EP0148037B1 - Contact connection device and a method of mounting said contacts in the device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connection device with contacts, for example of the printed circuit board connector type or connector for connection of electronic circuits, as well as to the method of mounting said contacts in this device.

There are already known different types of connection devices or connector elements having a plurality of metal contacts housed in individual cells made in an insulating support or housing. The individual metal contacts comprise a contact element proper, male such as for example a pin, or female, a body intended to be received in the cell and a contact outlet or tail extending the body and emerging from the support of the cells for the connection to conductors or circuits by various means such as welding, crimping, winding.

Various means have already been provided for maintaining the individual contacts in their cells. Thus, it has already been planned to produce supports in the form of a box having a plurality of widely open cells allowing the insertion of the body into the cell, a cover or a counterplate screwed, glued or welded by ultrasound then being put in place to prevent the contacts from coming out of the cells.

In another technique (US-A-3 636 503, the bodies of the contacts are provided with erasable elastic tabs, capable of being erased when the contact is inserted into the socket to come back into place behind a shoulder preventing extraction while, in the direction of insertion, the contact is blocked for example by the bottom of the cell. These tabs, instead of being formed directly on the contact, can also be carried by auxiliary parts, for example by rolled tubular parts, themselves immobilized in length on the contact by two shoulders.

Another technique is simply to drown the contacts in the support during the molding of the latter.

Yet another technique consists in inserting, using a tool, contact elements provided with cutting wings so that these wings hollow grooves in the plastic material of the insulating housing, by flowing this material, the insertion depth being limited by the tool coming into contact with a surface of the housing (GB-A-2 024 539).

These different techniques have a certain number of drawbacks.

Thus, in the case of supports with plywoods, the size of the support is increased by the presence of the counterplate and the positioning of the latter requires a particular operation. In addition, if the contacts are replaced, removing the backplate may simultaneously release all of the contacts.

In the case of contacts having erasable tabs, the very shape of the contact is made more complicated or else an insert bearing tabs becomes necessary. In addition, extracting a contact for replacement is not easy and requires particularly suitable tools.

In the case of contacts directly embedded in the insulating material of the support, extraction for replacement becomes of course impossible. In addition, there is no possibility of individual adaptation of the contacts to variations in pitch between the connection elements since each contact is held rigidly. Finally, the overmolding technology is not easy and requires an expensive investment.

The invention proposes to remedy these drawbacks and to provide a contact connection device in which the individual contacts can be immobilized in a particularly simple manner without requiring additional parts such as for example plywoods or tongues and which allows, for replacement, easy extraction.

The invention also aims to provide a simple and inexpensive method for inserting and fixing the contacts in their support.

The subject of the invention is a contact connection device comprising at least one and preferably a plurality of individual contacts having a contact element, for example male or female, a body and a connection tail or outlet, a support or housing insulator having an equal number of cells individually housing said contacts, the latter being inserted into the cells in the direction of the tail or connection outlet, which passes through the bottom of the cell and means for retaining the contacts in their cells for oppose their extraction; the contact body having a retaining shoulder capable of coming, during insertion, to be applied against a complementary shoulder of the socket which receives it to limit the insertion of the contact, characterized in that the tail, initially disposed in the extension of the body is folded outside the cell against a support surface preventing the extraction of the contact, means being preferably provided to prevent rotation of the contact in its cell.

Preferably, the support or housing has, on the outside of the cell and on the side of the connection outlet, a groove whose transverse dimension is equal to or very slightly greater than the thickness, in the same direction, of the outlet or connection tail, the bottom of said groove constituting said surface of the support preventing extraction of the contact. It is thus possible to simply maintain in rotation a contact whose body is cylindrical or whose dimensions are such that could turn or rotate in the socket.

The retaining shoulder presented by the body is preferably simply constituted by a shoulder ensuring the transition between the body and the connection outlet, this shoulder cooperating with the bottom of the cell in the vicinity of an orifice in the bottom letting the contact connection output. However, it is understood that, as a variant, the abutment or shoulder means limiting the movement of insertion of the body into the socket can be arranged at other locations and cooperate with corresponding counter-surfaces or shoulders of the support in the alveolus.

