Female terminal

Abstract

To provide a female terminal that can suppress heat generation from a specific location. [Solution] The female terminal 40 comprises a female terminal body 40A and a contact load spring 70. The female terminal body 40A has a box portion 41 and a conductive spring 42 that presses toward the male tab 14 inserted into the box portion 41. The box portion 41 has a bottom plate 43, side plates 44 and 45 that are erected from both ends of the bottom plate 43, and top plates 46 and 47 that are provided between the side plates 44 and 45 and face the bottom plate 43. The contact load spring 70 is positioned on the bottom plate 43 and presses the conductive spring 42 toward the top plates 46 and 47.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a female terminal housed in a female housing of a female connector.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, with the spread of electric vehicles, the current flowing through the wire harness has been increasing. Also, in vehicles equipped with an internal combustion engine, the number of electrical devices is increasing, so the trend towards higher current is the same. For terminals used in such wire harnesses, it is preferable to suppress heat generation during energization as much as possible by using a material with high conductivity. However, generally, metal materials tend to have a trade-off between high conductivity and high strength. Therefore, if a metal with high conductivity is used as the terminal for the wire harness, there is a risk that the desired strength cannot be obtained for the terminal.

[0003] In response to the above problems, a female terminal structure has been proposed in which a terminal conduction part formed of a metal material with high conductivity and a terminal box formed of a metal material that covers the terminal conduction part and has high spring characteristics and high strength are combined (see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a female terminal that can suppress heat generation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the female terminal according to the present invention is characterized by the following: A terminal body comprising: a box section having a bottom plate, a pair of side plates erected from both ends of the bottom plate, and a top plate provided between the pair of side plates and facing the bottom plate; and a conductive spring erected from the bottom plate and pressing the male terminal inserted into the box section toward the top plate; A first spring, positioned on the bottom plate, presses the conductive spring toward the upper plate, is provided. Female terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The female terminal according to the present invention has the effect of suppressing abnormal heat generation from a specific location.

[0009] The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by referring to the attached drawings and reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments"). [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of a male connector and a female connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the male and female connectors according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is an overall perspective view of the female terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the state of the female terminal body that constitutes the female terminal according to the embodiment before it is bent and formed. [Figure 5]Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken by cutting along the planes in the direction of insertion of the female terminal and the vertical direction according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the female terminal body of Figure 4 with the contact load spring placed on it. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is an overall perspective view showing the contact load spring that constitutes the female terminal according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the female terminal according to the embodiment, taken from a plane along the insertion direction and the width direction. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken by cutting along the insertion direction and the vertical direction with the male connector and female connector according to an embodiment of the present invention connected. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view along line AA shown in Figure 9. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] <Embodiment> Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures. For the sake of explanation, the vertical direction shown in Figure 1 will be referred to as the "vertical direction D1," and the direction perpendicular to the "vertical direction D1" in which the female and male connectors are relatively inserted will be referred to as the "insertion direction D2." Furthermore, the male connector side along the "insertion direction D2" will be referred to as the "front side," the female connector side as the "back side," and the direction perpendicular to the "vertical direction D1" and the "insertion direction D2" will be referred to as the "width direction D3."

[0012] <Description of male connector> As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the male connector 10 has a bottomed rectangular tubular male housing 11, a male tab 14 as a male terminal, a locking claw 16, and guide grooves 17, 17. The male tab 14 is provided in a strip shape. As shown in Figure 2, the male tab 14 protrudes from the inner surface of the male cover 12 provided on the front side of the male housing 11 toward the male opening 13 on the rear side. The locking claw 16 is provided on the edge of the top plate 15 of the male housing 11. The guide grooves 17, 17 are provided on the inner surface of the top plate 15 along the insertion direction D2.

