JP3992024B2 - Female terminal fitting - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting.

As a general female terminal fitting 100, a square tube 101 into which a mating male terminal fitting is inserted is provided at the front, and an elastic contact capable of elastically contacting the male terminal fitting is provided inside the square tube 101. There is one provided with a piece 103 (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-338334 A (FIG. 1)

The fitting of the female terminal fitting 100 and the mating male terminal fitting (not shown) is performed by fitting a tab that protrudes into the distal end side of the male terminal fitting into the square tube 101 of the female terminal fitting 100. Done. At this time, the tabs are clamped between the elastic contact piece 103 and the top plate 101A of the square tube 101 by the elastic force of the elastic contact piece 103, so that the male and female terminal fittings are reliably in contact with each other for electrical connection. It is made.
Here, if the elastic force (contact force) of the elastic contact piece 103 is insufficient, the elastic contact piece 103 cannot sufficiently clamp the male terminal fitting, and therefore, the male and female terminals are connected to each other. Will be defective. Therefore, product inspection has conventionally been performed for the contact force of the elastic contact piece.

In order to measure this contact force, the top plate 101A of the square tube 101 is opened to expose the elastic contact piece 103 to the outside, and then the elastic contact piece 103 is bent by a measuring jig and directly measured. In other words, there is a problem that the inspection takes a long time.
In addition, when the female terminal fitting body and the elastic contact piece are separated, if the female contact fitting is disassembled and the elastic contact piece is taken out, the elastic contact piece will come off the terminal fitting body. It was impossible to measure the elastic force in the assembled state, that is, the product state.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a female terminal fitting that can easily measure the elastic force of an elastic contact member.

  As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is provided with a square tube portion at one end, which is made of a conductive metal plate and extends in the front-rear direction and into which the tab of the mating male terminal fitting can be inserted. An elastic contact portion capable of elastically contacting the tab is provided inside the square tube portion, and the tab enters between the elastic contact portion and a bottom wall of the square tube portion facing the elastic contact portion. In the female terminal fitting that is formed in the bottom wall and that penetrates the lance hole that is engageable with the elastically deformable lance provided in the male terminal fitting and communicates with the entry space. The lance hole is disposed at a position opposite to the bending direction with respect to the elastic contact portion, and an elastic force measuring jig of the elastic contact portion can be inserted.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the elastic contact portion is formed in a curved shape having a gradient along the entry direction of the tab, and the lance hole is substantially opposed to the elastic contact portion. It is characterized by being arranged.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a bulge that protrudes outward is formed at the front edge of the lance hole, and the bulge can be locked with the lance. It is characterized by.

<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the invention of the configuration of this claim, the lance hole that can be engaged with the elastically deformable lance provided in the male terminal fitting is formed in the bottom wall of the square tube portion. The lance hole is arranged at a position facing the elastic contact portion in the direction opposite to the bending direction, and an elastic force measuring jig of the elastic contact portion can be inserted.
In the female terminal fitting having such a configuration, when the elastic force measuring jig of the elastic contact portion is inserted from the lance hole, this abuts on the elastic contact portion, and the elastic force can be easily measured.
In addition, since the elastic force measuring jig can be inserted from the lance hole to measure the elastic force of the elastic contact portion, there is no need to separately form an inspection hole for measuring the elastic force, and the structure of the female terminal fitting Can be simplified.

<Invention of Claim 2>
According to the invention of the configuration of the present claim, the lance hole is disposed substantially opposite to the curved elastic contact portion.
Therefore, when the elastic force measuring jig is inserted from the lance hole, the elastic contact portion comes into contact with the elastic contact portion, so that the elastic force in the elastic contact portion can be accurately grasped.

<Invention of Claim 3>
According to the invention of the structure of this claim, the raised portion is formed at the front edge of the lance hole. When the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting are held in a retaining state, the lance is locked with the raised portion of the lance hole, so that the locking margin is increased and the retaining reliability is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The female terminal fitting 1 has an elongated shape in the front-rear direction, and includes a rectangular tube portion 7 into which a tab 5 of the mating male terminal fitting can be inserted at the front, and a terminal of an electric wire (not shown) is connected to the rear. It is configured with a possible barrel portion 9. Further, a leaf spring 11 as a lid member is incorporated inside the rectangular tube portion 7, and the tab 5 protrudes inward from the leaf spring 11 and the bottom wall 17 of the rectangular tube portion 7 as shown in FIG. 6. It is sandwiched between the protrusion (bead) 17A.
The barrel portion 9 is provided with a wire barrel 9A for caulking the core wire of the electric wire and an insulation barrel 9B for caulking the electric wire, which are provided in order, respectively, over the entire length of the female terminal fitting 1. The bottom wall is formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section so that both ends in the width direction are folded upward.

