CN111490373A - Electrical relay - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides electrical relays that can allow greater inclination of the connecting member relative to the contact member connected to the counterpart connector. The electrical relay body includes a columnar metal contact member extending in one axial direction, and a metal connection member electrically connected to the contact member. The contact member is inserted and connected to the contact member in the axial direction of the contact member. The object connector, the connecting member is connected to the connecting object of the connecting member, wherein the contact member is in the shape of a cylinder whose one end side is relatively rotatable about the axis of the contact member with respect to the counterpart connector, and the other end side of the contact member and the connecting member are in the shape of a cylinder. One end side is formed with a swinging structure capable of swinging relative to each other, the swinging structure is a structure in which the contact member and the connecting member are mutually supported, and the swinging structure enables the contacting member and the connecting member to be able to rotate around the axis of the contact member and from one end of the connecting member. The other axis that is orthogonal to the axis of the side toward the other end side swings relatively.

Description

electrical relay

technical field

The present invention relates to an electrical relay for electrically connecting an electrical connector and a connection object.

Background technique

Such an electrical relay is disclosed in Patent Document 1 as an intermediate connector for an electrical connector assembly. The intermediate connector of this patent document 1 has two conductive terminals arranged in the housing, and any one of the conductive terminals makes a cylindrical first contact portion on one end side and a cylindrical second contact portion on the other end side through a connecting portion. form of connection. The axis of the first contact portion and the axis of the second contact portion are in an orthogonal positional relationship. The second contact portion is connected. The first mounting connector on the counterpart side to which the first contact portion is connected is mounted on one circuit board, and the second mounting connector on the counterpart side to which the second contact portion is connected is mounted on the other circuit board.

The first mount connector and the second mount connector respectively hold the elastic cylindrical members in holding holes formed in the housing. The elastic cylindrical member has a cylindrical shape for accommodating the first or second contact portion of the conductive terminal in the axial direction, and has a plurality of slits extending in the axial direction distributed in the circumferential direction except for the axial direction end portion, and has An annular constriction formed by reducing the diameter of the intermediate part in the axial direction.

When the first contact portion is inserted into the elastic cylindrical member of the first mounting connector, and the second contact member is inserted into the elastic cylindrical member of the second mounting member, the annular constriction portion of each elastic cylindrical member is caused by the first contact portion. or the second contact portion to elastically expand the diameter to generate a contact pressure with the first contact portion or the second contact portion, and the inclination of the first contact portion or the second contact portion with respect to each axis can be The shape constriction is carried out as a fulcrum, thereby bringing about a floating characteristic.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-120377

In Patent Document 1, the first contact portion and the second contact portion of the conductive terminal provided in the intermediate connector are rotatable relative to the first mounting connector and the second mounting connector around each axis, and float according to the above characteristic, allowing inclination relative to the axis, but the permissible amount of this inclination is small. With this inclination, the first contact portion or the second contact portion is supported by the annular constriction portion, that is, the smallest inner diameter portion, as a fulcrum in a state in which the elastic cylindrical member can be elastically deformed in the radial direction, so that the fulcrum can be used as a fulcrum. The inclination of the center becomes the inclination within the elastically deformable amount. As a result, the allowable inclination angle is small, and it can cope with the degree of mounting error between the intermediate connector and the first and second mounting connectors, but cannot cope with, for example, changing the mounting position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of such a situation, the present invention has an object to provide an electrical relay that can allow a large inclination of the connection member with respect to the contact member.

The electrical relay body according to the present invention includes a columnar metal contact member extending in one axial direction, and a metal connection member electrically connected to the contact member, and the contact member is on the axis of the contact member. The direction of insertion is connected to the object connector, and the connection member is connected to the connection object of the connection member.

In such an electrical relay, the present invention is characterized in that the contact member has a cylindrical shape whose one end side is rotatable about the axis of the contact member relative to the counterpart connector, and is connected by the other end side of the contact member and the contact member. One end side of the member forms a swing structure capable of swinging relative to each other, and the swing structure is a structure in which the contact member and the connection member are mutually supported so that the contact member and the connection member can be about the axis with the contact member and from the one end side of the connection member. The other axis perpendicular to the axis of the other end side swings relatively.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, the one end side of the contact member is cylindrical, so that the contact member can be rotated around the axis of the contact member in a state of being inserted and connected to the counterpart connector, and the contact member and the connecting member can also be rotated. Since the connected connecting portion swings around the other axis, the degree of freedom around two axes in total can be obtained. Therefore, the said counterpart connector and the said connection object are relayed by this electric relay body in the state which can be changed in the position and direction within a wide range of a contact member and a connection member.

