 38g into the spring fixing hole 36k and fitting the projection 36m into the fitting hole 38h. Since the terminal plate 36 is appropriately thick, the spring fixing hole 36k is also appropriately deep, and the plate spring 38 can be stably fixed by fitting the projecting piece 38g into the spring fixing hole 36k. Although the terminal plate 36 and the leaf spring 38 are separate components, the fixing portion 38c may be integrated with the terminal plate 36 by adhesion, welding, caulking, or the like.

Returning to FIG. 3, the arrangement of the terminals 14 in the terminal connection unit 10 will be described. The terminal plate 36 of the terminal 14 is arranged along the first housing 26 or the second housing 28 except for the projecting portion 18 . Specifically, the fixed piece 36f, the horizontal bottom piece 36e, the inclined bottom piece 36d, and the conductive contact portion 36a are arranged on the front surface of the rear wall 28c of the second housing 28, the upper surface of the bottom wall 28a, the upper surface of the gently inclined portion 28aa, and the front wall. 28b. An upper piece 36ba of the bent pieces 36b is in contact with the rear surface of the front wall 26b of the first housing 26. As shown in FIG. The bent piece 36b extends vertically and is arranged at an acute angle to the extension line of the terminal hole 15. As shown in FIG. The bent pieces 36b and the fixed pieces 36f are arranged in parallel and vertically, and the terminals 14 are compactly housed inside the first housing 26 and the second housing 28, respectively. The bent portion 36c has a curved shape, and the end portion of the bent portion 36c is in contact with the conductive contact portion side of the lower hole 15b of the terminal hole 15. Since the entrance side of the terminal 14 has a bent shape, the electric wire does not touch the cut surface of the terminal plate. Wires can be inserted without getting caught.

The front wall 32b of the case 32 of the transformer unit 24 abuts on the front side of the portion where the bent piece 36b and the front wall 26b abut. A front wall 32b of the case 32 and a rear wall 32c, which will be described later, form a fitting portion with the terminal connection unit 10. As shown in FIG. The protruding portion 18 of the bent piece 36b protrudes from the first housing 26 and the second housing 28 and is fitted into the input hole 34 of the transformer unit 24 as described above.

The inclined bottom piece 36d is bent from the base end of the conductive contact portion 36a and perpendicular to the extended line of the terminal hole 15. As shown in FIG. The inclined bottom piece 36d abuts and holds the tip of the lead wire 12 and restricts excessive penetration.

Since the conductive contact portion 36a is in contact with the front wall 28b, the inclination angle thereof is equal to that of the terminal hole 15 and about 60° with respect to the horizontal. The upper surface of the conductive contact portion 36a is arranged so as to match the front end of the lower hole 15b. , the conductor 12 can be easily inserted through the terminal hole 15 .

The lower surface of the bent portion 36c abuts on the connection bent portion 28ba between the conductive contact portion 36a and the engaging arm 28e, and the upper surface abuts on the pressing piece 15c forming part of the lower hole 15b. That is, the bent portion 36c is sandwiched between the first housing 26 and the second housing 28 in the plate thickness direction and is stable.

A fixed portion 38c of the plate spring 38 is fixed to a fixed piece 36f and extends vertically. A substantially upper half of the action portion 38 a is positioned on an extension line of the central axis of the operation hole 16 . A substantially lower half of the action portion 38 a is positioned on an extension line of the central axis of the terminal hole 15 .

The leaf spring 38 is slightly elastic from its natural state (single state before assembly with respect to the terminal plate 36) in the initial state (state shown in FIG. 1) when the lead wire 12 is not attached and when the driver 20 is not operated. Due to its elasticity, the front end of the action portion 38a is in contact with the lower surface of the protrusion 36i of the conductive contact portion 36a or slightly below it. The inclination angle of the acting portion 38a at this time is, for example, about 60° from the horizontal. When the operating portion 38a of the plate spring 38 is pushed downward by the driver 20, the acting portion 38a is further elastically deformed to increase the inclination angle, but the deformation is regulated by coming into contact with the upper surface of the inclination regulating portion 28d. This deformation is within the elastic range, and the leaf spring 38 is hardly plastically deformed.

When assembling the terminal connection unit 10 , the terminals 14 are configured by fixing the leaf springs 38 to the terminal plate 36 , and then the terminals 14 are first attached to the second housing 28 . The terminal 14 is fitted into the second housing 28 from above. As a result, the upper edge of the fixed piece 36f is engaged with the small protrusion 28ca of the rear wall 28c, and the tip of the engaging arm 28e is engaged with the engaged hole 36bb (see FIG. 4) of the bent piece 36b. Fixed.

