Terminal Assemblies

Abstract

The present invention provides a terminal assembly, the terminal assembly includes a male terminal and a female terminal that are matched with each other, the male terminal includes a pair of fixing plates arranged oppositely in the height direction and a pair of contact springs respectively arranged on the inner sides of the corresponding fixing plates, and the female terminal includes a pair of contact springs arranged oppositely and a tongue located between the pair of contact springs to contact the contact spring of the male terminal. The male and female terminals of the terminal assembly of the present invention have a large contact area when docked, so as to transmit a large current.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a terminal assembly. Background Art

[0002] Traditional electrical connectors are indispensable components in electronic and electrical devices. With the upgrading of electronic and electrical devices, electrical connectors have developed into quite mature products. For electrical connectors, it is necessary to be able to contact stably and reliably transmit signals or currents, and conductive terminals are necessary components of electrical connectors. Generally speaking, terminal assemblies usually include male conductive terminals and female conductive terminals that dock with each other. Traditional male conductive terminals and female conductive terminals have large structural differences, are more complicated in process, and have limited contact area when docked.

[0003] In view of this, it is necessary to improve the existing terminal assembly to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a terminal assembly with a larger contact area.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose of the invention, the present invention provides a terminal assembly, which includes a male terminal and a female terminal that are paired with each other, the male terminal includes a pair of fixing plates arranged opposite to each other in the height direction and a pair of contact spring plates respectively arranged on the inner sides of the corresponding fixing plates, and the female terminal includes a pair of contact spring plates arranged opposite to each other and a tongue located between the pair of contact spring plates to contact the contact spring plates of the male terminal.

[0006] As a further improvement of the present invention, the female terminal has a receiving portion, the receiving portion has a docking cavity for inserting the male terminal and a docking end located at one end of the receiving portion, the tongue protrudes into the docking cavity, and the fixing plate and contact spring of the male terminal are inserted into the docking cavity from the docking end.

[0007] As a further improvement of the present invention, the accommodating portion has a top and bottom wall arranged opposite to each other and a side wall connected to at least one of the top and bottom walls, the top and bottom walls are connected to the side walls to form the docking cavity located inside thereof, and a pair of contact springs of the female terminal are respectively fixed to the inner wall surfaces of the top and bottom walls.

[0008] As a further improvement of the present invention, the pair of contact springs of the male terminal are arranged opposite to each other in the height direction, each of the fixing plates has a docking portion located at its front end, and the contact spring is installed on the inner side of the docking portion. After the pair of fixing plates are assembled with each other in the height direction, the docking portions of the pair of fixing plates are spaced apart in the height direction to form a spacing space for the tongue of the female terminal to be inserted.

[0009] As a further improvement of the present invention, each of the fixing plates also has a fixing portion located at its rear side and at least a pair of matching portions located at both sides in the transverse direction thereof, and the matching portions of the pair of fixing plates located on the same side engage with each other to fix each other.

[0010] As a further improvement of the present invention, the female terminal also has a first fixing portion extending integrally from the accommodating portion and a second fixing portion extending backward from an end of the tongue piece away from the docking end, the docking end is an end of the accommodating portion away from the first fixing portion, and the second fixing portion is detachably connected to the first fixing portion.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present invention, an obliquely extending connecting portion is provided between the tongue of the female terminal and the second fixing portion so that the tongue and the second fixing portion are located in different planes, and the tongue is located at the center of the accommodating portion in the height direction.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, each of the contact springs has a substrate and at least two claws located at the front and rear ends of the substrate, and the at least two claws respectively capture the fixing plate of the male terminal or the top and bottom walls of the female terminal.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, each of the contact springs also has a plurality of elastic arms formed by bending and protruding from the substrate, each of the buckle claws has a connecting portion connected to the front end or rear end of the substrate and a hook portion bent and extended from the connecting portion, and the elastic arm and the hook portion are placed on both sides of the substrate in the height direction.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, each of the contact springs also has a protrusion formed from the substrate, the protrusion and the elastic arm are protruding on the same side of the substrate in the height direction, and the protruding height of the protrusion is lower than the protruding height of the elastic arm.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the male terminal in the terminal assembly of the present invention is additionally provided with a pair of contact springs, and the female terminal is additionally provided with a tongue, so that the contact area of ​​the male and female terminals when plugged in is increased, and the terminal has the function of multi-way parallel connection of the traditional circular torsion spring terminal; at the same time, under the same current flow conditions, the structural volume of the male and female terminals is relatively small, the product size can be effectively controlled, the production is convenient and the terminal has stable electrical performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the male terminal of the terminal assembly of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Another view of the male terminal shown.

[0018] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 Exploded perspective view of the male terminal shown.

[0019] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Another view of the male terminal shown.

[0020] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 Partially assembled view of male terminal shown.

[0021] Figure 6 yes Figure 1 Side view of the male terminal shown.

[0022] Figure 7 It is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the female terminal of the terminal assembly of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 Another view of the female terminal shown.

[0024] Fig. 9 yes Figure 7 Exploded perspective view of the female terminal shown.

[0025] Fig.10 yes Fig. 9 Another view of the female terminal shown.

[0026] Fig.11 yes Figure 7 A cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure of the female terminal shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments do not limit the present invention, and any structural, methodological, or functional changes made by a person skilled in the art based on the embodiments are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0028] Please refer to Figures 1 to 11 The figure shows a preferred embodiment of the terminal assembly of the present invention, wherein the terminal assembly includes a male terminal 1 and a female terminal 2 that are paired with each other. For the sake of convenience, when the male terminal 1 or the female terminal 2 is introduced separately below, the description is made with the butt joint end thereof as the front end and the other end opposite to the butt joint end as the rear end, that is, the butt joint direction of the male and female terminals 1 and 2 is the front-to-back direction, a direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction is the height direction, and the other direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction is the lateral direction.

[0029] Please refer to Figures 1 to 6As shown, the male terminal 1 includes a pair of fixing plates 11 arranged opposite to each other in the height direction and a pair of contact springs 3 respectively arranged on the inner sides of the corresponding fixing plates 11. In this embodiment, the sides of the pair of fixing plates 11 close to each other are their inner surfaces, and the sides away from each other are their outer surfaces.

[0030] The pair of contact springs 3 of the male terminal 1 are arranged opposite to each other in the height direction, and each of the fixing plates 11 has a docking portion 112 located at its front end, and the docking portion 112 is sheet-shaped. The contact spring 3 is installed on the inner side of the docking portion 112. After the pair of fixing plates 11 are assembled with each other in the height direction, the docking portions 112 of the pair of fixing plates 11 are spaced apart in the height direction to form a spacing space 110 for the tongue piece 21 of the female terminal 2 to be inserted.

[0031] The docking portion 112 has at least one first mounting portion 1121 located at its front end and at least one second mounting portion 1122 located at the rear side of the first mounting portion 1121. The first mounting portion 1121 is recessed at the front end of the docking portion 112 and the outer surface of the docking portion 112. The outer surface of the docking portion 112 is also the surface of the docking portion 112 facing away from the other docking portion 112.

[0032] The second mounting portion 1122 includes a mounting hole 1123 and a step portion 1124 located in front of the mounting hole 1123. The mounting hole 1123 penetrates the docking portion 112 along the height direction. The step portion 1124 is arranged adjacent to the mounting hole 1123, and the outer surface of the step portion 1124 is closer to the inner surface of the docking portion 112 than the outer surface of the docking portion 112.

[0033] Each of the fixing plates 11 also has a fixing portion 113 located on its rear side and at least a pair of matching portions 114 located on both sides in the transverse direction. Specifically, the matching portions 114 are formed by bending and extending from the side end edges of the docking portion 112 in the transverse direction, and the docking portion 112 is arranged parallel to the horizontal plane, and the matching portions 114 are arranged perpendicular to the horizontal plane. The matching portions 114 of the pair of fixing plates 11 located on the same side engage with each other to fix each other.

