EP2759024A1

EP2759024A1 - Plug type element

Info

Publication number: EP2759024A1
Application number: EP12783088.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mario Tolj; Thomas Engel
Original assignee: ERNI Production and Co KG GmbH
Current assignee: ERNI Production and Co KG GmbH
Priority date: 2011-09-20
Filing date: 2012-09-19
Publication date: 2014-07-30
Also published as: WO2013041078A1; US20140287629A1

Abstract

A plug-type element for making contact with a printed circuit board comprises an insulating body. At least one electrical contact which has at least two spring elements is arranged in the insulating body, wherein each spring element has at least one printed circuit board contact (121, 122). In particular, the plug-type element can be a plug-type connector, a relay socket or a safety plug.

Description

plug-in element

The present invention relates to a plug-in element for contacting a printed circuit board, in particular for use in the automotive sector. The plug-in element may be, for example, a plug connector, a relay socket or a fuse base.

State of the art

In modern motor vehicles, such as cars, trucks, construction machinery, agricultural machinery and industrial trucks, but also in helicopters and aircraft, it is necessary to connect various components and cables with printed circuit boards. For this purpose, plug-in elements are mounted on the circuit board, which contain spring elements. The spring elements can be contacted by components or cable connections with blade elements. Such plug-in elements are used in particular to apply components such as relays or fuses on the circuit board or to connect the circuit board with power lines or other circuit boards.

Conventional plug-in elements consist of an insulating body in which a connection element is introduced for each potential. This

CONFIRMATION COPY Connecting element comprises a spring element with a plurality of spring tongues, which is adapted to receive a knife element of a component safely, and PCB contacts. These can be fixed by soldering or pressing on a printed circuit board.

Conventional plug-in elements have numerous disadvantages in the contacting of printed circuit boards in the automotive sector. Thus, the use of a single wide spring element for each blade element on the one hand leads to a high material requirement in the production of the plug-in elements and to a difficult manufacturability of these elements as well as a poor attachment of each blade element in the respective spring element. Furthermore, the use of only one pair of printed circuit board contacts per blade element means that no mechanically stable connection to the printed circuit board can be produced. In addition, the corrosion of PCB contacts can quickly lead to a sufficient connection between the blade element and circuit board is no longer guaranteed.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a plug-in element which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.

Disclosure of the invention

This object is achieved by a plug-in element for contacting a printed circuit board, which comprises an insulating body and at least one electrical contact (for a potential) having at least two spring elements, each spring element has at least one PCB contact. By using several spring elements per potential secure attachment of each blade element is ensured in the plug-in element. In addition, a redundancy of the spring elements is thereby produced, so that even if a spring element or the associated PCB contact, for example by corrosion, still a sufficient contact of the knife element is ensured with the circuit board. The current carrying capacity of the plug element can also be adjusted via the number of spring elements. Here, the same spring element can be used for plug-in elements with different current carrying capabilities, while plug-in elements according to the prior art, depending on the current carrying capacity require different spring elements. In addition, the distribution of the flowing current to a plurality of spring elements leads to a reduction of the contact resistance of each contact (current divider).

It is inventively preferred that each spring element has at least two PCB contacts. Several printed circuit board contacts per spring element provide additional redundancy to protect against contact loss between the blade element and printed circuit board in case of corrosion of the spring tongues or printed circuit board contacts. Furthermore, it is preferred that the width of the blade contact areas of the spring elements is substantially equal to the width of the PCB contacts. In the plug-in element according to the invention, it is possible to perform the blade contact areas of the spring elements with a width which does not substantially exceed the width of the PCB contacts, which allows a material savings and ease of manufacture of the spring elements. These can be easily made by punching out of a metal plate without subsequent bending of the stamped parts.

It is further preferred that each spring element has two spring tongues. This is sufficient when using at least two spring elements per potential to allow adequate attachment of the blade elements. At the same time a simple manufacturability of the spring elements is ensured.