Preferably, the surface located outside the cell, against which the outlet or tail connection is folded, forms with the direction of this outlet before its folding an angle slightly greater than that formed by the outlet connection to the folded state with its initial direction, of a value substantially corresponding to the elastic return during folding. Thus, for example, if we want the connection outlet to make an angle of 90 ° with the initial direction, the angle of the retaining surface with the initial direction of contact is greater than 90 ° by a small value corresponding to this elastic return.

Due to this elastic return, the contact is in fact retained in the direction of extraction by the part of the surface located at the same level as the fold of the connection outlet.

The outlet or connection tail can be folded only once so that the axis of the end of the connection tail forms with the axis of the contact itself a fairly large angle, preferably greater than 45 ° and capable of for example be 90 °.

However, as a variant, the remaining part of the connection outlet can be folded a second time, for example to bring it in a direction parallel to the initial direction of the contact and of the connection outlet. It is also possible, if the connection outlet is long enough, to fold it further to bring its end part in the extension of the initial axis.

Of course, all kinds of other additional folds can give the connection outlet any shape, for example a blade contact shape, allowing it to act as an elastic contact element applying against a contact pad. of a part such as for example a printed circuit board. In this case, a connection by welding, crimping or winding is unnecessary, the contact tail itself forming a contact element.

The invention also relates to a method of mounting the contacts in the device, characterized in that one uses at the start individual contacts having a substantially straight outlet or tail connection in the axis of the cell, in that that the contact is introduced into the socket to pass the connection outlet out of the socket, that contact is maintained in the socket with its retaining shoulder applied against the complementary retaining shoulder of the cell and in that the emerging part of the outlet or connection tail is folded against said support surface, preferably at a groove in this surface, so as to give this emerging part a permanent angular deformation .

• La figure 1 représente, en perspective, un contact individuel de forme cylindrique.
• La figure 2 représente, en perspective, un contact de forme plate.
• La figure 3 représente en perspective avec coupe, un support de dispositif destiné à recevoir un contact selon la figure 2.
• La figure 4 représente une vue en coupe du contact dans le support au moment du pliage.
• La figure 5 représente une vue de contact plié dans ce support et soudé sur une carte de circuits imprimés.
• La figure 6 représente une vue similaire avec un second repli de raccordement soudé sur une carte.
• La figure 7 représente en coupe transversale un dispositif de connexion complexe dans lequel les queues de contact sont appliquées élastiquement en contact électrique avec des pistes d'une carte de circuits imprimés.
• La figure 8 représente, en perspective avec coupe, un support de forme complexe recevant deux séries de contacts analogues à ceux de la figure 1 mais de longueurs respectivement différentes.
• La figure 9 représente, en perspective, un dispositif de moulage d'un support analogue à celui de la figure 8.

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will appear on reading the following description given by way of nonlimiting example and referring to the appended drawing in which:

• Figure 1 shows, in perspective, an individual contact of cylindrical shape.
• Figure 2 shows, in perspective, a flat contact.
• FIG. 3 shows in perspective with section, a device support intended to receive a contact according to FIG. 2.
• Figure 4 shows a sectional view of the contact in the support at the time of folding.
• FIG. 5 represents a contact view folded in this support and soldered on a printed circuit board.
• FIG. 6 represents a similar view with a second connection fold welded to a card.
• FIG. 7 shows in cross section a complex connection device in which the contact tails are applied elastically in electrical contact with tracks of a printed circuit board.
• 8 shows, in perspective with section, a support of complex shape receiving two series of contacts similar to those of Figure 1 but of respectively different lengths.
• FIG. 9 represents, in perspective, a device for molding a support similar to that of FIG. 8.

Referring to Figure 1, we see a contact having a general shape of revolution with a cylindrical body 1a, on either side of which extend coaxially a pin 1b forming the male contact and a connection outlet 1c intended for be connected to a conductor. The transition between the body 1a and the outlet 1 forms an annular shoulder 1d.

In Figure 2, we see a contact made by stamping or cutting in a strip and comprising a flat body of rectangular shape 2a, a pin of square section 2b forming the male contact element and a connection tail 2c with a double shoulder 2d on the body.

The contacts thus represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, which are of a known form, are all capable of being incorporated into the invention, as are various other possible forms of contact comprising, in addition to the contact element itself a tail or exit from connection and abutment means such as one or more shoulders at the level of a middle part which may or may not take the form of a thicker body, these abutment means being intended to limit the insertion of the contact into the cell in the insertion direction, i.e. in the direction of the connection outlet.

