JPH11135163A - Electrical contact - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical contact by which a superior waterproof characteristic can be guaranteed. SOLUTION: This electrical contact 10 has a contact part 20 and an arched part 36 between crimp barrels 50 and 60. The arched part 36 is arranged, so as to cover the front edge of a wire conductor comprising stranded insulated wires or the like, which are crimped by the crimp barrels, 50 and 60 and is composed so as to regulate their loosening. Therefore, there is no possibility that the edge of the wire conductor will damage a waterproof rubber, when the electrical contact 10 is penetrated inside a through-hole of the waterproof rubber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electrical contacts, and more particularly, to electrical contacts suitable for use in waterproof connectors for terminating wires containing stranded conductors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art
BACKGROUND ART As an electrical contact for terminating a wire, an electrical contact including a conductor barrel and a coating barrel for crimping a conductor of a wire and an insulating coating thereof, respectively, and a contact portion connected to a mating contact is known. In applications such as automobiles, the conductor of the wire often consists of a stranded wire. In such a case, the end portion of the stranded conductor crimped to the conductor barrel may extend away from the end of the barrel. Such a conductor does not affect the reliability of the electrical connection, but when the electrical contact is passed through a waterproof rubber through-hole to be used for waterproofing, the conductor end must be waterproof rubber. There is a possibility that the inner surface of the first member may be damaged, thereby deteriorating its waterproofness.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a configuration in which a conductor crimped to a crimp barrel of an electric contact does not damage the waterproof rubber when the electric contact is passed through the opening of the waterproof rubber. Such configured electrical contacts are suitable for use as waterproof connectors.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electric contact having a crimping barrel connected to a wire by crimping and a contact portion with a mating contact, wherein a crimping connection is provided at an intermediate portion between the barrel and the contact portion. A cover structure is provided to cover the end of the conductor of the wire.

[0005] Preferably, the electric contact is a female contact, and has an inner contact including an elastic contact piece that forms a part of the barrel and the contact portion, and an outer contact located outside the elastic contact piece. The cover structure constitutes an engagement structure for engaging the outer contact and the inner contact with the contact portion.

Preferably, the crimp barrel is an open type.

[0007] Preferably, the cover structure is formed by deforming a pair of tongue pieces arranged on both sides to face each other.

[0008] Preferably, the cover structure may be formed integrally with the inner contact or may be formed integrally with the outer contact.

[0009]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric contact according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electric contact of FIG.

According to FIG. 1 and FIG.
Numeral 0 is for terminating the insulated wire, comprising a conductor barrel 50 to which the female contact portion 20 and a conductor of an insulated wire (not shown) are crimped and a coating barrel 60 for crimping the insulating coating. Both barrels are open and configured. The female contact portion 20 has a substantially box shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrical contact 10 has an inner contact 80 and an outer contact 90 located outside thereof. Most of the outer contacts 90 are located at the contact portions 20.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are exploded perspective views showing the inner contact and the outer contact, viewed from different directions. 3 and 4 show a part of the carrier strip connected to the inner contact.

3 and 4 show inner and outer contacts 80,
The configuration of 90 is shown in more detail. Inner contact 80
Is a front part 21 constituting the contact part 20, a crimp barrel 50,
And a middle portion 23 located therebetween. The front part 21 has two pairs of opposing elastic pieces 24, 2
4: 25, 25. As shown in the figure, the elastic pieces 24 are adjacent to each other in a direction orthogonal to each other.
And a contact protrusion 26 at a relatively forward position. The elastic piece 25 has a contact projection 27 at a relatively rear position. The elastic pieces 24 and 25 extend forward from the box-shaped portion 28. A pair of slits 31 and 32 orthogonal to the length direction of the inner contact 80 are formed in a plate constituting the box-shaped portion 28. As shown, the slit 31 divides the box-shaped portion 28 in the length direction while leaving a part of the top surface 33, and similarly, the slit 32 also leaves the box-shaped portion 28 with a length left while leaving a part of the side surface 34. Split in the direction. These configurations allow a small amount of vibration in the front-rear direction at the elastic pieces 24 and 25, and prevent poor contact due to fine sliding wear.

The intermediate portion 23 includes a pair of curved tongue pieces 35.
(Cover structure) 36 and a concave portion 37 formed between the box-shaped portion 28 and the arch-shaped portion 36. The arch-shaped portion 36 is provided close to the conductor barrel 50, and is placed so as to cover the vicinity of the front end of the wire conductor when a wire conductor (not shown) made of a wire is crimped by the conductor barrel 50. I will
Therefore, the variation of the wire conductor can be restricted, and the stranded wire of the wire conductor can be prevented from extending away from the contact 80. The function of the recess 37 will be described later.

The outer contact 90 is formed by bending a metal plate so as to have a substantially rectangular hollow structure. As shown, the seam 38 of the above-mentioned inner contact 80 is formed upward, while the seam 91 of the outer contact 90 formed by bending is formed downward, thereby opening the inner contact 80. Preventing. At the position of the seam 91, a mechanical engagement means 92 between the metal plates is formed, thereby preventing the outer contact 90 itself from opening. Processing such as welding is not performed on the inner contact 80 to prevent the inner contact 80 from opening.
It should be noted that the opening is prevented mechanically. The lower surface of the outer contact 90 is provided with a reverse insertion prevention structure 93 that determines the direction of insertion when the electrical contact 10 is inserted into a housing cavity (not shown) and prevents insertion in the opposite direction. Reverse insertion prevention structure 93
Is formed by stamping a metal plate. 2, the front end of the outer contact 90 is bent inward from four sides, thereby forming a front wall 94. The front wall 94 functions to protect the elastic pieces 24, 25 from the front.

In the vicinity of the rear end of the outer contact 90,
A facing hook portion (or engaging portion) 95 is provided so as to be located at the intermediate portion 23. 3 and 4, the hook 95 is shown as being curved,
Before the O is assembled to the inner contact 80, it is substantially upright as shown by a broken line, and is deformed as shown after completely receiving the front portion 21 of the inner contact 80 inside the outer contact 90. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hook 95 is located in the recess 37 of the inner contact 80 so as to prevent the outer contact 90 and the inner contact 80 from being disassembled. In other words, the movement of the hook portion 95 in the front-rear direction depends on the box-shaped portion 28 of the inner contact 80 and the arch-shaped portion 3.
6.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the electrical contact showing the arch-shaped portion before deformation.

The arc-shaped portion 36 of the electrical contact 10 is
It is formed by bending the pair of tongue pieces 35 so as to abut each other.
Before or after assembly of the outer contacts 90 and before and after crimping of the insulated wires to the crimp barrels 50, 60. Preferably, the deformation of the tongue piece 35 is performed simultaneously with the step of crimping the insulating wire to the crimp barrels 50, 60 after the assembly of the inner contact 80 and the outer contact 90 is completed. According to this method, the crimp barrel 5
Advantageously, the work of arranging the insulated wires with respect to 0 and 60 is easy, and the tongue piece 35 can be deformed with the same applicator as the applicator for crimping.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the outer contact in part as 190. According to this embodiment, the hook portion 1 is located near the rear end of the outer contact 190.
An arc-shaped portion 136 is integrally formed on the rear side of 95. That is, in this case, it is not necessary to form an arch-shaped portion on the inner contact. The arch-shaped portion 136 is arranged so as to cover the distal end of the wire conductor of the insulating wire crimped on the crimp barrel of the inner contact (not shown), thereby restricting the dispersion of the wire conductor. The deformation of the pair of butted tongue pieces 135 forming the arched portion 136 is the hook portion 1
Preferably, it is performed simultaneously with the deformation of 95.

In either of the two embodiments described above, the front ends of the wire conductors are defined by arches 36, 136, so that if the wire conductors come apart, they will not protrude from the electrical contacts. Therefore, there is no possibility that the waterproof rubber is damaged when the electrical contact terminating the insulating wire is assembled with the waterproof rubber, and a highly reliable waterproof property can be provided.

As described above, the electric contact according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, this is merely an example, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art.

[0024]

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a cover structure for covering an end portion of a conductor of a wire crimped and connected is provided at an intermediate portion between the crimp barrel and the contact portion, so that a relatively simple structure is provided. While the end of the conductor of the wire connected to the crimp barrel can be regulated, the end of the wire conductor protruding from the contact by restricting the spread due to the dispersion of the wire conductor composed of a stranded wire or the like can be regulated. Therefore, there is no possibility that the wire conductor will damage the waterproof rubber when the electrical contact is passed through the waterproof rubber through hole when assembling the electrical contact. Therefore, the electrical contact of the present invention can provide a highly reliable waterproof property for a waterproof connector. The electrical contact according to the invention is also very easy to manufacture and assemble.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric contact according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electric contact of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an inner contact and an outer contact.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an inner contact and an outer contact as viewed from a direction different from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an electric contact showing an arch-shaped portion before deformation.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective view of an electric contact according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electric contact 20 Contact part 50, 60 Crimp barrel 36, 136 Arch part (cover structure)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrical contact having a crimp barrel connected to a wire by crimping and a contact portion with a mating contact, wherein a conductor of the wire crimp-connected to an intermediate portion between the crimp barrel and the contact portion is provided. An electrical contact, wherein a cover structure covering an end is provided.