JP5900544B2 - Connector terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector terminal used for electrical connection of various devices mounted on an automobile or the like.

  As a connector in which a substrate having a terminal portion on a terminal surface is fitted, for example, a connector described in Patent Document 1 is known. As shown in FIG. 18, the connector 100 includes a board-side housing 101 and a wire-side housing 102 that are formed so as to be fitted to each other. The substrate side housing 101 is provided with a substrate 103 having terminal portions 104 on the end surface. The electric wire side housing 102 is provided with a terminal fitting 105 that can contact the terminal portion 104.

  The terminal fitting 105 is formed by bending a conductive plate, and a wire connecting portion 111 to which the wire W can be connected is provided at the rear end portion. A hollow connection portion 116 is formed in front of the electric wire connection portion 111, and an elastic contact piece 109 that is bent so as to turn as a whole is provided inside the connection portion 116. A pressing portion 107 projects from the back wall portion 106 of the substrate-side housing 101 toward the front. A guide surface 108 that presses the elastic contact piece 109 of the terminal fitting 105 is provided inside the tip of the pressing portion 107.

  In this connector 100, when the fitting operation is started by inserting the wire side housing 102 inside the board side housing 101, the board 103 is inserted into the wire side housing 102 from the board insertion port 112 as shown in FIG. Next, the pressing portion 107 is inserted into the pressing portion insertion space 114 from the pressing portion insertion port 113. Then, as the substrate 103 enters the back side of the substrate insertion port 112 and the guide surface 108 presses the press receiving portion 115 as shown in FIG. 20, the elastic contact piece 109 is elastically deformed toward the substrate 103 side. When the fitting operation proceeds to a predetermined position, the assembly of the connector 100 is completed. At this time, the pressing portion 107 presses the first bent portion 117 of the elastic contact piece 109 toward the substrate 103, whereby the elastic contact piece 109 reaches the contact position and the contact portion 118 contacts the terminal portion 104.

  By the way, the elastic contact piece 109 of the connector 100 is formed as a part of the terminal fitting 5 by bending one conductive plate, and is integrated with the electric wire connecting portion 111 and the connecting portion 116. Therefore, the elastic contact piece 109 and the wire connecting part 111 and the connecting part 116 must be made of the same material, but the elastic contact piece 109 is required to have high contact reliability with the substrate 103 by elastic deformation. . For this reason, since the material of the entire terminal fitting 105 is determined in accordance with the elastic contact piece 109, the cost increases.

Japanese Patent No. 3669268

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, it is considered that the elastic contact piece 109, the electric wire connecting portion 111, and the connecting portion 116 are formed by separate conductive plate materials, and two parts made of these conductive plate materials are integrated. It is done. There are various methods for integrating two parts, such as caulking and welding. However, when these two parts made of conductive plates are brought into contact with each other and fixed, the planes come into surface contact with each other. The reliability will be poor.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector terminal having improved contact reliability when the first terminal component and the second terminal component are fixed.

  The connector terminal of the present invention is formed by bending the conductive metal plate and the first terminal component formed by bending the conductive metal plate, and is electrically connected by being fixed to the first terminal component. And a second terminal part to be connected, and the first terminal part or the second terminal part has a protruding portion facing the second terminal part or the first terminal part at a fixed part. . According to the connector terminal of the present invention, the contact portion between the first terminal component and the second terminal component is not a surface contact between the surface of the first terminal component and the surface of the second terminal component, but a point contact by the protruding portion. Become.

  In order to achieve highly reliable contact between the first terminal component and the second terminal component, it is important to maintain a metal-to-metal contact. The metal contact itself is performed by true contacts (fine projections on the metal surface), and it is necessary to increase the number of true contacts in order to reduce the contact resistance value. In order to increase the number of true contacts, it is necessary to increase the contact load and achieve high contact. The point contact is smaller than the surface contact because the entire contact area is smaller, so the contact load per unit area is higher, and a true contact can be obtained, so the effective contact area is higher for the point contact. That is, in the connector terminal of the present invention, since the first terminal component and the second terminal component are in point contact by the protruding portion, the contact load per unit area is increased and the contact reliability is increased.