We now refer to Figures 3 to 5.

In Figure 3, we see a support 3 with a section through a cell. The support 3 is produced by molding in one piece. It comprises a plurality of cells 4a of flat shape, open at the lower part at 4b and closed at the upper part by a bottom provided at its central part with a passage 4c for the connection outlet 2c. The bottom thus determines two shoulders 4d against which will be able to abut the shoulders 2d of the contact. The passage 4c opens at the bottom of a groove 5 which opens freely on one of the lateral faces 3a of the support. The bottom of the groove 5, on the side where this groove is interrupted at 5a and above the shoulder 4d, has a rectilinear shape parallel to the upper surface 3b of the support and to the shoulders 4d. On the other hand, the bottom part 5b which goes towards the face 3a, is inclined so as to form a fairly small angle, of the order of a few degrees, with the plane of the shoulders 4d.

As can be seen, the contact of FIG. 2 is inserted into the cell through the opening 4b of the latter and, in doing so, the connection outlet 2c crosses the passage 4c, the final position being reached when the shoulders 2d come into contact with the shoulders 4d (Figure 4).

The contact being in this position against the bottom of the cell, it is maintained there by means of an element 6, for example made of elastomer, applied against the pin 2b, and with a suitable tool (not shown), we come fold the connection outlet 2c in the groove 5 (as shown by an arrow in Figure 4) until it comes to rest against the inclined surface 5b, then forming with its initial direction an angle greater than 90 ° , the introduction into the groove 5 can be favored by an inclination of the sides of this groove. When the folding tool is moved aside, the connection outlet 2c pivots slightly in the opposite direction to that of the arrow under the effect of the residual elasticity and adopts the position shown in 2'c in broken lines, position in which the connection outlet makes an angle of 90 ° with its initial direction. In this position, the connection outlet 2c is in contact with the bottom 5b of the groove 5, only in the vicinity of the passage 4c. The contact is thus kept immobilized in the cell and the connection outlets in position 2'c are all oriented perpendicular to the face 3a of the support 3 in a perfectly determined direction. It is also understood that, if the cell is of cylindrical shape and receives a contact such as that shown in Figure 1, the connection outlet, arranged folded in the groove 5, immobilizes the contact in rotation.

Referring to Figure 5, we see how we can for example use a device such as that which has been described by passing the connection outlet 2c through an orifice made in a printed circuit board 7 and by soldering in a known manner at 8, the contact so as to ensure electrical continuity with a conductive pad carried in this location by the card 7. An edge of the printed circuit card 7 is fixed against the support 3 by means not shown in Figure 5, the surface 3a being applied against said card while the pins 2b extend parallel to the plane of the card.

Referring to Figure 6, we see a contact similar to that of Figure 5 but whose connection outlet 2c, after being bent as shown in Figure 4 to form a first bend 2e, has been folded a second time in 2f in a direction bringing the end of the outlet 2c in a parallel direction but offset from the initial axis which is at the same time that of the pin 2b. A card 7 can be placed in a position this time perpendicular to the face 3a of the support 3.

Referring to FIG. 7, there can be seen two supports 3 arranged in parallel with their faces 3a facing each other, leaving between them an interval allowing the installation of a printed circuit board 9. The connection tails 2c, after having been folded a first time so as to prevent the extraction of the contacts, receive several other curvatures so as to present towards the end a curved part 2g having its convexity towards the printed circuit board 9. In the position shown in the figure, the ends 2g of the two contacts are applied with a relatively high elastic pressure against the two faces of the printed circuit board 9 at the level of conductive pads thereof so as to produce in these locations electrical continuity, the elastic pressure depending in particular on the angles of the various points of curvature or of folding of the connection outlet 2c. This must, of course, have a sufficient length at the start to allow reaching the desired final configuration which is shown in the drawing.

In this embodiment, the connection outputs actually play a contact role and it is even possible to use the pins 2b not as male contacts but as permanent connection elements, for example by welding, winding etc.

Still in this embodiment, the two supports 3 can be either independent and fixed against the printed circuit board in any way or held in their position in parallelism by holding means (not shown) or both supports 3 can form a molded block in one piece leaving in its central part a passage for the card 9.

Of course, in all the embodiments which have been shown, it is understood that one can use, instead of a flat contact like that of FIG. 2, a contact of cylindrical shape like that of FIG. 1, only the shape of the cell being modified.

Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a complex support making it possible to receive contacts of the same type as that represented in FIG. 1.

More specifically, the molded support 10 shown has at least two parts of different heights, namely a part 10a provided with a row of cells 11a and a part 10b also provided with a row of cells 12a, the height of the part 10b being less than that of part 10a. As seen in the figure, the cells 11a and 12a of the two rows have a cylindrical shape, the cells 11a being of greater length than the cells 12a. For the rest, the shapes of the grooves, passages for the connection outlets and bottom groove surfaces are identical to those shown in FIG. 3. In the cells 12a, one comes to insert contacts such as those shown in Figure 1 while, in the cells 11a, one comes to insert similar contacts but whose body is significantly more elongated. Once the connection outlets have been folded back into the grooves, the contacts are all immobilized in rotation and kept in their position inside the cells.

In Figure 9, there are shown mold elements for molding device supports according to the invention. The side and bottom walls of the mold have not been shown. By cons, we see that the cells, which in this example are cylindrical, are determined by mold cores 13 of cylindrical shape carrying at their upper end a positioning recess 13a. The cavity of the cell 12a is molded around the core 13. The passage 12c is produced by an extension 14a of an upper mold part 14, which also has reliefs 14b making it possible to determine the formation of the grooves 5 and the bottoms of throat 5b. The extension 14a, ensuring the completion of the passage 12c, continues itself by a positioning tip 14c which is received exactly by the recess 13a of the core 13. The release takes place by moving the core 13 and the mold part 14 away each other out of the molded support.

Claims (10)

1. A contact connection device comprising at least one and preferably a plurality of individual contacts having a contact element (1b, 2b), a body (1a, 2a) and a connecting lug or output (1c, 2c), an insulating support or case (3, 10) having an equal number of housings (4a, 11 a, 12a) for receiving said contacts individually, these latter being inserted into the housings in the direction of the connecting lug or output, which passes through the bottom of the housing, and means for retaining the contacts in their housings so as to oppose removal thereof, the contact body (1a, 2a) having a retaining shoulder (1d, 2d) adapted to come during insertion into abutment against a complementary shoulder (4d, 11d, 12d) of the housing which receives it for limiting insertion of the contact, characterized in that the connecting output (1c, 2c) initially disposed in the extension of the body is bent back outwardly of the housing against a surface (5b) of the support (3, 10) preventing removal of the contact.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (5) for preventing rotation of the contact in its housing:

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the support (3) has, outside the housing and on the same side as the connecting output, a groove (5) whose transverse dimension is equal to or very slightly greater that the thickness of the connecting output (1 c, 2c), the bottom (5b) of said groove (5) forming said surface preventing removal of the contact.

4. The device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the retaining shoulder (1d, 2d) of the contact body is simply formed by a shoulder ensuring the transition between the body (1a, 2a) and the connecting output (1c, 2c), said shoulder cooperating with the bottom (4d, 11 d, 12d) of the housing in the vicinity of a bottom orifice (4c, 11c, 12c) thereof.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the retaining surface (5b) forms, with the final direction of the connecting output (1c, 2c) in the vicinity of its exit from the housing, a slight angle corresponding to the resilient return after bending.

6. The device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the connecting output (2c) has, after the bend (2e) against said retaining surface (5b), at least a second bend (2f) taking it further away from said surface.

7. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the end of the connecting output (2c) passes through a printed circuit card (7) to which it is soldered, said support (3) being connected to said card (7).

8. The device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that said output has at its end a curved part (2g) adapted to come into resilient abutment against a conducting zone for ensuring electric contact.

9. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said support (10) has at least two rows of housings (11 a, 12b) of different depths, the faces of the support (10a, 10b) through which emerge the connecting outputs being thus disposed at staggered levels.

10. A process for fitting contacts into a device such as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that individual contacts are used at the outset having a connecting output or lug substantially rectilinear along the axis of the housing, the contact is introduced into the housing so as to cause the connecting output to pass out of the housing, the contact is held in said housing with its retaining shoulder applied against the complementary retaining shoulder of the housing and the emergent portion of the connecting output is bent back against said support surface, preferably at the level of a groove in this surface, so as to give to this emergent portion a permanent angular deformation.

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