Abstract:
A female terminal with guiding piece includes a tubular body having two lateral walls and two vertical walls, a connecting part, two spring pieces and two guide pieces. Each vertical wall is a single panel wall having a rectangularly-shaped cutout formed therethrough. The cutout is defined between a front side wall edge and a rear side wall edge and between opposing disposed-apart side wall edges extending in the depth direction between the front side wall edge and rear side wall edge. A respective one of the spring pieces is integrally connected to a respective one of the rear side wall edges and extending inwardly into the tubular body. The guiding pieces are bent inwardly from the vertical walls into the tubular body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention belongs to a technical field of female terminals that comprise a tubular body and a connecting part integrally provided on the body to connect electric wire. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645 discloses a female terminal of this kind. In the terminal of this publication, a terminal-receiving cutout is opened in a mating end wall provided at the front end of a contact part, contact preload ledges are provided by plate pieces bent inward from the terminal-receiving cutout, and a pair of contact arms are provided inside the contact part. Forming of the contact part from a blank is done by bending and raising the contact arms from a bottom wall, bending top walls with respect to side walls, bending the side walls with respect to the bottom wall, bending and raising the contact preload ledges from the mating end wall, bending the mating end wall with respect to the bottom wall, and bending mating end side walls with respect to the fitting-end wall. On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 6-73878 discloses a socket connector that comprises a socket contact having a contact part for contacting a pin contact and a socket insulator for holding the socket contact and is characterized in that an outlet part of a pin contact insertion hole provided in the socket insulator is extended to protrude toward the contact part of the socket contact. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, when a male terminal such as a pin is inserted with a greater tilt than a regular insertion angle, namely, a so-called oblique insertion is made, the top end of the pin will touch the contact preload ledge and the pin will be guided by the contact preload ledge onto the contact arms. Thus when the male terminal touches the contact arm, the tilt angle of the oblique insertion is restrained, and this reduces any load including buckling load on the contact arm, to which the contact arm is not subjected at the time of regular insertion of a male terminal. The socket connector of Japanese Utility Model Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 6-73878 exhibits a similar function because a pin is guided by the insertion hole onto the contact part of the socket contact. 
     Unlike the socket connector of Japanese Utility Model Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 6-73878 wherein a socket contact comprising an electrically conductive member and a socket insulator comprising an insulating member are combined to structure the connector, when a terminal is structured by bending a single blank prepared in a given configuration as is the case of the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, it is keenly desired to reduce any load due to oblique insertion. In that case, it is desired that a contact part which stores contact arms be made in a tubular form from a viewpoint of ensuring strengths against loads including those of bending and twisting, and it is also desired that the production process be simplified as much as possible. 
     The present invention was made from such viewpoints and its object is to provide a female terminal with guiding piece, wherein a single blank prepared in a given configuration is bent to structure a tubular body, spring pieces are cut and raised from walls constituting the body, and ends of the walls are bent inward to provide guiding pieces, hence the body is made tubular to secure strengths, a tilt angle when a male terminal touches the spring piece in case of oblique insertion is restrained greatly, and this in turn greatly reduces loads to which the spring pieces are subjected by oblique insertion, and moreover, the production is easy. 
     The female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention comprises a tubular body having two lateral walls facing in a height direction and opposing to each other and two vertical walls facing in a width direction perpendicular to the height direction and opposing to each other, and extending in a depth direction perpendicular to both the height direction and the width direction; and a connecting part being aligned with the body on a rear side in the depth direction, being provided integrally with the body and being structured to connect to a conductor including electric wire; and the two vertical walls being provided respectively with spring pieces cut and raised therefrom and formed to have an end on the rear side in the depth direction serving as a fixed end and an end on the front side serving as a free end and the free end coming closer to the vertical wall opposing to said vertical wall; and the two vertical walls being provided respectively with guiding pieces at the front ends in the depth direction thereof, said guiding pieces being provided by plate pieces bent inward from the vertical walls into the body to cover spaces between the front ends in the depth direction of said vertical walls and the top ends of the spring pieces. 
     As a single blank prepared in a given configuration is bent to structure the tubular body, strengths against loads including bending and twisting are secured and the spring pieces and the like inside are protected effectively. When a male terminal is inserted obliquely from the front side in the depth direction of the body, the top end of the male terminal will touch one guiding piece, then as the top end of the male terminal will be guided by the guiding piece onto one spring piece, when the male terminal touches the spring piece, the tilt angle of the oblique insertion will be restrained, and this will reduce loads on the spring piece including buckling load, to which the spring piece is not subjected if the male terminal is inserted regularly. 
     In this case, unlike the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, wherein contact preload ledges are formed by bending inward some portions of the mating end wall provided to face in the depth direction at the front in the depth direction of the body, as the guiding pieces are provided by bending plate pieces extending toward the front in the depth direction from the vertical walls inward into the body, the guiding pieces can be made longer, and in turn, the lengths for guiding the top end of the male terminal toward the spring pieces can be made greater and the tilt angle of oblique insertion when the male terminal touches one spring piece can be reduced greatly, and in turn, this can greatly reduce the loads to which the spring piece is subjected by the oblique insertion. Furthermore, as the guiding pieces can be made longer, processing of the guiding pieces can be made more easily and the degree of freedom in determining their configurations can be enhanced, and this in turn also greatly reduces the loads to which the spring pieces are subjected by the oblique insertion. 
     Now, molding of the body from the blank is made by bending and raising the spring pieces and the guiding pieces from the vertical walls, bending the lateral wall located on an edge of the blank with respect to the vertical wall, and bending the two vertical walls with respect to the lateral wall located on the inner side in the blank. Hence the production is easier in comparison with the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, which requires, in addition to processes similar to those, processes of bending the mating end wall with respect to the bottom wall and bending the mating end side walls with respect to the mating end wall. 
     Accordingly, in the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention, as a single blank prepared in a given configuration is bent to structure a tubular body, spring pieces are cut and raised from walls constituting the body, and ends of the walls are bent inward to provide guiding pieces, the body is made tubular to secure strengths, a tilt angle when a male terminal touches the spring piece in case of oblique insertion is restrained greatly, and this in turn greatly reduces loads to which the spring pieces are subjected by oblique insertion, and moreover, the production is made easier. 
     In the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention, each of the guiding pieces may extend to come closer to the vertical wall opposing to the vertical wall on which said guiding piece is provided as the guiding piece proceeds toward the rear in the depth direction. 
     With this arrangement, when the top end of the male terminal being inserted obliquely touches one guiding piece and is guided toward the spring pieces, the tilt angle of the oblique insertion will be reduced smoothly, hence the insertion resistance will be smaller. Moreover, the production is easy. 
     In the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention, the free end of each spring piece may be bent toward the vertical wall from which said spring piece is cut and raised. 
     With this arrangement, a contact point is formed at the bent portion and it is easier to define the contact point. 
     The female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention may be so structured that ends in the height direction of the vertical walls being integrally provided on both the ends in the width direction of the lateral wall, respectively, and ends in the width direction of end walls facing in the height direction being integrally provided on the remaining ends in the height direction of these vertical walls, respectively, these two end walls being butted together in the width direction or overlapped together in the height direction, and these two end walls constituting the lateral wall opposing to said lateral wall. 
     With this arrangement, when the two end walls are butted together in the width direction, the female terminal with guiding piece becomes symmetrical in the width direction, the dimensions in the height direction decrease to achieve reduction in the height. Moreover, when the two end walls are overlapped together in the height direction, stresses will be dispersed in the two end walls, hence the strengths of the body against loads including bending and twisting are enhanced. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the female terminal with guiding piece of one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment seen from a direction different from that of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view along a line VI-VI of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is an explanatory diagram that illustrates in outline the processes of bending a blank to form the body and the like among the production processes of the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment. For easier comprehension, a locking piece is omitted. Moreover, the connecting part is also omitted. 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged sectional view for describing a tilt angle when a male terminal is inserted obliquely into the female terminal with guiding piece of the embodiment. The male terminal is illustrated by imaginary line. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the following, the embodiment of the present invention will be described.  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 6  illustrate the female terminal with guiding piece  100  of the embodiment. This female terminal with guiding piece  100  is fitted with a well-known male terminal such as plug. A male terminal  200  illustrated in this embodiment is a bar-like member made of an electrically conductive material as illustrated by imaginary line in  FIG. 8 . The male terminal suffices to be a bar-like or plate-like member having electrical conductivity, and its sectional form does not matter. The female terminal with guiding piece  100  may be stored inside a housing (not illustrated) or it may be used just as externally exposed. This also applies to the male terminal. In the following, a height direction, a width direction and a depth direction all perpendicular to each other are defined, and the description will be given on the basis of them. With reference to  FIG. 5 , the left-right direction of the diagram is the depth direction, the left is the front and the right is the rear, the top-bottom direction of the diagrams is the height direction, and the direction perpendicular to the plane of the diagrams is the width direction. 
