JP-2026075539-A - female terminal

JP2026075539AJP 2026075539 AJP2026075539 AJP 2026075539AJP-2026075539-A

Abstract

[Problem] To disclose a female terminal that can suppress an increase in the size of the female terminal and suppress an increase in conductivity resistance, even when it is necessary to handle high currents. [Solution] The female terminal 10 comprises a terminal body 18 having a cylindrical male terminal mounting portion 14 that is electrically connected to a male terminal 12 at one end, and a contact member 20 that is assembled to the male terminal mounting portion 14. The contact member 20 has a cylindrical retaining plate portion 36 fitted into the opening 22 of the male terminal mounting portion 14, and a contact spring portion 42 that is cantilevered by the retaining plate portion 36 and has a contact portion 40 for the male terminal 12 at its protruding end 38. The retaining plate portion 36 of the contact member 20 has a plurality of joint portions 72 that are welded to a plurality of locations on the inner circumferential surface of the opening 22 of the male terminal mounting portion 14 that are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, and a slit 76 that is arranged between the plurality of joint portions 72 in the circumferential direction, opens to the base end surface 74 of the retaining plate portion 36, extends into the back of the contact member 20, and penetrates the circumferential wall 44 of the contact member 20 in the plate thickness direction. [Selection Diagram] Figure 3

Inventors

杉浦朋典
兼松佑多
塚本有哉
西島誠道
西尾修也
逢澤勝彦
井田恭平

Assignees

株式会社オートネットワーク技術研究所
住友電装株式会社
住友電気工業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20241022

Claims (4)

A terminal body formed from a first metal plate has a cylindrical male terminal mounting portion at one end that is electrically connected to a male terminal, and a connecting portion at the other end that is electrically connected to another member, The device comprises a contact member formed from a second metal plate that is thinner than the first metal plate and assembled to the male terminal mounting portion, The contact member comprises a cylindrical retaining plate portion fitted into the opening of the male terminal mounting portion, and a contact spring portion held in a cantilevered manner by the retaining plate portion, which protrudes inward in the direction of insertion of the male terminal into the male terminal mounting portion and has a contact portion for the male terminal on the protruding end side. The retaining plate portion of the contact member has a plurality of joints welded to a plurality of locations on the inner circumferential surface of the opening of the male terminal mounting portion that are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, and a slit positioned between the plurality of joints in the circumferential direction, opening to the base end face of the retaining plate portion, extending into the interior of the contact member, and penetrating the circumferential wall of the contact member in the thickness direction. Female terminal.
The male terminal mounting portion has a rectangular cylindrical shape and has an upper wall portion and a lower wall portion that are arranged opposite each other in the thickness direction of the flat male terminal, and a pair of side wall portions that are arranged opposite each other in the width direction of the male terminal. The holding plate portion of the contact member has an upper plate and a lower plate that overlap the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion, respectively, and a pair of side plates that overlap the pair of side walls, respectively, and the contact spring portion is held in a cantilevered manner on each of the upper plate and the lower plate. The female terminal according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the aforementioned joints are provided on the upper plate and the lower plate of the retaining plate portion, and a pair of the aforementioned slits are provided on a pair of the aforementioned side plates, respectively.
The female terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the slit has a fixed width dimension and extends from the base end face of the retaining plate portion to the back of the contact member.
The width dimension of the slit gradually increases from the back of the contact member toward the base end surface of the retaining plate portion, as described in claim 1 or claim 2.

Description

This disclosure relates to a female terminal. Patent Document 1 proposes a female terminal formed by press-forming a metal plate. The base end of the female terminal is provided with a wire connection section formed by overlapping a pair of flat plate sections, and the tip end of the female terminal is provided with a male terminal mounting cylinder into which a flat tab-shaped male terminal is inserted. The male terminal mounting cylinder has a pair of L-shaped support plate sections that protrude from each flat plate section in the opposite direction of overlapping, and then protrude toward the tip. Furthermore, it also has a pair of contact spring sections that are cantilevered and connected to the protruding ends of the pair of support plate sections via a semi-circular curved section, protruding toward the base end. The pair of contact spring sections are arranged opposite each other with a gap for inserting the male terminal, and a separate contact pressure spring is attached to the tip of the pair of contact spring sections. This contact pressure spring applies contact pressure to the male terminal of the pair of contact spring sections, thereby maintaining a stable connection between the male and female terminals. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-83287 Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the female terminal according to Embodiment 1.Figure 2 is a plan view showing an enlarged view of the main parts of the female terminal shown in Figure 1.Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in Figure 2.Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the female terminal shown in Figure 1.Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the contact members that make up the female terminal shown in Figure 1.Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the contact members that constitute the female terminal according to Embodiment 2.Figure 7 is a front perspective view showing the female terminal according to Embodiment 3, with the terminal body omitted.Figure 8 is a perspective view of the contact member and clip spring shown in Figure 7, viewed from the rear side. <Description of Embodiments in this Disclosure> First, embodiments of this disclosure will be listed and described. The female terminal in this disclosure is (1) A terminal body formed from a first metal plate, having a cylindrical male terminal mounting portion at one end that is electrically connected to a male terminal and a connecting portion at the other end that is electrically connected to another member; and a contact member formed from a second metal plate having a thinner plate thickness than the first metal plate and assembled to the male terminal mounting portion, wherein the contact member has a cylindrical retaining plate portion fitted into the opening of the male terminal mounting portion, and a contact spring portion held in a cantilevered manner by the retaining plate portion, which protrudes inclined inward in the direction of insertion of the male terminal into the male terminal mounting portion and has a contact portion for the male terminal on the protruding end side, wherein the retaining plate portion of the contact member has a plurality of joint portions welded to a plurality of locations on the inner circumferential surface of the opening of the male terminal mounting portion that are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction, and a slit arranged between the plurality of joint portions in the circumferential direction, opening to the base end surface of the retaining plate portion and extending into the back of the contact member, and penetrating the circumferential wall of the contact member in the plate thickness direction. The female terminal of this disclosure comprises a terminal body and a contact member formed from a second metal plate having a thinner thickness than the first metal plate forming the terminal body. This allows for, for example, handling high currents by increasing the thickness of the terminal body to accommodate the increased current capacity, while maintaining the contact member's conformability to the male terminal by keeping the contact member thin. This enables handling high currents while suppressing an overall increase in the size of the female terminal. Furthermore, although the terminal body and the contact member are formed as separate components, the multiple joints of the contact member are welded to the terminal body, thus suppressing an increase in conductivity resistance. Furthermore, the joints of the contact members are welded to multiple points on the inner circumferential surface of the opening of the male terminal mounting section, spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction. Slits are positioned between these joints in the circumferential direction, opening onto the base end face of the retaining plate and extending into the interior of the contact member, while also penetrating the circumferential wall of the contact member in the thi