JP2002184286A - Electromagnetic relay and method of connecting electromagnetic relay and external terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electromagnetic relay and a method of connecting the electromagnetic relay and an external terminal capable of connecting to the external terminal without requiring large space in the height direction and of easily performing welding and caulking. SOLUTION: This electromagnetic relay 20 has a relay assembly housed in an outer case 21 enclosed with a flat terminal plate 22 and has plural terminal pieces 23-27 led out from the terminal plate 22. The plural terminal pieces 23-27 project out vertically from the terminal plate 22 and project out from side surfaces 28, 29 crossing to a terminal plate 22 surface of the outer case 21 in the direction along the terminal board 22 surface. The external terminals are jointed to the terminal pieces 23-27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 at the parts projecting out from side surfaces 28, 29 crossing to a terminal plate 22 surface of the outer case 21, and are electrically connected to the same.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electromagnetic relay suitable for power control, for example, and a method of connecting an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electromagnetic relay, a movable contact (armature) driven by an electromagnet is provided with a movable contact. The movable contact includes a normally closed fixed contact (break contact) and a normally open fixed contact (make contact). The switching is performed in accordance with the driving of the electromagnet.

[0003] A plurality of terminal strips each made of a conductive material are led out of the electromagnetic relay. That is, two coil terminal pieces to which one end and the other end of the coil constituting the electromagnet are respectively connected, a movable contact terminal piece to which a movable contact is connected, and a normally closed fixed contact terminal to which a normally closed fixed contact is connected. The piece and the normally-open fixed contact terminal piece to which the normally-open fixed contact is connected are usually led out.

FIG. 6 shows the appearance of a conventional electromagnetic relay 10 of this type. 6A is a top view, FIG. 6B is a front view, FIG. 6C is a right side view, and FIG. 6D is a bottom view.

In this electromagnetic relay, a relay body (not shown) including an electromagnet, a movable contact member, a normally closed fixed contact member, a normally open fixed contact member, and the like has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and one surface thereof is an opening. 6 (B) and 6 (C) are inserted from the opening of the outer casing case 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6 (hereinafter, the direction along this direction is referred to as the height direction of the electromagnetic relay) and stored. The opening of the outer case 1 is sealed with, for example, the terminal plate 2. In addition, the terminal plate 2
May enter the outer casing case 1 and the opening of the outer casing case 1 may be closed by another lid or the like.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 6, the two coil terminal pieces 3, 4, the movable contact terminal piece 5, the normally closed fixed contact terminal piece 6, and the normally open fixed contact penetrate the terminal plate 2. Terminal strip 7
Are extended in a direction perpendicular to the terminal plate 2 and are led out. That is, the distal ends of the terminal strips 3 to 7 that are to be connected to the external terminals extend on a direction perpendicular to the terminal plate 2.

When this electromagnetic relay is connected to an electronic circuit or an electric circuit, the terminal strips 3 to 7 are connected to external terminals. For connection with an external terminal, there have been methods of using a socket, welding, caulking, or soldering.

In this case, for example, when a socket is used for coupling a terminal piece of an electromagnetic relay with an external terminal, the following is performed. First, for example, a socket 11 as shown in FIG. 7 is used. In this case, the socket 11 has an insertion hole 1 into which the terminal pieces 3 to 7 of the electromagnetic relay 10 are inserted and fitted.
3 to 17 are provided. Then, the terminal pieces 3 to 7 of the electromagnetic relay 10 are press-fitted and inserted into the insertion holes 13 to 17 of the socket, and the electromagnetic relay 10 is connected to external terminals.

When an electromagnetic relay is connected to a printed circuit board, for example, each of the terminal strips 3 to 7 is connected to the printed circuit board.
Is provided, and each terminal piece is inserted through the through hole and soldered, so that the electromagnetic relay is connected to the printed circuit board.

[0010]

As described above, the conventional electromagnetic relay is provided so that the terminal pieces protrude and extend in a direction perpendicular to the terminal plate, that is, in a height direction of the electromagnetic relay. For example, when connecting to an external terminal using a socket, the height of the coupling portion is (the height of the electromagnetic relay) + (the height of the socket), and the installation space in the height direction becomes large. is there.

