JP2000067943A - Electrically connecting component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lower the inserting force while a stable contacting resistance is maintained at a low cost. SOLUTION: A connecting component is composed of a first component part 7c connected electrically in male-female fitting form and a second component part 7 coupled electrically with the first component part 7c and having a current distributing function, and the first component part 7c is subjected to a tinning process of 0.1-0.3 μm thick in a sliding part due to fitting of a parent material, and a third component part 10 as the mating part for the first component part 7c in the male-female fitting is subjected to a tinning process of 0.1 μm thick or more in the sliding part of the parent material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric connection part particularly suitable for a bus bar housed in an electric connection box.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrical junction box used for branch connection of an automobile wire harness or the like to various electrical components has a branch connection point concentrated in one place, and the wiring is rationally and economically branched. With the increase in the density of wire harnesses, various types have been developed according to vehicle types or applications.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 5, a bus bar 7 A is formed from a hoop material 6 by a press die as shown in FIG.
To 7C, and each of the bus bars 7A to 7C
The tab terminals 7a and 7b are respectively cut and raised in the vertical direction from the pattern part, and the insulating plates 8A to 8C are interposed between the bus bars 7A to 7C, respectively. And a lower case 9B.

Each of the tab terminals 7 of each of the bus bars 7A to 7C
Since the terminals a and 7b are integrally cut and raised from the terminals of the pattern portions of the bus bars 7A to 7C, the tab terminals 7a and 7b cannot be provided at an intermediate portion of the pattern portion. There is a dead space for cutting up 7b.

For this reason, the bent portions of the separate tab terminals 7a and 7b are applied to the pattern portions of the bus bars 7 (A to C), and the bent portions are applied to the bus bar 7 (A to C) pattern portions. A structure for welding with a laser beam or the like has already been proposed by the present applicant.

[0006]

By the way, the number of electric wires in a wire harness has increased due to recent advances in car electronics.
There is a demand to increase the number of terminal poles of the connector of the wire harness to be connected to the tab terminal (for example, 30 to 40 poles). Without such an auxiliary mechanism, connection (coupling) of the connector cannot be performed.

For this reason, if each terminal is plated with gold, a low contact resistance can be stably obtained even at a low contact pressure, so that the insertion force of the terminal can be reduced. Although the force required for connection (coupling) does not increase significantly, gold plating costs several to several tens of times compared to, for example, tin plating. There was a problem that it was difficult to adopt.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is most suitable for a bus bar to be housed in an electric junction box, and can reduce insertion force while maintaining stable contact resistance at low cost. It is an object to provide a dynamic connection component.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first component which is electrically connected by a male-female fitting configuration, and a current component which is electrically coupled to the first component. The first component has a distributing function, and the first component is plated with tin to a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 μm on a sliding portion formed by the fitting of the base material, and is mated with the first component. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection component characterized in that a sliding portion of a base material is plated with tin having a thickness of 0.1 μm or more on a third component to be a mating member.

In accordance with the present invention, the first component [eg, male (or female) tab terminal] is tinned prior to coupling (eg, welding, etc.) to the second component (eg, busbar). It is not necessary to apply tin plating only to the first component coupled to the second component and the third component [for example, a female (or male) terminal] to be mated with the first component. Since it suffices to apply, it is not necessary to simultaneously tin-plate the first component together with the second component, so that the management of the tin plating process is facilitated and the cost is reduced. In addition, since the second component that becomes large does not need to be tin-plated, the cost is reduced from this point as well.

Further, the sliding portion of the first component, which is formed by the fitting of the base material, is plated with tin having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 μm, and the sliding portion of the base material of the third component has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more. Since tin plating is applied, the apparent hardness of the first part and the third part is increased, so that adhesion of tin plating is suppressed, and the first part and the third part are hardened.
The fitting force (insertion force) between the component and the third component is reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the tin plating corresponding to the larger one of the sliding parts of the first and third parts is 0.1 μm, and the thickness of the tin plating corresponding to the smaller one is smaller. A configuration in which the thickness is 0.3 to 1.0 μm is preferable.

Preferably, a diffusion barrier layer is interposed between each base material of the first component and the third component and the tin plating.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the means for electrically coupling the first component and the second component can be welding or soldering. The means for electrically coupling can be sandwiched.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the first component is a tab terminal, the second component is a bus bar for electrically connecting the tab terminal, and the third component is a male / female fitting with the tab terminal. It can be optimally adopted for the structure that is the terminal that is the counterpart of the connection.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the same components and operations as those of the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment. Rather than cutting and raising the male tab terminals (7a, 7b) in the vertical direction from the bus bar pattern portion as in the related art, separate the L-shaped male tab terminals 7c and bend them to the lower ends of the male tab terminals 7c. The part 7d is integrally formed. Both surfaces of the male tab terminal 7c are smooth sliding surfaces.

When a laser beam is irradiated from directly above the bent portion 7d of the male tab terminal 7c in a state where the bent portion 7d of the male tab terminal 7c is overlaid on the upper surface of the pattern portion of the bus bar 7 from above. , This bending margin 7d
And the pattern portion of the bus bar 7 are laser welded a.

When the male tab terminal 7c is welded to the bus bar 7, in addition to the laser welding as described above, resistance welding,
Arc welding, ultrasonic welding, soldering, etc. can also be used, but in the case of laser welding, compared to the above-described resistance welding, arc welding, ultrasonic welding, etc., the laser beam is non-contact Therefore, the male tab terminal 7c can be reliably welded with only a simple jig, and since the welding seconds per location are short, mass productivity is good. In addition, since the laser beam has a small beam diameter, the bus bar 7 has a small diameter. And the male tab terminals 7c can be made narrower in pitch, thereby improving the degree of freedom in design wiring.

[0020] Of the various types of laser welding, YAG laser welding is three-dimensional welding because it is non-contact, has a small heat-affected layer, consumes little power, is compact, and can use optical fibers. It is optimal because it can be used easily, and the beam can be divided into multiple parts to perform simultaneous welding at multiple points. Therefore, the automation is easy and the production cost is significantly reduced.

Female terminal 10 fitted to male tab terminal 7
Has a cylindrical fitting portion 10a, in which a spring piece 10b, an emboss 10c, and a bead 10d are formed.

The spring piece 10b is formed of a protruding emboss 1
0c is pressed against one of the sliding surfaces of the male tab terminal 7c to make a point contact, thereby applying a contact pressure to the male tab terminal 7c, and the convex bead 10d is connected to the other side of the male tab terminal 7c. 10c in contact with the sliding surface of
Receives the contact pressure applied to the male tab terminal 7c.

The bus bar 7 is housed in an electric connection box,
Each male tab terminal 7c welded to the bus bar 7 faces outside from the connector coupling portion of the electric connection box. The female terminal 10 is housed in a connector, and when this connector is connected to the connector connecting portion of the electric connection box, the female terminal 10 is fitted to the male tab terminal 7c.

When the female terminal 10 is fitted to the male tab terminal 7c, the male tab terminal 7c is
0c and bead 10d.

At this time, one surface of the male tab terminal 7c slides on the emboss 10c, and the other surface slides on the bead 10d. Since the emboss 10c is in point contact with the male tab terminal 7c, the sliding portion of the emboss 10c is a point, and the contact portion of the bead 10d with the male tab terminal 7c is the sliding portion as it is.

That is, the area of the sliding portion of the male tab terminal 7c at the time of fitting is the area where the emboss 10c and the bead 10d are in contact with the male tab terminal 7c, and the area of the sliding portion of the male tab terminal 7c is With the male tab terminal 7c in contact with the emboss 10c and the bead 10d, the female terminal 1
0 is an area corresponding to the distance moved relative to the male tab terminal 7c. Therefore, the area of the sliding portion of the male tab terminal 7c is larger than the area of the sliding portion of the female terminal 10.

The base material of the bus bar 7, the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10 is copper or a copper alloy, but the copper or copper alloy has a high hardness as it is (Vickers hardness 1).
00 or more), the contact resistance between the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10 may increase, so that at least the contact portion between the two terminals 7c and 10, ie, the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10
The emboss 10c and the bead 10d are plated with tin. Note that the bus bar 7 itself does not necessarily need to be tin-plated, and therefore, the male tab terminal 7c pre-tinned may be welded to the bus bar 7. However, as a welding method, when performing laser welding or resistance welding as in the present embodiment, it is easier to weld when the bus bar 7 has tin plating, but when performing ultrasonic welding,
Welding is easier if the bus bar 7 has no tin plating.

The male tab terminal 7c has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3.
By applying tin plating with a thickness of μm and applying tin plating with a thickness of 0.1 μm or more to the female terminal 10, the apparent hardness of the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10 is increased, and adhesion of the tin plating is suppressed. By doing so, the fitting force (insertion force) between the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10 is reduced.

The tin plating thickness of the male tab terminal 7c and the female terminal 10 is varied from 0.1 to 1.0 μm to reduce the insertion force when the female terminal 10 is fitted to the male tab terminal 7c. Determined by measuring. Table 1 shows the measurement results.

[0030]

[Table 1]

Assuming that the tin plating thickness of the conventional terminal is 1.0 μm, the terminal insertion force is 0.74 kgf.
The conventional insertion force will be described as a reference value.

As is clear from the measurement results in Table 1, one of the male tab terminals 7c and the female terminals 10 has a tin plating thickness of 0.1 μm to 0.3 μm and the other has a tin plating thickness of 0.1 μm. By doing so, the insertion force can be reduced by at least 10% or more (0.67 Kgf or less) as compared with the reference value. This is because as the tin plating becomes thinner, the hardness of copper or copper alloy as a base material affects the terminal hardness, and the apparent hardness of the terminal increases. Then, by increasing the apparent hardness of the terminal, adhesion of tin plating was suppressed, and the insertion force was reduced.

Further, the tin plating thickness of the male tab terminal 7c is set to 0.
1 μm, and the tin plating thickness of the female terminal 10 should be 0.3 μm or more.
When the thickness is 1.0 μm, the insertion force is reduced by 30% or more (0.52 kgf or less) as compared with the reference value. This indicates that the effect of reducing the insertion force is greater when the area of the sliding portion is larger and the tin plating thickness is smaller. For example, if the terminal insertion force can be reduced to 0.46 kgf, 3
In the case of a 0-pole connector, approximately 22 kgf
(0.74 × 30) required about 14 insertion forces.
Kgf (0.46 Kgf).

The male tab terminals 7c and the female terminals 10 are provided with nickel plating as a base on the surface of copper or copper alloy as a base material, and tin plating thereon.

That is, when tin plating is directly applied to copper or a copper alloy as a base material, copper diffuses into tin even at room temperature, so that an alloy with tin is formed. This alloy has a very high hardness. It becomes difficult to obtain a low contact resistance at the time of fitting.

Therefore, if nickel plating is applied as a base for tin plating, since the diffusion coefficient of nickel in tin is much lower than that of copper, there is no possibility that tin plating is alloyed, and a stable low contact resistance is obtained. Obtainable. That is, the underlying nickel plating functions as a copper diffusion barrier layer.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment. In the second embodiment, L is used instead of the male tab terminal 7c of the first embodiment.
The female tab terminal 7e having a U-shape is separately provided, and a margin 7f is integrally formed at the lower end of the female tab terminal 7e.

When the laser beam is irradiated from directly above the bent portion 7f of the female tab terminal 7e in a state where the bent portion 7f of the female tab terminal 7e is superposed on the upper surface of the pattern portion of the bus bar 7 from above, The bending margin 7f and the pattern portion of the bus bar 7 are laser welded a.

The female tab terminal 7e, like the female terminal 10 of the first embodiment, has a cylindrical fitting portion 7g, in which a spring piece 7h, an emboss 7i Bead 7
j.

The bus bar 7 is housed in an electric connection box,
Each female tab terminal 7e welded to the bus bar 7 faces outside from the connector connecting portion of the electric connection box. The male terminal 11 fitted to the female tab terminal 7e is housed in a connector. When this connector is connected to the connector connecting portion of the electric connection box, the male terminal 11 is fitted to the female tab terminal 7e. Become.

As described above, the separate female tab terminal 7e is joined to the bus bar 7 by laser welding or the like, so that the manufacturing is easier as compared with the case where the female tab terminal having a complicated shape is cut out from the pattern portion of the bus bar 7. become. Further, since the female tab terminal 7e is a separate body, it is possible to make the plate thickness different from that of the bus bar 7.

In each of the above embodiments, a separate male tab terminal 7c (same for the female tab terminal 7e) is provided on the pattern portion of the bus bar 7.
Were joined by welding or soldering, as shown in FIG.
A U-shaped bent portion 7k is formed at the bent portion 7d of the male tab terminal 7c.
Can be formed by fitting the bent portion 7k into the pattern portion of the bus bar 7 from the side and pinching it.

