Connector and terminal
11394153 ยท 2022-07-19
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H01R13/4223
ELECTRICITY
H01R13/53
ELECTRICITY
H01R13/428
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H01R13/53
ELECTRICITY
H01R13/422
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a connector and a terminal. The connector includes a terminal. The terminal includes an insert portion. The insert portion includes a front frame portion, a rear frame portion, a top plate portion, an arc discharge contact member and a primary contact member. The arc discharge contact member includes a bottom plate portion and a top elastic arm. The bottom plate portion connects the front frame portion and the rear frame portion and is spaced apart from the top plate portion in an up-down direction. The top elastic arm extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and is positioned below the top plate portion. The arc discharge contact member is positioned in front of the primary contact member. The primary contact member includes a first elastic arm and a second elastic arm. The first elastic arm extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and is adjacent between the bottom plate portion and the top elastic arm. The second elastic arm extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion, is adjacent between the top plate portion and the bottom plate portion, and spaced apart from the first elastic arm in a left-right direction.
Claims
1. A connector, comprising: an insulating housing defining a terminal receiving groove therein, and the insulating housing comprising a stop wall; and a terminal positioned in the terminal receiving groove of the insulating housing, and the terminal comprising: an insert portion defining an insert space therein, and the insert portion comprising: a front frame portion; a rear frame portion spaced apart from the front frame portion in a front-rear direction; a top plate portion connecting the front frame portion and the rear frame portion; an arc discharge contact member comprising: a bottom plate portion connecting the front frame portion and the rear frame portion and spaced apart from the top plate portion in an up-down direction; and a top elastic arm extending from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and positioned below the top plate portion; a primary contact member, wherein the arc discharge contact member is positioned in front of the primary contact member, and the primary contact member comprising: a first elastic arm which extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and is adjacent between the bottom plate portion and the top elastic arm; and a second elastic arm which extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion, is adjacent between the top plate portion and the bottom plate portion, and spaced apart from the first elastic arm in a left-right direction; a wiring portion; and a connecting portion connecting the insert portion and the wiring portion, and the connecting portion comprising a stopping portion which is configured to abut against the stop wall of the insulating housing, wherein the front frame portion and the rear frame portion each comprise a first end portion and a second end portion which are opposite to each other, the first end portion is connected with the top plate portion, the second end portion is a free end, and the top plate portion is positioned above the front frame portion and the rear frame portion.
2. The connector of claim 1, wherein, the bottom plate portion comprises a bottom plate contact portion; the top elastic arm comprises a top contact portion which faces the bottom plate contact portion and is positioned in the insert space; the first elastic arm comprises a first contact portion which is positioned in the insert space; the second elastic arm comprises a second contact portion which faces the first contact portion and is positioned in the insert space, wherein, the top contact portion and the bottom plate contact portion are positioned in front of the first contact portion and the second contact portion.
3. The connector of claim 2, wherein the bottom plate contact portion, the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are respectively provided at a down side, an up side, a left side and a right side of the insert space.
4. The connector of claim 3, wherein the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are respectively positioned in a tip of the top elastic arm, a tip of the first elastic arm and a tip of the second elastic arm.
5. The connector of claim 2, wherein the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion each are an elliptical surface.
6. The connector of claim 1, wherein the first end portion of the front frame portion comprises a catch hole, and the second end portion of the front frame portion comprises a protrusion which is configured to insert into the catch hole.
7. The connector of claim 1, wherein the rear frame portion comprises a rear frame bottom portion, and wherein the connecting portion further comprises a connecting bottom portion which is lower than the rear frame bottom portion and a step portion which connects the connecting bottom portion and the rear frame bottom portion.
8. The connector of claim 1, wherein there is a gap between the bottom plate portion of the terminal and an inner wall of the insulating housing in the up-down direction.
9. The connector of claim 1, wherein the bottom plate contact portion is formed by bulging the bottom plate portion toward the insert space.
10. The connector of claim 1, wherein an edge bulging portion bulges upwardly from a rear edge of the top plate portion, and wherein the insulating housing further comprises a locking shoulder which latches with the edge bulging portion and has elasticity.