Next, the second housing 28 with the terminals 14 attached thereto is attached to the first housing 26 . The second housing 28 is fitted into the first housing 26 from below. As a result, the upper edge of the rear wall 28c abuts against the stepped portion 26d formed at the connecting portion between the top wall 26a and the rear wall 26c of the first housing 26 and is positioned. The lower portions of the rear wall 26c and the rear wall 28c are in contact with each other. A rear wall 32c of the case 32 of the transformer unit 24 abuts on the rear side of the portion where the rear wall 26c and the rear wall 28c abut. The second housing 28 has a pair of pawls 28f (see FIG. 2) on the front and rear sides, and the pawls 28f are engaged with engagement holes 26e (see FIG. 2) of the first housing 26 and fixed.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the terminal connection unit 10 with the conductor 12 attached. As shown in FIG. 5, when the conductor 12 is inserted into the terminal hole 15, the conductor portion 12a passes through the lower hole 15b and enters inside. The conductor portion 12a is slightly inclined so as to expand the action portion 38a of the leaf spring 38, and enters between the tip of the action portion 38a and the conductive contact portion 36a. Since the action portion 38a generates an elastic force in the direction of returning to the initial state, the tip portion of the action portion 38a presses the conductor portion 12a obliquely downward against the conductive contact portion 36a toward the lower portion of the projection 36i. As a result, the conductor portion 12a is electrically connected to the conductive contact portion 36a.

The leaf spring 38 has a relatively small elastic modulus and is easily bendable, so that the operator can insert the lead wire 12 into the terminal hole 15 with a light force. The conductor 12 is engaged with the action portion 38a and the projection 36i, and when a force acts in the pull-out direction, the action portion 38a further presses the conductor portion 12a toward the projection 36i, and the sandwiched conductor portion 12a Hard to come off. As such, the conductors 12 are fairly strongly engaged with the terminals 14 .

Although illustration is omitted, when the driver 20 is inserted into the operation hole 16, the tip of the driver 20 passes through the front of the circular arc portion 38b and abuts obliquely against the upper portion of the action portion 38a disposed inside. . When the driver 20 is further inserted, the tip of the driver 20 pushes down the working portion 38a to increase the inclination angle of the working portion 38a. Then, the tip of the action portion 38a is separated from the conductor portion 12a, and the wire 12 is released from the engagement state between the action portion 38a and the conductive contact portion 36a, so that it can be pulled out from the terminal hole 15. FIG.

The terminal connection unit 10 does not require a screwing operation as compared with a screw-type terminal connection unit, so that the conducting wire 12 can be attached quickly and contact failure caused by forgetting to tighten the screw can be prevented. Further, as compared with the screw-type terminal connection unit, loosening work of the screws is not required, and the conducting wire 12 can be released quickly. Four terminal holes 15 are provided, and each lead wire 12 can be individually inserted and attached. Four operation holes 16 are provided, and the driver 20 can be inserted and the lead wire 12 can be opened individually.

By the way, when the lead wire 12 is inserted into the terminal hole 15 and the plate spring 38 is elastically deformed, the lead wire 12 and the conductive contact portion 36a continue to receive the elastic biasing force from the plate spring 38 . This biasing force increases as the lead wire 12 is thicker. In addition, if the lead wire 12 is subjected to an unacceptable pull-out force due to improper handling or routing of the lead wire 12 or the weight of an excessively long wire, the force generated by the leaf spring 38 will be considerably increased. .

On the other hand, in the terminal connection unit 10, the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b are arranged in parallel in the F1 direction (pressing direction) pressed by the action portion 38a of the leaf spring 38, and the conductive contact portion It has a front wall 28b that supports 36a from the back side and a front wall 28b that supports the bent piece 36b from the back side in the F1 direction. Therefore, the urging force generated by the plate spring 38 is supported by the front wall 28b through the conductive contact portion 36a, and is also supported by the front wall 26b through the bent piece 36b, thereby dispersing the force.

It should be noted that the "parallel" of the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b here does not have to be "parallel" as is clear from FIG. . The F1 direction, which is the direction in which the leaf spring 38 acts, may have some errors depending on the thickness of the conductor 12 and the direction in which the conductor 12 is pulled out. I hope you are. The F1 direction is generally the movement locus direction of the tip of the action piece 38a.

The angle formed by the extending direction (approximately 60° with respect to the horizontal) of the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b and the direction F1 is equal to the extending direction (vertical direction) of the bent piece 36b and the front wall 26b. It is shallower than the angle with F1. Therefore, the biasing force of the leaf spring 38 is smaller for the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b than for the bent piece 36b and the front wall 26b, thereby suppressing deformation of the latter.