  According to the present invention, the contact portion between the first terminal component and the second terminal component is not a surface contact between the surface of the first terminal component and the surface of the second terminal component, but is a point contact by the protruding portion. Contact reliability is improved.

It is an assembly perspective view of the connector in an embodiment of the invention. It is a sectional side view of FIG. It is a sectional side view of the state which decomposed | disassembled the connector of FIG. It is a sectional side view which shows the electric wire side connector housing of FIG. It is the A section enlarged view of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the terminal main body of FIG. It is a sectional side view which shows the sheath-like part of the terminal main body of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view of the protrusion part of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the spring piece of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the metal plate which forms the terminal main body of FIG. It is the B section enlarged view of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state of the spring piece before the incorporation to a terminal main body. It is a perspective view which shows the state which piled up the spring piece on the metal plate. It is a perspective view which shows the mode of the assembly of a connector terminal. It is a perspective view which shows the state which cut the carrier from the state of FIG. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode of the assembly operation start to the connector housing of a connector terminal. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode in the middle of the assembly operation to the connector housing of a connector terminal. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode of the assembly operation completion to the connector housing of a connector terminal. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode of the assembly | attachment operation start of the board | substrate to a connector. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode of the assembly | attachment operation of the board | substrate to a connector. It is side sectional drawing before fitting both the housings of the conventional connector. It is a sectional side view which shows the mode of fitting operation of both the housings of FIG. It is a sectional side view when fitting operation of both the housings of FIG. 18 is completed.

  1 is an assembled perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1 in an exploded state, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of part A of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the terminal body of FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the sheath part of the terminal body of FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the projecting portion of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the spring piece of FIG. 3, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a metal plate forming the terminal body of FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a so-called card edge connector in which a substrate B having a terminal portion T is fitted on the end surface. The substrate B is held by the housing H. The connector 1 is a connector housing 2 in which a connector terminal 3 with which a terminal portion T of the board B contacts is accommodated. An electric wire C is connected to the connector terminal 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the connector housing 2 includes a hood portion 20 in which a fitting side of the substrate B is opened and the housing H is fitted, and a substrate connected to the hood portion 20 and held by the housing H. It has the fitting part 21 in which B is fitted, and the terminal accommodating chamber 22 in which the connector terminal 3 is accommodated. The fitting portion 21 is formed adjacent to the terminal accommodating chamber 22. Further, a terminal insertion port 23 for inserting the connector terminal 3 into the terminal accommodating chamber 22 is formed on the opposite side of the hood portion 20 of the connector housing 2 across the fitting portion 21.

  The connector terminal 3 includes a terminal body 4 as a first terminal component shown in FIG. 6 and a spring piece 5 as a second terminal component shown in FIG. The terminal body 4 has an opening (opening 40 shown in FIG. 6) in the insertion direction of the connector terminal 3 (housing H side). The spring piece 5 has a shape folded back with the opening 50 in the front in the insertion direction of the connector terminal 3. The spring piece 5 is accommodated in the terminal body 4 with the opening 50 facing the opening (opening 40) of the terminal body 4. In the following description, the insertion direction (arrow X direction shown in FIG. 3) of the connector terminal 3 with respect to the terminal accommodating chamber 22 of the connector housing 2 is expressed as “front” and the opposite direction is expressed as “rear”.

  The connector terminal 3 is inserted and accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 22 from the terminal insertion port 23. The plurality of connector terminals 3 are accommodated so as to be opposed to each other with the fitting portion 21 sandwiched therebetween, and are accommodated in the connector housing 2 so as to be divided into two upper and lower stages in a zigzag shape. In the terminal housing chamber 22 of the connector housing 2, a projection 24 is provided in front of the connector terminal 3 and protrudes toward the opening 50 of the spring piece 5 of the terminal body 4 inserted into the terminal housing chamber 22. . The tip of the protrusion 24 is an inclined surface 24 a formed obliquely so that the side far from the fitting portion 21 is close to the terminal insertion port 23. A protrusion opening 25 is formed between the terminal accommodating chamber 22 and the fitting portion 21 so that a part of the spring piece 5 can protrude into the fitting portion 21.