[0034] The fixing portion 113 is provided with at least one fixing hole 1131 penetrating the fixing portion 113 in the height direction. The fixing holes 1131 of the pair of fixing plates 11 are aligned in the height direction so that the same connecting member 4 can be inserted therein and fix the pair of fixing plates 11 together.

[0035] In this embodiment, each of the fixing plates 11 has two pairs of matching portions 114 disposed on both sides thereof, that is, a pair of matching portions 114 is provided on each side. At the same time, the two matching portions 114 on the same side of each fixing plate 11 are spaced apart along the front-to-back direction so that the matching portion of another fixing plate 11 on the front side can extend into the spaced portion.

[0036] In addition, each of the matching portions 114 is roughly L-shaped and has a first matching portion 1141 and a second matching portion 1142 extending from the first matching portion 1141. One end of the first matching portion 1141 is connected to the docking portion 112, and the other end is a free end. The second matching portion 1142 extends from the free end and extends along the front-to-back direction.

[0037] Specifically, the pair of fixing pieces 11 include an upper fixing piece 11a and a lower fixing piece 11b that are assembled with each other in the height direction, the matching portion 114 of the upper fixing piece 11a is bent downward and extended from its docking portion 112, and the matching portion 114 of the lower fixing piece 11b is bent upward and extended from its docking portion 112. In addition, the second matching portions 1142 of the upper fixing piece 11a are formed by extending forward, and the second matching portions 1142 of the lower fixing piece 11b are formed by extending backward, so that the second matching portions 1142 of the upper fixing piece 11a and the second matching portions 1142 of the lower fixing piece 11b are matched with each other.

[0038] In addition, the upper fixing plate 11a further has a connecting bridge 115 connecting the docking portion 112 and the fixing portion 113 thereof. The extending direction of the connecting bridge 115 is arranged at an angle to the horizontal plane so that the docking portion 112 and the fixing portion 113 are located at different heights.

[0039] Please refer to Figures 7 to 11 As shown, the female terminal 2 includes a pair of contact springs 3 arranged opposite to each other and the tongue 21 located between the pair of contact springs 3 to contact the contact springs 3 of the male terminal 1 .

[0040] The female terminal 2 has a receiving portion 23, the receiving portion 23 has a docking cavity 230 for inserting the male terminal 1 and a docking end 231 located at one end of the receiving portion 23, the tongue 21 protrudes into the docking cavity 230, and the fixing piece 11 and the contact spring 3 of the male terminal 1 are inserted into the docking cavity 230 from the docking end 231.

[0041] The receiving portion 23 has top and bottom walls 232, 233 arranged opposite to each other and a side wall 234 connected to at least one of the top and bottom walls 232, 233. The top and bottom walls 232, 233 are connected to the side wall 234 to form the docking cavity 230 located inside thereof. A pair of contact springs 3 of the female terminal 2 are respectively fixed to the inner wall surfaces of the top and bottom walls 232, 233.

[0042] In this embodiment, the receiving portion 23 is rectangular and has a pair of side walls 234 disposed opposite to each other. The pair of side walls 234 connect the top and bottom walls 232 and 233 at both sides of the receiving portion 23. Each side wall 234 also has a positioning groove 2341 formed by being recessed forward from its rear end surface. The positioning groove 2341 penetrates the side wall 234 in the transverse direction to allow the positioning protrusions 211 on both sides of the tongue piece 21 to be inserted and positioned.

[0043] The female terminal 2 also has a first fixing portion 24 integrally extending from the accommodating portion 23 and a second fixing portion 25 extending backward from an end of the tongue piece 21 away from the docking end 231. The second fixing portion 25 is integrally extended backward from the tongue piece 21, and the docking end 231 is an end of the accommodating portion 23 away from the first fixing portion 24. The second fixing portion 25 is detachably connected to the first fixing portion 24.

[0044] Specifically, the first fixing portion 24 and the second fixing portion 25 are connected to each other via at least one connecting member 4 . Furthermore, in this embodiment, a pair of connecting members 4 connects the first fixing portion 24 and the second fixing portion 25 .