In the present invention, the rocking structure may include a ring plate portion provided on the other end side of the contact member and another ring plate portion provided on one end side of the connection member through a connection member extending along the other axis. Linked to be able to swing.

In this way, with a simple structure, the two ring plate portions can be supported by the connecting member so as to be swingable around the other axis, and the size can also be reduced in the direction of the other axis.

In the present invention, the connecting member may include at least one of a columnar member and a flexible cable member in a portion extending from one end side to the other end side of the connecting member according to the design conditions of the equipment using the electrical relay. one side.

In addition, in the present invention, when the design conditions of the equipment using the electrical relay have a degree of freedom, the above-mentioned contact member and connection member can have the same form.

By doing so, it is possible to reduce the number of types of components that form the electrical relay body, and it is possible to improve the management of components and reduction of production costs.

In the present invention, at least the contact member among the contact member and the connection member can be held by the housing. In this way, the protection of the electrical relay can be achieved, and the connection work of connecting the contact member to the counterpart connector and the connection work of the connection member to the connection target can be performed safely and easily.

In the present invention, as described above, since the electrical relay body has a structure in which the contact member and the connection member are connected, and is swingable about the other axis perpendicular to the axis of the contact member and the axis of the connection member, except that one end side is cylindrical In addition to the contact member being able to rotate about its axis relative to the counterpart connector, the connecting member can also be relatively swung around the above-mentioned other axis relative to the contact member, allowing a greater inclination of the connecting member relative to the contact member, obtained around 2 axes As a result of the large degree of freedom, the positions and orientations of the contact member and the connection member can be greatly changed, and the degree of freedom in the design of the periphery using the electrical relay body can be greatly improved.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the electrical relays together with a counterpart connector in a state in which the electrical relays as an embodiment of the present invention are paired and held by a housing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing each member of one electrical relay body of FIG. 1 in isolation.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state of swinging of a connection member with respect to one electrical relay body assembled with the members shown in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a view of the electrical relay body of FIG. 3 viewed in the axial direction of the connection member.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical relay body, the housing, and the counterpart connector of FIG. 1 . FIG. 5(A) shows before fitting and connection with the counterpart connector, and FIG. 5(B) shows after fitting and connection.

6 is a perspective view showing an electrical relay body according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals

10...electrical relay body; 20...contact member; 23...ring plate portion; 30...connecting member; 34...ring plate portion; 40...connecting member; 50.. . Housing; S... Swing configuration.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an electrical relay 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention before being connected to a counterpart connector 60 serving as a connection target of the electrical relay 10 . In addition, in FIG. 1, illustration of the other connection object of the electric relay 10 is abbreviate|omitted.

The electrical relay body 10 shown in FIG. 1 is supported by the housing 50 , and is connected to the elastic cylindrical member 61 of the counterpart connector 60 as a contact supported by the counterpart housing 70 .

A pair of two electrical relay bodies 10 are arranged and supported in parallel on the housing 50 , and the two electrical relay bodies 10 arranged in parallel are manufactured in the same form, and are arranged symmetrically in the mutually opposing directions in FIG. 1 .

As can be seen from FIG. 2 in which each member is shown separately, the electrical relay body 10 includes a contact member 20 to which a counterpart connector 60 as one connection object is electrically connected to one end side, and a connection member 30 to be connected to the other end. The other connection object shown in the figure is electrically connected; and a rivet-shaped connection member 40 which connects the two rotatably, is connected by the other end side of the above-mentioned contact member 20 and the one end side of the connection member 30 shown in FIG. 2 . , and the connecting member 40 forms a swing structure S.

The contact member 20 is manufactured by processing a metal plate member having a belt-like portion, and has: a cylindrical portion 21 that rounds the belt-like portion with its longitudinal direction as an axis into a cylindrical shape; a pair of clips A stop piece 22 that protrudes radially outward with respect to the cylindrical portion 21 at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 21 ; and a ring plate portion 23 that extends from the cylindrical portion 21 in the axial direction and has a diameter in the axial direction . The cylindrical portion 21 is slightly reduced in diameter at the lower end portion, so that it can easily enter into the elastic cylindrical member 61 of the counterpart connector 60 with a contact pressure. The pair of locking pieces 22 abut against the locking step portion of the housing 50 when the contact member 20 is inserted into the housing 50 in the axial direction thereof to define the axial direction position of the contact member 20 . The ring plate portion 23 is formed with a hole portion 23A through which the column portion 42 of the connecting member 40 to be described later penetrates.

