Patent Application
20140017946
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a terminal, for example, capable of being not only incorporated in a housing to form a connector but also directly mounted on a side end surface of a substrate to be used.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, as a terminal, for example, there is a spring connector including a conductive pin arranged slidably in the projecting and retreating directions so as not to be slipped off in a conductive tube, and a coil spring compressed for elastically biasing the conductive pin in the projecting direction, wherein a winding outer diameter of at least one part of the coil spring is set to be smaller than or the same as a winding inner diameter of the other part which is next turn of winding, and the one part is capable of being accommodated inside the other part in a state in which the coil spring is compressed (refer to Patent Document 1).
As shown in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1, in the spring connector 20 described above, the conductive pin 14 is biased in the axial direction by the coil spring 26. By pressure contact of the conductive pin 14 with an abutment terminal 46 of a battery 44 shown in FIG. 5 thereof, electrical connection is formed while ensuring predetermined contact pressure.
Under a situation that a battery having a large capacity is used, a temperature of the spring connector described above easily becomes too high due to heat generation by contact resistance. Thus, electric current capacity allowing conducting is easily decreased.
With the spring connector, when impact force from the outside is applied, due to large inertia force of the conductive pin, there is a fear that the contact surface of the conductive pin is instantaneously brought away from the battery and an instantaneous interruption may be generated.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a terminal in which a temperature does not easily become too high even when heat is generated by contact resistance so as to prevent an instantaneous interruption, and a connector using the same.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a terminal comprises a movable contact that projects movably into and out of a contact hole of a housing, wherein at least one through-hole is provided behind a contact surface of the movable contact.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, since an exposed area in the movable contact is increased and cooling efficiency is improved, a terminal can be obtained in which a temperature does not easily become too high.
When the cooling through-hole is provided in the movable contact, a mass of the movable contact itself is reduced. Therefore, even if impact force from the outside such as impact force due to dropping is applied to the housing, since inertia force of the movable contact is small, an instantaneous interruption which is an electric connection failure instantaneously generated by the inertia force of the movable contact can be prevented.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the contact surface of the movable contact may have an arc shape or a linear shape.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, by making the contact surface different, the terminal can be selected according to the use, and a degree of freedom in design is increased.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, thickness of the movable contact may be uniform.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, stress concentration can be avoided and designing is easily performed.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the movable contact may have a pin shape.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the exposed area is increased by an inner circumferential surface of the cooling through-hole, and the cooling efficiency is increased. Thus, the pin-shaped terminal can be obtained in which the temperature does not easily become too high.
In a connector according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the movable contact of the above-described terminal may project movably into and out of a contact hole provided in a housing.
According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the exposed area of the movable contact is increased, and the cooling efficiency is increased. Thus, the connector can be obtained in which the temperature does not easily become too high.
When the cooling through-hole is provided in the movable contact, the mass of the movable contact itself is reduced. Therefore, there is an effect that the connector can be obtained in which, even if the impact force from the outside such as the impact force due to dropping is applied to the housing, since inertia force of the movable contact is small, the instantaneous interruption which is the electric connection failure instantaneously generated by the inertia force of the movable contact can be prevented.
Embodiments of terminals according to the present invention will be described with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
While a locking claw 31a is arranged in a projecting manner on an upper surface of one end of the press-fitting fixing portion 31, by providing a connection portion 31b from a lower surface of the other end thereof, a press-fitting cutout portion 31c is formed.
The first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c branching off from the first branch portion 33a and the second branch portion 33b extend so as to meander substantially in parallel, so that first and second slits 35a, 35b are formed. Therefore, stress concentration on the branch portions 33a, 33b is not easily generated, and there are advantages that the life is long and a degree of freedom in design is increased.
Further, the movable contact 36 is provided in a free end formed by integrating distal ends of the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c, and a position regulating projecting portion 37 is arranged in a projecting manner in the distal end of the first extending portion 34a. In the movable contact 36, a plurality of cooling through-holes 38 passing through in the direction parallel to a contact surface 36a are arranged side by side behind the contact surface 36a.
In the present embodiment, width in curved parts of the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c is gradually increased. Therefore, there are advantages that the stress concentration at the time of an operation is not easily generated and the life is extended.
The width of the first and second slits 35a, 35b according to the present embodiment is set in such a manner that even when the movable contact 36 of the connection terminal 30 is operated, the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c are not brought into contact with each other. Therefore, the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c are not brought into contact with each other at the time of a predetermined operation, and an unpleasant contact sound is not generated.
Further, since the plurality of cooling through-holes 38 are provided in the movable contacts 36 and an exposed area is increased, even when the movable contacts 36 generate heat based on the contact resistance, there are advantages that the cooling can be efficiently performed and a temperature does not easily become too high.
Next, when the plurality of cooling through-holes 38 are provided in the movable contacts 36, inertia force of the movable contacts 36 is reduced. Thus, even if impact force from the outside is applied, there are advantages that an instantaneous interruption is not easily generated and contact reliability is improved.
As shown in
Next, when the movable contacts 36 are pushed in by pressure contact of the connector in which a print substrate (not shown) is mounted with a battery of a mobile electronic device for example, the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c are elastically deformed, and the support portions 32 are also elastically deformed. Within a predetermined range of a push-in amount, since the width of the first and second slits 35a, 35b is large, the first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c are not brought into contact with each other, so that a friction sound is not generated. In particular, since the meandering first, second, and third extending portions 34a, 34b, 34c and the support portions 32 are arranged between the movable contacts 36 and the press-fitting fixing portions 31, a spring length is long. Thus, a desired displacement amount can be ensured, and the stress concentration is not easily generated. Therefore, contact reliability is improved and the connector having the longer life can be obtained.
A second embodiment is a case where a large number of circular cooling through-holes 38 is provided in a grid form as shown in
According to the present embodiments, there are advantages that the terminal can be obtained in which the exposed area in the movable contacts 36 is increased and cooling efficiency is further increased.
A fourth embodiment is a case where two cooling through-holes 38 are provided behind a contact surface 36a of a pin-shaped movable contact 36 as shown in
According to the present embodiment, also, the terminal can be obtained in which the exposed area of the movable contacts 36 is increased, the cooling efficiency is further increased, and the temperature does not easily become too high.
According to the above embodiment, a mass of the movable contacts 36 is reduced and the inertia force is reduced. Thus, even if the impact force from the outside is applied, the instantaneous interruption which is an instantaneous electric connection failure can be prevented, and there is an advantage that the terminal having high contact reliability can be obtained.
Although a case is described where one pair of two connection terminals and an individual connection terminal are combined in order to enhance the contact reliability, only an individual connection terminal may be used for all, or one pair of two connection terminals may be used for all. Further, one pair of three connection terminals may be incorporated, and if necessary, the number of the connection terminals can be selected as a matter of course.
The extending portions and the slits are not required to have uniform width but the width may be changed if necessary. For example, by increasing only the width of the curved parts of the extending portions positioned on the outer side among the curved parts of the extending portions so as to prevent generation of the stress concentration, durability may be enhanced.
Further, although a case is described where the connection terminals are incorporated in the housing in the above embodiment, the print substrate itself may serve as the housing and the connection terminals of the present application may be directly incorporated in a side end surface thereof. Accordingly, there is an advantage that the conventional housing and the fixing tools are not required, and as a result, the entire device can be furthermore downsized.
The terminal according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is not particularly limited to the above shapes as long as the terminal has cooling through-holes in movable contacts.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-055726 | Mar 2011 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/057179 | 3/24/2011 | WO | 00 | 9/24/2013 |
