JP5294038B2 - Female terminal bracket - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a female terminal fitting capable of preventing abrasion of a surface-treated layer of plating, or the like, by sliding it on a male terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The female terminal fitting is provided with its cylindrical terminal body 11, having an inserting opening 12 and a hollow part and having a contact piece part 15, formed capable of elastic deformation in a narrower diameter direction;a larger-diameter part formed in projection to a base end part side of the contact piece part 15; a pressurized member 20, which is mounted on the terminal body 11 from the insertion opening side and is located in the hollow part 18 and is integrated with an abutting part 22, which can be pushed by a male terminal fitting 50 inserted into the hollow part 18 and an outer engagement part 21, which is to be engaged with the outer circumference of the terminal body 11 by a connection part going through a slit;and a spring member 25 for energizing the pressurized member 20 toward the insertion opening side of the terminal body 11. On at least one of the outer engagement part 21 of the pressurized member 20, the large diameter part of the terminal body 11, there is formed an inclined plane 17 that deforms the contact piece part 15, in a direction of going toward the smaller-iameter direction, when the pressurized member 20 is pressurized by the inserted male terminal fitting 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting.

  Conventionally, the thing of patent document 1 is known as a female terminal metal fitting used for the charge connector of an electric vehicle. The female terminal fitting includes a cylindrical contact portion into which a terminal pin of the male terminal fitting is fitted, and an electric wire connecting portion that connects an electric wire. The cylindrical contact portion is formed with a slit in the longitudinal direction from the opening end to the base end, and when a terminal pin having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the cylindrical contact portion is inserted, the side wall of the cylindrical contact portion Is bent so as to expand in the radial direction and pinches the terminal pin. In addition, a plurality of projections projecting inward are provided on the insertion end side of the terminal pin of the cylindrical contact portion, and the projection makes point contact with the terminal pin inserted into the cylindrical contact portion. An electrically connected state is obtained by pinching by the side wall of the cylindrical contact portion and point contact by the protrusion.

JP-A-10-116644

  By the way, in the above configuration, when the terminal pin is inserted into the female terminal fitting, the terminal pin and the inner surface of the cylindrical contact portion slide relative to each other, so that the surface of the terminal pin and the inner surface of the cylindrical contact portion have wear resistance. In order to give it, surface treatments, such as plating, are given. In the charging connector, since the terminal pins are repeatedly inserted and removed, the plating at the sliding portion is easily peeled off. In addition, if the protrusions that make point contact are provided on the insertion end side of the cylindrical contact portion, as in the female terminal fitting, the plating is more easily peeled off due to the longer sliding distance with the terminal pin. Is in a state. For this reason, measures such as increasing the coating thickness of the plating at the sliding portion are considered, but there is a concern about an increase in material costs.

  This invention was completed based on the above situations, and it aims at providing the female terminal metal fitting which can prevent that surface treatment layers, such as plating, are abraded by sliding with a male terminal. .

  The present invention has a cylindrical terminal body having an insertion opening into which a male terminal is inserted and a hollow part, and a contact piece part that is elastically deformable in a reduced diameter direction by a slit formed by cutting from the insertion opening; A large-diameter portion formed to protrude toward the base end portion side of the contact piece portion, and attached to the terminal body from the insertion opening side, and is pressed by the male terminal that is located in the hollow portion and inserted into the hollow portion A member to be pressed and an outer fitting portion that fits to the outer periphery of the terminal main body integrated by a connecting portion that passes through the slit, and the pressed member is biased toward the insertion opening of the terminal main body And at least one of the outer fitting portion of the pressed member and the large-diameter portion of the terminal main body, the pressed member is pressed by the male terminal inserted into the hollow portion. The connection Characterized in that the inclined surface to elastically deform the piece parts in the reduced diameter direction is formed.