[0045] An obliquely extending connecting portion 26 is provided between the tongue piece 21 of the female terminal 2 and the second fixing portion 25 so that the tongue piece 21 and the second fixing portion 25 are located in different planes. The tongue piece 21 is received in the middle position of the receiving portion 23 in the height direction.

[0046] like Figures 3 to 5 and Figures 9 and 10 As shown, each of the contact springs 3 has a substrate 31 and at least two claws 32 located at the front and rear ends of the substrate 31. The substrate 31 is a horizontally arranged flat plate structure, and the at least two claws 32 are respectively captured on the fixing plate 11 of the male terminal 1 or the top and bottom walls 232, 233 of the female terminal 2.

[0047] Since the male terminal 1 and the female terminal 2 of the terminal assembly of the present invention have the same contact spring 3, the terminal assembly is simple to manufacture and has low cost, and the cost can be reduced by more than 50% under the same current requirement.

[0048] Specifically, each of the contact springs 3 also has a plurality of elastic arms 34 formed by bending and protruding from the substrate 31, and each of the buckle claws 32 has a connecting portion 321 connected to the front end or rear end of the substrate 31 and a hook portion 322 bent and extended from the connecting portion 321, and the elastic arms 34 and the hook portion 322 are arranged on both sides of the substrate 31 in the height direction.

[0049] Taking the installation of the contact spring piece 3 to the fixing plate 11 as an example, the connecting portion 321 is inserted into the mounting hole 1123 and then bent to form the hook portion 322, and the hook portion 322 is made to abut against the outer surface of the step portion 1124 to hook the contact spring piece 3 on the fixing plate 11; similarly, the manner in which the contact spring piece 3 is installed on the top and bottom walls 232, 233 of the accommodating portion 23 is the same as the above manner, that is, the hooking structure of the top and bottom walls 232, 233 is the same as the hooking structure of the docking portion 112 of the male terminal 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0050] Furthermore, each of the elastic arms 34 is connected to the base plate 31 at only one end in the front-to-back direction, and the other end oppositely arranged is a free end. Specifically, the elastic arm 34 is torn from the base plate 31, and each of the elastic arms 34 has an inclined section 341 connected to the base plate 31, a contact section 342 bent from the inclined section 341 and extending in the front-to-back direction, and a terminal section 343 bent and extended from the contact section 342.

[0051] The elastic arms 34 are arranged in a plurality of rows spaced apart in the transverse direction, each row includes at least two elastic arms 34, and the elastic arms 34 in adjacent rows are staggered a certain distance in the front-to-back direction. Furthermore, the numbers of the elastic arms 34 in adjacent rows are different, and the projections of the elastic arms 34 in adjacent rows on the same vertical plane partially overlap, so that the contact sections 342 in adjacent rows are staggered.

[0052] The contact sections 342 of a pair of contact springs 3 of the male terminal 1 respectively abut against the upper and lower surfaces of the tongue piece 21 of the female terminal 2, and the pair of contact springs 3 of the female terminal 2 respectively abut against the outer surface of the fixing piece 11 of the male terminal 1, so as to form multiple contact surfaces at different heights, thereby significantly increasing the contact area of ​​the male and female terminals 1 and 2 when docking, and realizing the function of multi-way parallel connection.

[0053] In addition, each of the contact springs 3 further has a protrusion 35 protruding from the substrate 31. The protrusion 35 and the elastic arm 34 are protruding from the same side of the substrate 31 in the height direction. Figure 6 As shown, the protruding height of the protruding portion 35 is smaller than the protruding height of the elastic arm 34 .

[0054] In this embodiment, each of the contact springs 3 has two groups of protrusions 35, one group of protrusions 35 is arranged near the two ends of the contact spring 3 in the front-back direction, and the other group of protrusions 35 is arranged near the two ends of the contact spring 3 in the transverse direction, so that the plurality of elastic arms 34 are arranged inside the area surrounded by the two groups of protrusions 35. The number of protrusions 35 in each group is two, and the two protrusions 35 are located on the two opposite sides of the contact spring 3, and each protrusion 35 is in the shape of a long strip. In other embodiments, the number and shape of the protrusions 35 in each group can also be other, as long as they are placed on the two opposite sides of the contact spring 3.