11. The connector of claim 1, wherein the connector is a vehicle connector.
12. A terminal, comprising: an insert portion defining an insert space therein, and the insert portion comprising: a front frame portion; a rear frame portion spaced apart from the front frame portion in a front-rear direction; a top plate portion connecting the front frame portion and the rear frame portion; an arc discharge contact member comprising: a bottom plate portion connecting the front frame portion and the rear frame portion and spaced apart from the top plate portion in an up-down direction; and a top elastic arm extending from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and positioned below the top plate portion; a primary contact member, wherein the arc discharge contact member is positioned in front of the primary contact member, the primary contact member comprising: a first elastic arm which extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion and is adjacent between the bottom plate portion and the top elastic arm; and a second elastic arm which extends from the rear frame portion to the front frame portion, is adjacent between the top plate portion and the bottom plate portion and spaced apart from the first elastic arm in a left-right direction; a wiring portion; and a connecting portion connecting the insert portion and the wiring portion, wherein the front frame portion and the rear frame portion each comprise a first end portion and a second end portion which are opposite to each other, the first end portion is connected with the top plate portion, the second end portion is a free end, and the top plate portion is positioned above the front frame portion and the rear frame portion.
13. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the bottom plate portion comprises a bottom plate contact portion; the top elastic arm comprises a top contact portion which faces the bottom plate contact portion and is positioned in the insert space; the first elastic arm comprises a first contact portion which is positioned in the insert space; the second elastic arm comprises a second contact portion which faces the first contact portion and is positioned in the insert space; wherein, the top contact portion and the bottom plate contact portion are positioned in front of the first contact portion and the second contact portion.
14. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the bottom plate contact portion is formed by bulging the bottom plate portion toward the insert space.
15. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the bottom plate contact portion, the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are respectively provided at a down side, an up side, a left side and a right side of the insert space.
16. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion are respectively positioned in a tip of the top elastic arm, a tip of the first elastic arm and a tip of the second elastic arm.
17. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the top contact portion, the first contact portion and the second contact portion each are an elliptical surface.
18. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the first end portion of the front frame portion comprises a catch hole, the second end portion of the front frame portion comprises a protrusion which is configured to insert into the catch hole.
19. The terminal of claim 12, wherein the rear frame portion comprises a rear frame bottom portion, and wherein the connecting portion further comprises a connecting bottom portion which is lower than the rear frame bottom portion and a step portion which connects the connecting bottom portion and the rear frame bottom portion.
20. The terminal of claim 12, wherein an edge bulging portion bulges upwardly from a rear edge of the top plate portion.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The disclosed contents of the present disclosure can be more fully understood in conjunction with the detailed description and claims referring to the drawings, and the same reference numeral indicates the same element in the drawings.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
(14) The embodiments or examples of the disclosed contents illustrated in the drawings are described in specific languages. It should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Any change or modification of the embodiments and any further application of the principles described in the present disclosure can occur normally for those skilled persons in the art. Reference numerals may be repeated in each embodiment, but even if they have the same reference numerals, the features in an embodiment are not necessarily used in another embodiment.
(15) The following detailed description describes various exemplary embodiments and it is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the explicitly disclosed combinations. Therefore, unless otherwise stated, the features disclosed herein may be combined together to form multiple additional combinations not shown for the sake of conciseness.
(16) A female terminal of the present disclosure helps to control discharge arc that occurs between the female terminal and a male terminal mated with the female terminal when a power connector is hot plugged. Some embodiments permit the female terminal to include one or more sacrificial electrical contacts, and these sacrificial electrical contacts are configured to engage with the mating male terminal so as to release any arc before the mating male terminal engages with a primary contact member of the female terminal. Therefore, the female terminal of the present disclosure has a protection (function) of the arc discharge against the primary contact member of the female terminal.
(17)
(18) The plug connector 2 includes an insulating housing 20 and a plurality of female terminals 21 positioned in the insulating housing 20. Only two female terminals 21 are illustrated as an example in the embodiment. In the present disclosure, the female terminal 21 may also be referred to as a terminal 21. Specifically, the insulating housing 20 defines a plurality of terminal receiving grooves 200 extending in the front-rear direction Y1-Y2 therein. Each female terminal 21 is positioned in the corresponding terminal receiving groove 200. In some embodiments, each female terminal 21 is formed by stamping a metalplate.
(19) The receptacle connector 3 includes an insulating housing 30 and a plurality of male terminals 31 positioned in the insulating housing 30. Only two male terminals 31 are illustrated as an example in the embodiment. The locking structure 4 includes an elastic latching portion 40 and a locking portion 41. In the embodiment, the elastic latching portion 40 is provided on the insulating housing 20 of the plug connector 2, and the locking portion 41 is provided on the insulating housing 30 of the receptacle connector 3. However, the locking structure 4 of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any structure that can hold the plug connector 2 and the receptacle connector 3 together is a potential implementing manner.
(20)
(21) Referring to
(22) Referring to
(23) The arc discharge contact member 2104 includes a bottom plate portion 21040 connecting the front frame portion 2101 and the rear frame portion 2102 (see
(24) The primary contact member 2105 includes a first elastic arm 21050 which extends from the rear frame portion 2102 to the front frame portion 2101 and is adjacent between the bottom plate portion 21040 and the top elastic arm 21041 (see
(25) Because the top elastic arm 21041, the first elastic arm 21050 and the second elastic arm 21051 are cantilever structures, the top elastic arm 21041, the first elastic arm 21050 and the second elastic arm 21051 have good flexibility, and the top elastic arm 21041, the first elastic arm 21050 and the second elastic arm 21051 are more resistant to fretting corrosion with respect to terminal contact surfaces thereof.
(26) The front frame portion 2101 includes a first end portion 21010 and a second end portion 21011 which are opposite to each other. The first end portion 21010 is connected with the top plate portion 2103, and the second end portion 21011 is a free end. The first end portion 21010 includes a catch hole 210100, and the second end portion 21011 includes a protrusion 210110.
(27) The rear frame portion 2102 includes a first end portion 21021 and a second end portion 21022 which are opposite to each other. The first end portion 21021 is connected with the top plate portion 2103. The second end portion 21022 is a free end.
(28) In the process of assembling the female terminal 21 to be a three-dimensional female terminal, a protrusion 210110 is inserted into the catch hole 210100. In this way, the front frame portion 2101 of the female terminal 21 is relatively difficult to deform, thereby avoiding the female terminal 21 being damaged by the male terminal 31 when the male terminal 31 is obliquely inserted into the female terminal 21.
(29) Referring to
(30) The insert portion 210 defines an insert space 2100 to allow the male terminal 31 to insert therein. When viewed from the insert portion 210 toward the wiring portion 211, the top plate portion 2103 is positioned above the front frame portion 2101 and the rear frame portion 2102.
(31) In addition, the top elastic arm 21041 is positioned below the top plate portion 2103. In this way, when the male terminal 31 is inserted into the insert space 2100, the top elastic arm 21041 is elastically deformed by the squeezing of the male terminal 31 and is displaced upwardly to contact the top plate portion 2103, thereby making the top elastic arm 21041 form a simple support beam effect. Therefore, a normal force applied to the top contact portion 210410 of the top elastic arm 21041 is increased, which can provide a lower and more stable contact resistance. Furthermore, the top plate portion 2103 is spaced apart from the bottom plate portion 21040 in an up-down direction Z1-Z2.
(32) In addition, the insert space 2100 includes a left side 21000 and a right side 21001 which are spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction X2-X1 and an up side 21002 and a down side 21003 which are spaced apart from each other in the up-down direction Z1-Z2 (see
(33) The bottom plate contact portion 210400 of the bottom plate portion 21040 is positioned in the insert space 2100 and provided at the down side 21003 of the insert space 2100 (see
(34) The top contact portion 210410 of the top elastic arm 21041 faces the bottom plate contact portion 210400 and is positioned in the insert space 2100, the top contact portion 210410 serves as a secondary contact point of the female terminal 21. Specifically, the top contact portion 210410 is positioned at a tip of the top elastic arm 21041 and is provided at the up side 21002 of the insert space 2100 (see
(35) The first contact portion 210500 of the first elastic arm 21050 is positioned in the insert space 2100, the first contact portion 210500 serves as a primary contact point of the female terminal 21. Specifically, the first contact portion 210500 is positioned at a tip of the first elastic arm 21050 and provided at the left side 21000 of the insert space 2100. In addition, the first contact portion 210500 is an elliptical surface. The inserting angle of the male terminal 31 is smaller with respect to the elliptical surface when the male terminal 31 is inserted into the female terminal 21. Therefore, without sacrificing the normal force and Hertzian stress, the inserting force can still be kept lower. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, first contact portion 210500 may be any other geometric shape. In addition, the top contact portion the 210410 and the bottom plate contact portion 210400 are positioned in front of the first contact portion 210500 in the front-rear direction Y1-Y2 (see
(36) The second contact portion 210510 of the second elastic arm 21051 faces the first contact portion 210500 and positioned in the insert space 2100, the second contact portion 210510 serves as a primary contact point of the female terminal 21. Specifically, the second contact portion 210510 is positioned at a tip of the second elastic arm 21051 and provided at the right side 21001 of the insert space 2100. In some embodiments, the second contact portion 210510 is aligned with the first contact portion 210500 of the first elastic arm 21050 in the front-rear direction Y1-Y2 and the up-down direction Z1-Z2. The second contact portion 210510 is an elliptical surface. The inserting angle of the male terminal 31 is smaller with respect to the elliptical surface when the male terminal 31 is inserted into the female terminal 21. Therefore, without sacrificing the normal force and Hertzian stress, the inserting force can still be kept lower. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. In some embodiments, the second contact portion 210510 may be any other geometric shape. The top contact portion 210410 and the bottom plate contact portion 210400 are positioned in front of the second contact portion 210510 in the front-rear direction Y1-Y2.
(37) When the male terminal 31 is inserted under electric hot plug, the top contact portion 210410 positioned at the up side 21002 of the insert space 2100 and the bottom plate contact portion 210400 positioned at the down side 21003 of the insert space 2100 contact the male terminal 31 earlier than the first contact portion 210500 positioned at the left side 21000 of the insert space 2100 and the second contact portion 210510 positioned at the right side 21001 of the insert space 2100. That is, the male terminal 31 contacts the arc discharge contact member 2104 before the male terminal 31 contacts the primary contact member 2105, and thus any arc discharge between the male terminal 31 and the female terminal 21 occurs at the arc discharge contact member 2104. In this way, the electric spark generated due to the insertion will only be remained on the top contact portion 210410 and the bottom plate contact portion 210400 which serve as the secondary contact points, and the first contact portion 210500 and the second contact portion 210510 which serve as the primary contact points will not be affected. Therefore, the female terminal 21 has a function of hot plug.
(38) In addition, referring back to
(39)
(40) The rear frame portion 2102 includes a rear frame bottom portion 21020. The connecting portion 212 further includes a connecting bottom portion 2121 which is lower than the rear frame bottom portion 21020 and a step portion 2122 which connects the connecting bottom portion 2121 and the rear frame bottom portion 21020. In this way, the bottom plate portion 21040 of the female terminal 21 is separated from an inner wall 2001 of the terminal receiving groove 200 of the insulating housing 20 in the up-down direction Z1-Z2, so that there is a gap 2000 between the bottom plate portion 21040 of the female terminal 21 and the inner wall 2001 of the terminal receiving groove 200. The gap 2000 can provide floatability for the female terminal 21.
(41) In addition, referring to
(42)
(43) In the description of the present disclosure, the left-right direction X2-X1, the front-rear direction Y1-Y2, the up-down direction Z1-Z2 are used to illustrate the relative position relationship and action relationship of the components of
(44) While the present disclosure and advantages thereof are described in detail, it is understood that various changes, replacements and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure defined by the appended claims. For example, many processes described above can be implemented in a variety of ways, and many processes described above can be replaced with other processes or combinations thereof. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments of process, machinery, manufacturing, substance composition, means, method or step described in the specification. Those skilled in the art can understand from the disclosed contents of the present disclosure that existing or future developed process, machinery, manufacturing, substance composition, means, method or step which has the same function or achieve essentially the same result as the corresponding embodiment described herein can be used in accordance with the present disclosure. Accordingly, such a process, machinery, manufacturing, substance composition, mean, method or step is included in the claims of the present disclosure.