JPH08236183A - Female terminal metal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To raise the bumps prevention effect of male terminal metal fittings without incurring the increase of formation process while securing current capacity enough, and lessen the resistance of engagement with the male terminal metal fittings. CONSTITUTION: This female terminal metal fittings are made of plate-shaped deformed materials different in thickness. Since a great part of a terminal engaging part 24 and a cable connection 21 are thick, large current capacity can be secured. Since an elastic contact part 32 and the brim 25A of an insertion port 25 are thick, the elastic force of the elastic contact part 32 becomes weak, and the resistance of engagement with male terminal metal fittings is small, and the opening area of the insertion port 25 becomes wide, and the bumps of the terminal metal fittings to the brim 25A are hard to occur. Since a deformed material is used, hammering for thinning the thickness of the brim 25/a of the insertion hole 25 is needless, and the drop of molding efficiency caused by the increase of working processes can be avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting having an insertion port into which a male terminal fitting can be inserted and an elastic contact portion capable of contacting the male terminal fitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional female terminal fitting 1 is shown in FIG. This is formed by punching out a conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and bending it along a predetermined crease, and an electric wire connecting portion 2 for connecting an end of an electric wire (not shown). , And a terminal fitting portion 3 for fitting with a tab at the tip of a male terminal fitting (not shown).

The terminal fitting portion 3 has a box shape, and the front end face is opened as an insertion port 4 over the entire surface. The bottom plate 5 of the terminal fitting portion 3 extends slenderly from the front end thereof, and the extending portion is bent so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion 3 to form an elastic contact portion 6. The male terminal fitting inserted into the terminal fitting portion 3 from the insertion opening 4 is elastically sandwiched between the upper surface of the elastic contact portion 6 and the ceiling surface 7 of the terminal fitting portion 3 while elastically bending the elastic contact portion 6. , The male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting 1 are connected in an electrically conductive state.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Female terminal fitting 1 of this type
In (1), it is desirable to increase the plate thickness of the female terminal fitting 1 in order to secure a large current capacity when the male and female terminal fittings are fitted and current is applied. However, increasing the plate thickness causes the following two problems. One of them is that as the plate thickness becomes thicker, the ratio of the insertion opening 4 to the whole area of the front end face of the terminal fitting portion 3 becomes smaller, while the ratio of the peripheral edge 9 of the insertion opening 4 to it. On the contrary, becomes larger, and as a result,
Probability that the tip of the male terminal metal fitting will hit the peripheral edge portion 9 of the insertion opening 4 without being inserted into the insertion opening 4 when the male terminal metal fitting is fitted with the insertion direction or the insertion position deviating from the normal state. Is higher.

As a countermeasure against this, hitherto, the inner peripheral portion of the opening edge of the insertion opening 4 is tapped 10 to reduce the thickness of the portion, thereby expanding the opening area of the insertion opening 4 and hitting the male terminal fitting. Has been taken to make it less likely to occur. However, this method has a drawback in that the number of processing steps is increased and the molding work efficiency is reduced because a step of performing a hitting process is required in the molding step of the female terminal fitting.

Another problem is that as the plate thickness increases, the elasticity of the elastic contact portion 6 increases, which increases the fitting resistance that occurs when the two terminal fittings are fitted together. This means that the fitting operation may be hindered. However, an effective solution in this case has not been disclosed, and the actual situation is that it is not possible to satisfy both the securing of the current capacity and the reduction of the fitting resistance.

The invention of the present application was conceived in view of the above circumstances, and the effect of preventing the male terminal fitting from hitting is enhanced while ensuring sufficient current capacity without increasing the number of molding steps, and at the same time, the male terminal fitting is provided. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to reduce the fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting with.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an electric wire connecting portion formed by bending a plate material having a predetermined shape to which an electric wire is connected, and a male terminal fitting on the side opposite to the electric wire connecting portion. A box-shaped terminal fitting portion having an opening for inserting the insertion opening, and an elastic contact portion extending from the edge of the insertion opening so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion and capable of contacting the male terminal fitting. In the above, the plate material is made of a profiled material whose thickness in the elastic contact portion side region is thinner than that in the electric wire connection portion side region with a boundary arranged along the edge of the insertion opening as a boundary. However, it has a feature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the profile has two regions on the outer peripheral side of the insertion port, the elastic contact side and the electric wire connecting side being flush with each other, and The feature is that the plate thickness between the two regions is made different by providing a step between the two regions on the surface on the inner peripheral side of the insertion opening.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the boundary between two regions having different plate thicknesses on the inner peripheral surface of the insertion opening is an inclined surface. However, it has a feature.