  The terminal body 4 is formed by bending a metal plate 4a having good electrical conductivity punched out as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 shows only a part constituting one terminal body 4, but in reality, parts constituting a plurality of terminal bodies 4 are connected by carriers 6 a and 6 b at both ends thereof. ing. As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal body 4 includes a sheath-like portion 41 in which the spring piece 5 is accommodated, and a binding portion 42 for crimping and fixing the electric wire C. The binding portion 42 includes an outer cover caulking portion 42 a that holds the outer periphery of the external insulator of the electric wire C, and a conductor caulking portion 42 b that holds the electric wire C and is electrically connected to the sheath-like portion 41.

  Further, in front of the sheath-like portion 41, there is an energizing connection portion 43 that fixes the spring piece 5 in the sheath-like portion 41 and is electrically connected to the sheath-like portion 41. The energizing connection portion 43 includes a projecting portion 44a facing the spring piece 5 and a caulking piece 44b formed by cutting out the side surface of the terminal body 4. The caulking piece 44b is for bending and caulking the straight portion 53 (see FIG. 13) of the spring piece 5 so as to be sandwiched from both sides (see FIG. 14). The spring piece 5 is fixed by caulking between the protruding portion 44a of the terminal body 4 and the caulking piece 44b. On the other hand, a rear portion of the sheath-like portion 41 has a receiving portion 45 that restricts the retraction of the folded portion of the spring piece 5. The receiving portion 45 is formed by cutting out the side surface of the terminal body 4 and bending it inward at a substantially right angle. Further, an opening 46 is formed at a position where the spring piece 5 can protrude into the fitting portion 21 through the protrusion opening 25 on the facing side of the energizing connection portion 43 of the sheath-like portion 41.

  In addition, the protrusion part 44a in this embodiment is formed by stamping to the metal plate 4a. Further, the protruding portion 44 a may be configured to be provided on the spring piece 5 instead of the terminal body 4. In short, any one of the fixed portions of the spring piece 5 or the terminal main body 4 may be configured to have the protruding portion 44a facing the terminal main body 4 or the spring piece 5. The terminal body 4 and the spring piece 5 can be fixed by a method other than caulking, for example, a method such as welding.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the spring piece 5 has a shape folded back with the front of the connector terminal 3 as the opening 50, and the folded portion is formed in a convex curved shape toward the rear of the connector terminal 3. A curved surface portion 51 is formed. A sliding contact portion 52 is formed at the end portion 5 b opposite to the one end portion 5 a fixed to the terminal body 4 by the energization connection portion 43. The sliding contact portion 52 is formed in a convex curved shape toward the inner side of the spring piece 5 so as to come into contact with the protruding portion 24 when the connector terminal 3 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 22.

  Further, the spring piece 5 is a straight portion 53 along the terminal body 4 at a portion fixed to the terminal body 4 by the energizing connection portion 43. In addition, the straight line portion 53 is provided with a restriction portion 53a for restricting the pinching position of the caulking piece 44b when the caulking piece 44b is bent and caulked so as to be pinched from both sides as described above. The restricting portion 53a is formed by providing a wide portion in the linear portion 53 and forming a concave notch corresponding to the caulking piece 44b. Further, a bent portion 54 is formed between the one end portion 5 a fixed to the terminal body 4 and the curved surface portion 51 which is a folded portion so as to be separated from the terminal body 4. Furthermore, a convex curved contact portion 55 is formed between the curved surface portion 51 and the sliding contact portion 52 toward the outside of the spring piece 5.

  The connector terminal 3 is formed by the following procedure. 12 is a perspective view showing a state of the spring piece 5 before being incorporated into the terminal body 4, FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which the spring piece 5 is arranged on the metal plate 4a, and FIG. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state where the carrier is cut from the state of FIG. 14.

