JP5156580B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  Conventionally, as a connector for fitting the first connector and the second connector, for the first connector, the male terminal protrudes from the back wall of the hood-like connector housing, and the second connector to be fitted with this. A connector housing in which a female terminal fitting is accommodated is used. Among the female terminal fittings, a terminal connecting portion connected to the male terminal is provided with a box-shaped member and an elastic contact piece that extends inside and is folded back at the terminal insertion port.

When the connector is fitted, the male terminal of the first connector enters the terminal connecting portion while elastically deforming the elastic contact piece of the second connector in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction of the connector. As a result, an elastic force (restoring force) acts between the male terminal and the elastic contact piece, and a predetermined contact pressure is maintained to achieve electrical connection.
JP 2002-280133 A

By the way, when trying to reduce the size of the connector in the fitting direction of the connector, if the length of the elastic contact piece is shortened, a contact pressure capable of improving the electrical connection state with the male terminal is secured. It becomes difficult and undesirable.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can be miniaturized while maintaining a good electrical connection state.

The connector according to the present invention comprises a first connector and a second connector fitted to each other,
The first connector includes a first housing and a first terminal accommodated in the first housing;
The second connector has a second housing and an elastic contact piece that is accommodated in the second housing and is abutted against the first terminal when the first and second connectors are fitted to elastically contact the first terminal. A second terminal,
The first terminal or the first housing is provided with a first magnetic body, and has a magnetic layer in at least a part of the metal plate constituting the second terminal, and the first and second connectors The first terminal and the second terminal are held in contact with each other by means of a magnetic attractive force acting on the first magnetic body and the magnetic body layer during the fitting (means 1).
When using the connector of the type in which the elastic contact piece of the second terminal is abutted against the first terminal when the first and second connectors are fitted, the elastic force of the elastic contact piece is reduced when trying to reduce the size in the connector fitting direction. There is a possibility that the contact pressure between the terminals that can ensure a good electrical connection state cannot be obtained only by (restoring force).
However, according to the configuration of the means 1, in addition to the elastic force described above, the first terminal is caused by the magnetic attractive force acting on the magnetic layer of the first magnetic body and the second terminal when the first and second connectors are fitted. And since a 2nd terminal is hold | maintained in a mutual contact state, a connector can be reduced in size, making an electrical connection state favorable.
Further, the second terminal is accommodated in the cavity formed in the second housing, but there is a possibility that a slight positional deviation occurs in the second terminal in the cavity due to dimensional tolerance or the like. On the other hand, in the configuration of means 1, since the magnetic layer of the second terminal is attracted by magnetic force, a magnetic attractive force acts on the second terminal itself, thereby suppressing the above-described positional deviation and the like. can do.

In addition to the configuration of the means 1, the second terminal may be configured such that the magnetic layer is sandwiched between copper or a copper alloy layer (means 2).
According to the structure of the means 2, an electrical connection state can be made favorable by using a copper or copper alloy layer with high electroconductivity for the surface of a metal plate material.

In addition to the configuration of means 1 or 2, the magnetic material of the second terminal may be made of a ferromagnetic material (means 3).
According to the configuration of the means 3, the magnetic attractive force acting on the first magnetic body and the magnetic layer of the second terminal can be further increased.

In addition to any one of the means 1 to 3, the magnetic layer of the second terminal may not be magnetized (means 4).
According to the structure of the means 4, it can prevent that the foreign material attracted | pulled by magnetic force adheres at the time of detachment | leave of a 1st connector.

In addition to the structure of any one of the means 1 to 4, the first terminal penetrates the inner wall of the first housing, and the contact portion is formed by bending the distal end side in a substantially L shape. (Means 5).
According to the structure of the means 5, it can be set as the 1st terminal of a simple structure.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the size of the connector while improving the electrical connection state.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The connector 10 in this embodiment is provided with the 1st connector 20 and the 2nd connector 30 which can mutually be fitted, as shown in FIG. In the following description, the fitting surface side of both connectors 20 and 30 will be referred to as the front, the upper side in FIG. 1 will be the upper side, and the lower side will be the lower side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first connector 20 includes a first housing 21 and a first terminal 26 accommodated in the first housing 21.
The first housing 21 includes a hood portion 22 that has a substantially rectangular tube shape that opens forward, and a back wall portion 24 that closes the inside of the hood portion 22.

The hood portion 22 has a shape that allows the second housing 31 of the second connector 30 to be fitted from the front. The front end portion of the inner surface of the hood portion 22 (the front end portion on the inner surface upper side) A lock engaging portion 23 that is engaged with the lock receiving portion 37 is formed.
The back wall portion 24 has a thick wall portion 25 whose wall thickness is increased at a substantially central portion in the height direction.

