Patent Grant
10476186
The present invention relates to a press fit terminal pressed into a through hole of a substrate.
In general, a press fit terminal making contact with an electrode of an inner peripheral surface of a through hole by being pressed into a through hole of a substrate is known. As such press fit terminal, a terminal having a pair of bridge portions (elastic pieces) elastically brought into contact with an inner wall of the through hole is suggested. The stiffness property of the bridge portion at a base portion side (base end side) is set to be lower than that at an insertion guide portion side (top side) (for example, see Patent Literature 1). In the press fit terminal disclosed in the Patent Literature 1, the stiffness of the base portion side is set low. For this reason, the base portion in the press fit terminal is more likely to be bent than the insertion guide portion, and the press fit terminal is less likely to move in a drop off direction for the substrate.
Patent Literature 1: JP 2015-225701 A
However, in the press fit terminal described in Patent Literature 1, the stiffness of the top side is large. For this reason, a force to expand the through hole at the time of press-fitting becomes large, and thereby there is possibility of damaging the substrate. The damaged substrate may deteriorate insulation due to whitening. Meanwhile, in order to reduce damage to the substrate, when the stiffness of the whole press fit terminal is decreased, the holding force is decreased, and the press fit terminal is possibly moved with respect to the substrate in a state pressed into the through hole to a normal depth (press-fit completion state).
An object of the present invention is to provide a press fit terminal which makes it difficult to deteriorate the substrate when press-fitting and can maintain holding force in a press-fit completion state.
In order to solve and achieve the object, the present invention is a press fit terminal including a press fitting portion to be pressed into a through hole of a substrate and to contact with an electrode of an inner peripheral surface of the through hole. The press fitting portion includes a through bore extending along a press-fitting direction and penetrating in a direction along a surface of the substrate, and a pair of elastic pieces having an inner edge portion and an outer edge portion and sandwiching the through bore therebetween, the inner edge portion and the outer edge portion having a convex curved surface shaped outward, the through bore has a top circular arc portion and a base end circular arc portion, and is formed in an oval shape extending along the press-fitting direction, and in the elastic pieces a circumference around the top circular arc portion are formed to be thinner than a circumference around the base end circular arc portion.
In the present invention, the elastic pieces have a center pressure contact portion to be overlapped with the outer edge portion when moving in parallel to the inner edge portion.
Further, in the present invention, a center of the base end circular arc portion is located closer to a maximum breadth of the press fitting portion in the press-fitting direction than a center of the top circular arc portion, the base end circular arc portion is larger than the top circular arc portion in curvature radius, and in the through bore a top side is spaced farther than a base end side based on the maximum breadth.
Furthermore, in the present invention, in the outer edge portion a top side and a base end side are formed with a plane symmetry when a surface passing the maximum breadth of the press fitting portion is viewed as a symmetry plane.
Moreover, in the present invention, the outer edge portion is formed in an outwardly convex shaped when viewing from the press-fitting direction.
According to the present invention, in the elastic pieces, the circumferences around the top circular arc portion are formed to be thinner than a circumference around the base end circular arc portion. Therefore, the elastic piece at the top side is easily elastically deformed, and deterioration of the substrate can be prevented when pressed into the through hole. Further, since the circumference around the base end circular arc portion in the elastic piece is formed to be relatively thin, in press-fit completion state the elastic pieces can be pressed and contact into the inner peripheral surface of the through hole with an appropriate pressure, and the holding force can be maintained.
Further, since the elastic pieces include the inner edge portion and the outer edge portion having an outwardly convex curved surface, in the elastic pieces the convex shaped portion pressing to the inner peripheral surface of the through hole is deformed such that it becomes flat in conformity to the inner peripheral surface. Therefore, the pressure on the substrate when pressing is gradually increased according to pressing, and it is largest when the maximum breadth of the press fitting portion is pressed. On the other hand, the elastic pieces have an outwardly convex curved surface portion formed in the top side and the base end side, and a flat portion between the curved surface portions. When the flat portion is pressed, the flat portion itself is not deformed, and the curved surface portion is deformed. At this time, the pressure on substrate during pressing is gradually increased until a boundary portion between the curved surface portion of the top side and the flat portion is pressed. However, while the flat portion is pressed, the pressure is hardly changed. Therefore, in the present invention, the whole of the outer edge portion of the elastic piece have the curved surface shape, and thereby the substrate can be prevented from deteriorating when pressing it.