Further, even when the external terminal is connected to the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay by welding or swaging, the work is not easy because the terminal piece is provided so as to protrude and extend in the height direction of the electromagnetic relay. There is also a problem.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an electromagnetic relay and an electromagnetic relay which can be connected to an external terminal without taking up a large space in the height direction, and which can easily perform welding and swaging operations. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for connecting a relay and an external terminal.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, an electromagnetic relay according to the present invention has a relay main body housed in an outer casing case having an opening on one side, the opening is closed, and a plurality of the relays are closed. In the electromagnetic relay in which the terminal pieces are led out to the outside, the part of the plurality of terminal pieces led out is a flat plate, and the plate surface direction of the flat plate is the closed state of the outer casing case. And is provided so as to be perpendicular to a side surface intersecting the closed surface of the outer casing case and the closed surface of the outer casing, and protrude outward from the side surface.

The method for connecting an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal according to the present invention is a method of connecting a terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay to an external terminal, wherein the electromagnetic relay is placed in an outer casing case having an opening on one side. An electromagnetic relay in which a relay main body is housed, the opening is closed, and a plurality of terminal pieces are led out to the outside, and a part of the plurality of terminal pieces led out is a flat plate. Together, the plate surface direction of the flat plate is perpendicular to a side surface that intersects with the closed surface of the outer casing case and the closed surface of the outer casing case, and outside the side surface. The one provided to protrude is used, and the external terminal is
The terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay is coupled to a portion protruding outside the side surface of the outer casing case.

[0015]

According to the electromagnetic relay of the present invention having the above-described structure, the flat plate portion led out of the plurality of terminal strips protrudes outward from the side surface of the outer casing case, and furthermore, the flat surface of the flat plate portion. The direction matches the height direction of the outer case of the electromagnetic relay.

Therefore, as in the method of connecting an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal according to the present invention, the external terminal protrudes outward from a side of the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay intersecting the terminal plate surface of the outer casing. When connecting with the terminal piece at the part to be done, press-fit the flat plate part of the terminal piece into the fitting groove,
Welding can be performed by welding the terminal strip to the bus bar planted on the board, and the joining operation is facilitated.

The external terminal can be coupled to a portion of the terminal strip protruding outward from the side surface of the outer case from the side opposite to the closed surface side of the outer case of the electromagnetic relay. The coupling portion between the terminal and the terminal piece can be accommodated within the height of the electromagnetic relay, and the height space of the electromagnetic relay can be effectively used.

Also, since the joint between the external terminal and the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay is on the side of the outer case of the electromagnetic relay,
The work becomes easy even when the external terminal and the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay are connected by welding or caulking.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of an electromagnetic relay according to the present invention and an embodiment of a method of connecting an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an electromagnetic relay 20 according to this embodiment.
FIG. 1A is a view (top view) of the electromagnetic relay 20 of this embodiment as viewed from above in the height direction.
1B is a diagram viewed from the front (front view), and FIG.
1 is a left side view, and FIG. 1D is a view (bottom view) as viewed from the terminal plate surface side.

The electromagnetic relay 20 of this embodiment also has a relay main body (not shown in FIG. 1) including an electromagnet, a movable contact member, a normally closed fixed contact member, a normally open fixed contact member, and the like.
1B and 1C from the opening of the outer casing case 21 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and one surface side of which is an opening (hereinafter, a direction along this direction is referred to as a height direction of the electromagnetic relay). ) Is inserted and stored. And in the case of this example, the opening of the outer casing case 21 is
It is closed by a terminal plate 22 made of an insulating material. Note that the terminal plate 22 may enter the outer casing case 21 and the opening of the outer casing case 21 may be closed by another lid or the like.

In the electromagnetic relay 20 of this embodiment, a plurality of terminal pieces, each of which is made of a conductive material, penetrates the terminal plate 22, and in this example, two coil terminal pieces 23, 2
4, a movable contact terminal piece 25, and a normally closed fixed contact terminal piece 26
And the normally open fixed contact terminal strip 27 are led out from the terminal plate 22 to the outside.

In this case, the externally extending portions of the terminal strips 23 to 27 are formed of a flat conductive plate, and are formed in an L-shape as shown in FIG. 1C. L
The front end of the character is configured to protrude outside the side surfaces 28 and 29 of the outer casing case 21.

