EP2965385B1 - Clip contact element for a printed circuit board and method for its production - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a clip contact element for a circuit board and a connection arrangement with a circuit board which has at least one recess and at least one contact arrangement which is arranged in one of the at least one outlets. Finally, the present invention relates to a method for producing a clip contact element.

Printed circuit boards with several contact arrangements which are to be introduced into corresponding recesses in the printed circuit board are for example from the publication US 2004/0192086 A1 known. A plurality of plug contacts is arranged in a plug housing. The plug contacts are held in a housing wall and have an eyelet area which is to be inserted into corresponding bores in the circuit board. However, only firmly seated contacts are made in the bores, into which the plug contacts are inserted.

From the pamphlet WO 2005/079127 A1 an electrical assembly with an electrically conductive contact pin for pressing into an opening of a circuit board is known. The opening in the circuit board has predetermined dimensions, and the contact pin has a defined oversize to form a press connection. The inserted length of the contact pin is greater than the depth of the circuit board opening. The inserted contact pin sits with an edge area on the circuit board and makes contact in a pressing area with the contact zone located there, which is preferably cold-welded gas-tight. On the opposite side, the contact pin can be wave soldered to the contact zone there.

Further connections to printed circuit boards by press-fit pins are given in the publications WO 2005/096447 A1 , US 2005/0176267 A1 , DE 10 2009 025 113 A1 and DE 10 2005 021 568 A1 described. The document also describes it, for example DE 20 2009 010 426 U1 the applicant another press-fit contact that can be detachably connected to a circuit board. The detachable conductor connection shown there, however, sits on the circuit board.

It has been shown that in all applications it is not possible to provide an installation space which enables such a detachable circuit board connection to be placed on the circuit board. Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connection arrangement which is not only detachable again, but also takes up less installation space, in particular takes up a lower construction height on a printed circuit board.

The pamphlet U.S. 5,083,927 A reveals a solderless, yielding frame. This document discloses in particular a clip contact element, which can be inserted removably into a recess of a circuit board, with a contact core body, at least two guide bevel elements and at least two contact lip elements extending from the contact core body, which are designed to clamp a plug contact unit, and the contact core body at least has a conductor contact section which is designed to bring the clip contact element into contact with an inner wall of the recess in the circuit board and to ensure electrical contact with the circuit board.

The document U.S. 3,654,583 A discloses a sinker. The document U.S. 4,401,359 A discloses an integrated cable termination system having a connector including an attached retainer. The document U.S. 5,704,752 A discloses a stamped contact. The document U.S. 3,506,942 A discloses a self-locking contact. The document U.S. 4,780,958 A discloses a method of making an electrical connection for a printed circuit board. The document U.S. 5,704,752 A reveals a rivet.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a contact element for a printed circuit board according to claim 1 is therefore provided.

Furthermore, a connection arrangement is provided with a printed circuit board which has at least one recess and at least one contact arrangement which is arranged in one of the at least one recess, each contact arrangement having a clip contact element according to the first aspect of the invention or one of its configurations and a plug contact unit, wherein the clip contact element can be inserted removably into a respective recess of the circuit board, and wherein each plug contact unit can be removably inserted into a clip contact element of the corresponding contact arrangement.

In particular, this provides the advantages that little installation space is taken up by means of the clip contact element, which is essentially completely inserted into the circuit board or its recess. Since the clip contact element sits in the circuit board, the overall height above the circuit board is extremely low. Furthermore, the clip contact element can be removed from the circuit board. This makes the entire connection arrangement detachable again. Furthermore, this also allows, for example, a coding between the clip contact element and the plug contact unit to be varied. Coding is understood here to mean that the clip contact element can be arranged in the recess in a desired orientation which enables the plug contact element to be inserted only in a certain orientation. In this way, an assembly aid can be provided which only allows assembly of the plug contact unit in the circuit board in a single specific orientation.

In the context of the entire application, the plug contact unit can be designed in various ways. In particular, the plug contact unit can be a blade contact or a pin contact. However, other shapes can also be provided.