  When the male terminal is inserted into the terminal main body while pressing the abutting portion of the pressed member attached to the terminal main body to the large diameter portion of the terminal main body, it is formed on at least one of the outer fitting portion and the large diameter portion. The contact piece is elastically deformed in the direction of diameter reduction by the inclined surface and is brought into contact with the outer periphery of the male terminal. According to such a configuration, the male terminal is longer than the terminal main body including the contact portion compared to the conventional case where the contact portion for connecting the terminals is formed on the insertion opening side of the terminal main body. Connection between terminals can be performed without sliding distance. Therefore, even when surface treatment such as plating is performed on the contact portion with the male terminal, it is possible to prevent the surface treatment layer such as plating from being worn. Thereby, since it becomes possible to suppress the plating amount used for a terminal main body, the material cost reduction in a female terminal metal fitting can be aimed at. Further, the present invention is similar in structure to the female terminal fitting connected to the abutting contact terminal, but the inter-terminal connection is not via the tip of the male terminal contacting the abutting portion, but the contact piece portion is the male terminal. For example, as a countermeasure against tentacles, the present invention can also be applied when a resin cap or the like is attached to the tip of the male terminal. In addition, by providing a spring member that urges the pressed member toward the insertion opening of the terminal body, when the male terminal is pulled out and the connection is released, the pressed member is initially pressed by the urging force of the spring member. Since it can return to a position, it has the structure which can perform the connection between terminals via this to-be-pressed member repeatedly.

  In the terminal body, two slits are formed to be opposed to each other to form two contact pieces, and the outer fitting portion of the pressed member forms an annular shape that surrounds the outer periphery of the terminal body. It is desirable that the abutting portion is formed so as to extend in the diameter direction with respect to the outer fitting portion.

  The spring member is preferably housed inside the terminal body. With such a configuration, for example, compared to the case where the spring member is arranged on the outer periphery of the terminal body, the size of the entire female terminal fitting can be reduced, and in a connector or the like to which the female terminal fitting is applied. Space can be saved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the female terminal metal fitting which can prevent that surface treatment layers, such as plating, are abraded by sliding with a male terminal can be provided.

Sectional drawing before the fitting of the power feeding connector and power receiving side connector which concern on one Embodiment of this invention Cross section of female terminal fitting before male terminal fitting is inserted A perspective view of a terminal body constituting a female terminal fitting Perspective view of pressed member constituting female terminal fitting Top view of pressed member AA sectional view of FIG. BB sectional view of FIG. Sectional view of male terminal fitting inserted into female terminal fitting Sectional view with the female terminal fitting and male terminal fitting electrically connected Sectional view after fitting the power supply connector and the power receiving connector

<Embodiment>
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the female terminal fitting 10 in the present embodiment is applied to a power feeding connector 30 that constitutes a power feeding device for supplying electricity to an electric vehicle or the like, and is a power receiving side fixed to the vehicle. The connector 40 is provided with a male terminal fitting 50 corresponding to the female terminal fitting 10. Hereinafter, the fitting surface side between the power feeding connector 30 and the power receiving side connector 40 will be described as the front side, and the electric wire 35 side of the power feeding connector 30 and the electric wire 43 side of the power receiving side connector 40 will be described as the rear side.

  The power receiving side connector 40 has a configuration in which a plurality of male terminal fittings 50 connected to the female terminal fitting 10 are accommodated in a connector housing 41 formed in a cylindrical shape. The connector housing 41 is formed with a hood portion 42 that opens to the side of the mating surface with the power supply connector 30 and into which a terminal accommodating chamber 33 that accommodates the female terminal fitting 10 of the power supply connector 30 to be described later can be individually inserted. . A contact shaft 51 having a round pin shape of the male terminal fitting 50 protrudes from the hood portion 42, and an electric wire 43 is connected to the rear end of the contact shaft 51. Note that the surface of the contact shaft portion 51 is subjected to silver (alloy) plating.

