Terminal and connector

Abstract

To provide a terminal and a connector that ensure connection reliability.SOLUTION: A terminal fitting 20 is made of a conductive plate material. The terminal fitting 20 includes a connection portion 21 having an opening surface 28 at one end in the longitudinal direction, a lead portion 34 extending continuous with the one end side of the connection portion 21 in the longitudinal direction, and a blocking portion 29 blocking the opening surface 28 of the connection portion 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal fitting and a connector. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a connector including a terminal fitting and a housing for holding the terminal fitting. The terminal fitting includes a body portion and a leg portion extending from the body portion. The body portion is accommodated in the housing. The leg portion is extended from the rear surface of the housing. The body portion has a contact piece that contacts a contact portion of a mating terminal fitting. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-192612 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When the main body is accommodated in the housing, the rear end of the main body (the inside of the concave cross-sectional portion) opens onto the rear surface of the housing. This means that foreign matter (objects other than the terminal fittings) may get into the main body. If foreign matter were to adhere to the contact piece inside the main body, it may not be possible for the contact piece and the contact portion to connect properly.

[0005] In view of the above, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a terminal fitting and a connector that can ensure connection reliability. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure relates to a terminal fitting made of a conductive plate material, comprising a connection portion having an opening surface at one end in a longitudinal direction, a lead portion extending continuous with one end side of the connection portion in the longitudinal direction, and a blocking portion blocking the opening surface of the connection portion.

[0007] The connector of the present disclosure comprises the above-mentioned terminal fitting and a housing that holds the terminal fitting, the housing having a pull-out surface from which the lead portion is pulled out, and the blocking portion is arranged exposed on the pull-out surface. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a terminal fitting and a connector that can ensure connection reliability. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector including a terminal fitting according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the terminal fitting of the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a side view of the terminal fitting of the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a rear view of the terminal fitting of the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a terminal fitting according to the second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a side view of the terminal fitting of the second embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a rear view of the terminal fitting of the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] [Description of the embodiments of the present disclosure] First, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. The terminal fitting of the present disclosure is (1) A terminal fitting made of a conductive plate material, comprising: a connection portion having an opening surface at one end in a longitudinal direction; a lead portion extending continuous with the one end side of the connection portion in the longitudinal direction; and a blocking portion blocking the opening surface of the connection portion. According to the above configuration (1), the blocking portion can prevent foreign matter (objects other than the terminal fittings) from entering the connection portion, thereby maintaining the connection function of the connection portion and ensuring connection reliability.

[0011] (2) In the terminal fitting described in (1) above, it is preferable that the wall portion of the connection portion defines the opening surface at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the blocking portion and the lead portion are shaped to extend from different positions on the wall portion. According to the above configuration (2), the degree of freedom in the shapes of the blocking portion and the lead portion can be increased.

[0012] (3) In the terminal fitting described in (2) above, it is preferable that the lead portion has a bent portion bent from the wall portion to the side opposite to the side on which the opening surface is located, and an end of the blocking portion faces a plate surface of the bent portion. According to the above configuration (3), the bent shape of the lead portion including the bent portion and the minute gap or tightly sealed structure that can be formed between the end of the blocking portion and the bent portion can more reliably prevent foreign matter from entering the connection portion.

[0013] (4) In the terminal fitting described in (1) above, the blocking portion may be bent from a wall portion of the connection portion to block the opening surface, and the lead portion may be shaped to extend continuously from one end of the blocking portion in the bending direction. According to the above configuration (4), the connecting portion, the blocking portion and the lead portion are continuous, so that the terminal fitting can be easily processed.

[0014] The connector of the present disclosure comprises: (5) A terminal fitting as described in any one of (1) to (4) above, and a housing for holding the terminal fitting, the housing having a pull-out surface from which the lead portion is pulled out, and the blocking portion being exposed and positioned on the pull-out surface. According to the above configuration (5), for example, the blocking portion can be pressed with a finger, a jig, or the like to accommodate the terminal fitting in the housing. Also, for example, the electrical continuity of the terminal fitting can be inspected by applying a probe pin to the blocking portion. Thus, the blocking portion can have various functions other than the function of preventing foreign matter from entering the connection portion.

[0015] [Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure] Specific examples of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these examples, but is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

[0016] <Embodiment 1> The terminal fitting 20 of the first embodiment is a conductive member provided in the connector 10, as shown in FIG. 1. The connector 10 is capable of mating with a mating connector (not shown). In the following description, the front-rear direction refers to the mating direction of the connector 10 with the mating connector. The front-rear direction is represented by the symbol X in the figure. The left-right direction is represented by the symbol Y in the figure, and the up-down direction is represented by the symbol Z in the figure. The left-right direction is synonymous with the width direction, and the up-down direction is synonymous with the height direction. The references for these directions are for convenience and do not necessarily coincide with the references for directions when the connector 10 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown) or the like.

[0017] (Terminal fitting 20) The terminal fitting 20 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like. As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the terminal fitting 20 has a tubular connection portion 21 that is elongated in the front-rear direction. More specifically, the connection portion 21 has a rectangular tubular wall portion. The wall portion is composed of an upper wall 22, a lower wall 23, and a pair of side walls 24. As shown in Fig. 3, an elastically deformable contact portion 25 is disposed within the connection portion 21. A tab 81 of a mating terminal fitting 80 is inserted into the connection portion 21 through a front end opening of the connection portion 21. The tab 81 comes into contact with the contact portion 25 within the connection portion 21, whereby the terminal fitting 20 is electrically connected to the mating terminal fitting 80.

[0018] The terminal fitting 20 has a press-fit portion 26. As shown in Fig. 2, the press-fit portion 26 is formed by bending upward a portion between a pair of slits 27 formed in the upper wall 22. The pair of slits 27 are formed in the upper wall 22 so as to extend parallel to each other in the front-rear direction.

[0019] The terminal fitting 20 has a blocking portion 29 that blocks the opening surface 28 at the rear end of the connecting portion 21. The blocking portion 29 is plate-shaped (lid-shaped) with its plate surface facing the front-rear direction, and is disposed along the front-rear and left-right directions so as to be able to block the opening surface 28. The blocking portion 29 is formed by folding a rectangular plate-shaped portion extending rearward from one side wall 24 (the right side wall 24 in FIG. 4) from a crease 31 to the other side in the width direction (the left side in FIG. 4).

[0020] The closing portion 29 has a notch 32 at one corner on the fold 31. The upper end of the closing portion 29 is adjacent to the notch 32 in the width direction and is disposed opposite the rear end surface of the top wall 22. The other end of the closing portion 29 in the width direction is disposed opposite the rear end surface of the other side wall 24 (the left side wall 24 in FIG. 4). The lower end 29L of the closing portion 29 extends beyond the opening surface 28 toward a bent portion 35 of the lead portion 34, which will be described later.

[0021] 2 and 3, a recess 33 is formed in the other side wall 24. The recess 33 penetrates the rear lower end of the other side wall 24 in the wall thickness direction and communicates with the opening surface 28. The rear end 23R of the bottom wall 23 is separated from the other side wall 24 by the recess 33. The rear end 23R of the bottom wall 23 has a shape shifted toward the recess 33 compared to other parts of the bottom wall 23.

[0022] The terminal fitting 20 also has a strip-shaped lead portion 34 extending from the lower wall 23 of the connection portion 21. The lead portion 34 is shifted to the other side in the width direction (left side in FIG. 4) relative to the connection portion 21 as a whole, in correspondence with the shift of the rear end portion 23R of the lower wall 23 described above. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lead portion 34 has a bent portion 35 that is bent downward from the rear end portion 23R of the lower wall 23 on the side opposite to the opening surface 28, an extending portion 36 that extends rearward from the lower end of the bent portion 35, a hanging portion 37 that extends downward from the rear end of the extending portion 36, and a board connecting portion 38 that extends rearward from the lower end of the hanging portion 37. The bent portion 35 and the hanging portion 37 are both disposed with their plate surfaces facing the front-rear direction. The extending portion 36 and the board connecting portion 38 are both disposed with their plate surfaces facing the up-down direction.

[0023] Bend portion 35, extension portion 36 and the upper end of hanging portion 37 are formed to have the same width from rear end 23R of bottom wall 23. As shown in Fig. 4, the upper-lower middle portion of hanging portion 37 has a sloped portion 39 on one side in the width direction, so that the width narrows downward. The lower end of hanging portion 37 and board connection portion 38 are formed to have the same width, and are formed to be narrower than the upper end side of hanging portion 37 via sloped portion 39.

[0024] The lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29 covers an upper part of the rear surface of the bending portion 35. In other words, the lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29 is disposed opposite to the rear surface of the bending portion 35. In the case of the twelfth embodiment, the lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29 is in contact with the rear surface of the bending portion 35.

[0025] (Connector 10 and its function) The connector 10 is exemplified as a connector 10 mounted on a circuit board 100 such as an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuits). As shown in Fig. 1, the connector 10 includes a plurality of terminal fittings 20, 20B, a housing 60 made of synthetic resin that houses the terminal fittings 20, 20B, and a fixing fitting 90 made of metal.

[0026] The housing 60 is made of synthetic resin and has a rectangular block-shaped housing body 61. The housing body 61 has a plurality of cavities 62 extending in the front-rear direction. The cavities 62 are formed in two stages, upper and lower, in the housing body 61. The housing 60 also has a pair of protective walls 63 protruding rearward from both ends in the width direction at the rear end of the housing body 61.