If the bent piece 36b is arranged in parallel with the conductive contact portion 36a in the F1 direction, it is likely to receive the biasing force of the leaf spring 38. However, depending on design conditions, the bent piece 36b and the conductive contact portion 36a may not necessarily be arranged in parallel in the F1 direction. It doesn't have to be. For example, even if the F1 direction points toward the bent portion 36c instead of the bent piece 36b, the bent piece 36b can receive the biasing force of the leaf spring 38 accordingly.

Further, as described above, the width of the bent piece 36b and the upper piece 36ba is wider than the width of the two conductive contact portions 36a. Further, since the projecting portion 18 of the bent piece 36b is inserted into the input hole 34 of the transformer unit 24, the biasing force of the plate spring 38 is also supported by the input hole 34, and the biasing force is dispersed. The projecting portion 18 is more strongly supported when it is press-fitted into the input hole 34 .

Since the front wall 32b of the case 32 of the transformer unit 24 contacts the portion where the bent piece 36b contacts the front wall 26b, the biasing force of the plate spring 38 can be supported more reliably. Specifically, not only is the portion that supports the bent piece 36b thickened by the front wall 26b and the front wall 32b, but the front wall 26b is a member that extends downward from above. Since the wall 32b is a member that extends upward from below and bends in different directions, the overlapping of the walls 32b suppresses mutual bending.

The length of the bent piece 36b in the vertical direction, that is, the total length of the upper piece 36ba and the projecting portion 18, is set longer than the conductive contact portion 36a, so that the pressure receiving area is wide and the biasing force of the plate spring 38 is dispersed. be.

Due to these actions, plastic deformation of the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b in the terminal connection unit 10 is suppressed, and the lead wire 12 can be held by the plate spring 38 more reliably. Moreover, the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b do not need to be made of expensive high-strength members or excessively thick, so that weight reduction and cost reduction can be achieved.

The urging force of the plate spring 38 is generally distributed to the first support portion supported by the front wall 26b via the bent piece 36b and the second support portion supported by the front wall 28b via the conductive contact portion 36a. However, the sharing ratio may vary depending on the angle, length, area, etc. of the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b. Depending on the design conditions, if the ratio of the second support portion to the first support portion is increased, the load on the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b is reduced, and deformation is further suppressed.

As is clear from FIG. 5, since the F1 direction by the plate spring 38 is obliquely upward to some extent, the force acting on the conductive contact portion 36a and the front wall 28b includes some upward component. The tip of the conductive contact portion 36a forms a bent portion 36c, and the upper surface of the bent portion 36c is supported by the pressing piece 15c, so that the biasing force of the leaf spring 38 is further dispersed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing how the terminal plate 36 is deformed by the biasing force of the leaf spring 38. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the protruding portion 18 protrudes from the base end portion of the conductive contact portion 36a in the direction of the center line J between the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b. More specifically, when the base end portion of the conductive contact portion 36a, that is, the 90° bent portion between the conductive contact portion 36a and the inclined bottom piece 36d is set as the center O, the protruding portion 18 extends along the center line J through the center O. It protrudes below the orthogonal line V.

When the conductive contact portion 36a of the terminal plate 36 receives an urging force in the F1 direction from the action portion 38a of the plate spring 38, the conductive contact portion 36a and the portion on the tip side thereof (that is, the bent portion 36c, the bent piece 36b and the projecting portion) Part 18) may be subjected to a clockwise rotation in FIG. 6 about center O, as shown schematically in phantom lines. Then, the upper piece 36ba of the bent piece 36b receives a forward force and is supported by the front wall 26b. On the other hand, since the protruding portion 18 of the bent piece 36b protrudes in the direction of the center line J from the orthogonal line V, it receives a rearward force, rather than the front wall 34a of the input hole 34. There may be a situation where it is supported by the rear wall 34b. Further, depending on the conditions, it is assumed that the projecting portion 18 receives a forward force together with the upper piece 36ba.

Therefore, the input hole 34 into which the projecting portion 18 is inserted is not only electrically connected to the projecting portion 18, but also has the front wall 34a and the rear wall 34b contacting and holding the projecting portion 18. There is an effect of doing. As a result, the biasing force of the leaf spring 38 is further dispersed. Further, since the projecting portion 18 is fitted and supported in the input hole 34, the conductive contact portion 36a and the portion on the tip side thereof can be prevented from circularly moving with the center O as a reference.

