Male terminal

Abstract

To provide a male-side terminal which can be reduced in size and weight, can be reduced in cost, and can obtain effects such as a reduction in peak value of a terminal insertion force and an improvement in manufacturability of a harness.SOLUTION: A male terminal M is formed by bending a conductive metal plate, and constitutes a tab part 1 to be inserted into a female terminal F. The tab part 1 includes: an upper plate 7 which extends in a width direction from a rising end of one side plate 4 of a flat bottom plate 6 and is bent so as to be folded in a parallel posture with a predetermined interval with respect to the bottom plate 6; and another side plate 5 which is formed by abutting a horizontal plate 20 which extends in a height direction orthogonal to a width direction from an other side edge 5 of the upper plate 7 and is formed substantially at a right angle downward against the bottom plate 6, and which extends in the height direction orthogonal to the width direction from the other side edge of the bottom plate 6 and is bent in a substantially U-shape. A flat plate-shaped reinforcing plate part 3 extending in the lateral direction from the end part of the other side plate 5 is sandwiched between the bottom plate 6 and the upper plate 7 substantially in parallel to secure a strength of the tab part 1. Inadvertent deformation due to an external force can be prevented, and a thickness of the metal plate can be reduced.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 15

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Generally, connectors are constructed by forming multiple cavities in a housing, and installing terminals with crimped wires in each cavity. For example, male terminals are widely known to be formed by punching a conductive metal plate of a certain thickness into a predetermined shape and then bending it. In this type of male terminal, the thickness of the tab portion at the tip is ensured by bending the metal plate in a folded shape. The thickness of the tab portion, which is formed by bending the top plate tightly to the bottom plate at 180° from both ends, is made twice the thickness of the metal plate.

[0003] Furthermore, in connection structures that couple male and female terminals, the thickness and width dimensions of the tab portion of the male terminal are standardized and strictly defined. Meanwhile, when connecting a terminal to an electric wire, an applicator is used to crimp the electric wire onto the barrel portion formed on the terminal. Applicators are classified according to the thickness of the metal plate, and in many cases, the thickness of female terminals is thinner than that of male terminals. In such cases, separate applicators are prepared for male and female terminals. Under these circumstances, if we try to reduce costs by reducing the number of applicator types, we need to devise a design for the tab portion so that the metal plate thickness is the same for both male and female terminals.

[0004] On the other hand, as automobile functionality improves, the number of circuits is increasing significantly, necessitating not only further miniaturization and weight reduction of terminals but also measures to address the increasing number of connector connections. Patent Document 1 below therefore presents a technology that enables the transition to thinner metal plates for male terminals. Furthermore, Patent Document 2 below addresses the problem of poor connector connection work when connecting multi-pole connectors containing multiple terminals in a housing, by focusing on the fact that the insertion force is highest immediately after the male terminal begins to be inserted into the female terminal. As a countermeasure, a female terminal is developed that distributes and reduces the insertion force. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3480708

[0006] [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-190227 Summary of the Invention [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] As explained above, according to the invention of claim 1, the thickness dimension of the conductive metal plate of the male terminal M had to be thicker than that of the female terminal F. However, this allows for the unification of specifications, including the hardness of the metal plate, with that of the female terminal F. This allows for the unification of the applicators used to crimp the electric wire W, as well as the unification of specifications such as the thickness and hardness of the metal plate used, which is expected to reduce costs in terms of management and material costs. Furthermore, this leads to improved vibration resistance, reducing wear on the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M due to micro-friction, thereby extending the vibration resistance life. Furthermore, this eliminates entanglement between the male terminal M and the electric wire W during harness assembly, allowing for smooth insertion of the male terminal M into the designated cavity of the housing. Furthermore, this is expected to have many other benefits, such as reducing concerns about defects such as cuts to the insulation of the electric wire W and preventing cuts to the fingers of wire harness assembly workers.

[0008] Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 2 or claim 3, the thickness of the conductive metal plate of the male terminal M can be made even thinner than that of the female terminal F. Although it becomes impossible to integrate the applicator, it is possible to realize a structure that can reduce the thickness of the male terminal M by 50%, for example, compared to the thickness of the male terminal M of claim 1, and by reducing the material cost of the conductive metal plate, which accounts for the largest proportion of the cost composition of the male terminal M, it is possible to significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

[0009] Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 4, by providing a hole 10 inside the guide apex 11 of the male terminal M, the guide apex 11 of the male terminal M is structured so that when inserted between the contact plate portion 50 and the fixed contact portion 51 provided on the female terminal F, the guide apex 11 can deform inward to a certain extent by compressing the hole 10. As a result, the insertion force that reaches its maximum immediately after the male terminal M begins to be inserted into the female terminal F can be reduced to a single peak value.