[0027] The fixing metal fittings 90 are attached to both end faces in the width direction of the housing body 61. The lower end of the fixing metal fittings 90 is fixed to the circuit board 100 by soldering. The housing 60 is fixed to the circuit board 100 via the fixing metal fittings 90.

[0028] The connection portion 21 of the terminal fitting 20 is inserted from the rear into the cavity 62 of the housing body 61. The press-fit portion 26 is press-fitted into the inner wall of the cavity 62. The press-fit portion 26 holds the terminal fitting 20 in the housing body 61 so as to prevent it from slipping out.

[0029] The lead portion 34 of the terminal fitting 20 is pulled out rearward from a pull-out surface 64, which is the rear surface of the housing body 61. The extension portion 36, the hanging portion 37 and the board connection portion 38 are disposed between the protective walls 63. The board connection portion 38 of the lead portion 34 is disposed along the surface of the circuit board 100 and is electrically connected to a conductive portion 110 (pad) of the circuit board 100 by soldering.

[0030] 2 to 4 is accommodated in the upper cavity 62. The terminal fitting 20B accommodated in the lower cavity 62 is shorter than the terminal fitting 20 shown in Fig. 2 to 4, and, unlike the terminal fitting 20, the lead portion 34 is shifted to one side in the width direction relative to the connection portion 21. By shifting the lead portions 34 of the terminal fittings 20 to opposite sides, it is possible to form a state in which the conductive portions 110 corresponding to the terminal fittings 20 are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the front-rear direction on the circuit board 100.

[0031] When the terminal fitting 20 is attached to the housing 60, a finger, a jig, or the like is placed against the rear surface of the closing portion 29, and the terminal fitting 20 is pressed forward. This causes the terminal fitting 20 to be inserted into the cavity 62. When the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 62, the rear surface of the closing portion 29 is flush with and connected to the pull-out surface 64 of the housing 60 and is exposed to the pull-out surface 64. After the terminal fitting 20 is attached to the housing 60, it is possible to test the electrical continuity of the terminal fitting 20, for example, by pressing a probe pin against the rear surface of the closing portion 29.

[0032] In the case of the first embodiment, a sealing material P such as a potting material is filled in the space behind the pull-out surface 64 of the housing body 61 and between the protective walls 63 on the circuit board 100. By filling the space with the sealing material P, it is possible to make the connector 10 waterproof and dustproof.

[0033] However, if the sealing material P penetrates into the connection part 21 through the opening surface 28 at the rear end of the connection part 21 and adheres to the contact part 25 during filling of the sealing material P, there is a concern that the contact part 25 cannot be connected to the mating terminal fitting 80 in a proper state. In this regard, in the case of the first embodiment, the opening surface 28 at the rear end of the connection part 21 is closed by the blocking part 29. This makes it possible to prevent the sealing material P from adhering to the contact part 25, and to properly maintain the connection function of the connection part 21. In particular, the bending shape of the lead part 34 including the bending part 35 can restrict the movement of the sealing material P toward the connection part 21. Furthermore, the contact between the bending part 35 and the blocking part 29 can also prevent the sealing material P from passing between the bending part 35 and the blocking part 29.

[0034] As described above, the terminal fitting 20 of the first embodiment includes a cylindrical connecting portion 21 extending in the front-rear direction (length direction), a lid-like closing portion 29 closing an opening surface 28 at a rear end (one end in the length direction) of the connecting portion 21, and a strip-shaped lead portion 34 extending continuously from the rear end of the connecting portion 21. According to the above configuration, the closing portion 29 can prevent the sealing material P from entering the connecting portion 21. As a result, the connecting function of the connecting portion 21 can be maintained, and the connection reliability of the terminal fitting 20 can be ensured.

[0035] In addition, the blocking portion 29 and the lead portion 34 extend continuously from different portions (one side wall 24 and the bottom wall 23) of the wall portion of the connection portion 21. According to the above configuration, the degree of freedom in the shapes of the blocking portion 29 and the lead portion 34 can be increased.

[0036] Further, the lead portion 34 has a bent portion 35 that bends from one end of the connection portion 21 to the side opposite to the side where the opening surface 28 is located, and an end portion of the blocking portion 29 faces the plate surface of the bent portion 35. According to the above configuration, the bent shape of the lead portion 34 including the bent portion 35 and the contact structure (close contact structure) between the lower end portion 29L of the blocking portion 29 and the bent portion 35 can more reliably prevent the sealing material P from entering the connection portion 21.

[0037] Furthermore, the connector 10 of the first embodiment includes the terminal fitting 20 and a housing 60 that holds the terminal fitting 20. The housing 60 has an extraction surface 64 from which the lead portion 34 is extracted, and the blocking portion 29 is disposed so as to be exposed on the extraction surface 64. According to the above configuration, the blocking portion 29 not only has the function of preventing the sealing material P from penetrating into the connection portion 21, but also has the function of serving as a pushing surface when assembling the terminal fitting 20 into the housing 60, and the function of serving as an inspection surface when inspecting the electrical continuity.

[0038] <Embodiment 2> 5 to 7, the terminal fitting 20A of the second embodiment differs from the terminal fitting 20 of the first embodiment in the peripheral structure of the blocking portion 29A. The rest is the same as the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or corresponding parts as the first embodiment, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0039] The closing portion 29A is formed by bending a rectangular plate-like portion extending rearward from the upper wall 22 of the connecting portion 21A downward at the crease 31A. Both side end portions in the width direction of the closing portion 29A are disposed opposite the rear end surfaces of the respective side walls 24. The side walls 24 do not have recesses 33 and are entirely closed. The lower end portion 29L, which is the end portion in the bending direction (bending direction) of the closing portion 29A, is disposed opposite the rear end surface of the lower wall 23 and further has a portion that protrudes downward from the lower wall 23.

[0040] The lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29A is narrowed at a portion other than one end in the width direction. The lead portion 34A is bent from the lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29A and extends rearward. The lead portion 34A has the same width as the lower end 29L, and has a shape shifted to the other side in the width direction with respect to the portion other than the lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29A. Specifically, the lead portion 34A has an extension portion 36 extending rearward from the blocking portion 29A, a hanging portion 37 extending downward from the rear end of the extension portion 36, and a board connection portion 38 extending rearward from the lower end of the hanging portion 37. The shapes of the extension portion 36, the hanging portion 37, and the board connection portion 38 are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0041] According to the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the blocking portion 29A can prevent the sealing material P from entering the connection portion 21A, and the connection function of the connection portion 21A can be properly maintained. In the second embodiment, the connection portion 21A, the blocking portion 29A, and the lead portion 34A are formed in succession, so that the ease of processing the terminal fitting 20A can be ensured.

[0042] [Another embodiment of the present disclosure] The above-described first and second embodiments disclosed herein should be considered as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. In the above-mentioned embodiments 1 and 2, the connecting portion 21, 21A has a cylindrical shape extending in the front-rear direction. In contrast, in other embodiments, the cylindrical portion may have any shape that allows an opening surface to be formed at the rear end, and may have, for example, a gutter shape (concave cross section) extending in the front-rear direction. In the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, the blocking portion 29, 29A is a portion that prevents the sealing material P from entering the connection portion 21, 21A. In contrast, according to other embodiments, the blocking portion may be a portion that prevents foreign matter other than the sealing material from entering the connection portion. For example, the present disclosure is also applicable to a connector structure that is not sealed with a sealing material such as a potting material. In the case of the above-mentioned embodiment 1, the lower end 29L of the blocking portion 29 is disposed so as to contact the rear surface of the bent portion 35. In contrast, according to other embodiments, the lower end of the blocking portion may simply face away from the rear surface of the bent portion. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 10…Connector 20, 20A, 20B...Terminal fittings 21, 21A…Connection 22…Upper wall 23…Lower wall 23R…Rear end 24…Side wall 25…Contact part 26…Press-fit section 27...Slit 28…Opening surface 29,29A…Occluded part 29L…Lower end 31,31A…Folds 32…Notch 33…Recess 34, 34A…Lead section 35…Bend 36...Extending part 37…Drooping part 38…Board connection part 39…Slope 60…Housing 61…Housing body 62…Cavity 63…protective wall 64...Drawer surface 80...Mating terminal fitting 81…Tab 90…Fixing bracket 100...Circuit board 110...Conductive part

Claims

1. A terminal fitting made of a conductive plate material, A connection portion having an opening surface at one end in a length direction; a lead portion extending continuous with one end side of the connection portion in the length direction; a closing portion that closes the opening surface of the connection portion; A terminal fitting comprising:

2. The wall portion of the connection portion defines the opening surface at one end in the longitudinal direction, The terminal fitting according to claim 1 , wherein the blocking portion and the lead portion extend from different positions on the wall portion.

3. the lead portion has a bent portion bent from the wall portion toward an opposite side to a side on which the opening surface is located, The terminal fitting according to claim 2 , wherein an end of the blocking portion faces a plate surface of the bent portion.

4. the blocking portion is bent from the wall portion of the connection portion to block the opening surface, The terminal fitting according to claim 1 , wherein the lead portion extends continuously from one end of the closing portion in a bending direction.

5. The terminal fitting according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a housing for holding the terminal fitting, the housing has a lead-out surface from which the lead portions are led out, The closing portion is disposed so as to be exposed on the drawing surface.

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