The leaf spring 11 has a curved shape as a whole, and has a width dimension substantially equal to the inner width dimension of the rectangular tube portion 7. Specifically, the leaf spring 11 has a wing shape on both sides of a spring portion 11B (corresponding to the elastic contact portion of the present invention) which is curved toward the bottom wall 17 side (having a gradient toward the entry direction of the tab 5). The holding portion 11C is integrally formed. Further, the top portion at the substantially center of the spring portion 11B is a contact portion 11A.
Each holding part 11C is provided with a protruding piece 11D protruding in both the left and right directions. The leaf spring 11 is fixed in the rectangular tube portion 7 in a state where the protruding piece 11D is fitted to the spring holding portion 7A of the rectangular tube portion 7. A space between the spring portion 11B and a bottom wall 17 (described later) facing the spring portion 11B serves as an entry space 12 for the tab 5 (see FIG. 5).
In addition, the leaf | plate spring 11 closes the opening part 23 between the top walls 21 from the inner side of the square cylinder part 7, and prevents that a foreign material penetrate | invades in the female side terminal metal fitting 1 (refer FIG. 2).

The rectangular tube portion 7 is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape by bending a plate piece 15 (see FIG. 9) in the width direction from the developed shape, and a tab insertion in which the tab 5 of the male terminal fitting is inserted at the front end. The mouth 7B is open.
Specifically, the rectangular tube portion 7 includes a bottom wall 17, a pair of side walls 19, and a top wall 21. In the vicinity of the center of the top wall 21 in the width direction, the female terminal fitting 1 is arranged in the front-rear direction (longitudinal direction). An opening 23 that opens over the entire length of the rectangular tube portion 7 is provided. As shown in FIG. 8, the opening 23 has a width W2 that is 1/5 or more of the total width W1 of the rectangular tube portion 7.
The top walls 21, 21 protrude above the side walls 19, 19 on the upper side of the plate spring 11 so as to be opposed to each other, and the plate spring 11 is locked, so that the lift of the plate spring 11 can be restricted.

  In addition, a pair of excessive deflection restricting portions 25 projecting toward the inside of the rectangular tube portion 7 (toward the leaf spring 11 portion) is formed at a substantially central position in the longitudinal direction of the edge portion of the opening portion 23 of the top wall 21. Has been. As shown in FIG. 5, the excessive deflection restricting portion 25 is located above the contact portion 11A of the spring portion 11B of the leaf spring 11, and when the tab 5 of the male terminal fitting is inserted thereby, the spring The portion 11B is regulated so as not to bend excessively upward.

  The protruding dimension of the excessive deflection restricting portion 25 is set to such an extent that it does not come into contact with the contact portion 11A of the spring portion 11B when the male terminal fitting tab 5 is inserted at a normal position as shown in FIG. Has been. That is, it is set so as to contact the lower surface of the excessive bending restricting portion 25 when the contact portion 11A is greatly bent due to the tab 5 of the male terminal fitting being inserted obliquely.

In addition, a substantially rectangular lance hole 27 is formed through substantially the center position of the bottom wall 17 of the rectangular tube portion 7 and communicates with the entry space 12. The size of the lance hole 27 is set such that an elastic force measuring jig 29 described later can be inserted.
The position of the lance hole 27 is opposed to the spring portion 11B in the direction opposite to the bending direction (upward in FIG. 5) (downward in FIG. 5) and to the contact portion 11A of the spring portion 11B. When the elastic force measuring jig 29 of the leaf spring 11 is inserted substantially vertically from the lance hole 27 with the female terminal fitting 1 turned upside down as shown in FIG. This contacts the contact portion 11A of the spring portion 11B substantially perpendicularly. Accordingly, the lance hole 27 also functions as an inspection hole for measuring the elastic force (for measuring the contact pressure of the leaf spring 11).
Thus, since the elastic force measuring jig 29 is in contact with the contact portion 11A, the elastic force of the contact portion 11A can be accurately grasped.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the lance hole 27, a locking projection 31A of a resin lance 31 that can be bent and deformed of the male terminal fitting is elastically fitted. Here, the resin lance 31 of the male terminal fitting will be described. The lance 31 is supported on the rear side, protrudes in a cantilevered manner on the front side, and can be elastically bent downward in FIG. . A locking projection 31A that is engaged with the female terminal fitting 1 is formed on the upper surface of the lance 31 so as to protrude. The locking projection 31A of the lance 31 has a gentle upward gradient from the base end side of the lance 31, and has a shape that descends substantially vertically at the front end.

  The bottom wall 17 that forms the front edge 27A of the lance hole 27 is a raised portion 33 that protrudes outward (downward in FIG. 6). During the insertion of the male terminal fitting, the raised portion 33 abuts on the inclined surface 31B of the locking projection 31A of the lance 31 and pushes down the lance 31, whereby the lance 31 is elastically deformed by lowering the tip side. . When the male terminal fitting reaches the normal insertion position of the female terminal fitting 1, the lance hole 27 is aligned with the locking projection 31A, so that the lance 31 is moved upward by its elastic restoring force and locked to the lance hole 27. The protrusion 31A is engaged, and the male terminal fitting is held in a state of being prevented from coming off. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, since the raised portion 33 and the locking projection 31A of the lance come into contact with each other, a large locking allowance is obtained, and the retaining force for retaining is improved.

  Now, a method for manufacturing the female terminal fitting 1 according to this embodiment will be briefly described. First, the conductive metal plate 35 is punched into the shape shown in FIG. This is because a plurality of plate pieces 15 forming the developed shape of the female terminal fitting 1 are arranged in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 9) via a belt-like carrier 37 at the lower end (lower side in FIG. 9). They are connected together. Subsequently, the plate spring 11 is assembled while the plate pieces 15 are bent into a predetermined shape (that is, the bottom wall 17, the side wall 19, and the top wall 21 are sequentially bent), and then the carrier 37 is separated and formed. Is done.

According to the female terminal fitting 1 of the present embodiment, the lance hole 27 is a position facing the spring portion 11B in a direction opposite to the bending direction, and a position substantially facing the contact portion 11A of the spring portion 11B. It is arranged in. Then, the elastic force measuring jig of the spring portion 11B can be inserted.
In the female terminal fitting 1 having such a configuration, when the elastic force measuring jig 29 of the spring portion 11B is inserted from the lance hole 27, it contacts the contact 11A of the spring portion, and the elastic force of the contact 11A is easily measured. can do.
Further, since the elastic force measuring jig 29 is inserted from the lance hole 27 and the elastic force of the spring portion 11B can be measured, there is no need to separately form an inspection hole for the elastic force measuring 29, and the female terminal The structure of the metal fitting 1 can be simplified.
A raised portion 33 is formed at the front edge of the lance hole 27. When the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting 1 are held in the retaining state, the lance 31 engages with the raised portion 33 of the lance hole 27, so that the locking margin increases and the retaining prevention reliability is increased. Will improve.

<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, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
According to the above embodiment, the leaf spring 11 is configured separately from the rectangular tube portion 7, but may be integrated.

Perspective view of female terminal fitting Enlarged perspective view of the square tube Perspective view of leaf spring Perspective view from the back side of female terminal fitting Cross section of female terminal fitting Cross section of female terminal fitting Cross section of female terminal fitting Front view of female terminal fitting The top view which shows the deployment shape at the time of manufacturing a female terminal metal fitting A perspective view showing a conventional female terminal fitting

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Female side terminal metal fitting 5 ... Tab of male side terminal metal fitting 7 ... Square cylinder part 11A ... Contact part 11B ... Spring part (elastic contact part)
17 ... Bottom wall 27 ... Lance hole 29 ... Elastic force measuring jig 31 ... Lance

Claims (3)

A rectangular tube portion made of a conductive metal plate and extending in the front-rear direction and capable of inserting a tab of the mating male terminal fitting is provided at one end, and can be elastically contacted with the tab inside the rectangular tube portion. An elastic contact portion is provided, and the space between the elastic contact portion and the bottom wall of the rectangular tube portion facing the elastic contact portion is an entry space for the tab, and the bottom wall is connected to the male terminal fitting. In the female terminal fitting that is formed through the lance hole that can be engaged with the provided elastically deformable lance and communicates with the entry space,
The female side, wherein the lance hole is disposed at a position opposite to the bending direction with respect to the elastic contact portion, and a jig for measuring an elastic force of the elastic contact portion can be inserted. Terminal fitting.   The said elastic contact part is made into the curved shape which has a gradient along the approach direction of the said tab, and the said lance hole is distribute | arranged and substantially distribute | arranged to the said elastic contact part. Female terminal fitting.   The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a protruding portion protruding outward is formed at a front edge of the lance hole, and the protruding portion can be locked with the lance. Hardware.

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