The connection member 30 has a cable 31 that is wired to the other connection object (not shown), and a metal fitting 32 that clamps the core wire 31B that is at the front end by the sheath 31A of the cable 31 removed and exposed. The metal fitting 32 is manufactured by processing a metal plate, and has a clamp portion 33 for clamping the core wire 31B, and a ring plate portion 34 extending from the clamp portion 33 .

The above-mentioned clamping portion 33 has a C-shaped cross-sectional shape at right angles to the axis of the cable 31 , and the distal ends of the clamping portion 33 clamp the cable 31 by being crushed so that their distal ends are close to each other. the core wire 31B. The ring plate portion 34 extending from the clamp portion 33 has almost the same outer diameter as the ring plate portion 23 of the above-mentioned contact member 20 , and forms a hole with almost the same inner diameter as the hole portion 23A of the ring plate portion 23 of the contact member 20 Section 34A.

In the present embodiment, the connecting member 40 is formed as a metal rivet, and has a disk-shaped head portion 41 and a column portion 42 . The column portion 42 has a slightly smaller outer diameter than the hole portion 23A formed in the ring plate portion 23 of the contact member 20 and the hole portion 34A formed in the ring plate portion 34 of the connecting member 30 . In the present embodiment, the connecting member 40 is used together with a conical disk-shaped coil spring 43 having a hole portion 43A having an inner diameter slightly larger than that of the column portion 42 described above.

In the connection member 40 described above, the column portion 42 of the connection member 40 penetrates the hole portion 43A of the coil spring 43 , the hole portion 34A of the ring plate portion 34 of the connection member 30 , and the ring plate portion 23 of the contact member 20 in this order. After the hole portion 23A, the front end (the left end in FIG. 4 ) of the column portion 42 is crushed as can be seen in FIG. Swing structure S with the contact member 20 . At this time, the coil spring 43 is in a compressed state, and a contact pressure is generated between the ring plate portion 34 of the connection member 30 and the ring plate portion 23 of the contact member 20 by the compressive elastic force.

The case 50 is made of an electrically insulating material, and holds two electrical relays 10 obtained by connecting and assembling the respective members of FIG. 2 . At this time, as described above, the two electrical relays 10 are arranged and installed side by side in a mutually symmetrical posture as can be seen in FIG. 1 . The two electrical relay bodies 10 are present in the direction in which the locking pieces 22 are separated from each other in the opposing direction of the two electrical relay bodies 10 .

As can be seen in FIG. 1 , the housing 50 has a substantially cubic shape, and supports the electrical relay 10 so that the electrical relay 10 is located on both sides of the dividing protrusions 51 protruding upward. As can be seen from (A) of FIG. 5 , the housing 50 forms recesses 52A, 52B at the upper and lower parts, and a thicker intermediate wall 53 between the recesses 52A, 52B has the cylindrical portion 21 that is inserted to support the contact member 20 the support hole 53A.

Although not shown in FIG. 5 , when the cylindrical portion 21 is inserted to a predetermined position in the intermediate wall 53 , the locking step portion with which the pair of locking pieces 22 protruding from the cylindrical portion 21 abuts on In FIG. 5, the upper part of 53 A of said support holes is connected and formed in the direction at right angles to the paper surface. Such support holes 53A and locking step portions correspond to the two electrical relay bodies 10, respectively, and have a symmetrical form.

The recessed part 52B formed in the lower part of the said housing|casing 50 becomes a form which accommodates the fitting protrusion part 72A mentioned later formed in the housing|casing 70 of the counterpart connector 60 mentioned later.

When the housing 50 supports the two electrical relays 10, the two electrical relays 10 can be fitted and connected to the counterpart connector 60 by one operation, but in the present invention, the housing 50 is not required In addition, it is also possible to connect the two electrical relays 10 not supported by the housing 50 to the counterpart connector 60 independently.

Next, as can be seen in FIG. 1 , the counterpart connector 60 has a metallic elastic cylindrical member 61 as a terminal, a counterpart housing 70 made of an electrically insulating material supporting the elastic cylindrical member 61 , and The case 70 supports and is fixedly attached to a mounting metal fitting 80 of a circuit board (not shown).