[0013] <Description of Female Connector> As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the female connector 20 has a female housing 21 and female terminals 40 housed in the female housing. The female housing 21 has a bottomed rectangular tube shape that can be inserted into the male housing 11 from the male opening 13. The female housing 21 is provided with an insertion opening 23 into which the male tab 14 can be inserted in the female lid portion 22. Further, the female housing 21 is provided with guide rails 24, 24 corresponding to the guide grooves 17, 17 on the outer surface of the top plate 25. On the outer surface of the top plate 25, a locking arm 26 that can be locked to the locking claw 16 is provided between the guide rails 24, 24. A part of the locking arm 26 is covered with a door-shaped protective member 27. On the inner surface of the top plate 25, a lance 28 for locking the female terminal 40 housed therein is provided (see FIG. 2).

[0014] <Description of Female Terminal> As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the female terminal 40 has a female terminal body 40A and a contact load spring 70 (first spring). The female terminal body (terminal body) 40A has a substantially rectangular tube-shaped box portion 41, a plurality of conduction springs 42 provided in the box portion 41, and a wire connection portion 48. It should be noted that the female terminal 40 shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 is upside down compared to the female terminal 40 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for the purpose of explanation.

[0015] <Description of Box Portion> As shown in Fig. 3, the box portion 41 has a substantially rectangular plate-shaped bottom plate 43, a pair of side plates 44 and 45 erected from both ends in the width direction of the bottom plate 43, and upper plates 46 and 47 provided between the side plates 44 and 45 and facing the bottom plate 43, and is formed in a substantially square tube shape. In the box portion 41, an electric wire connection portion 48 is provided on the back side in the insertion direction D2 of the bottom plate 43. A plurality (four in this embodiment) of conduction springs 42 project in a comb shape from the end portion on the front side in the insertion direction D2 of the bottom plate 43. The conduction spring 42 is curved in a substantially U shape so that the tip faces the back side in the insertion direction D2. The tip of the conduction spring 42 is housed inside the box portion 41. As shown in Fig. 4, the female terminal 40 is formed into a desired shape by bending, pressing, etc. after each part such as the conduction spring 42, the bottom plate 43, the side plates 44 and 45, the upper plates 46 and 47, and the electric wire connection portion 48 are integrally formed in a flat plate shape from a single metal plate by punching, laser cutting, etc.

[0016] When the conduction spring 42, the bottom plate 43, the side plates 44 and 45, the upper plates 46 and 47, and the electric wire connection portion 48 are integrally formed in a flat plate shape, a pair of locking protrusions 43A, 43A and a lance hole 43B are formed on the inner surface of the bottom plate 43 which becomes the inner surface of the box portion 41. The locking protrusions 43A, 43A are formed in a flat columnar shape. The lance hole 43B is a substantially rectangular through hole into which a lance 28 (see Fig. 2) can be engaged. Locking holes 44A, 45A are formed at the boundary lines (which will become the ridge lines of the box portion 41 later) between the bottom plate 43 and the side plates 44 and 45, respectively.

[0017] Furthermore, locking holes 45B are formed at predetermined positions on the side plate 45, and locking holes 46A, 46A are formed at the boundary line between the side plate 45 and the top plate 46 (which later becomes the ridge line of the box portion 41). In addition, spherical protrusions 45C, 45C are formed on the inner surface of the side plate 45. These spherical protrusions 45C, 45C are positioned so that the apex of the sphere makes point contact with the widthwise end face of the male tab 14. Then, four spherical protrusions 47C are formed on the inner surface of the top plate 47. These spherical protrusions 47C are arranged in pairs along the insertion direction D2, in two rows along the width direction, and are positioned so that the apex of the sphere makes point contact with the upper surface (upper surface in the vertical direction) of the male tab 14. These spherical protrusions 45C, 47C are formed by press working or the like. As shown in Figure 5, the distance G1 between the spherical projection 47C and the tip of the conductive spring 42 (the edge on the top plate side) is set to be smaller than the thickness dimension T1 of the male tab 14.

[0018] As shown in Figure 6, after the contact load spring 70 is placed on the bottom plate 43, each conductive spring 42 is bent in a roughly U-shape relative to the bottom plate 43 so that the tip of each conductive spring 42 faces the back side in the insertion direction D2. Also, the side plates 44 and 45 are bent so that they are roughly perpendicular to the bottom plate 43, and the top plates 46 and 47 are bent so that they are roughly perpendicular to the side plates 44 and 45 and roughly parallel to the bottom plate 43, and the edges of the top plates 46 and 47 are overlapped. This gives rise to a roughly cylindrical box section 41 as shown in Figure 3. The wire connection section 48 is also formed in a roughly U-shape by bending both edges in the width direction at roughly right angles, so that the wire 50 can be connected by crimping (see Figures 1 and 2). Note that the order of the bending process of the side plates 44 and 45, the bending process of the top plates 46 and 47, and the bending process of the wire connection section 48 is arbitrary.

[0019] <Explanation of Contact Load Springs> As shown in Figure 7, the contact load spring 70 has a plate-shaped first member 71 that rests on the bottom plate 43 and a spring member 72 supported by the first member 71. The spring member 72 is connected to the rear edge of the first member 71 in the insertion direction D2 and is curved in a substantially U-shape such that its tip faces the front side in the insertion direction D2, and the clamping angle with respect to the first member 71 is acute.

[0020] <Contact load spring vertical restriction> The first member 71 is provided with locking holes 71A, 71A into which locking projections 43A, 43A provided on the bottom plate 43 are locked. The first member 71 is provided with a pair of cut-out projections 71B, 71B at a position that allows it to contact the spring member 72. The first member 71 is provided with widthwise projections 71C, 71D on both edges in the width direction. The locking projections 43A, 43A and the locking holes 71A, 71A are sized to fit tightly together. The cut-out projections 71B, 71B act as stoppers to restrict the deformation of the spring member 72 if the thickness dimension T1 (see Figure 5) of the male tab 14 is greater than expected.

[0021] The widthwise projections 71C and 71D are inserted into locking holes 44A and 45A, respectively, provided on the ridges between the bottom plate 43 and the side plates 44 and 45. The widthwise projection 71D has a stepped shape and has an insertion portion 71E that is inserted into the locking hole 45A and a contact portion 71F that abuts against the inner surface of the side plate 45. The locking holes 44A and 45A and the widthwise projections 71C and 71D are sized to fit together tightly.

[0022] In this type of contact load spring 70, the first member 71 and the spring member 72 are positioned between a plurality of conductive springs 42 and a bottom plate 43. Furthermore, the maximum separation dimension H1 between the lower surface of the first member 71 (the surface facing the bottom plate 43) and the tip of the spring member 72 (the edge on the conductive spring side) is set to be larger than the maximum separation dimension G2 (see Figure 5) between the upper surface of the bottom plate 43 (the surface facing the first member 71) and the tip of the conductive spring 42 (the edge on the bottom plate 43 side). Therefore, the contact load spring 70 maintains a predetermined pressing force that spreads the bottom plate 43 and each conductive spring 42 apart, and also has elasticity that presses the male tab 14 toward the upper plates 46 and 47 of the box portion 41 via each conductive spring 42.

[0023] In such a contact load spring 70, the locking holes 71A, 71A and locking projections 43A, 43A are tightly fitted together, so the first member 71 does not vibrate relative to each other in the insertion direction D2 and the width direction D3 inside the box portion 41. Furthermore, in the contact load spring 70, the locking holes 44A, 45A and width direction projections 71C, 71D are tightly fitted together, so the first member 71 does not vibrate relative to each other in the insertion direction and the vertical direction inside the box portion 41.

[0024] <Width-direction restriction of contact load springs> Furthermore, the contact load spring 70 is provided with a transverse spring 74 (second spring) via first connecting portions 73, 73. The transverse spring 74 has a plate-shaped second member 75 that follows the inner surface of the side plate 44, and a spring member 76 that is provided to protrude toward the side plate 45 by cutting and forming a part of the second member 75. The second member 75 is integrally molded with the first member 71 via first connecting portions 73, 73 that are provided on the widthwise edge of the first member 71, sandwiching the widthwise projection 71D. Vertical projections 75A, 75A are provided on the upper side edge of the second member 75. The vertical projections 75A, 75A are inserted into and locked into locking holes 46A, 46A of the box portion 41. The vertical projections 75A, 75A and the locking holes 46A, 46A are sized to fit tightly together.

[0025] As shown in Figure 8, the transverse spring 74 is provided such that the top of the spring member 76 presses the male tab 14 toward the midpoint of the spherical protrusions 45C, 45C. The contact load spring 70 has a minimum separation dimension W1 between the spherical protrusion 45C of the side plate 45 and the spring member 76 that is smaller than the widthwise dimension W2 of the male tab 14. Therefore, the contact load spring 70 has elasticity such that when one end face in the widthwise direction of the male tab 14 (the lower end face in Figure 8) is in point contact with the spherical protrusion 45C of the side plate 45, the spring member 76 contacts the other end face in the widthwise direction of the male tab 14 (the upper end face in Figure 8) and presses toward the side plate 45. At this time, the top of the spring member 76 and the spherical protrusions 45C, 45C contact both end faces in the widthwise direction of the male tab 14 at three points, restricting vibrations such that the male tab 14 rotates around a line along the thickness direction (vertical direction).

[0026] Furthermore, since the contact load spring 70 has vertical projections 75A, 75A and locking holes 46A, 46A that are tightly fitted together, the first member 71 and the second member 75 do not vibrate relative to each other in the insertion direction D2 and the width direction D3 inside the box portion 41. In addition, the distance between the contact portion 71F of the aforementioned width direction projection 71C and the outer surface of the second member 75 (the surface facing the side plate 44) is set to be slightly larger than the distance between the side plates 44 and 45 of the box portion, so this also prevents the first member 71 and the second member 75 from vibrating relative to each other in the width direction inside the box portion 41.

[0027] <Restrictions on the insertion direction of contact load springs> Returning to Figure 7, the contact load spring 70 is provided with front and rear springs 78 (third springs) via a second connecting portion 77. The front and rear springs 78 have a third member 79, a spring member 80, and a widthwise projection 79C. The third member 79 is provided in a plate shape and is substantially perpendicular to the bottom plate 43, side plates 44, 45, and top plates 46, 47, respectively. The spring member 80 is provided so as to protrude in a stepped manner toward the front side in the insertion direction D2 by cutting and bending a part of the third member 79. The widthwise projection 79C is provided on the widthwise edge of the third member 79. The spring member 80 presses with a desired force against the tip surface (the end surface on the far side in the insertion direction D2) of the male tab 14 inserted into the female terminal 40.

[0028] The widthwise projection 79C has a stepped shape and has an insertion portion 79E that is inserted into the locking hole 45B and a contact portion 79F that abuts against the inner surface of the side plate 45. The distance between the contact portion 79F of the widthwise projection 79C and the outer surface of the second member 75 (the surface facing the side plate 44) is set to be slightly larger than the distance between the side plates 44 and 45 of the box section. As a result, the first member 71, the second member 75 and the third member 79 do not vibrate relative to each other along the width direction inside the box section 41.

[0029] In particular, in this embodiment, the spring member 72 of the contact load spring 70 restricts vibration of the male tab 14 along the vertical direction, while the transverse spring 74 restricts vibration of the male tab 14 along the width direction. Therefore, the front and rear springs 78 only need to restrict vibration along the insertion direction D2 of the male tab 14. For example, if a structure were adopted in which the front and rear springs 78 also restrict vibration along the vertical direction D1 and the width direction D3 of the male tab 14, the front and rear springs 78 would need to be made more rigid. Alternatively, it would be necessary to provide space to allow deflection of the front and rear springs 78, which could complicate and enlarge the structure of the female terminal 40. In this embodiment, the aforementioned disadvantages do not occur.

[0030] The contact load spring 70 described above is formed by first member 71, second member 75, and third member 79 being integrally formed in a flat plate shape from a single metal sheet by punching, laser cutting, etc., and then being formed into the desired shape by bending, pressing, etc. Therefore, the contact load spring 70 has spring members 72, 76, and 80 integrally provided. Note that the order of bending, pressing, etc. when forming the contact load spring 70 from a single metal sheet is arbitrary.

