Terminal fitting

Abstract

To provide a terminal fitting capable of preventing a terminal spring from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress of the spring.SOLUTION: A terminal fitting 1 includes: a cylindrical box portion 20 for receiving a mating terminal; a fixing portion 31 fixed to a wall portion 22 of the box portion 20 on the inside of the box portion 20; and a terminal spring 30 including a contact portion 34 configured to come into contact with the mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion 20, and a bent portion 32 that is connected to the fixing unit 31 and is bent and apart from the wall portion 22 as it goes from the wall portion 22 to which the fixing unit 31 is fixed toward the contact portion 34. At a position opposing the bent portion 32 of the wall portion 22, a receiving space S for receiving the bent portion 32 when the mating terminal presses down the terminal spring 30 is provided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal fitting. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a terminal fitting provided with a deformation restricting portion for restricting deformation of the terminal spring so that excessive deformation does not occur in the terminal spring when the terminal fitting including the terminal spring is mated with a mating terminal.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a terminal fitting including a cylindrical box portion for receiving a mating terminal, a terminal spring extending from an inner wall of the box portion so as to come into pressing contact with the mating terminal, and a deformation restricting portion for restricting deformation of the terminal spring when the terminal spring comes into contact with the mating terminal. Patent Document 1 also discloses a terminal fitting including a fulcrum portion that protrudes toward the inside of the box portion and acts as a fulcrum when the terminal spring comes into pressing contact with the mating terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-4539 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the conventional terminal fitting, when the terminal spring is pressed into contact with the mating terminal, the fulcrum portion functions as a fulcrum for the elastically deformed terminal spring, and the spring load of the terminal spring can be increased. However, in the conventional terminal fitting, if the terminal spring is pressed beyond the allowable stress, the terminal spring may be permanently deformed, and this tendency may be significant when the terminal spring has a large plate thickness. In addition, if the spring load of the terminal spring becomes high, a strong force is required to insert the mating terminal, and it may become difficult to insert the mating terminal into the terminal fitting.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems inherent in the conventional techniques, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal fitting capable of preventing a terminal spring from being permanently deformed in excess of an allowable stress. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A terminal fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cylindrical box portion that receives a mating terminal, and a terminal spring. The terminal spring includes a fixed portion that is fixed to a wall portion of the box portion inside the box portion, and a contact portion that is configured to come into contact with the mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion. The terminal spring includes a curved portion that is connected to the fixed portion and curves away from the wall portion as it moves from the wall portion to which the fixed portion is fixed toward the contact portion. A storage space is provided at a position of the wall portion opposite the curved portion to receive the curved portion when the mating terminal presses the terminal spring. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a terminal fitting capable of suppressing permanent deformation of a terminal spring that exceeds an allowable stress. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a terminal fitting according to the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a terminal fitting according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the area enclosed by the frame line in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a stress distribution diagram of the terminal fitting according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a stress distribution diagram of a terminal fitting according to a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The terminal fitting according to the present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for the sake of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios. In the following description, the direction in which the terminal fitting and the mating terminal (not shown) are mated is referred to as the mating direction X. In addition, in the mating direction X, the side where the mating terminal (not shown) is mated is referred to as the tip side, and the opposite side is referred to as the base side. The direction perpendicular to the mating direction X is referred to as the width direction Y. In addition, the direction perpendicular to the mating direction X and the width direction Y is referred to as the height direction Z.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a frame line in FIG. 2. The terminal fitting 1 is a crimp terminal configured to crimp an electric wire (not shown). The electric wire may include a conductor and a coating material that coats the conductor with an insulating resin. The material of the conductor may be a metal such as copper, aluminum, or an alloy containing these metal elements. The terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment is a female terminal formed by press-molding a metal plate. The material forming the terminal fitting 1 may be a metal such as copper, aluminum, or an alloy containing these metal elements.

