JP7309523B2 - Interlocking contact and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connecting-type contact in which two female contacts are connected by a connecting portion, and a manufacturing method thereof.

A connected-type contact is known in which two female contacts are connected to each other to electrically and mechanically connect two male contacts (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Here, there is a case where the two male contacts inserted into the two female contacts constituting this contact are provided in two different devices, and the two devices have different vibration modes. Therefore, the connection type contact has a structure in which two female contacts are connected at a connecting portion, and the difference in vibration modes is absorbed at the connecting portion.

JP 2014-10949 A

In the case of the interlocking contact of Patent Document 1, two areas where two female contacts are formed and an area where the interlocking portion is formed are formed by stamping a flat metal plate during the manufacturing process. These three areas are arranged in a straight line with the area where the connecting portion is formed at the center. Therefore, two carriers are required to extend so as to sandwich these three regions. Therefore, the yield of the metal material is poor, which hinders the reduction of the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an interlocking contact and a method of manufacturing the same, in which manufacturing costs are reduced.

The interlocking contact of the present invention for achieving the above object is
two female contacts each having a downwardly opening insertion opening and electrically conducting with each male contact inserted through the insertion opening;
a connecting portion that connects the two female contacts;
The connecting part
a pair of standing walls connected to each of the two female contacts and extending in directions facing each other;
a pair of beams that bend in a direction approaching each other from each of the pair of standing walls and form a laterally coplanar surface;
and a connecting member having both ends connected to each of the pair of beams.

In the connection-type contact of the present invention, the connection portion is composed of the pair of vertical walls, the pair of beams, and the connection member. By providing the connecting portion with this configuration, it is possible to form the connecting portion and two female contacts connected by the connecting portion on one side in the width direction of one carrier. As a result, the yield of the metal material is improved, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Here, in the connection-type contact of the present invention, the connection member is an elastic spring bent in a wavy shape, and the connecting portion of the elastic spring to the pair of beams is bent from each of the pair of beams so that the elastic spring is wavy in the horizontal plane. It preferably has a curved shape.

When the elastic spring is bent from each of the pair of beams to form a wavy shape in the horizontal plane, the elastic springs are provided on both sides of the coupled contact when the coupled contact is coupled to the carrier. protected by standing walls.

In addition, the method for manufacturing an interlocking contact of the present invention includes:
Two regions in which two female contacts forming one interlocking contact are respectively formed are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and two female contacts and the connecting portion forming one interlocking contact. is formed on one side in the width direction of one carrier by punching a flat metal plate.

By adopting this manufacturing method, the yield of the flat metal material is improved, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Here, in the manufacturing method of the interlocking contact of the present invention,
The above step is further a step of punching the flat metal plate so as to form a connection beam that connects the two beams constituting the pair of beams separately from the elastic spring,
It is preferable to further include the step of cutting the connecting beam.

In the case of the structure shown in the above-cited Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the connecting member may be deformed due to unintentional force acting on the connecting member until the female contact is inserted into the housing. On the other hand, if the connecting beams are formed, the unintentional deformation of the connecting member can be suppressed. This connecting beam is cut off in a later step, for example, a step of inserting the female contact into the housing.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to realize a connecting contact whose manufacturing cost is reduced.

FIG. 3A is a three-sided view of an interlocking contact as an embodiment of the present invention; 2 is a perspective view of the interlocking contact of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 4 is a three-sided view of the interlocking contact with carriers interlocked; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the interlocking contact with the carrier interlocked; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an outline of the shape after punching of the metal flat plate at the time of manufacturing the coupled contact of the present embodiment;

FIG. 1 is a trihedral view of an interlocking contact as one embodiment of the present invention. Here, FIG. 1(A) is a plan view, FIG. 1(B) is a front view, and FIG. 1(C) is a side view.

2 is a perspective view of the interlocking contact of FIG. 1. FIG.

1 and 2 show only the contacts, the contacts shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are in their final form after being inserted into the housing.

This interlocking contact 10 is formed by stamping and bending a conductive flat metal plate, and includes two female contacts 20A and 20B and a connecting portion 30. As shown in FIG.

The two female contacts 20A and 20B each have insertion openings 21a and 21b that open downward, and are electrically connected to male contacts (not shown) inserted through the insertion openings 21a and 21b. conduct. Also, the connecting portion 30 electrically and mechanically connects the two female contacts 20A and 20B.

Here, the connecting portion 30 has a pair of standing walls 31 a and 31 b, a pair of beams 32 a and 32 b, and an elastic spring (connecting member) 33 .

The pair of standing walls 31a and 31b are connected to the two female contacts 20A and 20B and extend in directions facing each other. Also, the pair of beams 32a and 32b are bent in a direction approaching each other from each of the pair of standing walls 31a and 31b to form the same sideways plane. Both ends of the elastic spring 33 are respectively connected to the pair of beams 32a and 32b. Here, the elastic spring 33 has a shape in which connecting portions 34a and 34b to the pair of beams 32a and 32b are bent from the pair of beams 32a and 32b and bent in a horizontal plane in a wavy shape.

In a state in which the interlocking contact 10 is connected to the carrier 50 (see FIGS. 3 and 4), the elastic spring 33 may be caught by another interlocking contact 10 connected to the same carrier and deformed. The connecting type contact 10 of this embodiment is provided with standing walls 31 a and 31 b on both sides of the elastic spring 33 . Therefore, the standing walls 31a and 31b prevent the elastic spring 33 from interfering with other connected contacts 10 and protect the elastic spring 33 from being deformed.

FIG. 3 is a three-sided view of the interlocking contact with carriers interlocked. Here, as in FIG. 1, FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a front view, and FIG. 3C is a side view.

Also, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the interlocking contact with the carrier interlocked.

3 and 4 show only one interlocking contact 10 shown in FIGS. However, in practice, the carrier 50 is elongated and a large number of interlocking contacts 10 are connected to the carrier 50 . 3 and 4 are connected to the carrier 50 and are provided with the connecting beams 35 when compared with the connecting contact 10 shown in FIGS. ing. The connecting beam 35 connects the two beams 32a and 32b constituting the pair of beams 32a and 32b separately from the elastic spring 33. As shown in FIG. The connecting beam 35 helps to suppress expansion and contraction of the elastic spring 33 and maintain high dimensional accuracy of the elastic spring 33 even when an unintentional force acts on the elastic spring 33 . This elastic spring 33 is cut off together with the separation of the carrier 50 when this coupled contact 10 is inserted into a housing (not shown).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of the shape after punching of the flat metal plate in manufacturing the interlocking contact of the present embodiment. The hatching in FIG. 5 does not mean a cross section, but is for clarifying the shape of the flat metal plate 60 after punching.

FIG. 5 shows two regions 20A and 20B in which two female contacts 20A and 20B forming one interlocking contact 10 are respectively formed. Here, for ease of understanding, the female contacts 20A, 20B and the regions 20A, 20B in which the female contacts 20A, 20B are formed are indicated by the same reference numerals. The same applies to the connecting portion 30 . Also, here, the regions 20A and 20B only show the spread of the regions, and detailed shapes after punching in the regions 20A and 20B are omitted from the illustration. As for the connecting portion 30, FIG. 5 shows the elements at the stage where the bending process is not performed, but the same reference numerals and the same names as the elements after the bending process (FIGS. 3 and 4) are attached and explained. do.

As shown in FIG. 5, the two regions 20A and 20B in which the two female contacts 20A and 20B forming one linked contact 10 are formed are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the carrier 50. I'm in. All of the two regions 20A and 20B and the connecting portion 30 are formed on one side of the carrier 50 in the width direction. A connecting beam 35 is also formed here.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a connecting portion 30 and two female contacts 20A and 20B connected by the connecting portion 30 are formed on one side of one carrier 50 in the width direction. Therefore, the yield of the flat metal material is improved, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

In manufacturing the interlocking contact 10 of this embodiment, a flat metal plate is stamped into a blank 60 shown in FIG. 3 and 4 is formed by bending. Furthermore, the carrier 50 is cut off and the connecting beam 35 is cut off when it is inserted into a housing (not shown). Through these processes, the final form of the linked contact 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is obtained.

10 Linked Contacts 20A, 20B Female Contact 30 Linked Portions 31a, 31b Standing Walls 32a, 32b Beam 33 Elastic Spring (Connecting Member)
34 connecting beam 50 carrier

Claims (4)

two female contacts each having a downwardly opening insertion port and electrically conducting with each male contact inserted through the insertion port;
a connecting portion that connects the two female contacts;
The connection part
a pair of vertical walls connected to each of the two female contacts and extending in directions facing each other;
a pair of beams forming a laterally coplanar surface bent toward each other from each of the pair of standing walls;
and a connecting member having both ends connected to each of the pair of beams. The connecting member is an elastic spring bent in a wave shape,
2. The interlocking contact according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion of said elastic spring to said pair of beams is bent from each of said pair of beams so that said elastic spring has a wavy shape in a horizontal plane. . 3. A method for manufacturing an interlocking contact according to claim 1 or 2, comprising:
Two regions in which the two female contacts forming one interlocking contact are respectively formed are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the carrier, and the two female dies forming the one interlocking contact. 1. A method of manufacturing a link-type contact, comprising a step of punching a flat metal plate so that the entire contact and the linking portion are formed on one side in the width direction of a single carrier. The step is further a step of punching a flat metal plate so as to form a connection beam that connects the two beams constituting the pair of beams separately from the connection member,
4. The method of manufacturing an interlocking contact according to claim 3, further comprising cutting off the connecting beam.

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