US-12620741-B2 - Female terminal, connector, busbar, terminal-equipped electric wire, connector-equipped electric wire, and wire harness

US12620741B2US 12620741 B2US12620741 B2US 12620741B2US-12620741-B2

Abstract

Provided is a female terminal. The female terminal includes a spring member and a terminal main body. The spring member is electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected. The terminal main body includes a base portion which has electrical conductivity and is electrically connected to the spring member. The base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space that is inserted with a part of the male terminal. The spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion, and the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall.

Inventors

Tomoaki TANIGAWA
Takeshi Watanabe
Yukihiro Kawamura
Junya TAKESHITA
Takahiro Imamura

Assignees

FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
FURUKAWA AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230602
Priority Date: 20201204

Claims (14)

1 . A female terminal, provided with: a spring member to be electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected; and a terminal main body having a base portion, the base portion having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the spring member, wherein the base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space configured to be inserted with a part of the male terminal, the spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion, the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall, the spring member has a plurality of arm springs arranged along a direction intersecting a depth direction from an opening toward a deep side of the insertion space, each of the plurality of arm springs having an arm shape and extending along the depth direction in the insertion space, and the conductive welded portion extends in a line along a direction intersecting the depth direction, and spans a region corresponding to all of the plurality of arm springs when viewed in the depth direction.
2 . The female terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the spring member is provided for each of the pair of side walls.
3 . The female terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the spring member is provided for one of the pair of side walls.
4 . The female terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the spring member comprises a gripping plate gripping the side wall in cooperation with a base of the arm spring, the gripping plate is arranged on an outer side of the side wall, and the gripping plate is conductively welded to the side wall with the conductive welded portion.
5 . The female terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the terminal main body is more conductive than the spring member and thicker than the spring member.
6 . The female terminal according to claim 5 , wherein the terminal main body has a portion in which at least a part of a surface is not plated.
7 . A connector, comprising: the female terminal according to claim 1 ; and a connector housing accommodating the female terminal.
8 . A terminal-equipped electric wire, wherein the female terminal according to claim 1 is connected to a tip of an electric wire.
9 . A connector-equipped electric wire, comprising: the terminal-equipped electric wire according to claim 8 ; and a connector housing internally accommodating the female terminal connected to a tip of the terminal-equipped electric wire.
10 . A wire harness, including at least one of the terminal-equipped electric wire according to claim 8 .
11 . A busbar, wherein the female terminal according to claim 1 is integrated with an end of the busbar.
12 . The female terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the spring member is welded and fixed to an inner surface of the side wall.
13 . A female terminal, provided with: a spring member to be electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected; and a terminal main body having a base portion, the base portion having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the spring member, wherein the base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space configured to be inserted with a part of the male terminal, the spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion, the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall, a plurality of the conductive welded portions are provided along a predetermined direction, the spring member has a plurality of arm springs arranged along a direction intersecting a depth direction from an opening toward a deep side of the insertion space, each of the plurality of arm springs having an arm shape and extending along the depth direction in the insertion space, and at least one of the plurality of the conductive welded portions extends in a line along a direction intersecting the depth direction, and spans a region corresponding to all of the plurality of arm springs when viewed in the depth direction.
14 . A female terminal, provided with: a spring member to be electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected; and a terminal main body having a base portion, the base portion having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the spring member, wherein the base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space configured to be inserted with a part of the male terminal, the spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion, the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall, the spring member is provided for one of the pair of side walls, a protruding portion protruding toward the one of the pair of side walls is provided at the other of the pair of side walls, the spring member has a plurality of arm springs arranged along a direction intersecting a depth direction from an opening toward a deep side of the insertion space, each of the plurality of arm springs having an arm shape and extending along the depth direction in the insertion space, and the conductive welded portion extends in a line along a direction intersecting the depth direction, and spans a region corresponding to all of the plurality of arm springs when viewed in the depth direction.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates to a female terminal to be mounted on a connector or the like of a wire harness for large current, a connector, a busbar, a terminal-equipped electric wire, a connector-equipped electric wire, and a wire harness, for example. BACKGROUND ART Electrical equipment installed in automobiles or the like is connected to other electrical equipment or power supplies through a wire harness, which is a bundle of insulated electric wires, to form an electric circuit. In this case, the wire harness is connected to the electrical equipment and power supplies via respective connectors mounted. Specifically, a female terminal as illustrated in Patent Document 1 is mounted in a cavity of a connector housing and connected to a connector housing where a male terminal is mounted, so that a part of the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal, whereby the terminals are electrically connected to each other. At this time, a part of the female terminal needs to be pressed into tight contact with the male terminal inserted inside to reliably conduct electricity. For example, when the current supplied to drive system electrical circuits or the like becomes large, it is necessary that terminals be composed of a thick terminal plate material. Female terminals composed of a thick terminal plate material have a reduced spring property, so that the pressing against male terminals is reduced and electrical conductivity may be reduced. CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP 2009-245701 A SUMMARY Technical Problem An object of the disclosure is to provide a female terminal a part of which can, while the female terminal is connected to a male terminal, be brought into tight contact with the male terminal to reliably conduct electricity, a connector, a busbar, a terminal-equipped electric wire, a connector-equipped electric wire, and a wire harness. Solution to Problem The disclosure is characterized by being a female terminal, provided with: a spring member to be electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected; and a terminal main body having a base portion, the base portion having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the spring member, wherein the base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space configured to be inserted with a part of the male terminal, the spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion, and the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall. Further, the disclosure is characterized by being: a connector comprising the above female terminal and a connector housing accommodating the female terminal; additionally, a terminal-equipped electric wire in which the above female terminal is connected to a tip of an electric wire; further, a connector-equipped electric wire comprising the terminal-equipped electric wire and a connector housing internally housing the female terminal connected to a tip of the terminal-equipped electric wire; and still further, a wire harness including at least one of the terminal-equipped electric wire or the connector-equipped electric wire. The above welding includes laser welding such as fiber laser welding, electron beam welding, fusion welding such as arc welding, pressure welding such as resistance welding, ultrasonic welding, and friction welding, and brazing such as hard soldering and soldering. The conductive welded portion refers to welded locations such as beads formed by the above welding. According to the disclosure, the spring member can, while connected to a male terminal, be brought into tight contact with the male terminal to reliably conduct electricity. Specifically, there is provided: a spring member to be electrically connected to a male terminal to be connected; and a terminal main body having a base portion, the base portion having electrical conductivity and electrically connected to the spring member. The base portion has a pair of side walls spaced apart by an insertion space configured to be inserted with a part of the male terminal. The spring member is arranged between the pair of side walls in the base portion. Thus, the spring member having electrical conductivity can be pressed against and brought into tight contact with a part of the male terminal inserted into the insertion space, with a reaction force by the side walls. In addition, since the spring member is fixed to the side wall with a conductive welded portion with which the spring member is conductively welded to the side wall, for example, high electrical conductivity can be secured as compared to the electrical conductivity in the configuration where the spring member and the terminal main body are constructed as separate bodies, and merely brought into contact with each other to conduct electricity. Consequently, while connected to the male terminal, the spring member cond