According to the present invention, the center pressure contact portion is overlapped with the outer edge portion when parallely moving the inner edge portion outward. Therefore, the thickness of the center pressure contact portion can be approximately constant. Thereby, in the center pressure contact portion, a portion of which the intensity is low is hardly formed, and local deformation when pressing can be difficult to occur. When the amount of a misalignment between the center of the through hole and the center of the press fit terminal and an inclination angle of the press fit terminal for the through hole are increased (that is, insertion conditions get worse), deformation when pressing is easily occurred. However, since the thickness of the center pressure contact portion is approximately constant in present invention, local deformation is less likely to occur. As a result, tolerance for insertion conditions (misalignment amount or inclination angle) into the through hole can be improved.
According to the present invention, a distance from the maximum breadth to the top side is larger than a distance from the maximum breadth to the base end side. For this reason, the length from the maximum breadth to the base end side is shorter than the length from the maximum breadth to the top side in the elastic pieces. Therefore, the top side in the elastic pieces is easily deformed, and the base end side is hardly deformed. Further, the deterioration of the substrate can be prevented when pressing, and holding force can be maintained in a press-fit completion state. Moreover, the curvature radius of the base end circular arc portion is larger than that of the top circular arc portion. Therefore, even if the center of the base end circular arc portion is brought closer to the maximum breadth than the center of the top circular arc portion, the inner edge portions of the pair of the elastic pieces can be smoothly connected each other.
According to the present invention, the edge portion is formed with a plane symmetry. Therefore, by adjusting the shape of the through bore having the inner edge portion, the top circular arc portion, and the base end circular arc portion, the elastic piece of an appropriate shape is obtained. That is, the shape of the through bore is decided such that the press fitting portion has a desired pressure characteristic, and the through bore having such shape only has to be formed. Thus, the press fit terminal, which is able to suppress deterioration of the substrate when pressing and to maintain holding force in a press-fit completion state, can be easily manufactured.
According to the present invention, the outer edge portion is formed in a convex shaped outward viewing from the press-fitting direction. Therefore, the outer edge portion is likely to contact with the inner peripheral surface of the through hole, contact area between the elastic piece and the inner peripheral surface is increased, and holding force in the press-fit completion state can be increased.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to drawings.
As shown in
The press fit terminal 1 includes a press fitting portion 10 pressed into the through hole 101, and a tip portion 20 tapered toward a top side from the press fitting portion 10. The press fitting portion 10 includes a through bore 2 penetrating in a direction along a surface (top surface or bottom surface) of the substrate 100, and a pair of elastic pieces 3A and 3B sandwiching the through bore 2 between them. Further, the press fitting portion 10 has a portion whose width is larger than an inner diameter of the through hole 101.
The through bore 2 is formed in a slotted hole shape extending in the press-fitting direction. Further, the through bore 2 is configured by connecting a top circular arc portion 21 formed in the top side, a base end circular arc portion 22 formed in a base end side, and an inner edge portion 31 of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B described below. Also, the shape of the through bore 2 is approximately constant in each position of a penetrating direction.
The center O2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 is positioned closer to a surface (a center passing surface) A1 passing through a maximum breadth 30 of the press fitting portion 10 and perpendicular to the press-fitting direction than the center O1 of the top circular arc portion 21. That is, the center O2 is located near the maximum breadth 30 in the press-fitting direction. Further, the maximum breadth 30 is a portion of which a dimension of the press fitting portion 10 in a width direction (a direction in which the pair of elastic pieces 3A and 3B are faced) is a maximum. Furthermore, a distance between the center O2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 and the center passing surface A1 is set to half of the substrate 100 in thickness. In other words, when the maximum breadth 30 is positioned in the center of the substrate 100 in a substrate thickness direction, the center O2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 is located on the same plane as the surface of the substrate 100. At this time, the center O1 of the top circular arc portion 21 is positioned in a place projecting toward an outside of the substrate 100. Therefore, a dimension of the through bore 2 in the press-fitting direction is larger than the thickness of the substrate 100.
