Connector
10734745 ยท 2020-08-04
Assignee
- AUTONETWORKS TECHNOLOGIES, LTD. (JP)
- Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (JP)
- Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (JP)
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
A terminal (10) of a connector (1) includes a case (20) and a first conductive member (40). The first conductive member (40) includes a junction (43) for connection with a mating terminal. The junction (43) is movable in the compression direction (Y) in which the coil spring (30) is compressed. The case (20) is composed of metal and includes a front wall (22) bent at a front end (21A) of the top wall (21) toward the first conductive member. The front wall (22) is at such a distance from the coil spring (30) that movement of the first conductive member (40) in the compression direction (Y) is not prevented. The front wall (22) includes a support (28) that supports one end (45) of the first conductive member on the front wall side, the one end (45) being movable in the compression direction (Y) at the support when the junction moves.
Claims
1. A connector comprising a terminal and a housing containing the terminal, wherein the terminal comprises: a case made of a metal plate that is formed to define a front wall and a top wall extending angularly from a top end of the front wall, an area of the front wall spaced from the top wall having a support and the case being contained in the housing; a first conductive member that includes a first end supported on the support on the front wall of the case so that the first end of the first conductive member is movable away from the support and toward the top wall of the case, the first conductive member further having a second end supported in the housing and a spring receiving portion between the first and second ends and facing toward the top wall of the case; a shaft disposed in the case, the shaft having a top end adjacent the top wall of the case and a bottom end opposite the top end; and a coil spring contained in the case and surrounding the shaft, the coil spring having a top end facing toward the top wall of the case and a bottom end engaged against the spring receiving portion of the first conductive member, the coil spring being compressed in a compression direction between the top wall of the case and the spring receiving portion of the first conductive member; wherein the housing includes an opening exposing a junction of the first conductive member that is opposite the spring receiving portion and disposed within the housing, the opening being configured to permit a mating terminal to be advanced through the opening and into contact with the junction of the first conductive member in the housing so that the junction is movable in the compression direction toward the top wall and the coil spring is compressed farther.
2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the first end of the first conductive member defines an engaging portion, and the front wall extends parallel to the compression direction and includes a window opening through the front wall in a direction transverse to the compression direction, the window serving as the support, the engaging portion being movable in the compression direction at the window while being engaged with the window.
3. The connector of claim 2, wherein the terminal further includes: a second conductive member that is held by the housing and extends out of the housing, and a wire that connects the first conductive member and the second conductive member to each other, the wire including: a first end connected to the first conductive member, a second end connected to the second conductive member, a middle portion serving as a joint between the first end and the second end, and the middle portion is disposed in the housing and extends from the first end to the second end in the compression direction.
4. The connector of claim 3, wherein the case includes a bent portion that is bent at a back end of the top wall toward the first conductive member, and the bent portion includes a round-cornered portion continuous with the back end, and an extended portion that extends continuously from the round-cornered portion.
5. The connector of claim 1, wherein the top wall of the case includes a through hole, and the top end of the shaft and being fixed in the through hole.
6. The connector of claim 5, wherein the shaft has a flange engaged against a surface of the top wall of the case facing the first conductive member.
7. The connector of claim 6, wherein the top end of the coil spring is engaged against the flange of the shaft.
8. The connector of claim 1, wherein the housing is formed from an insulating material.
9. A connector comprising a terminal and a housing containing the terminal, wherein the terminal comprises: a case that has a top wall and is contained in the housing; a coil spring that is contained in the case while being compressed in a compression direction toward the top wall of the case; and a first conductive member that includes a junction for connection with a mating terminal and is held between one end of the coil spring and the case, the junction being movable in the compression direction in which the coil spring is further compressed, the case is composed of a metal, the case includes a front wall adjacent to the coil spring at such a distance from the coil spring that movement of the first conductive member in the compression direction is not prevented, the front wall being bent at a front end of the top wall toward the first conductive member, and the front wall includes a support that supports one end of the first conductive member on the front wall side, the one end being movable in the compression direction at the support when the junction moves a second conductive member that is held by the housing and extends out of the housing, and a wire that connects the first conductive member and the second conductive member to each other, the wire including: a first end connected to the first conductive member, a second end connected to the second conductive member, a middle portion serving as a joint between the first end and the second end, and the middle portion is disposed in the housing and extends from the first end to the second end in the compression direction.
10. The connector of claim 9, wherein the case includes a bent portion that is bent at a back end of the top wall toward the first conductive member, and the bent portion includes a round-cornered portion continuous with the back end, and an extended portion that extends continuously from the round-cornered portion.
11. The connector of claim 9, wherein the first conductive member includes an engaging portion serving as the one end of the first conductive member, the engaging portion having a width smaller than those of other portions, and the front wall includes a window serving as the support, the engaging portion being movable in the compression direction at the window while being engaged with the window.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(11) Configuration of Connector
(12) An embodiment will now be described with reference to the drawings of
(13) In this embodiment, the connector 1 is supposed to be a connector used to provide electrical connection between an inverter and a motor provided in a vehicle, but this is not the only application of the connector 1. The connector 1 generally has three terminals, because three-phase alternating current is used when the motor is inverter-controlled, and the terminals therefore have the same configuration; for this reason, only one terminal 10 will be described below. Even for the connector 1, only components which are common to each terminal 10 will be described.
(14) Terminal
(15) As shown in
(16) The case 20 is composed of a metal and is made, for example, by stamping a single metal plate of stainless steel (SUS) or the like. It should be noted that the metal is not limited to SUS. As shown in
(17) As shown in
(18) Each side wall 23 has an arm portion 23A extending forward (in the direction of arrow X shown in
(19) As shown in
(20) As shown in
(21) As shown in
(22) The coil spring 30 is made of coiled SUS or other metal wire materials and is compressed within the case 20 in the compression direction Y (see the arrow shown in
(23) As shown in
(24) The bottom end of the shaft 70 resides at a higher level than the inner wall of the spring-receiving member 41 of the first conductive member 40. To be specific, the bottom end of the shaft 70 is disposed at a level as low as possible without causing the bottom end of the shaft 70 and the first conductive member 40 to interfere with each other when the first conductive member 40 is raised upward by the mating terminal 110 (see
(25) The first conductive member 40 is obtained by stamping a metal plate of a copper alloy or the like and, as shown in
(26) The first conductive member 40 includes a junction portion 43 to be engaged with the mating terminal 110 (which will be described later) (see
(27) The wire 60 in this embodiment is connected to the wire connecting portion 42 by, for example, resistance welding. The spring-receiving member 41 resides between the under-window edge 28A and the back support portion 24 and is exposed to the exterior of the case 20 through the first opening 25 of the case 20. The bottom surface of the spring-receiving member 41 is supposed to be the junction portion 43. The junction portion 43 is disposed on the axis of the coil spring 30 and between the under-window edge 28A and the back support portion 24.
(28) Although the first conductive member 40 is almost contained in the case 20, a pair of overhang pieces 44 at both ends of the spring-receiving member 41 and the engaging portion 45 are disposed outside the case 20. Each of the pair of overhang pieces 44 is fit in the corresponding one of the pair of first openings 25. Each overhang piece 44 is in contact with the edge of the first opening 25 backward (the direction opposite that of arrow X in
(29) Like the first conductive member 40, the second conductive member 50 is obtained by stamping a metal plate of a copper alloy or the like. The second conductive member 50 is held by the housing H and extends out of the housing H. To be specific, as shown in
(30) As shown in
(31) Housing
(32) As shown in
(33) As shown in
(34) On the other hand, as shown in
(35) In other words, the container portion 81 and the lower insulating member 90 define a long-length wire-containing space LS which contains the wire 60. The wire-containing space LS contains the wire 60, which is in a long-length S shape in a side view. As shown in
(36) Relationship with Mating Connector
(37) As shown in
(38) If the fitting portion 113 of the mating connector 100 is fit in the fitting depressed portion 93 of the connector 1, the spherical portion 112 comes in contact with the junction portion 43. If the fitting portion 113 is further fit in it, the first conductive member 40 goes up and the coil spring 30 is compressed as shown in
(39) As described above, the case 20 containing the terminal 10; i.e., the case 20 containing the first conductive member 40 that can be moved in the direction in which the coil spring 30 is further compressed, is composed of a metal. For this reason, when the terminal 10 comes in contact with the mating terminal 110, the junction portion 43 of the first conductive member 40 further compresses the coil spring 30; thus, even when high contact pressure (biasing force) from the coil spring 30 is applied to the top wall 21 of the case 20, the case 20 is never subjected to creep at high environmental temperature.