[0012] As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the terminal fitting 1 includes a terminal connecting portion 10, a conductor clamping portion 50, and a coating clamping portion 60. The terminal connecting portion 10 is provided at an end portion on the tip side of the terminal fitting 1 in the fitting direction X. The coating clamping portion 60 is provided at an end portion on the base side, which is opposite the terminal connecting portion 10 of the terminal fitting 1 in the fitting direction X. The conductor clamping portion 50 is disposed between the terminal connecting portion 10 and the coating clamping portion 60.

[0013] The terminal connection portion 10 is configured to connect with a male terminal, which is a mating terminal (not shown), and the terminal fitting 1 and the mating terminal are electrically connected by fitting and connecting with the mating terminal. The terminal connection portion 10 includes a box portion 20 and a terminal spring 30. The conductor clamping portion 50 includes a pair of conductor clamping pieces 52, and the conductor of the electric wire can be crimped to the terminal fitting 1 by clamping the conductor of the electric wire with the pair of conductor clamping pieces 52. The covering material clamping portion 60 includes a pair of covering material clamping pieces 62, and the covering material of the electric wire (not shown) can be crimped to the terminal fitting 1.

[0014] The box portion 20 is configured to receive a mating terminal. The box portion 20 has a cylindrical shape and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a space inside. The box portion 20 includes a bottom wall portion 21, a pair of side walls 22, that is, a first side wall portion 23 and a second side wall portion 24, a front wall portion 25, and an upper wall portion 26. The first side wall portion 23 extends upward in the height direction Z from one end of the bottom wall portion 21 in the width direction Y. The second side wall portion 24 extends upward in the height direction Z in parallel with the first side wall portion 23 from one end of the bottom wall portion 21 opposite to the first side wall portion 23 in the width direction Y. The front wall 25 includes a first front wall 25a extending in the YZ direction from an end of the first side wall 23 toward the second side wall 24 at the tip side in the fitting direction X, and a second front wall 25b extending in the YZ direction from an end of the second side wall 24 toward the first side wall 23. The front wall 25 extends perpendicular to the bottom wall 21 and the side wall 22. The upper wall 26 is connected to the first side wall 23 and the second side wall 24 at the base side in the fitting direction X, and extends in the XY direction parallel to the bottom wall 21.

[0015] The front wall portion 25 is provided with an insertion hole 25c into which a mating terminal can be inserted. The insertion hole 25c is disposed approximately in the center of the front wall portion 25 between the first front wall portion 25a and the second front wall portion 25b in the width direction Y. In addition, an opening is provided between the front wall portion 25 and the upper wall portion 26. Providing this opening makes it easy to form the terminal connection portion 10 including the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 from a single metal plate.

[0016] The terminal spring 30 is a spring piece formed by bending a metal plate-like member. The terminal spring 30 includes a fixed portion 31, a curved portion 32, a first connecting portion 33, a contact portion 34, a second connecting portion 35, and a tip portion 36. In this embodiment, the terminal spring 30 has the fixed portion 31, the curved portion 32, the first connecting portion 33, the contact portion 34, the second connecting portion 35, and the tip portion 36 connected in this order in succession. In the fitting direction X, the fixed portion 31 is provided at an end portion on the base end side of the terminal spring 30, and the tip portion 36 is provided at an end portion on the tip side opposite to the fixed portion 31.

[0017] The fixing portion 31 is fixed to a wall portion (side wall portion 22) of the box portion 20 on the inside of the box portion 20. The fixing portion 31 is a fixed end of the terminal spring 30. The fixing portion 31 has a flat plate shape, and is fixed to the side wall portion 22 in parallel with the side wall portion 22. The fixing portion 31 is covered by a covering portion 37, and by being sandwiched between the side wall portion 22 and the covering portion 37, the fixing of the fixing portion 31 to the side wall portion 22 is reinforced.

[0018] The curved portion 32 is connected to the fixed portion 31, and is curved away from the wall portion (side wall portion 22) to which the fixed portion 31 is fixed as it moves toward the contact portion 34. Since the terminal spring 30 includes the curved portion 32, when a mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and stress is applied to the terminal spring 30 in the width direction Y, a reaction force acts from the fulcrum of the terminal spring 30, so that the pair of terminal springs 30 can clamp the mating terminal. The curved portion 32 is disposed between the fixed portion 31 and the contact portion 34, and is curved from one side wall portion 22 (e.g., the first side wall portion 23) to which the fixed portion 31 is fixed of the pair of side wall portions 22 toward the other side wall portion 22 (e.g., the second side wall portion 24). That is, the curved portion 32 is curved from the side wall portion 22 toward the inside of the box portion 20 as it moves from the base end side to the tip end side in the fitting direction X. The curved portion 32 may be curved in a gentle arc, or may be bent by bending and curving.

[0019] The first connection portion 33 is a flat plate-like portion that connects the curved portion 32 and the contact portion 34. The first connection portion 33 extends from the curved portion 32 toward the contact portion 34, and is disposed at an angle with respect to the fitting direction X. When a mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed toward the side wall portion 22 by the mating terminal, the first connection portion 33 can transmit the force applied to the contact portion 34 to the curved portion 32.

[0020] The contact portion 34 is configured to come into contact with the mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion 20. The contact portion 34 is a U-shaped or V-shaped portion protruding from the side wall portion 22 toward the inside of the box portion 20, and the protruding portion is configured to come into contact with the mating terminal. The contact portion 34 is disposed at a position of the terminal spring 30 farthest from the side wall portion 22. That is, the contact portion 34 is disposed at a position farther from the side wall portion 22 in the width direction Y than the fixed portion 31, the curved portion 32, the first connecting portion 33, the second connecting portion 35, and the tip portion 36. The contact portion 34 is disposed at a position where the insertion hole 25c is provided as viewed from the fitting direction X, and is configured to come into contact with the mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion 20.

[0021] The second connection portion 35 is a flat plate-like portion connecting the contact portion 34 and the tip portion 36. The second connection portion 35 extends from the contact portion 34 toward the tip portion 36 and is disposed at an angle with respect to the fitting direction X. When a mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed toward the side wall portion 22 by the mating terminal, the second connection portion 35 can transmit the force applied to the contact portion 34 to the tip portion 36.

[0022] When the mating terminal presses the terminal spring 30, the tip portion 36 abuts against the wall portion (side wall portion 22) of the box portion 20, thereby suppressing the movement of the contact portion 34. The tip portion 36 is a free end of the terminal spring 30. The tip portion 36 is disposed at a position closer to the side wall portion 22 to which the fixed portion 31 is fixed in the width direction Y than the contact portion 34. When the mating terminal is not inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is not pressed by the mating terminal, the tip portion 36 is disposed with a gap between it and the side wall portion 22. On the other hand, when the mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed toward the side wall portion 22 by the mating terminal, the tip portion 36 abuts against the side wall portion 22, thereby suppressing the contact portion 34 from moving more than a certain amount in the width direction Y. This makes it possible to strengthen the force with which the contact portion 34 presses the mating terminal when the mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20.

[0023] At a position facing the curved portion 32 of the wall portion (side wall portion 22) to which the fixed portion 31 is fixed, an accommodation space S is provided that receives the curved portion 32 when the mating terminal presses the terminal spring 30. In this embodiment, the accommodation space S is a space within a recess 27 provided in the side wall portion 22. When the mating terminal is not inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is not pressed by the mating terminal, the curved portion 32 and the box portion 20 are not in contact with each other, and the curved portion 32 is not received in the accommodation space S in the recess 27. On the other hand, when the mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed by the mating terminal, the terminal spring 30 is deformed with the edge portion 27a of the recess 27 as a fulcrum, and the curved portion 32 moves toward the side wall portion 22. Since the recess 27 is provided in the side wall portion 22 of the terminal fitting 1 according to this embodiment, the curved portion 32 that moves toward the side wall portion 22 is received in the accommodation space S in the recess 27. Therefore, the accommodation space S in the recess 27 allows the displacement of the curved portion 32, and the stress applied to the terminal spring 30 including the curved portion 32 and the contact portion 34 can be reduced. This makes it possible to prevent the terminal spring 30 from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress. In addition, since the stress applied to the terminal spring 30 can be reduced, the insertion force with the mating terminal can be reduced.