     The female terminal with guiding piece  100  of the embodiment is made of an electrically conductive material and comprises a tubular body  110  and a connecting part  120  that is aligned with the body  110  on the rear side in the depth direction and is integrally provided with the body  110 . 
     The body  110  comprises two lateral walls  111  facing in the height direction and opposing to each other and two vertical walls  112  facing in the width direction and opposing to each other. These two lateral walls  111  and two vertical walls  112  are so provided that the respective neighboring walls are integral to each other. The lateral walls  111  have, when seen in their thickness direction, a substantially rectangular form, one side being in the depth direction and the other side in the width direction, and the vertical walls  112  have, when seen in their thickness direction, a substantially rectangular form, one side being in the depth direction and the other side in the height direction. As the larger area faces of the lateral walls  111  are perpendicular to the height direction, the lateral walls  111  face in the height direction. The two lateral walls  111  are opposed to each other in the height direction. On the other hand, as the larger area faces of both the two vertical walls  112  are perpendicular to the width direction, the vertical walls  112  face in the width direction. The two vertical walls  112  are opposed to each other in the width direction. The body  110  is comprised of two lateral walls  111  and two vertical walls  112  in a tubular form and extends in the depth direction. 
     The connecting part  120  is structured to connect to a wire  300 . The connecting part  120  comprises a base  121  having a U-shaped section and extending rearward in the depth direction from the lateral wall  111  and the vertical walls  112  of the body  110 , an insulation barrel  122  and a wire barrel  123  rising from both the ends in the width direction of the base  121 , and is structured to crimp-connect a wire  300  by crimping the insulation barrel  122  on the insulation of the wire  300  and crimping the wire barrel  123  on the core of the wire exposed from the insulation. However, the connecting part may be structured, for example, to insulation-displacement-connect a wire or may be structured to connect to a wire by piercing. The connecting part may be structured to connect to a conductor other than a wire. Other conductors include, for example, flat-type flexible cables such as FFC (flexible flat cable) and FPC (flexible printed circuit). 
     The two vertical walls  112  are respectively provided with spring pieces  113  by cutting and raising. The spring pieces  113  have, when seen in their thickness direction, a substantially rectangular form, one side being in the depth direction and the other side being in the height direction. Each spring piece  113  is fixed to the vertical wall  112  with the rear end in the depth direction thereof serving as a fixed end  113   a  and the front end thereof being a free end  113   b , thus it has a cantilever-like structure. Moreover, the spring piece  113  is so formed that its free end  113   b  comes closer to the vertical wall  112  opposing to the vertical wall  112  on which said spring piece  113  is provided. Furthermore, the free end  113   b  of the spring piece  113  is bent toward the vertical wall  112  from which said spring piece  113  is cut and raised. This free end  113   b  is so bent that its top end comes closer to the vertical wall  112  from which said spring piece  113  is cut and raised. Thus the free end side of the spring piece  113  is formed into a substantially V-shaped form when seen in the height direction. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 8 , at the front ends in the depth direction of the two vertical walls  112 , guiding pieces  114  are provided respectively by plate pieces bent from the vertical walls  112  inward into the body  110 . The guiding piece  114  is provided to cover a space between the front end in the depth direction of the vertical wall  112  on which the guiding piece  114  is provided and the top end of the free end  113   b  of the spring piece  113 . The guiding piece  114  extends to come closer to the vertical wall  112  opposing to the vertical wall  112  on which said guiding piece  114  is provided as it proceeds toward the rear in the depth direction. As illustrated in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 8 , this guiding piece  114  extends substantially straight as seen in the height direction. The guiding piece may, for example, be curved or bent convexly toward the opposing guiding piece as seen in the height direction, or conversely, the guiding piece may be curved or bent convexly toward the vertical wall on which the guiding piece is provided as seen in the height direction. The inside corner of the top end of the guiding piece  114  is chamfered, but such chamfering may be omitted. 
     Ends in the height direction of the vertical walls  112  are integrally provided on both the ends in the width direction of the lateral wall  111 , respectively. More specifically, one end in the height direction of one vertical wall  112  is integrally provided on one end in the width direction of the lateral wall  111 , and one end in the height direction of the other vertical wall  112  is integrally provided on the other end in the width direction of the lateral wall  111 . And on the remaining ends in the height direction of these vertical walls  112 , namely, on the ends far from the lateral wall  111 , the ends in the width direction of the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  facing in the height direction are integrally provided, respectively. To put it in other words, on each edge extending substantially in the depth direction on both the ends in the width direction of the lateral wall  111 , one of the edges extending substantially in the depth direction on both the ends in the height direction of each vertical wall  112  is integrally provided. And on the other edge of each of these vertical walls  112 , one of the edges extending substantially in the depth direction on both the ends in the width direction of the end wall  111   a ,  111   b  facing in the height direction is provided integrally. Then, these two end walls  111   a ,  111   b  are butted together in the width direction, and these two end walls  111   a ,  111   b  constitute a lateral wall  111  opposing to said lateral wall  111 . Each of the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  has, when seen in its thickness direction, a substantially rectangular form, one side being in the depth direction and the other side being in the width direction. As the larger faces of both the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  are perpendicular to the height direction, they are facing in the height direction. As a modification, these two end walls may be overlapped with each other in the height direction; thus these two end walls may constitute a lateral wall opposing to said lateral wall. In this case, the dimension in the width direction of one end wall or those of both the end walls are greater than that of said embodiment. 
       115  denotes a locking piece which protrudes on one side in the height direction from the lateral wall  111  of the body  110 , and when the female terminal with guiding piece  100  is stored in a housing, the locking piece fits in a concaved part of the housing to prevent the female terminal with guiding piece  100  from coming off the housing easily. The present invention includes an embodiment of the female terminal with guiding piece on which such a locking piece is not provided. 
     This female terminal with guiding piece  100  is formed by bending a single blank prepared in a given configuration. This blank is made by, for example, punching a plate material with a die.  FIG. 7  illustrates, of the production processes of the female terminal with guiding piece  100 , the process of forming the body  110  and the like by bending the blank. In the blank, each spring piece  113  is separated except one end thereof (the top-left diagram). Next, the spring pieces  113  and the guiding pieces  114  are bent and raised from the vertical walls  112 . This bending is done around imaginary axes extending in the height direction as one see in the female terminal with guiding piece  100  after forming (the bottom-left diagram). Next, bending of the spring pieces  113  and the guiding pieces  114  is advanced further and the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  are bent with respect to the vertical walls  112 , respectively. This bending of the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  is done around imaginary axes extending in the depth direction as one see in the female terminal with guiding piece  100  after forming (the top-right diagram). Then, the vertical walls  112  are bent with respect to the lateral wall  111  respectively to complete the female terminal with guiding piece  100 . This bending of the vertical walls  112  is done around imaginary axes extending in the depth direction as one see in the female terminal with guiding piece  100  after forming (the bottom-right diagram). 
     Accordingly, in the female terminal with guiding piece  100  of said embodiment, one blank prepared in a given configuration is bent to structure the tubular body  110 , hence strengths against loads including bending and twisting are secured and the spring pieces  113  and the like inside are protected effectively. In  FIG. 8 , a male terminal  200  is illustrated in three positions by imaginary line, and among them, one with the largest tilt angle and the shortest insertion length is defined as the first state, one with a smaller tilt angle than that and an intermediate insertion length as the second state, and one with an almost nil tilt angle and the longest insertion length as the third state, respectively. Then, when the male terminal  200  is inserted obliquely from the front side in the depth direction of the body  110 , the top end of the male terminal  200  will touch one guiding piece  114  (the first state), and as the top end of the male terminal  200  will be guided by this guiding piece  114  onto one spring piece  113 , when the male terminal  200  touches the spring piece  113 , the tilt angle of the oblique insertion will be restrained (the second state), and this will reduce loads including buckling load on the spring piece  113 , to which the spring piece  113  is not subjected if the male terminal  200  is inserted regularly. Then, the male terminal  200  will reach the third state and insertion will proceed further more. 
     In this case, unlike the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, wherein contact preload ledges are formed by bending inward some portions of the mating end wall provided to face in the depth direction at the front in the depth direction of the body, as the guiding pieces  114  are provided by bending plate pieces extending toward the front in the depth direction from the vertical walls  112  inward into the body  110 , the guiding pieces  114  can be made longer, and in turn, the lengths for guiding the top end of the male terminal  200  toward the spring pieces  113  can be made greater and the tilt angle of oblique insertion when the male terminal  200  touches one spring piece  113  can be reduced greatly, and in turn, this can greatly reduce the loads to which the spring piece  113  is subjected by the oblique insertion. Furthermore, as the guiding pieces  114  can be made longer, processing of the guiding pieces  114  can be made more easily and the degree of freedom in determining their configurations can be enhanced, and this in turn also greatly reduces the loads to which the spring pieces  113  are subjected by the oblique insertion. 
     Now, molding of the body  110  from the blank is made by bending and raising the spring pieces  113  and the guiding pieces  114  from the vertical walls  112 , bending the end walls  111   a ,  111   b , which are located at the edges of the blank and to form one lateral wall, with respect to the vertical walls  112  respectively, and bending the two vertical walls  112  with respect to the lateral wall  111  located on the inner side in the blank. Hence the production is easier in comparison with the terminal of Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) No. HEISEI 11-345645, which requires, in addition to a similar processes, processes of bending the mating end wall with respect to the bottom wall and bending the mating end side walls with respect to the mating end wall. 
     It is sufficient for the guiding pieces of the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention that the guiding pieces are constituted by plate pieces bent inward into the body from the vertical walls to cover the spaces between the front ends in the depth direction of said vertical walls and the top ends of the spring pieces. Hence the configuration of the guiding pieces is not limited particularly. However, in this embodiment, each guiding piece  114  extends to come closer to the vertical wall  112  opposing to the vertical wall  112  on which said guiding piece  114  is provided as it proceeds toward the rear in the depth direction. With this arrangement, when the top end of the male terminal  200  being inserted obliquely touches one guiding piece  114  and is guided toward the spring pieces  113 , the tilt angle of the oblique insertion will be reduced smoothly, hence the insertion resistance will be smaller. Moreover, the production is easy. 
     It is sufficient for the spring pieces of the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention that each spring is formed from one vertical wall in such a way that the rear end in the depth direction is a fixed end and the front end is a free end and the free end comes closer to the vertical wall opposing to said vertical wall. However, in this embodiment, the free end  113   b  of the spring piece  113  is bent toward the vertical wall  112  from which said spring piece  113  is cut and raised. With this arrangement, a contact point is formed at the bent portion and it is easier to define the contact point. 
     It is sufficient for the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention that the two lateral walls face in the height direction and oppose to each other, and moreover, these two lateral walls together with two vertical walls facing in the width direction and opposing to each other structure a tubular body extending in the depth direction. However, in this embodiment, ends in the height direction of the vertical walls  112  are integrally provided on both the ends in the width direction of the lateral wall  111 , respectively, and on the remaining ends of these vertical walls  112 , the ends in the width direction of the end walls  111   a ,  111   b  facing in the height direction are integrally provided, respectively, then, these two end walls  111   a ,  111   b  are butted together in the width direction or overlapped together in the height direction, and these two end walls  111   a ,  111   b  constitute a lateral wall  111  opposing to said lateral wall  111 . With this arrangement, when the two end walls  111   a ,  111   b  are butted together in the width direction, the female terminal with guiding piece  100  becomes symmetrical in the width direction, and the dimensions in the height direction decrease to achieve reduction in the height. Moreover, when the two end walls are overlapped together in the height direction, stresses will be dispersed in the two end walls, hence the strengths of the body against loads including bending and twisting are enhanced. 
     Said embodiment merely illustrates one example of the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention. Accordingly, the female terminal with guiding piece according to the present invention must not be construed limitedly by the description of said embodiment. 
     The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-1913 filed on Jan. 6, 2006 including specification, drawings and claims is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.