JP2024162726A - Female Terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of removing foreign matter present between a contact portion of a connection terminal and a contact portion of a mating connection terminal.
[Solution] The female terminal 40 is connected to the male terminal 20, and comprises a tubular portion 43 into which the male terminal 20 is inserted, a contact piece 44 located inside the tubular portion 43 and electrically connected to the male terminal 20 by coming into contact with the male terminal 20, and a sliding piece 45 located rearward of the contact piece 44 in the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20 and coming into contact with the male terminal 20 when the male terminal 20 is inserted.
[Selected figure] Figure 7

Description

This disclosure relates to female terminals.

The connector described in Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which a terminal provided at the end of an electric wire is accommodated in a cavity provided in a connector housing. The terminal accommodated in the cavity has an electrical connection part that is connected to a mating terminal. The electrical connection part has a box-like shape and incorporates a spring piece that engages with the mating terminal.

JP 2019-002074 A

For example, in a vehicle such as an automobile, various devices mounted on the vehicle may be connected to devices on the vehicle body side via connection terminals. In such a case, if a foreign object is present between the contact portion of the connecting terminal on the connecting side and the contact portion of the connecting terminal on the connected side, the foreign object may cause a poor connection between the two contact portions. Furthermore, if a foreign object is present between the contact portions of the connecting terminals, the foreign object may damage both contact portions when the connecting terminal is inserted into the mating connecting terminal. Damage to both contact portions in this way may cause a poor connection between the two contact portions.

Therefore, the present disclosure aims to provide a technology that can remove foreign matter that exists between the contact portion of a connection terminal and the contact portion of a mating connection terminal.

The female terminal of the present disclosure is a female terminal that is connected to a male terminal, and includes a cylindrical portion into which the male terminal is inserted, a contact piece that is located inside the cylindrical portion and electrically connects to the male terminal by contacting the male terminal, and a sliding piece that is located behind the contact piece in the insertion direction of the male terminal and comes into contact with the male terminal when the male terminal is inserted.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to remove foreign matter that exists between the contact portion of the connection terminal and the contact portion of the mating connection terminal.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic diagram of a connection system. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state in which the male terminal and the female terminal are connected. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a connection portion between a male terminal and a female terminal from above. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the positions of the apexes of the contact pieces in their natural states and the positions of the apexes of the sliding pieces in their natural states along the insertion direction of the male terminal. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of a contact piece and a sliding piece of a female terminal. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in the middle of connecting the male terminal and the female terminal. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the state when the male terminal and the female terminal are connected. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the plate-like member before the female terminal is assembled. FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state in which the male terminal and the female terminal according to the first modification are connected to each other. FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state in which the male terminal and the female terminal according to the second modification are connected to each other.

[Description of the embodiments of the present disclosure]
First, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described.

The female terminals disclosed herein are as follows:

(1) A female terminal that is connected to a male terminal, the female terminal comprising: a cylindrical portion into which the male terminal is inserted; a contact piece that is located inside the cylindrical portion and electrically connects to the male terminal by contacting the male terminal; and a sliding piece that is located behind the contact piece in the insertion direction of the male terminal and comes into contact with the male terminal when the male terminal is inserted.

Since the sliding piece is located further back than the contact piece in the insertion direction of the male terminal, the sliding piece comes into contact with the male terminal before the contact piece. The sliding piece removes any foreign matter adhering to the male terminal. This makes it difficult for foreign matter to get between the female terminal and the male terminal. In addition, it is difficult for foreign matter to get tangled between the female terminal and the male terminal and damage the female terminal and the male terminal. For these reasons, an increase in contact resistance is suppressed.

(2) In the female terminal of (1), when connected to the male terminal, the contact pressure between the sliding piece and the male terminal may be smaller than the contact pressure between the contact piece and the male terminal. In this case, the sliding piece is prevented from affecting the contact between the contact piece and the male terminal.

(3) In the female terminal of (1) or (2), the contact piece and the sliding piece are elastically deformable parts that are biased in the direction of contact with the male terminal, and when viewed from the insertion direction, the apex of the contact piece in its natural state may protrude in the direction of contact with the male terminal beyond the apex of the sliding piece in its natural state.

In this case, when the contact piece and the sliding piece come into contact with the male terminal, the contact piece undergoes greater elastic deformation than the sliding piece. This makes it easier to reduce the contact pressure between the sliding piece and the male terminal. In this way, reducing the contact pressure between the sliding piece and the male terminal reduces the influence of the sliding piece on the contact between the contact piece and the male terminal.