(40) Further, the front wall portion 22 of the case 20 is adjacent to the coil spring 30 at such a distance from the coil spring 30 that the movement of the first conductive member 40 in the direction in which the coil spring 30 is compressed (the direction of arrow Y shown in
(41) In other words, a configuration can be achieved in which the window 28 of the front wall portion 22, which is adjacent to the coil spring 30; specifically, the under-window edge 28A, can support the engaging portion 45 of the first conductive member 40 and the engaging portion 45 can be moved in the compression direction Y. Accordingly, compared with, for example, a configuration in which the case 20 does not have the front wall portion 22 and the first conductive member 40 is supported by only the side wall of the case, the length of the first conductive member 40 in the front-back direction (left-right direction in
(42) In other words, the connector 1 of this embodiment can withstand high environmental temperature and high biasing force of the coil spring 30 and the connector 1 can also be made compact.
(43) When the first conductive member 40 moves in the compression direction Y of the coil spring 30, the engaging portion 45 of the first conductive member 40 can move while being engaged with the window 28 of the front wall portion 22. Accordingly, the first conductive member 40 can be stably moved.
(44) Further, the first conductive member 40 is connected to an external device through the wire 60 and the second conductive member 50. For this reason, compared with the case where only the first conductive member 40 is exposed from the housing H for connection to an external device as a conductive member of the connector 1, in the state where the wire 60 is provided between the first conductive member 40 and the second conductive member 50, the movement of the first conductive member 40 that occurs when the terminal 10 comes in contact with the mating terminal 110 can be absorbed by the wire 60. Accordingly, the effects of the movement of the first conductive member 40 can be reduced in the connector 1.
(45) The middle portion 63 of the wire 60 is disposed in such a manner that it extends in the housing from the first end portion 61 to the second end portion 62 and in the compression direction of the coil spring 30 (the direction of arrow Y shown in
(46) The back end portion 21B of the top wall 21 of the case 20 is supposed to be the bent portion 29 having the first round-cornered portion 29A and the extended portion 29B. Accordingly, for example, even when the middle portion 63 of the wire 60 comes in contact with the back end portion 21B of the metal top wall 21 according to the movement of the first conductive member 40, the damage of the middle portion 63 of the wire 60 to be caused by the back end portion 21B of the top wall 21 can be reduced. For example, in the case where the wire 60 is a braided wire like in this embodiment, the risk of a break in the braided wire caused by a cornered portion of the back end portion 21B of the top wall 21 can be reduced. In other words, the bent portion 29 having the first round-cornered portion 29A protects the wire 60.
(47) The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and includes at least the various modes mentioned below.
(48) Although the above-described embodiment shows an example in which the front support portion is the window 28 provided to the front wall portion 22, this is not necessarily the case. The front support portion may be, for example, a bottom-end bent portion formed by bending the bottom end portion of the front wall portion 22 toward the interior of the case 20 (in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow X in
(49) Although the above-described embodiment shows an example in which the terminal 10 includes the second conductive member 50 and the wire 60 that connects the first conductive member 40 and the second conductive member 50 to each other, this is not necessarily the case. The second conductive member 50 can be omitted or the second conductive member 50 and the wire 60 can be omitted.
(50) In the case where the second conductive member 50 and the wire 60 are included, the arrangement of the second conductive member 50 and the wire 60 is not limited to those shown in
(51) Although the above-described embodiment shows an example in which the case 20 includes the bent portion 29 bent at the back end portion 21B of the top wall 21 toward the first conductive member, this is not necessarily the case and the case 20 does not necessarily include the bent portion 29.
(52) In the case where the bent portion 29 is included, the configuration of the bent portion 29 is not limited to that shown in
(53) Although the above-described embodiment shows an example in which the housing H consists of the upper insulating member 80 and the lower insulating member 90 which are separated up and down, this is not necessarily the case and the housing H can have a single-piece configuration.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
(54) 1 . . . connector 10 . . . terminal 20 . . . case 21 . . . top wall 21 . . . top wall 21A . . . front end 21B . . . back end 22 . . . front wall 28 . . . window (support) 29 . . . bent portion 29A . . . first round-cornered portion (round-cornered portion) 29B . . . extended portion 30 . . . coil spring 31 . . . bottom end (one end) of coil spring 40 . . . first conductive member 43 . . . junction 45 . . . engaging portion (one end portion) 50 . . . second conductive member 60 . . . wire 61 . . . first end 62 . . . second end 63 . . . middle H . . . housing