In the case of the clip contact element, the guide bevel elements are used for safe insertion of the clip contact element into the recess in the circuit board. A recess in the circuit board can be designed as a bore with a circular cross section. In principle, however, other configurations of the recess, for example angular cross-sections or the like, are also possible. A corresponding outer circumference of the clip contact element can then be designed with a corresponding shape.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a method for producing a clip contact element according to the invention according to claim 10 is also provided.

According to this method, the clip contact element can be provided in a particularly simple manner by means of cold forming on a metal foil. This enables the clip contact element to be manufactured in a simple and therefore inexpensive manner in large numbers.

The object mentioned at the beginning is therefore completely achieved.

In one embodiment of the clip contact element it is provided that the contact core body essentially has the shape of a hollow cylinder, and wherein the at least two guide bevel elements and the at least two contact lip elements are arranged alternately distributed over a circumference of the contact core body.

In principle, within the scope of the present application, a hollow cylinder can have any cross-sectional shape. This cross-sectional shape can be circular, oval or also angular, for example triangular, square or n-angular. The design of a hollow cylinder and the two guide slope elements molded onto the hollow cylinder make it possible to simply insert the clip contact element into the circuit board. The clip contact element thus disappears almost completely in the recess of the circuit board, and a plug contact unit can be inserted into the hollow interior of the clip contact element. In this way, a particularly low-profile design of the clip contact element and thus also of the corresponding connection arrangement is possible. The alternating distribution of guide bevel elements and clip contact elements also enables a plug contact unit to be securely accommodated within the contact core body in contact with the contact lip elements, so that a safe current flow from the plug contact unit via the clip contact element into the circuit board is guaranteed.

In a further embodiment of the clip contact element it can be provided that two guide bevel elements and two contact lip elements are provided, the two guide bevel elements lying opposite one another and the two contact lip elements lying opposite one another.

In this way, a particularly simple structure of the clip contact element is provided, which can be easily produced by means of the method described in more detail below. Furthermore, this embodiment is particularly suitable for receiving plug contact units designed as blade contacts. These can be held well by two contact lip elements.

In a further embodiment of the clip contact element it can be provided that the contact core body essentially has the shape of a hollow cylinder, the at least two contact lip elements extending inward from a cylinder jacket of the contact core body, and the at least two guide bevel elements extending from one end of the contact core body extend.

In this way, a more compact design of the clip contact element is achieved. In this embodiment, too, it is of course possible for the hollow cylinder to have any cross-sectional shape. This can in turn be circular, oval, or also angular, for example triangular or square or n-angular. This compact design also makes it possible, for example, to accommodate pin contacts or plug-in contact units with other cross-sectional shapes that require more than two contact lip elements. Because the at least two contact lip elements extend inward from a cylinder jacket and can thus be punched out and bent out of the material of the cylinder jacket, it is particularly possible to arrange the contact lip elements and the guide bevel elements essentially in alignment in the longitudinal direction of the clip contact element. There is therefore no alternating arrangement of contact lip elements and guide bevel elements distributed over the circumference. In this way, the number of contact lip elements and guide slope elements can be increased.

In particular, in a further embodiment it can be provided that four guide bevel elements and four contact lip elements are provided, the four guide bevel elements lying opposite one another in pairs and the contact lip elements lying opposite one another in pairs.

This refinement makes it possible, as has already been stated above, to accommodate plug contact units designed as pin contacts, for example, and to contact them on four sides by means of the contact lip elements. In this way, plug contact units shaped in this way can also be held securely in the clip contact element.

In a further embodiment of the clip contact element, it can be provided that the clip contact element has at least one slot recess extending through a guide bevel element and at least partially through the contact core body.

By means of these slot recesses, a certain elasticity of the clip contact element is provided in the circumferential direction. In this way, the at least one slot recess allows the contact core body to yield and generate a metered and even pressure force that ensures conductive contact by means of the contact sections and holds the clip contact element firmly in the recess of the circuit board. As already mentioned, the clip contact element can still be pulled out of the circuit board.

