JPH05335044A - Contacting structure of female terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To establish a contacting structure of a terminal which reduces dispersion of the contact pressure and enhance the reliance upon contacting. CONSTITUTION:The distance L2 from a board 5 to the free end 35 of a down flap 31 of one of the resilient contacting pieces 23 is set longer than the distance L3 from the board 5 to the free end 37 of a down flap 33 of the other resilient contacting piece 25. The free end 35 of the down flap 31 is held off contacting with the board 5, while the free end 37 of the down flap 33 is contacted substantially with the board 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female terminal contact structure in which an electric contact portion having a pair of elastic contact pieces elastically clamps a mating terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 and FIG.
Female terminal 1 to which the conventional contact structure for female terminals described in Japanese Patent No. 29288, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-237375, etc. is applied.
Indicates. The female terminal 1 includes a box-shaped electrical contact portion 3 composed of a substrate 5, side walls 6 bent in the same direction from both sides of the substrate 5, and an upper plate 8 facing the substrate 5, and the electrical contact portion 3 The contact portion 3 is formed integrally with the contact portion 3, and a crimp portion (not shown) for crimping and connecting the electric wire end portion is formed.

In the electric contact portion 3, a rectangular contact portion 7 is formed on the upper plate 8 so as to be bent / projected toward the substrate 5 side.
The inner wall side of the contact portion 7 is a contact surface that contacts one surface of the counterpart terminal 19. Corresponding to the contact portion 7, a pair of elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 are arranged on the substrate 5 in a manner that they are folded back from the front end edge 5 a of the substrate 5 and arranged in parallel. The elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 have the same shape, and the rising piece portions 13 and 13 and the falling piece portions 17 and 17 extending toward the substrate 5 at a predetermined angle with the rising piece portions 13 and 13. And the whole shape is formed in a substantially mountain shape. Further, the tip ends of the descending pieces 17, 17 are folded back toward the contact portion 7 side to form free ends 15, 15, respectively, and these free ends 15, 15 are separated from the substrate 5 by a predetermined distance L1 (see FIG. 7
(See (a)).

When the tip end portion 19a of the mating terminal (male terminal) 19 is inserted between the contact portion 7 of the terminal 1 and the pair of elastic contact pieces 9, 11 as shown in FIG. 7 (b). ,
The ascending piece portions 13 and 13 and the descending piece portions 17 and 17 are bent so that the free ends 15 and 15 abut on the substrate 5, respectively. And
When the other party terminal 19 is further inserted, the other party terminal 19
7 is pressed toward the contact portion 7 side by the reaction force (hereinafter referred to as “contact pressure”) due to the bending of the up piece portions 13, 13 and the down piece portions 17, 17 as shown in FIG. 7C.

The contact pressure F with respect to the bending δ of the elastic contact pieces 9, 11 at this time is, as shown in FIG.
Rises along the line A until comes into contact with the substrate 5. When the free ends 15 and 15 come into contact with the substrate 5, the contact pressure F rapidly increases from the point B (contact pressure variation point) along the line C having a steeper slope than the line A. Then, when the counterpart terminal 19 is completely inserted between the contact portion 7 and the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11, the contact terminal F2 at the point D when the maximum amount of deflection R of the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 is the counterpart terminal F2. 19 is elastically sandwiched between the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 and the contact portion 7. As a result, the reliability of the contact between the electric contact portion 3 and the counterpart terminal 19 is maintained.

In this case, the falling piece portions 17 and 1 from the substrate 5
The distance L1 between the free ends 15 and 15 of FIG. ..
For example, when the distance L1 is short, the free ends 15 and 15 contact the substrate 5 immediately after the mating terminal 19 is inserted between the contact portion 7 and the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11, so that the contact pressure variation point B
Moves to the point E on the A line, and the contact pressure F increases from the contact pressure variation point E along the G line parallel to the C line. Then, the mating terminal 1 is completely provided between the contact portion 7 and the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11.
When 9 is inserted, the mating terminal 19 is elastically sandwiched between the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 and the contact portion 7 by the contact pressure F3 at the position of the flexure amount R.

When the distance L1 is long, the contact portion 7
Since the free ends 15 and 15 come into contact with the substrate 5 after inserting the mating terminal 19 into the space between the elastic contact piece 9 and the elastic contact piece 9 and 11, the contact pressure variation point B moves to the point H on the line A. The contact pressure F rises from the contact pressure variation point H along the G line parallel to the C line. When the mating terminal 19 is completely inserted between the contact portion 7 and the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11, the mating terminal 19 and the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 and the contact portion are contacted by the contact pressure F1 at the position of the bending amount R. It is elastically sandwiched between 7 and.

Therefore, when the distance L1 from the substrate 5 to the free ends 15, 15 is short, the contact pressure F becomes high, and when the distance L1 is long, the contact pressure F becomes low.

[0009]

However, the distance L1 between the free ends 15 and 15 from the substrate 5 varies due to an error in manufacturing the terminal 1. Therefore, the amount of bending of the elastic contact pieces 9 and 11 until the free ends 15 and 15 contact the substrate 5 is different, so that the contact pressure variation point B described above moves to the point E or the point H. As a result, the final contact pressure F applied to the counterpart terminal 19 varies.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a female terminal contact structure capable of reducing variations in contact pressure and further improving contact reliability.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a distance from a substrate to a free end of a down piece of one elastic contact piece, and a distance from the board to a down piece of the other elastic contact piece. Set a long distance to the free end of one part, and with the mating terminal inserted between the contact part and a pair of elastic contact pieces, place the free end of the down piece of one elastic contact piece against the board. In the non-contact state, the free end of the descending piece of the other elastic contact piece is substantially brought into contact with the substrate.

[0012]

According to the female terminal contact structure of the present invention, when the mating terminal is inserted between the contact portion and the pair of elastic contact pieces,
The free end of the downward piece of the other elastic contact piece contacts the substrate,
The free end of the down piece of one of the elastic contact pieces is separated from the substrate. From this state, when the mating terminal is inserted between the contact part and the pair of elastic contact pieces, the contact pressure applied to the mating terminal is the contact pressure of one elastic contact piece and that of the other elastic contact piece. It is the sum of the contact pressure.

In the contact structure of the terminal of the present invention, since the contact pressure applied by the pair of elastic contact pieces to the opposite terminals is independent of the distance from the substrate to the free end of each elastic contact piece, even if this distance varies. There is no variation in contact pressure.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the contact structure for female terminals according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a female terminal 21 to which a female terminal contact structure according to the present invention is applied.
Indicates. This female terminal 21 has the same basic configuration as the terminal 1 shown in FIG. 6, but has free downward pieces 31, 33 extending from the upward pieces 27, 29 of the elastic contact pieces 23, 25. The positions of the ends 35 and 37 from the substrate 5 are different. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance L2 from the substrate 5 to the free end 35 of the downward piece portion 31 of one elastic contact piece 23 is up to the free end 37 of the downward piece portion 33 of the other elastic contact piece 25. Is longer than the distance L3 and the free end 37 is located substantially in the vicinity of the substrate 5. In addition, the rising piece 2 of the elastic contact pieces 23, 25
The heights from the substrate 5 of the continuous portions (top portions) of 7, 29 and the downward piece portions 31, 33 are the same. The free end 3
It is preferable that 7 is brought into contact with the substrate 5 in advance.

When the tip portion 19a of the counterpart terminal 19 is inserted between the contact portion 7 of the female terminal 21 and the pair of elastic contact pieces 23 and 25, as shown in FIGS. The elastic contact pieces 23 and 25 are bent toward the substrate 5, respectively. One elastic contact piece 23 is shown in FIG.
The free end 35 is separated from the substrate 5 by a distance L as shown in FIG.
Since it is separated by two, U shown in FIG.
The contact pressure F increases according to the line.

The other elastic contact piece 25 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the free end 37 has its counterpart terminal 19
Since it contacts the substrate 5 immediately after the insertion, the contact pressure increases along the S line in the figure, which is steeper than the U line. The total contact pressure F4 of these elastic contact pieces 23, 25 is
The total contact pressure F applied to the mating terminal 19 increases along the line T shown in FIG.

In this case, the free end 35 of the one elastic contact piece 23 is separated from the substrate 5 by the distance L4 even when the counterpart terminal 19 is inserted. Therefore, the free end 35 of one of the elastic contact pieces 23 is bent from the distance L2 to the distance L4, and the distance L2 from the substrate 5 before the insertion of the counterpart terminal 19 is equal to that of the elastic contact piece 23. It is irrelevant to the contact pressure applied to 19. Therefore, even if the distance L2 varies, the contact pressure F does not vary.

