EP1469568B1 - Female terminal and manufacturing method of the housing part thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a plug contact element and in particular a plug contact element for at least partially pushing through a, in particular round, opening in an elastic material, and a method for producing a housing part of such a plug contact element, according to the preamble of claims 1 and 10 (see. DE 100 12 265 A1 ).

Plug contact elements are known in principle. They serve to connect two electrical lines together. For this purpose, two mutually complementary plug-in contact elements, which are plugged into each other, electrically and mechanically connected to corresponding ends of the lines. The plug-in contact elements generally have a mechanically stable, substantially rigid housing part, which allows mating of the plug-in contact elements.

To protect such a plug-in contact element at least partially against moisture, this is often pushed through an opening in a seal made of an elastic material. The seal may be formed as a block seal or be given by a flat piece of an elastic material, in both cases, the opening for insertion or push-through of the plug contact element is smaller than the cross section of the plug contact element orthogonal to the push-through direction, thus the opening edge sealingly the plug contact element or a cable sheath one connected to the plug contact element Cable rests. In particular, in the case that the seal in the region of a connected to the plug contact element cable or cable sheath should be made, these openings are usually cylindrical or circular.

Known plug contact elements often have a housing part with a cuboid shape. The push-through direction then runs parallel to one of the edges of the housing part. When pushing through such plug contact elements through the opening of the seal, however, the seal often tears in a voltage applied to the edge portion of the opening edge, which is particularly strong in the insertion of the plug contact element.

The present invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide a plug-in contact element for insertion into a, in particular round, opening in an elastic material, in which a tearing of the elastic material at the edge of the opening is largely avoidable, and a method for producing a housing part of a to provide such plug contact element.

The object is achieved by a plug-in contact element with the features of claim 1 and a method according to claim 10.

The plug-in contact element for at least partially pushing through a, in particular round, opening in an elastic material along a push-through direction of the plug contact element comprises a housing part having at least two at least on one end side of the housing part substantially planar, mutually inclined wall portions which are interconnected by a curved or curved connection area The housing part has at least one indentation opening to an end face of the housing part lying in the push-through direction, the indentation edge of which at least partially forms an end edge of the curved or curved connection area, the indentation edge only at the boundary between the connection area and one of the adjoining areas Wall portions or at one of the adjacent wall portions a tip or a tangent which is orthogonal to the direction of travel, has.

The plug-in contact element according to the invention has the housing part, with the still further portions of the plug contact element, for example, for contacting and / or mechanical connection can be connected to a line.

The plug contact element is provided for at least partially pushing through the opening in the elastic material, in particular a sealing element. The circumference of the opening may in particular be smaller than the circumference of the housing part at its lying in the direction of travel end face. The push-through direction may in particular be substantially orthogonal to the end face of the plug contact element or parallel to a plug-in direction, which is defined by the formation of the housing part, extend.

The housing part comprises at least two wall regions, which are formed substantially flat, at least in the region of an end face of the housing part lying in the direction of passage. By this is meant that they have at most one curvature, which is much lower as the curvature of the connecting region connecting them. The wall areas need not necessarily be integrally formed, but may also be shared. The housing part may also have further sections, for example apertures, recesses or detent springs for initial locking of the plug contact element in a plug housing.

The connecting region is, preferably at least transversely to the direction of push, arched or bent. The curvature of the connecting region can be suitably chosen so that no sharp edge is created, which could lead to a violation of the edge of the opening in the elastic material.

In order to facilitate insertion of the plug contact element into the opening in the elastic material, at least one indentation is provided in the housing part, the indentation edge of which at least partially forms an end edge of the arched or curved connection region. As a result, at the end face of the housing part whose circumference is reduced, whereby the insertion of the plug contact element is facilitated in the opening in the elastic material in an initial phase, when the diameter is smaller than the circumference of the housing part near the end face.

