Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/02—Contact members
  • H01R13/10—Sockets for co-operation with pins or blades
  • H01R13/11—Resilient sockets
  • H01R13/112—Resilient sockets forked sockets having two legs
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/02—Contact members
  • H01R13/10—Sockets for co-operation with pins or blades
  • H01R13/11—Resilient sockets
  • H01R13/113—Resilient sockets co-operating with pins or blades having a rectangular transverse section

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a contact spring for a connector according to the preamble of patent claim 1, i.e. a contact spring for a connector, with spring legs, which are arranged and designed such that they are able to exert a pressure force from opposite sides on an interposed contact blade and contact it in the process.
• Such double or multiple contact elements are known in a variety of embodiments.
• the need for ever larger numbers of contacts in electrical connectors requires that the packing density of the respective contact elements in the electrical connector be increased.
• the required reduction in the contact pitch in the electrical connector can be achieved by reducing the interspaces between adjacent contact elements and / or by reducing the size of the contact elements.
• the spring legs can be made relatively robust and thus insensitive to mechanical and electrical loads
• a relatively large spring travel can be provided in order to be able to compensate for relatively large tolerances in the width direction of the contact spring
• the contact spring has at least two independent contacts (spring legs) which press on opposite sides of an interposed contact knife, even if the contact knife is appropriately dimensioned, even if the contact knife is inserted in the longitudinal direction of the contact spring from the center, and
• the thickness of the walls between adjacent Feder ⁇ chambers can be relatively large.
• the arrangement of the spring legs according to the invention creates a contact spring that is not necessarily smaller, but at least more densely packable, which, with simple manufacture and safe and reliable function, enables the provision of small contact pitches in the plug connector.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the contact spring according to the invention.
• Figure 2 is a partially sectioned plan view of the connector face of a connector containing the contact springs according to the invention. proper function of the respective individual spring leg requires.
• a (nested) arrangement of the contact springs according to the invention which are advantageously Z-shaped, enables the realization of a reduced contact pitch in the row alignment direction.
• the contact springs according to the invention have a relatively large spring leg extension in the direction of offset (hereinafter referred to as spring leg length), so that the contact blades associated with the respective contact springs have a relatively large margin when bringing them into contact and / or is available in the contact state.
• spring leg length a relatively large spring leg extension in the direction of offset
• the individual spring legs can also do more in the width direction despite a reduced local width of the spring chambers Functional space for movement and fastening of the same within the respective spring chambers can be made available.
• the contact spring according to the invention thus makes it possible to provide all the essential properties which are required for a safe and reliable connection to an associated contact knife. That is, in spite of or precisely due to the arrangement of the spring legs of the contact spring which has been changed according to the invention 6 will serve as holders for the spring legs in the inlet area for a contact knife to be contacted.
• the plug connector has a housing 10 with a multiplicity of contact openings 11 arranged one above the other (as shown in FIG. 2).
• the contact openings 11 have, as is indicated in the upper, not cut section of FIG. 2, a rectangular opening cross-section, the dimensions of which are adapted on the one hand to the contact springs below in the assembled state and on the other hand are fixed in such a way that they are inserted there is considerable scope for contact knife 20 to be contacted, by which it may be misaligned or offset when plugged together with respect to the center of the contact opening or the contact spring centered for this purpose.
• the contact springs 1 provided under the contact openings 11 are each accommodated in contact chambers 12 of the connector housing 10.
• the contact chambers 12 are designed in a Z-like configuration in accordance with the cross-sectional configuration of the contact springs.
• the entanglement of contact spring 1 and spring chamber 12 shown in FIG. 2 is also Z-shaped, but is opposite (mirrored) to the entanglement of contact spring 1 shown in FIG. 1; however, the two entanglements are technically completely equivalent.
• the contact spring 1 shown in FIG. 1 consists of a first spring leg 2, a second spring leg 3 and a common carrier section 4.
• the contact spring components mentioned are designed as a coherent unit and consist of conductive material.
• the carrier section 4 has an essentially Z-shaped cross section.
• the spring legs 2 and 3 are elongated elements with a relatively large width and a comparatively small thickness, * they each have a root 2a or 3a and a tip 2b or 3b.
• the roots 2a and 3a are connected to the carrier section 4 in such a way that the spring legs are able, with one of their broad sides in each case, to exert a compressive force on an interposed contact knife 20 (see FIG. 2) and this to contact them, the roots 2a and 3a and the spring legs 2 and 3 being arranged laterally offset from one another from a frontal overlay such that they do not overlap one another in the respective directions of the pressure force.
• the two spring legs 2 and 3 are elastically designed elements which, in the relaxed state in the manner shown in FIG. 1, are initially inclined from the respective roots 2a and 3a in the respective direction of the pressure force and then are inclined towards the direction of the pressure force.
• the spring legs are provided at this point, widening lateral projections 2c and 3c, which, as will be explained in detail later 8
• a very small division of the contacts in the longitudinal direction (the row orientation direction is defined as the longitudinal direction of the plug connector) can be achieved, even then , if - for example due to a large spring travel - the local width of the contact spring or the spring chamber is chosen to be relatively large.
• the fact that the contact knife and contact spring can be brought into contact equally well at any point over a relatively large area means that the contact knife and / or contact spring can deviate from their target position, which had previously been maintained fairly precisely, without deteriorating contact
• the spring chambers 12 have guide slots 13 at their upper and right lower ends, as shown in FIG. 2, that is to say at diagonally opposite corner sections in the top view, in which, in the case of contact springs inserted into the spring chambers, the projections 2c or 3c of the spring legs 2 and 3 are slidably received.
• the size of the spring chambers 12 and the guide slots 13 are dimensioned such that the projections 2c and 3c of the spring legs 2 and 3 cannot leave the guide slots 13 except during dismantling, * the tips 2b and 3b in the unassembled state unlike conventional contact springs, freely movable spring legs are therefore no longer freely movable after installation in the connector housing. Rather, they lie against the spring chamber wall, as shown in FIG. 2, and cannot - due to the described guide mechanism - leave the latter.
• the spring legs have a precisely defined zero position and thus, on the one hand, there is always a sufficiently large spring opening and, on the other hand, rear insertion is excluded, the insertion depth can be chosen to be very large,
• the inlet area can be made very steep and thus the insertion forces can be minimized
• the contact spring described can be produced from a stamped-out metal part by simple and uncomplicated deformation of the same.
• the contact spring according to the invention thus makes it possible to provide small contact pitches in a plug connector with simple manufacturability and safe and reliable function.

Landscapes

• Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
• Multi-Conductor Connections (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=7773351

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 1996
  • 1996-09-12 EP EP96929185A patent/EP0852828B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-09-12 DE DE59603803T patent/DE59603803D1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1996-09-12 JP JP9513052A patent/JPH11514487A/ja active Pending
  • 1996-09-12 AT AT96929185T patent/ATE187282T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1996-09-12 WO PCT/DE1996/001723 patent/WO1997012424A1/fr active IP Right Grant

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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