  The power supply connector 30 has a configuration in which a plurality of female terminal fittings 10 are accommodated inside a connector housing 31 formed in a cylindrical shape, like the power receiving side connector 40. The connector housing 31 is formed with a hood portion 32 that opens to the side of the mating surface with the power receiving side connector 40, and in the hood portion 32, a cylindrical terminal accommodating chamber that individually accommodates the female terminal fittings 10. 33 is protrudingly provided. The female terminal fittings 10 are accommodated from the rear in the terminal accommodating chambers 33 of the connector housing 31 while being held together by the retainer 34.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the terminal accommodating chamber 33 has a terminal insertion port 33 </ b> A opened on the front surface thereof, and the inside thereof is formed in a hollow shape so that the female terminal fitting 10 can be accommodated. The terminal insertion port 33A is tapered so as to reduce in diameter toward the rear end of the terminal insertion port 33A having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the contact shaft portion 51 of the male terminal fitting 50. Thus, the contact shaft portion 51 can be easily inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 33 by forming the inner diameter of the front end portion of the terminal insertion port 33 </ b> A on the insertion side of the contact shaft portion 51 large.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the female terminal fitting 10 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 33 can be mounted from a cylindrical terminal body 11 that is connected by crimping an electric wire 35 to the rear end thereof, and an insertion opening 12 of the terminal body 11. The ring-shaped pressed member 20 and a compression coil spring 25 (corresponding to a spring member) housed in the terminal body 11 are configured.

  The terminal body 11 is made of a conductive metal material such as a copper alloy, and has a cylindrical shape having an open front surface and a bottom surface 13 on the base end side connected to the electric wire 35 as shown in FIGS. Is formed. The terminal body 11 is formed with a slit 14 that divides the circumferential direction into two from the insertion opening 12 along the longitudinal direction. A pair of opposing pieces divided by the slit 14 is a contact piece 15, and the bottom surface 13 side of the terminal main body 11 has a large diameter portion having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter formed by the opposed contact piece 15. It is set to 16. The slit 14 reaches the front portion of the large-diameter portion 16, and the width dimension thereof is substantially the same as the width dimension of the connecting portion 23 of the pressed member 20 described later. On the outer surface of the terminal body 11, an inclined surface 17 whose outer diameter increases toward the large diameter portion 15 is formed at the boundary between the contact piece 15 and the large diameter portion 16. A space in the terminal body 11 is a hollow portion 18, and a compression coil spring 25 is accommodated in the space in the large diameter portion 16 having the bottom surface 13 as shown in FIG. 2. The natural length of the compression coil spring 25 is such that the front end is substantially the same position as the front end of the inclined surface 17 in the longitudinal direction of the terminal body 11 with the rear end in contact with the bottom surface 13. Note that a silver (alloy) plating layer is formed on at least the inner surface of the contact piece 15 of the terminal body 11. Further, the width dimension between the contact piece portions 15 is slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the contact shaft portion 51 of the male terminal fitting 50, and the contact shaft portion 51 is inserted into the hollow portion 18 in strong contact. There has been no such thing.

  The pressed member 20 mounted from the insertion opening 12 of the terminal body 11 is made of a conductive material such as metal, and as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, a ring-shaped outer fitting portion 21 and an outer fitting portion 21. On the other hand, a band-like butting portion 22 extending in the diameter direction and a connecting portion 23 that extends from the outer fitting portion 21 and connects the butting portion 22 are configured. The inner diameter of the outer fitting portion 21 is formed to be substantially the same as the outer diameter formed by the opposing contact piece 15 of the terminal body 11, and the width dimension of the abutting portion 22 connected to the outer fitting portion 21 by the connecting portion 23. Is substantially the same as the width of the slit 14. In addition, the width dimension of the connection part 23 is also made substantially the same as the width dimension of the slit 14, and the both ends of the abutting part 22 and the connection part 23 penetrate the slit 14, so that the outer fitting part 21 becomes the terminal main body 11. The pressed member 20 can be pushed toward the large diameter portion 16 side of the terminal main body 11 while being externally fitted.

  Now, a pair of pressing pieces 24 extending along the extending direction of the outer fitting portion 21 is formed at a position orthogonal to the abutting portion 22 of the outer fitting portion 21. As shown in FIG. 6, the inner surface of the pressing piece 24 has an inclined shape that expands from the inner diameter of the outer fitting portion 21 toward the rear, and the distal end portion of the pressing piece 24 extends in the direction extending from the outer surface. The plate shape is the same. The interval between the front ends of the pressing portions 24 is set to be slightly narrower than the outer diameter of the large-diameter portion 16 of the terminal body 11. As shown in FIG. 7, the pressing piece 24 has a shape that tapers toward the tip of the pressing piece 24, and the end thereof is located in front of the rear end surface of the abutting portion 22.