Preferably, the PCB contacts are designed as press-in elements. The large number of PCB contacts, which in the invention Plug element per potential can be realized, allows for the pressing of the plug element on a circuit board, the generation of a sufficiently firm connection, without the need for further holding elements would be necessary. However, it is also possible to solder the plug-in element according to the invention onto a printed circuit board.

The plug-in element according to the invention may be, for example, a plug connector. With this cable can be ankontaktiert to printed conductors of a printed circuit board. It may also be a relay socket in the plug-in element according to the invention. This allows the attachment of a relay on the circuit board. In particular, the plug-in element according to the invention is a fuse base. Such fuse bases are needed in particular for fuses in the automotive sector. The fuse base according to the invention preferably has two electrical contacts (potentials), each having at least two spring elements. As a result, a secure attachment of the fuse is ensured in the fuse base, so that even with shock (for example, when driving a car) a relaxation of the fuse is excluded. In particular, the spring elements of the fuse socket are arranged to receive a fuse selected from the group consisting of APS, APM, ATM, APR, ATC, ATO and APX. The construction according to the invention of each potential contact by the use of a plurality of spring elements makes it possible to produce fuse bases for fuses of different dimensions, as are covered by the aforementioned types of fuse.

Preferably, an insulating body is arranged in each case between two spring elements of an electrical contact. For the purposes of the invention, an insulating body is understood in particular to mean a material which has an electrical conductivity of less than 10 ^-8 S / m. The electrical insulation of the spring elements against each other allows a Reduction of the electrical resistance of the contacts with respect to a plug-in element with mutually electrically connected spring elements.

In order to enable a space-saving positioning of the fuse base according to the invention and also to stabilize these fuse base also against vibrations on, it is preferred that the insulating body has on a outer side a first connecting element and in the opposite outer side has a second connecting element. The first connecting element is designed so that it can be positively connected to the second connecting element of an identical insulating body. Thus, it is possible to position numerous securing bases according to the invention in a form-fitting manner next to one another, so that they lend each other good stability on the printed circuit board. Particularly preferably, the insulation body additionally has a third connecting element on one outer side and a fourth connecting element in the opposite outer side. This allows an even better mutual stabilization of the fuse socket.

According to the invention, the plug-in element according to the invention can also be a distribution board or a power board. Under distribution board according to the invention a printed circuit board understood to soft spring elements, for example by pressing, are applied, wherein printed circuit board and spring elements are surrounded by an electrically insulating material. The spring elements can be arranged so that they are adapted to receive fuses, relays and / or cables.

Brief description of the drawings

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and explained in more detail in the following description. Fig. 1 shows a spring element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a fuse with two knife elements according to the prior art;

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a fuse socket according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the fuse base according to the invention according to FIG. 3; FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a fuse base according to the invention according to FIG. 3 with an inserted fuse according to FIG. 2; FIG.

Fig. 6 shows a section through the fuse base with inserted fuse of FIG. 5;

Fig. 7 shows three interconnected fuse bases according to one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 8 shows a relay socket with plugged relay according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 9 shows a plan view of the relay socket according to the invention;

Fig. 10 shows a section through the relay socket according to the invention with plugged relay of FIG. 8;

Fig. 11 shows a plug according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a plan view of the plug according to the invention according to FIG.

1 1;

Fig. 13 shows a cross section through the plug according to the invention; Fig. 14 shows a distribution board according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 shows a cross section through the distribution board according to the invention according to FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 shows a detailed detail from FIG. 15.

Embodiments of the invention Fig. 1 shows a spring element which is used in plug-in elements according to the invention. This spring element 1 has a knife receiving zone 11, which is provided for receiving a knife element. This knife element receiving zone 1 1 has two spring tongues 1 1 1, 1 12. Each of the two spring tongues 1 1 1, 1 12 each has three connecting elements 1 1 11, 1 112, 1 113, 1 121, 1 122, 1 123, which are formed as latching hooks. When the spring element 1 is introduced into an insulating body, the connecting elements 1111, 11 12, 11 13, 1 121, 1 122, 1123 prevent it from coming off the insulating body again. Furthermore, the spring element 1 has a printed circuit board contact zone 12. This printed circuit board contact zone 12 is preferably designed as a press-in zone. It has two printed circuit board contacts 121, 122.

One embodiment of the invention relates to a fuse socket for receiving conventional automotive fuses. Such an automobile fuse is shown in FIG. The automobile safety device 2 comprises an insulation body 20 and a contact region 21. In the contact region 21, two blade elements 21 1, 212 are formed, which extend into the insulation body 20. In the insulation body 20, the two blade elements 21 1, 212 are connected to each other by a securing element 22. This is melted through when high currents occur and prevents the connection between the two blade elements 21 1, 212.

An inventive fuse base 3 is shown in Fig. 3. 4 shows a plan view of the fuse base 3 according to the invention. Two electrical contacts 31, 32 are embedded in the insulating body 30. The contact 31 serves to receive the knife element 21 1 of the fuse 2 and the contact 32 serves to receive the knife element 212 of the fuse 2. The contact 31 consists of three parallel spring elements 311, 312, 313 and the contact 32 consists of three parallel arranged spring elements 321, 322, 323. Each of the spring elements 31 1, 312, 313, 321, 322, 323 corresponds to a spring element 1 according to the invention. The spring elements 311, 312, 313, 321, 322, 323 are each electrically insulated from one another by the insulation body 30.

In Fig. 5 it is shown how a fuse 2 can be inserted into the fuse base 3. It can be seen in particular that each of the six spring elements of the fuse base 2 has the same width B, as the associated Leitplattenkontakte. Fig. 6 shows a section through the fuse base according to the invention with inserted fuse, as shown in Fig. 5. The section is taken along the line A-A in FIG. 4. It can be seen that the insulating body 20 of the fuse 2 rests in the insulating body 30 of the fuse base 3. The knife element 21 1 is held in the sectional plane of FIG. 6 by the spring element 312. Below the blade element contact zone of this spring element 312, two printed circuit board contacts are arranged.

The fuse base 3 has a first connection element. In Fig. 4 it is shown that this first connecting element in the form of two dovetail-shaped elements 331, 332 is formed, which are connected to the insulating body 30. These elements 331, 332 are shaped so that they can engage in a second connecting element 34 of the fuse base 3 according to the invention. This second connecting element 34 is formed as a recess in the insulating body 30 and is located on the side of the insulating body 30, which is opposite to the first connecting element. On the same side of the insulating body 30 as the second connecting element 34 is still a third connecting element. This is in the form of two curved elements 351, 352, which are respectively connected to the edge of the fuse base. These elements 351, 352 are designed so that they can engage in a fourth connecting element of the fuse base 3. FIG. 3 shows that this fourth connecting element takes the form of two vertical ments 361, 362 is formed in the insulating body 30. The openings of these two recesses 361, 362 are located on the edge of the insulating body 30 on the same side of the insulating body 30 as the first connecting element. Fig. 7 shows how three fuse base according to the invention 3 are positively connected to each other by means of the connecting elements.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the plug-in element according to the invention is designed as a relay socket 5. Fig. 8 shows a relay 4, which is inserted in the relay socket 5 according to the invention. 9 shows a plan view of the relay socket according to the invention. This has in the insulation body 50 nine electrical contacts 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59. The electrical contacts have a different number of spring elements 1. The four contacts 51, 52, 53, 54 each comprise a spring element. The two contacts 55 and 56 each comprise three spring elements 551, 552, 553, 561, 562, 563. The three contacts 57, 58, 59 each comprise four spring elements 571, 572, 573, 574, 581, 582, 583, 584, 591, 592, 593, 594. The spring elements 571, 572, 573, 574, 581, 582, 583, 584, 591, 592, 593, 594 are each electrically insulated from each other by the insulating body 50. Hereby, the requirement is met to contact different blade elements of the relay 4, which have a different length, each with sufficient holding power and sufficient current carrying capacity. 10 shows a section through the relay socket 5 according to the invention with inserted relay 4 according to FIG. 8 along the line AA in FIG. 9. It can be seen how knife elements 47, 48, 49 of the relay 4 in the associated contact areas 57, 58 , 59. of the relay socket. In the sectional plane, the fastening of the knife element 47 by the spring element 573, the attachment of the knife element 48 by the spring element 583 and the attachment of the knife element 49, which is rotated relative to the knife elements 57, 58 by 90 °, by the spring elements 591, 592, 593, 594. Fig. 11 shows a further embodiment of the plug element according to the invention. This is a connector 6. In Fig. 12 is a plan view of the connector 6 is shown. In the insulating body 60 of the connector 6 nine pairs of contact areas 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 are embedded. Each pair of electrical contact areas consists of two spring elements 1 according to the invention. The spring elements of each pair of contact areas 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 are each electrically insulated from one another by the insulation body 60. A section through the connector 6 along the line AA in Fig. 12 is shown in Fig. 13. Herein, a pair of spring members 11A, 11B of the contact region pair 65 can be seen. Each of the spring elements 1 1 A, 1 1 B has in its printed circuit board contact area 12 A, 12 B in each case two printed circuit board contact elements.

Fig. 14 shows yet another embodiment of the plug-in element according to the invention. This comprises a printed circuit board 71, which comprises a printed circuit board 71, seven fuse bases with fuses 721, 722, 723, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727 inserted therein and nine relay plugs with relays 731, 732, 733, 734 inserted therein , 735, 736, 737, 738, 739. The printed circuit board 71, as well as the fuse base and relay socket are surrounded by a plastic casing, which can be fixed, for example by a latching on the printed circuit board 71. The plastic casing forms an insulating body surrounding the distribution board 7. An isometric cross-sectional drawing of the distribution board 7 is shown in FIG. Each fuse socket of the distribution board 7 comprises three spring elements. In each case a spring element of each fuse base can be seen in the cross section. FIG. 16 is an illustration of the detail labeled XVI in FIG. 15. FIG. There, it can be seen that a spring element 7211 of a fuse base with a fuse 721 inserted therein is pressed into the printed circuit board 71 with printed circuit board contact elements 7212. It is surrounded by the insulating body 74. A knife element 7213 of the fuse is inserted into the spring element 721 1 and contacts it. The present invention makes it possible to provide a plurality of different plug-in elements, in particular fuse base, relay socket, connectors and distribution boards, by using the spring elements 1 secure detection of blade elements is ensured and the current carrying capacity of the plug elements can be adjusted by the number of spring elements 1.

Claims

claims

1. plug-in element for contacting a printed circuit board, which comprises an insulating body (30, 50, 60), characterized in that it comprises at least one electrical contact having at least two spring elements (1), each spring element (1) at least one PCB contact ( 121, 122).

2. Plug element according to claim 1, characterized in that each spring element (1) has at least two printed circuit board contacts (121, 122) and the width (B) of the blade contact region (11) of the spring elements substantially equal to the width of the printed circuit board contacts (121, 122) is.

3. Plug element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each spring element has two spring tongues (1 1, 112).

4. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the printed circuit board contacts (121, 122) are designed as press-in elements.

5. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is the plug-in element is a distribution board (7).

6. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is the plug-in element to a connector (6).

7. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is the plug-in element to a relay socket (5).

8. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is the plug-in element to a fuse base (3).

9. Plug element according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises two receptacles (31, 32) for each one knife element (21, 22), each having at least two spring elements (311, 312, 313, 321, 322, 333).

10. Plug element according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the spring elements (31 1, 312, 313, 321, 322, 333) of the fuse base (3) are adapted to receive a fuse (2), which is selected from the Group consisting of APS, APM, ATM, APR, ATC, ATO and APX.

1 1. Plug element according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the insulating body (30) on an outer side a first connecting element (31) and on the opposite outer side a second connecting element (32), wherein the first connecting element (31 ) is designed so that it can be positively connected to the second connecting element (32) of an identical insulating body (30).

12. Plug element according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that between each two spring elements (1) of an electrical contact, an insulating body (30, 50, 60) is arranged.