After obtaining a strip-shaped plate with a slit in which a plurality of thin slits are formed in parallel at intervals in a relatively thin metal plate as a semi-processed member, the longitudinal direction of the slit is made to be the axial direction, After rounding the strip-shaped plate with the slit into a cylindrical shape and joining the circumferential ends to each other, the diameter reduction process is performed so that the diameter of the cylindrical body becomes small at the central position in the axial direction, thereby obtaining an elastic cylindrical member. 61. The elastic cylindrical member 61 thus obtained is formed with a plurality of slits 61A extending in the axial direction at a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction, as shown in FIGS. 5(A) and (B) , and has no The annular end portion 61B of the slit has elasticity in the radial direction due to the existence of the slit 61A within the axial direction range in which the slit 61A is formed, and a diameter-reduced portion 61C is formed at a substantially central position in the same direction. The inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion 61C is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 21 of the above-mentioned contact member 20 in a free state without external force. When the cylindrical portion 21 is inserted into the reduced diameter portion 61C, the reduced diameter portion 61C The cylindrical portion 21 is pressed radially outward to elastically expand its diameter, and a contact pressure is generated between the cylindrical portion 21 and the cylindrical portion 21 is supported. The cylindrical portion 21 is in contact with the diameter-reduced portion 61C only within a narrow range in the axial direction, is rotatable about the axis within the elastic cylindrical member 61 , and can be slightly inclined with the diameter-reduced portion 61C as a fulcrum.

Although not shown, the above-mentioned elastic cylindrical member 61 integrally has a connecting leg electrically connected to the circuit board, or is electrically connected to a separate connecting leg.

The mating housing 70 of the mating connector 60 includes an upper housing 72 provided with a fitting protrusion 72A that fits into a recess 52B formed in the lower portion of the housing 50 that houses the contact member 20 . and 2 lower casings 73, which are assembled to the above-mentioned upper casing 72.

As can be seen from FIG. 1 , the upper case 72 has a fitting protrusion 72A having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a flange 72B protruding from the lower part of the fitting protrusion 72A to the periphery. On the side surface of the fitting protrusion 72A A positioning protrusion 72A-1 is provided so as to protrude laterally.

When the flange portion 72B enters the recess 52B of the housing 50 , the flange portion 72B abuts on the bottom surface of the housing 50 and enters a predetermined position, and the positioning protrusion 72A-1 is fitted into the positioning recess 54 formed on the side wall of the housing 50 . (refer FIG. 1), it is used for positioning, and the mounting metal fitting 80 for mounting the object casing 70 to a circuit board is hold|maintained. As can be seen from FIG. 1 , the mounting metal fitting 80 is a plate-shaped member that is press-fitted into the slit 72A-2 formed in the positioning protrusion 72A-1 from above, and the lower end side of the mounting metal fitting 80 is positioned from the above-mentioned position. The lower surface of the protruding portion 72A-1 protrudes downward.

In the upper case 72 , through holes 74 corresponding to the respective contact members 21 of the two electrical relay bodies 10 are formed in the fitting protrusions 72A so as to penetrate vertically at two places. As can be seen from FIG. 5 , each through hole 74 has an appropriate hole diameter and hole length into which a lower case 73 accommodating the elastic cylindrical member 61 described later can be inserted from below. The upper step portion 74A that regulates the upper position of the casing 73 .

As can be seen from FIG. 5(A) , the lower case 73 inserted into each of the through holes 74 becomes a bottomed cylindrical body, and a terminal hole 73A that opens upward is formed, and the above-mentioned elasticity as a terminal is accommodated in the terminal hole 73A from above. Cylindrical member 61 . An annular protrusion 73B is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower case 73 , and the annular protrusion 73B defines an insertion position when the upper half of the lower case 73 is inserted into the through hole 74 , and the annular protrusion 73B defines an insertion position. 73B is in contact with the lower surface of the upper case 72 , and defines an insertion position where the upper half of the lower case 73 is inserted into the through hole 74 . Therefore, the lower half of the lower case 73 , that is, a portion below the annular protrusion 73B exists so as to protrude downward from the upper case 72 .

In such a lower case 73 , the upper half of the lower case 73 is inserted into the corresponding through hole 74 in a state where the elastic cylindrical member 61 is accommodated in each terminal hole 73A, so as to be connected with the upper case 72 . The mating connector 60 is formed by integral assembly.