[0010] In the above embodiment, a male terminal M that is connected by crimping an electric wire has been described, but the present invention is a male terminal M that can also be used for a male terminal M that is connected by crimping an electric wire, or for a terminal used in a connector for direct mounting to a board in which the tab portion 1 is configured on both the front and rear sides. [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] Therefore, the male terminal of Patent Document 1 aims to form a tab portion of a desired thickness without being affected by the thickness of the metal plate, and considers a metal plate with a thickness of, for example, 0.25 mm. However, the bent portion is raised by 0.15 mm, which is a dimensional relationship that makes springback, which causes the terminal to return to its original shape after bending, more likely to occur. To prevent this, the metal plate must have a hardness of 1 / 2H grade or less. Furthermore, since the tab portion of conventional male terminals is formed by overlapping the top plate and the bottom plate with a 180° intimate bend from both ends, a similarly soft metal plate with a hardness of 1 / 2H grade or less is used to prevent cracks. On the other hand, female terminals must prevent momentary disconnections through contact pressure at the contact plate, and to achieve this strong pressure, they use material with a hardness of H grade or higher, which is prone to cracks due to springback and bending. Furthermore, when connecting terminals with metal plates of different hardness, they are strongly affected by micro-sliding caused by vibration, and the amount of wear of the low-hardness 1 / 2H grade material is significantly greater than that of the high-hardness H grade material. Incidentally, if the electric wire vibrates due to vehicle vibration while the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal, the vibration of the electric wire is transmitted to the terminal, causing contact sliding between the male and female terminals, which can lead to increased resistance due to contact wear.

[0012] In Patent Document 1, the thickness of the metal plate of the male terminal is made the same as that of the female terminal, allowing the use of the same applicator, but the hardness of the metal material cannot be unified. As a result, the manufacturing cost reduction effect is limited to the material cost corresponding to the thinner metal plate and the reduction in the number of applicator types. On the other hand, if metal materials with the same thickness but different hardness are used, strict management of the materials used must be implemented. For example, it must be assumed that the material of a male terminal may be attached to a female terminal that requires vibration resistance when manufactured.

[0013] If a metal material with a hardness of 1 / 2H grade were mistakenly used for a female terminal, the contact pressure of the contact plate of the female terminal would not meet the specified value, making the female terminal more susceptible to problems such as instantaneous power outages, and there is concern about serious electrical malfunctions such as sudden malfunctions. Furthermore, if the hardness of the metal material for both male and female terminals could be unified to H grade, the male terminal, which previously experienced more wear on its contact surface with the female terminal, would be improved to the same level as the female terminal, and its durable life in a vibration environment could be extended.

[0014] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses that when a male terminal is inserted between a contact plate portion and a fixed contact portion provided on a female terminal, first, one of two contacts located apart along the insertion direction of the male terminal comes into contact with the male terminal, causing the contact plate portion on which the contact is provided to elastically deform, thereby sandwiching the male terminal between the contact plate portion and the fixed contact portion. Next, as the insertion progresses, the male terminal comes into contact with the other contact, causing the contact plate portion on which the contact is provided to elastically deform, thereby sandwiching the male terminal between the contact plate portion and the fixed contact portion. Therefore, the peak value of the insertion force of the male terminal into the female terminal is divided into two, and each peak value becomes smaller, thereby dispersing the insertion force.

[0015] However, if the peak value of the insertion force is divided into two, the operator may mistakenly believe that the connector is fully connected when it is not, which could result in serious contact problems such as short-term disconnections or poor conductivity. Therefore, it is desirable for the insertion curve for connector connection to be a smooth, smooth curve that descends from the peak value.

