EP1131988A1

EP1131988A1 - Contact spring strip for attaching to a holding strip and contact part with a contact spring strip and a holding strip, especially a front panel of a printed circuit module

Info

Publication number: EP1131988A1
Application number: EP99970265A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ernst Billenstein; Werner Körber; Siegfried Kurrer; Kurt-Michael Schaffer
Original assignee: Rittal Electronic Systems GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Rittal Electronic Systems GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1998-10-01
Filing date: 1999-09-20
Publication date: 2001-09-12
Also published as: WO2000021349A1; CN1329813A; US6500012B1; CN1247061C

Abstract

The inventive contact spring strip (49) contains a holding strip (1) from which contact spring plates (5, 9) and clamping plates (3, 7) extend alternately in a row. A contact spring plate has a contact limb (27) which is braced by the holding strip and connected thereto by a cap area (25). A clamping plate has a clamping limb (11) which is connected to the holding strip by spring bands (13, 15) and which braces a clamping element (19) between the spring bands. The decoupling of the contact spring plate and the clamping plate in particular creates robustness against mechanical effects.

Description

description

Contact spring bar for plugging onto a holding bar, and contact part with contact spring bar and holding bar, especially the front plate of a printed circuit board

A subrack is known from US Pat. No. 4,631,641. This provides slots on the inside, which can be fitted with flat modules that can be placed next to each other vertically and in parallel. To achieve electromagnetic shielding, each printed circuit board is provided on one end face with a front plate, which has a ledge projecting in the direction of the printed circuit board on both longitudinal sides. One of these strips serves as a holding element for a contact spring strip, while the other strip as

Contact counterpart for the contact spring strip located on the front panel of an adjacent printed circuit board is used. If the slots of a subrack are completely populated with printed circuit boards, the adjacent front panels of the printed circuit boards completely cover the corresponding insertion side of the subrack. Furthermore, the gaps between the front panels are shielded electromagnetically tight by the contact spring strips.

From DE 41 10 800 Cl a "module for insertion in HF-tight housings of electronic devices" is also known. The assembly also has a front plate with a U-shaped cross-sectional profile, a spring strip likewise being attached to one of the two longitudinal webs on one side of the front plate and consisting of a plurality of spring elements which follow one another in a chain-like manner. A spring element consists of two identically designed contact springs, each with a spring leaf and a spring clip with a clamping leaf arranged between them. The spring elements are based on a common, flat rear side sheet that the spring bar has an approximately U-shaped cross-sectional shape. This is on one of the two longitudinal webs of the front plate can be clamped so that the back sheet rests on the inside of the longitudinal web, the clamping sheets rest on the outside of the longitudinal web and the spring leaves are spread apart from the outside.

Finally, WO 96/39017 discloses a "contact spring strip for plugging onto holding strips, in particular on the front panels of the subassemblies of shielded subracks", which consists of a multiplicity of contact springs which are connected in a chain-like manner. Each contact spring contains a hat area, which comprises the head area of the holding strip, a spring leaf, which is spread outwards from the hat area on the front of the holding bar from a kink edge, and two locking claws, which start from the hat area on the front of the holding bar on the The folded edge is spread outwards and cut free lying on both sides next to the spring leaf. The latching claws each have a holding tab with a latching edge that is spread upward in the direction of the head region. Finally, the contact spring strip has a holding sheet which extends from the hat area to the rear of the holding strip. At least one holding flag is cut out of this and spread out in the direction of the rear of the holding bar.

Female connectors for contacting the above-mentioned applications must meet multiple requirements on the one hand and are exposed to different loads, in particular mechanical ones. In addition to the requirement of providing a contact force that is as uniformly strong and consistent as possible over the entire length of the contact spring strip, the mechanical resistance of the contact spring strip against external influences is often of particular importance. On the one hand, it must be possible to snap the contact spring strip onto a holding strip or a longitudinal web of a front plate without damage. Another- on the one hand, the contact spring strip must withstand any mechanical stress.

These can occur in particular when a printed circuit board equipped with a front plate and a contact spring strip is inserted into the assigned slot in a rack or pulled out of it. The deformations that occur as a result of the frictional movement along an adjacent front plate of a flat module positioned next to it must not cause permanent damage to the associated contact spring strip either when inserted or removed.

Furthermore, a contact female connector must also be designed so that no damage occurs even if, for example, an adjacent flat module on one side with protruding elements such as e.g. electrical components, heat sinks, pointed pins, wires and much more should be equipped and this printed circuit board is inserted into or pulled out of a slot. If, during this movement of the printed circuit board, the contact spring bar on the front plate of an adjacent, stationary flat module should be brushed through the elements that are being guided past, no damage to the contact spring bar should be caused, in particular by hooking with protruding elements.

The invention is based on the object of developing a contact female connector of the type mentioned above in such a way that damage cannot be caused by flat or pointed objects which are guided past the contact female connector.

The object is achieved with the contact spring strip contained in claim 1. The following subclaims relate to further advantageous embodiments of the same and a con- clock part, which serves as a carrier for such a contact female connector.

The invention and its advantages are further explained with reference to an embodiment shown in the figures briefly listed below. It shows

1 shows a perspective top view of a preferred embodiment of a contact spring strip according to the invention,

2 shows a cross-sectional view through the preferred embodiment of the contact spring strip according to FIG. 1, and

3 shows a cross-sectional view through a preferred embodiment of a contact part on which a contact spring strip according to FIG. 1 or 2 is snapped on.

FIG. 1 shows, in the form of a perspective top view, a section of a preferred embodiment of a contact spring strip 49 designed according to the invention. This has a preferably flat holding strip 1, of which in the section of FIG. 1, by way of example, two pairs each of a contact spring sheet 5 or 9 and a clamp sheet 3 or 7 come off. In practice, a contact spring strip has a considerably greater length in comparison to the cutout in FIG. 1, a contact spring sheet and a clamping sheet alternating from the holding strip 1 alternately in rows. The structure of the contact spring strip is to be explained in more detail using the example of the contact spring sheet 5 and the clamping sheet 3.

The contact spring leaf 5 essentially has a contact leg 27, which is spread apart from the holding strip 1 and is connected to the holding strip 1 via an approximately U-shaped hat region 25. The contact leg forms the actual contacting area of the contact spring strip 49, in which it rests on the surface of an adjacent part while producing an electrically conductive connection.

The contact leg 27 is advantageously additionally bent in the direction of the holding strip 1 at an end 29 opposite the U-shaped hat region 25. The compact design of the contact spring leaves of the contact spring strip 49 according to the invention is insensitive to mechanical influences of any kind. These act in particular in the tangential direction, which is shown in FIG. 1 by a double arrow 51, on the contact spring leaves.

The clamping sheet 3, which represents the second type of elements alternately lined up on the holding strip, has a clamping leg 11 which is connected to the holding strip 1 by means of two approximately U-shaped spring strips 13 and 15. Starting from the clamping leg 11, a clamping element 19 lying between the spring bands 13 and 15 is finally spread apart. The mounting of the contact spring bar 49 is effected essentially via the clamping sheet 3 and its clamping element 19. The double-sided, brace-like connection of the clamping leg 11 via the two spring straps 13, 15 and the quasi-symmetrical encirclement of the clamping element 19 located in the intermediate cut 17 by the spring straps 13, 15 results in a particularly robust mounting of the Clamping sheet 3 on the holding strip 1.

The clamping element 19 is advantageously designed as a locking claw that is spread apart from the clamping leg 11 in the direction of the holding strip 1. Such an embodiment is already shown in the example in FIG. 1 and can be seen particularly clearly in the cross-sectional representation of the contact spring strip in FIG. Such a locking claw 19, which is quasi spread upwards and inwards, is a particularly secure The holder of the contact spring strip 49 can be reached on a holding strip onto which the contact spring strip 49 is attached. This will be explained in more detail below using the example of FIG. 3.

It is also advantageous if the clamping leg 11 is inclined in the direction of the holding strip 1. This will also further improve the adhesion of the contact spring strip to a holding strip. Such an embodiment is also already shown in the example in FIG. 1 and can be seen particularly clearly from the cross-sectional representation of the contact spring strip in FIG. Finally, it is advantageous if the clamping leg 11 is bent at an end 21 opposite the spring bands 13, 15 in the direction of the holding strip 1.

According to the embodiment of a contact spring strip according to the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the holding strip 1 has an in at the end which is opposite the outlet of a contact spring sheet 5 or 9 and a clamping sheet 3 or 7 Direction towards an opposite contact spring sheet or clamping sheet bent latching hook 23. Such an embodiment can be clearly seen in the cross section of FIG. 2. With this, too, the mounting of the contact spring strip 49 on a holding strip can be further improved, which will be explained in more detail below using the example of FIG. 3.

Advantageously, the inventive design of the clamping leaves and contact spring leaves of the contact spring strip prevents an adjacent flat module from being inserted or pulled out, as explained above, for protruding elements such as electrical components, heat sinks, pointed pins, wires, on the surface next to one another - beard flat assemblies result in hooking points in the event of an accidental rubbing of the surface of a clamping leaf or contact spring leaf, and as a result provoked excessive force applications by operators cause local deformations of the contact spring bar.

The inventive design of a contact spring strip 49 according to the invention has the further advantage that it is particularly robust due to the structural separation of the contacting function from the clamping function by means of separate contact spring leaves and separate clamping leaves, so mechanical deformations of contact legs and hat areas of the contact spring leaves have an effect , which inevitably occur when activating or deactivating the contact spring strip, almost not affect adjacent clamping blades. These are mechanically almost completely decoupled from the contact spring leaves, in particular since the approximately U-shaped pairs of spring bands of the clamping leaves and the approximately U-shaped hat areas are separated from the contact spring leaves, consequently guided separately around a holding strip located underneath and separately stored on the holding strip . Only the holding strip forms the element that connects all parts.

FIG. 3 shows a section of a contact part 45 which serves as a carrier for a contact spring strip 49. This contact part has, for example, the shape of a front plate for a printed circuit board 47 attached to it. Such a front plate generally has a flat front side, on the front sides of which retaining strips go off to the rear. In the example in FIG. 3, there is a retaining strip 31 on the right end face, onto which a contact spring strip 49 of the type described above is attached. The U-shaped hat region 25 of the contact spring leaf 5 and the U-shaped spring bands 13, 15 enclose the head region 33 of the holding strip 31. Furthermore, the holding strip 1 is located on an inside 35 and in particular the clamping leg 11 of the clamping leaf 3 on an outside 37 of the holding strip 31 on. A clamping effect is already caused by the inclination of the clamping leg 11 in the direction of the Holding strip 1 generated, which can be seen in the unplugged state of the contact spring strip 49 in Figure 2. In particular, the contact leg 27 of the contact spring leaf 5 is clearly shown in FIG. 3 spread apart from the right outer side 37 of the retaining strip 31.

In the example of FIG. 3, the clamping element 19 acts in the head region 33 of the retaining strip 31 in a clamping manner on its outside 37. It is advantageous if the holding strip 31 of the contact part 45 is approximately as shown in FIG

Head region 33 additionally has a first longitudinal groove 39, into which the at least one clamping element 19 can snap.

According to a further embodiment, also shown in FIG. 3, the retaining strip 31 of the exemplary contact part has, approximately in a foot region 34 on the outside 37, a second longitudinal groove 43 for immersing bent ends 21 or 29 of the clamping legs 11 and contact legs 27. The pivoting of the ends into this groove prevents the ends from acting as hooking points or abutting edges and could therefore be a cause of damage to the contact spring strip.

Finally, the retaining strip 31 of the exemplary contact part, according to a further embodiment, also shown in FIG. 3, has a third longitudinal groove 41 on the inside 35 approximately in a foot region 34 for engaging bent latching hooks 23 at the lower end of the retaining strip 1. The clamping action of the contact spring strip 49 on the holding strip 31 of the contact part 45 can hereby be further improved.

Claims

claims

1. Contact spring strip (49) for plugging onto a holding strip (31), in particular a front plate (45) on a flat module (47)

a) a holding strip (1), from which alternately a contact spring leaf (5,9) and a clamping leaf (3,7) go off in rows, whereby

b) a contact spring leaf (5,9)

bl) has a contact leg (27) which is spread apart from the holding strip (1) and over

b2) an approximately U-shaped hat region (25) is connected to the holding strip (1), and wherein

c) a clamping sheet (3.7)

cl) has a clamping leg (11) which over

c2) two approximately U-shaped spring strips (13, 15) are connected to the holding strip (1) and from which

c3) a clamping element (19) is spread apart between the spring bands (13, 15).

2. Contact female connector according to claim 1, wherein the clamping element (19) as a from the clamping leg (11) in the direction of the holding strip (1) is formed locking claw.

3. Contact spring strip according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the clamping leg (11) is inclined in the direction of the holding strip (1).

4. Contact spring strip according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the clamping leg (11) at one, the spring bands (13, 15) opposite end (21) in the direction of

Holding strip (1) is bent.

5. Contact spring strip according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact leg (27) is bent at an end (29) opposite the u-shaped hat region (25) in the direction of the holding strip (1).

6. Contact spring strip according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the holding strip (1) at the end, which is opposite the outlet of a contact spring sheet (5,9) or clamping sheet (3,7), bent towards a contact spring sheet or clamping sheet Has locking hooks (23).

7. Contact part, in particular a front plate (45) on a printed circuit board (47), with a holding strip (31) and a contact spring strip (49) which can be plugged onto it, according to one of the preceding claims.

8. Contact part according to claim 7, wherein the retaining strip (31) approximately in a head region (33) has a first longitudinal groove (39) for engagement of at least one clamping element (19).

9. Contact part, in particular a front plate (45) on a flat module (47), with a holding strip (31) and a contact spring strip (49) which can be plugged onto it, according to one of claims 4 or 5, the holding strip (31) being approximately in one Base region (34) has a second longitudinal groove (43) for engaging bent ends (21, 29) of clamping legs (11) and / or contact legs (27).

10. Contact part, in particular a front plate (45) on a flat module (47), with a holding strip (31) and a plug-in contact spring strip (49) according to claim 6, wherein the holding strip (31) approximately in a foot region (34) has a third longitudinal groove (41) for engaging bent locking hooks (23) of the retaining strip (1).