Patent Publication Number: US-9431739-B2

Title: Conductive terminal with insulating leading-end

Description:
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 )  and  FIG. 5( b )  illustrate a male terminal  100  of prior art. The male terminal  100  includes a conductive terminal main body  110  including a terminal contact portion  111  to be in contact with a mating terminal (not illustrated), and an insulating leading-end insulation portion  120  (formed of resin) fixed to the terminal main body  110  and provided at a leading end of the terminal contact portion  111 . At the leading end of the terminal contact portion  111 , a constricted portion  112  and a flange portion  113  which are extended forward are protrusively provided. At the leading-end insulation portion  120 , a through-hole having a step  121  penetrating in an axis direction is provided. At a back end side of the leading-end insulation portion  120 , an engagement portion  122  to be engaged with the constricted portion  112  is formed. 
     According to the above-described configuration, in assembling the male terminal  100 , the flange portion  113  protruding forward from the leading end of the terminal contact portion  111  of the terminal main body  110  is inserted into the through-hole  121  having a step of the leading-end insulation portion  120 , and also the constricted portion  112  is engaged with the engagement portion  122  at the back end side of the leading-end insulation portion  120  and thus the leading-end insulation portion  120  is fixed to the terminal main body  110 . With this arrangement, the insulating leading-end insulation portion  120  can prevent a user&#39;s hand from coming into direct contact with a conductive portion of the male terminal  100 . 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-275653 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     However, according to the above-described example of the prior art, since engagement strength between the constricted portion  112  of the terminal main body  110  and the engagement portion  122  of the leading-end insulation portion  120  needs to be secured, both the terminal main body  110  and the leading-end insulation portion  120  require high production accuracy. As a result, it becomes difficult to reduce a manufacturing cost. Particularly, the constricted portion  112  of the terminal main body  110  needs 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 terminal  100 . 
     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. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view illustrating a charge inlet apparatus including a male terminal. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view of the male terminal. 
         FIG. 4( a )  and  FIG. 4( b )  illustrate an embodiment of the present invention; in which  FIG. 4( a )  is a cross-sectional view of the completed male terminal, and  FIG. 4( b )  is a cross-sectional view of the male terminal in a state where an insulation member is inserted into the terminal main body. 
         FIG. 5( a )  and  FIG. 5( b )  illustrate an example of the prior art; in which  FIG. 5( a )  is a cross sectional view of the terminal, and  FIG. 5( b )  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the “B” part illustrated in  FIG. 5( a ) . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to drawings. 
       FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4  illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. A charge inlet apparatus  1  illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  is mounted on a vehicle body (not illustrated). The charge inlet apparatus  1  is connected with a charge connecter on a charge stand side or the like (not illustrated) to thereby be charged. 
     The charge inlet apparatus  1  includes a connector housing portion  3  storing a male terminal  2  that is a terminal, and a housing  5  including an inlet housing portion  4  for covering an outer circumference of the connector housing portion  3 . A cap  6  is mounted at an opening portion of the inlet housing portion  4  to be freely opened/closed. 
     The connector housing portion  3  is provided with three terminal storage holes  31  having a large diameter, which store the male terminal  2  for receiving power, respectively, and two terminal storage holes  32  having a small diameter, which store the male terminal (not illustrated) for detecting a signal, respectively. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 4 , the male terminal  2  includes the conductive terminal main body  7 , and an insulating leading-end insulation portion  8  that is fixed to the terminal main body  7  and that protrudes in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72  described below. 
     The terminal main body  7  is formed by folding a conductive plate in a predetermined shape through press processing. The terminal main body  7  includes a terminal contact portion  72  formed in a cylindrical shape, including a rod through-hole  71  penetrating in an axis direction, and coming into contact with the mating terminal (not illustrated), a wire connection portion  74  connected to a wire  73 , and a box-shaped portion  75  provided between the terminal contact portion  72  and the wire connection portion  74 . The box-shaped portion  75  is stored in a box storage portion  31   a  (not illustrated) of terminal storage holes  31  and  32  of the connector housing portion  3  to thereby stop rotation so that the male terminal  2  does not rotate in the connector housing portion  3 , and also a back end of the box-shaped portion  75  is engaged with a lance  33  at a connector housing portion  3  side in order to prevent the male terminal  2  from slipping off. 
     An insulation member  82  is formed of an insulating member, which is, for example, a synthetic resin material. The insulation member  82  is constituted of the leading-end insulation portion  8  protruding in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72 , and a penetrating rod portion  81  penetrating through the rod through-hole  71  of the terminal contact portion  72  to protrude to the back end side of the rod through-hole  71 . More specifically, the leading-end insulation portion  8  is formed as a part of the insulation member  82  including the penetrating rod portion  81 . 
