JPH06223665A - Receptacle contact - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a receptacle contact which is excellent in its low insertion force and pry resistance and can be miniaturized. CONSTITUTION:A receptacle contact 10 has a box-shaped portion 20 and a wire connecting portion 40. The box-shaped portion 20 has an upper wall 21, a bottom wall 23 and both side walls 24. A cantileverlike elastic contact piece 30, having one end secured to the front end of the bottom wall 23 and having a contact 32 formed at the other end, is provided within the box-shaped portion 20. A protrusion 27 formed by e.g. cutting is provided in a position of each side wall 27 which is nearer to the fixed piece 31 of the elastic contact piece 30 than to the contact 32 or free end of the elastic contact piece 30. The elastic contact piece 30 applies a predetermined contact pressure to a tab contact in collaboration with the protrusion 27 at the insertion of the tab contact.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical contact, and more particularly to a receptacle type contact suitable for an electrical connector having a large number of contacts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various contacts have been proposed and widely used as receptacle-type contacts that electrically contact (or engage) with tab-shaped male contacts.

A typical example of a conventional receptacle type contact has an elastic contact piece fixed in a cantilever shape in a substantially box-shaped portion, as disclosed as a conventional example in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 54-144084. A tab contact is inserted between the free end of this elastic contact piece and the wall surface (for example, the top wall) of the box-shaped portion to make electrical contact.

However, in the receptacle type contact having such a single cantilever elastic contact piece, a tab contact is inserted at an angle deviated from the axis of this contact, or a connector contact is inserted. There was a problem that the elastic contact piece was excessively deformed due to the "twisting" action at the time of fitting and withdrawing, and the contact pressure was insufficient when the connector was fitted again. That is, there is a problem that the contact pressure is insufficient and the twist resistance is poor.

Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-110930, in addition to the above-mentioned cantilever-shaped elastic contact piece (main contact), a cantilever-shaped auxiliary contact for supporting its free end is provided. Receptacle type contacts having a piece have been proposed. According to this receptacle type contact, the main and auxiliary contacts are not in contact with each other in a normal state, that is, separated from each other, and come into contact with each other when the mating tab contact is inserted to form a cooperative relationship. As a result, it has the advantages that the insertion force with the mating contact is low, the contact pressure is large, and the twisting resistance is excellent.

[0006]

However, the conventional receptacle type contact having the above-mentioned main and auxiliary contact springs requires both contact springs, so that the structure is relatively complicated and difficult to manufacture. Further, there is a problem in quality control that it is difficult to maintain the distance between both contacts at a constant value with high accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a low insertion force receptacle type contact having a relatively simple structure, relatively easy quality control in manufacturing, and easily miniaturized.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the above-mentioned object, the receptacle type contact of the present invention is a contact having a cantilever elastic contact piece in a box-shaped portion. And has the following characteristics.
That is, one end of the elastic contact piece is fixed to the front end of the box-shaped portion, and a contact is formed at or near the free end. Further, a projection is formed on at least one side wall of the box-shaped portion from the free end of the elastic contact piece to the fixed end side.

When the mating tab contact is inserted from the front end of the receptacle type contact constructed as described above,
It is inserted with a very low insertion force until the tip of the tab contact comes into contact with the contact at the free end of the elastic contact piece. However, when the tip of the tab contact comes into contact with the contact at the free end of the elastic contact piece, the elastic contact piece is pushed down and comes into contact with the protrusion on the side wall of the box-shaped portion. As a result, the elastic contact piece allows the contact point to come into contact with the tab contact with a relatively high contact pressure with the projection as a fulcrum. The box-shaped protrusion prevents the elastic contact piece from being excessively pressed and loses its elasticity even when the tab contact is inserted into the receptacle-type contact at different angles. It also acts as a protective member for the contact piece.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of a receptacle type contact according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a preferred embodiment of a receptacle type contact according to the present invention. The receptacle-type contact 10 includes a substantially box-shaped portion 20 and a wire connecting portion 40.

The box-shaped portion 20 is a box-shaped box having a rectangular cross section having a top wall 21, a bottom wall 23 and a pair of side walls 24 (note that the front side wall 24 is notched for convenience of description). The front end 25 on the upper wall 21
An emboss (ridge) 22 is formed in the direction from the vicinity to the rear end 26, that is, in the insertion direction of the mating tab contact. Side wall 24
At least one of them is provided with a protrusion 27 formed by cutting and raising a part of the side wall 24, for example.

Inside the box-shaped portion 20, there is a bottom wall 23 near the front end 25.
A cantilever-shaped elastic contact piece 30 having one end 31 fixed thereto is disposed on the. The elastic contact piece 30 has a cantilever shape extending obliquely from the front end of the bottom wall 23 toward the upper wall 21 in the specific embodiment of FIG. 1, and the free end thereof is substantially obliquely upward in FIG. To form contact 32. A protrusion 27 is formed on the side wall 24 of the box-shaped portion 20 slightly apart from the contact 32 toward the fixed end 31 side, and as will be described later, when the contact with a mating tab contact (not shown), the elastic contact piece 30 and the protrusion are formed. Working together with 27.

Both the box-shaped portion 20 and the elastic contact piece 30 may be formed of a copper alloy such as phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, brass having good conductivity and elasticity. Alternatively, the elastic contact piece 30 and the box-shaped portion 30 may be formed of different materials having optimum physical properties. The elastic contact piece 30 is a box-shaped part.
The forward extension of the bottom wall 23 of 20 may be bent to integrally form the same material.

The wire connecting portion 40 is a conventional crimp type connecting portion, in which the wire crimping barrel 41 and the insulating barrel 42 are crimped by a crimping tool, and the insulated wire 43 is stripped (conductor) 44 and insulating jacket. Crimp to 45 respectively.
Of course, it may be an insulation displacement connection having insulation displacement slots or another type of connection such as welding. Further, it may be a post-shaped portion which is not only connected to the wire 43 but is also inserted and soldered into a through hole or the like of the circuit board.

Next, another embodiment of the receptacle type contact of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This receptacle-type contact 10 'is similar to the receptacle-type contact 10 of FIG. 1, but the main difference lies in the elastic contact piece 30' in the box-shaped portion 20. That is, in addition to the fixed end 31 and the contact 32 at the free end, the elastic contact piece 30 'has another contact 33 at substantially the center of both. Further, the projection 27 on the side wall 24 of the box-shaped portion 20 is a tongue piece formed by cutting and raising in the vertical direction in the receptacle type contact 10 of FIG. 1, but the projection 27 ′ of FIG. It is a cut and raised tongue piece.

The receptacle type contact of the present invention is shown in FIG.
It will be understood that the configuration shown in FIG. 2 may be appropriately selected according to the required current capacity, insertion force, contact pressure, application and other desired characteristics or specifications.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, FIG.
The contact or engagement operation of the receptacle type contact 10 'with the mating tab contact will be described. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the tab contact 50 is partially inserted from the front end 25 of the box-shaped portion 20 of the receptacle-type contact 10 '. On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows a state in which the tab contact 50 is completely inserted into the box-shaped portion 20 of the receptacle-type contact 10 '.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the tip of the tab contact 50 is inserted into the box-shaped portion 20 of the receptacle-type contact 10 'from the front end 25, the tab contact 50 is formed.
Are sandwiched between the ridge 22 and the additional protrusion 33. However, since the elastic contact piece 30 'abuts the fixed end 31 and the protrusion 27' and has a doubly supported beam shape, the elastic contact piece 30 'tends to be bent downward. Therefore, it can be understood that the insertion force of the tab contact 50 is extremely low. In addition, even if the tab contact 50 is “twisted”, the elastic contact piece 30 ′ has the fixed end 31 and the protrusion 2
It is held by 7'and will not be excessively bent and permanently deformed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the tab contact 50 is a box-shaped portion of the receptacle type contact 10 '.
When fully inserted in 20, the contact 32 at the free end of the elastic contact piece 30 'is pushed down by the tab contact 50. Further, due to the engagement between the contact 32 and the bottom surface of the tab contact 50, the elastic contact piece 30 'acts like a lever with the protrusion 27' as a fulcrum. Therefore, the additional contact 33 portion of the elastic contact piece 30 'acts so as to be bent upward and presses the bottom surface of the tab contact 50.

As can be understood from the above description, the receptacle type contact of the present invention has two extremely small insertion force with the tab contact 50 and excellent "prying" resistance in the two embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Contact with sufficient contact pressure when fully inserted. Therefore, a receptacle type contact having good electro-mechanical properties can be realized. In addition, the protrusion 2
Since 7 and 27 'can be prilled at predetermined positions corresponding to the size (plate thickness) of the mating tab contact 50 to be used, for example, they can be formed with high precision determined by the mold.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the receptacle type contact of the present invention, it is possible to correspond to the fixed end side of the contact formed at the free end of the elastic contact piece whose one end is fixed to the front end in the box-shaped portion. It is characterized in that a protrusion is formed on a side wall at a position where the elastic contact piece and the protrusion are in a cooperative relationship at the time of contact engagement with the mating tab contact. Therefore, until the tab contact comes into contact with the contact at the free end of the elastic contact piece, the insertion force is extremely low, and the "twisting" resistance is good. Moreover, since the contact wipes the bottom surface of the tab contact, good electrical contact can be established even if an oxide layer or the like is attached to the tab contact.

Furthermore, when another additional contact is formed in the central part of the elastic contact piece, more stable contact can be obtained. Since it can be made relatively small and has a large current capacity, it can also be used as a power supply contact. Also,
Since the structure is simple, manufacturing is easy, and mass production can be performed with high precision determined by the precision of stamping and forming dies without causing dimensional variations.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a preferred embodiment of a receptacle-type contact according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view similar to FIG. 1 in which a box-shaped portion of another embodiment of the receptacle contact of the present invention is partially cut away.

3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of a contact engagement operation between the receptacle-type contact and the mating tab contact of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 3A shows a half-engaged state, and FIG. 3B shows a completely-engaged state. .

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 10 'Receptacle type contact 20, 20' Box-shaped part 24 Side wall 30, 30 'Elastic contact piece 32, 33 Contact 27, 27' Protrusion 40 Wire connection part 50 Tab contact

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An elastic contact piece is provided in a substantially box-shaped portion,
In the receptacle-type contact that contacts the mating tab contact, the elastic contact piece is fixed to the front end of the box-shaped portion,
At least one side wall of the box-shaped portion is formed with a projection capable of contacting between the fixed end and the free end of the elastic contact piece, the projection having a contact portion formed at least near the free end portion. Receptacle type contact which is characterized.