Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Spring actuated or resilient securing part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-07
2001-01-16
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Spring actuated or resilient securing part
C439S752500, C439S843000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174208
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector wherein a female terminal is inserted in a chamber of a housing.
2. Related Art
A connector has been known, as shown in
FIG. 12A
, wherein through chambers
82
, in several rows and columns in the directions of height and width, are formed in a housing
81
in parallel to each other, a female terminal
84
being approximately tubular in the front half and being connected to an electric wire
83
in the back is inserted into and fixed in each of the chambers
82
, and male terminals of a counterpart connector are inserted into these female terminals
84
to make mechanical connections as well as electrical connections (refer to, for example, Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 8-106944). A port
85
opens in the front end of the above- mentioned female terminal
84
to receive a male terminal. A splicing part
86
is formed in the back of the female terminal
84
to connect an electric wire
83
. A concave fixing part
87
is formed in an intermediate part of the female terminal
84
. A hook of a lance
88
that is flexibly formed in a chamber
82
of the housing
81
fits into this concave fixing part
87
to provide a primary fixing of the female terminal
84
to the housing
81
. Moreover, a fixing piece
90
of a retainer
89
that is fitted into the housing
81
is set at the back of a stabilizer
91
that is formed on the top of the intermediate part of the female terminal
84
to provide a secondary fixing of the female terminal
84
to the housing
81
.
Apart from this, a connection structure between a female terminal of this kind and a male terminal has been disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 9-232021. As shown in
FIG. 12B
, to hold an inserted male terminal
92
′, a leaf spring
93
′ is integrally formed inside the terminal body
94
′ of a female terminal
84
′.
This leaf spring
93
′ is blanked out together with the terminal body
94
′ of a sheet metal and formed by bending the blank. When the material and thickness of the sheet metal are selected by considering formability, cost, etc., it is difficult to secure a sufficient contacting force from the single leaf spring
93
′. Hence the above-mentioned Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 9-232021 has disclosed a technology wherein a separate reinforcing leaf spring
95
′ is blanked out together with the terminal body
94
′ and this reinforcing leaf spring
95
′ is bent on the inner side of the main leaf spring
93
′ to form double springs and ensure a sufficient contacting force. In this case, as each of the leaf springs
93
′,
95
′ is formed by bending, a gap is formed between two unrestricted leaf springs due to springbacks. As the dimension of this gap is a cumulative result of steps of forming two springs, it is difficult to accurately control this dimension in the production. It is hard to avoid dispersion in this gap dimension. This poses a problem. At the time of use, the point of inflection of the spring constant at which the main spring
93
′ contacts the reinforcing spring
95
′ and both springs
93
′,
95
′ start to be deformed varies from product to product. Thus contacting forces are not stable and vary from product to product. Moreover, as the two leaf springs
93
′,
95
′ are overlapped with each other, the female terminal
84
′ becomes bulkier, preventing the ability to make the connector more compact. Furthermore, as shown in
FIG. 12B
, a round part
96
′ that is bent into an approximately circular arc is formed near the root end of the leaf spring
93
′. When the radius of curvature of this round part
96
′ is small, cracks may be generated in the round part
96
′ in use as shown in FIG.
12
C. If corrosion develops from these cracks, the contacting force will become extremely unstable.
The above-mentioned stabilizer
91
can exhibit a function of preventing so-called inverse insertion; if the female terminal
84
is inserted into the chamber
82
of the housing
81
in an incorrect orientation, for example, upside down, the stabilizer
91
will catch the entrance of the chamber
82
to prevent further insertion. Because of this function, the female terminal
84
and the retainer
89
are brought to a proper positional relationship and the female terminal
84
is fixed by the retainer
89
. However, as the stabilizer is to be fixed by a fixing piece
90
of the retainer
89
, the stabilizer is provided on the top of the intermediate part of the terminal body. Accordingly, the front portion of the terminal body ahead of the stabilizer
91
, even if it is inverted upside down, would be inserted. This, in turn, would make the assembly worker forcefully insert the female terminal
84
further, resulting in a damage to the chamber and nearby portions of the housing
81
.
When a continuity test or the like is to be conducted on to a female terminal of a connector, a test jig having a shape identical to that of a male terminal is inserted into the female terminal. When the test jig is used repeatedly, the jig may be deformed. If such a deformed jig is forced into a female terminal, the lead spring, etc. will be damaged and thus cause trouble.
A connector is used in combination with a counterpart connector. Making the counterpart connector more compact is also desired. If there is an error in assembling a male terminal in the counterpart connector, the male terminal may be assembled to be slightly slanted in relation to the housing. In the worst case, such a male terminal may cause a trouble that it can not be inserted into a female terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned points. One objective of the present invention is to ensure a stable and sufficient contacting force by forming a bead and increasing the flexural rigidity of a leaf spring and using only a single leaf spring, to move a contacting part of the leaf spring forward, to reduce the length of insertion of a male terminal and make the counterpart connector compact, and to increase the tolerance to slant of the male terminal. Another objective is to prevent cracks, etc. and stabilize the contacting force by giving a larger radius of curvature to the round part in a position beyond the reach of the male terminal. Another objective is to reinforce the function of preventing inverse insertion of the female terminal by shifting the stabilizer forward, and to prevent damage to the leaf spring, etc. by making the stabilizer available to a continuity test, etc. of the female terminal. Furthermore, another objective is to make the connector more compact in the direction of height as much as possible by, in addition to using a single leaf spring and shifting the round part backward, flexing a lance in the direction of width.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention is a female terminal that is inserted into a chamber of a housing of a connector and receives a male terminal, the female terminal comprising: a terminal body having a tubular front half part that can be inserted into the chamber of the housing, having a port that opens in the front end and receives a male terminal, having a splicing part that is in the back and that is connected to an electric wire, and having a fixing part into which a retainer of the housing fits; a leaf spring having a root end that is integral to the front half of the body, having a top end that extends forward inside the front half part of the terminal body, and being adopted to be flexed in the direction of height; a stabilizer being erected in the direction of height on the outer side at the front end of the terminal body, having a face in the direction of width, fitting into a groove formed in the longitudinal direction and advancing beyond a lance that is formed in the groove and being fixed by the lance when said terminal proper is inserted into the chamber of the housing; a round part that
Bradley Paula
Fasse W. F.
Fasse W. G.
Japan Solderless Terminal Mfg. Co., Ltd.
Ta Tho D.
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