[0031] In the female terminal 40 described above, the material constituting the female terminal body (terminal body) 40A has higher conductivity than the material constituting the contact load spring 70, and the material constituting the contact load spring 70 has higher strength than the material constituting the female terminal body 40A.

[0032] The material constituting the contact load spring 70 can be appropriately selected from among hardness, yield strength, tensile strength, compressive strength, bending strength, spring properties, brittleness, etc. Furthermore, if high hardness as the contact load spring 70 is a priority, surface treatments such as high-frequency hardening may be applied to the entire surface or the contact surface, or hardening plating may be laminated.

[0033] <Connection of male and female connectors> Then, as shown in Figure 6, the contact load spring 70 is placed on the bottom plate 43, and the box portion 41 is obtained by bending each part. After that, when the female terminal body 40A is housed in the female housing 21, the lance hole 43B provided in the bottom plate 43 engages with the lance 28 provided in the female housing 21. This fixes the female terminal body 40A in a way that prevents it from being pulled out of the female housing 21. In this state, when the female connector 20 is inserted into the male opening 13 of the male connector 10, the guide rails 24, 24 are guided in the guide grooves 17, 17, and the male tab 14 is inserted into the insertion opening 23. In addition, the locking arm 26 is locked into the locking claw 16, so the male connector 10 and the female connector 20 are connected relative to each other.

[0034] As shown in Figures 9 and 10, the male tab 14 is guided between each conductive spring 42 and the four spherical protrusions 47C (only two are shown in Figure 10). Therefore, compared to when it is guided by surface sliding contact with the flat inner surface of the upper plate 47, the male tab 14 is guided more smoothly to its predetermined position. Furthermore, since each conductive spring 42 is integrated with the female terminal body 40A, which is made of a highly conductive material, localized abnormal heat generation does not occur even when a large current is supplied from the male tab 14.

[0035] Furthermore, the female terminal body 40A has a high-strength contact load spring 70, and its spring member 72 presses each conductive spring 42 toward the upper plates 46 and 47. Therefore, even if each conductive spring 42 is made of a material that is not strong enough, the spring member 72 compensates for the lack of strength, ensuring that the designed contact load to the male tab 14 is reliably obtained, and electrical and physical connection reliability is obtained compared to conventional designs. In addition, the spring members 72, 76, and 80 restrict vibration of the female terminal 40 relative to the contact load spring 70 in the insertion direction D2, width direction D3, and vertical direction D1 (so-called X, Y, Z directions), and the locking holes 71A, 71A, width direction protrusions 71C, 71D, vertical direction protrusions 75A, 75A, width direction protrusion 79C, and the dimensions of each part are appropriately adjusted. As a result, vibration of the contact load spring 70 relative to the box part 41 in the insertion direction, width direction, and vertical direction (X, Y, Z directions).

[0036] As a result, the relative position between the male tab 14 and the female terminal body 40A is firmly maintained, and there is no risk of heat generation due to wear on specific points on the surface of the male tab (male terminal) 14 or the tops of each conductive spring 42 due to vibration, as in the conventional design. Furthermore, since the material constituting the contact load spring 70 has higher strength, or in other words, higher conductivity, than the material constituting the female terminal body 40A, there is no risk of heat generation even if the spring members 76 and 80 come into contact with the male tab (male terminal) 14.

[0037] <Effects of the Embodiment> As described above, the female terminal 40 according to the embodiment of the present invention has a contact load spring 70 positioned on the bottom plate 43 of the female terminal body 40A, which presses each conductive spring 42 toward the upper plates 46 and 47. Therefore, even if each conductive spring 42 is made of a material that is not strong enough, a separate, high-strength spring member 72 compensates for the pressing force, ensuring that the designed contact load toward the male tab 14 is reliably obtained, and thus providing electrical and physical connection reliability compared to conventional designs.