According to the invention, the indentation is now designed so that the indentation edge only at the boundary between the connection region and one of the adjacent wall regions or at one of the adjacent wall region has a tip or a tangent which is orthogonal to the direction of push. This means that the indentation edge in the connecting region has no such tip and no rounding with a tangent orthogonal to the direction of travel. As a result, upon insertion of the plug contact element into the opening in the elastic material, the opening edge can be guided past the indentation edge and thereby stretched, whereby the opening edge does not occur on an edge running transversely to the direction of thrust in the connection region where the edge remains or excessively could be stretched. A point or rounding of the indentation edge with a tangent which is orthogonal to the direction of push is arranged only in the region at the border between the connection region and at the adjacent wall regions or at the adjacent wall region, but where the opening edge then runs parallel to the wall region. The opening edge can then in particular span over the tip or rounding so that it does not strike a section of the indentation edge that runs orthogonally to the direction of push-through. Although an elongation of the edge of the opening can also occur, however, there is no direct power transmission between the indentation edge and the edge of the opening.

In addition, forces can be exerted on the edge of the opening during insertion at various locations, so that the load is distributed over an entire area and thus material fatigue is reduced.

In this way, peaks of the force acting on the edge of the opening forces are avoided when pushing through, which significantly reduces the risk of tearing the opening edge.

As a result of this change in the shape of the indentation, a plug-in contact element according to the invention can therefore be inserted into the elastic material, in particular a sealing element, substantially without damaging the opening edge, even if it is circular.

The particularly simple shape of the indentation allows a particularly simple insertion into a round opening of a gasket, since the indentation edge in the region of the legs of the "V" runs smoothly and the opening edge can be stretched continuously or without sudden changes.

Preferably, the plug contact element according to the invention can be produced as a bent part.

Further developments and preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the description, the claims and the drawings.

Preferably, the substantially planar wall areas are parallel to the direction of push. When pushing the plug contact element through the opening in the elastic material so no strain occurs, which are caused by an increase in the circumference of the plug contact element. In addition, such plug contact elements are particularly easy to produce.

In the plug-in contact element according to the invention, it is further preferred that the indentation is asymmetrical with respect to a plane bisecting the angle between the wall regions. A recess formed in this way has at least in a convex curvature no tangent extending in the connecting region orthogonally to the push-through direction, which reduces the risk of tearing the edge of the opening. Furthermore, in this way, the area of the indentation can be kept very low. In the method according to the invention, it is preferred for this purpose that the indentation is asymmetrically shaped in the sheet metal part to be bent.

The sheet metal part to be bent can in particular be flat.

It is particularly preferred that the indentation edge runs at least in a section on one of the wall regions to the curved or curved connection region substantially linearly and / or in the connecting region helically. This means that after bending of the housing part to a planar part of the indentation edge in the wall region and / or along the connecting region forming portion is substantially linear. In the method according to the invention, it is accordingly preferred that the indentation in the sheet metal part to be bent has a linear edge section and that the bending takes place in the region of the linear edge section. Thus formed indentations allow a particularly simple push through the plug contact element through an opening in the elastic material without the material tearing at the edge.

It is particularly preferred that the linear portion of the indentation edge encloses an angle between 10 ° and 45 ° with the direction of feed. Accordingly, in the method according to the invention, it is preferred that the linear edge section with the line or the strip along which the sheet metal part is bent forms an angle between 10 ° and 45 °. The formation of such a slope allows a very smooth, slow stretching of the opening in the elastic material, so that thereby tearing of the opening edge is avoided. In addition, only lower forces for at least partially pushing the plug contact element through the opening are required.

In order to enable a simple production, it is preferred that the housing part is a one-piece bent part, in particular a stamped and bent part. In the method according to the invention, it is accordingly preferred that the sheet metal part to be bent is punched from a sheet. In this way, the sheet can be very easily brought into the desired shape.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the housing part on the end face, on which the indentation is formed, has at least one bent tongue connected to one of the wall regions. Depending on the type of bending, this can simplify the insertion of the wall regions into the opening in the elastic material if the edge can be guided on the bent tongue. In a further bending the tongue can also simplify the introduction of a contact tongue or a contact pin by a corresponding guide and, with appropriate training, also resiliently press against the contact pin or the contact tongue and thus improve the contact.

