Female connector and method for manufacturing the same

The present disclosure relates to a female connector and a method for manufacturing the same. The female connector coupled with a male terminal unit in which a plurality of male terminals are arranged includes: a housing configured to have one side provided with a male insertion hole into which the male terminal unit is inserted and the other side provided with an insertion groove; a body configured to be inserted into the insertion groove to be coupled with the housing; and a female terminal configured to be formed on a surface of the body and provided with a pattern part electrically connected to the male connector by activating the surface by a laser.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0170796, filed on Dec. 2, 2014, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a female connector and a method for manufacturing the same.

BACKGROUND

Generally, a joint connector is used to connect wirings of a brake, a headlight, and the like of a vehicle.FIG. 1is a diagram illustrating the joint connector. As illustrated inFIG. 1, the existing joint connector includes a housing110of a plastic material, a female terminal130coupled with one side of the housing110and made of a metal material, a side holder120for fixing the same, a cap140, and a joint terminal150.

The female terminal130is configured by separately compressing and assembling a plurality of female connectors and cables, respectively. A male terminal unit is inserted into the joint terminal150and is thus electrically connected thereto.

The existing joint connector is provided by a method for separately compressing and assembling the female connector and the cable, respectively, to form the female terminal130and then assembling the female terminal130with a housing110and a side holder120. Therefore, an assembling time is long and thus personnel expenses increase, such that price competitiveness and productivity may be reduced.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a female connector and a method for manufacturing the same capable of reducing the number of manufacturing processes, saving costs, reducing a weight and a size, and facilitating mass production.

According to an exemplary form of the present disclosure, a female connector coupled with a male terminal unit in which a plurality of male terminals are arranged, the female connector includes: a housing configured to have one side provided with a male insertion hole into which the male terminal unit is inserted and the other side provided with an insertion groove; a body configured to be inserted into the insertion groove to be coupled with the housing; and a female terminal configured to be formed on a surface of the body and provided with a pattern part electrically connected to the male connector by activating the surface by a laser.

The body of the female terminal may be made of a metal composite in which a portion decomposed by the laser has conductivity and a portion which is not decomposed by the laser has insulation.

A plurality of outer fastening holes may be penetratedly formed at a position adjacent to the male insertion hole of the housing, and the female terminal may further include an outer fastening member which protrudes from the body and is fastened with the outer fastening hole to fix the coupling with the housing.

An upper fastening hole may be penetratedly formed on the housing and the female terminal may further include an upper fastening member which protrudes from the body and is fastened with the upper fastening hole to fix the coupling with the housing.

The body of the female terminal may include: a main body extending along an insertion direction based on the insertion direction of the female terminal, and a wing body protruding to an outside from a front toward a rear based on the insertion direction, wherein a pattern part may be formed on the wing body.

The wing body may be provided to have an elastic force toward the outside.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to a female connector and a method for manufacturing the same. Therefore, the female connector according to the exemplary form of the present disclosure will be first described and then the method for manufacturing the same will be described.

As illustrated inFIGS. 3 to 11, according to an exemplary form of the present disclosure, a female connector coupled with a male terminal unit30in which a plurality of male terminals35are arranged includes a housing10having one side provided with a male insertion hole17into which the male terminal unit30is inserted and the other side provided with an insertion groove11into which a female terminal20to be inserted. The female terminal20is provided with a pattern part23.

One side of the housing10is provided with the male insertion hole17into which the male terminal35is inserted and the other side thereof is provided with the insertion groove11into which the female terminal20is inserted. Further, the housing10is provided with an outer fastening hole15and an upper fastening hole13for fixing the coupling with the female terminal20inserted through the insertion groove11.

The male insertion hole17formed at one side of the housing10is holes into which the plurality of male terminals35of the male terminal unit30are each inserted. The male terminal35of the male terminal unit30is formed in plural up and down in a predetermined pattern and is fixed by the male connector31.

The insertion groove11is formed at the other side of the housing10provided with the male insertion hole17and the female terminal20is inserted into the insertion groove11.

The outer fastening hole15is formed at a position adjacent to the male insertion hole17. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the outer fastening hole15is to fix the coupling with the female terminal20inserted into the insertion groove11and is formed between the male insertion holes17which are formed vertically in a predetermined pattern. The outer fastening hole15may be formed in plural to improve a bonding strength with the female terminal20.

The upper fastening hole13is penetratedly formed on the housing10. The upper fastening member25of the female terminal20to be described below is inserted into the upper fastening hole13to fix the coupling of the housing10with the female terminal20.

The female terminal20includes a body29to be coupled with the housing10, a pattern part23formed on a surface of the body29and electrically connected to the male connector31by activating the surface by a laser, an outer fastening member27to be coupled with the outer fastening hole15, and an upper fastening member25to be fastened with the upper fastening hole13.

The body29of the female terminal20includes a main body29aextending along the insertion direction based on the insertion direction in which the female terminal20is inserted into the insertion groove11and a wing body29bprotruding to the outside from a front toward a rear based on the insertion direction. That is, as illustrated inFIG. 5, when viewing a section of the female terminal20, the main body29aforms a center in the middle of the female terminal20and both sides thereof are provided with the wing body29b, based on the main body29a. The wing body29bis bent to protrude from a front toward a rear based on the insertion direction and has an elastic force toward the outside. By this configuration, when the female terminal20is inserted into the housing10, the wing body29bis deformed toward an inside by the male terminal35of the male terminal unit30coupled with the housing10and the fastening is fixed.

The pattern part23plated with a metal pattern is formed on the wing body29b. The pattern part23is provided on the wing body29bby activating the electrically connectable pattern using a laser direct structure (LDS) method. When the female terminal20is inserted into the housing10, the pattern part23is electrically connected to the male terminal35of the male terminal unit30. As illustrated inFIGS. 9 to 11, the circuit pattern of the pattern part23may be provided in various shapes, if necessary. After a laser pattern is etched on the wing body29b, the pattern part23is formed by plating any one of nickel, copper, and gold thereon.

Meanwhile, to fix the coupling of the housing10with the female terminal20, the female terminal20is provided with the outer fastening member27which is fastened with the outer fastening hole15of the housing10and the upper fastening member25which is fastened with the upper fastening hole13of the housing10.

The outer fastening member27is positioned at a front based on the insertion direction into the insertion groove11of the female terminal20and protrudes from the body29to be fastened with the outer fastening hole15of the housing10at the time of being inserted into the insertion groove11. The outer fastening member27is provided in plural to improve the bonding strength and is provided at a shape and a position corresponding to the outer fastening hole15.

The upper fastening member25is formed on the housing10, protruding from the body29and is fastened with the upper fastening hole13of the housing10at the time of being inserted into the insertion groove11of the female terminal20.

The coupling of the female terminal20, the housing10, and the male terminal unit30which are provided as described above will be described. First, the female terminal20is inserted into the insertion groove11of the housing10. The housing10and the female terminal20are fastened with the outer fastening member27which protrudes from the front of the body29of the female terminal20, the outer fastening hole15which is penetratedly formed on the housing10, and the outer fastening member protrudes outside the housing10. Further, the upper fastening hole13penetratedly formed on the housing is fastened with the upper fastening member25which protrudes from above the body29of the female terminal20and the upper fastening member25fastened with the upper fastening hole13penetratedly formed on the housing10protrudes outside the housing10. When the coupling of the female terminal20with the housing10is fixed, the male terminal unit30is coupled through the male insertion hole17which is formed at one side of the housing10(seeFIG. 6). The male terminals35of the male terminal unit30are formed in a predetermined pattern and are fixed to ends of the plurality of male cables33by the male connector31. The male terminal35of the male terminal unit30is inserted into the male insertion hole17and is fastened with the female terminal20in the housing10. Meanwhile, the wing body29bprovided with the pattern part23of the female terminal20is elastically deformed inward by the male terminal35and the inter-terminal fastening is fixed (seeFIG. 8).

<Method for Manufacturing Female Connector>

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing a female connector according to an exemplary form of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As illustrated inFIGS. 12 to 14, the method for manufacturing a female connector according to an exemplary form of the present disclosure includes injection molding the body29, laser etching the circuit pattern on the body29, and plating a laser pattern.

As illustrated inFIG. 12, the injection molding is plastic injection molding the body29to meet design specifications.

As illustrated inFIG. 13, the laser etching is etching the circuit pattern by irradiating a laser to the circuit pattern on the body29. In the laser etching, a laser etching groove is formed on the body29by etching the circuit pattern in various patterns depending on the required circuit.

As illustrated inFIG. 14, in the plating, any one of copper, nickel, and gold is plated on the laser etching groove to form the pattern part23. According to the method for manufacturing a female connector as described above, the female connector may be manufactured by a simpler process than the related art, thereby saving costs and facilitating mass production.

As described above, according to the exemplary forms of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide the female connector and the method for manufacturing the same capable of more reducing the number of manufacturing processes than the related art to save costs, implementing the mass production, and reducing the size and weight of products.

It is to be understood that the above-mentioned exemplary forms are illustrative rather than being restrictive in all aspects, and the scope of the present disclosure will be defined by the claims to be described below rather than the above-mentioned detailed description. In addition, all modifications and alternations derived from the claims and their equivalents are to be interpreted to be included in the scope of the present disclosure.