[0011]

In the first aspect of the invention, most of the terminal fitting portion excluding the insertion opening portion and the wire connecting portion have a large plate thickness, so that a large current capacity during energization is secured. In addition, since the thickness of the portion along the edge of the insertion opening and the elastic contact portion is thin, the opening area of the insertion opening is wider and the male timing is less likely to hit, as compared with the case where the thickness is thick. Not only that, the elasticity of the elastic contact portion is weakened and the fitting resistance with the male terminal fitting is reduced. Also,
No processing step is required to prevent the male terminal fitting from hitting.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, between the rim portion of the insertion opening and the portion deeper than this, there is a difference in plate thickness due to a step provided only on the surface on the inner periphery of the insertion opening. Since it is exposed, this difference in plate thickness directly contributes to the expansion of the opening area of the insertion port.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the male terminal fitting comes into contact with the inner periphery of the edge portion of the insertion opening, the male terminal fitting is guided by the inclined surface so that the male terminal fitting is not caught and the terminal fitting portion is smoothly formed. Is guided to the back side of.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, while the large current capacity is ensured, the effect of preventing the male terminal fitting from hitting can be enhanced without increasing the number of molding steps, and at the same time, the male terminal fitting is prevented. It is possible to reduce the fitting resistance that occurs during fitting.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the dimension of the reduced plate thickness contributes to the expansion of the opening area of the insertion port as it is, a step is provided on both sides of the plate material to give a difference in plate thickness. Compared with the case, the opening area of the insertion port can be secured to be large, and the effect of preventing the male terminal fitting from hitting is excellent.

According to the invention of claim 3, there is a difference in plate thickness between 2
By making the boundary between the two regions an inclined surface, it is possible to prevent the male terminal fitting from being caught on the inner circumference of the terminal fitting portion, and thus to ensure a smooth fitting operation with the male terminal fitting.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Female terminal fitting 20 of this embodiment
As will be described later in detail, the sheet is formed by punching a plate-shaped deformed material into a predetermined shape and bending it into a predetermined shape. As a whole, the wire connection portion 21 and the terminal fitting are formed. It comprises a mating portion 24 and an elastic contact portion 32.

The wire connecting portion 21 has a bottom plate portion 22 which is long in the front and rear direction.
It has a well-known shape in which two pairs of front and rear side wall portions 23F and 23R stand up from both side edges of. That is, the rear end portion of the bottom plate portion 22 and the both side wall portions 23R on the rear side constitute an insulation barrel 21R, and the insulation barrel 21R is sandwiched between resin insulation portions of electric wires (not shown) from both sides. It is crimped. Further, in front of the insulation barrel 21R, the bottom plate portion 22 and the both side walls 23F on the front side form a wire barrel 21F. It is crimped as if it is sandwiched.

The terminal fitting portion 24 is arranged in front of the electric wire connecting portion 21. As a whole, it has a box shape with a rectangular cross section, and an insertion port 25 into which a male terminal fitting (not shown) can be inserted is opened over the entire front surface. The terminal fitting portion 24 includes a bottom plate portion 26 that extends forward from the bottom plate portion 22 of the wire connection portion 21, side wall portions 27 that rise from both side edges of the bottom plate portion 26, and upper end edges of the both side wall portions 27. Two ceiling plates 28L, 28U extending inward and overlapping each other
Consists of

A lock hole 29 for locking the female terminal fitting 20 in a retaining state by fitting a lance provided in a cavity (not shown) in which the female terminal fitting 20 is mounted is fitted to the bottom plate portion 26. Has been formed. Also, two ceiling plates 28
The lower ceiling plate 28L of L and 28U is tapped downward in a range extending over a predetermined length backward from a position recessed from the opening edge 25A of the insertion opening 25 by a predetermined distance.
This is the tab contact portion 30 that elastically presses the tab of the male terminal fitting with the elastic contact portion 32 described later.

The elastic contact portion 32 is formed by bending a portion of the bottom plate portion 26 of the terminal fitting portion 24, which extends from the front edge of the bottom plate portion in the lengthwise direction in a strip-like shape, upwardly in a U-shape at an angle of about 180 ° to fit the terminal. The part which is folded back into the hollow of the part 24, and the part which is folded back and extends rearward is bent downward at an angle of about 180 ° into a U shape, and its bent end is brought into contact with the bottom plate part 26. It is molded. A contact portion 34 that protrudes upward in a substantially hemispherical shape is formed at the upper end of the bending portion 33 located on the rear side of the elastic contact portion 32. The contact portion 34 cooperates with the tab contact portion 30 to elastically clamp the tab of the male terminal fitting with a predetermined contact pressure.

Next, the materials used for forming the female terminal fitting 20 will be described. The material used is the profile 20A, which is obtained by thinly rolling a conductive metal material into a long strip having a constant width and molding it so that the thickness in the width direction becomes non-uniform. The surface 20B of the profiled member 20A, which is the outer side of the female terminal fitting 20, is flat over the entire surface, while the surface 20B, which is the inner side of the female terminal fitting 20, is flat.
In C, one region 20D is low and the other region 20E is high, with a boundary in the middle in the width direction being the boundary 20F between the two regions 20D and 20E having different heights.
Has a slope 35 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). That is, in the profiled material 20A, the plate thickness of one region 20D of the two regions 20D and 20E with the center in the width direction as a boundary is thinner than that of the other region 20E.