In a preferred embodiment, the plug contact element according to the invention is designed as a socket element. In particular, it can then have at least two tongues which are bent over towards the inside of the housing and between which a contact tongue or a contact pin can be pushed.

Alternatively, it is preferred that the plug-in contact element according to the invention comprises a contact tongue or a contact pin which is held on or in the housing part or forms a portion of the housing part. Such a plug contact element is particularly easy to produce when the contact tongue or the contact pin is inserted into a corresponding socket element and clamped therein.

In particular, in the event that contact tongues are to be used in the plug-in contact elements, it is preferred that the housing part on the front side has four substantially planar wall portions, each of which at least one other at an angle less than 180 °, preferably of about 90 ° , and is connected to this in each case via a curved or curved connection region, and that the housing part four to the lying in the direction of feed end face of the housing part has indentations whose Einbuchtungsrand each at least partially forms an end edge of the curved or curved connection region, wherein the indentation edge in each case only at the boundary between the adjacent connection region and the wall region adjoining the latter or at the wall region adjoining the adjacent connection region, a point or a tangent which is orthogonal to the direction of advancement, having. Such a contact element is very stable. If the wall regions in each case enclose an angle of 90 ° with one another, the wall region runs essentially parallel to the push-through direction, which facilitates the passage through an opening in an elastic material. Such a housing part corresponds further in its symmetry of a corresponding contact tongue and thus allows a particularly good contact with the same.

Another object of the invention is a contacting system with a plug contact element according to the invention and a seal made of an elastic material having a round, preferably circular opening through which the plug contact element is at least partially slidable in its direction of feed. In this case, the circumference of the opening in the seal is particularly preferably smaller than the circumference of the plug-in contact element on the end face lying in the direction of feedthrough.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Darstellung eines Gehäuseteils eines Steckkontaktelements nach einer ersten bevorzugten Ausführungsform der Erfindung mit einem Dichtungselement,

Fig. 2

eine Vorderansicht des Steckkontaktelements in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht auf einen Abschnitt eines gestanzten Blechteils zur Herstellung des Gehäuseteils in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4

eine perspektivische Darstellung des Gehäuseteils in Fig. 1 beim Durchschieben durch eine Öffnung in dem Dichtungselement in einem ersten Stadium,

Fig. 5

eine perspektivische Darstellung des Gehäuseteils in Fig. 1 beim Durchschieben durch eine Öffnung in dem Dichtungselement in einem zweiten Stadium,

Fig. 6

eine perspektivische Darstellung des Gehäuseteils in Fig. 1 beim Durchschieben durch eine Öffnung in dem Dichtungselement in einem dritten Stadium, und

Fig. 7

eine perspektivische Darstellung eines Steckkontaktelements nach einer zweiten bevorzugten Ausführungsform der Erfindung.

The invention will now be further explained by way of example with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

3 a perspective view of a housing part of a plug-in contact element according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention with a sealing element,

Fig. 2

a front view of the plug contact element in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

1 a top view of a section of a stamped sheet-metal part for producing the housing part in FIG. 1,

Fig. 4

a perspective view of the housing part in Figure 1 when pushed through an opening in the sealing element in a first stage.

Fig. 5

1 shows a perspective view of the housing part in FIG. 1 when pushed through an opening in the sealing element in a second stage, FIG.

Fig. 6

a perspective view of the housing part in Fig. 1 when pushed through an opening in the sealing element in a third stage, and

Fig. 7

a perspective view of a plug contact element according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention.

A plug-in contact element according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a substantially cuboid, elongate housing part 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which with a front side 12 along a, to the longitudinal axis of the cuboid extending through direction D in a circular opening 14 a Seal member 16 is inserted.

