JP2003203705A - Electrical connection part structure using fork-type terminal, and electric component - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve reliability of electrical connection in an electrical connection part using fork-type terminals. <P>SOLUTION: The fork-type terminals 1, 12 are engaged with each other for the electrical connection. The fork-type terminal 1 having a slit part 4 in a flat plate part 3 is orthogonalized to the fork-type terminal 12 having a slit part 4' in a flat plate part 3', and the slit parts 4, 4' are engaged with each other. The electrical connection can be obtained by four-point contact between projecting parts 5a, 5b and 5a', 5b' of the slit parts 4, 4' of both the fork-type terminals 1, 12, and the front and rear of the flat plate parts 3 or 3' of the opposite fork-type terminals 12, 1. Compared to conventional two-point contact, the reliability of the electrical connection is significantly improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connecting portion structure using a fork-shaped terminal having a flat plate portion with a slit portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 4 (a), 4 (b) and 4 (c) show a conventional example of a structure of an electrical connection portion using a fork-shaped terminal, and show a case of a fuse connection portion in a fuse box of an automobile. On the side of the fuse box (not shown), two fork-shaped terminals 1 each having a flat plate portion 3 with a slit portion 4 are provided. , Make electrical connection. The slit portion 4 of the fork-shaped terminal 1 is formed with a pair of projecting portions 5a, 5a 'which face each other with a gap equal to or less than the plate thickness of the mating plate terminal 2, and the slit portion 4 has a mating terminal 2 When the plug is inserted, the contact force with the terminal 2 is obtained by the spring force of the slit portion 4 in the width direction, so that the terminals 1 and 2 are electrically connected.

In the case of electrical connection between electric wires, a fork-shaped terminal is generally not used so much, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, both electric wires 7a to be connected,
The male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 are crimp-connected to 7b, respectively, and the male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 are fitted to each other for electrical connection. 5A is a perspective view showing a state before electrical connection, FIG. 5B is a schematic sectional view of FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6A is a perspective view after electrical connection. , (B) are schematic cross-sectional views of FIG. In this case, the female terminal 22 has a lance 23 having a spring structure inside, and when the tip of the male terminal 21 is inserted into the female terminal 22, a lance generated when the male terminal 21 pushes down the lance 23. With the spring force of 23, the male terminal 2
A contact pressure is obtained between the two and an electrical connection is made.
Each of the male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 has a sectional shape obtained by bending a metal plate into a tubular shape or a substantially tubular shape.

[0004]

In the conventional electrical connection structure shown in FIG. 4, since the flat plate terminal 2 is simply inserted into the slit portion 4 of the fork-shaped terminal 1, the fork-shaped terminal 1 has opposite projections. Only two points of contact between the parts 5a and 5a 'and the front and back of the flat plate terminal 2 are contacted, and the electrical connection may not always be sufficient with the contact of only these two points.

In the case of electrical connection between electric wires by the male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 of FIG. 5, the male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 have a tubular or substantially tubular cross-sectional shape, and the width direction However, there is a drawback that the material cost of the terminal is high because of the long deployment length. Further, since a metal mold for molding a metal plate into a tubular shape or a substantially tubular shape is complicated, there is a drawback that it requires a lot of design man-hours and a cost increases.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and can improve the reliability of the electrical connection of an electrical connecting portion using a fork-shaped terminal.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connecting portion structure using a fork-shaped terminal and an electrical component that can reduce the cost of the terminal used.

[0007]

In the electrical connection structure using a fork-shaped terminal of the present invention for solving the above problems, a slit portion is formed by making a pair of fork-shaped terminals each having a slit portion in a flat plate portion orthogonal to each other. Is fitted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electrical connection between the circuits, a pair of fork-shaped terminals each having a slit portion in a flat plate portion are used as the connection terminals.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the electrical connection between the electric wires, a pair of fork-shaped terminals each having a flat plate portion having the same shape and a slit portion are used as the connection terminals.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric component connected to an electric device having two terminals using a fork-shaped terminal,
2 connected to two fork-shaped terminals on the side of the electric device
As one of the terminals, a fork-shaped terminal having a flat plate portion with a slit portion is provided.

[0011]

1 shows the structure of an electrical connecting portion using a fork-shaped terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to a fuse connecting portion in a fuse box of an automobile. (A) is a perspective view of a state before electrical connection, (B) is a perspective view of a state after electrical connection, and (C) is a partially cutaway perspective view of a main part of (B).