[0016] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and by using a tab portion structure for a male terminal that allows the specifications such as the thickness and hardness of the conductive metal plate used in the male terminal and female terminal to be unified, in terms of cost, management expenses and material costs are reduced, thereby realizing cost reduction, and in terms of performance, wear between metals due to micro-sliding is suppressed, thereby extending the life of the electrical connection.As the number of terminals continues to increase due to safety functions, sensor circuits, etc., further miniaturization and weight reduction are required, and in order to meet the needs of connectors that are becoming more multipolar, the object of the present invention is to provide a male terminal that reduces the insertion force that reaches its maximum immediately after insertion of the male terminal into the female terminal, and sets it to a single peak value. [Means for solving the problem]

[0017] As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 provides a male terminal formed by bending a conductive metal plate, the male terminal comprising a cylindrical box portion and a plate-like tab portion that protrudes forward from the box portion and electrically contacts a mating female terminal, the tab portion comprising a bottom plate, one side plate that extends from one side edge of the bottom plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and is formed at a substantially right angle, and a rising end of the one side plate that extends in the width direction from the rising end of the one side plate and is bent so as to overlap the bottom plate in a parallel position with a predetermined gap therebetween. The connector is constructed with a top plate formed on the bottom plate, and the other side plate extending from the other side edge of the bottom plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and folded back into a roughly U-shape, and a flat reinforcing plate extending laterally from the end of the other side plate is sandwiched roughly parallel between the bottom plate and the top plate. Therefore, by easing the bending stress from a 180° close contact bending to a 90° bending, cracks will not occur in the tab portion of the male terminal even if the hardness of the metal plate is changed to the same H grade as the female terminal. The other side plate also functions as a stabilizer to prevent the male terminal from being inserted incorrectly into the cavity in the housing, such as when it is turned upside down.

[0018] This male terminal can be configured so that the thickness of the tab portion of the terminal meets the standard even if the conductive metal plate is thin. As a result, whereas previously the conductive metal plate had to be thicker for male terminals than for female terminals, it can now be made the same thickness as for female terminals, and the same applicator can be used for crimping the wires for both male and female terminals. Furthermore, the amount of conductive metal material used for male and female terminals can be added together, which is expected to reduce costs in management and material costs. It also extends the lifespan of the terminal due to its vibration resistance characteristics.

[0019] The invention of claim 2 is the same as that of claim 1, except that a horizontal plate extending from the other side edge of the top plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and formed approximately perpendicularly downward contacts the bottom plate. As a result, the width dimension of the tab portion, for which a standard value is established, can be precisely set by the top plate. Furthermore, a flat other side surface can be achieved. Furthermore, the thickness of the metal plate of the male terminal can be made thinner than that of the female terminal.

[0020] The invention of claim 3 is the same as that of claim 1 or claim 2, except that the flat reinforcing plate sandwiched approximately parallel between the bottom plate and the top plate is bent in the longitudinal direction, and the shape of the reinforcing plate of the tab portion as viewed from the front is linear, arc-shaped, or L-shaped. As a result, the thickness of the tab portion, for which a standard value is set, can be precisely set by processing the thickness of the material in the width direction of the reinforcing plate in addition to the bottom plate, top plate, and reinforcing plate, and it is also possible to make the thickness of the metal plate of the male terminal thinner than that of the female terminal.

[0021] The invention of claim 4 is the device according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the flat reinforcing plate portion sandwiched between the bottom plate and the top plate in approximately parallel relation is formed shorter than the bottom plate and the top plate. As a result, holes are formed in the centers of the guide vertices of the top plate and the bottom plate at the front end of the tab portion. By providing holes inside the guide vertices, the insertion force, which is maximum immediately after the male terminal begins to be inserted into the female terminal, is reduced by a certain amount by compressing the hole, and the guide vertex of the male terminal is deformed inwardly immediately after insertion between the contact plate portion and the fixed contact portion of the female terminal, thereby reducing the insertion force and achieving a single peak value. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the upper right front side. [Figure 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. [Figure 3]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. [Figure 4] 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the upper right rear side. [Figure 5] 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the lower right front side. [Figure 6] 1 is a plan view showing a deployed state of a male terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the manufacturing process of the male terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention, seen from the upper left rear side. [Figure 8] 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal to which an electric wire according to a first embodiment of the present invention is crimped, viewed from the upper right front side. [Figure 9] 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of male terminals to which electric wires according to a first embodiment of the present invention are crimped, as viewed from the upper right front side. [Figure 10] 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention before being inserted into a female terminal. [Figure 11] 4 is a graph showing the insertion distance and insertion force between the male terminal and the female terminal during the insertion process of the terminals. [Figure 12] 10 showing a state in which the insertion distance between the male terminal and the female terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention is at a P0 position in FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 13] 10 showing a state in which the insertion distance between the male terminal and the female terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention is at a P1 position in FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 14] 10 showing a state in which the insertion distance between the male terminal and the female terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention is at P4 position in FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a perspective view for explaining the manufacture of a male terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention, seen from the upper left rear side. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. [Figure 17] FIG. 11 is a perspective view for explaining the manufacturing process of a male terminal according to a third embodiment of the present invention, seen from the upper left rear side. [Figure 18] 18 is an E-E cross-sectional view according to FIG. 17. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional male terminal with an electric wire crimped thereto, as viewed from the upper right front side. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. [Figure 21] 12 is a perspective view showing a conventional male terminal and a female terminal whose insertion distance is P0 position in FIG. 11. FIG. [Figure 22] 21 showing a state in which the insertion distance between the conventional male terminal and the female terminal is at the P0 position in FIG. 11. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male terminal M according to the first embodiment of the present invention as seen from the upper right front side, FIG. 4 is a perspective view as seen from the upper right rear side, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view as seen from the lower right front side. In this first embodiment, a male terminal M is illustrated. This male terminal M is formed into the shape shown in FIG. 7 by punching out a conductive metal plate as a base material into the developed shape shown in FIG. 6 and then bending and hammering the punched material. This male terminal M has, from the front side, a tab portion 1 that can be electrically connected to a mating female terminal F, a tubular box portion 2 via an inclined portion 8, and a barrel portion 13 including a connecting portion 12, a wire barrel 13a that is crimped to the core portion of an electric wire W, and an insulation barrel 13b that secures the covering portion of the electric wire W.