The base end circular arc portion 22 is larger than the top circular arc portion 21 in a curvature radius. That is, a radius R2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 is larger than a radius R1 of the top circular arc portion 21. In the through bore 2, a distance from the maximum breadth 30 to a top side is larger than a distance from the maximum breadth 30 to a base end side.
The elastic pieces 3A and 3B respectively include an inner edge portion 31 curved outward and an outer edge portion 32 curved outward, and have a symmetrical shape each other. The inner edge portion 31 and the outer edge portion 32 are entirely curved, and do not have a planer portion. Further, a top curved outward in the inner edge portion 31 and a top curved outward in the outer edge portion 32 are nearly matched up in the press-fitting direction, and a portion including those tops becomes the maximum breadth 30. Also, since the outer edge portion 32 has arc-shaped corners 321 and 322 viewing from the press-fitting direction as described below, shapes at each of positions in a penetrating direction are not constant. The shape of the outer edge portion 32 explained below shows a shape of a center portion (a portion corresponding to a flat portion 323 described below) in the penetrating direction except as otherwise noted.
In the outer edge portion 32, a top side 32T and a base end side 32B are face-symmetrically formed such that the center passing surface A1 becomes a symmetric face. On the other hand, in the inner edge portion 31, the center O2 is positioned closer to the surface A1 than the center O1 as described above. Therefore, the length is different between the top side and the base end side. That is, the length from the maximum breadth 30 to the base end side in the elastic pieces 3A and 3B is shorter than the length from the maximum breadth 30 to the top side.
The inner edge portion 31 and the outer edge portion 32 are a part of the oval shape such as an ellipse, and the inner edge portion 31 overlaps with a part of the outer edge portion 32 by parallel moving the inner edge portion 31 outward in a width direction. In the elastic pieces 3A and 3B, a portion in which the inner edge portion 31 overlaps with the outer edge portion 32 is a center pressure contact portion 34.
As shown in
In an example of drawings, in the maximum breadth 30, a length of a diagonal line connecting the corner 321 of the elastic piece 3A and the corner 322 of the elastic piece 3B (equal to a length of a diagonal line connecting the corner 321 of the elastic piece 3B and the corner 322 of the elastic piece 3A) is larger than the inner diameter of the through hole 101, and a length connecting the flat portion 323 of the elastic piece 3A and the flat portion 323 of the elastic piece 3B is smaller than the inner diameter of the through hole 101. That is, mainly the corners 321 and 322 in the elastic pieces 3A and 3B are pressed against the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101.
Moreover, when the curvature radii of the corners 321 and 322 can be made sufficiently large, the corners 321 and 322 may be continuously formed without forming the flat portion 323. That is, the whole of the outer edge portion 32 may be pressed along the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101.
Hereinafter, the thicknesses of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B will be explained. The “thicknesses of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B” in the center pressure contact portion 34 is a space between portions corresponding to the inner edge portion 31 and the outer edge portion 32. Further, the “thicknesses of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B” around the circular arc portions 21 and 22 is a length of a portion passing the elastic pieces 3A and 3B among an extension line extending from the centers O1 and O2 in a radial direction. Furthermore, thick portions of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B are referred to as “thick”, while thin portions thereof are referred to as “thin”.
In the elastic pieces 3A and 3B, the thickness of the center pressure contact portion 34 are approximately constant, and the thicknesses around the top circular arc portion 21 and the base end circular arc portion 22 are thicker than that of the center pressure contact portion 34. Further, the thickness around the top circular arc portion 21 is formed to be thinner than that around the base end circular arc portion 22. More specifically, as an example shown in drawings, in a case that a length passing the elastic piece 3A or 3B in an extension line extending in the radial direction from the center O1 to be inclined at an equal angle with respect to the width direction is L1, and a length passing the elastic piece 3A or 3B in an extension line extending in the radial direction from the center O2 to be inclined at an equal angle with respect to the width direction is L2, the length L1 at the top side is shorter than the length L2 at the base end side.
