EP1680840A1

EP1680840A1 - Flat tip jack

Info

Publication number: EP1680840A1
Application number: EP04790007A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Roland DÜMMEL; Raimund Huber
Original assignee: Intedis GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Intedis GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2003-11-03
Filing date: 2004-10-14
Publication date: 2006-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 2024-10-14
Also published as: JP2007510260A; US20070202744A1; DE502004005163D1; ATE375021T1; CN1871749A; DE10351540B3; EP1680840B1; WO2005046002A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a flat blade jack ( 1 ) with a socket shaft to accommodate, in an electrically contacting manner, a flat connector. The socket shaft comprises at least one comb-like multitude of essentially parallel contact bridges ( 3 ) that extend in the direction of plugging, which comb-like multitude is arranged on at least one broad side of the socket shaft. In this arrangement the contact bridges ( 3 ) are curved towards the middle of the socket shaft. According to the invention the flat blade jack ( 1 ) is characterised in that the section of the contact bridges ( 3 ), which section is curved towards the middle of the shaft, in the region of the contact zone with the flat connector comprises more than one vertex ( 6, 7 ). Thanks to the flat blade jack according to the invention it becomes possible to particularly reliably design electrical plug-type connections, for example with contact blades of flat connectors or of fuses or relays. Apart from providing considerable improvements relating to current-carrying capacity, reliability and evenness of the force gradient during plug-in, the invention at the same time provides economic advantages due to the ability to efficiently produce flat blade jacks.

Description

Flat plug socket

The invention relates to a flat receptacle for electrically contacting receiving a flat plug according to the preamble of claim 1.

Electrical plug connections, which are composed of a flat plug socket and a flat plug or a flat plug socket and a contact knife, have become extremely widespread in numerous areas of technology, in particular also in motor vehicle construction, due to a combination of advantageous properties.

Such electrical plug connections are usually relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can often be assembled by simply pressing them with the appropriate cable sets. The assembly can also be done manually with relatively simple means and hand tools, if this becomes necessary in the workshop, for example. In addition, relatively high currents can be transmitted via flat plug connections, which plays an important role in the low-voltage electrical system of the motor vehicle. Generic flat sockets are also often used to Both fuses and relays on printed circuit boards are to be contacted electrically as well as mechanically.

Flat plug connectors are known for applications with particularly high requirements with regard to transferable current strength, mechanical strength, vibration resistance and robustness in workshop operation, the socket shaft of which comprises a contact spring basket or lamella basket. A socket well designed in this way has the advantage that, on the one hand, a relatively firm hold of the contact knife in the flat plug socket and, on the other hand, a relatively high current strength can be transmitted due to the increase in the number of electrical contact points between socket and plug. With a suitable arrangement and geometry of the contact springs or lamellae of the socket well, these known flat plug connections also have a certain self-cleaning effect of the electrical contacts, which comes into play each time the electrical contact is released or added.

However, known flat plug connections are only suitable to a limited extent for applications with particularly high requirements in terms of reliability, transferable current strength, mechanical strength and at the same time high cost effectiveness. In addition, these are often of complex construction, consist of a plurality of individual parts and therefore require a large number of manufacturing steps for their production, which correspondingly entails high costs.

Against this background, it is the object of the present invention to provide a flat plug socket for an electrical flat plug connection which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art described. In particular, the electrical flat plug connection should combine particularly high mechanical safety and electrical transmission security with a high maximum current carrying capacity. In addition, it should be possible to manufacture the flat plug connection cost-effectively with optimal use of material and with minimal use of production resources. This object is achieved by a flat socket according to the teaching of claim 1.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The tab receptacle according to the invention comprises, in a manner known per se, a receptacle shaft for receiving and electrically contacting a tab connector or contact knife, the receptacle shaft having at least one comb-like array of essentially parallel contact webs running in the plugging direction and arranged on at least one broad side of the receptacle , In a manner which is also known per se, the contact webs have a course curved towards the center of the socket shaft.

According to the invention, however, the flat receptacle is distinguished in that the curvature of the section of the contact webs bent toward the center of the shaft has more than one apex in the region of the contact zone with the flat plug.

In other words, this means that each of the webs from the web share of the socket well does not, as in the prior art, have only one apex and thus only one contact point with the flat plug or with the contact knife, but rather several, preferably, per web two, contact points or contact zones for the transmission of electrical current are available. This is also advantageous insofar as in this way higher mechanical clamping forces between the flat plug socket and the flat plug or contact knife can be achieved, which is conducive to both the mechanical and the electrical safety of the plug connection.