[0038] Furthermore, according to the female terminal 40 of the embodiment of the present invention, the material of the female terminal body 40A has higher conductivity than the material of the contact load spring 70, and the material of the contact load spring 70 has higher strength than the material of the female terminal body 40A. In other words, even if the male tab 14 is a male terminal, the strength of the contact load spring 70 that complements the pressing force of each conductive spring 42 is high. As a result, good conductivity and the designed contact load can be reliably obtained, and these can be achieved at a high level of compatibility.

[0039] Furthermore, according to the female terminal 40 of the present invention, it is further provided with a transverse spring 74 arranged on the side plate 44 that presses the male tab 14 toward the side plate 45. This makes it possible to suppress relative vibrations along the width direction between the female terminal body 40A and the male tab 14.

[0040] Furthermore, according to the female terminal 40 of the embodiment of the present invention, the contact load spring 70 and the transverse spring 74 are connected by first connecting parts 73, 73 and are provided integrally. Therefore, the contact load spring 70 and the transverse spring 74 can work together to fix their position relative to the box part 41.

[0041] Furthermore, according to the female terminal 40 of the embodiment of the present invention, it is further provided with a front and rear spring 78 positioned on the rear side in the insertion direction of the male tab 14 and pressing the male tab 14 toward the front side in the insertion direction. As a result, the contact load spring 70, the lateral spring 74, and the front and rear spring 78 work together to restrict vibrations of the male tab 14 and the box portion 41 in the insertion direction D2, width direction D3, and vertical direction D1.

[0042] Furthermore, according to the female terminal 40 of the embodiment of the present invention, the horizontal spring 74 and the front and rear springs 78 are connected by second connecting parts 77, 77, and the contact load spring 70, the horizontal spring 74, and the front and rear springs 78 are integrally provided. As a result, the contact load spring 70 and the horizontal spring 74 work together to fix their position relative to the box portion 41.

[0043] <Other forms> It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified, improved, etc. as appropriate. Furthermore, the material, shape, dimensions, number, placement, etc. of each component in each of the embodiments described above are arbitrary and not limited as long as they can achieve the present invention.

[0044] In the embodiment described above, the terminal body 40A and the contact load spring 70 were made of different materials, but this is not limited to this. The terminal body 40A and the contact load spring 70 may be made of the same material.

[0045] In the embodiment described above, a horizontal spring 74 and front and rear springs 78 were provided, but this is not the only option. The horizontal spring 74 and front and rear springs 78 are not essential and may be omitted.

[0046] In the embodiment described above, the lateral spring 74 was integrally provided with the contact load spring 70, but this is not the only option. The contact load spring 70 and the lateral spring 74 may be provided separately.

[0047] In the embodiment described above, the front and rear springs 78 were integrally provided with the contact load spring 70, but this is not the only option. The contact load spring 70 and the front and rear springs may be provided separately.

[0048] Here, the features of the female terminal embodiments according to the present invention described above are briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [6]. [1] A box section (41) having a bottom plate (43), a pair of side plates (44, 45) erected from both ends of the bottom plate (43), and top plates (46, 47) provided between the pair of side plates (44, 45) and facing the bottom plate (43), and a female terminal body (terminal body) (40A) having a conductive spring (42) erected from the bottom plate (43) and pressing a male tab (male terminal) (14) inserted into the box section (41) toward the top plates (46, 47), The system includes a first spring (70) positioned on the bottom plate (43) and pressing the conductive spring (42) toward the upper plates (46, 47), Female terminal (40).

[0049] According to the female terminal (40) in the configuration described in [1] above, even if each conductive spring (42) is made of a material that is not strong enough, a separate high-strength spring member (72) compensates for the pressing force, ensuring that the designed contact load is obtained against the male tab (14), and thus providing electrical and physical connection reliability compared to conventional designs.

[0050] [2] In the female terminal (40) described in [1] above, The female terminal body (terminal body) (40A) and the first spring (70) are formed from different materials. The material of the female terminal body (terminal body) (40A) has a higher conductivity than the material of the first spring (70). The material of the first spring (70) has higher strength than the material of the female terminal body (terminal body) (40A). Female terminal (40).

[0051] According to the female terminal (40) in the configuration described in [2] above, the strength of the first spring (70) that complements the pressing force of each conductive spring (42) is high, so good conductivity and the design contact load can be reliably obtained, and these can be achieved at a high level.

[0052] [3] In the female terminal (40) described in [1] above, The system further includes a second spring (74) positioned on one of the pair of side plates (44, 45) and pressing the male tab (male terminal) (14) toward the other of the pair of side plates (44, 45), Female terminal (40).

[0053] According to the female terminal (40) in the configuration described in [3] above, relative vibration along the width direction between the female terminal body (40A) and the male tab (14) can be suppressed.

[0054] [4] In the female terminal (40) described in [3] above, The first spring (70) and the second spring (74) are connected by the first connecting portion (73, 73) and are provided as a single unit. Female terminal (40).

[0055] With the female terminal (40) configured as described in [4] above, the first spring (70) and the second spring (74) work together to fix their position relative to the box portion (41).

[0056] [5] In the female terminal (40) described in [1] above, The male tab (male terminal) (14) is further provided with a third spring (78) positioned on the rear side in the insertion direction and pressing the male tab (male terminal) (14) toward the front side in the insertion direction. Female terminal (40).

[0057] According to the female terminal (40) of the configuration described in [5] above, the first spring (70), the second spring (74), and the third spring (78) work together to restrict vibrations of the male tab (14) and the box portion (41) in the insertion direction, width direction, and vertical direction (XYZ direction).

[0058] [6] In the female terminal (40) described in [4] above, The male tab (male terminal) (14) is provided with a third spring (78) positioned on the rear side in the insertion direction and pressing the male tab (male terminal) (14) toward the front side in the insertion direction, The second spring (74) and the third spring (78) are connected by a second connecting portion (77, 77), and the first spring (70), the second spring (74), and the third spring (78) are integrally provided. Female terminal (40).

[0059] With the female terminal (40) configured as described in [6] above, the first spring (70) and the second spring (74) work together to fix the position relative to the box portion (41). [Explanation of Symbols]

[0060] 14 Male tabs (male terminals) 40 female terminal 40A Female Terminal Body (Terminal Body) 41 Hakobe 42 Conductive spring 43 Bottom plate 44, 45 Side panels 46, 47 Top plate 70. Contact load spring (first spring) 73 1st connection part 74. Transverse spring (second spring) 77 2nd connection part 78 Front and rear springs (3rd spring)

Claims

1. A terminal body comprising: a box section having a bottom plate, a pair of side plates erected from both ends of the bottom plate, and a top plate provided between the pair of side plates and facing the bottom plate; and a conductive spring erected from the bottom plate and pressing the male terminal inserted into the box section toward the top plate; The system includes a first spring positioned on the bottom plate and pressing the conductive spring toward the upper plate, Female terminal.

2. In the female terminal according to claim 1, The terminal body and the first spring are formed from different materials. The material of the terminal body has a higher conductivity than the material of the first spring. The material of the first spring has higher strength than the material of the terminal body. Female connector.

3. In the female terminal according to claim 1, The system further includes a second spring positioned on one of the pair of side plates, which presses the male terminal toward the other of the pair of side plates. Female terminal.

4. In the female terminal according to claim 3, The first spring and the second spring are connected by a first connecting portion and are provided as a single unit. Female terminal.

5. In the female terminal according to claim 1, The male terminal is further provided with a third spring positioned on the rear side in the insertion direction and pressing the male terminal toward the front side in the insertion direction. Female terminal.

6. In the female terminal according to claim 4, The male terminal is provided with a third spring positioned on the rear side in the insertion direction and pressing the male terminal toward the front side in the insertion direction, The second spring and the third spring are connected by a second connecting portion, and the first spring, the second spring, and the third spring are integrally provided. Female terminal.

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