A plurality (four) of the first terminals 26 are formed in the width direction, and are rod-shaped terminals, and one end side (second connector 30 side) penetrating the thick wall portion 25 of the back wall portion 24 is L The portion bent upward in the shape of a letter is the contact portion 27 that contacts the elastic contact piece 51 of the second terminal 40.
On the other hand, the side exposed through the thick wall portion 25 of the back wall portion 24 is bent downward in an L shape, and its tip is connected to a substrate or the like (not shown). In the terminal 26, after a rod-shaped terminal is press-fitted into the terminal press-fitting hole 29, the front end portion is bent upward to form a contact portion 27, and the rear end side connected to an external substrate or the like is bent downward. .

  A magnet 60 (at a position adjacent to the left and right of the first terminal 26 (at least a position adjacent to the contact portion 27) on the front side (second connector 30 side) of the thick wall portion 25 from the front side (second connector 30 side). An example of the “first magnetic body” of the present invention is embedded.

  The magnet 60 is composed of a pair of magnets 60A and 60B, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is slightly long in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 3, one surface of the magnet 60 is exposed on the mating side. The exposed surface of the magnet 60 is disposed at a position from the lower end of the contact portion 27 to the vicinity of the upper end of the contact portion 27, and abuts against a second terminal 40 of the second connector 30 described later when the connector is fitted. It is like that.

  The magnet 60 is made of a ferrite magnet that is a permanent magnet, and as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of left and right magnets 60A and 60B are arranged so that their polarities are opposite to each other. In addition, as a magnet, it is also possible to use other magnets, such as an alnico magnet and a neodymium magnet.

  The method of embedding the magnet 60 will be described. The thick wall portion 25 of the first housing 21 is formed with a magnetic body insertion portion 28 slightly smaller than the size of the magnet 60 body with an opening 28A on the front side. The magnet 60 is embedded in the thick wall portion 25 by press-fitting the magnet 60 through the opening 28A. The magnetic body insertion portion 28 and the terminal press-fit hole 29 communicate with each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second connector 30 includes a second housing 31 and a plurality of (four) second terminals 40 accommodated in the second housing 31.
As shown in FIG. 6, the second housing 31 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped terminal accommodating portion 32, and the terminal accommodating portion 32 has a plurality of cavities 33 into which the second terminals 40 can be inserted from the rear in the width direction. (4) are provided.

As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom wall of each cavity 33 has a cantilever shape extending forward, and its front end engages with the second terminal 40 to prevent the second terminal 40 from coming out backward. A lance 34 is formed.
The front end of the cavity 33 has a square opening 33A, and the front surface of the second terminal 40 is disposed in the opening 33A.
On the peripheral wall of the front end portion of the cavity 33, a front stop convex portion 35 to which the second terminal 40 is locked is formed.

Further, in the second housing 31, a lock portion 36 is formed on the upper surface portion of the terminal accommodating portion 32 to maintain the fitting state of both connectors.
The lock portion 36 is a lock receiving portion 37 that is formed so as to protrude from the center portion in the width direction of the upper surface portion of the second housing 31, and is behind the lock receiving portion 37 and pressed downward to release the locked state. And an unlocking portion 38.

  A plurality of (four) second terminals 40 are formed in the width direction corresponding to the first terminals 26, and as shown in FIG. 10, terminal connection portions 50 that perform electrical connection with the first connector 20 side. A bottom plate portion 52 on which the covered electric wire 58 is placed, a wire barrel portion 55 to which the core wire of the covered electric wire 58 is connected, and an insulation barrel portion 56 that holds the covered electric wire 58 from above the insulating coating. .

  The terminal connecting portion 50 includes an elastic contact piece 51 that elastically contacts the first terminal 26, a square tube portion 42 that accommodates the elastic contact piece 51, and an abutting portion 43 that abuts against the magnet 60 of the first connector 20 when the connector is fitted. , 43.

  The elastic contact piece 51 is bent at the front and has a curved shape. The elastic contact piece 51 is continuous with the bottom plate portion 52 and has a predetermined width dimension that is narrower in the width direction than the bottom plate portion 52. The tip of the elastic contact piece 51 is folded back to be double.

  The upper wall portion 42A of the rectangular tube portion 42 (the second terminal 40 is inserted into the cavity 23 with the top and bottom opposite to each other, and thus is the lower side in FIG. 1) is formed by overlapping metal plates. A locking portion 46 that can lock the lance 24 protrudes from the upper surface side of the upper wall portion 42A.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the abutting portions 43, 43 are connected to the side walls 42 </ b> B, 42 </ b> B of the rectangular tube portion 42 and protrude forward, and then are bent at a substantially right angle toward the inward side. As shown in FIG. 11, the front portions 43 and 43 are both rectangular and have a size slightly smaller than the size of the portion of the first connector 30 against which the magnet 60 is abutted. The dimension between the two abutting portions 43, 43 is slightly wider than the width dimension of the elastic contact piece 51, and the abutment is made before the connector is fitted, where the elastic contact piece 51 is not elastically deformed. The tip of the elastic contact piece 51 protrudes between the portions 43 and 43.