  The spring piece 5 is punched out of a metal plate with good conductivity and bent in advance to the state shown in FIG. As in the case of the terminal body 4 described above, FIG. 12 shows only a portion constituting one spring piece 5, but actually a portion constituting a plurality of spring pieces 5 is connected by a carrier 7. It has become. Then, after the spring piece 5 in the state shown in FIG. 12 is overlaid on the metal plate 4a shown in FIG. 10 (see FIG. 13), each part of the terminal body 4 is bent and connected to the carriers 6a, 6b and 7. The connector terminal 3 is formed as it is (see FIG. 14). At this time, the restricting portion 53 a of the spring piece 5 functions as a guide when the caulking piece 44 b is bent, and the position of the caulking piece 44 b is restricted by the restricting portion 53 a of the spring piece 5. Therefore, the position of the spring piece 5 superimposed on the terminal body 4 is regulated to the correct position, and the spring piece 5 is fixed to the terminal body at the correct position by caulking. Thereafter, the carriers 6a, 6b, and 7 are cut.

  Thereby, as shown in FIG. 15, the connector terminal 3 with which the spring piece 5 and the terminal main body 4 were integrated is obtained. In this connector terminal 3, the caulking position of the spring piece 5 is close to the opening 40 of the terminal body 4, so that the workability of assembling the spring piece 5 is good, and the carrier of the spring piece 5 is cut after the spring piece 5 is assembled. Is possible. Further, in this connector terminal 3, the contact portion between the spring piece 5 and the terminal body 4 is not a surface contact between the surface of the spring piece 5 and the surface of the terminal body 4, but a point contact by the tip of the protruding portion 44a. Therefore, contact reliability is improved.

  Next, assembly of the connector housing 2 of the connector terminal 3 having the above configuration will be described. 16A is a side sectional view showing a state of starting the assembly operation of the connector terminal 3 to the connector housing 2, FIG. 16B is a side sectional view showing a state during the assembly operation, and FIG. 16C is a side sectional view showing the state of completion of the assembly operation. It is.

  When the connector terminal 3 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 22 from the terminal insertion port 23 of the connector housing 2, as shown in FIG. 16A, the protruding portion 24 of the connector housing 2 is an opening in the front in the insertion direction of the connector terminal 3. 40 enters the connector terminal 3, and the tip of the protrusion 24 faces the opening 50 of the spring piece 5 in the connector terminal 3. When the connector terminal 3 is pushed forward from this state, as shown in FIG. 16B, the sliding contact portion 52 of the spring piece 5 comes into contact with the inclined surface 24a of the protrusion 24 of the connector housing 2, and is fitted along the inclined surface 24a. It is pushed to the part 21 side.

  Thereby, the contact part 55 of the spring piece 5 is pushed out from the terminal accommodating chamber 22 to the fitting part 21 through the protrusion opening 25. 16C, when the sliding contact portion 52 of the spring piece 5 exceeds the lower end of the inclined surface 24a at the tip of the projection 24 and reaches the lower surface 24b of the projection 24, the fitting portion is formed through the projection opening 25. The contact portion 55 of the spring piece 5 that is pushed out and protruded by the member 21 can come into contact with the terminal portion T of the substrate B that is fitted into the fitting member 21.

  Next, assembly of the board B to the connector 1 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 17A is a side sectional view showing a state of starting the assembly operation of the board B to the connector 1, and FIG. 17B is a side sectional view showing the state of completion of the assembly operation.

  When the housing H holding the board B is fitted to the hood part 20 of the connector 1 in which the connector terminal 3 is accommodated as described above, the board B is fitted to the fitting part of the connector housing 2 as shown in FIG. The contact portion 55 of the spring piece 5 that has entered the inside 21 and has been pushed out and projected to the fitting portion 21 through the projection opening 25 comes into contact with the terminal portion T of the substrate B as shown in FIG.

