JP2008210755A - Terminal metal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal metal fitting in which a lubricating oil is surely supplied to contact points of both-end terminal fittings and a connection reliability is secured. <P>SOLUTION: Male tabs 71, 71A are inserted into a main body 11 and made to contact with a contact piece 21. The male tabs 71, 71A and the contact piece 21 have common sliding areas X, Y from a starting position for the both to contact with each other to a properly connected contact position of the both in an inserting direction of the male tabs 71, 71A. On a starting position of the contact piece 21, there is provided a concave portion (an oil holding portion) for holding a lubricating oil to be supplied to a contact portion 28. Since properly connected contact positions of the male tabs 71, 71A and the contact piece 21 are deviated from the concave portion 31, dusts accumulated in the concave portion 31 are prevented from being pinched between the male tabs and the contact piece 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal fitting.

The terminal metal fitting described in Patent Document 1 includes a male terminal metal fitting having a male tab and a female terminal metal fitting having a box-shaped main body portion and a contact piece disposed in the main body portion so as to be able to bend and deform. The male tab is inserted into the main body and is elastically sandwiched between the contact piece and the receiving portion facing it, whereby the male and female terminal fittings are connected. Further, a protruding embossed portion is formed on the contact piece by knocking out, and a contact portion with a male tab is formed at the top of the embossed portion. The contact portion is coated with lubricating oil prior to the connection with the male tab so as to ensure a good connection between the contact portion and the male tab.
However, in the above case, the applied lubricating oil may flow down without staying at the contact portion.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the lubricant is supplied to the contact surface on which the contact slides, and an oil sump groove is provided on the contact surface, and the lubricant is stored in the groove. The structure which prevented the contact surface from running out of oil is disclosed. Therefore, if this technique is applied to the terminal fitting of Patent Document 1 described above and an oil sump groove is provided in the contact portion with the male tab, it is considered that lubricating oil can be retained in the contact portion. .
JP 2002-15803 A JP 7-11001 A

  However, with such a configuration, there is a possibility that dust may enter the groove of the contact portion before the connection operation of the two terminal fittings is started. When the connection operation of the two terminal fittings is started while dust is mixed in the lubricating oil, the dust is caught together with the lubricating oil between the male tab and the contact portion, and connection reliability may be impaired.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reliably supply lubricating oil to the contact portions of both terminal fittings and to ensure connection reliability.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 has a male terminal fitting having a male tab and a contact piece which has a box-shaped main body portion and is arranged so as to be able to bend and deform in the main body portion. The male tab is inserted into the main body and is elastically contacted with the contact piece, and the male tab and the contact piece are both normally connected from the starting point position where they come into contact with each other. A terminal fitting having a sliding region that slides along the insertion direction of the male tab toward the contact position, wherein at least one of the male tab and the contact piece includes the sliding member. It is characterized in that an oil retaining portion for retaining the lubricating oil supplied to the contact position is provided in the region and closer to the start position than the contact position.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the oil retaining portion is configured as a recess recessed from the periphery in the sliding region.
A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the oil retaining portion is provided immediately before the contact position in the sliding region.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the sliding region on the contact piece side is configured as a protruding embossed portion, and the oil retaining portion is the embossed portion. Of the above, it is characterized in that it is provided on an inclined surface facing the male tab inserted into the main body.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 4, the sliding region on the male tab side is provided with a scraping portion for scooping out the lubricating oil stored in the oil retaining portion. Have.

<Invention of Claim 1>
By providing the oil retaining portion in at least one of the male tab and the contact piece, it is possible to prevent the lubricating oil from flowing down. Further, as the insertion depth of the male tab increases, the lubricating oil spreads over the sliding region including the contact position, so that the lubricant oil can be reliably supplied to the contact position (a contact portion as a part). Furthermore, even if dust is collected in the oil holding part before insertion of the male tab, the male tab and the contact piece come into contact with each other at a position (contact point) different from the oil holding part where the dust is collected. Can prevent dust from being caught between the male tab and the contact piece, and can ensure contact reliability.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since the oil holding portion is configured as a concave portion, the outflow of the lubricating oil can be prevented. Since the lubricating oil filled in the recess is swelled from the opening surface of the recess due to the surface tension, it can adhere to the other side sliding on the opening surface of the recess.
<Invention of Claim 3>
Since the oil retaining part is provided immediately before the contact position in the sliding area, the timing when the lubricating oil is supplied from the oil retaining part to the sliding area is the final stage of the insertion operation of the male tab, and the lubricating oil in the sliding area is Can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to reduce the supply amount of the lubricating oil and prevent the cost from increasing.