Then, the assembly procedure of the female terminal metal fitting 10 is demonstrated.
First, the compression coil spring 25 is accommodated in the hollow portion 18 of the terminal body 11. Subsequently, the pressed member 20 is attached to the insertion opening 12 of the terminal body 11 from the abutting portion 22 side. Specifically, both ends of the abutting portion 22 of the pressed member 20 and the connecting portion 23 are inserted into the slit 14, and the outer fitting portion 21 is externally fitted to the contact piece 15, while the pressed member 20 has a large diameter. Insert into part 16 side. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the state in which the abutting portion 22 of the pressed member 20 is disposed at a position where it comes into contact with the compression coil spring 25 is the initial state of the female terminal fitting 10.

Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described.
When fitting the power supply connector 30 to the power receiving connector 40, the contact shaft portion 51 of the male terminal fitting 50 is inserted from the terminal insertion port 33 </ b> A of the terminal accommodating chamber 33. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the contact shaft portion 51 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 33 from the terminal insertion port 33 </ b> A, and enters the contact piece portion 15 from the insertion opening 12 of the terminal body 11. When the tip of the contact shaft portion 51 abuts against the abutting portion 22 of the pressed member 20 and further presses the pressed member 20 toward the large diameter portion 16 side of the terminal body 11, FIG. As shown, the pressing piece 24 rides on the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 16 while pushing down the inclined surface 17 toward the axial center side. At this time, the compression coil spring 25 is pressed by the abutting portion 22 and is compressed to the bottom surface 13 side. When the contact piece 15 falls to the axial center side, the inner surface of the contact piece 15 on the insertion opening 12 side comes into elastic contact with the outer periphery of the contact shaft 51. In this state, the fitting between the power supply connector 30 and the power receiving connector 40 is completed, and electrical connection between both terminals is established (see FIG. 10).

  When the fitting between the power supply connector 30 and the power receiving connector 40 is released, the contact shaft portion 51 of the male terminal fitting 50 is pulled out from the female terminal fitting 10. Then, the pressed member 20 is pushed back to the initial state of the female terminal fitting 10 with respect to the terminal body 11 by the urging force of the compression coil spring 25 in the compressed state. When the pressed member 20 returns to the initial position, the contact piece 15 that has been pressed toward the axial center by the pressing piece 24 is elastically restored, and the terminal body 11 is also restored to the initial state shown in FIG. Is done. In this way, the inter-terminal connection performed by the connecting piece 15 being deformed in the diameter-reducing direction by the pressed member 20 is configured to correspond to the male terminal fitting 50 that is repeatedly inserted and removed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the contact shaft portion 51 of the male terminal fitting 50 presses the abutting portion 22 of the pressed member 20 attached to the terminal body 11 to the large diameter portion 16 of the terminal body 11. When inserted, the pressing piece 24 having an inclined shape on the inner side of the pressed member 20 rides on the outer periphery of the large-diameter portion 16 while pressing the inclined surface 17, so that the contact piece portion 15 is elastic in the reduced diameter direction. Deforms and contacts the outer surface of the contact shaft portion 51. According to such a configuration, the contact shaft portion 51 hardly slides on the terminal main body 11, and the contact piece portion 15 finally comes into contact with the contact shaft portion 51, thereby enabling connection between terminals. Therefore, wear of the silver plating layer applied to the surface of the contact shaft portion 51 and at least the inner surface of the contact piece portion 15 of the terminal body 11 can be prevented. This eliminates the need for the conventional thickening of the silver plating layer in consideration of, for example, wear of the sliding portion, so that the amount of plating used for the surface treatment can be suppressed, and the material cost in the female terminal fitting 10 is reduced. Can be achieved. Further, by using the female terminal fitting 10 as in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the silver plating layer applied to the mating male terminal fitting 50 from being worn, and the amount of plating used for the male terminal fitting 50 can be reduced. It is also possible to contribute to a reduction in material costs due to suppression.