That is, the externally extending portions of the flat plates of the terminal strips 23 to 27 are arranged so that the plane direction of the flat plate is perpendicular to the surface of the terminal plate 22 and the side surfaces 28 and 29. The flat plates are the side surfaces 28 and 29 of the outer casing case 21.
The shape is bent in an L shape in a direction along the surface of the terminal plate 22. The length of each of the terminal strips 23 to 27 in the direction along the surface of the terminal plate 22 of the externally derived portion of the flat plate is equal to that of the outer casing case 2.
The length protrudes outside the first side surface 28. Therefore, the direction of the flat plate surface of the terminal piece protruding outside the side surface 28 of the outer casing case 21 matches the height direction of the electromagnetic relay 20.

In this example, the terminal pieces 24 and 27 are provided so as to protrude from the front side surface 28 in FIG.
Is provided so as to protrude beyond the side surface 29 on the opposite side.

In this case, the length L of each of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 protruding from the side surface 28 or the side surface 29 of the outer casing case 21.
As will be described later, external terminals are connected to terminal strips 23 to 23 from the upper surface side in the height direction of the electromagnetic relay 20 along the outer casing case 21.
The length is selected so that an appropriate space can be secured between the side surfaces 28 and 29 and the external terminals when coupled to the external terminal 27.

Since the electromagnetic relay 20 of this embodiment has the above-described structure, the terminal space 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay can be connected to the external terminal by effectively utilizing the height space of the electromagnetic relay. Can do it.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the electromagnetic relay 20 shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows the electromagnetic relay 20 in a disassembled state.

Each component of the electromagnetic relay 20 shown in FIG. 2 is assembled on a terminal plate 22, and the outer case 21 is combined with the terminal plate 22, so that the assembled components are covered. That is, the outer case 21 is the same as that shown in FIG.
Is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having an opening on the bottom surface side, and the opening of the outer casing 21 is closed by the terminal plate 22.

In this case, the terminal strip 22 has terminal strips 23 to
Grooves 22a to 22e for leading 27 outside are formed.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 denotes an electromagnet assembly;
An L-shaped yoke 32 and an I-type yoke 33 hold the cored coil 34. The electromagnet assembly 31 is provided with fitting grooves 35, 35 (the fitting grooves 35 for the coil terminal pieces 24 are not shown) for mounting the coil terminal pieces 23, 24. The coil terminal strip 23 and the coil terminal strip 24 are fitted into the mating groove 35 and attached. And coil 3
One end and the other end of 4 are connected to coil terminal strip 23 and coil terminal strip 24, respectively.

The coil terminal strips 23 and 24 are
The L-shaped flat plate portion is led out to the outside through the second coil terminal leading through grooves 22a and 22b.

The normally open fixed contact terminal strip 26 is formed of a plate-like body made of an L-shaped conductive material as shown in FIG. A normally open fixed contact 261 is provided. The normally open fixed contact terminal strip 26 has a projection 262 that is press-fitted into the electromagnet assembly 31. The normally open fixed contact terminal piece 26 has its protrusion 262 press-fitted into the electromagnet assembly 31,
The electromagnet assembly 31 is attached by inserting a plate provided with the normally open fixed contact 261 into a fitting groove 36 provided in the electromagnet assembly 31. Then, the normally open fixed contact terminal piece 26
Penetrates the terminal lead-out through groove 22d of the terminal plate 22,
The L-shaped flat portion is led out.

The normally closed fixed contact terminal piece 27 is also formed of a plate-like body made of an L-shaped conductive material as shown in FIG. A normally closed fixed contact 271 is provided. In addition, the normally closed fixed contact terminal strip 27 includes a protrusion 272 that is press-fitted into the electromagnet assembly 31. The normally closed fixed contact terminal piece 27 has its protrusion 272 press-fitted into the electromagnet assembly 31,
The electromagnet assembly 31 is attached by inserting a plate portion provided with the normally closed fixed contact 271 into a fitting groove 37 provided in the electromagnet assembly 31. Then, the normally open fixed contact terminal piece 27
Penetrates the terminal lead-out through groove 22e of the terminal plate 22,
The L-shaped flat part is led out.

In this case, by assembling as described above, the normally closed fixed contact 271 and the normally open fixed contact 261 are attached to the electromagnet assembly 31 with a predetermined gap length therebetween. Note that the insertion groove 37 is
On the other hand, it is configured to have a height corresponding to the distance between the normally-open fixed contact 26 and the normally-closed contact 27.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a mover made of a conductive material. A movable contact 411 is formed at the tip of the movable element 41. In this example, an armature plate 42 made of a magnetic material is attached to these movers 41. Further, the mover 41 is attached to a spring member 43 made of a conductive material to form an armature assembly.

The armature assembly is mounted on the yoke 32 of the electromagnet assembly 31 with the movable contact terminal piece 25 interposed therebetween.
For example, it is attached by swaging. At this time, when no current flows through the coil 34, the movable contact 411 contacts the normally closed contact 27 and is separated from the normally open contact 26 by a predetermined gap length. When a current flows through the coil 34, the armature plate 42 is attracted to the electromagnet, and the movable contact 411 is driven to contact the normally open fixed contact 26.

The movable contact terminal piece 25 is connected to the terminal plate 2.
The L-shaped flat plate portion is led out to the outside through the terminal leading through groove 22c.

FIGS. 3A to 3D show the electromagnetic relay 2.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing a first embodiment of a method of connecting 0 to external terminals. In the connection method according to the first embodiment, each of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 is press-fitted into an external terminal, thereby inserting each of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 with each other. Connect with external terminal.

FIG. 3A is a front view of a state before connection with an external terminal, and FIG. 3B is a side view of the same. FIG. 3C is a diagram of a state where the external terminals are connected to the respective terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 3B is a diagram as viewed from the side.

In the connection method according to the first embodiment, a plurality of external terminals (female terminals) 52 made of a conductor connected to the tips of the lead wires 51 are connected to the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20. Are fixedly provided by members (not shown) at the positions corresponding to the above.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 3A, the external terminal 52 has a fitting groove 53 substantially equal to the plate thickness t of the terminal strips 23 to 27. In this example, the fitting groove 53 has a width slightly larger than the plate thickness t of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 at the upper end portion serving as the insertion opening of the terminal piece. The width is smaller than the thickness t, and is formed in a wedge shape as a whole. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the external terminals 52 is arranged such that the upper end portion of the fitting groove 53 faces upward.

As shown in FIG. 3, when connecting the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 to the external terminals 52, the electromagnetic relay 20 faces the terminal plate 22 upward, Side surface 28 of outer casing case 21 of terminal strips 23 to 27
Or, the tip protruding from 29 is connected to the external terminal 52.
Is press-fitted into the fitting groove 53 so as to be fitted. In this case, the edge of each of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 on the side to be inserted into the fitting groove 53 is chamfered so that the press-fitting is easily performed.

Thus, the terminal pieces 23 to 27 are press-fitted and connected to the fitting grooves 53 of the external terminals 52 and are electrically connected.

In this case, as is apparent from FIG. 3, the coupling between the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 and the external terminals 52 is substantially the same as that of the electromagnetic relay 20 on the side surfaces 28 and 29 of the electromagnetic relay 20. When the electromagnetic relay 20 is connected to an external terminal, the height of the external terminal does not increase in the height direction unlike the conventional electromagnetic relay. The space in the height direction of the device can be minimized.

Instead of the fitting groove 53 of the external terminal (female terminal) 32, the structure is such that when the terminal piece is inserted, the flat plate of the terminal piece is elastically pressed from both sides and held. You can also

When attaching the electromagnetic relay 20 to a printed circuit board, an external terminal (female terminal) as shown in FIG.
Is provided on the printed circuit board surface in advance, and the electromagnetic relay 20 is provided.
3, with the terminal plate 22 side facing downward, opposite to the example of FIG.
The distal ends of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 protruding from the side surface 28 or 29 of the outer casing case 21 can be attached by press-fitting the external terminals.

In the first embodiment, the case where the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay is press-fitted and inserted into the external terminal has been described. However, in the case where the external terminal is connected to each terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay by caulking. Also, since the caulking operation can be performed on the side surface of the outer casing of the electromagnetic relay, the operation is facilitated.

Next, FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a second embodiment of the method of connecting the electromagnetic relay 20 to external terminals. In this example, the electromagnetic relay 2
In the case where 0 is attached to an external terminal, each terminal piece 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 is welded to a bus bar planted at a predetermined position corresponding to the lead-out position of these terminal pieces 23 to 27. This is an example of the case.

In the case of this example, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the side surfaces 28 and 29 of the electromagnetic relay 20 are used.
And a predetermined distance d from the side surfaces 28 and 29
The terminal strips 23 to 27 are located at positions apart from each other by a distance such that they come into surface contact with the tip portions protruding from the side surfaces 28 or 29 of the terminal strips 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20.
Bus bar 61 made of a flat plate-shaped body connected to 27
Is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the electromagnetic relay 20 is arranged such that the bus bars 61 face both sides of the side surfaces 28 and 29 with the terminal plate 22 side facing upward. , Arranged between two rows of bus bars 61.
Then, welding is performed in a state where the plate surface at the tip protruding from the side surfaces 28 and 29 of each of the terminal pieces 23 to 27 and the surface of the bus bar 61 are abutted. Thus, by connecting the terminal pieces 23 to 27 of the electromagnetic relay 20 to the bus bar 61, the electromagnetic relay 20 is connected to the external terminal to which the bus bar 61 is connected.

According to the connection method of the example shown in FIG. 4, there is an advantage that the welding operation is facilitated.

In the above example, the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay is L-shaped so that it protrudes vertically from the terminal plate and then protrudes from the side surface of the electromagnetic relay. The method of deriving the pieces is not limited to this structure.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the terminal strips 23 to 27 are arranged so as to cover a part of the side surface 28 or 29 of the outer casing 21 from the middle in the thickness direction of the terminal plate 22.
Can be configured to protrude from the side surface 28 or 29.

The terminal pieces are provided so as to protrude from both sides of the opposing two side surfaces 28 and 29 of the outer case of the electromagnetic relay.
29 may be configured to protrude only on one side.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to connect to an external terminal without taking up a large space in the height direction, and to facilitate welding and swaging. An electromagnetic relay and a method of connecting the electromagnetic relay to an external terminal can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of an electromagnetic relay according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view for explaining an example of the structure of the embodiment of the electromagnetic relay according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of a method for connecting an electromagnetic relay and an external terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the method for connecting an electromagnetic relay and an external terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining another embodiment of the electromagnetic relay according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional electromagnetic relay.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a conventional method of connecting an electromagnetic relay and an external terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Outer casing case 22 Terminal board 23-27 Terminal strip 28, 29 Side face of outer casing case 52 External terminal

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electromagnetic relay comprising a relay main body housed in an outer casing case having an opening on one side, said opening being closed, and a plurality of terminal pieces being led out. The portion of the terminal strip led out is a flat plate, and the plate surface direction of the flat plate intersects with the closed surface of the outer case and the closed surface of the outer case. An electromagnetic relay, which is provided so as to be perpendicular to a side surface and protrude outward from the side surface. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of terminal pieces are side faces that intersect with the closed face of the outer casing case and face each other.
An electromagnetic relay, which is provided so as to protrude outward from one side surface. 3. A method of coupling a terminal piece of an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal, wherein the electromagnetic relay includes a relay main body housed in an outer case having an opening on one side, and the opening is closed. An electromagnetic relay in which a plurality of terminal pieces are led out to the outside, and the part of the plurality of terminal pieces led out is a flat plate, and the plate surface direction of the flat plate is the outer casing case. A surface perpendicular to a side surface intersecting the closed surface and the closed surface of the outer casing, and provided so as to protrude outward from the side surface; A method of connecting an electromagnetic relay to an external terminal, wherein the terminal is coupled to a portion of the terminal piece of the electromagnetic relay that protrudes outside the side surface of the outer casing. 4. The terminal according to claim 3, wherein the external terminal protrudes outward from the side surface of the outer case of the terminal piece from a side of the electromagnetic relay opposite to the closed surface side of the outer case. A method for connecting an electromagnetic relay and an external terminal, wherein the method is coupled to a portion to be connected.