(4) In any one of the female terminals (1) to (3), the female terminal may be formed from a single plate-like member, the sliding piece may be formed by bending a first extending portion extending from the cylindrical portion, and the contact piece may be formed by bending a second extending portion extending from the cylindrical portion in the opposite direction to the sliding piece in the insertion direction.

In this case, since it is formed from a single plate-shaped member, the manufacturing steps and costs can be reduced.

(5) In any one of the female terminals (1) to (4), the contact area between the sliding piece and the male terminal may be larger than the contact area between the contact piece and the male terminal.

When the same force is applied, the larger the contact area, the less pressure can be applied. This allows the contact pressure between the sliding piece, which has a large contact area, and the male terminal to be reduced. This reduces the effects of contact between the sliding piece and the male terminal.

(6) In any one of the female terminals (1) to (5), the sliding piece is a member different from the cylindrical portion and the contact piece, and the cylindrical portion and the contact portion may be plated.

Since the sliding piece is a different member from the cylindrical portion and the contact piece, the sliding piece does not need to be plated. In this case, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by the amount that the plating process for the sliding piece is omitted.

[Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure]
Specific examples of the female terminal of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to these examples, but is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

[Embodiment 1]
1. Configuration of the connection system
The configuration of a connection system 100 using a female terminal 40 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the connection system 100 in a schematic manner.

The connection system 100 is a system that electrically connects various devices together, and includes a male connector 101 and a female connector 102.

(Basic configuration)
The male connector 101 includes a terminal (male terminal) 20 provided at the end of the electric wire 10, and a connector housing (male housing) 30 in which the male terminal 20 is accommodated. The female connector 102 includes a terminal (female terminal) 40 provided at the end of the electric wire 10, and a connector housing (female housing) 50 in which the female terminal 40 is accommodated. The electric wire 10 and the terminals 20, 40 provided at its end are sometimes called a terminal-attached electric wire.

(Male housing)
The male housing 30 is a housing made of an insulating material such as resin, and is formed, for example, by mold molding. The male housing 30 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a recess 31 is provided on one end face (inserted face) 301. The male housing 30 is also provided with one or more terminal accommodating chambers (cavities) 32 (six in the illustrated example) that penetrate from the other end face (back face) 302 to the inner face 303 of the recess 31. Each terminal accommodating chamber 32 accommodates a male terminal 20 individually. The male terminal 20 is, for example, inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 32 from the back face 302, and is fixed (for example, fixed by locking) to the terminal accommodating chamber 32 with the coating connection portion 21 and the core wire connection portion 22 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 32 and the contact portion 23 extending into the recess 31. Each electric wire 10 extending from the back face 302 may be tied with a tie 13 formed of an adhesive tape, a cable tie, or the like.

(female housing)
The female housing 50 is a housing made of an insulating material such as resin, similar to the male housing 30, and is formed, for example, by mold molding. The female housing 50 has, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape, and is provided with one or more terminal accommodating chambers (cavities) 51 (six in the example shown in the figure) that penetrate from one end face (insertion face) 501 to the other end face (back face) 502. Each terminal accommodating chamber 51 accommodates a female terminal 40 individually. The female terminal 40 is, for example, inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 51 from the back face 502, and is fixed (for example, fixed by locking) to the terminal accommodating chamber 51 in a state where the entire female terminal 40 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 51. Each electric wire 10 extending from the back face 502 may be tied with a tie 13 formed of an adhesive tape, a cable tie, or the like.

(Electric wire)
The electric wire 10 is, for example, an insulated electric wire, and is configured to include a core wire 11 and an insulating coating 12 surrounding the core wire 11. The core wire 11 is a conductive member (conductor) and is made of various conductive materials (e.g., copper, copper alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, etc.). The insulating coating 12 is a non-conductive, flexible coating and is made of various synthetic resin materials (e.g., polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), etc.).

(Terminal)
Fig. 2 is a side view showing the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 40 in a connected state. Note that Fig. 2 shows a partial cross section of the connected portion. Fig. 3 is an explanatory view showing the connected portion of the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 40 from above. Note that in Fig. 3, the contact portion between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 and the contact portion between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20 are indicated by diagonal lines.

A coating connection part 21 and a core wire connection part 22 are provided on one end side (base end side) of the male terminal 20. Similarly, a coating connection part 41 and a core wire connection part 42 are provided on one end side (base end side) of the female terminal 40. The coating connection parts 21, 41 are mechanically connected to the end of the insulating coating 12. The connection between the coating connection parts 21, 41 and the insulating coating 12 is realized by an appropriate method (e.g., crimping, etc.). In addition, the core wire 11 extends from the end of the insulating coating 12 by a certain length (i.e., the insulating coating 12 is peeled off from around the core wire 11 by a certain length to expose the core wire 11), and the core wire connection parts 22, 42 are mechanically and electrically connected to this extending core wire 11. The connection between the core wire connection parts 22, 42 and the core wire 11 is achieved by an appropriate method (e.g., crimping, ultrasonic welding, resistance welding, soldering, etc.).

The other end (tip) of the male terminal 20 is provided with a contact portion 23 that is electrically connected to the mating terminal. In this embodiment, the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 is in the shape of a long, thin plate. However, the contact portion 23 is not limited to this shape and may be, for example, rod-shaped, tab-shaped, pin-shaped, etc.

The female terminal 40 comprises a cylindrical portion 43, a contact piece 44 located inside the cylindrical portion 43, and a sliding piece 45.

The male terminal 20 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 43. In this embodiment, the cylindrical portion 43 is formed in a rectangular prism shape. The cylindrical portion 43 has a bottom surface 43a, a top surface 43b, and a pair of side surfaces 43c on the inside. The contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 is inserted along the bottom surface 43a of the cylindrical portion 43. The contact piece 44 is located on the inside of the cylindrical portion 43, and contacts the male terminal 20 (contact portion 23) when connected to the male terminal 20. As a result, the contact piece 44 is electrically connected to the male terminal 20. The contact piece 44 extends from the top surface 43b of the cylindrical portion 43 to the inside of the cylindrical portion 43. The contact piece 44 is an elastically deformable portion. The contact piece 44 is, for example, a spring piece. The contact piece 44 is formed, for example, by bending a plate-shaped member. As shown in FIG. 2, the contact piece 44 is bent, for example, clockwise when viewed from the right side in the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20. The contact piece 44 is biased in a direction in which it comes into contact with the male terminal. For example, a protrusion 44a is provided on the lower surface of the contact piece 44. The protrusion 44a is formed, for example, by pressing.

In this embodiment, the sliding piece 45 is located inside the cylindrical portion 43. The sliding piece 45 may be located outside the cylindrical portion 43. The sliding piece 45 is located behind the contact piece 44 in the insertion direction A (see FIG. 2) of the male terminal 20. The sliding piece 45 contacts the male terminal 20 (contact portion 23) when the male terminal 20 is inserted into the female terminal 40. The sliding piece 45 extends from the upper surface 43b of the cylindrical portion 43 to the inside of the cylindrical portion 43. The sliding piece 45 is also an elastically deformable part. The sliding piece 45 is, for example, a spring piece. The sliding piece 45 is formed, for example, by bending a plate-shaped member. As shown in FIG. 2, the sliding piece 45 is, for example, bent counterclockwise when viewed from the right side as viewed from the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20. The sliding piece 45 is biased in a direction to contact the male terminal 20. In this embodiment, the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 are elastically deformable parts, but are not limited to this. The contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 may not be elastically deformable as long as they are in a position, size, and shape that allows them to come into contact with the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20.

(Relationship between contact piece 44 and sliding piece 45)
When the female terminal 40 is connected to the male terminal 20, the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is preferably smaller than the contact pressure between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. The contact area between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is preferably larger than the contact area between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. The contact width between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is preferably larger than the contact width between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. The shaded area B shown in FIG. 3 is the contact portion between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20 when connected, and the shaded area C is the contact portion between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 when connected. As shown by the shaded areas B and C in FIG. 3, the shaded area B is smaller than the shaded area C. That is, the contact area between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20 is smaller than the contact area between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20. Therefore, when the same force is applied to the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45, the sliding piece 45 having a larger contact area can have a smaller contact pressure. In this way, the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is reduced. However, other configurations may be adopted to reduce the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20, such as, for example, bringing the position of the apex of the sliding piece 45 closer to the height of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20.

Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the position of the apex of the contact piece 44 in its natural state and the position of the apex of the sliding piece 45 in its natural state along the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20. Note that the contact portion 23 is illustrated by virtual lines together with the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45.

As shown in FIG. 4, the position of the apex D of the contact piece 44 in the natural state is located below the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 when the male terminal 20 is inserted along the bottom surface 43a of the cylindrical portion 43 of the female terminal 40. The natural state is the state before the male terminal 20 is connected, and no load is applied to the apex D. The apex D is the lower end portion of the contact piece 44. The apex D is also the apex of the convex portion 44a, and does not spread in the width direction compared to the apex E described later. In the natural state of the contact piece 44, the position of the apex D interferes with the position of the contact portion 23. Therefore, when the male terminal 20 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 43, the contact portion 23 and the apex D come into contact with each other as if the contact portion 23 pushes up the apex D.

4, the position of the apex E of the sliding piece 45 in the natural state is located below the upper surface 43b of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 when the male terminal 20 is inserted along the bottom surface 43a of the female terminal 40. As described above, the natural state is the state before the male terminal 20 is connected, and is a state in which no load is applied to the apex E. The apex E is the lower end portion of the sliding piece 45. The apex E has a width equal to the width direction of the sliding piece 45. In the natural state of the sliding piece 45, the position of the apex E and the position of the contact portion 23 interfere with each other. Therefore, when the male terminal 20 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 43, the contact portion 23 presses up the apex E, and the contact portion 23 and the apex E (and the peripheral portion of the apex E) come into contact with each other. The apex E is located above the apex D. Therefore, the elastic deformation of the sliding piece 45 may be smaller than the elastic deformation of the contact piece 44. This makes it easier for the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 to be smaller than the contact pressure between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20.

The male terminal (male terminal fitting) 20 and the female terminal (female terminal fitting) 40 are both conductive members and comprise a base portion (base portion 40a in the female terminal 40) and a plating layer covering the base portion (plating layer 40b in the female terminal 40). Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 in the female terminal 40.

The base portion 40a is formed of, for example, copper, brass, copper alloy, etc. The plating layer 40b is formed of, for example, tin (Sn), tin alloy (for example, tin alloy with silver, copper, bismuth, etc. added to tin), precious metal (for example, gold, silver), etc. By providing the plating layer 40b, an increase in the contact resistance between the terminals is suppressed. That is, by providing the plating layer 40b, for example, an oxide film is less likely to be formed on the surface of the base portion 40a, so that an increase in the film resistance (and therefore the contact resistance) is suppressed. is formed of, for example, tin (Sn), tin alloy (for example, tin alloy with silver, copper, bismuth, etc. added to tin), precious metal (for example, gold, silver), etc. By providing the plating, an increase in the contact resistance between the terminals is suppressed. That is, by providing plating, for example, it becomes difficult for an oxide film to form on the surface of the base portion, or the oxide film formed on the plating layer 40b can be destroyed, so an increase in film resistance (and therefore contact resistance) is suppressed.

(Up to the connection between the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 40)
Fig. 6 is a side view showing a state in the middle of connecting the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 40. Fig. 7 is a side view showing a state when the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 40 are connected. Note that Figs. 6 and 7 show partial cross sections.

The female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20 are electrically connected by inserting the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 into the cylindrical portion 43 of the female terminal 40. As shown in FIG. 6, when the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 is inserted into the cylindrical portion 43 of the female terminal 40, the sliding piece 45 first comes into contact with the contact portion 23. At this time, the apex E of the sliding piece 45 comes into contact with the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20. In this way, the apex E (and its surrounding portion) of the sliding piece 45 is lifted to the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20. Then, the apex E (and its surrounding portion) comes into contact with the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20. After that, the apex E (and its surrounding portion) of the sliding piece 45 slides on the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23. As a result, foreign matter such as dust and dirt above the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 is removed by the sliding piece 45. The foreign matter is pushed by the sliding piece 45 and moved in the opposite direction to the insertion direction of the male terminal 20. Therefore, the foreign matter is removed from the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 at the position where the contact piece 44 contacts. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the contact piece 44 contacts the contact portion 23. At this time, the apex D of the contact piece 44 is raised to the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23. Then, the apex D contacts the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20. In this way, the contact piece 44 contacts the contact portion 23 after the foreign matter is removed by the sliding piece 45, so that the foreign matter is prevented from entering between the contact piece 44 and the contact portion 23. In addition, the foreign matter is prevented from getting entangled between the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20 and damaging the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20.

In addition, the apex D of the contact piece 44 in its natural state protrudes further in the direction of contact with the male terminal 20 than the apex E of the sliding piece 45 in its natural state. Therefore, due to contact with the contact portion 23, the contact piece 44 is more elastically deformed than the sliding piece 45. Therefore, the contact pressure with the contact portion 23 is greater for the contact piece 44 than for the sliding piece 45. In other words, the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the contact portion 23 is less than the contact pressure between the contact piece 44 and the contact portion 23. Therefore, the contact portion 23 is less affected by the sliding piece 45.

(Configuration of female terminal 40)
In this embodiment, the female terminal 40 is formed from a single plate-like member. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the plate-like member before the female terminal 40 is assembled.

The bottom surface 43a, top surface 43b, pair of side surfaces 43c, and holding surface 43d that constitute the cylindrical portion 43 are arranged side by side in a continuous manner on the plate-like member. The bottom surface 43a, top surface 43b, and pair of side surfaces 43c are bent to form the bottom surface 43a, top surface 43b, and pair of side surfaces 43c of the cylindrical portion 43. The holding surface 43d overlaps one of the side surfaces 43c and is joined to the one of the side surfaces 43c. This maintains the shape of the cylindrical portion 43 in a rectangular prism state.

The electric wire gripping portion 46 extends from the bottom surface 43a constituting the cylindrical portion 43. A pair of first arms 142 constituting the core wire connection portion 42 for gripping the core wire 11 extend from the electric wire gripping portion 46. A pair of second arms 141 constituting the coating connection portion 41 for gripping the insulating coating 12 of the electric wire 10 also extend from the electric wire gripping portion 46. The pair of first arms 142 are bent with the core wire 11 placed on the electric wire gripping portion 46 to form the core wire connection portion 42. The pair of second arms 141 are also bent with the insulating coating 12 placed on the electric wire gripping portion 46 to form the coating connection portion 41.

A first extension 145 that constitutes the sliding piece 45 extends from the upper surface 43b that constitutes the cylindrical portion 43. The first extension 145 is bent to form the sliding piece 45. Similarly, a second extension 144 that constitutes the contact piece 44 extends from the upper surface 43b that constitutes the cylindrical portion 43. The second extension 144 is bent to form the contact piece 44.

<2. Effects, etc.>
The female terminal 40 configured as above is a female terminal 40 to be connected to the male terminal 20, and includes a cylindrical portion 43 into which the male terminal 20 is inserted, a contact piece 44 located inside the cylindrical portion 43 and electrically connected to the male terminal 20 by contacting the male terminal 20, and a sliding piece 45 located behind the contact piece 44 in the insertion direction A (see FIG. 2) of the male terminal 20 and contacting the male terminal 20 when the male terminal 20 is inserted. As a result, the sliding piece 45 contacts the male terminal 20 before the contact piece 44. Therefore, the sliding piece 45 slides on the male terminal 20 before contacting the contact piece 44, so that foreign matter attached to the male terminal 20 is removed by the sliding piece 45. Therefore, foreign matter does not get between the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20. In addition, foreign matter is unlikely to get entangled between the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20 and affect the connection between the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20. For example, an increase in contact resistance caused by peeling of the plating layers constituting the female terminal 40 and the male terminal 20 is suppressed.

In addition, when connecting with the male terminal 20, the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is smaller than the contact pressure between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. Therefore, the contact between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 prevents the plating layer on the male terminal from peeling off. In this embodiment, the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 are elastically deformable parts that are biased in the direction of contact with the male terminal 20. When viewed from the insertion direction A, the apex D of the contact piece 44 in its natural state protrudes in the direction of contact with the male terminal 20 more than the apex E of the sliding piece 45 in its natural state. Then, when the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 contact the male terminal 20, the contact piece 44 elastically deforms more than the sliding piece 45. In other words, the elastic deformation of the sliding piece 45 is reduced, and the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is reduced. The contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is reduced, reducing the impact of contact between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20.

In addition, the contact area between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is larger than the contact area between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. In particular, in this embodiment, the lower surface of the contact piece 44 is provided with, for example, a convex portion 44a, so that the convex portion 44a comes into contact with the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20. In contrast, the portion of the sliding piece 45 that comes into contact with the upper surface 23a of the contact portion 23 of the male terminal 20 is flat and has no irregularities. In this way, the contact area between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is made larger than the contact area between the contact piece 44 and the male terminal 20. As a result, when the same force is applied, the larger the contact area, the smaller the pressure can be. The contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 can be reduced. Therefore, the effect of the contact between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is reduced.

[Variation 1]
Fig. 9 is a side view showing a state in which male terminal 20 and female terminal 240 according to Modification 1 are connected to each other. Note that Fig. 9 also shows a partial cross section, similar to Figs. 6 and 7.

The female terminal 240 shown in FIG. 9 has a contact piece 244 instead of the contact piece 44 of the female terminal 40. The contact piece 44 is bent clockwise when viewed from the right side in the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20. In contrast, the contact piece 244 is bent backward in the insertion direction A when viewed from the right side in the insertion direction A of the male terminal 20, enters inside along the upper surface 43b of the tubular portion 43, and then is bent counterclockwise.

Even with this type of female terminal 240, the sliding piece 45 slides over the male terminal 20 before contacting the contact piece 244, so that foreign matter adhering to the male terminal 20 is removed by the sliding piece 45.

[Modification 2]
Fig. 10 is a side view showing a state in which male terminal 20 and female terminal 340 according to Modification 2 are connected to each other. Note that Fig. 10 also shows a partial cross section, similar to Figs. 6 and 7.

The female terminal 340 shown in FIG. 10 has a sliding piece 345 instead of the sliding piece 45 of the female terminal 40. The sliding piece 345 is a member different from the cylindrical portion 43 and the contact piece 44, and the sliding piece 345, the cylindrical portion 43 and the contact piece 44 are plated.

The sliding piece 345 is joined to the upper surface 43b of the cylindrical portion 43 by a method such as welding. The sliding piece 345 is a separate member, and the cylindrical portion 43 and the contact piece 44 are formed from a single plate-like member. As in the first embodiment, the cylindrical portion 43 and the contact piece 44 are configured to include a base portion 40a and a plating layer 40b covering it. In contrast, the sliding piece 345 is formed without being plated. Therefore, since the sliding piece 345 is not plated, the manufacturing costs are reduced accordingly.

[others]
In the female terminal 40 according to the above embodiment, the configuration for reducing the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 is not limited to the above example. For example, a configuration for reducing the contact pressure between the sliding piece 45 and the male terminal 20 may be adopted in which the plate thickness forming the sliding piece 45 is reduced.

In addition, the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 of the female terminal 40 in the above embodiment are configured to be formed from a single plate-like member, but this is not limited to this. For example, the contact piece 44 may be configured from a separate member, or the contact piece 44 and the sliding piece 45 may both be formed from separate members.

The connection system 100 using the female terminal 40 according to each of the above embodiments may be used to connect devices mounted on a vehicle, or may be used to connect various other devices.

The configurations described in the above embodiments and variations can be combined as appropriate as long as they are not mutually inconsistent.

10 Electric wire 11 Core wire 12 Insulating coating 13 Binding tool 20 Male terminal 21, 41 Coating connection portion 22, 42 Core wire connection portion 23 Contact portion 23a Top surface 30 Male housing 31 Recess 32 Terminal accommodating chamber 40, 240, 340 Female terminal 40a Base portion 40b Plating layer 43 Cylindrical portion 43a Bottom surface 43b Top surface 43c Side surface 43d Holding surface 44, 244 Contact piece 44a Convex portion 45, 345 Slide piece 46 Electric wire gripping portion 50 Female housing 51 Terminal accommodating chamber 100 Connection system 101 Male connector 102 Female connector 141 Second arm portion 142 First arm portion 144 Second extension portion 145 First extension portion 302 Back surface 303 Surface 502 Back surface A Insertion direction B Shaded portion C Shaded area D Vertex E Vertex

Claims (6)

A female terminal to be connected to a male terminal,
a cylindrical portion into which the male terminal is inserted;
a contact piece located inside the cylindrical portion and contacting the male terminal to be electrically connected to the male terminal;
a sliding piece located rearward of the contact piece in the insertion direction of the male terminal and coming into contact with the male terminal when the male terminal is inserted;
A female terminal having a 2. The female terminal according to claim 1,
When connected to the male terminal, the contact pressure between the sliding piece and the male terminal is smaller than the contact pressure between the contact piece and the male terminal. The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
the contact piece and the sliding piece are elastically deformable parts that are biased in a direction to contact the male terminal,
A female terminal, wherein when viewed from the insertion direction, an apex of the contact piece in its natural state protrudes in a direction toward contact with the male terminal further than an apex of the sliding piece in its natural state. The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
It is formed from a single plate-like member,
the sliding piece is formed by bending a first extending portion extending from the cylindrical portion,
The contact piece is formed by bending a second extending portion that extends from the cylindrical portion in the opposite direction to the sliding piece in the insertion direction. The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
A female terminal, wherein a contact area between the sliding piece and the male terminal is larger than a contact area between the contact piece and the male terminal. The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
the sliding piece is a member different from the cylindrical portion and the contact piece,
The cylindrical portion and the contact portion are plated.

Images