  Further, the connection between the terminals is not based on the contact between the contact shaft portion 51 and the pressed member 20, but the contact piece 15 pushed down in the diameter reducing direction by the pressed member 20 contacts the outer surface of the contact shaft portion 51. It is done by touching. Thereby, it can apply also when the nonelectroconductive member, such as a resin cap, is mounted | worn with the front-end | tip of the contact shaft part 51 as a tentacle countermeasure. Further, by providing the compression coil spring 25 in the terminal main body 11, the compression coil spring 25 that is elastically placed between the pressed member 20 and the bottom surface 13 of the terminal main body 11 at the time of fitting is provided on the contact shaft portion 51. Simultaneously with the release, the pressed member 20 can be returned to the initial position before pressing by the urging force. Thus, since the connection between the terminals via the pressed member 20 can be repeatedly performed, it is suitable for the female terminal fitting 10 in which the male terminal fitting 50 is repeatedly inserted and removed like the power supply connector 30.

  Further, since the compression coil spring 25 is accommodated in the hollow portion 18 of the terminal body 11, the female terminal fitting 10 can be downsized as compared with the case where it is arranged on the outer periphery of the terminal body 11. As a result, it is possible to reduce the size of the terminal accommodating chamber 33 that accommodates the female terminal fitting 10, and to save space in the power feeding connector 30.

<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-described embodiment, the pressed member 20 is made of a conductive material such as metal, but is not limited thereto, and may be made of, for example, a synthetic resin.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the outer fitting portion 21 of the pressed member 20 has a ring shape surrounding the outer periphery of the terminal body 11, but is not limited thereto. For example, about half of the outer periphery of the terminal body 11 is formed. You may form in the substantially semicircular arc shape surrounding.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the abutting portion 22 of the pressed member 20 is formed in a band shape extending in the diameter direction of the outer fitting portion 21, and the connecting portions 23 at both ends thereof are inserted through the pair of slits 14. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the abutting portion may be circular, the outer fitting portion 21 and the abutting portion are connected by one connecting portion, and one of the slits 14 is inserted. It may be. If the shape of the abutting portion, which is the pressing surface of the contact shaft portion 51, can be more easily subjected to pressing force from the contact shaft portion 51, such as increasing the contact area with the contact shaft portion 51, the pressed portion can be pressed with less force. The member 20 can be pressed toward the large diameter portion 16 side of the terminal main body 11, and the insertion resistance of the contact shaft portion 51 with respect to the female terminal fitting 10 can be kept low.

  (4) In the embodiment described above, a pair of slits 14 formed by cutting the terminal body 11 are formed at opposing positions. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the terminal body 11 is divided into a plurality of three or more in the circumferential direction. Three or more slits may be formed. As described above, if the terminal body 11 is divided into a plurality of three or more, the contact piece portion can be more easily bent in the reduced diameter direction as compared with the one embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Female terminal metal fitting 11 ... Terminal body 12 ... Insertion opening 14 ... Slit 15 ... Contact piece 16 ... Large diameter part 17 ... Inclined surface 18 ... Hollow part 20 ... Pressed member 21 ... Outer fitting part 22 ... Butting part 23 ... Connecting part 24 ... Pressing piece 25 ... Compression coil spring (spring member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Feed connector 33 ... Terminal accommodating chamber 33A ... Terminal insertion port 40 ... Power receiving side connector 50 ... Male terminal metal fitting 51 ... Contact shaft part

Claims (3)

A cylindrical terminal body having an insertion opening and a hollow part into which a male terminal is inserted, and a contact piece part elastically deformable in a reduced diameter direction by a slit formed by cutting from the insertion opening;
A large-diameter portion formed to protrude toward the base end side of the contact piece,
An abutting portion that is mounted on the terminal body from the insertion opening side, is located in the hollow portion and can be pressed by the male terminal inserted into the hollow portion, and an outer fitting portion that fits on an outer periphery of the terminal body. A pressed member integrated by a connecting portion passing through the slit;
A spring member that biases the pressed member toward the insertion opening of the terminal body,
At least one of the outer fitting portion of the pressed member and the large-diameter portion of the terminal body has the contact piece portion pressed by the pressed member by the male terminal inserted into the hollow portion. A female terminal fitting having an inclined surface that is elastically deformed in a reduced diameter direction.   In the terminal body, two slits are formed to be opposed to each other to form two contact pieces, and the outer fitting portion of the pressed member forms an annular shape that surrounds the outer periphery of the terminal body. 2. The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the abutting portion is formed to extend in a diameter direction with respect to the outer fitting portion.   The female terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the spring member is housed inside the terminal body.

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