Conductive terminal with insulating leading-end

A terminal includes an insulating leading-end insulation portion (8) that is fixed to a conductive terminal main body (7) and that protrudes in front of a leading end of a terminal contact portion (72). The terminal contact portion (72) is formed in a cylindrical shape including a rod through-hole (71) penetrating in an axial direction, and the leading-end insulation portion (8) is formed as a part of an insulation member (82) including a penetrating rod portion (81) penetrating through the rod through-hole (71) and protruding to a back end side of the rod through-hole (71); and the leading-end insulation portion (8) and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion (81) are respectively engaged with respect to the terminal main body (7) in a removal direction to thereby fix the insulation member (82) into the terminal main body (7).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a terminal including an insulation portion at its leading end.

BACKGROUND ART

An electric vehicle mounts a charge inlet apparatus that is connected with a charge connecter on a charge stand side or the like to be charged (refer to the patent literature 1, for example). A male terminal is built in the charge inlet apparatus.

FIG. 5(a)andFIG. 5(b)illustrate a male terminal100of prior art. The male terminal100includes a conductive terminal main body110including a terminal contact portion111to be in contact with a mating terminal (not illustrated), and an insulating leading-end insulation portion120(formed of resin) fixed to the terminal main body110and provided at a leading end of the terminal contact portion111. At the leading end of the terminal contact portion111, a constricted portion112and a flange portion113which are extended forward are protrusively provided. At the leading-end insulation portion120, a through-hole having a step121penetrating in an axis direction is provided. At a back end side of the leading-end insulation portion120, an engagement portion122to be engaged with the constricted portion112is formed.

According to the above-described configuration, in assembling the male terminal100, the flange portion113protruding forward from the leading end of the terminal contact portion111of the terminal main body110is inserted into the through-hole121having a step of the leading-end insulation portion120, and also the constricted portion112is engaged with the engagement portion122at the back end side of the leading-end insulation portion120and thus the leading-end insulation portion120is fixed to the terminal main body110. With this arrangement, the insulating leading-end insulation portion120can prevent a user's hand from coming into direct contact with a conductive portion of the male terminal100.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

However, according to the above-described example of the prior art, since engagement strength between the constricted portion112of the terminal main body110and the engagement portion122of the leading-end insulation portion120needs to be secured, both the terminal main body110and the leading-end insulation portion120require high production accuracy. As a result, it becomes difficult to reduce a manufacturing cost. Particularly, the constricted portion112of the terminal main body110needs to be produced by cutting processing, and it is difficult to perform the cutting processing of a small shape. Accordingly, it is difficult to reduce a size of the male terminal100.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and objects of the present invention are to provide the terminal capable of enhancing the strength for retaining the leading-end insulation portion by the terminal main body and also capable of reducing the costs.

Solution to Problem

According to an aspect of the present invention, a terminal includes a conductive terminal main body including a terminal contact portion to be in contact with a mating terminal; and an insulating leading-end insulation portion that is fixed to the terminal main body and that protrudes in front of a leading end of the terminal contact portion, wherein the terminal contact portion includes a rod through-hole penetrating in an axial direction; the leading-end insulation portion is formed as a part of an insulation member including a penetrating rod portion penetrating through the rod through-hole and protruding to a back end side of the rod through-hole; and the leading-end insulation portion and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion are respectively engaged with respect to the terminal main body in a removal direction to thereby fix the insulation member to the terminal main body.

It is preferable that the leading-end insulation portion be formed to have a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole to be engaged with the terminal main body, and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion be formed to have a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole to thereby be engaged with the terminal main body.

It is preferable that the leading-end insulation portion be formed to have a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole to thereby be engaged with the terminal main body, and that the terminal main body be bitten into the back end side of the penetrating rod portion and thus the back end side thereof is engaged with the terminal main body.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1toFIG. 4illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. A charge inlet apparatus1illustrated inFIG. 1andFIG. 2is mounted on a vehicle body (not illustrated). The charge inlet apparatus1is connected with a charge connecter on a charge stand side or the like (not illustrated) to thereby be charged.

The charge inlet apparatus1includes a connector housing portion3storing a male terminal2that is a terminal, and a housing5including an inlet housing portion4for covering an outer circumference of the connector housing portion3. A cap6is mounted at an opening portion of the inlet housing portion4to be freely opened/closed.

The connector housing portion3is provided with three terminal storage holes31having a large diameter, which store the male terminal2for receiving power, respectively, and two terminal storage holes32having a small diameter, which store the male terminal (not illustrated) for detecting a signal, respectively.

As illustrated inFIG. 2toFIG. 4, the male terminal2includes the conductive terminal main body7, and an insulating leading-end insulation portion8that is fixed to the terminal main body7and that protrudes in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion72described below.

The terminal main body7is formed by folding a conductive plate in a predetermined shape through press processing. The terminal main body7includes a terminal contact portion72formed in a cylindrical shape, including a rod through-hole71penetrating in an axis direction, and coming into contact with the mating terminal (not illustrated), a wire connection portion74connected to a wire73, and a box-shaped portion75provided between the terminal contact portion72and the wire connection portion74. The box-shaped portion75is stored in a box storage portion31a(not illustrated) of terminal storage holes31and32of the connector housing portion3to thereby stop rotation so that the male terminal2does not rotate in the connector housing portion3, and also a back end of the box-shaped portion75is engaged with a lance33at a connector housing portion3side in order to prevent the male terminal2from slipping off.

An insulation member82is formed of an insulating member, which is, for example, a synthetic resin material. The insulation member82is constituted of the leading-end insulation portion8protruding in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion72, and a penetrating rod portion81penetrating through the rod through-hole71of the terminal contact portion72to protrude to the back end side of the rod through-hole71. More specifically, the leading-end insulation portion8is formed as a part of the insulation member82including the penetrating rod portion81.