The counterpart connector 60 is arranged on a circuit board (not shown). A hole (not shown) for allowing the entry of the lower case 73 and a slit (not shown) for allowing the lower end of the mounting fitting 80 attached to the upper case 72 to enter are formed in the circuit board. When the housing 73 enters the hole of the circuit board and the lower end of the mounting metal fitting 80 enters the slit, the lower end of the mounting metal fitting 80 is soldered and fixed to the corresponding part of the circuit board, so that the counterpart connector 60 is fixed to the circuit the specified position of the substrate.

Such an electrical relay 10 is used and operated in the following manner. In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the electrical relays 10 are used in a state where two electrical relays 10 are paired and supported by the casing 50 to be unitized. As can be seen from FIG. 1 , the two electrical relay bodies 10 are supported by the casing 50 in a symmetrical posture in the opposing direction, and are brought to the counterpart connector in a state of being supported by the casing 50 during use. The position just above 60 is lowered as it is, and the fitting protrusion 72A of the upper case 72 of the counterpart case 70 which accommodates the counterpart connector 60 is fitted into the recess 52B formed in the lower portion of the case 50 .

When the fitting protrusions 72A of the counterpart connector 60 are received in the recesses 52B of the housing 50 , the contact member 21 of the electrical relay 10 protruding downward from the housing 50 is directed toward the elastic cylindrical member of the counterpart connector 60 . Enter within 61. Since the contact member 21 has a cylindrical shape and has a diameter slightly larger than that of the diameter-reduced portion 61C of the elastic cylindrical member 61, it is possible to expand the inner diameter of the diameter-reduced portion 61 and have an elastic contact pressure. It rotates around the axis, and is slightly inclined with the diameter-reduced portion 61 as a fulcrum, and radial displacement is also possible.

The connection member 30 connected to the contact member 21 so as to be swingable is connected to a connection object (not shown) after the housing 50 is fitted with the counterpart connector 60 or before the fitting.

The connecting member 30 and the contacting member 20 are connected by the connecting member 40 to form a swing structure S, and the connecting member 30 can swing relative to the contacting member 20 around the axis of the connecting member 40 as shown by the double-dot chain line in FIG. 3 . , allowing a greater inclination of the connecting member 30 relative to the contact member 20 . In addition, since the contact member 20 is rotatable around its axis as described above, the connection member 30 can change its direction around the axis of the connection member 40 and further around the axis of the contact member 20 with a large degree of freedom. The position of the connection object of the member 30 is not determined, and the position can be followed.

In the present embodiment, the connection member 30 is not limited to being composed of the cable 31 and the metal fitting 32 that clamps the core wire of the cable 31 as shown in FIGS. In FIG. 6 , the contact member 20 and the connection member 30 have the same structure, and are swingably connected by the connection member 40 . For the connection member 30 in FIG. 6 , the same reference numerals are assigned to the parts shared with the connection member 30 in FIG. 2 , except for the parts shared with the contact member 20 in FIG. The latch is marked with "36". If the contact member 20 and the connection member 30 have the same structure as shown in FIG. 6 , the structure is simplified by sharing the components of the electrical relay body 10 .

The present invention is not limited to the use of the electrical relay in a state supported by the case as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 , and it can be used without the case and directly connected to the counterpart connector. In addition, depending on the number of terminals (elastic cylindrical bodies) of the counterpart connector, it can be used as a single electrical relay body or can be used as two or more electrical relay bodies.

Claims (5)

1. An electrical relay having: a metal contact member having a columnar shape extending in one axial direction, and a metal connecting member electrically connected to the contact member, the contact member being inserted into and connected to a target connector in the axial direction of the contact member, the connecting member being connected to a connection target of the connecting member,

The electrical relay body is characterized in that,

The contact member has a cylindrical shape of which one end side is relatively rotatable around an axis of the contact member with respect to the subject connector,

A swinging structure capable of swinging relative to each other is formed by the other end side of the contact member and one end side of the connecting member,

The swing configuration is a configuration in which the contact member and the connection member are supported with each other such that the contact member and the connection member can relatively swing about another axis orthogonal to an axis of the contact member and an axis from one end side toward the other end side of the connection member.

2. The electrical relay of claim 1,

The swinging structure couples the ring plate portion provided on the other end side of the contact member and the other ring plate portion provided on one end side of the connecting member to be swingable by a coupling member extending along the other axis.

3. The electrical relay according to claim 1 or 2,

The portion of the connecting member extending from one end side to the other end side of the connecting member includes: at least one of the columnar member and the flexible cable member.

4. The electrical relay according to claim 1 or 2,

The connecting member has the same form as the contact member.

5. The electrical relay according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

At least the contact member of the contact member and the connection member is held by the housing.

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