The housing part 10 has four housing walls 18, 18 ', 18 "and 18"' running essentially parallel to the push-through direction D and having planar wall regions 20, 20 ', 20 "and 20"' at the end face 12 lying in the push-through direction D. , The housing walls and in particular the wall areas are therefore inclined at an angle of about 90 ° to each other. Each of these housing walls 18, 18 ', 18 "and 18"' and thus each of the wall portions 20, 20 ', 20 "and 20"' is connected to two other of the housing walls or wall portions via corresponding along the Longitudinal edges of the cuboid in the direction of feed D extending, curved connecting portions 22, 22 ', 22 "and 22"' connected.

The housing walls 18 and 18 "are formed substantially analogously, but the housing wall 18 is divided due to production along the push-D.

At the end face 12, the flat wall portions 20 and 20 'go over into bent first tongues 24 and 24', whose planar first end portions 26 and 26 'with the housing walls 18 and 18 "and the wall portions 20 and 20" and thus the direction of push D can enclose an angle greater than 90 °, so that they can act as guide surfaces to facilitate insertion of the housing part 10 into the opening 14 in the sealing element 16.

The housing walls 18 'and 18''are likewise formed symmetrically with respect to one another, whose flat wall regions 20' and 20 '' merge at the end face 12 into bent second tongues 28 or 28 'which are in first bending regions 30 and 30' and second bending regions 32 and 32 'are bent toward the interior of the housing part 10 out. The first bending regions 30 and 30 ', which form rounded frontal outer edges of the housing part 10, act like the first tongues 24 and 24' as guide surfaces during insertion of the housing part 10 into the opening 14 of the sealing element 16. The contact with the second bending regions 32nd or 32 'subsequent second end portions 34 and 34' serve as a contact surface for a be inserted into the interior of the housing part 10 contact tongue of a complementary plug contact element.

Indentations 36, 36 ', 36 "and 36"' are provided at the edges of the housing part 10 in the region of the end face 12 lying in the direction of passage D, whose indentation edges 38, 38 ', 38 "and 38"' each partially cover the wall regions 20, 20 ', 20 "and 20"' and the connection areas 22, 22 ', 22 "and 22"' limit.

The indentations 36, 36 ', 36 "and 36"' are in each case identical or mutually mirror-symmetrical, so that their design will be explained in more detail below using the indentation 36 as an example.

The indentation 36 has substantially the shape of a "V" on a surface which is partially curved and curved partially as the connecting region 22. In a first section 40, the indentation edge 38 initially extends linearly along the planar wall region 20, then proceeding helically along an end face of the curved connection region 14 into a rounding 42 on the wall region 20 ', which only has a tangent orthogonal to the direction of thrust D the wall portion 20 'has.

The indentation edge 32 then runs on the wall region 20 'substantially parallel to the push-through direction D linearly further in the direction of the end face 12.

The indentation 36 is therefore asymmetrical with respect to a plane bisecting the angle between the wall portions 20 and 20 '.

This design of the housing part 10 allows for easy insertion into the opening 14 in the sealing element 16 made of elastic material, wherein the opening edge 44 does not tear, although its circumference is smaller than that of a cross section of the housing part 10 transversely to the direction of passage D. The insertion proceeds, as shown in Figs. 4 to 6, as follows.

At the beginning of pushing or pushing the housing part 10 into or through the circular opening 14 in the sealing element 16 made of an elastic material, the opening edge 44 shown in dashed lines in FIGS. 4 to 6 by the first tongues 24 and 24 'and the first bending areas 30 and 30 'stretched, which is avoided by the formed at the edges of the housing part 10 recesses 36, 36', 36 "and 36" 'excessive stretching in the region of the edges.

In a further insertion (see Fig. 4) is the opening edge 44 on the one hand on the flat wall portions 20, 20 ', 20 "and 20"' and the other along the edges 38, 38 ', 38 "and 38"' of Indentations 36, 36 ', 36 "and 36"' out, so that the opening edge 44, the indentations 36, 36 ', 36 "and 36"' spans.

The processes in the region of the recesses 30, 30 ', 30 "and 30"' are explained in more detail below with reference to the indentation 30.

The opening edge 44 is thereby stretched and guided by the linear portion 40 of the indentation edge 38 in the direction of the wall region 20 ', at the same time a contact point 46 between the indentation edge 38 is moved to the opening edge 44 along the opening edge 44.

Upon reaching the portion of the indentation edge 38 at the connection region 22 (see Fig. 5), the point of contact 46 between the indentation edge 38 and the orifice edge 44 runs on a helical line such that the point of contact 46 does not extend to an edge region orthogonal to the direction of advancement D. encounters.

Only when the rounding 42 reaches an edge portion orthogonal to the push-through direction D occurs. However, at this stage, the opening edge 44 abuts completely against the wall portions 20 and 20 'adjacent to the bent connection portion 22 and to the connection portion 22, with the rounding 42 being linearly straddled. In a further insertion of the opening edge 44 does not hit the end face of the rounding 42 with an orthogonal to the direction of insertion D extending tangent and therefore can not be blocked by this. In the further insertion or pushing so excessive stretching, which could lead to tearing of the sealing edge, can be avoided.

Overall, a tearing of the opening edge 44 is avoided by the uniform elongation of the opening edge 44 and the avoidance of blocking.

The plug-in contact element according to the invention can be produced very simply as a stamped and bent part by punching a sheet metal part 48 which is partially shown in FIG. For appropriate sections before and after bending, the same reference numerals are used for the sake of clarity.

Between the first and second tongues 24 and 28 and 24 'and 28, the indentations 36 and 36' are formed, each in the form of a "V" with a rounded tip or rounding 42 and 42 'and linearly connected by these Legs 50 and 50 'have.

By dotted lines in each case the later parallel to the push-through direction D stripes are given, which give the connecting portions 22 and 22 'after bending.

The indentation edges 38 and 38 'have only in the wall portion 20' roundings 42 and 42 'with orthogonal to the push-through direction D or the strips 22 and 22' extending tangents 52 and 52 'on.

After producing the stamped part, first the first tongues 24 and 24 'and the second tongue 28 are bent along the areas marked by dash-dotted lines.

Then, the wall portions 20 and 20 "are bent relative to the wall portion 20 'along the strips 22 and 22' by approximately 90 °, the bend extending in the region of the linearly extending legs 50, 50 'of the indentation edges 38, 38' respectively Way, the indentations shown in Fig. 1 are obtained.

In contrast, in known plug contact elements, which can also be produced as a stamped and bent part are in the punched, to be bent Sheet metal part, the indentations symmetrical to the strips 22 and 22 'aligned, the rounding of the indentations are exactly in the bending areas.

In Fig. 7, a plug contact element according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, which differs from the plug contact element in Fig. 1 by a contact tongue 52 which is inserted into a housing part which is formed as the housing part 10 in the first embodiment.

The contact tongue 54 is pressed after production of the housing part 10 between the second tongues 28 and 28 'and held there in a press fit.

In this way, results in a simple manner equipped with a contact tongue plug contact element.

Also, this plug-in contact element, as described above, in a simple manner in an opening in a seal made of an elastic material insertable without damaging the edge of the opening.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

housing part

12

front

14

opening

16

sealing element

18, 18 ', 18 ", 18"'

housing walls

20, 20 ', 20 ", 20"'

wall areas

22, 22 ', 22 ", 22"'

connecting areas

24, 24 '

first tongues

26, 26 '

first end sections

28, 28 '

second tongues

30, 30 '

first bending areas

32, 32 '

second bending areas

34, 34 '

second end sections

36, 36 ', 36 ", 36"'

indentations

38, 38 ', 38 ", 38"'

Einbuchtungsränder

40

linear section

42, 42 '

rounding

44

opening edge

46

point of contact

48

sheet metal part

50, 50 '

leg

52, 52 '

tangents

54

contact tongue

D

By pushing direction

Claims (13)

1. Plug contact element for pushing through an opening (14), in particular a round opening, in an elastic material (16) along a push through direction (D) of the plug contact element, comprising a housing part (10) having at least two wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') which are substantially planar and inclined with respect to one another at least at a front side (12) of the housing part (10) and which are connected to one another via an arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"'), and
   wherein the housing part (10) has at least one recess (36, 36', 36", 36"') which opens to a front side (12) of the housing part (10) which lies in the push through direction (D) and of which the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') at least partly forms a front-side edge of the arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"'), wherein the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') has an apex or a tangent (52, 52') which is orthogonal to the push through direction (D), the apex or tangent (52, 52') being provided only at the boundary between the connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') and one of the bordering wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') or at one of the bordering wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"'),
   characterized in that,
   the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') has substantially the shape of a "V" on an at least partly arched surface.
2. Plug contact element in accordance with claim 1,
   characterized in that,
   the recess (36, 36', 36", 36"') is formed asymmetrically in relation to a plane which bisects the angle between the wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"').
3. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') extends substantially linearly at least in a section (40) on one of the wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') up to the arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') and/or helically in the connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"').
4. Plug contact element in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the linear section (40) of the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') subtends an angle of between 10° and 45° to the push through direction (D).
5. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing part (10) is a single piece bent part (48), in particular a stamped out bent part.
6. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing part (10) has at least one bent around tongue (24, 24', 28, 28') which is connected to one of the wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') at the front side (12) at which the recess (36, 36', 36", 36"') is formed.
7. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is formed as a socket element.
8. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it has a contact tongue (54) or a contact pin which is held at or in the housing part (10) or forms a section of the housing part (10).
9. Plug contact element in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing part (10) has four substantially planar wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') at the front side (12), each of which subtends an angle which is smaller than 180°, preferably about 90°, with at least one of the others and is connected to the latter in each case via an arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"'); and in that the housing part (10) has four recesses (36, 36', 36", 36'") which open to the front side (12) of the housing part (10) which lies in the push through direction (D) and of which the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38'") in each case at least partly forms a front-side edge of the arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22'"),
   with the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') in each case having an apex or a tangent (52, 52') which is orthogonal to the push through direction (D), the apex or tangent (52, 52') being provided only at the boundary between the bordering connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') and the wall region (20, 20', 20", 20"') which borders on the latter or at the wall region (20, 20', 20", 20"') which borders on the bordering connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"').
10. Method for the manufacture of a housing part (10) for a plug contact element in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims,
    wherein a sheet metal part (48) which is to be bent is provided which has a recess (36, 36', 36", 36'") with an apex or rounded portion,
    and wherein, for the forming of the housing part (10), the part to be bent is bent with two substantially planar wall sections which are inclined with respect to one another and which are connected over an arched or bent connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') along at least one line or one strip while forming the connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') such that the recess edge (38, 38', 38", 38"') has an apex or a tangent (52, 52') which extends orthogonally to the push through direction (D), the apex or tangent (52, 52') being provided only at the boundary between the connection region (22, 22', 22", 22"') and one of the bordering wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"') or at one of the bordering wall regions (20, 20', 20", 20"'), characterized in that
    the recess (36, 36', 36", 36"') in the sheet metal part (48) which is to be bent is substantially V-shaped.
11. Method in accordance with claim 10, characterized in that the recess (36, 36', 36", 36"') is formed asymmetrically in the sheet metal part (48) to be bent.
12. Method in accordance with any one of the claims 10 or 11 characterized in that the recess (36, 36', 36", 36'") in the sheet metal part (48) to be bent has a linear edge section (40); and in that the bending takes place in the region of the linear edge section (40).
13. Method in accordance with any one of the claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the sheet metal part (48) which is to be bent is stamped out of sheet metal.

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