The leading-end insulation portion8is formed to have the same diameter dimension as that of an outer face of the terminal contact portion72, or have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of an outer face of the terminal contact portion72and also to have a larger diameter dimension than that of an inner face of the terminal contact portion72. With this arrangement, in a state where a back end face of the leading-end insulation portion8is abutted on a front end face of the penetrating rod portion81, the leading-end insulation portion8and the penetrating rod portion81are integrally molded as the insulation member82.

The leading-end insulation portion8is formed to have the same diameter dimension as that of the outer face of the terminal contact portion72, or have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of the outer face of the terminal contact portion72and also to have a larger diameter dimension than that of an inner face of the terminal contact portion72, and thus a portion that is not abutted on the penetrating rod portion81of the back end face of the leading-end insulation portion8is abutted on the front end face of the terminal contact portion72.

The penetrating rod portion81is formed to have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of the inner face of the terminal contact portion72. A slipping-off stop portion82ahaving a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole71is formed through thermal fusion or the like, at the back end side of the penetrating rod portion81. The leading-end insulation portion8of the insulation member82is engaged with the leading end of the terminal contact portion72in an insertion direction (right direction illustrated inFIG. 2), and also the leading-end insulation portion8and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion81are each engaged with respect to the terminal main body7in a removal direction (left direction illustrated inFIG. 2), and thus the insulation member82is fixed to the terminal main body7.

Next, a procedure for assembling the male terminal2will be described. First, the conductive plate is cut into a predetermined shape, and the press processing for folding the conductive plate into a predetermined shape is performed to manufacture the terminal main body7. Next, as illustrated inFIG. 4(b), the penetrating rod portion81of the insulation member82is inserted into the rod through-hole71of the terminal contact portion72from the front, and thus the leading-end insulation portion8is abutted on the leading end of the terminal contact portion72. With this arrangement, since the leading-end insulation portion8has a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole71, with the arrangement described above, the leading-end insulation portion8is engaged with the leading end of the terminal contact portion72in the insertion direction (right direction illustrated inFIG. 2).

Next, as illustrated inFIG. 4(a), the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion81is deformed by the thermal fusion, and the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion81is expanded according to a shape of the extended diameter portion72aof the terminal main body7in a diameter direction to form the slipping-off stop portion82aof the insulation member82. With this arrangement, since the slipping-off stop portion82aof the insulation member82has a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole71, the leading-end insulation portion8and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion81are each engaged with respect to the terminal main body7in the removal direction (left direction illustrated inFIG. 2), and thus the insulation member82is fixed to the terminal main body7.

According to the above-described configuration, when a user inserts his/her finger and the like into the terminal storage holes31and32, the user's finger and the like comes into contact with the leading-end insulation portion8, but the finger and the like can be prevented from coming into direct contact with the terminal main body7that is the conductive member placed on the inner side.

As described above, the conductive terminal main body7includes the terminal contact portion72to be in contact with the mating terminal (not illustrated), and the terminal contact portion72is formed in a cylindrical shape including the rod through-hole71penetrating in the axis direction. The insulating leading-end insulation portion8protruding in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion72is formed as a part of an insulation member82including the penetrating rod portion81penetrating through the rod through-hole71and protruding to the back end side of the rod through-hole71. The leading-end insulation portion8is engaged with respect to the terminal main body7in the removal direction, and at the same time, the back end side of the penetrating rod portion81is engaged with respect to the terminal main body7in the removal direction and the insulation member82is fixed to the terminal main body7. Therefore, unlike the prior art, since no constricted portion of the terminal main body and no engagement portion of the leading-end insulation portion need to be provided, both the terminal main body7and the leading-end insulation portion8require high production accuracy, and the terminal main body7can be produced though the press processing, thereby capable of reducing the costs.

Unlike the prior art, since no fragile portions such as the constricted portion and the engagement portion need to be provided in order to fix the leading-end insulation portion to the terminal main body, the strength for retaining the leading-end insulation portion8by the terminal main body7can be enhanced.

A material having a small shape can be processed by production of the terminal main body7through the press processing, and thus the reduction of the size of the male terminal2can be achieved.

Note that, according to the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the charge inlet apparatus1is provided with the male terminal2, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be applied to terminals for high voltage, other than these.

According to the above-described embodiment, the extended diameter portion72ahaving a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole71is formed by deformation of the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion81through the thermal fusion, but processing other than the thermal fusion may be used. For example, the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion81can also be formed to have a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole71by swaging and deforming the back end portion.

Further, as described above, instead of swaging and deforming the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion81, the terminal main body is swaged and deformed and the terminal main body bites into the back end side of the penetrating rod portion81, and thus the back end side of the penetrating rod portion can be engaged with the terminal main body.

The present application claims the priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-209201 filed on the 24 Sep. 2012, and the entire content of the application is incorporated in the present specification as a reference.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, in assembling the leading-end insulation portion to the terminal main body, the penetrating rod portion of the insulating member is inserted into the rod through-hole of the terminal contact portion to protrude to the back end side of the rod through-hole, and also the leading-end insulation portion and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion are respectively engaged with respect to the terminal main body in the removal direction to thereby fix the insulation member to the terminal main body. With this arrangement, unlike the priority art, no constricted portion of the terminal main body and no engagement portion of the leading-end insulation portion need to be provided, and the terminal main body and the leading-end insulation portion do not require high production accuracy. Therefore, the terminal main body can be produced by the press processing, thereby capable of reducing the costs. In addition, unlike the prior art, in order to fix the leading-end insulation portion to the terminal main body, no fragile portions such as the constricted portion and the engagement portion needs to be provided, and thus the strength for retaining the leading-end insulation portion by the terminal main body can be enhanced.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST