WO2014136010A1

WO2014136010A1 - Connection terminal and connector assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2014136010A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/059151
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hai-Jun Zhang; Wei-guo LI; Laurence LU
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; Tyco Electronics Uk Ltd
Priority date: 2013-03-07
Filing date: 2014-02-21
Publication date: 2014-09-12
Also published as: EP2965387A1; CN203103582U; KR20150126378A

Abstract

A connection terminal, comprising: a frame body comprising a first arm and a second arm opposite to the first arm; and two rolling portions formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis inner edges of the first and second arms, wherein a receiving space for receiving and holding a mating terminal is formed by the rolling portions and a part of the frame body. Since the rolling portions are formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis the inner edges of the first and second arms, a material for forming the rolling portions is provided by a material for forming the frame body itself, thereby decreasing the manufacturing cost and the total height of the connecting terminal.

Description

CONNECTION TERMINAL AND CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201320104693. X filed on March 7, 2013 in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, more particularly, relates to a connection terminal of an electrical connector, and a connector assembly having the connection terminal.

Description of the Related Art

In various electrical apparatus, a connector assembly is often used to connect a wire to a wire or an electric circuit for transmitting a current signal, such as, a power signal, a driving signal, etc., therethrough.

Fig.1 is an illustrative perspective view of a connection terminal 200 of a connector assembly in prior arts.

As shown in Fig.1, the connection terminal 200 is a female terminal and comprises a body 201, a wire connection portion 202 and two rolling portions 203. The wire connection portion 202 extends from a first end of the body 201 and configured to connect a wire (not shown). The two rolling portions 203 are curled inward from both sides of the body 201.

Fig.2 is an illustrative perspective view of a mating terminal 300 to be engaged with the connection terminal 200.

As shown in Figs.1-2, the mating terminal 300 comprises an insertion portion 301.

The insertion portion 301 can be inserted into a space defined between the body 201 and the rolling portions 203, and can be elastically held on the body 201 by means of contact portions 2031 formed at free ends of the rolling portions 203.

Referring to Fig. l, the rolling portions 203 are formed by bending two side wings extending beyond the flat body 201. Furthermore, in order to receive and hold the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 to be inserted, the rolling portions 203 must be curled to have a certain height from the surface of the flat body 201. As a result, for the connection terminal 200, since the rolling portions 203 are formed by two additional side wings extending from both sides of the flat body 201, the material to manufacture the connection terminal 200 is increased. Also, the connection terminal 200 is rather high as a whole, occupying a large volume.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the above mentioned disadvantages.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a connection terminal and a connector assembly comprising the connection terminal that can be manufactured in a low cost and have a small height.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connection terminal, comprising: a frame body comprising a first arm and a second arm opposite to the first arm; and two rolling portions formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis inner edges of the first and second arms, wherein a receiving space for receiving and holding a mating terminal is formed by the rolling portions and a part of the frame body.

The above connection terminal further comprises a wire connection portion, configured to connect a wire, extending outward from a third arm connected between the first and second arms. The above connection terminal further comprises a tongue portion located between the first and second arms and extending toward the third arm from a fourth arm opposite to the third arm.

In the above connection terminal, the frame body is composed of the first, second, third and fourth arms; and the receiving space is defined by the rolling portions, the fourth arm and the tongue portion.

In the above connection terminal, a locking portion is formed on the tongue portion and configured to lock the mating terminal inserted into the connection terminal.

In the above connection terminal, the locking portion comprises a protrusion, a recess or a through hole.

In the above connection terminal, a free end of the tongue portion is bent to form a releasing portion.

The above connection terminal further comprises strengthening portions extending from insides of the first arm and the second arm.

In the above connection terminal, the wire connection portion comprises at least a pair of connection pieces.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector assembly, comprising: a connection terminal according to any one of the above exemplary embodiments; and a housing in which the connection terminal is mounted.

According to the connection terminal of the above various embodiments of the present invention, since the rolling portions are formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis the inner edges of the first and second arms, a material for forming the rolling portions is provided by a material for forming the frame body itself, thereby decreasing the

manufacturing cost and the total height of the connecting terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is an illustrative perspective view of a connection terminal in prior arts;

Fig.2 is an illustrative perspective view of a mating terminal to be engaged with the connection terminal;

Fig.3 is an illustrative perspective view of a connection terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.4 is an illustrative flat view of a preformed metal sheet for forming the connection terminal of Fig.3;

Fig.5 is an illustrative view showing a connection terminal of the present invention and a mating terminal before being engaged together;

Fig.6 is an illustrative view showing a connection terminal of the present invention and a mating terminal after being engaged together;

Fig.7 is an illustrative perspective view of a connector assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig.8 is an illustrative perspective view of a housing for the connector assembly of Fig.7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE

IVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Fig.3 is an illustrative perspective view of a connection terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated connection terminal 100 may be applied in various electrical apparatus and used to engage with, for example, a mating terminal 300 as shown in Fig.2, for transmitting a large current signal, such as, a power signal, a driving signal, etc., between two wires or between a wire and an electric circuit.

As shown in Fig.3, the connection terminal 100 comprises a frame body 1 and two rolling portions 3. The frame body 1 comprises a first arm 12 and a second arm 13 opposite to the first arm 12, which are substantially located in one plane. The two rolling portions 3 are formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis inner edges of the first and second arms 12, 13, respectively. A receiving space for receiving and holding the mating terminal 300 of Fig.2 is defined between the rolling portions 3 and a part of the frame body 1. The mating terminal 300 has a substantially flat shape and comprises an insertion portion 301 and a main body 302 integrally connected to the insertion portion 301. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the connection terminal 100 may be made of a single metal sheet, for example, a single copper sheet, by cutting, punching, bending, etc..

In an exemplary embodiment, the connection terminal 200 may further comprise a wire connection portion 2 configured to connect a wire (not shown) and extends outward from a third arm 11 connected between the first and second arms 12, 13.

In an exemplary embodiment, the connection terminal 200 may further comprise a tongue portion 4 located between the first and second arms 12, 13 and extending toward the third arm 13 from a fourth arm 14 opposite to the third arm 13. The first, second, third and fourth arms 11, 12, 13, 14 together define the ring frame body 1. The receiving space for elastically holding the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 is defined by the rolling portions 3, the fourth arm 14 and the tongue portion 4. As shown in Fig.6, when the mating terminal 300 is engaged to the illustrated connection terminal 100, the mating terminal 300 is positioned among the two rolling portions 3 and the tongue portion 4 and held between the rolling portions 3 and the fourth arm 14 under an elastic force of the rolling portions 3.

In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in Figs.3-4, a locking portion 41 is formed on the tongue portion 4 and configured to lock the mating terminal 300 inserted into the connection terminal 100. More specifically, the locking portion 41 may be a protrusion formed on the tongue portion 4 and adapted to be fitted in a through hole 303 formed in the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 (shown in Fig. 2). When the insertion portion 301 is inserted between the rolling portions 3 and the fourth arm 14, the locking portion 41 on the tongue portion 4 is just fitted into the through hole 303 in the mating terminal 300. In an exemplary embodiment, the protrusion on the tongue portion used as the locking portion 41 may be configured to have a slope shape gradually raising in a direction of inserting the insertion portion 301, to facilitate the insertion of the insertion portion 301 and prevent the protrusion used as the locking portion 41 from being disengaged from the through hole 303. As a result, the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 may can be reliably held in the connection terminal 100. In an alternative embodiment, the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 is formed with a protrusion thereon, and the tongue portion 4 is formed with a recess or a hole therein for engaging with the protrusion of the insertion portion 301. In this case, the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 also can be stably held in the connection terminal 100.

In another exemplary embodiment, a free end of the tongue portion 4 is bent to form a releasing portion 42. When it needs to separate the mating terminal 300 from the connection terminal 100, an operator may drive the releasing portion 42 (as shown in Fig.3, driving the releasing portion 42 downward) to move the tongue portion 4 away from the insertion portion 301, so that the protrusion 41 of the tongue portion 4 is disengaged from the hole 303 of the insertion portion 301 to permit the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 to be pulled out of the connection terminal 100 (see Fig.5).

In an exemplary embodiment, the connection terminal may further comprise a strengthening portion 5 extending inside the first arm 11 and the second arm 12 to strengthen the frame body 1 and increase the contact area between the insertion portion 301 of the mating terminal 300 and the frame body 1. The wire connection portion 2 of the connection terminal 100 comprises at least a pair of connection pieces 21, 22 for fixing a wire to be connected.

In another aspect of the present invention, as shown in Fig.7, there is provided a connector assembly 400 comprising: a connection terminal 100 according to any one of the above embodiments; and a housing 500 in which the frame body 1 of the connection terminal 100 is mounted.

Hereafter, it will describe the manufacturing process of the connection terminal 100 of the present invention with reference to Figs.3-4.

Firstly, cutting a metal sheet, for example, a copper sheet, to obtain a single metal sheet having the shape shown in Fig.4;

Then, cutting out the parts in the single metal sheet to form the tongue portion 4 and the rolling portions 3;

Thereafter, punching the tongue portion 4 to form the protrusion used as the locking portion 41; and

Finally, bending the single metal sheet to form the rolling portions 3, the tongue portion 4, the releasing portion 42 and the wire connection portion 2.

In this way, the connection terminal 100 as shown in Fig.3 can be obtained.

According to the connection terminal and the frame body of the above various embodiments of the present invention, since the rolling portions are formed by inner edges of two side arms (the first and second arms) of the frame body, a material for forming the rolling portions is provided by a material for forming the frame body itself, thereby reducing the material to form the connection terminal, decreasing the manufacturing cost and the total height of the connecting terminal.

It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle, so that more kinds of connection terminal can be achieved with overcoming the technical problem of the present invention.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to "one embodiment" of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments "comprising" or "having" an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.

Claims

What is claimed is,

1. A connection terminal (100), comprising:

a frame body (1) comprising a first arm (12) and a second arm (13) opposite to the first arm (12); and

two rolling portions (3) formed by bending upward and extending vis-a-vis inner edges of the first and second arms (12, 13),

wherein a receiving space for receiving and holding a mating terminal (300) is formed by the rolling portions (3) and a part of the frame body (1).

2. The connection terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a wire connection portion (2), configured to connect a wire, extending outward from a third arm (11) connected between the first and second arms (12, 13).

3. The connection terminal according to claim 2, further comprising:

a tongue portion (4) located between the first and second arms (12, 13) and extending toward the third arm (13) from a fourth arm (14) opposite to the third arm (13).

4. The connection terminal according to claim 3,

wherein the frame body (1) is composed of the first, second, third and fourth arms (11, 12, 13, 14); and

wherein the receiving space is defined by the rolling portions (3), the fourth arm (14) and the tongue portion (4).

5. The connection terminal according to claim 3,

wherein a locking portion (41) is formed on the tongue portion (4) and configured to lock the mating terminal (300) inserted into the connection terminal (100).

6. The connection terminal according to claim 5,

wherein the locking portion (41) comprises a protrusion, a recess or a through hole.

7. The connection terminal according to any one of claim 3,

wherein a free end of the tongue portion (4) is bent to form a releasing portion (42).

8. The connection terminal according to any one of claim 1, further comprising:

strengthening portions (5) extending from insides of the first arm (11) and the second arm (12).

9. The connection terminal according to any one of claim 2,

wherein the wire connection portion (2) comprises at least a pair of connection pieces (21, 22).

10. A connector assembly, comprising:

a connection terminal (100) according to any one of claims 1-9; and

a housing (500) in which the frame body 1 of the connection terminal (100) is mounted.