Patent Publication Number: US-10770820-B2

Title: Conductive terminal and connector

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. 201810252995.9, filed on Mar. 26, 2018. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a conductive terminal and, more particularly, to a conductive terminal adapted to elastically clamp a conductor. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A conductive terminal is adapted to be electrically connected with a conductor in a clamping manner. The conductive terminal typically comprises two pairs of elastic cantilevers, each pair of which are adapted to clamp one conductor, such as a wire. 
     In order to reliably clamp the conductor, the elastic cantilevers are elastically deformed when the conductor is clamped between the pair of elastic cantilevers. However, when the conductor is clamped between the pair of elastic cantilevers, free ends of the elastic cantilevers are in a suspended state. The elastic cantilevers each are always used as a cantilever beam, which causes the elastic cantilevers to be easily plastically deformed when a diameter of the clamped conductor is excessively large or the conductive terminal vibrates. Once the elastic cantilevers are plastically deformed, an electrical contact between the conductive terminal and the conductor will be unreliable or even ineffective. 
     SUMMARY 
     A conductive terminal comprises a body and a pair of first elastic cantilevers adapted to clamp a first conductor. The pair of first elastic cantilevers are connected to the body and accommodated within a first accommodation chamber formed in the body. Each first elastic cantilever or the body has a first elastic support structure. A free end of each first elastic cantilever is elastically supported on an inner wall of the first accommodation chamber by the first elastic support structure when the first conductor is clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of a conductive terminal of the connector of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the conductive terminal of  FIG. 2  with a first conductor; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a connector according to another embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of a conductive terminal of the connector of  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the conductive terminal of  FIG. 5  with the first conductor. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S) 
     The technical solution of the disclosure will be described hereinafter in further detail with reference to the following embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the specification, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar parts. The description of the embodiments of the disclosure hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the disclosure and should not be construed as a limitation on the disclosure. 
     In addition, in the following detailed description, for the sake of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may also be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are illustrated schematically in order to simplify the drawing. 
     A connector according to an embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 1 , comprises an insulation body  1  and a conductive terminal  10  accommodated within the insulation body  1 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the conductive terminal  10  comprises a body  100  and a pair of first elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110  adapted to clamp a first conductor  30 . The pair of first elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110  are connected to the body  100  and accommodated within a first accommodation chamber  101  formed in the body  100 . In an embodiment, the conductive terminal  10  is a single metal terminal formed by punching a single metal sheet or by a molding process. 
     Each first elastic cantilever  110 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , has a first elastic support structure  101   a ,  101   b , by which a free end  110   a  of each first elastic cantilever  110  is elastically supported on an inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  101  when the first conductor  30  is pressed and clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110 . The first elastic support structure  101   a ,  101   b  includes a first protrusion  101   a  formed on the inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  101  and a first passageway  101   b  formed in the body  100 . The first passageway  101   b  is located adjacent the first protrusion  101   a  so that the first protrusion  101   a  is elastically deformable under compression. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the free end  110   a  of each first elastic cantilever  110  is elastically supported on the first protrusion  101   a  when the first conductor  30  is pressed and clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110 . In this way, each first elastic cantilever  110  becomes a simple supported beam structure from a cantilever beam structure, thereby effectively reducing the risk of plastic deformation of the first elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110 . 
     The conductive terminal  10 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , comprises a pair of second elastic cantilevers  120 ,  120  adapted to clamp a second conductor. The pair of second elastic cantilevers  120 ,  120  are connected to the body  100  and accommodated within a second accommodation chamber  102  formed in the body  100 . In the shown embodiment, the first pair of elastic cantilevers  110 ,  110  and the pair of second elastic cantilevers  120 ,  120  are identical to each other and symmetrically arranged on the conductive terminal  10 . 
     In an embodiment, the second conductor may have a diameter less than that of the first conductor  30 . Thus, a free end of each second elastic cantilever  120  will not be in contact with an inner wall of the second accommodation chamber  102  when the second conductor is clamped between the pair of elastic cantilevers  120 ,  120 . Therefore, there is no second elastic support structure for elastically supporting the free end of the second elastic cantilevers  120  on the conductive terminal  10 . In other embodiments, however, it is possible to provide a second elastic support structure elastically supporting the free end of the second elastic cantilever  120  on the conductive terminal  10 . The second elastic support structure may be similar or identical to the first elastic support structure  101   a ,  101   b.    
     A connector according to another embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 4 , comprises an insulation body  2  and a conductive terminal  20  accommodated within the insulation body  2 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the conductive terminal  20  comprises a body  200  and a pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210  adapted to clamp the first conductor  30 . The pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210  are connected to the body  200  and accommodated within a first accommodation chamber  201  formed in the body  200 . In an embodiment, the conductive terminal  20  is a single metal terminal formed by punching a single metal sheet or by a molding process. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , each first elastic cantilever  210  is formed with a first elastic support structure, by which a free end of each first elastic cantilever  210  is elastically supported on an inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  201  when the first conductor  30  is pressed and clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210 . The first elastic support structure includes a first hook portion  210   a  formed at a free end of each first elastic cantilever  210 . The free end of each first elastic cantilever  210  is elastically supported on the inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  201  through the first hook portion  210   a  when the first conductor  30  is pressed and clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210 . In this way, each first elastic cantilever  210  may be become a simple supported beam structure from a cantilever beam structure, thereby effectively reducing the risk of plastic deformation of the first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  201  has a first arc protrusion  201   a  facing end surfaces of the free ends of the pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the first conductor  30  abuts against the first arc protrusion  201   a  when the first conductor  30  is pressed and clamped between the pair of first elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210 . Thus, it is possible to protect the first conductor  30  from being scratched and worn by a sharp edge of the inner wall of the first accommodation chamber  201 . 
     The conductive terminal  20 , as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , comprises a pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220  adapted to clamp a second conductor. The pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220  are connected to the body  200  and accommodated within a second accommodation chamber  202  formed in the body  200 . Each second elastic cantilever  220  has a second elastic support structure so that a free end of each second elastic cantilever  220  is elastically supported on an inner wall of the second accommodation chamber  202  by the second elastic support structure when the second conductor is clamped between the pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220 . In the shown embodiment, the first pair of elastic cantilevers  210 ,  210  and the pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220  are identical to each other and symmetrically arranged on the conductive terminal  20 . 
     The second elastic support structure, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , includes a second hook portion  220   a  formed on the free end of each second elastic cantilever  220 . The free end of the second elastic cantilever  220  is elastically supported on the inner wall of the second accommodation chamber  202  by the second hook portion  220   a  when the second conductor is clamped between the pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220 . In this way, each second elastic cantilever  220  becomes a simple supported beam structure from a cantilever beam structure, thereby effectively reducing the risk of plastic deformation of the second elastic cantilevers. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the inner wall of the second accommodation chamber  202  has a second arc protrusion  202   a  facing end surfaces of the free ends of the pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220 . The second conductor abuts against the second arc protrusion  202   a  when the second conductor is pressed and clamped between the pair of second elastic cantilevers  220 ,  220 . Thus, it is possible to protect the second conductor from being scratched and worn by a sharp edge of the inner wall of the second accommodation chamber  202 . 
     It should be appreciated by those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrative, and many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various structures described in various embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle. 
     Although the disclosure has been described hereinbefore in detail with reference to the attached drawings, it should be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments in the attached drawings are intended to illustrate embodiments of the disclosure by way of example, and should not be construed as limitation to the disclosure. 
     Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.