This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-188775, filed on Sep. 17, 2014, the entire content of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a terminal that holds a tab of a mating terminal between a leaf spring portion and a tab clamping projection wall for electrical connection.
2. Related Art
Such a conventional terminal is disclosed in JP 2001-210417 A. As shown in
The leaf spring portion 53 is provided with a spring side projection 53a protruding toward the tab clamping projection wall 54. The tab clamping projection wall 54 is formed in a curved shape that is spaced from the tab 71 at the position of the spring side projection 53a and is close to the tab 71 at the front and rear positions in a tab insertion direction e relative to the spring side projection 53a. Such a curved shape provides the tab clamping projection wall 54 with portions that are most prominent at the front and rear positions in the tab insertion direction e relative to the position of the spring side projection 53a, that is, a pair of projections 54a.
When the tab 71 of the male terminal 70 is inserted into the terminal insertion chamber 52a of the female terminal 50, the tab 71 makes contact with the leaf spring portion 53 and the leaf spring portion 53 is deflected by being pressed. This allows the tab 71 to be further inserted into the terminal insertion chamber 52a, and the terminals are engaged as shown in
The female terminal 50, in which the tab 71 of the male terminal 70 makes contact at three points, provides a stable and vibration-resistant contact.
In the conventional example described above, however, the tab 71 is inserted while sliding on the tab clamping projection wall 54 upon insertion of the tab 71 of the male terminal 70, and a sliding width d2 is wide enough and close to a width d of the tab clamping projection wall 54 as shown in
Accordingly, an object of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problem, is to provide a terminal that provides a stable and vibration-resistant contact and needs a small terminal insertion force.
A terminal according to one aspect of the present invention includes a terminal connection part into which a tab of a mating terminal is inserted, a leaf spring portion that is arranged in the terminal connection part and is deflected by being pressed by the tab to be inserted, and a tab clamping projection wall that extends in a tab insertion direction at a position spaced apart from the leaf spring portion and clamps the inserted tab between itself and the leaf spring portion. The leaf spring portion is provided with a spring side projection protruding toward the tab clamping projection wall. The tab clamping projection wall is provided with a projecting portion whose dimension perpendicular to the tab insertion direction is smaller than that of the tab clamping projection wall and which protrudes toward the leaf spring portion and extends in the tab insertion direction. The projecting portion is formed in a curved shape that is spaced from the tab at a position of the spring side projection and is close to the tab at front and rear positions in the tab insertion direction relative to the position of the spring side projection.
The tab clamping projection wall may be formed in a curved shape that is spaced from the tab at a position of the spring side projection and is close to the tab at front and rear positions in the tab insertion direction relative to the position of the spring side projection, and the projecting portion may be formed in a curved shape conforming to the tab clamping projection wall. The projecting portion may be an arc-shaped projection in cross-section perpendicular to the tab insertion direction.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the tab makes contact at three points including the spring side projection of the leaf spring portion and the pair of projections when the terminals are engaged, thereby providing a stable and vibration-resistant contact. Furthermore, the tab is inserted while sliding on the projecting portion protruding further than the tab clamping projection wall upon insertion of the tab of the mating terminal so that a sliding width is smaller than the width of the tab clamping projection wall and a terminal insertion force is reduced. As seen from the above, the terminal provides a stable and vibration-resistant contact, and moreover, the terminal insertion force is small.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
The terminal connection part 2 includes a bottom wall 3, a pair of side walls 4 and 5, and a top wall 6. The bottom wall 3, the pair of side walls 4 and 5, and the top wall 6 constitutes a square tubular shape. The inside of the square tubular shape is provided with a terminal insertion chamber 7 into which the tab 31 of the male terminal 30 is inserted. The terminal insertion chamber 7 receives a leaf spring portion 8 that is turned back at a front end of the bottom wall 3 of the terminal connection part 2. The leaf spring portion 8 is provided with a spring side projection (an indent) 8a protruding toward a tab clamping projection wall 10 described below. The spring side projection 8a is semi-spherical. The spring side projection 8a is formed by embossing the leaf spring portion 8. The bottom wall 3 is provided with an auxiliary spring portion 9. The auxiliary spring portion 9 is formed by raising a part of the bottom wall 3. The tip portion of the auxiliary spring portion 9 is arranged in a deflection region on the distal side of the leaf spring portion 8. That is, deflection of the leaf spring portion 8 causes the auxiliary spring portion 9 to deflect, thereby increasing a spring force.
The top wall 6 is formed of two plates superimposed on each other. The lower plate of the top wall 6 is provided with the tab clamping projection wall 10 protruding into the terminal insertion chamber 7. The tab clamping projection wall 10 is located at a position spaced apart from the leaf spring portion 8. The tab clamping projection wall 10 is formed in a shape that is curved relative to a tab insertion direction e. A curved shape is such that it is spaced from the tab 31 at the position of the spring side projection 8a and is close to the tab 31 at the front and rear positions in the tab insertion direction e relative to the position of the spring side projection 8a.
The tab clamping projection wall 10 is provided, as shown in detail in
Engagement of the terminals will now be described. When the tab 31 of the male terminal 30 is inserted into the terminal insertion chamber 7 of the female terminal 1, the tab 31 makes contact with the leaf spring portion 8. Then, as shown in
The female terminal 1 causes the tab 31 to make contact at three points including the spring side projection 8a of the leaf spring portion 8 and the pair of projections 11a when the terminals are engaged so that the female terminal 1 provides a stable and vibration-resistant contact compared to the case where the contact is made at two points. In particular, oscillation (swinging motion) of the tab 31 about the spring side projection 8a of the leaf spring portion 8 is restricted by the two projections 11a of the tab clamping projection wall 10, and thus such oscillation can be effectively reduced. Furthermore, the tab 31 is inserted while sliding on the projecting portion 11 protruding further than the tab clamping projection wall 10 upon insertion of the tab 31 of the male terminal 30 so that a sliding width d1 is much smaller than a width of the tab clamping projection wall 10 as illustrated in
The tab clamping projection wall 10 is formed in a curved shape that is spaced from the tab 31 at the position of the spring side projection 8a and is close to the tab 31 at the front and rear positions in the tab insertion direction e relative to the position of the spring side projection 8a, and the projecting portion 11 is formed in a curved shape conforming to the tab clamping projection wall 10. The projecting portion 11 is therefore formed in a curved shape, with the amount of projection of the projecting portion 11 being the same at any position in the tab insertion direction e. As a modification, it may be configured such that the tab clamping projection wall 10 is formed straight, i.e., without curving relative to the tab insertion direction e, and the projecting portion 11 is formed in a curved shape by varying the amount of projection of the projecting portion 11 along the tab insertion direction e.
The projecting portion 11 is an arc-shaped projection in cross-section perpendicular to the tab insertion direction e. As such, the sliding width d1 of the tab 31 can be reduced and the tab 31 can be smoothly inserted, with a corner of the projecting portion 11 being prevented from impinging on the tab 31, even if the tab 31 is inserted into the terminal insertion chamber 7 at an angle.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-188775 | Sep 2014 | JP | national |