[0024] The tab portion 1 will be described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3. The tab portion 1 is configured with an upper plate 7 that extends widthwise from a rising end of one side plate 4 that is formed at a substantially right angle and extends in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction from one side edge of a flat bottom plate 6, and is bent so as to overlap the bottom plate 6 in a parallel position with a predetermined gap therebetween, and the other side plate 5 that extends heightwise from the other side edge of the bottom plate 6 and is bent back in a substantially U-shape, and a flat reinforcing plate 3 that extends laterally from the end of the other side plate 5 is sandwiched approximately parallel between the bottom plate 6 and the upper plate 7. The bottom plate 6 and the upper plate 7 are approximately parallel, and there is a space exactly equal to the plate thickness, into which the reinforcing plate 3 is fitted, so that the thickness of the tab portion 1 is approximately three times the thickness of the metal plate.

[0025] Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a male terminal M to which an electric wire W according to the first embodiment of the present invention has been crimped, as viewed from the upper right front side, showing the state in which the electric wire W has been crimped onto the male terminal M. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a plurality of male terminals M to which an electric wire W according to the first embodiment of the present invention has been crimped, as viewed from the upper right front side. The male terminals M to which the electric wires W have been crimped are bundled in the same direction and transported in this state to a work area for the assembly process and inserted into the predetermined cavities of each matching housing. However, when a large number of male terminals M in this type of configuration are lined up as shown in Fig. 9 and the extraction operation is performed one by one, the unevenness formed on the male terminal M may cause the male terminals M to become entangled with the electric wire W, making the operation difficult.

[0026] One factor contributing to this problem is the convex stabilizer 35 on the wire W side of a conventional male terminal 30, as shown in FIG. 17. In the conventional male terminal 30, as shown in FIG. 20, a 0.32 mm thick metal plate is bent 180 degrees to form a tab portion 31 with a thickness of 0.64 mm. The stabilizer 35 on the conventional male terminal 30 functions to prevent incorrect insertion into multiple cavities in the housing, such as upside down insertion. However, the convex shape of the stabilizer 35 raises concerns about entanglement between the male terminal M and the wire W during harness assembly, and cuts in the insulation of the wire W, which can lead to water intrusion or wire breakage. It also causes many problems, such as cuts to the fingers of wire harness assembly workers. On the other hand, the other side plate 5 formed on the male terminal M, which corresponds to the stabilizer 35 in the conventional male terminal 30, has the function of preventing erroneous insertion into the multiple cavities in the housing, and does not have a significant protrusion from the wire W side of the male terminal M or a shape that leaves the thickness of the metal plate as it is, as shown in Figure 8, so defects in the assembly process can be significantly reduced.

[0027] Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a male terminal M according to the first embodiment of the present invention before it is inserted into a female terminal F. Fig. 11 shows the relationship between the insertion position and the insertion force during the process of inserting the male terminal M into the female terminal F. Fig. 12 shows a state in which the male terminal M is inserted inside the female terminal F, with the guide portion 9 at the tip of the tab portion 1 in contact with the contact plate portion 50 and the fixed contact portion 51. As the male terminal M further penetrates deeper into the female terminal F, the bending angle of the contact plate portion 50 opens, applying a load to the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M, and the state shifts to that of Fig. 14 in which the specified pressure for the vibration resistance characteristics is ensured.