As shown in FIG. 4, the male tab terminal 7c
The extension 7m is formed on the bent portion 7d, and the bent portion 7d is laterally arranged along the lower surface of the pattern portion of the bus bar 7, and the extended portion 7m is wound and bent on the upper surface of the pattern portion of the bus bar 7. It can also be joined by pinching.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above description, the electrical connection part of the bus bar according to the present invention does not require tin plating on the second part before the first part is connected to the second part. Alternatively, only the first component to be connected to the second component and the third component to be mated with the first component may be tin-plated, so that the first component includes the second component. In addition, since it is not necessary to perform tin plating at the same time, the management of the tin plating process is facilitated and the cost is reduced. In addition, the second that becomes large
Since the parts do not need to be tin-plated, the cost is also reduced in this respect.

Further, the sliding portion of the first component, which is formed by fitting the base material, is plated with tin to a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 μm, and the sliding portion of the base material of the third component is formed to a thickness of 0.1 μm or more. Since tin plating is applied, the apparent hardness of the first part and the third part is increased, so that adhesion of tin plating is suppressed, and the first part and the third part are hardened.
The fitting force (insertion force) between the component and the third component is reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, of the sliding parts of the first and third parts, the tin plating thickness corresponding to the larger area is set to 0.1 μm, and the tin plating corresponding to the smaller area is set. If the thickness is 0.3 to 1.0 μm, the adhesion of tin plating can be more effectively suppressed, and the terminal insertion force can be reduced by 30% or more.

If a diffusion barrier layer is interposed between the base material of each of the first and third parts and the tin plating, an alloy of tin plating by diffusion of the base material is provided. And the contact resistance can be stably obtained.

As means for electrically connecting the first component and the second component, welding or soldering as described in claim 4 or sandwiching as described in claim 5 enables various connections as required. Means can be selected.

According to the electrical connection component of the present invention, the first component is a tab terminal, the second component is a bus bar for electrically connecting the tab terminal, and the third component is a bus bar. It can be optimally adopted for a structure that is a terminal which is a mating terminal for mating with the tab terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a welded joint structure of a male tab terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a female tab terminal welded joint structure according to a second embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a fitting structure of a tab terminal according to a third embodiment, wherein FIG. 3A is a perspective view, FIG. 3B is a side view before fitting, and FIG. 3C is a side view after fitting.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a tab terminal winding connection structure according to a fourth embodiment, wherein FIG. 4A is a perspective view, FIG. 4B is a side view before winding, and FIG. 4C is a side view after winding.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional bus bar processing and assembling procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 7 busbar (second part) 7c male tab terminal (first part) 7d bent margin part 7e female tab terminal (first part) 7f bent margin part 7k bent part 7m extension part 10 female terminal (third part) 11 male Terminal (third part)

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasushi Saito 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi F-term in Harness Research Institute, Inc. (Reference) 5E085 BB06 CC03 DD07 EE21 FF13 HH22 JJ38 JJ50

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A first part which is electrically connected by a male and female fitting form, and a second part which is electrically coupled to the first part and has a current distribution function. A sliding part formed by fitting of the base material is plated with tin of 0.1 to 0.3 μm thick, and a third part which is a mating part of the first part with the first part is provided with a sliding part of the base material. An electrical connection part characterized by being plated with tin having a thickness of 0.1 μm or more. 2. The sliding part of the first part and the third part,
The tin plating thickness corresponding to the larger area is 0.1 μm, and the tin plating thickness corresponding to the smaller area is 0.3 to
2. The electrical connection component according to claim 1, wherein the thickness is 1.0 μm. 3. The electrical connection part according to claim 1, wherein a diffusion barrier layer is interposed between each base material of the first part and the third part and tin plating. 4. The electrical connection part according to claim 1, wherein the means for electrically connecting the first part and the second part is welding or soldering. 5. The electrical connection part according to claim 1, wherein the means for electrically connecting the first part and the second part is sandwiching. 6. The first component is a tab terminal, and the second component is a bus bar for electrically coupling the tab terminal.
The electrical connection component according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the third component is a terminal that is a mating partner that engages with the tab terminal.