EP2533367A1 - Contact électrique et procédé de fabrication de contact électrique - Google Patents

Contact électrique et procédé de fabrication de contact électrique Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2533367A1
EP2533367A1 EP12165727A EP12165727A EP2533367A1 EP 2533367 A1 EP2533367 A1 EP 2533367A1 EP 12165727 A EP12165727 A EP 12165727A EP 12165727 A EP12165727 A EP 12165727A EP 2533367 A1 EP2533367 A1 EP 2533367A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
contact
base
fingers
guide members
socket
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP12165727A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Scott Flower
Mark Plested
Andrew Mcquilken
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Harwin PLC
Original Assignee
Harwin PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Harwin PLC filed Critical Harwin PLC
Publication of EP2533367A1 publication Critical patent/EP2533367A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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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
    • H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
    • H01R43/20—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for assembling or disassembling contact members with insulating base, case or sleeve
    • H01R43/205—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for assembling or disassembling contact members with insulating base, case or sleeve with a panel or printed circuit board
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/50—Fixed connections
    • H01R12/51—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/55—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals
    • H01R12/57—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals surface mounting terminals
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/70—Coupling devices
    • H01R12/71—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/712—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures co-operating with the surface of the printed circuit or with a coupling device exclusively provided on the surface of the printed circuit
    • H01R12/716—Coupling device provided on the PCB
    • H01R12/718—Contact members provided on the PCB without an insulating housing
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/70—Coupling devices
    • H01R12/71—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/72—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H01R12/73—Coupling devices for rigid printing circuits or like structures coupling with the edge of the rigid printed circuits or like structures connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R43/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors
    • H01R43/16—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to electrical contacts and a method of manufacture of such contacts.
  • An electrical connection can be made between two electrical devices usually using a male and female electrical contact.
  • One part of the connection has a male contact with an electrical pin and the other part is a female contact in the form of a socket for receiving the male contact.
  • Known male and female contacts include a tubular shaped contact section which has a square or circular cross section and receives a conducting portion of a male contact.
  • the forces exerted by the conducting portion of the male contact on the contact section can vary in such configurations and affect the stress /strain of the contact section thereby affecting the performance and durability of the connector.
  • a female electrical contact comprising a socket for receiving an electrical pin, the socket comprising a base and a plurality of contact fingers extending upwardly from the base to form electrical connection with the male electrical pin, the socket further comprising at least one guide member extending upwardly from the base to position the electrical pin when received from above the socket.
  • the contact fingers may comprise a planar portion on which a pick and place tab is located.
  • This provides a way to guide a male pin in a female contact which does not require a moulding and/or another separate method of a alignment. In this embodiment, this is achieved by an integrated guide means.
  • the socket contact is preferably bent up from a single sheet-metal blank to form a resilient, rectangular, pin receiving portion, the pin receiving portion comprising two contact fingers formed by bending two oppositely positioned fingers from the blank towards each other, and the pin receiving portion further comprising two guide members formed by bending two oppositely positioned fingers from the blank towards each other.
  • At least one of the contact fingers or the guide members may comprise a planar portion on which a pick and place tab is located.
  • the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a female contact, comprising: providing a flat conductive sheet; stamping a base portion in the sheet; stamping the sheet with a plurality of contact fingers, and a plurality of guide members; bending the plurality of contact fingers upwards away from the base portion towards each other; and bending the plurality of guide members upwards away from the base portion towards each other.
  • a female contact can be made using a bending and cutting process from a single sheet of material. This provides ease of manufacture and single piece construction for automatic placement on to a printed circuit board (PCB).
  • PCB printed circuit board
  • a mating male pin is aligned to mate with the two contact points using the guide members.
  • a PCB comprising a female contact as defined hereinbefore, wherein the contact is positioned on the surface of the PCB.
  • a contact of a first embodiment is described with reference to figures 1 and 2 .
  • the contact 10 is formed from a single flat conductive sheet having two fingers of similar width which are bent upwardly to form two oppositely located contact fingers 11,12.
  • Two guide fingers 13,14, each having a relatively larger width to the contact fingers are formed in the flat conductive sheet and bent upwardly to form oppositely located guide members.
  • the guide members 13,14 are wider to assist in protecting the contact members 11,12 when a male pin is inserted into the contact 10 from above and can prevent the contact 10 tipping over when packaged, for example, in tape and reel packaging (see Fig. 7 ).
  • the contact fingers 11,12 and guide members 13,14 extend from the edge of a base of the contact 10.
  • the contact 10 has a hole 15 in the base of the contact which can align with a corresponding hole in a printed circuit board on which the contact is to be surface mounted.
  • the contact 10 is a surface mountable contact rather than being designed to be pressed into a hole or slot.
  • a rectangular cross section is formed between the inners edges of the two contact fingers 11, 12 and two guide members 13, 14.
  • this female contact 10 it is possible to use this female contact 10 to receive different types of male pin such as those with a square, rectangular or circular cross section.
  • Typical cross sectional sizes of male pins are 1 mm square pins, 1 mm x 0.2-1.6mm rectangular pins, or 1-2mm diameter circular pins.
  • the configuration can accept male pins of numerous pin sizes.
  • the guide members 13, 14 are resilient in the sense that they can be moved outwards from their default position when a male pin abuts them but return to their default position when the force of the pin is removed.
  • the conductive sheet may be formed of any suitable conductive material such as phosphor bronze alloy. It may be coated with a suitable material such as tin or nickel.
  • the base of the contact 10 has legs 17 extending outwardly from the side of the base on which the contact fingers 11, 12 are located for positioning on a PCB.
  • the two contact fingers 11, 12 in this embodiment, they are upwardly formed by being bent generally inwards from the base of the contact 10 towards each other until a contact point A at which they are a distance which is where a male pin would electrically couple to the contact fingers 11, 12, and the contact fingers are at this point bent outwards away from each other.
  • a first part 11 a of the finger is bent in at an acute angle a to the base on the contact, a second part 11 b of the finger is bent further inwards at a further point B at an obtuse angle to part 11 a about that point B towards the base until the contact point A where a third part 11c of the finger is bent outwards forming an angle b which is typically ninety degrees but can be any angle which allows a sufficient contact point A with a male pin.
  • the other contact finger 12 will have a similar configuration to the finger 12.
  • one of the fingers and in this particular embodiment finger 11 has a fourth part 11 d that is bent to be substantially parallel to the base of the contact 10. This is a pick and place area 16 and enables a pick and place vacuum nozzle (not shown) to automatically place the contact 10 on to a solder pad on a PCB.
  • the guide members 13,14 are formed in a similar manner to the contact fingers 11,12 in that they are bent generally inwards from the base of the contact 10 towards each other to form upwardly standing members. At a point C where the members 13, 14 are directly adjacent the contact fingers 11, 12, they are bent outwards to form a generally "L" shape portion similar to the contact fingers 11, 12.
  • a first part 13a of the member is bent in at an acute angle c to the base on the contact
  • a second part 13b of the member is bent further inwards at a further point D at an obtuse angle to part 13b about that point D towards to base until the point C where a third part 13c of the member is bent outwards forming an angle d which is typically ninety degrees but can be any angle which provides sufficient guidance to the male pin to allow self centring of the male pin.
  • the other guide member 14 will have a similar configuration to the member 13.
  • the arrangement of the fingers 11, 12 and guide members 13, 14 allows for self centring of a male contact in an X and Y direction i.e. along two axes.
  • the bends circled on figs. 3 and 4 allow additional over-bend correction to be added if required during the stamping process which is advantageous to this design process.
  • the bends allow for fine adjustments to be made in tooling to correct any spring back variation that will occur in different base metals that this contact may be made out of.
  • This contact 10 could be made from a variety of metals; stainless steel, beryllium copper, brass and phosphor bronze and plated in nickel, tin over nickel silver over nickel and gold over nickel.
  • the contact 10 is shown attached to a PCB 20.
  • a male pin 30 with a rectangular cross section is attached to another PCB 40.
  • the male pin 30 has been received by the contact 10 from above (direction C) and is in the coupled position.
  • the guide fingers 13,14 have served to self-centre the male mating pin when the pin is inserted from above.
  • the male pin is electrically contacted at contact point A with the contact fingers 11,12.
  • the hole 15 in the base of the contact 10 is not required for the contact operation, although it does allow a variety of male pin lengths to be accommodated.
  • the contact 10 would still self-centre without the male pin 30 passing through the hole 15 in this configuration.
  • figs. 6a and 6b a different form of connection between the contact 10 and male pin 30 of figs. 5a and 5b is shown.
  • the contact 10 is still capable of providing the same functionality as in figs. 5a and 5b .
  • the male pin 30 is received from below (direction D) the contact 10.
  • the hole 15 in the base of the contact 10 receives the male pin 30 and male pin passes through the centre of the contact 10 and is exposed above the contact 10.
  • the guide members 13,14 self-centre the pin 30 whilst the contact fingers 11,12 form the electrical contact with the pin 30 at contact point A.
  • a number of contacts 10 can be stored in a reel 50 and each contact can be easily picked from the reel using a vacuum nozzle because of the pick and place area 16 provided on the contact.
  • the contact 10 is capable of being manufactured using a cold forming process where the contact material can harden during a stamping process and the properties of the material can change to improve the material's spring properties and to better define the bend points of the contact fingers and guide members.
  • the contact 10 is surface mounted to the surface of a printed circuit board, for example.
  • soldering is normally required.
  • reflow soldering is used. This is a process in which a solder paste (a sticky mixture of powdered solder and flux) is used to temporarily attach the contact 10 to contact pads on a PCB, after which the entire assembly is subjected to controlled heat, which melts the solder, permanently connecting the joint. Heating may be accomplished by passing the assembly through a reflow oven or under an infrared lamp or by soldering individual joints with a hot air pencil. The goal of the reflow process is to melt the solder and heat the adjoining surfaces, without overheating and damaging the electrical components.
  • solder paste a sticky mixture of powdered solder and flux
  • Reflow soldering In the reflow soldering process; there are usually four stages, called “zones", each having a distinct thermal profile: preheat, soak , reflow , and cooling. Reflow soldering can help to reduce PCB manufacturing costs by not having to drill holes in the PCB unlike other methods which require the PCB to be drilled to accept two solder pins.
  • guide members are not limited to the particular configuration described above although this shape is advantageous. Modifications can be carried out to achieve the same effect of self-alignment using guide members integrated with the contact fingers that form the female contact.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electrical Connectors (AREA)
EP12165727A 2011-06-06 2012-04-26 Contact électrique et procédé de fabrication de contact électrique Withdrawn EP2533367A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1109461.2A GB2491591A (en) 2011-06-06 2011-06-06 Electrical contact including guide means

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2533367A1 true EP2533367A1 (fr) 2012-12-12

Family

ID=44343475

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP12165727A Withdrawn EP2533367A1 (fr) 2011-06-06 2012-04-26 Contact électrique et procédé de fabrication de contact électrique

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2533367A1 (fr)
GB (1) GB2491591A (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2814116A1 (fr) * 2013-06-12 2014-12-17 Valeo Vision Agrafe de connexion électrique pour platine avec LED d'éclairage
JP2015109262A (ja) * 2013-10-24 2015-06-11 アイクレックス株式会社 基板用端子
WO2016012149A1 (fr) * 2014-07-23 2016-01-28 Robert Bosch Gmbh Élément de contact
CN112134048A (zh) * 2020-09-30 2020-12-25 上海徕木电子股份有限公司 一种能够正面观测校验的过pcb板式连接器
CN112134049A (zh) * 2020-09-30 2020-12-25 上海徕木电子股份有限公司 一种能够背面环隙观测校验的过pcb板式连接器
EP3859897A1 (fr) * 2020-01-30 2021-08-04 SERO GmbH Dispositif de contact électrique pour une carte de circuit imprimé

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN110416786B (zh) * 2019-07-29 2020-10-30 江苏雷利电机股份有限公司 导电端子、包括其的联接器和电机以及联接器的装配方法

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5709574A (en) * 1996-08-30 1998-01-20 Autosplice Systems Inc. Surface-mountable socket connector
US6837755B1 (en) * 2003-09-03 2005-01-04 Kyoshin Kogyo Co., Ltd. Fuse holder component
US20060030191A1 (en) * 2004-06-30 2006-02-09 Tuin Jacobus N Connector for electronic components

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2810828C2 (de) * 1978-03-13 1984-05-03 Grote & Hartmann Gmbh & Co Kg, 5600 Wuppertal Kompaktdoppelflachfeder
JP3094408B2 (ja) * 1995-04-28 2000-10-03 日本精機株式会社 Ｆｐｃ用コネクタ
TW454967U (en) * 1999-01-12 2001-09-11 Hon Hai Prec Ind Co Ltd Clamp type terminal
CN201142406Y (zh) * 2007-11-09 2008-10-29 莫列斯公司 零插入力电连接器端子及零插入力电连接器
CN201663269U (zh) * 2010-02-05 2010-12-01 中兴通讯股份有限公司 电连接器

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5709574A (en) * 1996-08-30 1998-01-20 Autosplice Systems Inc. Surface-mountable socket connector
US6837755B1 (en) * 2003-09-03 2005-01-04 Kyoshin Kogyo Co., Ltd. Fuse holder component
US20060030191A1 (en) * 2004-06-30 2006-02-09 Tuin Jacobus N Connector for electronic components

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2814116A1 (fr) * 2013-06-12 2014-12-17 Valeo Vision Agrafe de connexion électrique pour platine avec LED d'éclairage
FR3007216A1 (fr) * 2013-06-12 2014-12-19 Valeo Vision Agrafe de connexion electrique pour platine avec led d'eclairage
JP2015109262A (ja) * 2013-10-24 2015-06-11 アイクレックス株式会社 基板用端子
WO2016012149A1 (fr) * 2014-07-23 2016-01-28 Robert Bosch Gmbh Élément de contact
EP3859897A1 (fr) * 2020-01-30 2021-08-04 SERO GmbH Dispositif de contact électrique pour une carte de circuit imprimé
CN112134048A (zh) * 2020-09-30 2020-12-25 上海徕木电子股份有限公司 一种能够正面观测校验的过pcb板式连接器
CN112134049A (zh) * 2020-09-30 2020-12-25 上海徕木电子股份有限公司 一种能够背面环隙观测校验的过pcb板式连接器
CN112134048B (zh) * 2020-09-30 2022-08-02 上海徕木电子股份有限公司 一种能够正面观测校验的过pcb板式连接器

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB201109461D0 (en) 2011-07-20
GB2491591A (en) 2012-12-12

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