[0028] However, during the insertion process of the male terminal M and the female terminal F, at position P1 in Figure 13, the contact plate portion 50 begins to deform due to the guide vertex 11, and the highest insertion force occurs at insertion position P2 where the guide vertex 11 causes the spring contact 52 on the contact plate portion 50 to overlap with the fixed contact 53 on the fixed contact portion 51. At this insertion position P2, the insertion force for the male terminal M and female terminal F of embodiment 1 of the present invention is F3. In contrast, the insertion force for the conventional male terminal 30 and female terminal F is F4, meaning that the insertion force for the conventional male terminal 30 is higher than that for the male terminal M of embodiment 1 of the present invention.

[0029] There are two reasons for this, which will be explained with reference to Figures 20 and 22. The first reason is that the tip of tab portion 31 is deformed by applying a large load using a press, which causes guide vertex 41 to have an edged shape, and the tip of tab portion 31 scratches spring contact 52 on contact plate portion 50 of female terminal F and fixed contact 53 on fixed contact portion 51 when inserted. In conventional male terminal 30, bottom plate 36 and top plate 37 have a 180° tightly bent structure, so guide vertex 41 is rigid, and only contact plate portion 50 is displaced, with guide vertex 41 of conventional male terminal 30 not deforming, resulting in a high insertion force.

[0030] 10, showing the male terminal M according to the first embodiment of the present invention inserted into the female terminal F at the P1 position in FIG. 11. In the case of the first embodiment of the present invention, the contact plate portion 50 of the female terminal F is inserted into a predetermined insertion opening by the guide portion 9 at the tip of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M, and the guide vertices 11 begin to contact the contact plate portion 50. Holes 10 are provided on the inside of the upper and lower guide vertices 11, and the force of the contact plate portions 50 pressing the guide vertices 11 moves slightly toward the inner holes 10, thereby reducing the insertion force.

[0031] The second factor is that, because guide vertex 11 is formed by bending a plate-shaped conductive metal plate, guide vertex 11 has an R dimension that is greater than or equal to the plate thickness, so the tip of tab portion 1 does not scratch or hit spring contact 52 on contact plate portion 50 of female terminal F or fixed contact 53 on fixed contact portion 51, and as shown in Figure 11, the insertion force F3 value for male terminal M is lower than the F4 value when using a conventional male terminal 30.

[0032] The approximate connector coupling force is calculated by multiplying the insertion force per male terminal M and female terminal F by the number of cavities in the housing. If smooth connector coupling with less force is achieved during the installation of wire harnesses in vehicles such as automobiles, motorcycles, and construction machinery, it would be possible to shorten the connector coupling time and increase the number of cavities in the housing for simultaneous coupling, resulting in significant benefits. Furthermore, the structure that prevents scratches on the spring contacts 52 and fixed contacts 53 also makes it possible to reduce, to a certain extent, variations in insertion force during the connector coupling process, improving the reliability of the connector coupling and achieving good results in terms of quality, such as preventing scraping of the plating applied to the surface of the conductive metal plate.

[0033] Fig. 15 is a perspective view illustrating the manufacturing process of a male terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention, seen from the upper left side of the back surface. Note that the bending process of the conductive metal plate proceeds from left to right in the figure. The left side shows the state after punching of the metal plate, the center shows the state before only the upper plate 7 of the tab portion 1 is bent 90 degrees, and the right side shows the completed manufacturing of the male terminal M. Fig. 16 is a DD cross-sectional view according to Fig. 15. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the reinforcing plate portion 3 is the same as the thickness of the conductive metal plate, so the thickness of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M according to the first embodiment of the present invention is approximately three times the thickness, and it is therefore not possible to select a conductive metal plate with the desired thickness. However, in embodiment 2 of the present invention, the reinforcing plate portion 3a, which is sandwiched approximately parallel between the bottom plate 6 and top plate 7 that constitute the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M, has a raised portion 18 formed by bending the end of one side of the flat reinforcing plate portion 3 at approximately a right angle, which allows the thickness of the conductive metal plate to be freely selected within a certain range while maintaining the strictly defined standard thickness dimension of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M.In addition, even if the thickness dimension of the metal plate is made thinner, it is possible to prevent changes in the tab thickness dimension of the tab portion 1 due to contact pressure received from the contact plate portion 50 of the female terminal F, thereby maintaining vibration resistance characteristics.

