Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6390839
-
Patent Number
6,390,839
-
Date Filed
Friday, March 2, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 21, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Nguyen; Khiem
- Hyeon; Hae Moon
Agents
- Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner, L.L.P.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 88
- 439 181
- 439 9241
- 439 186
- 439 851
- 439 852
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A pair of terminals includes contact parts to be contacted with each other for conduction. Respective one of the pair of terminals has respective one of discharge parts formed integrally thereto. The discharging parts are contacted with each other before contacting the contact parts. The discharging parts are disengaged from each other after disengaging the contact parts.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a terminal assembly, and, more particularly, to a terminal assembly employed for male and female connectors to be mated and connected each other.
A connector assembly has a female and male connector mated with each other for connection. The female connector has a male connecting terminal accommodated and fixed in a female connector housing. The male connecting terminal is disposed at its distal end to protrude into a hood of the female housing.
On the other hand, the male connector has a female connecting terminal accommodated and fixed in a male connector housing. The female terminal is formed at its distal end in a tubular shape, in which the male terminal is to be inserted from its distal end. The female terminal has a contact spring piece formed at its distal end, the spring piece being folding back diagonally in the tubular space.
In the connector of the structure, when mating the male and female connectors, the male terminal is inserted in the end of female connector from its end to be contacted with the spring piece, so that conduction is achieved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the above-described connector assembly, however, when the female and male connectors in conduction are mated with each other, the distal ends of the male and female terminals come into contact with each other at first, and an arc discharge generates at contacts to deteriorate or damage the contacts. When disengaging the connectors, the distal ends of male and female terminals last detach from each other, and an arc discharge generates at the distal ends to deteriorate or damage the contacts.
The deterioration or damage generates to the contacts prevents the contacts of the male and female terminals from good conduction, and connector is degraded in reliability.
An object of the present invention provides a terminal assembly with contact protection function which makes ends of connecting terminals to be connected with each other prevented from deterioration or damage for protecting the ends of both the connecting terminals.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a terminal assembly. The assembly includes a pair of terminals including contact parts to be contacted with each other for conduction. Respective one of the pair of terminals has respective one of discharge parts formed integrally thereto. The discharging parts are contacted with each other before contacting the contact parts. The discharging parts are disengaged from each other after disengaging the contact parts.
Preferably, the respective one of the discharge members is a spring piece extending forward from respective one of side parts of the pair of the terminals in a mating direction.
According to the second aspect of the invention, a terminal assembly includes a first terminal having a first contact. The first terminal has a first discharge part with a second contact extending from the first terminal. The second contact is displaced from the first contact at a first displacement S
1
. The assembly includes a second terminal to be mated with the first terminal for conduction. The second terminal has a third contact to be contacted with the first contact. The second terminal has a second discharge part with a fourth contact extending from the second terminal. The fourth contact is to be contacted with the second contact. The fourth contact is displaced from the third contact at a second displacement S
2
. A relationship of the first displacement S
1
and the second displacement S
2
is that S
1
+S
2
>0.
Preferably, the first terminal has a protrusion including the first contact at a distal end thereof.
According to a third aspect of the invention, a connector assembly is adapted for a terminal assembly according to the second aspect. A first connector includes a first housing accommodating the first terminal. A second connector includes a second housing to be mated with the first housing. The second housing accommodates the second terminal.
According to the aspects, the discharge members provided to respective one of the pair of terminal are contacted with each other before contacting the contact parts of both the terminals. When disengaging the terminals, the discharging members are disengaged from each other after disengaging the contact parts. If an arc discharge generates between the discharge members, detrimental effect to the contact parts is prevented from extending. Thus, the contact parts of the terminals do not have deterioration and damage due to the arc discharge, and the terminals as well as the connectors are improved in reliability.
The discharge members are spring pieces extending from a pair of side parts of the terminals, and the discharge members are at a distance apart from each other, so that an arc discharge effect is prevented from extending to the contact parts.
The discharge members securely contact before contacting the contact parts and the discharge members securely contact at disengagement of the contact parts. Thus, discharge members are securely disengaged from each other after disengaging the contact parts, and detrimental effect to the contact parts is prevented from extending.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a sectional view of a connector assembly of an embodiment, for which connecting terminals of the invention are adapted.
FIG. 2
is a perspective view of a male connecting terminal of an embodiment;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of a female connecting terminal of an embodiment;
FIG. 4
is a sectional view of another embodiment; and
FIG. 5
is a sectional view of another embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the present invention will hereby be explained with reference to the drawings.
As shown on
FIG. 1
, a connector assembly
10
includes a female connector
11
and a male connector
12
. The female connector
11
has a male connecting terminal
15
accommodated and disposed in a female housing
14
formed with a fit-in hood part
13
at a front end of the housing
14
. The male connector
12
has a female connecting terminal
17
accommodated and disposed in a male housing
16
to be fitted in a hood
13
of the female housing
14
at a front end of the housing
16
.
The male terminal
15
, as shown on
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a male terminal body
18
supported by the female housing
14
, a contact protrusion
19
provided at a front end of the terminal body
18
, a dummy tab
20
, as a dummy contact, extending forward from a side part at the front end of the terminal body
18
in substantially parallel with and at a predetermined distance apart from the protrusion
19
. In the embodiment, the tab
20
and the protrusion
19
are set each other at substantially equal length. The tab
20
, as shown on
FIG. 2
, includes a base part
20
a,
a first part
20
b
extending diagonally from the base part
20
a
to be apart from the protrusion
19
, and a second part
20
c
extending from the first part
20
b
in substantially parallel with the protrusion
19
. Between the base part
20
a
and the first part
20
b,
a third part
20
d
is bent. Between the first part
20
b
and the second part
20
c,
a fourth part
20
e
is bent. The second part
20
c
and the protrusion
19
include ends
20
f,
19
a
in substantially accordance with each other in a mating direction F
1
.
The male terminal body
18
includes wire holding pieces
21
for holding a wire (not shown on Figs.) at a rear part thereof.
The female housing
14
to accommodate the male terminal
15
of the structure has a terminal accommodation space
14
A inside, the space
14
A accommodating a male terminal body
18
of the male terminal
15
. The protrusion
19
of the male terminal
15
passes through an intermediate wall
14
B to protrude into the hood part
13
, the walls
14
B separating the space
14
A and a space in the hood part
13
.
The dummy tab
20
of the male terminal
15
protrudes into the hood part
13
through an insertion hole
14
c
formed to the intermediate wall
14
B. The hood part
13
includes a tab holding wall
13
A holding the tab
20
along an outer side of the tab
20
therein. The wall
13
A and an outer wall of the hood part
13
has an insertion space
13
B formed therebetween for inserting a front end of the male housing
16
of the male connector
12
.
The male housing
16
has a front wall
16
A at its front end to hold the female terminal
17
to be inserted from its rear end. The front wall
16
A has a protrusion guide hole
16
B provided therethrough at its central part in its traverse direction. The front wall
16
A includes a tab insertion hole
16
c
made at a periphery thereof for inserting the wall
13
A formed to the female housing
14
and a tab
20
held by the wall
13
A.
The female terminal
17
to be accommodated in the male housing
16
, as shown on
FIGS. 1 and 3
, includes a female terminal body
22
in a substantially rectangularly tubular shape, which is accommodated and held in the male housing
16
, a dummy spring
23
, as a dummy contact, protruding forwardly diagonally outward from a side part at a front end of the female terminal body
22
, and pairs of terminal holding pieces
24
formed at a rear part of the female terminal body
22
.
The female terminal body
22
includes a contact spring
25
as a contact part, being folded back inwardly at a proximal end
25
a,
at a periphery of a front end opening part thereof. When mating the female and male connectors
11
,
12
, the spring
25
is to be contacted with the spring
19
. The spring
23
, configured to protrude froward from the female terminal body
22
, is disposed in the insertion hole
16
c formed to the male housing
16
so as to be contacted with the tab
20
to be passed through the hole
16
c.
When mating both the connectors
11
,
12
, the spring
23
and the tab
20
come to contact before the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
do. The spring
23
includes a base part
23
a
on the terminal body
22
, a first part
23
b
extending diagonally outward from the base part
23
a,
and a second part
23
b
extending from the first part
23
a
in substantially parallel with the terminal body
22
. The base part
23
a
and the first part
23
b
have a third part
23
d
bent therebetween. The first part
23
b
and the second part
23
c
have a fourth part
23
e
bent therebetween. The second part
23
c
has a distal end
23
f
positioned in front of a proximal end
25
a.
The distal end
19
a
of protrusion
19
is first contacted with the proximal end
25
a
of contact spring
25
or the front end
22
a
of female terminal body
22
in dependence on a bent state of the spring
25
. The distal end
20
f
of tab
20
is first contacted with the distal end
23
f
of spring
23
.
In the mating direction F
1
on
FIG. 1
, the distal end
20
f
of tab
20
is displaced from the distal end
19
a
at a displacement S
1
of substantially zero. If the distal end
20
f
is positioned at an opposite side to the male terminal body
18
relative to the distal end
19
a,
the displacement S
1
is positive. If the end
20
f
is positioned at an identical side with the male terminal body
18
relative to the end
19
a,
the displacement S
1
is negative.
On the other hand, in the mating direction F
1
, the distal end
23
f
of spring
23
is displaced from the proximal end
25
a
at a positive displacement S
2
. If the end
23
f
is positioned at an opposite side to the female terminal body
22
relative to the proximal end
25
a,
the displacement S
2
is positive. If the distal end
23
f
is positioned at an identical side with the female terminal body
22
relative to the proximal end
25
a,
the displacement S
2
is negative.