However, thanks to the invention, the higher clamping forces are achieved without the necessary insertion forces being necessary increase to the same extent. This is because when the contact knife is inserted into the flat receptacle according to the invention, the contact knives, for example two vertices, do not have to be overcome by the contact knife at the same time, but rather can be successively overcome one after the other. As a result, the force-displacement curve is smoothed when the contact knife is inserted into the socket shaft, which considerably simplifies the manual connection.

It is initially not essential for the invention how the electrical or mechanical connection of the flat plug socket with adjacent components is made, as long as the current flow can be permanently ensured and forces acting on the plug connection can be absorbed. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the flat receptacle is characterized by soldering legs or press-in pins for electrically contacting mounting of the flat receptacle, in particular on a printed circuit board. The soldering legs or press-in pins are arranged in an extension of at least one of the two broad sides of the flat receptacle. The soldering legs or press-in pins are particularly preferably formed in one piece with the respective broad side of the flat receptacle.

This leads to a particularly simple manufacture of the flat receptacle and thus to low manufacturing costs. In addition, this arrangement of the soldering legs or press-in pins results in a particularly robust connection between the flat socket and printed circuit board, in particular when both broad sides of the flat socket carry soldering legs or press-in pins.

As an alternative to soldering, crimp bars can also be used for the electrically contacting assembly of the flat plug socket. This is particularly suitable for contacting at one end of the cable.

According to a further, likewise preferred embodiment of the invention, the flat receptacle is a one-piece stamped and bent part educated. The stamped and bent part is bent perpendicular to the plug direction of the plug connection between the flat socket and the flat plug to form a rectangular box profile. This embodiment has the particular advantage that it can be manufactured extremely inexpensively and efficiently. In addition, with a one-piece design of the flat plug socket, the flat plug socket is particularly robust and stable.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the closure of the rectangular box profile of the flat receptacle is formed by a form-fitting pairing of at least one notch and at least one tab. The notch has an undercut, and the tab is designed to match the notch. In this way, an easily manufactured and robust closure of the box profile of the flat receptacle is obtained, since the closure elements are integrally formed on the rectangular box profile of the flat receptacle, the closure elements also being able to be produced during stamping bending. In this way, no further complex operations such as welding are required to close the box profile.

According to further particularly preferred embodiments of the invention, the form-fitting pairing of notch and tab is arranged on a narrow side of the socket well, or the pairing of notch and tab is additionally non-positively stamped after the joining. Both lead to a particularly high stiffness, in particular torsional stiffness and bending stiffness, of the box profile of the flat receptacle.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the flat receptacle comprises at least one support spring arranged on the end face of the socket well. The support spring forms a further mechanical and / or electrical contact zone between the flat plug socket and the flat plug. This results in an even higher nominal current that can be transmitted by means of the plug connection, better guidance of the contact blade when the plug connection is being made, and greater security against unintentional removal of the contact blade from the flat plug socket. The at least one support spring is particularly preferably also integrally formed on a narrow side of the socket shaft, which can be done, for example, by notching when punching the sheet metal material of the socket shaft.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the socket well has, in addition to the contact webs running between the ends of the jack shaft, axially extending stabilization webs. These stabilizing webs connect the two axial ends of the socket well firmly and at an invariable distance.

This is advantageous in that thanks to the stabilization by the

Stabilizing bars no change in length of the socket shaft can take place when inserting the contact knife. In addition, the stabilizing webs prevent deformation of the socket well, which could otherwise occur in particular if the plug is inserted incorrectly or if the contact blade is not inserted coaxially. In addition, the stabilizing webs prevent bending forces from being transferred to the soldering points between the flat receptacle and the printed circuit board, since the stabilizing webs ensure the shape of the socket well and thus the constant distance and angle of the soldering legs. Finally, the stabilizing webs also enable even higher contact forces to be achieved between the contact webs and the contact knife, in particular since the stabilizing webs reliably prevent axial changes in the length of the socket due to the deformation of the contact webs when the contact knife is inserted.

The stabilizing webs are preferably formed by the longitudinal edges of the rectangular box profile. This is advantageous because of this Optimal use of space in the area of the socket shaft takes place. In addition, a socket shaft with maximum bending strength and maximum torsional strength is obtained.

The flat receptacle according to the invention can in principle be manufactured from a wide variety of conductive materials. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the flat receptacle is made of highly conductive material which at the same time has a particularly high specific elasticity. In this way, high nominal currents can be transmitted, and there is also a high level of security against mechanical overloading of the plug connection.

In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to drawings which merely show exemplary embodiments.

1 shows an isometric illustration of an embodiment of a flat receptacle according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of the flat receptacle according to FIG. 1 in a side view;

3 in a representation corresponding to FIG. 2, the flat receptacle according to FIGS. 1 and 2 in longitudinal section;

4 in a representation corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3, the flat receptacle according to FIGS. 1 to 3 with a view of the closure side of the socket shaft;

5 shows an illustration corresponding to FIG. 1 of the flat plug connector according to FIGS. 1 to 4 with a view of the closure side of the socket shaft; and Fig. 6 in a Fig. 2 to 4 corresponding representation of the tab receptacle according to Fig. 1 to 5 in plan view.

1 is an isometric illustration of an embodiment of a flat socket 1 according to the present invention, looking obliquely from below onto the soldering legs or press-in pins 2. It can be seen first of all that the flat socket 1 is designed as a one-piece sheet metal stamped and bent part, the Stamped and bent part is bent into a rectangular box profile.

One each for the mechanical as well as for the electrical contact between the flat socket 1 and one not shown

The blade group responsible for the contact webs 3 runs continuously from the head end 4 to the foot end 5 of each broad side of the box-shaped socket shaft of the flat socket 1. Each of the contact webs 3 has two vertices 6, 7 and thus two contact points with the in the area of its section bent towards the center of the socket shaft Contact knife of a flat connector.

As a result, an electrically and mechanically particularly reliable contact between the contact blade and the flat socket 1 is achieved. When inserting the contact knife, the one closer to the head end 4 of the flat receptacle is first

Group 6 of the vertices 6, 7 contacted, the group 7 of the vertices 6, 7 facing the foot end 5 of the flat receptacle 1 being able to dodge towards the center of the socket well at this time.

Only when the contact knife is pushed in further is the second group 7 of the vertices 6, 7, which is closer to the foot end 5 or closer to the soldering legs 2 of the flat plug socket 1, contacted and likewise displaced outwards from the center of the socket well. Due to the mechanical connection between two vertices 6, 7, the contact pressure 3 is simultaneously the contact pressure the first group 6 of the vertices 6, 7 of the contact web family 3 further increased.

This particular insertion behavior of the flat socket 1 according to the invention combines a smooth and even insertion process with a maximum electrical and mechanical contact reliability that can be achieved at the same time between the flat socket 1 and the contact blade of a flat plug.

Also evident in FIG. 1 is one of the side support springs 8, which are arranged on the narrow sides of the socket well and are also formed in one piece with the flat receptacle, and can additionally be used for power transmission. In addition, the support springs 8 ensure better guidance of the contact blade in the socket 1 and improve the security against unintentional removal of the contact blade from the flat socket 1.

Finally, FIG. 1 also shows how the socket shaft is reinforced by the axially extending stabilizing webs 9. The stabilizing webs 9, which are formed in the illustrated embodiment by the four longitudinal edges 9 of the rectangular box profile of the socket shaft, ensure that the length and shape of the socket shaft remain unchangeable, in particular during the insertion of a flat plug, but also during the operation of the plug connection. In this way, the stabilizing webs 9 make a significant contribution to the robustness and to increasing the mechanical and electrical failure safety of the plug connection.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the flat socket 1 according to FIG. 1. The flat socket 1 is arranged in the hole pattern of a printed circuit board 10 by means of its press-in pins or solder legs 2. 2 shows the structure of the flat receptacle 1, which comprises in one piece both contact webs 3, support springs 8, stabilization webs 9 and press-in pins or soldering legs 2. 3, which shows a longitudinal section through the flat receptacle according to FIG. 1 or 2 along the line AA according to FIG. 2, the shape of the contact webs 3, which according to the invention has two vertices 6, 7 and two respectively, can be seen particularly well Have contact points 6, 7 for contacting the contact knife of the tab, which is also not shown here.

When the contact knife is inserted, the apexes 6 of the contact webs 3, which are closer to the head region 4 of the flat plug socket 1, are first displaced to the outside. In this case, the maximum spring tension of the contact webs 3 is not yet reached, since the further vertices 7 of the contact webs 3 located closer to the foot region 5 of the flat plug socket 1 can initially still deflect toward the center of the socket well. Only when the contact knife is pushed in further is the second group 7 of the vertices 6, 7 displaced outward from the center of the socket well, which gives rise to the maximum spring forces in the contact webs 3. These spring forces then also have an additional force-increasing effect on the contact pressure between the first group 6 of the apexes 6, 7 and the contact knife.

Since the stabilizing webs 9 (FIG. 2) formed by the four longitudinal edges 9 of the socket basket prevent any lengthening of the distance between the head region 4 and the foot region 5 of the flat plug socket 1, the contact webs 3 are not only subjected to bending stress by inserting a contact knife , but also set under axial compressive stress, which further improves the electrical contact and the mechanical clamping behavior between the contact blade and contact webs 3.

Fig. 4 shows that narrow side of the flat receptacle according to FIGS. 1 to 4, on which the connecting elements 11, 12 for closing the rectangular box profile are located. One recognizes in particular the shape of the closure elements 11, 12 of the rectangular box profile of the flat socket 1. The stamped and bent part from which the flat socket 1 is formed has for this purpose on one of its two narrow sides two undercut notches 11, which are in rectangular extensions of the stamped and bent part are arranged. In the undercut notches 11, two tabs 12, which are integrally formed on the other narrow side of the stamped and bent part and which correspond to the notches, engage, the tabs being formed on the left-hand side of the rectangular box profile in relation to the drawing. This creates a positive connection between the two narrow sides of the stamped and bent part, and a rectangular box that is resistant to bending and torsion is formed.

The robustness of this connection can be further increased by embossing the edges of tab 12 and notch 11 in contact with one another by means of a suitable tool. The resulting overlapping of the edges of the tab 12 and the notch 11 results in an extremely intimate and play-free connection of the two narrow sides of the stamped and bent part or the abutting edges of the rectangular box profile.

Fig. 5 shows again in an isometric view the flat socket according to Fig. 1 to 4, also looking towards the narrow side of the flat socket, on which the connecting and closing elements 11, 12 of the rectangular box profile are located. The course of the contact springs 3, the stabilizing webs 9 and a support spring 8 are also clearly visible in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 shows the flat receptacle according to FIGS. 1 to 5 in a top view of the head region 4. In particular, the all-round inclusion for the contact knife of a flat plug is recognized, which through the apexes 6, 7 and contact points 6, 7 of the contact webs 3 arises together with the side support springs 8. In this way, both a safe electrical contact and a robust mechanical scored the contact knife in the socket basket of the flat receptacle 1 achieved.

As a result, it becomes clear that, thanks to the flat plug socket according to the invention, it is possible to design electrical plug connections particularly reliably, for example with contact blades of flat plugs or fuses or relays.

In addition to considerable improvements in terms of transferable current, electrical and mechanical safety and uniformity of the force curve when plugging in, the invention also provides significant economic advantages due to the rational production of the flat plug connector according to the invention.

The invention thus combines improvements in the properties of flat plug connections with at the same time considerable cost savings potential in production and assembly.

Claims

claims

1. Flat plug socket (1) with socket shaft for electrically contacting receiving a flat plug, the socket shaft having at least one family of combs arranged in a comb-like manner on at least one broad side of the socket shaft, essentially parallel contact webs (3) running in the plugging direction, the contact webs (3) for Run curved towards the center of the socket shaft, so that the section of the contact webs (3) bent towards the center of the shaft has more than one vertex (6, 7) in the area of the contact zone with the tab connector.

2. Flat socket according to claim 1, g ek ennz ei chn et by solder legs (2) or press-in pins (2) for electrically contacting mounting of the flat socket (1), in particular on a printed circuit board (10), the solder legs (2) or press-in pins (2) are arranged in an extension of at least one of the two broad sides of the flat plug socket (1).

3. Flat socket according to claim 2, characterized g ek ennz e i chn et that the solder legs (2) or press-in pins (2) are integrally formed with the respective broad side of the flat socket (1).

4. Flat receptacle according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized g ekennz ei chnet that the flat receptacle (1) is formed as a one-piece stamped and bent part perpendicular to the plug direction to a rectangular box profile.

5. Flat receptacle according to claim 4, characterized in that a closure of the box profile is formed by a form-fitting pairing of at least one notch (11) having an undercut and at least one tab (12) corresponding to the notch.

6. Flat receptacle according to claim 5, characterized in that the form-fitting pairing of notch (11) and read (12) is arranged on a narrow side of the socket well.

7. Flat socket according to claim 5 or 6, characterized gekennz ei chnet that the positive pairing of notch (11) and tab (12) is non-positively stamped.

8. receptacle according to one of claims 1 to 7, g ek ennz ei chn et by at least one support spring (8) arranged on the narrow side of the socket, through which a further mechanical and / or electrical contact zone is formed with the tab.

9. Flat socket according to claim 8, characterized g ekennz ei chnet that the at least one support spring (8) is integrally formed on the flat socket (1).

10. Flat receptacle according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized g ekennz e ichnet that the socket shaft has axially extending stabilizing webs (9).

11. Flat socket according to claim 10, characterized g ek ennz e ichn et that the stabilizing webs (9) are formed by the longitudinal edges of the rectangular box profile.

12. Flat socket according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized g ek ennz e ichnet that the flat socket (1) is made of highly conductive material with high specific elasticity.

13. Flat socket according to one of claims 1 to 12, e ekennz ei chn et by crimping bars for electrically contacting mounting of the flat connector, in particular on a cable end, the crimping bars being arranged in an extension of at least one of the two broad sides of the flat connector.