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
  • H01R13/22—Contacts for co-operating by abutting
  • H01R13/24—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted
  • H01R13/2407—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted characterized by the resilient means
  • H01R13/2428—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted characterized by the resilient means using meander springs
• • 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
  • H01R13/22—Contacts for co-operating by abutting
  • H01R13/24—Contacts for co-operating by abutting resilient; resiliently-mounted
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R2201/00—Connectors or connections adapted for particular applications
  • H01R2201/16—Connectors or connections adapted for particular applications for telephony

Definitions

• the invention relates to a plug connector provided with compression contact terminals.
• the object of the invention is to improve an electrical connection between a plug connector and a fixed receptacle connector.
• the invention is more particularly intended for the field of mobile telephony, but could also be applied in other fields.
• a plug connector comprises a plastic insulating body provided with cavities, which cavities are each intended to receive a first contact terminal or first contact element.
• a first contact terminal comprises, in particular, a connection end connected to a printed circuit board, an intermediate spring-loaded part, and a contact end intended to be connected to the connector with fixed base. An electrical connection can then be established upon contact of the contact end of the plug connector with a surface of a second contact terminal or second contact element of the connector with fixed base.
• An electrical connection between a first contact terminal of a plug connector and a second contact terminal of a fixed receptacle connector can be disturbed by the presence of dust particles at a place where contact takes place between the first contact terminal and the second contact terminal.
• an electrical contact connector is described in document US-A-5 540 599, D1. carried out in such a way that a cleaning action takes place upon contact of a first contact element with a second contact element.
• the electrical connector comprises a first contact element provided with a contact surface and a second contact element also provided with another contact surface.
• the contact between the first contact element and the second contact element is made in such a way that when the respective surfaces of the first and second contact elements are in contact with each other, the first contact element moves laterally and relative to a main axis of the first element.
• the first contact element also moves axially along this same main axis of the first contact element.
• a cleaning action of each of the contact surfaces of the first contact element and of the second contact element can be obtained by scanning the surface of the second contact element by the contact surface of the first contact element.
• This type of electrical contact connector has the advantage of being able to clean each of the contact surfaces of the first contact element and of the second contact element but has the disadvantage of obtaining an imperfect electrical connection due to the fact that lateral and axial movements can be made by the first contact element against the contact surface of the second contact element during the electrical connection.
• Another cleaning device is also known, described in document EP-A-0 490 860, D2.
• an electrical contact device also including a first contact element and a second contact element.
• the second contact element of this electrical contact device is part of a smart card, which smart card is intended to compress a spring during an electrical connection between the first contact element and the second contact element.
• the compression of the spring is carried out in such a way that the smart card performs a first displacement and a second displacement, the first displacement being effected in a direction opposite to the second displacement.
• the first movement and the second movement are carried out with respect to the spring and with respect to the first contact element longitudinally to a connection axis at the same time as the first contact element is in second contact with the contact element.
• dust particles can be moved from the contact area between the first contact element and the second contact element of the smart card at the time of the electrical connection.
• a first pile of dust and a second pile of dust may appear on either side of the electrical connection area between the first contact element and the second contact element of the smart card. The presence of these two piles of dust can then be the source of a poor electrical connection.
• the invention provides for improving the electrical connection between at least one first terminal of contact of a plug connector and a second corresponding contact terminal of a connector with fixed socket.
• the invention provides for producing at least a first contact terminal comprising a contact end provided with at least one projection mounted at the end of an elongated part of the contact end and extending in a plane perpendicular to an elongation axis of this same contact end and / or to the connection axis.
• the contact end sinks towards the connection end by compression of the spring.
• the protuberance comes to slide in abutment against an inner periphery of the cavity, which inner periphery is formed by each cavity of the insulating body, so as to obtain a reorientation of an axis. elongation of the contact end relative to the connection axis.
• This protuberance is produced in such a way that it includes a cutaway to force a lateral displacement of the contact end when this protuberance comes to slide against the interior periphery of the cavity.
• This protrusion is also produced in such a way that a width of this contact end measured at a location in the first contact terminal where this protrusion is formed and measured perpendicular to the connection axis is slightly less than a width of the cavity . In this way the protuberance can be housed inside the cavity during the electrical connection while being maintained with a small clearance between the inner periphery of this same cavity and the protrusion.
• the cutaway formed by the protrusion keeps the first contact terminal in place inside the cavity so as to prevent this same terminal possibly moving laterally and / or axially relative to the connection axis after electrical connection with the corresponding second contact terminal.
• the subject of the invention is therefore a plug connector intended to be inserted in a connector with a fixed socket along a connection axis comprising
• each of the cavities delimiting an inner periphery, - at least a first compression contact terminal, elongated along an elongation axis and intended to connect to the fixed receptacle connector via a second corresponding contact terminal, the first compression contact terminal being intended to be inserted in a cavity, and the first contact terminal comprising - a connection end intended to be connected to a printed circuit board,
• the contact end of the first contact terminal has at least one protrusion mounted at the end of its elongated part, which protrusion has a cutaway to force a lateral displacement of the contact end when this protrusion comes to slide against the periphery inside the cavity, as a result of the compression of the spring-loaded intermediate part when the contact end is brought into contact with a facial contact end of the second contact terminal.
• Figure 1 A sectional view of a plug connector and a fixed receptacle connector, according to the invention
• Figure 2 A sectional view of a plug connector without electrical connection, according to the invention
• Figure 3 A sectional view of a plug connector during an electrical connection, according to the invention
• Figure 4 A schematic representation of a contact end, according to a variant of the invention.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a plug connector 1 and a fixed receptacle connector 2, which plug connector and which fixed receptacle connector are intended to cooperate with each other to establish an electrical connection by means of at least a first contact terminal such as 5 and at least a second contact terminal such as 9 respectively.
• the plug connector 1 comprises an insulating body 3 provided with cavities, such as 4. Each of the cavities 4 is intended to receive a first terminal of contact 5 with respect to a connection axis 15.
• a connection axis 15 is an axis along which the plug connector 1 and the fixed receptacle connector 2 are intended to meet to establish an electrical connection.
• the first contact terminal 5 is planar and has an elongated shape along the connection axis 15.
• the first contact terminal comprises, with respect to the connection axis 15, a connection end 6, an intermediate spring part 7 , and a contact end 8.
• the connection end 6 is intended to be connected to a printed circuit board (not shown) placed against this same plug connector.
• the contact end 8 is intended to be connected to the connector with fixed base 2.
• This contact end 8 forms an elongated part 16 along an elongation axis 13, which elongated part 16 ending in a rounded edge 27.
• the edge rounded 27 delimits a generally rounded U shape.
• Each of the cavities 4 of the insulating body 3 forms a space adapting to a shape of the first contact terminal 5 while delimiting an internal periphery 14.
• the internal periphery 14 is produced in such a way that it allows the first terminal to be retained contact 5 inside the cavity 4.
• the first contact terminal 5 is retained inside the cavity 4 by means of the spring-loaded intermediate part 7 which is supported from the connection end 6 up to the contact end 8 against a first protuberance 30 and against a second protuberance 31 on the one hand, and against a shoulder 25 on the other hand.
• the first protuberance 30 and the second protuberance 31 extend in the plane formed by the first contact terminal 5 without meeting from the inner periphery 14 perpendicular to the connection axis 15.
• the shoulder 25 is produced at a location of the cavity 4 situated at a junction between the intermediate part 7 and the contact end 8. This shoulder 25 produces a localized narrowing of the section of the cavity preventing the intermediate part 7 from leaving the cavity 4.
• the contact end 8 is intended to come into contact with a second contact terminal 9 of the connector with a fixed base 2.
• This second contact terminal 9 has a face contact end 10 and a contact tail 11.
• the face contact end 10 is intended to be in contact with the first contact terminal 5 of the plug connector 1 and the contact tail 11 is intended to be connected to a printed circuit by soldering of the contact tail with tracks of this same printed circuit (not shown). More specifically, the rounded edge 27 of the contact end 8 is intended to come into contact with a surface or face contact end 10 of the second contact terminal 9 of this connector with fixed base 2.
• the contact end 8 has at least one protrusion 12 mounted at the end of its elongated part 16 while extending in a plane perpendicular to the elongation axis 13 of this same contact end and / or to the connection axis 15. More specifically, this protrusion 12 can be formed in the plane of the contact terminal 5.
• This protrusion 12 is formed from the rounded edge 27 of the contact end and is intended to come slide in abutment against the inner periphery 14 of the cavity 4 of the insulating body 3.
• the protrusion 12 is produced in such a way that a reorientation of the elongation axis 13 of the contact end 8 can be obtained relative to the connection axis 15 during the electrical connection of the first contact terminal 5 with the second contact terminal 9, FIGS. 1 and 2. More particularly, this protrusion 12 comprises a cutaway 38, this cutaway being produced in such a way man iere it allows to force a lateral movement of the contact end 8 relative to the connection axis 15 when this protrusion 12 comes to slide against the inner periphery 14 of the cavity by means of the cutaway 38. This forced lateral displacement makes it possible to obtain a reorientation of the elongation axis 13 of the contact end 8 relative to the connection axis 15.
• the contact end 5 is placed inside the cavity 4 of such that the elongated part 16 is slightly inclined relative to the connection axis 15. More precisely, the elongation axis 13 is slightly inclined relative to the connection axis 15 inside the cavity 4
• the intermediate spring part 7 has a series of meanders such as 22.
• the intermediate part 7 begins with a first meander 23 and ends with a last meander 24 from the connection end 6 towards the contact end 8.
• the last m éandre 24 abuts against the shoulder 25 formed in the cavity so as to tilt the elongation axis 13 relative to the connection axis 15.
• the last meander 24 is placed on the same side as that where the protrusion 12 is formed, with respect to a plane perpendicular to the plane formed by the contact terminal 5 and passing through the connection axis 15 and / or through the elongation axis 13.
• the cavity 4 delimits an inlet 33 and an outlet 34.
• the inlet 33 is a place in the cavity close to the contact end 8 and the outlet is a place in the cavity remote from this same contact end 8.
• the inlet 33 of cavity 4 corresponds to a place in cavity 4 near which the electrical connection is made between the first contact terminal 5 and the second contact terminal 9.
• the outlet 34 of cavity 4 corresponds to another place of the cavity 4 where the first contact terminal 5 is intended to join a printed circuit board placed against the plug connector 1.
• the inner periphery 14 delimits a rim at a right angle or a straight rim 26 against which the contact end 8 of the first contact terminal is intended to rest at rest, without electrical connection.
• the contact end 8 when not connected, bears against the straight edge 26 of the cavity 4 at a location corresponding to a junction between the protrusion 12 and the elongated part 16.
• the contact end 8 is placed so that the protrusion 12 is located outside the cavity 4, without electrical connection.
• the straight edge 26 can be a rounded edge.
• the contact end 8 is brought into contact with the facial contact end 10 of the second contact terminal 9.
• the first contact terminal 5 is then made to slide inside the cavity 4 by compressing the intermediate spring part 7 longitudinally with respect to the connection axis 15 and in the direction of the printed circuit board placed against the plug connector 1.
• the cutaway 38 is caused to slide against the right edge 26 so that a forced reorientation of the elongation axis 13 of the elongated part 16 is obtained relatively relative to the connection axis 5.
• the end of contact 8 is reoriented with the elongation axis 13 which tends to become parallel to the connection axis 15 as the first contact terminal 5 is pushed in towards the connection end 6.
• the axis of elongation t 13 can even be confused with the connection axis 15, as shown in FIG. 3.
• the cutaway formed by the protuberance keeps the first contact terminal in place inside the cavity so as to prevent this same terminal possibly moves laterally and / or axially with respect to the connection axis after electrical connection with the corresponding second contact terminal.
• the protrusion 12 is produced in such a way that the rounded edge 27 of the contact terminal 5 delimits a first width 20.
• This first width 20 is measured perpendicularly to the elongation axis 13 and / or to the axis connection 15 at a location on the rounded edge 27 where the protrusion 12 is placed.
• This first width 20 is slightly less than a second width 21 of the cavity 4.
• This second width 21 is measured at a location in the cavity close to the entry 32 where the contact end 8 is intended to be housed, which second width 21 is measured perpendicularly to the connection axis 15.
• the protrusion 12 can be wedged against the inner periphery 14 of the cavity 4 so that the rounded edge 27 is in contact with the inner periphery 14 of the cavity 4.
• the inner periphery 14 then prevents the ex contact end 8 to tilt relative to the connection axis 15 during electrical connection.
• the cavity 4 has a portion intended to be facing the contact end 8, which portion is produced in such a way that it has a generally conical shape of conicity oriented towards the inlet 32 of the cavity 4.
• the overall shape conical is made in such a way that the elongated part 16 can easily tilt inside the cavity 4 relative to the connection axis 15 without electrical connection.
• a tilting of the contact end 8 relative to the connection axis 15 is obtained during the sliding of the protrusion 12 against the straight edge 26 of the inner periphery 14. This tilting occurs during electrical contact and during the pressing the contact end 8 towards the connection end 6.
• This tilting makes it possible to carry out a sweeping movement of the rounded end 27 of the contact end 8 against the face contact end 10 of the connector with fixed socket 2.
• This sweeping movement makes it possible to remove any dust which may have deposited on a contact surface delimited by the contact end 8 of the plug connector 1 and on another corresponding contact surface delimited by the face contact end 10 of the connector to fixed base 2.
• the first contact terminal 5 is held in place inside the cavity due to the forced lateral displacement of the contact end 8 obtained during the electrical connection. After this sweeping movement, the first contact terminal 5 can also be held in place inside the cavity because the protuberance is wedged against the inner periphery 14 of the cavity during the electrical connection.
• the contact end 8 may comprise, along the elongation axis 13 and from the connection end 6 to the contact end 8, a first protrusion 35 and a second protrusion 36 stepped along the elongation axis 13.
• This first protuberance 35 and this second protuberance 36 can be placed one after the other in the same plane from the connection end 6 to the end contact 8.
• the first protuberance 35 is narrower and less extensive than the second protuberance 36.
• Each of the contact terminals 5 is produced after cutting a metal sheet by stamping. This metal sheet is produced in a structure such that it does not deform during the electrical connection.

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• Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=32524788

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (15)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2003
  • 2003-01-07 FR FR0300200A patent/FR2849721A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
• 2004
  • 2004-01-06 WO PCT/FR2004/050003 patent/WO2004066450A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-01-06 KR KR1020057012698A patent/KR20050089877A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-01-06 CN CNA2004800061480A patent/CN1757140A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-01-06 US US10/541,600 patent/US7144278B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2004-01-06 EP EP04700271A patent/EP1588459A1/fr not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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