[0024] 3, the recess 27 is disposed at a position where a tangent to the surface of the first connection portion 33 on the side wall portion 22 side passes when viewed from the height direction Z. A separation start point where the terminal spring 30 starts to bend or curve away from the inner wall surface of the side wall portion 22 is disposed within the recess 27 when viewed from the width direction Y.

[0025] In this embodiment, at least a portion of the curved portion 32 is disposed within the recess 27 as viewed from the width direction Y. The recess 27 may be provided so as to accommodate the entire curved portion 32 of the terminal spring 30 as viewed from the width direction Y. The recess 27 only needs to be able to receive the curved portion 32 when the mating terminal presses the terminal spring 30, and the first connecting portion 33, the contact portion 34, the second connecting portion 35 and the tip portion 36 may be disposed within the recess 27 as viewed from the width direction Y.

[0026] The shape of the recess 27 as viewed in the width direction Y may be any shape that can accommodate the curved portion 32 when the mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed by the mating terminal toward the side wall portion 22. For example, the shape of the recess 27 as viewed in the width direction Y may be a polygonal shape such as a rectangle, or an elliptical shape.

[0027] The depth of the recess 27 may be about half the thickness of the plate forming the side wall 22. In this embodiment, the side wall 22 and the terminal spring 30 are formed by bending a single metal plate, and therefore have the same thickness. Therefore, the depth of the recess 27 may be about half the thickness of the terminal spring 30 such as the fixing portion 31. The depth of the recess 27 may be 30% to 70%, or 40% to 60%, of the thickness of the side wall 22 or the terminal spring 30.

[0028] Next, a description will be given of the results of a simulation evaluating the stress distribution when a mating terminal is inserted into a terminal fitting according to an embodiment having a recess 27 and a terminal fitting according to a comparative example not having a recess 27. Fig. 4 is a stress distribution diagram of the terminal fitting according to the embodiment. Fig. 5 is a stress distribution diagram of the terminal fitting according to the comparative example.

[0029] As shown in Figure 4, it was confirmed that in the terminal fitting according to the embodiment, even when the mating terminal is inserted, the stress is small, and it is possible to prevent the terminal spring from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress. This is believed to be because the terminal fitting according to the embodiment is provided with a recess that receives the bent portion of the terminal spring when the terminal spring is displaced, and the terminal spring elastically deforms and the bent portion is received within the accommodation space in the recess, thereby reducing the stress generated in the terminal spring.

[0030] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5, in the terminal fitting according to the comparative example, the stress was large in the curved portion indicated by the arrow, the portion close to the curved portion of the first connection portion, and the contact portion. This is thought to be because the terminal fitting according to the comparative example does not have a recess and the curved portion cannot be displaced, so stress is concentrated in the curved portion. Since the terminal fitting according to the comparative example has a portion where stress is concentrated, there is a concern that the terminal spring may be permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress when the mating terminal is inserted.

[0031] As described above, by comparing the terminal fittings according to the embodiment and the comparative example, it was confirmed that the concentration of stress can be alleviated by providing a recess in the side wall. From this result, it is understood that the terminal spring can be prevented from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress.

[0032] As described above, the terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment includes a cylindrical box portion 20 that receives a mating terminal, and a terminal spring 30. The terminal spring 30 includes a fixed portion 31 that is fixed to a wall portion (side wall portion 22) of the box portion 20 inside the box portion 20, and a contact portion 34 that is configured to come into contact with a mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion 20. The terminal spring 30 includes a curved portion 32 that is connected to the fixed portion 31 and curves away from the wall portion (side wall portion 22) to which the fixed portion 31 is fixed as it moves toward the contact portion 34. An accommodation space S that receives the curved portion 32 when a mating terminal presses the terminal spring 30 is provided at a position of the wall portion (side wall portion 22) facing the curved portion 32.

