This invention relates to female terminals having a resilient contacting strip for the purpose of maintaining reliable connection with matching male terminals, that is, it has a design preventing deformation of the resilient contacting strip beyond elasticity limits.

Female terminals having a resilient contacting strip for the purpose of maintaining reliable connection with matching male terminals are known in the art, for example, female terminals described in the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 83-62564. Since the resilient contacting strip of this type is bent back at the front end of the female terminal and since it is extended inside the female terminal, the bent section of the resilient contacting strip has sufficient resiliency in order to maintain reliable connection with the male terminal.

When a male terminal is inserted in a female terminal having such a resilient contacting strip at an angle, there is the danger that the tip of the male terminal will exert downward pressure on the resilient contacting strip, thereby deforming it more than it is necessary, which can result in a loss of the initial resilience of the resilient contacting strip. In order to prevent such deformations exceeding the elasticity limits, in the utility models described in the above disclosure, protrusions extending inside the terminal are provided at the left and the right sides of the terminal under the resilient contacting strip in one location along its length which prevent the resilient contacting strip from being moved down beyond the acceptable limit due to the downward pressure exerted by a male terminal.

However, in some cases, the force is not uniformly distributed along the entire length of the resilient contacting strip but is concentrated in one location. It is desirable to be able to prevent the deformation from exceeding the limits of elasticity even when the force is concentrated in one location.

However, since in the conventional design described above the protrusions are provided only in one location, the deformation exceeding the limits of elasticity can be prevented if the force is concentrated exactly at that location. But if the force is concentrated in a location where no protrusions are provided, the possibility that deformation at that location will exceed the limits of elasticity is high.

Another problem with the terminals of conventional design is that in some cases the protrusions (whose purpose is to prevent the resilient contacting strip from moving down beyond predetermined limits) can bend themselves, if the force applied to the resilient contacting strip is too strong.

This invention is made taking into consideration the above information, and its purpose is to offer a female connector in which deformation of the resilient contacting strip does not exceed the limits of elasticity even if the force applied to it is concentrated in one location or if such a force is too strong.

In order to achieve the above stated purposes, the female terminal according to this invention comprising a base section extending from the front to the back, side walls rising up from the left and right sides of said base section, a resilient contacting strip bent backwards from the front end of the base section and protrusions extending inward from at least in one side wall and located under said resilient contacting strip at predetermined intervals, and several protrusions are provided along the entire length of the above mentioned resilient contacting strip and that the resilient contacting strip is made wider in the places corresponding to the locations of such protrusions.

Since a number of protrusions located under the resilient contacting strip along its entire length are provided in the female terminals according to this invention, they can support the resilient contacting strip in several places when a downward force is applied to it, even when this force is concentrated at one location along the length of the resilient contacting strip, thereby preventing it from being deformed at this location beyond the limits of elasticity.

Due to the fact that the resilient contacting strip is made wider in the places corresponding to the locations of the protrusions, the edges of the strip are closer to the bases of the protrusions than in terminals of conventional design, they are to a lesser degree susceptible to bending than protrusions in conventional terminals. Therefore, they can reliably support the resilient contacting strip even when a strong downward force is applied to it, thus preventing it from being deformed beyond the limits of elasticity.

A female terminal having a base section and walls extending upwards therefrom defining a cavity between the walls and the base section, a resilient contact strip extending from a front of the base section and bent back into the cavity, the upstanding walls having a protrusion bent from at least one of the walls, into the cavity and below the contact strip, thereby preventing the contact strip from being deformed beyond the elastic limits thereof.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which:

• Figure 1 is a side view showing schematic design of an embodiment of the female terminal according to this invention.
• Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the female terminal shown in Fig. 1.
• Figure 3 is a cross sectional along the line III-III in Fig. 1.
• Figure 4 is a cross sectional along the line IV-IV in Fig. 1.
• Figure 5 is a cross sectional along the line V-V in Fig. 1.

The female terminal 10 according to this invention depicted in the drawings is of the box type and it comprises a base section 11 extending in the direction from the front to the back of the female terminal 10 (directions left to right in the Figs. 1 and 3, and perpendicular to the paper surface in the Figs. 4 and 5), right and left side walls 12 rising from the right and left edges of the base section 11 and a upper wall 13 formed from the upper edges of the side walls 12 which runs approximately parallel to the base section 11.

The resilient contacting strip 15 is bent back from the front tip of the base section 11 and it extends inward and to the back of the female terminal 10. In the vicinity of the free end 15a of the resilient contacting strip 15 which is facing the back end of the terminal, an assist leaf (a support) 16 is provided whose front end is located under the free end 15a. The assist leaf 16 is provided for the purpose of increasing the contacting pressure of the resilient contacting strip 15 to the male terminal when a male contact (not shown in the drawing) is correctly inserted in the female terminal 10 by coming in contact with the free end 15a of the resilient contacting strip 15.

In this embodiment, in two locations situated at a predetermined distance from each other along the length of the resilient contacting strip 15, left and right protrusions 17 cut out from the left and right walls 12 are provided which are positioned under the resilient contacting strip 15 at a predetermined distance from it. On the other hand, the portions of the resilient contacting strip 15 corresponding to the above mentioned left and right protrusions 17 (that is the portions of the resilient contacting strip 15 which come in contact with the protrusions 17 when the resilient contacting strip 15 is pressed down) are made wider than other parts of the strip.

Therefore, due to the fact that in this embodiment left and right protrusions 17 are provided in two locations along the length of the resilient contacting strip 15 at a predetermined distance from each other, it becomes possible to prevent the resilient contacting strip 15 from a local deformation beyond the limits of elasticity even if a male terminal is inserted incorrectly producing a force concentrated in one location, because it is supported in two points along its length.

In addition, since the portions of the resilient contacting strip 15 corresponding to the left and right protrusions 17 are made wider, they form contact with the entire length of the protrusions 17 (from their bases to their tips) when the resilient contacting strip 15 is bent downward. This prevents the bending of the protrusions 17 when the force applied to the resilient contacting strip 15 is too strong.

Above, we gave explanations concerning an embodiment of the female terminal according to this invention, however, this invention is not limited to these specific configurations of this embodiment, but also may comprise various modifications.

For example, in the above mentioned embodiment, protrusions are provided in two locations at predetermined distance from each other along the length of the resilient contacting strip. However, it is possible to increase the number of locations in which the resilient contacting strip is supported.

In the embodiment described above, protrusions are made on the left and right walls; however, the protrusions may be made only on one side wall or on the both side but in a staggered pattern.

The embodiment of the female terminal described above is of the box type having the base, left and right walls and the upper wall. It is matter of fact that this invention is applicable also to female terminals without the upper wall.