When the press fit terminal 1 as described above is pressed into the through hole 101, the press fitting portion 10 has a portion in which a width is larger than the inner diameter of the through hole 101. Therefore, the outer edge portions of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B come in contact with the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101, and elastically deform so that the elastic pieces 3A and 3B approach each other (so that the width of the through bore 2 becomes small). At this time, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B come in contact with the inner peripheral surface 102 in mainly the center pressure contact portion 34, and the touched convex portion is likely to be deformed flat in conformity to the inner peripheral surface 102.
A pressure on the substrate 100 when pressing the press fitting portion 10 gradually increases until the elastic pieces 3A and 3B come into contact with the inner peripheral surface 102 and then the center pressure contact portions 34 contact each other. After the center pressure contact portions 34 contact each other, the pressure on the substrate 100 is approximately constant.
A pressing amount (pressing depth) of the press fit terminal 1 to the through hole 101 is controlled by regulating a projecting amount of the press fit terminal 1 from the substrate 100 in the top side or base end side by using for example a jig, so that it becomes a predetermined amount.
According to the embodiment of the present invention, there are effects as below. More specifically, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B are formed so that the elastic pieces 3A and 3B around the top circular arc portion 21 is thinner than the elastic pieces 3A and 3B around the base end circular arc portion 22 in thickness. Therefore, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B can be easily elastically deformed on the top side, and deterioration of the substrate 100 when pressing the press fit terminal into the through hole 101 can be prevented. Further, since the elastic pieces 3A and 3B around the base end circular arc portion 22 are formed with relatively thick, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B can be pressed into the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101 at an appropriate pressure and holding force can be maintained in a press-fit completion state.
Further, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B has the inner edge portion 31 outward curved and the outer edge portion 32 outward curved. Therefore, a pressure on the substrate during pressing is gradually increased with pressing, and the pressure is a maximum when the maximum breadth 30 is inserted. Meanwhile, the elastic pieces are configured with a convex curved surface portion outward formed in the top side and the base end side and a flat portion between the curved surface portions. When the flat portion is pressed, the flat portion itself is not deformed, and the curved surface portion is deformed. At this time, the pressure on substrate during pressing is gradually increased until a boundary portion between the curved surface portion of the top side and the flat portion is pressed. However, while the flat portion is pressed, the pressure is hardly changed. That is, the pressure applied at the initial press-fit rises rapidly. Therefore, in the press fit terminal 1 of the embodiment in the present invention, the whole of each of the outer edge portions 32 of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B have the curved surface shape, and thereby the substrate 100 can be prevented from deteriorating when pressing it.
Further, the center pressure contact portion 34 is overlapped with the outer edge portion 32 when parallely moving the inner edge portion 31 outward. Therefore, the thickness of the center pressure contact portion 34 can be approximately constant. Thereby, in the center pressure contact portion 34, a portion of which the intensity is low is hardly formed, and local deformation when pressing can be difficult to occur. When the amount of a misalignment between the center of the through hole 101 and the center of the press fit terminal 1 and an inclination angle of the press fit terminal 1 for the through hole 101 are increased (that is, insertion conditions get worse), deformation when pressing is easily occurred. However, since the thickness of the center pressure contact portion 34 is approximately constant in present invention, local deformation is less likely to occur. As a result, tolerance for insertion conditions (misalignment amount or inclination angle) into the through hole 101 can be improved.
