JP-2026075541-A - female terminal

JP2026075541AJP 2026075541 AJP2026075541 AJP 2026075541AJP-2026075541-A

Abstract

[Problem] To disclose a female terminal that can suppress or prevent the detachment of the contact pressure spring from the contact spring portion with a small number of parts and assembly steps. [Solution] The female terminal 10 comprises a main body portion 14, a contact forming fitting 16, and a contact pressure spring 24 having a connecting plate portion 18, a clamping plate portion 20, and an engaging portion 22. The contact forming fitting 16 has a contact spring portion 50 that is cantilevered to the front opposing walls 44 and 46, respectively, and the contact pressure spring 24 is assembled to the protruding end of the contact spring portion 50. The contact forming fitting 16 further includes an elastic locking piece 52 having an engaged portion 54 that engages with the engaging portion 22. The elastic locking piece 52 allows the contact pressure spring 24 to be assembled to the contact spring portion 50 by elastically deforming when the engaging portion 22 of the contact pressure spring 24 comes into contact with it, and when the contact pressure spring 24 is assembled to the contact spring portion 50 and elastically returns to its original position, the engaging portion 22 engages with the engaged portion 54, preventing the contact pressure spring 24 from detaching from the contact spring portion 50. [Selection Diagram] Figure 4

Inventors

塚本有哉

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)

The main body is made of a first metal plate, A contact forming fitting, which is made of a second metal plate that is thinner than the first metal plate, and is electrically connected to the main body, A contact pressure spring comprising a flat connecting plate portion, a pair of flat clamping plate portions projecting toward each other from both side edges of the connecting plate portion, and an engaging portion provided on the connecting plate portion, The main body is composed of a pair of opposing wall portions and has a male terminal insertion opening at one end. The contact forming fitting comprises a pair of front opposing walls, each assembled to the inner surface of the pair of opposing wall portions on the male terminal insertion side, and a pair of contact spring portions, each held in a cantilevered manner by the pair of front opposing walls and protruding toward the other end of the main body, and arranged opposite each other with a gap for inserting the male terminal. The protruding ends of the pair of contact spring portions are assembled to the contact pressure spring in such a state that the protruding ends of the pair of contact spring portions are sandwiched between the pair of clamping plates of the contact pressure spring in order to bias the pair of contact spring portions toward each other. The contact forming fitting further includes an elastic locking piece provided in a location different from the contact spring portion, and the elastic locking piece has an engaged portion that engages with the engaging portion. Female terminal, wherein the elastic locking piece allows the contact pressure spring to be assembled to the contact spring portion by elastically deforming when the engaging portion of the contact pressure spring comes into contact with it, and when the contact pressure spring is assembled to the contact spring portion and elastically returns to its original position, the engaging portion engages with the engaged portion, preventing the contact pressure spring from detaching from the contact spring portion.
The contact forming fitting comprises a pair of front side walls that connect the ends of the pair of front opposing walls, and a pair of flat elastic locking pieces that are cantilevered by the pair of front side walls, protruding toward the other end of the main body, and arranged opposite each other with a pair of contact spring portions in between. Each elastic locking piece has a through hole at its tip that penetrates in the thickness direction and constitutes the engaged portion, and a convex engaging portion is provided on the end face of the connecting plate portion of the contact pressure spring that faces each of the through holes, allowing the through hole to be inserted. The female terminal according to claim 1, wherein the contact pressure spring is assembled to the contact spring portion, and the engaging portion is positioned in the through-hole, passing through the through-hole.
The female terminal according to claim 2, wherein each of the through-holes is elongated in the opposing direction of the pair of front opposing walls, and movement of the engaging portion in the longitudinal direction of the through-hole is permitted.
The female terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the main body portion is provided with an opening prevention portion that abuts against the elastic locking piece of the contact forming fitting and prevents the elastic deformation of the contact forming fitting.

Description

This disclosure relates to a female terminal. Patent Document 1 discloses a female terminal comprising: a main body having a connecting portion made of a first metal plate and electrically connected to another component, and a hollow cylindrical conductor portion; a contact forming fitting made of a second metal plate thinner than the first metal plate and electrically assembled to the cylindrical conductor portion; and a contact pressure applying spring assembled to the contact spring portion of the contact forming fitting to apply contact pressure. Because the main body and the contact forming fitting are constructed as separate parts, current capacity can be ensured in the main body with a large plate thickness, while the contact spring portion of the thinner contact forming fitting ensures conformability to the male terminal. This allows for handling high currents while suppressing the enlargement of the female terminal. Furthermore, since a contact pressure applying spring, such as a clip spring, is assembled to the contact spring portion to apply contact pressure to the male terminal, a sufficiently large contact pressure can be ensured even if the contact spring portion is formed from a thin second metal plate. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-105976 Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the female terminal according to Embodiment 1.Figure 2 is a plan view 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 of the contact members constituting the female terminal shown in Figure 1, viewed from the rear side.Figure 6 is a perspective view of the contact pressure spring that constitutes the female terminal shown in Figure 1, viewed from the rear side.Figure 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a male terminal is inserted into the female terminal shown in Figure 1, and the male terminal is displaced vertically from its normal position, and corresponds to Figure 3.Figure 8 is a perspective view showing the female terminal according to Embodiment 2 from the rear side.Figure 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a male terminal is inserted into the female terminal shown in Figure 8, and the male terminal is displaced vertically from its normal position, and corresponds to Figure 7. <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 contact forming fitting comprising a main body made of a first metal plate, a contact forming fitting made of a second metal plate thinner than the first metal plate and electrically assembled to the main body, a contact pressure spring having a flat connecting plate portion, a pair of flat clamping plate portions projecting toward each other from both side edges of the connecting plate portion, and an engaging portion provided on the connecting plate portion, wherein the main body is made up of a pair of opposing wall portions and has a male terminal insertion opening at one end, the contact forming fitting comprises a pair of front opposing walls each assembled to the inner surface of the pair of opposing wall portions on the male terminal insertion opening side, and a pair of contact spring portions each held in a cantilever-like manner by the pair of front opposing walls and projecting toward the other end of the main body, and arranged opposite each other with a male terminal insertion gap between them, a pair of the The protruding ends of the contact spring portions are assembled such that the protruding ends of the pair of contact spring portions are sandwiched between the pair of clamping plates of the contact pressure spring in order to bias the pair of contact spring portions toward each other. The contact forming fitting further includes an elastic locking piece provided at a location different from the contact spring portions, the elastic locking piece having an engaged portion that engages with the engaging portion, the elastic locking piece allowing the assembly of the contact pressure spring to the contact spring portions by elastically deforming when the engaging portion of the contact pressure spring comes into contact with the elastic locking piece, and when the contact pressure spring is assembled to the contact spring portions and elastically returns to its original position, the engaging portion engages with the engaged portion, preventing the contact pressure spring from detaching from the contact spring portions. According to this disclosure, a female terminal comprising a thick-walled main body and a thin-walled contact-forming fitting, wherein a contact pressure spring is assembled to a pair of contact spring portions of the contact-forming fitting, further comprising an elastic locking piece provided at a location d