Fuse connection terminal

Abstract

To obtain a durable fuse connection terminal.SOLUTION: Leaf springs 12A and 12B respectively have tab terminal abutment portion 12A1, 12B1 that protrude toward the central axis X. The leaf springs 12A and 12B respectively have outer support portion 12A2, 12B2 at their leading (rear) ends that protrude toward the side surfaces 11A and 11B. The outer support portions 12A2, 12B2 are positioned so as to overlap the inner protruding surfaces 13A, 13B in the x direction. The combination of the outer support portions 12A2, 12B2 and the inner protruding surfaces 13A, 13B suppresses excessive deformation of the leaf springs 12A and 12B, or prevents the tab terminal from being inserted in a manner that would cause such large deformation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fuse connection terminal to which a fuse or the like is attached. [Background technology]

[0002] In automobiles and the like, connection terminals are used to mechanically fix and electrically connect electrical components (including wiring). One form of connection terminal is a connector that connects ordinary wiring together. Generally, harnesses in which many wires are bundled together are used, and in order to connect the harnesses together, multi-pole connectors in which many terminals are arranged so that each wire can be connected simultaneously are widely used.

[0003] On the other hand, components such as fuses, which are expected to be replaced when necessary, such as when they blow or during regular inspections, are also attached to connection terminals. Fuses usually have only two terminals, and because large currents flow through these terminals, their structure differs significantly from that of the general wiring connectors described above. While the terminals used in the wiring connectors described above are small and have a small contact area that allows for arrangement, the fuse terminals used for these connectors are large, flat terminals (tab terminals) that can handle large currents, and the fuse connection terminals to which these are attached also have a corresponding structure.

[0004] In the wiring connector described above, a connector provided with a terminal to which one of the wirings (harnesses) to be connected is fixed is connected to a connector provided with a terminal to which the other wiring (harness) is fixed, and a large number of terminals corresponding to the respective wirings are connected simultaneously. In this case, the terminals are arranged in a large number in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement when the connectors are connected, so that a large number of terminals can be connected simultaneously. In this structure, the terminals on one connector are not connected in an inclined state relative to the terminals on the other connector.

[0005] In contrast, in the above-mentioned fuse connection terminal, the tab terminal on the fuse side may be installed in an inclined state. For this reason, the fuse connection terminal is designed to reliably connect the terminals together and allow a large current to flow between them, taking such a situation into consideration. Such a structure is described, for example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2. In this fuse connection terminal, two large leaf springs are used to secure the tab terminal from both sides. While the above-mentioned wiring connector requires each terminal to be small, fuse connection terminals are larger than this, so a structure in which the tab terminal is secured from both sides with such large leaf springs is effective.

[0006] Such a leaf spring is not a separate component from the fuse connection terminal, but can be formed as part of the fuse connection terminal when a single metal plate is processed to form the fuse connection terminal, which allows the fuse connection terminal to be manufactured inexpensively and also increases the fixing strength of the leaf spring in the fuse connection terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-73781 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-156753 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] Although a fuse connection terminal that secures a tab terminal with two leaf springs can secure an inserted tab terminal even in an inclined position, when the tab terminal is inserted in this inclined position, a large load is applied unevenly to one of the leaf springs, especially at the base of the leaf spring when it is formed. This causes significant deformation of the leaf spring, which can lead to plastic deformation, deterioration, or even breakage. This reduces the durability of this fuse connection terminal, and a fuse connection terminal with higher durability is desired.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to solve the above problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The present invention provides a fuse connection terminal that clamps and fixes a plate-shaped tab terminal connected to a fuse from both sides, and includes a terminal portion that fixes the tab terminal inserted from one side to the other along a first direction along a central axis parallel to a surface of the tab terminal, and the terminal portion includes leaf springs that are bent on one side and the other side in a second direction perpendicular to the surface of the inserted tab terminal from the one side in the first direction toward the central axis and further toward the other side in the first direction, on the one side and the other side in the second direction, respectively, and each of the leaf springs is bent toward the central axis in the second direction. and an outer support portion protruding in the second direction opposite to the side where the central axis is located, and the tab terminal is configured to be sandwiched between the tab terminal abutment portion of the leaf spring on one side in the second direction and the tab terminal abutment portion of the leaf spring on the other side in the second direction, and the side surface of the one side and the side surface of the other side in the second direction are each formed with an inner protruding surface that overlaps with a region where the outer support portion of the opposing side is located in the first direction and is formed by bending a metal plate that constitutes the side surface toward the central axis so as to protrude toward the central axis. In the leaf spring, the outer support portion may be formed on the other side in the first direction relative to the tab terminal abutment portion and on an end side of the leaf spring that is formed continuously from the side surface on the corresponding side. The inner protruding surface may be formed by extending and extracting a metal plate constituting the side surface on the corresponding side from the end side of the side surface in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to obtain a fuse connection terminal with high durability. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1A to 1C are diagrams showing a fuse connection terminal according to an embodiment as viewed from two different directions. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fuse connection terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tab terminal is attached to a fuse connection terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tab terminal is attached in an inclined state to a fuse connection terminal according to an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tab terminal is attached in an inclined state to a fuse connection terminal that does not have an inner protruding surface. FIG. [Figure 6] 1A is a development view of a metal plate when manufacturing a fuse connection terminal according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a development view of a metal plate when manufacturing a conventional fuse connection terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] A fuse connection terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. A large, plate-shaped terminal (tab terminal) is attached to this fuse connection terminal for use. This tab terminal is fixed by being clamped from both sides by leaf springs, similar to the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. This fuse connection terminal is formed by processing a metal plate, and is actually provided with a terminal portion to which the tab terminal is attached and a wiring fixing portion to which a wiring to be electrically connected to the tab terminal when attached is fixed. Because the structure of the wiring fixing portion is unrelated to the present invention, only the terminal portion will be described below.

[0014] 1A and 1B are views of a fuse connection terminal 1 (terminal portion 10) according to a first embodiment as viewed from two different directions. Here, the direction in which a tab terminal attached to this is detached is the x-direction (first direction). As will be described later, the tab terminal is attached to this fuse connection terminal 1 by moving it from the positive side (one side) to the negative side (the other side) in the x-direction. The attached tab terminal is planar with the y-direction (second direction) as its normal direction, and the z-direction (vertical direction: third direction) is perpendicular to the x- and y-directions.

[0015] The terminal portion 10 is electrically connected to the wiring fixed to the wiring fixing portion (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1(a), the terminal portion 10 has a generally rectangular shape with its sides parallel to the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis and its length extending in the x-direction. Metal plates that constitute the terminal portion 10 extend toward the positive x-direction from the side 11A on the positive side in the y-direction and the side 11B on the negative side in the y-direction, respectively, and are bent toward the center in the y-direction and toward the negative x-direction to form leaf springs 12A and 12B. When viewed from the positive x-direction, a gap is formed between the leaf springs 12A and 12B, into which a tab terminal can be inserted. The configurations of the leaf springs 12A and 12B are symmetrical on the positive and negative y-direction sides.

[0016] Near the center of side surfaces 11A and 11B in the x direction, the metal plates that make up these surfaces extend inward on the positive side of the z direction (toward the negative y direction for side surface 11A and the positive y direction for side surface 11B) and are bent inward along each side surface toward the negative z direction. This forms inward protruding surfaces 13A and 13B that locally protrude inward on the insides of side surfaces 11A and 11B, respectively. Furthermore, a bottom surface 14 perpendicular to the z direction is provided on the negative z direction side.

[0017] 2 is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the z-direction of the terminal portion 10 in FIG. 1, near the center in the z-direction. Here, a tab terminal is inserted along the central axis X. The leaf springs 12A and 12B have tab terminal contact portions 12A1 and 12B1, respectively, that protrude toward the central axis X. When no external force is applied to the leaf springs 12A and 12B, the distance between the tab terminal contact portions 12A1 and 12B1 in the y-direction is set to be smaller than the thickness of the tab terminal in the y-direction. Therefore, the tab terminal can be sandwiched between them, and at this time, the tab terminal is held by the elastic force of the leaf springs 12A and 12B.

[0018] Furthermore, the leaf springs 12A and 12B have outer support portions 12A2 and 12B2 at their leading (rear) ends that protrude toward the side surfaces 11A and 11B. The outer support portions 12A2 and 12B2 are provided so that their positions in the x direction overlap with the inner protruding surfaces 13A and 13B.

[0019] 3(a) to 3(c) show, in a cross section similar to that of FIG. 2, a state in which the tab terminal 200 is inserted into the terminal portion 10 having this structure without tilting along the central axis X. In this figure, the main surface of the tab terminal 200 is perpendicular to the paper surface (the normal line is the up-down direction in the figure).

[0020] First, as shown in Fig. 3(a), when the tab terminal 200 is inserted from the positive side to the negative side in the x direction, the tab terminal 200 abuts against the tab terminal abutment portions 12A1, 12B1 of the leaf springs 12A, 12B or portions further to the positive side in the x direction. As shown here, the tab terminal abutment portions 12A1, 12B1 are shaped so that the distance between them becomes wider toward the positive side in the x direction. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 3(b), the operator can push the tab terminal 200 further toward the negative side in the x direction from this state.

[0021] In the state shown in Figure 3(b), a force is applied to the tab terminal contact portions 12A1 and 12B1 in the positive and negative y-directions, respectively, and the leaf springs 12A and 12B are deformed in response to this force. This force causes the outer support portions 12A2 and 12B2 to move toward the inner protruding surfaces 13A and 13B, respectively. In this state, the leaf springs 12A and 12B in the state shown in Figure 2 are compressed in the y-direction. In Figure 3(b), the tip of the leaf spring 12A in the state shown in Figure 2(a) is indicated by a dotted line, and the amount of movement of the tip of the leaf spring 12A from the state shown in Figure 2(a) in this case is D1.

[0022] 3(c), in this state, the tab terminal 200 can be further pressed toward the negative x-direction. In this state, the tab terminal 200 is firmly fixed by the elastic force of the leaf springs 12A and 12B caused by the compression. In this state, the tab terminal 200 is properly attached to the terminal portion 10.

[0023] Figure 4 shows the state corresponding to Figure 3(b) when the tab terminal 200 is inserted in an inclined state. In this case, the state of the leaf spring 12B remains the same as in Figure 3(b). On the other hand, the load on the leaf spring 12A becomes particularly large, so the leaf spring 12A is deformed to be more compressed in the y direction than in Figure 3(b). In Figure 4, the tip of the leaf spring 12A in the state of Figure 2(a) is shown by a dotted line, and the amount of movement of the tip of the leaf spring 12A in this case from the state of Figure 2(a) is D2, where D2 > D1.

[0024] However, as shown in Fig. 4, this deformation is limited by the contact of the outer support portion 12A2 with the inner protruding surface 13A. That is, the amount of movement is prevented from becoming greater than D2. Alternatively, a large force would be required to further deform the leaf spring 12A, making it practically difficult to insert the tab terminal 200 at a large inclination angle.

[0025] 5 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4, showing a case where the tab terminal 200 is inserted in an inclined state in a case where the inward protruding surfaces 13A and 13B are not present (a conventional terminal portion). In this case, the amount of movement D3 of the tip of the leaf spring 12A from the state shown in FIG. 2(a) is D3>D2. This amount of movement increases until it is limited by the outer support portion 12A2 coming into contact with the side surface 11A where the inward protruding surface 13A is not provided.

[0026] When the deformation of the leaf spring 12A becomes large in this way, the load on the area Y in Fig. 5 becomes particularly large, causing problems such as plastic deformation or breakage of this area. In the terminal part 10 described above, by providing the outer support parts 12A2, 12B2 in combination with the inner protruding surfaces 13A, 13B, excessive deformation of the leaf springs 12A, 12B is suppressed, or the insertion of the tab terminal 200 in a manner that would cause such large deformation is suppressed.

[0027] In FIG. 4, the inward protruding surface 13A locally protrudes toward the central axis X from the side surface 11A. Even if the side surface 11A were made uniformly thick overall instead of providing such a locally protruding inward protruding surface 13A, the outer support portion 12A2 would abut against the side surface 11A in the same manner, and the deformation of the leaf spring 12A would be similarly limited. However, in this case, if the leaf spring 12A and the side surface 11A were formed using a bending process using the same metal plate, the leaf spring 12A would also be thick. This would narrow the range of deformation of the leaf spring 12A, making its elastic deformation difficult and making it difficult to attach the tab terminal 200. For this reason, the above-mentioned configuration in which the side surface 11A (11B) and the leaf spring 12A (12B) are thick enough to easily attach the tab terminal 200 to the leaf spring 12A (12B) and the inward protruding surface 13A (13B) locally provided on the side surface 11A (11B) is particularly preferred.

[0028] As described above, this terminal portion 10 (fuse connection terminal 1) can be easily manufactured by processing a metal plate. In this process, this terminal portion 10 is manufactured by bending a metal plate that has been formed into a predetermined planar shape. FIG. 6(a) shows the pattern of the metal plate before bending when manufacturing this terminal portion 10 (a developed view of this terminal portion 10), and FIG. 6(b) shows the pattern of the metal plate before bending when manufacturing a conventional terminal portion that does not have inner protruding surfaces 13A, 13B (a developed view of a conventional terminal portion). In this pattern, parts that correspond to the components in FIGS. 1 and 2 are indicated by corresponding reference numerals.