Further, in the through bore 2 a distance from the maximum breadth 30 to the top side is longer than a distance from the maximum breadth 30 to the base end side. For this reason, in the elastic pieces 3A and 3B the length from the maximum breadth 30 to the base end side is shorter than the length from the maximum breadth 30 to the top side. Therefore, in the elastic pieces 3A and 3B the top side is easily deformed and the base end side is hardly deformed. Furthermore, when pressing, the substrate 100 is hardly deteriorated, and holding force can be maintained in a press-fit completion state. Moreover, the curvature radius of the base end circular arc portion 22 is larger than that of the top circular arc portion 21. Therefore, even if the center O2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 is brought closer to the maximum breadth 30 than the center O1 of the top circular arc portion 21, the inner edge portions 31 of the pair of the elastic pieces 3A and 3B are smoothly connected to each other.
Further, the outer edge portion 32 is formed plane-symmetrically with the center passing surface A1 as a plane of symmetry. Therefore, by regulating the shape of the through bore 2 having the inner edge portion 31, the top circular arc portion 21 and the base end circular arc portion 22, the elastic pieces 3A and 3B having an appropriate shape can be obtained. In other words, the shape of the through bore 2 is decided so that the press fitting portion 10 has a desired pressure characteristic. The present invention only has to form the through bore 2 having such shape, and can easily manufacture the press fit terminal 1 which can prevent deterioration of the substrate 100 when pressing and maintain holding force in a press-fit completion state.
Further, since the outer edge portion 32 is formed in the convex shaped outward seeing from the press-fitting direction, the outer edge portion 32 is likely to contact with the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101, contact area between the elastic pieces 3A and 3B and the inner peripheral surface 102 is increased, and holding force in a press-fit completion state can be increased.
Also, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The present invention includes various constitutions in which the object of the present invention can be achieved, and the following modifications are includes in the present invention.
For example, in the press fit terminal 1 in the above embodiment of the present invention, the center pressure contact portion 34 is formed such that the inner edge portion 31 is overlapped with the outer edge portion 32 when the inner edge portion 31 is moved in parallel, the center O2 of the base end circular arc portion 22 is located closer to the center passing surface A1 than the center of the top circular arc portion 21, and the curvature radius of the base end circular arc portion 22 is larger than that of the top circular arc portion 21. However, it is not limited thereto, and the elastic piece around the top circular arc portion just has to be formed to be thinner than that around the base end circular arc portion. For example, the inner edge portion may have another shape.
In a press fit terminal 1B of a first modified example shown in
In the press fit terminal 1C of a second modified example shown in
Further, in the above embodiment, the outer edge portion 32 is formed with a plane symmetry so that the center passing surface A1 becomes a symmetric face, but the outer edge portion may not be formed with a plane symmetry. For example, the edge portion may have a shape sharply tapered from the maximum breadth toward the top side than from the maximum breadth toward the base end side. Thereby, the thickness around the top circular arc portion may be thinner than that around the base end circular arc portion.
Further, in the above embodiment, the edge portion 32 has the arc-like corners 321 and 322, and thereby the whole of the outer edge portion 32 is formed in the convex shape outward viewing from the press-fitting direction, however it is not limited thereto. A portion in the outer edge portion opposed to the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101 is formed with an arc-like shape, and thereby the whole of the outer edge portion may be formed with a convex shape outward viewing from the press-fitting direction. Furthermore, when the elastic pieces is easily compressive deformed in conformity to the inner peripheral surface 102 of the through hole 101, and contact area can be ensured, the outer edge portion may be not formed with the convex shape outward viewing from the press-fitting direction (that is, it may be formed with a flat shape).
The best mode configurations, methods and the like for carrying out the present invention are disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the other words, the present invention is illustrated with reference to a specific embodiment, and explained. However, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to the above-described embodiments, in shapes, materials, quantities, and other detailed configurations without departing from the technical idea and the scope of the object of the present invention. Thus, descriptions that restrict the shape, material, etc. disclosed above are exemplarily described in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. So, descriptions in the name of members excluding a part of the limitation of the shape, material, etc. or all of the limitation are included within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-024731 | Feb 2017 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5664970 | Millhimes | Sep 1997 | A |
| 8771028 | Tonosaki | Jul 2014 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2000-505590 | May 2000 | JP |
| 2015-225701 | Dec 2015 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| Japanese Office Action for the related Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-024731 dated Mar. 5, 2019. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180233839 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |
