Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Other

Yasuhiro Shintani

Masahiro Kawaguchi

Ryoichi Ozaki

Masayasu Nishimura

Toshihisa Hara

Atsushi Nakamura

Atsuhiko Fujii

Jun Shioya

Nobuaki Isono

A plated copper alloy material for connecting terminals is provided which comprises a parent material of copper or copper alloy, a nickel layer and a copper-tin alloy layer. The nickel layer has a thickness of 0.1-1.0 &#x3bc;m. The copper-tin alloy layer has a thickness of 0.1-1.0 &#x3bc;m and contains 35-75 at % of copper. The material may additionally have a tin layer no thicker than 0.5 &#x3bc;m for an engaging type terminal containing 0.001-0.1 mass % of carbon, or thicker than 0.5 &#x3bc;m for a non-engaging type connector. The material meets requirements for capability of insertion with a small force, good electric reliability (due to low contact resistance) in a high-temperature atmosphere, workability for sharp bending without cracking, good solder wettability and good corrosion resistance to sulfur dioxide gas.

Plated copper alloy material and process for production thereof

A plated copper alloy material for connecting terminals is provided which comprises a parent material of copper or copper alloy, a nickel layer and a copper-tin alloy layer. The nickel layer has a thickness of 0.1-1.0 &mgr;m. The copper-tin alloy layer has a thickness of 0.1-1.0 &mgr;m and contains 35-75 at % of copper. The material may additionally have a tin layer no thicker than 0.5 &mgr;m for an engaging type terminal containing 0.001-0.1 mass % of carbon, or thicker than 0.5 &mgr;m for a non-engaging type connector. The material meets requirements for capability of insertion with a small force, good electric reliability (due to low contact resistance) in a high-temperature atmosphere, workability for sharp bending without cracking, good solder wettability and good corrosion resistance to sulfur dioxide gas.

There is disclosed a fitting-type connection terminal in which an insertion force for a terminal can be reduced while maintaining a stable contact resistance. If the thickness of a tin film on one of male and female terminals is 0.1 &mgr;m to 0.3 &mgr;m while the thickness of a tin film on the other terminal is not less than 0.1 &mgr;m, the hardness of the terminal is increasingly influenced by the hardness of a base material (of copper or copper alloy) with the decrease of the thickness of the tin film, so that the apparent hardness of the terminal increases. As a result, the adhesion of the tin film is suppressed, and the terminal insertion force can be reduced at least by more than 10% as compared with a reference value (1.0 &mgr;m for each of the male and female terminals). Particularly if the thickness of the tin film on the male terminal,is 0.1 &mgr;m while the thickness of the tin film on the female terminal,is 0.3 &mgr;m to 1.0 &mgr;m, the insertion force can be reduced by more than 30%.

Fitting-type connection terminal

Growing community of inventors

Shimonosaki, Japan

Yasuhiro Shintani