In particular, a tight fit and good contact can be achieved in that a diameter of the clip contact element is greater than a diameter of a corresponding recess in the circuit board. The diameter of the clip contact element can, for example, be 0.1% to 20% larger than the diameter of a corresponding recess in the circuit board. In other words, it can be so much larger that, for example, a contact force of 5 N (Newtons) to 15 N is generated. However, the contact force can also be less than 5 N or more than 15 N.

In order to ensure a low construction, it can also be provided in all configurations of the clip contact element that a height of the clip contact element essentially corresponds to a height of the circuit board.

It is provided that the clip contact element has a stop element opposite to each contact lip element on the contact core body, which in each case extends from the contact core body perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the contact core body.

Such a stop element serves to prevent the clip contact element from being pushed through the printed circuit board. The stop element now sits on a surface of the circuit board and prevents the clip contact element from being pushed through the recess.

In a further embodiment of the clip contact element, it can be provided that the contact core body has more than two conductor contact sections which are arranged uniformly over a circumference of the contact core body.

In principle, two or more, that is for example two, three, four, five, six to n contact lip bodies can be provided. The number of conductor contact sections to be provided is primarily determined by the shape of the plug contact unit. The closer a cross-sectional shape of the plug contact unit approaches a round shape, the more advantageous it becomes to increase the number of contact lip bodies. A number of the guide slope elements can also be designed in a similar manner. In principle, two or more, that is to say two, three, four, five, six to n, guide bevel elements can be provided in all configurations of the clip contact element. The number of guide slope elements can be related to the number of contact lip elements. In particular, it can be provided that the number of guide bevel elements corresponds to the number of contact lip elements.

In all configurations of the clip contact element, it can be provided that the conductor contact sections are designed as essentially round punched-out areas or protrusions outward from the contact core body. However, other designs, for example conductor ring contact elements or the like, can also be formed. In particular, the conductor contact sections can be formed uniformly over the circumference of the contact core body. This ensures a particularly good conductive connection.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the clip contact element, it can be provided that the contact core body has more than two conductor contact sections which are arranged uniformly over a circumference of the contact core body.

In a further embodiment of the clip contact element, it can be provided that the clip contact element is formed in one piece. Furthermore, it can be provided in one embodiment that the clip contact element is formed from at least one metal.

The one-piece design particularly facilitates the assembly of the clip contact element. The design of at least one metal on the one hand facilitates production and on the other hand ensures the desired conductivity in the entire clip contact element.

In one embodiment of the connection arrangement, it can be provided that the plug contact unit is a blade contact element or a pin contact element.

The blade contact element has an essentially leaf-shaped structure and can therefore be clamped well by two contact lip elements. A pin contact element has a pin-like structure, that is to say a round or angular, essentially symmetrical cross section. To clamp such a pin contact element, more than two contact lip elements are accordingly preferably to be provided, in particular four or more contact lip elements.

In a further embodiment of the connection arrangement it can be provided that a diameter of the contact core body of the clip contact element is greater than the diameter of the respective recess in the circuit board.

As already stated above, a firm fit and good contact can be provided in this way. In particular, the diameter of the contact core body can be, for example, 0.1% to 20% larger than the diameter of the respective recess in the circuit board.

In a further embodiment of the connection arrangement it is provided that a height of the contact core body of the clip contact element is equal to a thickness of the printed circuit board.

In a further embodiment of the connection arrangement it can be provided that the circuit board has a first conductor track on a first side and a second conductor track on a second side, the first conductor track and the second conductor track through one of the recesses by means of a contact lining element are electrically connected as soon as the contact lining element lines the recess.

In this way, the circuit board can be provided with a conductor track, for example on one side, but also on two sides. The clip contact element can already form an effective conductive connection in the corresponding recess of the circuit board here. In this way it is possible to form even more effective conductive connections in the recess of the circuit board.

In all of the configurations, the clip contact element can be pressed into the corresponding recess in the circuit board with an assembly force. The assembly force can be adapted to the size of the clip contact element. For example, it can be a contact core body for a recess in a circuit board with a diameter of 4 mm, for example between 50 N and 150 N. In particular, the assembly force can depend on the specific application conditions.

The clip contact element can be made of at least one metal. The metal can be a copper alloy. Such a copper alloy can provide the required high strength in good relation to the resistance, so that the required contact force between, for example, 5 N and 15 N is guaranteed. In addition, it can be provided in one embodiment that the clip contact element is tinned.

In one embodiment of the method, it can furthermore be provided that the stop elements are formed in the clip contact element blank in the step of punching out and the stop elements are formed by bending in the step of forming.

In this way it is made possible to provide these with the method according to the third aspect even in an embodiment of the clip contact element with stop elements.

In a further embodiment of the method it can be provided that in the step of punching out the at least one slot recess is formed in the clip contact element blank, one of the at least one slot recesses each half at the opposite ends of the clip contact element blank which are opposite one another after the bending step, is formed.

In this way, the slot recesses can also be formed in the clip contact element blank during the manufacturing process. In particular, it is thus possible to use the gap that inevitably arises between the ends of the clip contact element blank after the bending step to form one of the slot recesses. This should then be formed in half at each of the ends.

It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations or alone, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 1

eine Ausführungsform einer Anschlussanordnung,

Fig. 2

eine Leiterplatte der Anschlussanordnung in Fig. 1, jedoch ohne Stecckontakteinheiten,

Fig. 3

eine Querschnittsansicht entlang einer Linie III-III in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4

eine vergrößerte Detailansicht eines Bereichs X in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5

eine symmetrische Ansicht einer Ausführungsform eines Klippkontaktelements zum Einfügen in eine Ausnehmung der Leiterplatte,

Fig. 6a bis 6d

symmetrische Ansichten aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln einer Ausführungsform eines Klippkontaktelements,

Fig. 7a bis 7c

verschiedene Ansichten einer weiteren Ausführungsform eines Klippkontaktelements,

Fig. 8

ein schematisches Ablaufdiagramm eines Verfahrens, und

Fig. 9a,b

zwei Klippkontaktelemente mit unterschiedlichen Rastelementen.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawing and are explained in more detail in the following description. Show it:

Fig. 1

an embodiment of a connection arrangement,

Fig. 2

a circuit board of the connection arrangement in Fig. 1 , but without plug-in contact units,

Fig. 3

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line III-III in FIG Fig. 2 ,

Fig. 4

an enlarged detailed view of an area X in Fig. 3 ,

Fig. 5

a symmetrical view of an embodiment of a clip contact element for insertion into a recess of the circuit board,

Figures 6a to 6d

symmetrical views from different angles of an embodiment of a clip contact element,

Figures 7a to 7c

different views of a further embodiment of a clip contact element,

Fig. 8

a schematic flow diagram of a method, and

Figures 9a, b

two clip contact elements with different locking elements.

Fig. 1 1 shows an embodiment of a connection arrangement 10. The connection arrangement 10 has a printed circuit board 12. The ones in the Fig. 1 The circuit board 12 shown is only to be understood as an example. In principle, any other geometric configurations of the circuit board 12 are also possible.

The circuit board 12 is to be electrically connected to one or more plug contact units 14. The plug contact units 14 in the Fig. 1 are designed as blade contacts, for example. However, other shapes can also be provided, for example plug contact units 14 designed as pin contacts.

To connect a plug contact unit 14 to the circuit board 12, a clip contact element 16 is provided in each case, which is inserted into corresponding recesses in the circuit board 12. A respective plug contact unit 14 can then be inserted into this clip contact element 16.

A clip contact element 16 inserted into the printed circuit board 12 together with the respective plug contact units 14 form a contact arrangement 17.

Fig. 2 Figure 10 shows the connector assembly 10 of FIG Fig. 1 without the inserted plug-in contact units 14. As can be seen, several first conductor tracks 18 can be arranged. Each conductor track 18 ends in a corresponding recess of the circuit board 12. A respective clip contact element 16 is then inserted through a corresponding conductor track 18 into the respective recess and preferably latched in the recess.

The circuit board 12, to which the first conductor track 18 is applied, for example, can in principle be a fiberglass board impregnated with epoxy resin, a Teflon board, a ceramic body, a polyester film or another plastic film or the like. In principle it is also possible, as will be explained in the following, that the in the representation of the Figs. 1 and 2 remote side of the circuit board 12 is designed with conductor tracks. It can be provided, for example, that the circuit board 12 is provided with a copper layer in which the conductor track 18 is then formed. A circuit arrangement or the like can be implemented in this way, for example.

The Fig. 3 FIG. 13 shows a cross-sectional view along the line III-III in FIG Fig. 2 . The clip contact element 16 is shown as it is inserted into the circuit board 12. The first conductor track 18 is also shown.

The clip contact element 16 has a contact core body 20 which is essentially shaped as a hollow cylinder. The hollow cylinder does not necessarily have to have a circular cross section or an annular cross section. Angular or polygonal cross-sections are also conceivable. A jacket surface of this hollow cylinder is identified with the reference number 21.

In the embodiment shown, the clip contact element 16 has two guide bevel elements 22 which extend from the contact core body 20. The guide bevel elements 22 are approximately conical and serve to simplify the insertion of the clip contact element 16 into the circuit board 12. Optionally, latching elements 60 can be provided on one or more guide slope elements 22, which interact with the printed circuit board 12 in a latching manner after insertion in order to prevent the clip contact element 16 from becoming detached from the printed circuit board.

A locking element 60 can, as in the Figures 9a, b shown, for example. Be provided as a projection 62 on the outer surface of the guide slope element 22. Another conceivable variant consists in using a locking hook 64 movably attached to the guide slope element 22 as the locking element.

Furthermore, two contact lip elements 24 are provided, which likewise extend from the contact core body 20 in the same direction as the guide bevel elements 22. Two contact lip elements 24 are also provided. The contact lip elements 24 and the guide bevel elements 22 each lie opposite one another and are formed alternately over the circumference of the contact core body 20.

The contact lip elements 24 are bent into the interior of the hollow cylinder of the contact core body 20 and serve to clamp the plug contact unit 14. Furthermore, slot recesses 26 are distributed over the circumference of the contact core body 20 and extend through the contact core body 20 and at least partially into the guide bevel elements 22. In this way, the clip contact element 16 has a certain elasticity in the radial direction, which provides a secure insertion of the clip contact element 16 into the recess with simultaneous secure electrical contact. A dismantling force F1 then to be used can then detach the clip contact element 16 from the circuit board 12 again.

Furthermore, conductor contact sections 28 are provided distributed over the circumference of the contact core body 20. In the embodiment shown, these are essentially designed as outwardly curved circular elevations. These serve to bring the clip contact element 16 securely into contact with an inner wall of the recess in the circuit board 12 and to ensure electrical contact.

A neighborhood of a conductor contact portion 28 is shown in FIG Fig. 4 shown in enlarged detail. A pressing force is indicated schematically with the reference symbol F3 and a directional arrow.

As already mentioned above, the circuit board 12 has a first conductor track 18. The first conductor track 18 is arranged on a first side 32 of the circuit board 12. Opposite the first side 32 is a second side 34 of the circuit board 12. On the second side 34, conductor tracks can also be provided, for example the second conductor track 36 indicated by the reference numeral 36. A second conductor track 36 can also extend to a corresponding recess in the circuit board 12 extend and surround them. It can be provided that the first conductor track 18 and the second conductor track 36 are connected to one another by a recess with a contact lining element 38. The contact lining element 38 then essentially has the shape of a sleeve. In particular, it can be provided that the contact lining element 38 is connected to the first conductor track 18 and also to the second conductor track 36. In this way, better contact with regard to the clip contact element 16 can be provided. In particular, it is possible in this way to reliably contact both the first conductor track 18 and the second conductor track 36 simultaneously via the conductor contact sections 28.

In the Fig. 5 the embodiment of the clip contact element 16 described above is shown symmetrically. Furthermore, the surroundings of a recess 40 of the circuit board 12 are shown schematically in order to be able to explain the dimensions in more detail. The same elements are identified by the same reference symbols and are therefore not explained again.

An overall height of a clip contact element 16 is identified by the reference symbol 42. Correspondingly, the diameter of the clip contact element 16 is identified by the reference symbol 44.

A diameter of the recess 40 in the circuit board 12 is identified by the reference numeral 46. A thickness of the printed circuit board 12 is identified by the reference symbol 48. A thickness of the circuit board 12 plus the thicknesses 52 of the conductor tracks 18 and 36 is identified by the reference symbol 50.

Since the conductor tracks 18, 36 are made relatively thin, the thickness 50 is only slightly greater than the thickness 48. The height of a circuit board 12 can be, for example, about 1.6 mm, but it can of course also be made thinner or thicker.

An assembly force is indicated schematically with F2 and a directional arrow. In an exemplary embodiment, the clip contact element 16 can have a height 42 of approximately 3 mm. This can be a little higher than height 50. A material thickness of the clip can be around 0.3 mm, for example. The diameter of the clip contact element 16 can be designed larger than the diameter 46, so that a minimum contact force F3 of, for example, 5 N to 15 N is exerted.

In an exemplary embodiment in which, for example, the printed circuit board 12 has a thickness 48 of 1.6 mm and the recess 40 has a diameter 46 of 4 mm, a height 42 of the clip contact element 16 of approximately 3.5 mm can, for example. A dimension 41 of the height of the contact core body 20 can be approximately 1.601 mm to 1.76 mm. Correspondingly, a protrusion 53 results, for example from the Fig. 3 can be seen.

A diameter 44 of the clip contact element 16 can then be approximately 4.012 mm to 4.8 mm. In this way, approximately the desired other force F3 of 5 N to 15 N can be provided. This then results in assembly forces F2 or disassembly forces F1 of, for example, 50 N to 150 N.

In the Figures 6a to 6d 13, various symmetrical views of an embodiment of the clip contact element 16 are shown again. The essential elements have already been explained above. As already stated above, the clip contact element 16 has a contact core body 20 which merges into two guide bevel elements 22 lying opposite one another. The guide bevel elements 22 are bent at a slight incline towards a hollow interior of the contact core body 20. In this way, they facilitate the centering and insertion of the clip contact element 16 in a recess 40.

Between the guide bevel elements 22, two opposing, slightly curved contact lip elements 24 extend from the contact core body 20. The bevel or bend of the contact lip elements 24 gives them a secure contact force when contacting the plug contact unit 14. Slightly bent ends open the desired contact gap.

Overall, the illustrated clip contact element 16 has four conductor contact sections 28, which are arranged at the same height and distributed uniformly over the circumference of the contact core body 20. They have a convex shape that protrudes slightly outward from the contact core body 20.

At an end of the contact core body 20 opposite the guide slope elements 22, stop elements 30 are provided which are angled approximately perpendicularly from the contact core body 20. In addition, slot recesses 26 are provided, which can be opposite one another in pairs.

The Figures 7a to 7c show various views of a further embodiment of a clip contact element 16. The same elements as in FIGS Figures 6a to 6d are marked with the same reference symbols. The ones in the Figures 7a to 7c The embodiment shown is characterized in that a total of four guide bevel elements 22 and four contact lip elements 24 are provided. They are in contrast to the one in the Figures 6a to 6d The illustrated embodiment is not arranged alternately distributed over the circumference of the contact core body 20, but are essentially aligned with one another. The contact lip elements 24 are bent out of a cylinder jacket 21 of the contact core body 20 into the interior of the contact core body 20.

In this way, it is possible to provide more than two, in the illustrated embodiment, four, contact lip elements 24, for example to clamp pin-shaped plug contact elements 14, as shown schematically in FIG Figure 7b emerges.

From the Fig. 6d and 7d it can also be seen that a slot recess 56 is provided as a continuous slot recess. This results from the fact that the clip contact element 16 can in principle be produced by means of a production method in which corresponding elements are first punched out of a metal foil and then the clip contact element 16 is produced by bending to form the hollow cylinder. Ends that were originally opposite one another then lie opposite one another at the continuous slot recess 56. Half of this is thus formed in the respective ends of a metal foil originally used for production.

Fig. 8 FIG. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment of a method 80 for producing a clip contact element 16.

The method begins in a starting step 82. First, in a step 84, a foil made of at least one metal is provided. In particular, this foil can be provided from a copper alloy.

In a punching step 86, a clip contact element blank is then punched out of the film. This clip contact element blank already has the basic shapes of the contact core body 20 of the at least two guide bevel elements 22 and the at least two contact lip elements 24 in an unbent shape. Basically, the developed form of the clip contact element 16 is now available.

Any slot recess 56, which is formed continuously, can be formed halfway at the opposite ends of this clip contact element blank. Subsequently, in a step 88, the at least one conductor contact section 28 in the contact core body 20 as well as at least two contact lip elements 24 and the at least two guide bevel elements 22 are formed. This can be done by bending, pressing, stamping or other cold forming techniques. Ultimately, in a step 90, the clip contact element blank is bent into its essentially hollow cylindrical shape.

In principle, it can then also be provided that the surface of the complete clip contact element 16 is tinned. Alternatively, however, the surface of the entire clip contact element 16 can also be provided, for example, with silver or gold or another metal.

The clip contact element 16 can then be inserted into the recess 40 of the circuit board 12. An assembly force F2 can be 50 N to 150 N, for example. The clip contact element 16 is pressed into the recess 40 by this force. The clip contact element 16 is pressed into the circuit board 12 until the respective stop elements 30 come to rest on the first side 32 of the circuit board 12. Since the protrusion 53 is smaller than the total height 42 of the clip contact element 16 and the diameter 44 of the clip contact element 16 is larger than the diameter 46 of the recess 40, the clip contact element 16 is then pressed into the recess 40 with a pressing force of, for example, approximately 5 N to 15 N pressed against the surface thereof or against a surface of the contact lining element 38. In principle, however, another pressing force can also be provided, for example from only about 2 N to about 50 N.

The respective plug contact unit 14 can then be inserted into the clip contact element 16.

In this way, several clip contact elements 16 can in particular be produced automatically one after the other and also automatically assembled.

As already stated, the clip contact elements described here can optionally have locking elements 60, with two examples of locking elements in the Figures 9a and 9b are shown by way of example. It should be noted that the rest of the structure of these clip contact elements is as described above. The latching elements 60 can therefore be used in each of the configurations described above.

Claims (11)

1. Clip contact element (16) which can be inserted into a recess of a printed circuit board (12) in a removable manner, comprising a contact core body (20), wherein at least two guide bevel elements (22) and at least two contact lip elements (24), which are designed to clamp a plug-in contact unit (14), extend from the contact core body (20), and wherein the contact core body (20) has at least one conductor contact section (28) which is designed to bring the clip contact element (16) into contact with an inner wall of the recess of the printed circuit board (12) and to ensure an electrical contact-connection with the printed circuit board (12), wherein the contact core body (20) is substantially in the form of a hollow cylinder, and wherein the at least two guide bevel elements (22) and at least two contact lip elements (24) are arranged in a manner distributed alternately over a periphery of the contact core body (20);
   characterized in that
   the clip contact element (16) has a stop element (30) opposite to each contact lip element (24) on the contact core body (20), which stop element in each case extends perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the contact core body (20) from the contact core body (20),
   a latching element (60, 62, 64) is provided on at least one guide bevel element (22), and
   the at least one conductor contact section (28) is designed as a circular raised portion which is bent out towards the outside.
2. Clip contact element according to Claim 1, characterized in that two guide bevel elements (22) and two contact lip elements (24) are provided, wherein the two guide bevel elements (22) are situated opposite one another and the two contact lip elements (24) are situated opposite one another.
3. Clip contact element according to Claim 1, characterized in that the at least two contact lip elements (24) extend from a cylinder jacket (21) of the contact core body (20) towards the inside, and the at least two guide bevel elements (22) extend from one end of the contact core body (20).
4. Clip contact element according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the clip contact element (16) has at least one slot recess (26) which extends through a guide bevel element (22) and at least partially through the contact core body (20).
5. Clip contact element according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the clip contact element (16) has two contact lip elements (24) or three contact lip elements (24) or four contact lip elements (24) which are arranged in a manner distributed alternately with guide bevel elements (22) over a periphery of the contact core body (20).
6. Clip contact element according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the clip contact element (16) is of one-piece design, in particular wherein the clip contact element (16) is formed from at least one metal.
7. Connection arrangement (10) comprising a printed circuit board (12), which has at least one recess (40), and at least one contact arrangement (17), which is arranged in one of the at least one recess (40), characterized in that each contact arrangement (17) has a clip contact element (16) according to one of Claims 1 to 6 and a plug-in contact unit (14), wherein the clip contact element (16) can be inserted into a respective recess (40) of the printed circuit board (12) in a removable manner, and wherein each plug-in contact unit (14) can be inserted into a clip contact element (16) of the corresponding contact arrangement (17) in a removable manner.
8. Connection arrangement according to Claim 7, characterized in that a diameter of the contact core body (20) of the clip contact element (16) is greater than a diameter of the respective recess (40) of the printed circuit board (12).
9. Connection arrangement according to either of Claims 7 and 8, characterized in that a height of the contact core body (20) of the clip contact element (16) corresponds approximately equally to a thickness (48) of the printed circuit board (12).
10. Method (80) for producing a clip contact element (16) according to one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the clip contact element (16) can be inserted into a recess of a printed circuit board (12) in a removable manner, comprising a contact core body (20), wherein at least two guide bevel elements (22) and at least two contact lip elements (24), which are designed to clamp a plug-in contact unit (14), extend from the contact core body (20), and wherein the contact core body (20) has at least one conductor contact section (28) which is designed to bring the clip contact element (16) into contact with an inner wall of the recess of the printed circuit board (12) and to ensure an electrical contact-connection with the printed circuit board (12), comprising the following steps:

    • providing (84) a foil composed of at least one metal,

    • stamping out (86) a clip contact element blank from the foil, wherein the clip contact element blank comprises the contact core body (20), the at least two guide bevel elements (22) and the at least two contact lip elements (24), wherein the at least two guide bevel elements (22) and at least two contact lip elements (24) are arranged in a manner distributed alternately over a periphery of the contact core body (20),

    • shaping (88) the at least one conductor contact section (28) in the contact core body (20), the at least two contact lip elements (24) and the at least two guide bevel elements (22), wherein a projection (62) is provided as a latching element (60) on the outer surface of each of the guide bevel elements (22), and wherein the at least one conductor contact section (28) is designed as a circular raised portion which is bent out towards the outside,

    • bending (90) the clip contact element blank into a substantially hollow-cylindrical form,

    wherein, in the stamping step (86), stop elements (30) are formed in the clip contact element blank and the stop elements (30) are shaped by bending in the shaping step (88), wherein the clip contact element (16) has a stop element (30) opposite to each contact lip element (24) on the contact core body (20), which stop element in each case extends perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the contact core body (20) from the contact core body (20).
11. Method according to Claim 10 for producing a clip contact element (16) according to one of Claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the at least one slot recess (26) is formed in the clip contact element blank in the stamping step (86), wherein in each case half of one of the at least one slot recesses (26) is formed on opposite ends of the contact element blank that are situated opposite one another after the bending step (90).

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