The embodiment requires that a relationship of S
1
and S
2
is S
1
+S
2
>0. If the relationship of them is S
1
+S
2
≦0, the distal end
19
a
is contacted with the proximal end
25
a
earlier or at an identical time.
In the connector
10
of the constitution, when mating the female connector
11
and male connector
12
, the protrusion
19
, protruding into the hood part
13
of the female housing
14
, passes through the guide hole
16
B of the front wall
16
A in the male housing
16
. At this time, the spring
23
, as extending forward beyond the front end
22
f
of the female terminal body
22
, contacts with tab
20
before the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
contact. Between the spring
23
and the tab
20
, an arc discharge occurs, and when the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
as original contact parts contact, arc discharge does not generate, so that the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
are prevented from deterioration and damage. Even when the spring
23
and the tab
20
are subjected to deterioration and damage due to an arc discharge, they are not original contact parts, and occurrence of the deterioration causes no problem.
In the embodiment, respective one of the male terminal
15
and the female terminal
17
is formed integrally with respective one of the spring
23
and the tab
20
as dummy contacts, and the connector has a contact protecting structure only by mounting the connecting terminals to the housings. Thus, the connector assembly is improved in durability and reliability.
Although the invention has been described above by reference to certain embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Modifications and variations of the embodiments described above will occur to those skilled in the art, in light of the above teachings. For example, though the above-described embodiment has the spring
23
extending forward beyond the female terminal body
22
, another embodiment is composed such that the spring
23
may be provided to a side part of the terminal body
22
not to extend forward beyond the front end
22
a
of the body
22
and the tab
20
of the other male terminal
15
may extend forward beyond the protrusion
19
as shown on
FIG. 4
, and the same function and benefit is obtained. In this case, the displacement S
1
is positive, and the displacement S
2
is substantially zero, so that the sum of the displacements S
1
and S
2
is positive. As shown on
FIG. 5
, the end
23
f
of the spring
23
may be displaced from the proximal end
25
a
on an opposite side to the female terminal body
22
and the distal end
20
f
of the tab
20
may be displaced from the distal end
19
a
of protrusion
19
on an identical side with the male terminal body
18
. The displacement S
1
is negative and the displacement S
2
is positive, so that this requires that the absolute value of S
2
is greater than one of S
1
.
Another embodiment is composed such that one of the female and male terminals
15
,
17
may be formed with a dummy spring which extends forward to contact with a side part of the other terminal.
The scope of the invention is defined with reference to the following claims.
Claims
- 1. A terminal assembly comprising:a first terminal comprising a contact part, configured to contact for conduction, and a discharge part; and a second terminal comprising a contact part, configured to contact for conduction, and a discharge part; wherein the discharge parts are configured to contact before the contact parts contact for conduction, and the discharge parts are configured to disengage after the contact parts disengage, and wherein at least one of the discharge parts is spaced from the corresponding contact part in an insulating manner.
- 2. A terminal assembly comprising:a first terminal comprising a contact part, configured to contact for conduction, and a discharge part; and a second terminal comprising a contact part, configured to contact for conduction, and a discharge part; wherein the discharge parts are configured to contact before the contact parts contact for conduction, and the discharge parts are configured to disengage after the contact parts disengage, and wherein the discharge part of the first terminal comprises a spring piece extending forward from a side part of the first terminal in a mating direction.
- 3. A terminal assembly comprising:a first terminal having a first contact, the first terminal having a first discharge part with a second contact extending from the first terminal, the first contact being spaced from the first discharge part in an insulated manner, and the second contact being displaced from the first contact at a first displacement, S1; and a second terminal to be mated with the first terminal for conduction, the second terminal having a third contact configured to conduct with the first contact, the second terminal having a second discharge part with a fourth contact extending from the second terminal, the fourth contact configured to conduct with the second contact, the third contact being spaced from the second discharge part in an insulated manner, and the fourth contact being displaced from the third contact at a second displacement, S2, wherein a relationship of the first displacement S1 and the second displacement S2 is that S1+S2>0.
- 4. A terminal assembly comprising:a first terminal having a first contact, the first terminal having a first discharge part with a second contact extending from the first terminal, the second contact being displaced from the first contact at a first displacement, S1; and a second terminal to be mated with the first terminal for conduction, the second terminal having a third contact to be contacted with the first contact, the second terminal having a second discharge part with a fourth contact extending from the second terminal, the fourth contact to be contacted with the second contact, the fourth contact being displaced from the third contact at a second displacement, S2, wherein a relationship of the first displacement, S1, and the second displacement, S2, is that S1+S2>0, and wherein the first terminal has a protrusion including the first contact at a distal end thereof.
- 5. A connector assembly adapted for a terminal assembly according to claim 3, comprising:a first connector including a first housing accommodating the first terminal; and a second connector including a second housing to be mated with the first housing, the second housing accommodating the second terminal.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2000-059052 |
Mar 2000 |
JP |
|
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A |
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A |
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A |
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A |
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A |
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Number |
Date |
Country |
0717469 |
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EP |