  The wire barrel portion 55 is continuous with the side walls 42B and 42B of the rectangular tube portion 42 via the connecting portions, and a pair of caulking pieces 55A and 55A are raised from the left and right side edges of the bottom plate portion 52. The pair of caulking pieces 55 </ b> A and 55 </ b> A are crimped so as to wrap the core wire of the covered electric wire 58. The wire barrel portion 55 and the bottom plate portion 52 are recessed with serrations 57 for breaking the oxide film formed around the core wire during pressure bonding.

  The insulation barrel portion 56 is connected to the wire barrel portion 55 via a connecting portion behind the wire barrel portion 55, and a pair of caulking pieces 56 </ b> A and 56 </ b> A are raised from both left and right edges of the bottom plate portion 52. The pair of caulking pieces 56A, 56A are curved toward the covered electric wire 58 so that the covered electric wire 58 is held so as not to be detached or displaced.

Here, the second terminal 40 is formed by bending the metal plate 70 punched into a predetermined developed shape.
The metal plate 70 uses a clad material in which different kinds of metals are laminated (stacked). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, a stainless steel plate layer 72 made of a magnetic metal plate is used. The magnetic material layer of the second terminal 40 is sandwiched between the copper alloy plate layers 71 and 73.
The stainless steel plate layer 72 is made of a ferromagnetic material, and stainless steel (400 series stainless steel (martensite series / ferrite type)) in which chromium is mixed with iron at 10.5% or more is used. It can be used without being magnetized, and in the present embodiment, one that is not magnetized (one that does not generate a magnetic force) is used. Instead of the copper alloy plate layers 71 and 73 using a copper alloy, a copper layer using copper may be used.

  Then, when such a second terminal 40 is inserted into the cavity 23, as shown in FIG. 1, the square tube portion 42 abuts against the front projection 25 of the peripheral wall of the cavity 23 and is positioned. 24 is locked to the locking portion 46 of the rectangular tube portion 42 to prevent the second terminal 40 from coming off.

Next, the operation of the connector configured as described above will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 2, the second connector 30 is aligned with a position where the second connector 30 can be fitted into the hood portion 22 of the first connector 20, and is pushed into the first connector 20 side little by little. Then, the front end portion of the elastic contact piece 51 is abutted against the contact portion 27 of the second terminal 40, and the elastic contact piece 51 is elastically deformed. As shown in FIG. 1, the abutting portions 43, 43 of the shell portion 41 abut against the front surface of the magnet 60, and the lock receiving portion 37 on the upper surface of the second housing 31 is the lock engaging portion 23 of the first housing 21. The two connectors 10 are locked.
At this time, between the elastic contact piece 51 of the second terminal 40 and the contact portion 27 of the first terminal 26, in addition to the elastic force (restoring force) of the elastic contact piece 51, the magnet 60 and stainless steel, which is a magnetic body, are used. A force attracted by the magnetic force generated between the steel plate layer 72 is received, and a predetermined contact pressure is maintained between the elastic contact piece 51 and the contact portion 27 so as to ensure a good electrical connection state. .

According to this embodiment, the following effects are produced.
When attempting to reduce the size of the connector in the fitting direction by using a connector of the type in which the elastic contact piece 51 of the second terminal 40 abuts the first terminal 26 when the first connector 20 and the second connector 30 are fitted. Only the elastic force (restoring force) of the elastic contact piece 51 may not be able to obtain a contact pressure between terminals that can ensure a good electrical connection state.

  However, according to the present embodiment, the first terminal 26 or the first housing 21 is integrally provided with the magnet 60 (first magnetic body), and the second terminal 40 includes the stainless steel plate layer 72 (magnetic body layer). In addition to the elastic force described above, the first terminal 26 and the second terminal 40 are brought into contact with each other by the magnetic attractive force acting on the stainless steel plate layer 72 and the magnet 60 when the first and second connectors are fitted. Since the state is maintained, the connector 10 can be reduced in size while maintaining a good electrical connection state.

  Further, since the stainless steel plate layer 72 is a ferromagnetic metal plate, the magnetic attractive force acting on the magnet 60 and the stainless steel plate layer 72 can be further increased. Furthermore, since the magnet 60 is a permanent magnet, the configuration of the connector 10 can be simplified because a coil and a power source are not required as compared with the case where a magnetic force is generated by an electromagnet.

Further, the first housing 21 has a hood portion 32 that accommodates the second housing 31, the first terminal 26 is provided so as to protrude from the back wall portion 34 of the hood portion 32, and the magnet 60 is provided on the back wall. It is embedded in the part 34.
Therefore, since the magnet 60 comprised by the permanent magnet will be located in the inside of the back wall part 34 of the hood part 32, it can prevent that the foreign material attracted by magnetic force adheres to a permanent magnet.

  Further, since the stainless steel plate layer 72 is not magnetized, it is possible to prevent foreign matter attracted by magnetic force from attaching when the first connector 20 is detached.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, a clad material composed of three layers of copper, stainless steel, and copper is used, but other combinations may be used. For example, other magnetic metals may be used in place of the intermediate layer stainless steel. Further, the number of metal layers is not limited to three layers, and may be two layers or four or more layers.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the clad material having the stainless steel plate layer 72 (magnetic material layer) is used for the entire metal plate material. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only a part of the metal plate material may be used as the clad material. For example, you may use a clad material only for the part of the metal plate material which comprises the part by the side of the 1st connector among the 2nd terminals 40. FIG.

  (3) In the above embodiment, a permanent magnet is used as the magnet 60 (first magnetic body). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a coil is wound around the core of the magnetic body (magnetic material) and energized. You may use the electromagnet which is a magnet which generate | occur | produces.

  (4) The magnetic material used for the stainless steel plate layer 72 is not magnetized (no magnetic force is generated), but is magnetized (the magnetic force is generated). Permanent magnets, electromagnets, etc.) may be used. In addition, although it decided to use a stainless steel plate as a member of a 2nd magnetic body, it is not restricted to this, Other members may be used, and the member (residual magnetism (magnetization)) which is hard to magnetize in the selection of a 2nd magnetic body It is more preferable to use a member that is less likely to remain because it is difficult to be magnetized (magnetized) by the magnetic force of the magnet 60 on the first connector 20 side when the connector is fitted.

  (5) In the above-described embodiment, the magnet 60 that is the first magnetic body is made adjacent to the first terminal 26 by changing the polarities of the two magnets, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a U-shaped magnet 160 may be arranged so as to surround the contact portion 27 of the first terminal 26. Further, as shown in FIG. 14, a magnetic piece 261 (iron piece not magnetized, stainless piece, etc.) is insert-molded in the second housing at the same time as the first terminal 26, and then long in the insertion direction. A pair of rectangular parallelepiped magnets 260A and 260B may be press-fitted into the pair of insertion ports 262A and 262B so that the polarities are opposite to each other, thereby forming a U-shaped configuration as a whole.

  (6) Although the magnet 60 is composed of a pair of magnets 60A and 60B, the magnet 60A and 60B may be integrated. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, a magnet 360 having a concave L-shaped terminal insertion portion 361 in which the first terminal 26 is arranged may be used among rectangular parallelepiped (cubic) magnets. .

Side sectional view of the connector according to Embodiment 1 Side sectional view before mating connector Front view of the first housing Side view of first housing Front sectional view near the contact point of the first housing Front view of the second housing Top view of the second housing Side view of the second housing Top view of the second terminal AA sectional side view of FIG. Front view of the second terminal Expanded cross section of metal plate Front sectional view for explaining the configuration of a magnet in another embodiment Front sectional view for explaining the configuration of a magnet in another embodiment The perspective view explaining the structure of the magnet in other embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector 20 ... 1st connector 21 ... 1st housing 24 ... Back wall part 25 ... Thick wall part 26 ... 1st terminal 27 ... Contact part 30 ... 2nd connector 31 ... 2nd housing 32 ... Hood part 40 ... 2nd Terminal 42 ... Square tube part 50 ... Terminal body part 51 ... Elastic contact piece 52 ... Bottom plate part 60 (60A, 60B), 160, 260, 360 ... Magnet (first magnetic body)
71, 73 ... Copper alloy layer 72 ... Stainless steel plate layer (magnetic layer)

Claims (5)

Consisting of first and second connectors mated together,
The first connector includes a first housing and a first terminal accommodated in the first housing;
The second connector has a second housing and an elastic contact piece that is accommodated in the second housing and is abutted against the first terminal when the first and second connectors are fitted to elastically contact the first terminal. A second terminal,
The first terminal or the first housing is provided with a first magnetic body,
Magnetic attraction that acts on the first magnetic body and the magnetic layer when the first and second connectors are fitted to each other, having a magnetic layer in at least a part of the metal plate constituting the second terminal. A connector characterized in that the first terminal and the second terminal are held in contact with each other by force.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the second terminal has the magnetic layer sandwiched between copper or a copper alloy layer.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic body is made of a ferromagnetic body.   The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second magnetic layer is not magnetized.   5. The contact portion is formed by penetrating the back wall of the first housing and bending the distal end side in a substantially L shape. The connector according to one item.

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