The profile 20A is stamped into a predetermined shape shown in FIG. At this time, the front-back direction of the female terminal fitting 20 is set to be the width direction of the profile 20A, and the thin plate region 20D corresponds to the front side (elastic contact portion 32 side) of the female terminal fitting 20. To Further, the boundary 20F between the two regions 20D and 20E having different plate thicknesses is located at a position slightly rearward from the opening edge 25A of the insertion port 25 (see FIG. 3). As described above, the profiled members 20A having different plate thicknesses are bent along the predetermined folds 20G, and the tab contact portion 30 and the elastic contact portion 32 are struck out. The example female terminal fitting 20 is molded.

Female terminal fitting 20 molded in this way
In, the elastic contact portion 32 and the lip 25A of the insertion opening 25
Most of the terminal fitting portion 24 and the electric wire connecting portion 21 excluding the portion correspond to the thick plate region 20E. Since the plate thickness is thick in this way, a large current capacity can be secured when energized in the connection state with the male terminal fitting.

On the other hand, the elastic contact portion 32 and the edge portion 25A of the insertion port 25 correspond to the thin plate region 20D. Since the plate thickness is thin, the elastic force of the elastic contact portion 32 is reduced, and the fitting resistance generated when fitting with the male terminal fitting is reduced. Moreover, the upper and lower and left and right opening dimensions in a certain narrow range from the opening edge 25A of the insertion opening 25 to the inner side are widened by the difference in the plate thickness as compared with the inner portion. Since the opening area of the insertion port 25 is thus wide, the insertion port 25 is inserted because the male terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal fitting portion 24 with the insertion direction and the insertion position deviated from the normal state. The problem of hitting the edge 25A of the sheet is less likely to occur as compared with the case where the plate thickness is thick.

In this embodiment, the boundary between the two regions 20D and 20E having different plate thicknesses is a tapered inclined surface 35 that widens toward the insertion port 25 side, and further the terminal fitting portion. On the ceiling surface of 24, the tab contact portion 30
The inclined surface 30A formed by tapping is continuous with the inclined surface 35. Therefore, when the tab has successfully entered the insertion opening 25 but obliquely hits the ceiling surface, the tab 20 is guided by the inclined surface 35 of the boundary 20F of the profile 20A and the inclined surface 30A of the tab contact portion 30. The male terminal fitting is relatively smoothly guided to the inner side of the terminal fitting portion 24, and the elastic contact portion 32 does not get caught on the way.
A state is achieved in which the tab is elastically pinched between the tab contact portion 30 and the tab contact portion 30.

Further, in this embodiment, since the profile 20A is used to widen the opening area of the insertion opening 25, the plate thickness of the edge portion 25A of the insertion opening 25 is reduced as in the conventional case. Has not been struck, therefore,
A decrease in the work efficiency of the forming process due to the increase of the process steps is avoided.

As described above, the female terminal fitting 20 of this embodiment
Since the plate thickness of the required portion is set to an appropriate dimension by using the profile 20A, the male terminal fitting is prevented from hitting without reducing the molding work efficiency while ensuring a large current capacity. The effect can be enhanced, and at the same time, the fitting resistance generated at the time of fitting with the male terminal fitting can be reduced.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above with reference to the drawings and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view

[Figure 3] Development view of the profile

FIG. 4 is a side view of a deformed material in a developed state.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 ... Female terminal metal fittings 20A ... Deformed material 21 ... Electric wire connection part 24 ... Terminal fitting part 25 ... Insertion opening 25A ... Edge 32 ... Elastic contact part 35 ... Inclined surface (border between areas with different plate thickness)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electric wire connecting portion formed by bending a plate material having a predetermined shape to which an electric wire is connected, and an opening for inserting a male terminal fitting on the side opposite to the electric wire connecting portion. In a box-shaped terminal fitting portion, and an elastic contact portion that extends so as to be folded back into the terminal fitting portion from the edge of the insertion port and the male terminal fitting can contact, the plate material, A female terminal, characterized in that the plate thickness of the region on the elastic contact portion side is thinner than the plate thickness of the region on the electric wire connecting portion side with a boundary arranged along the edge of the insertion opening as a boundary. Metal fittings. 2. The profiled material is such that two regions on the outer peripheral side of the insertion port, the elastic contact part side and the electric wire connection part side, are flush with each other, and on the inner peripheral side of the insertion port. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein a plate thickness is made different between the two regions by providing a step between the two regions. 3. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein a boundary between two regions having different plate thicknesses on the inner peripheral surface of the insertion opening is an inclined surface.