[0033] By providing the storage space S in the wall portion and creating a deflection space for the terminal spring 30, there is a space in which the curved portion 32 can be displaced when the mating terminal is inserted and a load is applied to the contact portion 34 of the terminal spring 30, causing the terminal spring 30 to be displaced. Therefore, the terminal spring 30 can be displaced without coming into contact with the box portion 20. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the generation of stress at the fulcrum of the terminal spring 30, and it is possible to prevent the terminal spring 30 from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress. Also, by suppressing the generation of stress at the fulcrum of the terminal spring 30, it is possible to suppress the generation of load on the terminal spring 30 and reduce the insertion force of the mating terminal.

[0034] On the other hand, if there is no space for the curved portion 32 of the terminal spring 30 to displace, the curved portion 32 of the terminal spring 30 will not be able to displace from the point where it comes into contact with the box portion 20, and stress will be concentrated in the curved portion 32. As a result, there is a concern that the allowable stress will be exceeded and the terminal spring 30 will become permanently deformed.

[0035] Therefore, the terminal fitting 1 according to this embodiment can prevent the terminal spring 30 from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress. Also, the terminal fitting 1 according to this embodiment can reduce the stress at the fulcrum of the terminal spring 30, thereby reducing the spring load and the force required to insert the mating terminal.

[0036] The storage space S may be a space within a recess 27 provided in the wall (side wall 22). With such a configuration, the mechanical strength of the box 20 can be improved.

[0037] Furthermore, the terminal spring 30 may include a tip portion 36 that abuts against a wall portion (side wall portion 22) of the box portion 20 to suppress movement of the contact portion 34 when a mating terminal presses the terminal spring 30. When a mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20 and the terminal spring 30 is pressed toward the side wall portion 22 by the mating terminal, the tip portion 36 abuts against the side wall portion 22 to suppress movement of the contact portion 34 in the width direction Y by more than a certain amount. This allows the contact portion 34 to apply a force to press the mating terminal when the mating terminal is inserted into the box portion 20.

[0038] In the terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the recess 27 and the terminal spring 30 are provided on both the first side wall portion 23 and the second side wall portion 24, which are a pair of side walls 22. However, it is sufficient that the recess 27 and the terminal spring 30 are provided on at least one of the pair of side walls 22. For example, the recess 27 and the terminal spring 30 may be provided only on the first side wall portion 23, and a fixing plate may be provided on the second side wall portion 24. Even with this configuration, the accommodation space S within the recess 27 provided in the first side wall portion 23 can prevent the terminal spring 30 from being permanently deformed beyond the allowable stress.

[0039] In addition, in the terminal fitting 1 according to the present embodiment, the space within the recess 27 provided in the wall portion (side wall portion 22) has been described as an example of the accommodating space S. However, the accommodating space S may be a space within a through hole provided in the side wall portion 22.

[0040] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 Terminal fitting 20 Hakobe 22 Wall (side wall) 27 Recess 30 Terminal spring 31 Fixed part 32 music section 34 Contact part 36 Tip

Claims

1. A cylindrical box portion for receiving a mating terminal; a terminal spring including a fixing portion fixed to a wall portion of the box portion inside the box portion, a contact portion configured to come into contact with the mating terminal when the mating terminal is received in the box portion, and a bending portion connected to the fixing portion and bending away from the wall portion as it moves from the wall portion to which the fixing portion is fixed toward the contact portion; Equipped with The terminal fitting has an accommodating space provided at a position of the wall portion opposite the curved portion for receiving the curved portion when the mating terminal presses the terminal spring.

2. 2. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the housing space is a space within a recess provided in the wall portion.

3. The terminal fitting according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal spring includes a tip portion that abuts against the wall portion when the mating terminal presses the terminal spring, thereby preventing the contact portion from moving.

Images