[0034] Fig. 17 is a perspective view illustrating the manufacturing process of a male terminal according to a third embodiment of the present invention, seen from the upper left rear side. The bending process of the conductive metal plate proceeds from left to right in the figure. The left side shows the state after punching the metal plate, the center shows the state before only the upper plate 7 of the tab portion 1 is bent 90 degrees, and the right side shows the completed manufacturing of the male terminal M. Fig. 18 is an E-E cross-sectional view according to Fig. 17. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the reinforcing plate portion 3 is the same as the thickness of the conductive metal plate, so the thickness of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M according to the first embodiment of the present invention is approximately three times the thickness, and it is therefore not possible to select a conductive metal plate with the desired thickness. However, in embodiment 3 of the present invention, the reinforcing plate portion 3b between the bottom plate 6 and top plate 7 that make up the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M, which are arranged approximately parallel, can be formed by bending the flat reinforcing plate portion 3 at approximately a right angle, so that the dimension from the thickness direction to the width direction of the material can be adjusted.This makes it possible to freely select the thickness dimension of the conductive metal plate within a certain range while maintaining the strictly defined standard for the thickness dimension of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M, and even if the thickness dimension of the metal plate is made thinner, it is possible to prevent changes in the tab thickness dimension of the tab portion 1 due to contact pressure received from the contact plate portion 50 of the female terminal F.

[0035] On the other hand, the male terminals according to embodiments 2 and 3 have a plate thickness that is 50% smaller than that of the male terminal M of claim 1, and in order to reduce the thickness of the conductive metal plate, measures are required to address the reduction in the allowable current value in addition to design considerations for strength. Note that while conventional male terminals 30 often use brass material, it is believed that it is possible to achieve an allowable current value of the same level by changing the material to a solid-solution hardened copper alloy or precipitation hardened copper alloy, which has approximately twice the conductivity of brass material.

[0036] Furthermore, when mounting on vehicles, dealing with the increased volume of connectors due to the increasing number of circuits is a major issue, making it all the more important to make connectors smaller, lighter, and more space-saving. While the thickness Y and width X of the tab portion 1 of the male terminal M are strictly standardized, it is expected that even smaller standard values will be added in the future. To address this issue, by narrowing the space 19 within the tab portion 1 in Figures 16 and 18, the tab portion 1 can be made even smaller, resulting in an ultra-compact connector structure that can accommodate an increase in circuits. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1,31...Tab section 2,32…Hakobe 3,3a,3b…Reinforcement plate part 4...One side panel 5...Other side panel 6,36…bottom plate 7,37…Upper board 9,39...Guide section 10...hole 11, 41...Guide vertex 15...Career 16...Guide hole 17...Barrier section 18...Raised part 19…Space 20…Horizontal board 35...Stabilizer 50...Contact plate part 51...Fixed contact part 52...Spring contact 53…Fixed contact F…Female terminal M…Male terminal

Claims

1. a female terminal formed by bending a conductive metal plate, the male terminal comprising: a cylindrical box portion; and a plate-like tab portion protruding forward from the box portion and electrically contacting a mating female terminal, the tab portion comprising: a bottom plate; one side plate extending from one side edge of the bottom plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and formed at a substantially right angle; an upper plate extending in the width direction from a rising end of the one side plate and bent so as to overlap the bottom plate in a parallel position with a predetermined gap; and a second side plate extending from the other side edge of the bottom plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and formed by rising and folding back into a substantially U-shape; and a flat reinforcing plate portion extending laterally from an end of the other side plate and sandwiched approximately parallel to the bottom plate and the upper plate.

2. 2. The male terminal according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal plate extending from the other side edge of said top plate in a height direction perpendicular to the width direction and formed at a substantially right angle downward is in contact with said bottom plate.

3. 3. The male terminal according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate portion is a flat plate sandwiched approximately parallel between the bottom plate and the top plate, and is bent in the longitudinal direction, so that the shape of the reinforcing plate portion of the tab portion as viewed from the front is linear, arc-shaped, or L-shaped.

4. 3. The male terminal according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate portion, which is a flat plate sandwiched between the bottom plate and the top plate in approximately parallel relation to each other, is shorter than the bottom plate and the top plate.

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