[0029] The metal pattern of the conventional terminal portion (Fig. 6(b)) has blank areas R1, R2, and R3 where the metal plate has been largely removed. The metal pattern of the terminal portion 10 (Fig. 6(a)) is the same as Fig. 6(b) except that blank area R1 has a portion that becomes the inward protruding surface 13B, and blank area R3 has a portion that becomes the inward protruding surface 13A.

[0030] This allows for easy and inexpensive manufacturing of the terminal portion 10. In particular, the metal pattern can be manufactured at low cost because the blank areas R1 and R3, which are areas where the metal plate has been simply removed in the past, are effectively utilized.

[0031] In the above example, the inward protruding surface is formed by bending the corresponding side surface that extends from the positive side in the z direction, but the inward protruding surface may be formed by other means. For example, the side surface may be extended from the negative side in the x direction and similarly serve as an inward protrusion.

[0032] In the above example, the shape of the leaf spring in plan view is as shown in Figure 2, but as long as the tab terminal abutment portion and outer support portion are provided, the shape of the leaf spring other than these portions is arbitrary. In this case, since the leaf spring is formed using the same metal plate as the entire terminal portion, it is preferable to use a shape that is easy to manufacture.

[0033] In the above example, the outer support portions 12A2 and 12B2 of the leaf springs 12A and 12B are located on the negative side of the x-direction relative to the tab terminal contact portions 12A1 and 12B1 and toward the ends of the leaf springs 12A and 12B. However, their positional relationship in the x-direction can be appropriately set as long as they perform the same function. In this case, the position of the inner protruding surface in the x-direction is determined according to the outer support portions. For example, the tab terminal contact portions and the outer support portions may be located so as to overlap in the x-direction.

[0034] However, when the leaf springs are formed by bending a metal plate from the positive x-direction side of side surfaces 11A and 11B, this structure is particularly preferable because it is particularly easy to form leaf springs 12A and 12B having the structure shown in FIG. 2 by first bending the metal plate toward central axis X and then bending the end portions away from central axis X.

[0035] 2 is symmetrical on the positive and negative sides in the y direction as viewed from the central axis X, these do not have to be symmetrical. However, when a tab terminal having a symmetrical structure on the positive and negative sides in the y direction is used, it is particularly preferable to make the terminal structure symmetrical in this way, since this can accommodate tilts on either side of the tab terminal in the same way.

[0036] In the above example, a terminal (fuse connection terminal) that connects one wire and one tab terminal was described, but a similar structure can also be used in a connector that simultaneously connects multiple terminals and multiple wires. However, as mentioned above, this structure is particularly effective when there is a risk that the terminal will be installed in an inclined state, so it is particularly preferable to use it for fuses.

[0037] The present invention has been described above based on an embodiment. This embodiment is merely an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the respective components, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1 Fuse connection terminal 10 Terminal section 11A, 11B side 12A, 12B leaf springs 12A1, 12B1 Tab terminal contact area 12A2, 12B2 Outer support part 13A, 13B Inner protruding surface 14 Bottom 200 Tab terminal X center axis

Claims

1. A fuse connection terminal that clamps and fixes a plate-shaped tab terminal connected to a fuse from both sides, a terminal portion for fixing the tab terminal inserted from one side to the other along a first direction along a central axis parallel to a surface of the tab terminal; the terminal portion includes a leaf spring, on one side and the other side in the second direction perpendicular to a surface of the inserted tab terminal, that is bent from the one side in the first direction toward the central axis and further toward the other side in the first direction, on the one side and the other side in the second direction, Each of the leaf springs comprises: a tab terminal abutment portion that protrudes toward the central axis in the second direction; an outer support portion that protrudes in the second direction opposite to the side where the central axis is located; Equipped with the tab terminal is configured to be sandwiched between the tab terminal abutment portion of the leaf spring on the one side in the second direction and the tab terminal abutment portion of the leaf spring on the other side in the second direction, a fuse connection terminal characterized in that the side surface on one side in the second direction and the side surface on the other side in the second direction are each formed with an inner protruding surface that overlaps with the area in which the outer support portion on the opposing side is located in the first direction and is formed by bending a metal plate that constitutes the side surface toward the central axis so as to protrude toward the central axis.

2. In the leaf spring, 2. The fuse connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the outer support portion is formed on the other side in the first direction relative to the tab terminal abutment portion and on an end side of the leaf spring that is formed continuously from the side surface on the corresponding side.

3. 3. The fuse connection terminal according to claim 1, wherein the inner protruding surface is formed by extending and extracting a metal plate constituting the side surface on the corresponding side from an end side of the side surface in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.

Images