That is, in FIG. 5, the contact pressure F of one elastic contact piece 23 is larger than the maximum deflection R of the elastic contact piece 23 in the state where the mating terminal 19 is completely inserted. If there is a variation point V and the elastic contact piece 23 is not deflected beyond the maximum deflection R, the contact pressure variation point V is not reached.
For this reason, since there is no contact pressure variation point at which the contact pressure abruptly changes even when the mating terminal 19 is inserted, when the mating terminal 19 is bent, the contact pressure F can be obtained even if the distance L2 varies. .

The free end 37 of the other elastic contact piece 25 contacts the substrate 5 immediately after the mating terminal 19 is inserted. Therefore, the contact pressure variation point at which the contact pressure changes abruptly does not exist at the time of bending when the mating terminal 19 is inserted, so that the contact pressure F does not vary.

Therefore, in the contact structure of the female terminal 21 of this embodiment, the pair of elastic contact pieces 23, 25 are connected to each other by the mating terminal 19.
Since the contact pressure F4 applied to the female terminals 21 is independent of the distances L2 and L3 from the substrate 5 to the free ends 35 and 37, respectively.
Even if these distances L2 vary due to manufacturing, the contact pressure F4 does not vary, and a constant contact pressure F4 can be obtained.

As a result, the insertion force between the connector accommodating the female terminal 21 and the mating connector is stabilized. Further, the reliability of the contact between the mating terminal and the electric contact portion 3 can be further improved.

Further, since the contact pressure F4 is independent of the distances L2 and L3 from the substrate 5 to the free ends 35 and 37, the distance L
It is not necessary to strictly request the dimensional accuracy of 2 and L3 at the time of manufacturing, and the dimensional management cost and the manufacturing cost at the time of manufacturing can be reduced.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distance from the substrate to the free end of the downward piece portion of the one elastic contact piece is determined by the distance from the substrate to the downward piece portion of the other elastic contact piece. When the mating terminal is inserted between the pair of elastic contact pieces and the contact part, the free end of the descending piece part of one elastic contact piece is separated from the substrate by making it longer than the distance to the free end. In addition, since the free end of the descending piece of the other elastic contact piece contacts the substrate, the contact pressure is irrelevant to the distance from the substrate to the free end of the elastic contact piece. Therefore, even if the distance from the substrate to the free end of the elastic contact piece varies, the contact pressure does not vary, and the reliability in contact can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a female terminal and a counterpart terminal to which a terminal contact structure according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

3A and 3B show a state in which a tip portion of a counterpart terminal is inserted into an electric contact portion of a terminal, FIG. 3A is a sectional view showing one elastic contact piece, and FIG. 3B is a sectional view showing the other elastic contact piece. It is a figure.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state in which a mating terminal is inserted deep inside an electric contact portion of the terminal, (a) is a sectional view showing one elastic contact piece, and (b) is a sectional view showing the other elastic contact piece. Is.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a bending amount and a contact pressure of an elastic contact piece of a female terminal to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a terminal to which a conventional terminal contact structure is applied and a counterpart terminal.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a mating terminal fitting is inserted into an electrical contact portion of a conventional terminal cut along line VII-VII in FIG.
(A) is a sectional view showing a mating terminal before insertion,
(B) is sectional drawing which shows the state which inserted the front-end | tip part of the other party terminal into the electric contact part of a terminal, (c) is sectional drawing which shows the state which inserted the other party terminal into the electric contact part of the terminal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the contact amount and the bending amount of the elastic contact piece in the conventional terminal contact structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 19 Counterpart terminal 19a Tip part 21 Female terminal 23 (One) elastic contact piece 25 (Other) elastic contact piece 27, 29 Upward piece portion 31, 33 Downward piece portion 35, 37 Free end

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An upside portion extending from a front end edge of the substrate toward a contact portion provided above the substrate, and extending toward the substrate at a predetermined angle with the upside portion. A pair of elastic contact pieces, each of which has a free end and a downward side, are arranged side by side on the substrate, and a contact of a terminal elastically sandwiching a mating terminal inserted between the contact part In the structure, the distance from the substrate to the free end of the downward piece of the one elastic contact piece is set longer than the distance from the substrate to the free end of the downward piece of the other elastic contact piece. The free end of the downward piece of the one elastic contact piece is brought into a non-contact state with the substrate in a state in which the counterpart terminal is inserted between the contact portion and the pair of elastic contact pieces, and Make the free end of the descending piece of the other elastic contact piece almost in contact with the substrate. Female terminal contact structure characterized by: