Connecting terminal

A connecting terminal has a rectangular tube-like connecting portion including a bottom plate, and a first side plate. A movable contact strip is secured to the bottom plate at a base portion. The movable contact strip is bent into a shape of a mountain. An apex of the mountain constitutes a contact portion. Prior to the formation of the connecting portion, the movable contact strip is folded over the bottom plate. An elongated strip portion of the bottom plate is cut and bent inwardly to form a reinforcing strip. A rear end of the movable contact strip is connected to the bottom plate. A free front end of the reinforcing strip is urged against a lower surface of the contact portion. At a front end of the connecting portion, a guide strip is formed by folding back a front end portion of the bottom plate.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a female type connecting terminal to be connected to a male type connecting terminal, said female type and male type connecting terminal constituting an electrical connector.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

It has been practiced to arrange a movable contact strip having an elasticity within a connecting portion of a female type connecting terminal and an inserted male type connecting terminal is clamped resiliently by the movable contact strip. Recently it has been required to provide electrical connectors having a small size and larger number of poles, and therefore connecting terminals arranged within the connectors should be small. For the female type connecting terminal, a contact point of a movable contact strip to be connected to a corresponding male type connecting terminal should be provided at a forward position as far as possible and an insertion force of the male type connecting terminal should be small.

In order to meet the above mentioned requirements there have been proposed the following known connecting terminals.

(1) As shown inFIG. 6, within a connecting portion1, a movable contact strip3and a reinforcing strip4are bent upward from a bottom plate2and tips of these strips are overlapped with each other at a contact point5.

(2) As illustrated inFIG. 7, a movable contact strip3whose root portion is connected to a top plate6is bent such that a free end7is face forward within a connecting portion1.

(3) As depicted inFIG. 8, a root portion of the movable contact strip3bent into U-shape is connected to a top plate6and a free end7of the movable contact strip3facing forward is bent toward a bottom plate2such that a tip of the free end7is engaged with a guide strip8provided at a front end of the bottom plate2.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In the known connecting terminal (1), the front end of the movable contact strip3is fixed and a rear end of the movable contact strip is free. Therefore, a rather large force is required for inserting the male type connecting terminal into the female type connecting terminal.

In the known connecting terminal (2), the movable contact strip3might be deformed in a flat manner due to a repelling force upon the insertion of the corresponding male type connecting terminal, but it is difficult to provide an elongated reinforcing tab extending from the top plate inwardly.

Furthermore in the known connecting terminal (3), the contact point5may be provided near a front end and the terminal inserting force may be reduce, but the movable contact strip3extending from the top plate and is bent to cross the connecting portion1from up to down. Therefore, during a manufacturing process, an abnormal shape of the connecting terminal could not be checked by projecting a light flux along a longitudinal direction of the connecting portion, because the light flux is interrupted by the movable contact strip.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a connecting terminal which can solve the above mentioned problems of the known connecting terminals and a contact point can be provided near a front end and a force for inserting a male type connecting terminal into the female type connecting terminal can be reduced.

Means for Solving the Problems

In order to attain the above mentioned object, according to the invention, a connecting terminal formed from a single metal plate comprises a rectangular tube-like connecting portion including a bottom plate, a first side plate connected to the bottom plate, a top plate connected to the first side plate, and a second side plate connected to the top plate; a movable contact strip formed by folding a strip-like member which extends in parallel with a side portion of said bottom plate and is coupled with said bottom plate at a rear portion and has a free end, over said bottom plate within the connecting portion, said strip-like member being further bent into a shape of mountain such that an apex of the mountain constitutes a contact point; a reinforcing strip having a rear end connected to said bottom plate and a free end, said reinforcing strip being formed by cutting a portion of the bottom plate and bending the thus cut portion inwardly such that the free end of the reinforcing strip supports the movable contact strip; and a guide strip for guiding a corresponding male type connecting terminal of the electrical connector, said guide strip being formed by folding back a strip-like portion provided at the front end of the bottom plate such that said guide strip covers a front end of the movable contact strip.

Merits of the Invention

In the connecting terminal according to the present invention, the movable contact strip is formed by folding the strip-like member over the bottom plate at the rear portion such that the free end situates at a front side, and the movable contact strip is supported by the reinforcing strip from the underneath, said reinforcing strip being formed by bending the cut portion of the bottom plate upwardly. Therefore, the contact point with the corresponding male type connecting terminal can be positioned near the front end, a force for inserting the male type connecting terminal into the female type connecting terminal can be reduced, and the male type connecting terminal can be clamped with a stable force.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the connecting terminal according to the invention,FIG. 2is a perspective view illustrating the connecting terminal with a portion thereof being cut out,FIG. 3is an enlarged perspective view depicting a connecting portion with a portion thereof being cut out, andFIG. 4is an exploded plan view before folding and bending. The connecting terminal is formed by punching a single metal plate into a given shape, and then folding and bending various portions. Generally speaking, the connecting terminal consists of a rectangular tube-like connecting portion11provided at a front side and a wire clamping portion12provided at a rear side. As usual, the wire clamping portion12includes a core conductor clamping portion12aand a sheath clamping portion12b, these clamping portions being formed into a U-shape.

As shown in the exploded plan view ofFIG. 4, the connecting portion11comprises a bottom plate13, a first side plate14connected to one side of the bottom plate, a top plate14, a second side plate16and a stabilizer portion17, which are successively coupled with each other in this order. The bottom plate13, first sided plate14, top plate15and second side plate16are folded to constitute a rectangular tube. In the top plate15there is formed a recess18which extends in a longitudinal direction and is bend inwardly. At a rear end of the top plate15there is further formed a locking portion19, which is bent inwardly to be engaged with a locking lance provided on a housing. The stabilizer portion17formed at a side of the second side plate16is bent to have a semicircular cross section in such a manner that the stabilizer portion17protrudes downward from the bottom plate13at a side of the second side plate16.

On the other side of the bottom plate13there is formed a movable contact strip20to extend in parallel with the bottom plate13. The movable contact strip20is coupled with the rear portion of the bottom plate13at a base portion20awithin the connecting portion11. Prior to the formation of the connecting portion11, the movable contact strip20is folded at the base portion20aand is bent in such a manner a portion of the movable contact strip between a rear end20band a free front end20cis bent upward into a shape of mountain. An apex of the mountain situating relatively near to the front end constitutes a contact point20dfor a corresponding male type connecting terminal.

On both sides of the contact point20dof the movable contact strip20there are formed wing portions20e. These wing portions20eare inserted movably into holes14aand16aformed in the first and second side plates14and16, respectively upon constructing the connecting portion11.

In the bottom plate13there is further formed an elongated reinforcing strip21by cutting such that a rear end of the reinforcing strip21is connected to the bottom plate13. The reinforcing strip21is folded inwardly such that a front end21ais brought into contact with a lower surface of the contact portion20dof the movable contact strip20.

At the front end of the connecting portion11, there is provided a guide strip22, which is formed by folding a front portion of the bottom plate13inwardly. The guide strip22covers the free front end20cof the movable contact strip20to prevent a forward movement of the free front end and to guide the insertion of the corresponding male type connecting terminal. It should be noted that the connecting portion11is formed to maintain the rectangular tube by the stabilizer portion17or any other member.

Plate-like portions23are provided on both sides of a portion adjacent to a front end of the core conductor clamping portion12asuch that top edges of the plate-like portions23are substantially aligned with top edges of the core conductor clamping portion12ato reinforce the front portion of the core conductor clamping portion12a.

In the connecting terminal according to the invention having the above explained structure, the contact portion20dof the movable contact strip20can be provided at a relatively front position within the connecting portion11, and furthermore since the free end of the movable contact strip20is constructed by the front end, a resilient force of the movable contact strip is relatively small and a necessary force for inserting the corresponding male type connecting terminal can be reduced.

Moreover, the up and down movement of the free front end20cof the movable contact strip20is limited by the wing portions20einserted into the holes14aand16aand the upward movement of the free front end20cis limited by the guide strip22, and therefore the free front end20cis effectively prevented from moving up and down largely and the corresponding male type connecting terminal can be inserted easily.

When the corresponding male type connecting terminal is inserted into the connecting portion11, the movable contact strip20is deformed resiliently to become flat, but since the movable contact strip20is supported by the reinforcing strip21, an excessive deformation of the movable contact strip20can be effectively avoided, and at the same time, the corresponding male type connecting terminal can be urged against the contact portion20dwith a given pressure.

FIG. 5depicts another embodiment of the connecting terminal according to the invention. In this embodiment, a rib20fis formed in the rear portion20bof the movable contact strip20as well as a rib20gformed in the bottom plate13, said rib extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the connection portion. By forming such ribs20fand20g, the rear end20dof the movable contact strip20is fixed to the bottom plate13much more firmly. Instead of forming the ribs20fand20g, the rear end20bof the movable contact strip may be fused to the bottom plate13.