  That is, when the connector terminal 3 in this embodiment is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 22 from the terminal insertion opening 23 of the connector housing 2, the contact portion 55 of the spring piece 5 is fitted from the terminal accommodating chamber 22 through the protruding opening 25. When the board B is fitted to the fitting part 21, the terminal part T of the board B is pushed out and protruded by the joint part 21 and comes into contact with the terminal part T of the board B fitted into the fitting part 21. Therefore, if only the space for storing the spring piece 5 in the terminal main body 4 is secured, the space for inserting the protrusion 24 of the connector housing 2 is secured on the inside of the terminal body 4, and the connector terminal 3 and the size of the connector 1 that accommodates it can be reduced.

  As described above, in the connector 1 according to the present embodiment, when the board B is fitted into the fitting portion 21 of the connector housing 2, the contact portion of the spring piece 5 protruding to the fitting portion 21 through the protruding opening 25. Since the curved surface portion 51 of the spring piece 5 is elastically deformed when 55 is pushed toward the protruding opening 25 side, a high contact load between the contact portion 55 of the spring piece 5 and the terminal portion T of the substrate B is applied by the restoring force. Can be obtained. At this time, since the internal stress of the spring piece 5 is distributed to the contact portion 55, the curved surface portion 51, and the bent portion 54, the plastic deformation of the spring piece 5 is suppressed, and the durability of the connector terminal 3 is improved. To do. When the bent portion 54 is not provided, the linear portion 53 is in close contact with the inner surface of the terminal body 4, so that the internal stress of the spring piece 5 is concentrated at two locations of the contact portion 55 and the curved portion 51. The maximum stress value is larger than that in the case of 54.

  Further, when the board B is fitted into the fitting portion 21 of the connector housing 2, the spring piece 5 moves from the state shown in FIG. 17A to the state shown in FIG. It is pushed to the side, that is, the projecting opening 25 side. As a result, the curved portion 51 that is the folded portion of the spring piece 5 tends to retreat toward the terminal insertion port 23 side, but in the connector terminal 3 in the present embodiment, the receiving portion 45 that is provided behind the sheath-like portion 41 Retraction of the curved surface portion 51 of the spring piece 5 is restricted. Therefore, the end portion 5b of the spring piece 5 and the sliding contact portion 52 are prevented from being dragged into the fitting portion 21 due to the fitting of the board B, and buckling deformation is prevented, and the connection reliability of the connector terminal 3 is improved. It has improved.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful as a connector terminal and connector used for electrical connection of various devices mounted on automobiles and the like.

B board T terminal part H housing C electric wire 1 connector 2 connector housing 3 connector terminal 4 terminal body (first terminal part)
4a Metal plate 5 Spring piece (second terminal part)
6a, 6b, 7 Carrier 20 Hood part 21 Fitting part 22 Terminal accommodating chamber 23 Terminal insertion port 24 Projection part 25 Projecting opening 40 Opening part 41 Sheath-like part 42 Binding part 42a Cover caulking part 42b Conductor caulking part 43 Electrical connection Part 44a Protruding part 44b Caulking piece 45 Receiving part 46 Opening part 50 Opening part 51 Curved part 52 Sliding contact part 53 Linear part 53a Restricting part 54 Bending part 55 Contact part

Claims (3)

A first terminal part made of a conductive metal plate,
The second terminal part is made of a conductive metal plate and is conductively connected by being fixed to the first terminal part by caulking, and a portion fixed to the first terminal part is connected to the first terminal part. Including a second terminal part that is a straight part along the line,
The first terminal component has a caulking piece that is clamped by sandwiching the linear portion of the second terminal component from both sides,
The second terminal component is a concave notch corresponding to the caulking piece by providing a wide portion in the linear portion, and forming a notch in which the concave bottom surface and both side surfaces are orthogonal to each other. It has a regulating part that regulates the sandwiching position,
The connector terminal which has the protrusion part which faces the said 2nd terminal component or the said 1st terminal component in the fixed part of either the said 1st terminal component or the said 2nd terminal component. The connector terminal according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal component is formed with a sheath-like portion in which the second terminal component is accommodated .   The connector terminal according to claim 2, wherein the second terminal component is a spring piece accommodated in the sheath-shaped portion.

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