[0055] Compared with traditional conductive terminals, the male terminal 1 in the terminal assembly of the present invention is additionally provided with a pair of contact springs 3, and the female terminal 2 is additionally provided with a tongue 21, so that the contact area of ​​the male and female terminals 1 and 2 when plugged in is increased to transmit a larger current, and has the function of multi-path parallel connection of traditional circular torsion spring terminals; at the same time, under the same current flow conditions, the structural volume of the male and female terminals is relatively small, which can effectively control the product size, is easy to manufacture and has stable electrical performance.

[0056] The terms used herein, such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", etc., which indicate relative spatial positions, are used for the purpose of convenience to describe the relationship between one feature and another feature as shown in the accompanying drawings. It is understood that, depending on the placement of the product, the terms of relative spatial positions may be intended to include different orientations other than those shown in the drawings, and should not be construed as limitations on the claims. In addition, the descriptor "horizontal" used herein is not completely equivalent to being perpendicular to the direction of gravity, and a certain angle of inclination is allowed.

[0057] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solution of the present invention may be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A terminal assembly, comprising a male terminal and a female terminal that mate with each other, characterized in that: The male terminal comprises a pair of fixing pieces arranged opposite to each other in the height direction and a pair of contact spring pieces respectively arranged on the inner sides of the corresponding fixing pieces, the female terminal comprises a pair of contact spring pieces arranged opposite to each other and a tongue piece located between the pair of contact spring pieces to contact with the contact spring piece of the male terminal, the female terminal comprises a receiving portion, the receiving portion comprises a docking cavity for inserting the male terminal and a docking end located at one end of the receiving portion, the tongue piece protrudes into the docking cavity, the fixing piece and the contact spring piece of the male terminal are inserted into the docking cavity from the docking end, the receiving portion comprises a top and a bottom wall arranged opposite to each other and a side wall connected to at least one of the top and the bottom wall, the top and the bottom wall are connected to the side wall to form the docking cavity located on the inner side thereof, the pair of contact spring pieces of the female terminal are respectively fixed to the inner wall surfaces of the top and the bottom walls, the pair of contact spring pieces of the male terminal are arranged opposite to each other in the height direction, each of the fixing pieces comprises a docking portion located at its front end, The contact spring is installed on the inner side of the docking part. After the pair of fixing plates are assembled with each other in the height direction, the docking parts of the pair of fixing plates are spaced in the height direction to form a spacing space for the tongue of the female terminal to be inserted. Each of the fixing plates also has a fixing part located on its rear side and at least a pair of matching parts located on both sides in the transverse direction. The matching parts of the pair of fixing plates located on the same side bite each other to fix each other. The female terminal also has a first fixing part integrally extending from the receiving part and a second fixing part extending backward from an end of the tongue away from the docking end. The docking end is an end of the receiving part away from the first fixing part. The second fixing part is detachably connected to the first fixing part. An inclined extending connecting part is provided between the tongue of the female terminal and the second fixing part so that the tongue and the second fixing part are located in different planes. The tongue is located at the central position of the receiving part in the height direction.

2. The terminal assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the contact springs has a base plate and at least two buckling claws located at the front and rear ends of the base plate, and the at least two buckling claws are respectively buckled on the fixing plate of the male terminal or the top and bottom walls of the female terminal.

3. The terminal assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the contact springs also has a plurality of elastic arms formed by bending and protruding from the substrate, and each of the buckle claws has a connecting portion connected to the front end or rear end of the substrate and a hook portion bent and extended from the connecting portion, and the elastic arms and the hook portion are placed on both sides of the substrate in the height direction.

4. The terminal assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that: Each of the contact springs further has a protruding portion protruding from the substrate, the protruding portion and the elastic arm are protruding on the same side of the substrate in the height direction, and the protruding height of the protruding portion is lower than the protruding height of the elastic arm.

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