FIG. 7 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of a state in which the terminal connection unit 10 and the transformer unit 24 are combined. FIG. 8 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view of the terminal connection unit 10 and the transformer unit 24 assembled together, with the terminals 14 omitted. As shown in FIG. 7, the front surface of the conductive contact portion 36a of the terminal 14 contacts the front wall 28b, and the front surface of the bent piece 36b contacts the front wall 26b. Further, the bent portion 36c is sandwiched between the connecting bent portion 28ba and the pressing piece 15c at its upper and lower sides. As shown in FIG. 8, the front wall 28b, the front wall 26b, the connecting bent portion 28ba, and the pressing piece 15c have appropriate widths in the width direction and are suitable for supporting each portion of the terminal 14. As shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 5, in the terminal plate 36, the conductive contact portion 36a and the bent piece 36b receive force in the F1 direction from the action portion 38a of the plate spring 38, while the fixed piece 36f is pushed in the F2 direction by the fixed portion 38c as a reaction force. receive the power of This reaction force is a rearward force generated at or near the lower end of the fixed portion 38c. The portion where this reaction force is generated is supported by the rear wall 28c, the rear wall 26c and the rear wall 32c via the fixing piece 36f, and has high strength. In addition, the vicinity 28cb of the lower end, which is the portion where the reaction force acts on the rear wall 28c, is formed thicker than the other portions and has high strength. Therefore, deformation of the fixed piece 36f can be suppressed by the rear wall 26c, the rear wall 28c and the rear wall 32c.

In general, since the reaction force acting on the fixed piece 36f acts in the vicinity of its lower end, the action of mainly stretching the horizontal bottom piece 36e rather than the action of changing the bending angle of the fixed piece 36f with respect to the horizontal bottom piece 36e. work. However, since the horizontal bottom piece 36e has an appropriate thickness and width, it hardly deforms plastically even if it receives a tensile force. In practice, since the reaction force acting on the fixed piece 36f is distributed to some extent according to its area, the bending angle of the fixed piece 36f hardly changes with respect to the horizontal bottom piece 36e.

In the above description, an example of inserting the driver 20 into the operation hole 16 to operate the action portion 38a is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. good too. If such a pusher is provided in the terminal connection unit 10, the driver 20 is unnecessary.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be freely modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10 Terminal connection unit 12 Lead wire 14 Terminal 15 Terminal hole 16 Operation hole 18 Protrusion 20 Driver (operation member)
24 transformer unit (attached unit)
26 first housing 26b front wall (first support member)
28 Second housing 28aa Slightly inclined portion 28b Front wall (second support member)
28ba connection bent portion 28c rear wall 28e engagement arm 30 transformer main body 32 case 34 input hole (input/output hole)
34a front wall 34b rear wall 36 terminal plate 36a conductive contact portion 36b bent piece 36ba upper piece 36c bent portion 36d inclined bottom piece 36e horizontal bottom piece 36f fixing piece 38 leaf spring 38a acting portion 38b arc portion 38c fixing portion

Claims (10)

a housing;
a terminal hole for guiding a conductor from the outside of the housing to the inside;
an operation hole for guiding an operation member from the outside of the housing to the inside;
a terminal plate having a conductive contact portion that contacts the conductor wire inserted into the terminal hole;
a leaf spring that biases the conductive wire inserted into the terminal hole toward the conductive contact portion by an elastic force and is positioned on an extension line of a central axis of the operation hole;
A terminal connection unit comprising:
The terminal plate further has a bent piece bent from the tip of the conductive contact part,
The housing is
a first support member that supports the bent piece from the back side in the pressing direction of the leaf spring;
a second support member that supports the conductive contact portion from the back side in the pressing direction;
A terminal connection unit comprising: 2. The terminal connection unit according to claim 1, wherein said bent piece is arranged in parallel with said conductive contact portion in said pressing direction. the bent piece has a protruding portion protruding from the housing,
3. The terminal connection unit according to claim 1, wherein the projecting portion fits into an input/output hole of an auxiliary unit combined with the terminal connection unit, and is electrically connected to the input/output hole. 4. The terminal connection unit according to claim 3, wherein the first support member is supported by a portion of the accessory unit. 5. The terminal connection unit according to claim 3, wherein the protruding portion protrudes from the base end portion of the conductive contact portion in the direction of the center line between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece. . The housing is
a first housing including the first support member;
a second housing including the second support member;
The terminal connection unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by having: 7. The terminal connection unit according to claim 6, wherein the bent portion between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece is sandwiched between the first housing and the second housing in the plate thickness direction. . 8. The bent portion between the conductive contact portion and the bent piece has a curved shape, and an end portion of the bent portion contacts the electric contact portion side of the terminal hole. The terminal connection unit described in . The conductive contact portion is arranged parallel to the extension line of the terminal hole,
The terminal connection unit according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the bent pieces are arranged at an acute angle to an extension line of the terminal hole. 10. The terminal plate according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the terminal plate further has a bottom piece bent from the base end of the conductive contact portion and orthogonal to the extension line of the terminal hole. Terminal connection unit.

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