Abstract
A press fit terminal that includes a terminal metal fitting with a first end and a second end, the terminal metal fitting including: a pressure contact part that is at the first end and that is configured to be press-fit into a through-hole of a printed circuit board and made to be electrically conductive with a conductor at an inner surface of the through-hole, and a connecting part that is at the second end and that is configured to be connected to a mating member.
Claims
1. A press fit terminal comprising: a terminal metal fitting with a first end and a second end, the terminal metal fitting including: a pressure contact part that is at the first end and that is configured to be press-fit into a through-hole of a printed circuit board and made to be electrically conductive with a conductor at an inner surface of the through-hole, and a connecting part that is at the second end and that is configured to be connected to a mating member, wherein: the first end of the terminal metal fitting is provided with: a through-hole that cuts out a center portion of the terminal metal fitting in a plate thickness direction, and a pair of elastic pressure contact pieces that are separated from each other at both sides in a plate width direction via the through-hole, center portions of the elastic pressure contact pieces in a length direction being deformed so as to respectively protrude to both sides of the terminal metal fitting in the plate thickness direction, and the pressure contact part being formed by the center portions in the length direction.
2. The press fit terminal as set forth in claim 1, wherein: base ends of the elastic pressure contact pieces, which respectively become connecting portions to a center portion of the terminal metal fitting in the length direction, are separated from each other in the plate width direction by the through-opening.
3. The press fit terminal as set forth in claim 1, wherein: at outer circumferential surfaces of the elastic pressure contact pieces, at a position closer to the first end of the terminal metal fitting than the pressure contact part, abutment protruding parts are arranged, and in a state in which the press fit terminal is mounted to the printed circuit board, the abutment protruding parts contact a surface of the printed circuit board.
4. The press fit terminal as set forth in claim 2, wherein: at outer circumferential surfaces of the elastic pressure contact pieces, at a position closer to the first end of the terminal metal fitting than the pressure contact part, abutment protruding parts are arranged, and in a state in which the press fit terminal is mounted to the printed circuit board, the abutment protruding parts contact a surface of the printed circuit board.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Various exemplary aspects of the disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, wherein:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a press fit terminal of a first exemplary aspect of this disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 1.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which press fit terminals of this exemplary aspect are arranged to stand on a printed circuit board.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a front view of FIG. 4.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG. 4.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a press fit terminal of a second exemplary aspect of this disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Hereafter, exemplary aspects of this disclosure will be explained with reference to the drawings.
[0025] First, FIGS. 1-3 show a press fit terminal 10 of a first exemplary aspect of this disclosure. The press fit terminal 10 is an integrally formed article in which (i) pressure contact parts 16 are provided at one end 14 (lower end of FIGS. 1-3) of a terminal metal fitting 12 and (ii) a connecting part 20 that is connected to an undepicted mating member is formed at another end 18 (upper end of FIGS. 1-3) of the terminal metal fitting 12. Additionally, in the following description, “upper” refers to an upper part of FIGS. 1-3, “lower” refers to a lower part of FIGS. 1-3, “front” refers to a left part of FIG. 3, and “rear” refers to a right part of FIG. 3. Furthermore, a plate thickness direction refers to right/left directions of FIG. 3, a plate width direction refers to right/left directions of FIG. 2, and a length direction refers to up/down directions of FIGS. 1-3.
[0026] The terminal metal fitting 12 has a flat plate shape and is formed such that a metal plate is press-punched, which has been plated by, for example, tin or the like on a surface of a copper plate or the like. The pressure contact parts 16 are arranged at the one end 14 of the thus-constituted terminal metal fitting 12. More specifically, at the one end 14 of the terminal metal fitting 12, there are (i) a through-opening 22 that has a substantially longitudinally rectangular shape in a front view and extends in the length direction (up/down directions of FIG. 2) of the terminal metal fitting 12 by cutting out a center portion in the plate width direction (right/left directions of FIG. 2) of the terminal metal fitting 12 and (ii) a pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24, each of which has a substantially rectangular shape in a front view, and which are separated at both sides in the plate width direction by the through-opening 22, and extend in the length direction. The pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 is constituted such that respective base ends 28, which become connecting portions to a center portion 26 to a center portion of the terminal metal fitting 12 in the length direction that is slightly wider than the one end 14 of the terminal metal fitting 12, are separated from each other in the plate width direction via the through-opening 22, and respective tip ends 30 are connected to each other. Additionally, these tip ends 30 have a tapered shape. Additionally, the center portion of the pair of thus-constituted elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 in the length direction is deformed so as to protrude to both sides (both right and left sides of FIG. 3) of the terminal metal fitting 12 in the plate thickness direction, whereby pressure contact parts 16 are formed at the center portion in the length direction. In addition, at outer circumferential surfaces of the pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24, at a position closer to the one end 14 of the terminal metal fitting 12 than the pressure contact parts 16, abutment protruding parts 32 are formed by the outer circumferential surfaces facing outwardly and protruding at a substantially constant dimension.
[0027] Meanwhile, at the other end 18 of the terminal metal fitting 12, the connecting part 20 is arranged, which extends in a substantially rectangular shape in the length direction of the terminal metal fitting 12 (up/down directions of FIG. 2). In the same manner as the tip ends 30 of the pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24, a tip end of the connecting part 20 (upper end part of FIG. 2) also has a tapered shape.
[0028] As shown in FIGS. 4-6, press fit terminals 10 constituted as described above are inserted through through-holes 36 of a printed circuit board 34, from the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 arranged at the one ends 14 of the terminal metal fittings 12. The tip ends 30 of the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 have a tapered shape, so the tip ends 30 become guides, and an operation of inserting the press fit terminals 10 through the through-holes 36 can be stably and efficiently performed. When the press fit terminals 10 are pushed further into the through-holes 36, the center portions of the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 in the length direction are elastically deformed inward in the plate thickness direction (right/left directions of FIG. 6) and inward in the plate width direction (right/left directions of FIG. 5). Thus, the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 can be inserted through the through-holes 36. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, after the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 are inserted through the through-holes 36, the pressure contact parts 16 that are constituted at the center portions of the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 of the press fit terminals 10 in the length direction are pressed into contact with the insides of the through-holes 36 due to elastic recovery force based on elastic deformation when the pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 are inserted through the through-holes 36. That is, the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 of the press fit terminals 10 are press-fittingly fixed with respect to the through-holes 36. Thus, the press fit terminals 10 are made to be electrically conductive with undepicted conductors arranged at inner surfaces of the through-holes 36 via the pressure contact parts 16 arranged on the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24. Furthermore, these conductors are connected to printed wiring formed on the printed circuit board 34. Additionally, to facilitate understanding, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the inner surfaces of the through-holes 36 are slightly separated from the pressure contact parts 16.
[0029] In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, in a state in which the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 have been inserted through the through-holes 36 and mounted to the printed circuit board 34, the abutment protruding parts 32 arranged at the outer circumferential surfaces of the base ends 28 of the pairs of the elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 contact a surface 38 of the printed circuit board 34. That is, the amount by which the press fit terminals 10 are inserted through the through-holes 36 is defined by having the abutment protruding parts 32 contact the surface 38 of the printed circuit board 34.
[0030] According to the thus-constituted press fit terminals 10, the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24, including, at their center portions in the length direction, the pressure contact parts 16 that are press-fit into the through-holes 36 of the printed circuit board 34 and made to be electrically conductive with undepicted conductors arranged at inner surfaces of the through-holes 36, are deformed so as to respectively protrude to both sides (both right and left sides of FIG. 3) of the terminal metal fitting 12 in the plate thickness direction. Thus, the pairs of pressure contact parts 16, 16 can be elastically deformed in the plate thickness direction. Because of this, compared to a conventional case in which a pairs of pressure contact parts can be elastically deformed in a plate width direction, the insertion force of the pressure contact parts 16 with respect to the through-holes 36 can be reduced, so a problem of the pressure contact parts 16 scraping inner surfaces of the through-holes 16 can be advantageously alleviated. At the same time, a sufficient flexure amount (spring property) can be ensured, so the pressure contact parts 16 can be reliably pressed into contact with the inner surfaces of the through-holes 36.
[0031] Furthermore, the elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 are separated from each other via the through-opening 22 in the plate width direction and can be thus elastically deformed in the plate width direction as well as the plate thickness direction. Because of this, compared to a conventional case in which a pair of elastic pressure contact pieces can be elastically deformed in only one of a plate width direction or a plate thickness direction, pressure that is applied to the pressure contact parts 16 facing the inside of the through-hole 36 can be advantageously absorbed by elastic deformation of the pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 in the plate thickness direction and the plate width direction. Thus, the possibility of the problem of an extra component of force being generated in a rotational direction or the like by such pressure, and the press fit terminal 10 rolling and the like, can be reduced. Additionally, an insertion force of the pressure contact parts 16 with respect to the through-holes 36 can be further reduced, and the problem of the pressure contact parts 16 scraping an inner surface of the through-hole 36 can also be alleviated.
[0032] In addition, in a state in which the press fit terminals 10 are mounted to the printed circuit board 34, the abutment protruding parts 32 arranged on the pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 contact the surface 38 of the printed circuit board 34. Thus, even if excessive insertion force is applied to the press fit terminals 10, such excessive insertion force can be dispersed to the printed circuit board 34 side. Thus, the press fit terminals 10 can be stably and erectly held on the printed circuit board 34.
[0033] Above, exemplary aspects of this disclosure were explained in detail, but this disclosure is not limited to these specific descriptions. For example, in the above-mentioned exemplary aspects, the center portions of the pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 in the length direction are deformed so as to respectively protrude to both sides (both right and left sides of FIG. 3) of the terminal metal fitting 12 in the plate thickness direction and are formed so as not to overlap each other in a side view (see FIG. 3), but they do not need to be formed so as not to overlap each other in a side view.
[0034] Additionally, for example, in the above-mentioned first exemplary aspect, only one pair of elastic pressure contact pieces 24, 24 is arranged at the one end 14 of the terminal metal fitting 12, and the connecting part 20 which is formed at the other end 18 of the terminal metal fitting 12 has a simple rectangular shape. However, for example, as in a press fit terminal 40 of a second exemplary aspect shown in FIG. 7, two pairs of elastic pressure contact pieces 24 can be arranged at the one end 14 of the terminal metal fitting 12, and a connecting part 42 formed at the other end 18 of the terminal metal fitting 12 can have a tuning fork shape. Thus, compared to the above-mentioned first exemplary aspect, the press fit terminal 40 can be connected to the printed circuit board 34 with lower resistance and can be reliably erectly arranged, so it can be connected to more types of mating members. In short, the number of elastic pressure contact pieces 24 and the shape of the connecting part can be arbitrarily selected.