The two fork-shaped terminals 1 provided on the fuse box side (not shown) are the same as those in the conventional example of FIG. 4, and the flat plate portion 3 is provided with the slit portion 4, and the slit portion 4 is provided with a pair of projecting portions. 5a and 5b are formed. In the present invention, the other terminal connected to the fork-shaped terminal also has a fork structure. That is, in the embodiment, the two terminals on the fuse 6 side are also the fork-shaped terminals 12, and the flat plate portion 3 '
The slit portion 4'is provided with a pair of protrusions 5a 'and 5b'. The intervals between the protruding portions 5a, 5b or 5a ', 5b' of both fork-shaped terminals 1, 12 are equal to or less than the plate thickness of the mating terminal 12 or 1.

In the above-mentioned electrical connection structure, the two fork-shaped terminals 12 of the fuse 6 are respectively inserted into the two fork-shaped terminals 1 on the fuse box side to establish an electrical connection between them. In this case, double fork type terminal 1
And 12 are orthogonal to each other and the slit portions 4 and 4'are fitted to each other. At that time, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 1C, the protruding portion 5 of one fork-shaped terminal 1
a and 5b come into contact with both surfaces of the flat plate portion 3 ′ of the other fork-shaped terminal 12, and the protrusion 5 of the other fork-shaped terminal 12
The a ′ and 5b ′ come into contact with both surfaces of the flat plate portion 3 of the one fork-shaped terminal 1 to obtain an electrical connection between them. Thus, the respective protrusions 5a, 5b and the protrusions 5
4'of a ', 5b' and the front and back of the other flat part 3 or 3 '
Since the electrical connection is obtained by the point contact, the reliability of the electrical connection is remarkably improved as compared with the conventional two-point contact.
In addition, although the fork structure of the above-mentioned embodiment forms a pair of protrusions in the slit portion, it may have a plurality of pairs of protrusions. Further, it may be a slit portion having a straight parallel gap without a protruding portion.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an electric connection portion between electric wires, (a) is a perspective view of a state before electric connection, (b)
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a state after electrical connection. In this embodiment, as shown, fork-shaped terminals 9 and 9'are attached to both electric wires 7a and 7b to be connected, respectively. That is, each of the fork-shaped terminals 9 and 9 ′ is provided with the slit portions 4 and 4 ′ on the flat plate portions 3 and 3 ′, and the protruding portions 5a, 5b and 5a ′ and 5a ′, 5a ′ and 5a ′, which face the slit portions 4, 4 ′.
b'is formed, and the wire crimping portions 13, 13 'are further provided, and the conductors of the wires 7a, 7b are crimped to the wire crimping portions 13, 13'. The electric wires 7a, 7
The conductor b may be connected to the fork-shaped terminals 9 and 9'by soldering, fusion bonding or the like instead of pressure bonding. The shapes and dimensions of the two fork-shaped terminals 9 and 9'are exactly the same.

A fork-shaped terminal 9 for both electric wires 7a, 7b,
The connection between 9'is the same as in the case of FIG. 1, and both fork-shaped terminals 9, 9'are made orthogonal to each other so that the slit portions 4, 4 '
The fork-shaped terminals 9 and 9 ′ are electrically connected by four points of contact between the protruding portions 5a, 5b and 5a ′ and 5b ′ and the mating flat plate portions 3 and 3 ′. Connection is obtained. Therefore, sufficiently good electrical connection can be secured.

Further, in this embodiment, since parts having the same shape and dimensions can be used as the connection terminals for connecting the electric wires, the number of kinds of parts for connecting the electric wires can be reduced by half. Therefore, the mold used for manufacturing the terminal can be simplified, and the number of design steps and cost can be reduced. Further, since the two terminals to be connected can have the same shape (same shape and size), workability is improved, and handling and parts management are facilitated. In addition, since the wires are flat except for the wire crimping portions 13 and 13 ', the mold can be simplified compared to the conventional male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 in this respect as well, and the number of design steps and cost can be reduced. Is possible. Further, since the development length in the width direction is shorter than that of the male terminal 21 and the female terminal 22 having a tubular or substantially tubular cross-sectional shape, the material cost of the terminal can be reduced.

FIG. 3 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is applied as a connector for connecting two electric wires to each other. That is, the male connector 16 attached to the one electric cord 15 and the female connector 16 'attached to the other electric cord 15' are both
A fork-shaped terminal 18 inside the housing 17, 17 ',
It has a built-in 18 '. Double fork type terminals 18, 18 '
2 are almost the same as those in FIG. 2, and although the details are omitted, they have the same shape and size. In FIG. 3, even if one of the connectors 16 or 16 ′ is a connector of an electric device, the same can be applied.

In the embodiment, the fuse connection part in the fuse box, the connection part between electric wires, and the connector of the electric cord have been described, but the present invention can be applied to various electric connection parts using fork type terminals. For example, it can be applied to an electrical connection portion between a terminal attached to an electric wire and a bus bar such as an electric connection box mounted on a vehicle or a control device, or an electrical connection portion with a board connector. Also,
The present invention can also be applied to an electrical connection portion between busbars inside an electrical connection box or a control device, or an electrical connection portion between a busbar and a board connector. Further, the present invention can be applied even when a multiple fork-shaped terminal having a plurality of slits in common in the flat plate is used.

[0019]

According to the electric connecting portion structure or the electric component using the fork-shaped terminal of the present invention, the pair of fork-shaped terminals are made orthogonal to each other and the slit portions are fitted to each other to perform the electric connection. Therefore, the number of contact points is four, and therefore, the reliability of the electrical connection is remarkably improved as compared with the conventional electrical connection structure in which one is a simple flat plate terminal and two-point contact is made.

When the present invention is applied to the electrical connecting portion between electric wires as in claim 3, the same (same shape and size) parts can be used as connecting terminals for connecting electric wires.
It is possible to reduce the number of types of parts for connecting between electric wires by half.
Therefore, the mold used for manufacturing can be simplified, and the number of design steps and cost can be reduced. In addition, since the wire is flat except for the wire crimping portion, the mold can be simplified and the number of design steps and cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional male terminal and female terminal. Further, the development length in the width direction is shorter than that of the male or female terminal having a tubular or substantially tubular cross-sectional shape, so that the material cost of the terminal can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the electrical connection structure of the present invention is applied to a fuse connection portion in a fuse box of an automobile, in which (a) is a perspective view of a state before electrical connection,
(B) is a perspective view of the state after electrical connection, (C) is (B)
It is a partial cutaway perspective view of the main part of.

2A and 2B show an embodiment in which the electrical connection portion structure of the present invention is applied to an electrical connection portion simultaneously with electric wires. FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a state before electrical connection, and FIG. It is a perspective view of the state after a connection.

FIG. 3 shows still another embodiment of the electrical connection portion structure of the present invention, and is a plan view of a state after electrical connection.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a conventional example of an electrical connection portion structure using a fork-shaped terminal, in which FIG. 4A is a perspective view before electrical connection, and FIG. 4B is a state after electrical connection. Perspective view,
(C) is a sectional view of (B).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state before electrical connection of a conventional example of an electrical connection portion structure when connecting electric wires to each other.
(A) is a perspective view, (B) is a schematic sectional view of (A).

6 shows a state after electrical connection of the conventional example of FIG. 5, (a) is a perspective view, and (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view of (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 12 Fork type terminal 3, 3'flat plate part 4, 4'slit part Projections 5a, 5b, 5a ', 5b' 6 Fuse (electrical parts) 7a, 7b electric wire 9, 9'fork type terminal 13, 13 'Wire crimping part 15,15 'electric wire 16, 16 'connector 18, 18 'Fork type terminal

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electrical connecting portion structure using a fork-shaped terminal, wherein a pair of fork-shaped terminals each having a slit portion on a flat plate portion are orthogonal to each other and the slit portions are fitted to each other. 2. The fork-shaped terminal according to claim 1, wherein the fork-shaped terminal is applied to an electrical connection portion between the electric component and the electric device when the electric component having two terminals is connected to the electric device. The electrical connection structure used. 3. The electrical connecting portion structure using a fork-shaped terminal according to claim 1, which is applied to an electrical connecting portion between electric wires. 4. An electric component connected to an electric device having two terminals using a fork-shaped terminal, wherein the electric component is connected to two fork-shaped terminals on the side of the electric device.
An electrical component characterized in that a fork-shaped terminal having a slit portion in a flat plate portion is provided as one terminal.