     The leading-end insulation portion  8  is formed to have the same diameter dimension as that of an outer face of the terminal contact portion  72 , or have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of an outer face of the terminal contact portion  72  and also to have a larger diameter dimension than that of an inner face of the terminal contact portion  72 . With this arrangement, in a state where a back end face of the leading-end insulation portion  8  is abutted on a front end face of the penetrating rod portion  81 , the leading-end insulation portion  8  and the penetrating rod portion  81  are integrally molded as the insulation member  82 . 
     The leading-end insulation portion  8  is formed to have the same diameter dimension as that of the outer face of the terminal contact portion  72 , or have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of the outer face of the terminal contact portion  72  and also to have a larger diameter dimension than that of an inner face of the terminal contact portion  72 , and thus a portion that is not abutted on the penetrating rod portion  81  of the back end face of the leading-end insulation portion  8  is abutted on the front end face of the terminal contact portion  72 . 
     The penetrating rod portion  81  is formed to have a slightly smaller diameter dimension than that of the inner face of the terminal contact portion  72 . A slipping-off stop portion  82   a  having a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole  71  is formed through thermal fusion or the like, at the back end side of the penetrating rod portion  81 . The leading-end insulation portion  8  of the insulation member  82  is engaged with the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72  in an insertion direction (right direction illustrated in  FIG. 2 ), and also the leading-end insulation portion  8  and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion  81  are each engaged with respect to the terminal main body  7  in a removal direction (left direction illustrated in  FIG. 2 ), and thus the insulation member  82  is fixed to the terminal main body  7 . 
     Next, a procedure for assembling the male terminal  2  will 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 body  7 . Next, as illustrated in  FIG. 4( b ) , the penetrating rod portion  81  of the insulation member  82  is inserted into the rod through-hole  71  of the terminal contact portion  72  from the front, and thus the leading-end insulation portion  8  is abutted on the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72 . With this arrangement, since the leading-end insulation portion  8  has a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole  71 , with the arrangement described above, the leading-end insulation portion  8  is engaged with the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72  in the insertion direction (right direction illustrated in  FIG. 2 ). 
     Next, as illustrated in  FIG. 4( a ) , the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion  81  is deformed by the thermal fusion, and the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion  81  is expanded according to a shape of the extended diameter portion  72   a  of the terminal main body  7  in a diameter direction to form the slipping-off stop portion  82   a  of the insulation member  82 . With this arrangement, since the slipping-off stop portion  82   a  of the insulation member  82  has a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole  71 , the leading-end insulation portion  8  and the back end side of the penetrating rod portion  81  are each engaged with respect to the terminal main body  7  in the removal direction (left direction illustrated in  FIG. 2 ), and thus the insulation member  82  is fixed to the terminal main body  7 . 
     According to the above-described configuration, when a user inserts his/her finger and the like into the terminal storage holes  31  and  32 , the user&#39;s finger and the like comes into contact with the leading-end insulation portion  8 , but the finger and the like can be prevented from coming into direct contact with the terminal main body  7  that is the conductive member placed on the inner side. 
     As described above, the conductive terminal main body  7  includes the terminal contact portion  72  to be in contact with the mating terminal (not illustrated), and the terminal contact portion  72  is formed in a cylindrical shape including the rod through-hole  71  penetrating in the axis direction. The insulating leading-end insulation portion  8  protruding in front of the leading end of the terminal contact portion  72  is formed as a part of an insulation member  82  including the penetrating rod portion  81  penetrating through the rod through-hole  71  and protruding to the back end side of the rod through-hole  71 . The leading-end insulation portion  8  is engaged with respect to the terminal main body  7  in the removal direction, and at the same time, the back end side of the penetrating rod portion  81  is engaged with respect to the terminal main body  7  in the removal direction and the insulation member  82  is fixed to the terminal main body  7 . 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 body  7  and the leading-end insulation portion  8  require high production accuracy, and the terminal main body  7  can 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 portion  8  by the terminal main body  7  can be enhanced. 
     A material having a small shape can be processed by production of the terminal main body  7  through the press processing, and thus the reduction of the size of the male terminal  2  can be achieved. 
     Note that, according to the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the charge inlet apparatus  1  is provided with the male terminal  2 , 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 portion  72   a  having a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole  71  is formed by deformation of the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion  81  through the thermal fusion, but processing other than the thermal fusion may be used. For example, the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion  81  can also be formed to have a diameter larger than that of the rod through-hole  71  by swaging and deforming the back end portion. 
     Further, as described above, instead of swaging and deforming the back end portion of the penetrating rod portion  81 , the terminal main body is swaged and deformed and the terminal main body bites into the back end side of the penetrating rod portion  81 , 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 
     
         
           2  male terminal (terminal) 
           7  terminal main body 
           8  leading-end insulation portion 
           71  rod through-hole 
           72  terminal contact portion 
           81  penetrating rod portion 
           82  insulation member