<Invention of Claim 4>
Since the oil retaining portion is provided on the inclined surface facing the male tab inserted into the main body portion of the embossed portion, the adhesion and lubricity of the lubricating oil to the male tab are improved.

<Invention of Claim 5>
Since the sliding area on the male tab side is provided with the lubricating oil scraping portion, the lubricating oil is positively scraped out from the recess, and the lubricity at the contact position is enhanced.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is composed of a female terminal fitting 10 and a male terminal fitting 70. Both terminal fittings 10 and 70 are accommodated in a connector (not shown) and are connected to each other by a connector fitting operation. In the following description, in the front-rear direction, the connection start side of both terminal fittings 10 and 70 is the front.

  The male terminal fitting 70 is formed by processing a conductive metal plate, and has a male tab 71 protruding forward. The male tab 71 has a slightly wide and flat and elongated shape, and a tapered surface 72 that guides the insertion operation to the female terminal fitting 10 is cut out around the entire periphery of the male tab 71.

  The female terminal fitting 10 is also formed by processing a conductive metal plate. The female terminal fitting 10 has a box-shaped main body 11 into which a male tab 71 can be inserted at the front end, and is fixed to the electric wire 90 at the rear end. Barrel portions 12 and 13 are provided. The barrel portions 12 and 13 are composed of a wire barrel 12 that is located on the front and is caulked to the core wire 92 of the electric wire 90, and an insulation barrel 13 that is located on the rear and is caulked to the covering 93 of the electric wire 90 (FIG. 1). See).

The main body 11 includes a base wall 14, an opposing wall 15 facing the base wall 14, and a pair of left and right side walls 16 connected to both ends of the base wall 14 and the opposing wall 15, and is bent into a rectangular tube shape. Yes. The front surface of the main body 11 is opened as the insertion port 17 of the male tab 71, and the male tab 71 is inserted and withdrawn therethrough.
The opposing wall 15 is formed by folding two inner and outer plates in the thickness direction, and a receiving portion 18 for the male tab 71 is formed along the insertion direction of the male tab 71 on the inner plate. The receiving part 18 is formed by knocking inward the intermediate part in the width direction of the inner plate.

  A stabilizer 19 that guides the insertion operation of the female terminal fitting 10 into the connector is suspended from the main body 11 so as to cut up the base wall 14 and continue to the lower end of one side wall 16. Further, the base wall 14 is formed with a contact piece 21 that is folded back from the front end of the base wall 14 into the main body 11 in front of the stabilizer 19. Specifically, the contact piece 21 is connected to the front end of the base wall 14 and forms an inward (upward) arcuate shape, and the contact piece 21 is connected to the bent end of the front side bent portion 22 and extends obliquely upward and rearward. The inclined portion 23, the rear curved portion 24 that forms an outward (downward) arc shape connected to the extended end of the inclined portion 23, and the inclined portion 23 that is connected to the bent end of the rear curved portion 24. The auxiliary inclined portion 25 that extends in parallel and obliquely downward and forward, and the distal end bent portion 26 that is bent from the extending end of the auxiliary inclined portion 25 toward the substantially central portion in the length direction of the inclined portion 23. In the middle of the inclination of the inclined portion 23, an embossed portion 27 that protrudes toward the receiving portion 18 and has a substantially circular shape in plan view is formed by knocking out.

  The top portion of the embossed portion 27 serves as a contact portion 28 for the male tab 71. When the contact piece 21 is in a natural state, the embossed portion 27 has a gap slightly narrower than the thickness of the male tab 71 between the receiving portion 18 and the contact piece 21. When elastically bent, the male tab 71 is elastically sandwiched between the receiving portion 18 and the thickness direction. The contact piece 21 is elastically bent in the direction away from the receiving portion 18 with the front curved portion 22 as a fulcrum in accordance with the insertion operation of the male tab 71, and the extended end of the auxiliary inclined portion 25 is elastically applied to the inner surface of the base wall 14. By making contact, the bent state is stably maintained (see FIG. 4). On the other hand, when the contact piece 21 tries to bend excessively, the tip of the tip bending portion 26 supports the inclined portion 23 and stretches so that the contact piece 21 is not further bent.

  A recess 31 (oil retaining portion) for storing lubricating oil (contact oil) supplied to the contact portion 28 is cut out at a position immediately before the contact portion 28 in the embossed portion 27 so as to be recessed from the periphery. ing. Specifically, when viewed in plan, the recess 31 has a symmetrical shape with respect to the front and rear central axes, and is opened in a spindle shape that is gradually widened from the front and rear ends toward the central portion. Of these, an arcuate front inclined surface 32 that is inclined forward so as to face the tip of the male tab 71 entering the main body 11 is formed (see FIG. 2). The inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 31 has a shallow concave spherical shape, and the depth gradually increases from the opening edge to the central portion. The opening of the recess 31 is arranged toward the insertion port 17 of the main body 11. When the contact piece 21 is in a natural state, it faces the insertion port 17 of the main body 11 with a steep slope, and when the contact piece 21 is in an elastically bent state. It faces the insertion port 17 of the main body 11 with a gentle inclination.

Here, a substantially central portion in the width direction of the front inclined surface 32 of the embossed portion 27 is a sliding region X that slides with the male tab 71 inserted into the main body portion 11. The sliding region X on the female terminal fitting 10 side is formed along the front-rear direction from the starting point position where the male tab 71 starts to contact to the contact position where the male tab 71 is normally connected. In the case of this embodiment, the starting point position corresponds to the concave portion 31 and the contact position corresponds to the contact portion 28.
On the other hand, in correspondence with the sliding region X on the female terminal fitting 10 side, the substantially central portion in the width direction of the lower surface of the male tab 71 is formed with the embossed portion 27 (on the female terminal fitting 10 side) along with the insertion operation of the male tab 71. A sliding area X) and a sliding area Y are provided. The sliding region Y on the male terminal fitting 70 side has a starting position at the tip end portion of the male tab 71, specifically, the tip edge portion 74 of the lower taper surface 73 of the male tab 71 (forwardly tapered surface 72). There is a contact position at a position closer to the root (a position corresponding to the contact portion 28) that is retracted therefrom. That is, the male tab 71 and the contact piece 21 are opposite to each other in the direction from the starting position to the contact position. The male tab 71 comes into contact with the opening edge of the recess 31 at the start position when the insertion is started, and comes into contact with the contact portion 28 at the contact position when the insertion is completed.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, prior to starting the connecting operation of the two terminal fittings 10, 70, lubricating oil is introduced and stored in the recess 31 of the female terminal fitting 10. The introduced lubricating oil bulges from the opening of the recess 31 due to its surface tension. Subsequently, the male tab 71 is inserted into the main body 11 from the insertion port 17 with the fitting operation of both connectors. The male tab 71 enters the back side of the main body 11 while making the upper surface thereof slidably contact the receiving portion 18. Then, when the leading edge portion 74 of the male tab 71 hits the embossed portion 27 of the contact piece 21 at the starting point position, the contact piece 21 is elastically bent by the pressing force of the contact (see FIG. 3). Further, the lubricating oil introduced into the recess 31 adheres to the leading edge portion 74 of the male tab 71, and further increases the insertion range of the male tab 71 from the leading edge portion 74 (starting point position). The male tab 71 is expanded in the length direction toward the contact position side. The adhesion range of the lubricating oil coincides with the range of the sliding area Y of the male tab 71, and the lower surface of the male tab 71 (sliding area) as the lower surface of the male tab 71 passes over the opening of the recess 31. The lubricating oil is sequentially supplied to Y).

  The lower surface of the male tab 71 is separated from the recess 31 immediately before the male tab 71 is inserted into the main body 11 at a normal depth, in other words, immediately before the contact piece 21 and the male tab 71 reach the contact position. Thus, when the male tab 71 is inserted into the main body 11 at a normal depth, the male tab 71 is elastically sandwiched between the contact portion 28 of the contact piece 21 and the receiving portion 18 at the contact position, and both terminals The metal fittings 10, 70 are properly connected. At this time, the contact portion 28 and the male tab 71 are lubricated by the lubricating oil supplied to the contact position, and the connection state between both the members 28 and 71 is kept good.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
Since the concave portion 31 is provided in the contact piece 21 and the lubricating oil is stored in the concave portion 31, it is possible to reliably prevent the lubricating oil from flowing out before starting the connecting operation of the two terminal fittings 10 and 70.
Further, as the insertion depth of the male tab 71 increases, the lubricating oil expands into the sliding regions X and Y including the contact position, so that the lubricant oil is surely applied to the contact position (the contact portion 28 as a part). Can supply. Furthermore, even if dust and dust are mixed in the recess 31 before starting the connecting operation of the two terminal fittings 10 and 70, the male tab 71 and the contact portion 28 of the contact piece 21 are different from the recess 31. Since contact is made at the position (contact position), dust can be prevented from being caught between the male tab 71 and the contact piece 21 at the contact position. As a result, contact reliability can be ensured.

Further, since the recess 31 is provided immediately before the contact position, the timing at which the lubricating oil is supplied from the recess 31 to the sliding areas X and Y is the final stage of the insertion operation of the male tab 71, and the sliding areas X and Y The spread of lubricating oil can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to reduce the supply amount of the lubricating oil and prevent the cost from increasing.
Furthermore, since the recessed part 31 is provided in the front inclined surface 32 which faces the male tab 71 inserted in the main body part 11 among the embossed parts 27, the male tab 71 can easily receive the lubricating oil introduced into the recessed part 31. Thus, the adhesion of the lubricating oil to the male tab 71 and the lubricity are improved.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the shape of the male tab 71A, but the other parts are the same as in the first embodiment. .

  The male tab 71A according to the second embodiment is provided with a scraping portion 77 for scraping the lubricating oil stored in the recess 31 on the lower tapered surface 73 (the upwardly tapered surface 72) (see FIG. 6). reference). The scraped portion 77 has a ridge extending in the front-rear direction at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the lower tapered surface 73, and is formed over the entire length of the lower tapered surface 73. Specifically, the protruding portion 77 has a small protrusion height, and the lower taper surface 73 is notched at the front and rear ends (see FIG. 5).

  When the male tab 71A is inserted into the main body 11 and reaches the start position, the scraped portion 77 enters the recess 31 and enters into the lubricating oil. When the insertion operation of the male tab 71A further proceeds, the scraping portion 77 scrapes the lubricating oil from the recess 31 and supplies an appropriate amount of lubricating oil to the sliding regions X and Y including the contact positions. Thereby, the lubricity in a contact position becomes more favorable.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The oil retaining part may be in the form of a streak or a groove. The point is that the lubricant oil may be temporarily stored.
(2) The oil holding part may be provided in the sliding area of the male tab. Moreover, the oil holding part may be provided in the sliding region of both the male tab and the contact piece.
(3) The oil retaining unit may be provided in the middle of the sliding region instead of the starting point position. In short, the oil retaining portion only needs to be provided in the sliding region and on the start position side, and may be provided in a portion excluding the contact position. If it carries out like this, since a recessed part and a contact part will shift | deviate in a contact position, it can prevent that dust is pinched | interposed between a male tab and a contact piece.
(4) A structure may be adopted in which a pair of contact pieces are arranged opposite to each other in the main body portion in the sliding region, and a male tab is elastically sandwiched between both contact pieces.
(5) The recess may be formed shallow on the start position side and deep on the contact position side. In this way, as the male tab approaches the contact position side, the amount of lubricating oil supplied to the sliding region increases, and the lubricity at the contact position is further enhanced. Moreover, lubricating oil can be saved on the starting point side.

The principal part fracture side view of the terminal metal fitting of Embodiment 1 Enlarged plan view of contact piece Enlarged cross-sectional view of the main body at the starting point where the male tab began to hit the contact piece Enlarged sectional view of the main body at the contact position where the male tab is normally connected to the contact piece FIG. 3 equivalent view of the terminal fitting of the second embodiment Bottom view of the tip of the male tab

Explanation of symbols

X: Sliding area on the side of the female terminal fitting Y: Sliding area on the side of the male terminal fitting 10: Female terminal fitting 11 ... Main body 18 ... Receiving part 21 ... Contact piece 27 ... Embossed part 28 ... Contact part 31 ... Recessed (oil Holding department)
32 ... Front inclined surface 70 ... Male terminal fitting 71, 71A ... Male tab 74 ... End edge portion

Claims (5)

A male terminal fitting having a male tab;
It consists of a female terminal fitting having a box-shaped main body portion and a contact piece arranged in the main body portion so as to be able to bend and deform,
The male tab is inserted into the main body and elastically contacted with the contact piece,
The male tab and the contact piece are terminal fittings each having a sliding area that slides along the insertion direction of the male tab from a starting point position where both start to contact to a contact position where both are normally connected. There,
At least one of the male tab and the contact piece has an oil holding portion that holds the lubricating oil supplied to the contact position within the sliding region and closer to the start position than the contact position. Terminal fittings characterized by being provided. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the oil retaining portion is configured as a recess that is recessed from the periphery in the sliding region. The terminal fitting according to claim 1, wherein the oil retaining portion is provided immediately before the contact position in the sliding region. The sliding area on the one side of the contact is constituted by a protruding embossed portion,
The terminal fitting according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the oil retaining portion is provided on an inclined surface facing a male tab inserted into the main body portion of the embossed portion. 5. The terminal fitting according to claim 4, wherein a sliding portion on the male tab side is provided with a scraping portion for scooping out the lubricating oil stored in the oil holding portion.

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