FR2460553A1 - ELECTRIC CONTACT MEMBER - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO AN ELECTRICAL CONTACT ORGAN. THIS BODY INCLUDES A PLATE IN AN EDGE OF WHICH A NOTCH IS PROVIDED FOR RECEIVING AN INSULATED CONDUCTIVE WIRE WITH A TWISTED CORE. THIS NOTCH INCLUDES SEVERAL TRUNKS ARRANGED ONE IN SUCCESS OF THE OTHERS AND CONFIGURED SO AS TO MAINTAIN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE INITIAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE CORE STRANDS OF A CONDUCTOR. THE BODY ALSO CONTAINS A CONTACT END FOR RECEIVING THE MALE CONTACT BODY IN EITHER OF TWO ORIENTATIONS PERPENDICULAR BETWEEN THEM. FIELD OF APPLICATION: CONNECTORS FOR VEHICLE HEADLIGHT LAMPS, ETC.

Description

The invention relates to an electrical contact member

  that, and more particularly a contact member which comprises a conductive plate whose edge has a notch in which an insulated electrical conductor can be depressed, transversely to its axis, so that the walls of the notch

  penetrate the driver's insulation and establish a connection

  its electric with the conductive soul of the latter.

  A large number of electrical contact members are known whose notches have an inlet located at the edge of the plate and leading to a first section.

  with converging walls, this first section leading to a se-

  cross-section with straight and parallel walls.

  In such known contact members, the first

  section of the notch is intended primarily to-cut the iso-

  of a conductor introduced into this slot, while the second section is intended to receive the conductive core of the

  conductor and to establish with it an electrical connection.

  Such known contact organs generally give

  ral satisfaction when used with conductors with full conductive core and only once they are often unsatisfactory when used with drivers

  whose soul is made up of several strands.

  Difficulties with drivers

  twisted core seem to come from the modification of the

  position of the strands occurring when the conductor is pushed into the notch of the contact member. The strands of the conductor are usually arranged so as to give the soul

  a profile in cross section as circular as possible. This-

  during insertion into the notch, the strands are

  forced to a linear layout.

  This movement of the strands towards a

  does not occur when a contact organ is connected

  * to a conductor with twisted core by the implementation of

  crimping techniques according to which a ferrule is

  compressed on the soul and it is known that conventional techniques

  crimping machines produce electrical and

good and sure.

  The invention relates to an electrical contact member

  than of the type described above, the second section of which leads to a third section with convex and convergent walls, this third section ending in a groove which opens into a fourth section with divergent walls, this fourth section opening itself into a fifth section with convex and convergent walls, the maximum width of this fifth section being smaller than that of the third section and the fifth section

  section delimiting the closed end of the notch.

  It is preferable that the first section includes

straight and convergent edges.

  The first section of the notch of the contact member according to the invention serves to guide a conductive wire

  isolated in the second section which is intended to cut the iso-

  lant, if possible up to the driver's soul. This last

  then enter the third section of the notch which is intended to completely cut the insulation to the driver's core, if necessary, and which also serves, in the case of a conductor with a twisted core, to maintain the strands as much as possible in their original arrangement inside the driver, this being achieved by the fact that the third

  section has convex and converging edges which

  to the driver a gradually increasing force

  gulièrement. The driver then moves on to the partial

  in the groove and enters the fourth section of the notch, a substantial portion of the strands of the soul then being housed in the fifth section of the notch. The walls of the fourth section of the notch constitute shoulders oriented toward the closed end of the notch and intended to retain the strands in the notch, in an arrangement as close as possible to the original arrangement of these strands in the conductor. , the strands being compressed between the walls

of the notch.

  Thus, the contact member according to the invention makes a good and safe electrical and mechanical connection with a twisted core conductor, and it also has the advantage of allowing such a connection with conductors of varying size over a wide range, for example conductors whose section of the core is between 0.6 and 2.0 mm The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which: - Figure 1 is a front view of the contact member according to the invention;

  FIG. 2 is an elevation, in a plane

  pendicular to that of Figure 1, the contact member according to the invention; and

  FIGS. 3 to 6 are drawings showing the

  use of the contact member according to the invention with

  drivers of four different dimensions.

  The contact member shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is made of sheet metal and comprises a part 1

  connecting a lead wire and a contact portion 2.

  The shape of the latter is not important for the invention.

  tion. Part 1 comprises two similar plates 3 and 4 arranged in parallel planes and interconnected by two bridges 5 and 6 starting from the adjacent edges of the plates 3 and 4.

  Each of the plates 3 and 4 has a notch 7.

  Since the notches 7 of the two plates are identically

  only the notch in one of the plates will be described in

detail with reference to Figure 1.

  Each notch 7 has an inlet 8 situated at the edge of the plate from which the bridges 5 and 6 extend,

  the latter being located on the opposite sides of the entrance 8.

  The inlet 8 leads to a first section 9 with straight and convergent edges, this section 9 leading to a second section 10 with straight and parallel edges. It is preferable that the edges of the second section 10 are chamfered so

  to present relatively sharp cutting edges.

  The second section 10 leads to a third section 11 with convergent and convex edges that lead to

a throat 12.

  This throat 12 opens into a fourth section

  short 13 whose diverging walls constitute shoulder-

  leaving towards the outside of the throat 12.

  The fourth section 13 opens into a fifth section 14 with convex and convergent edges whose width

  maximum is less than that of the third section 11.

  The fifth section 14 opens into an opening

  circular and enlarged 15 which serves in a known manner to deter-

  undermine the elasticity of the two arms of Part 1 delimiting

notch 7.

  When the contact member described above is used, an insulated conductor, whose core consists of several strands, is pushed transversely to its axis in the notch 7 by passing through the inlet 8. The first section 9 guide the driver to the second section 10 whose tapered edges intersect the insulation, if necessary up to the conductor core according to the dimension, that is to say the diameter, of

this driver.

  The driver then enters the third

  section 11 of the notch 7, the walls of this section 11

  the notching of the driver's insulation if this is

  necessary and also applying to the soul of the driver a compression which grows gradually, while guiding this

soul to the throat 12.

  The soul then passes at least partially through the

  groove 12 in the fifth section 14 of the notch 7, the

  kings of the fifth section 14 bearing against some of the strands

  of the soul to hold the soul in the notch.

  Figures 3 to 6 schematically represent

  notches similar to that described above, but in the

  which souls of four different dimensions are housed /

  the dimension of the ascending cores of Figure 3 to Figure 6.

  It is clear that in every case the soul is engaged-

  under the shoulders formed by the sides of the fourth section of the notch, the strands of the core being compressed between the edges of the third and fifth sections of the notch, which establishes an electrical and mechanical connection between this core

  and the contact member having the notch.

  As previously described, the contact organ

  represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, shows two notches

  to the one described above and, for its termination, a conductor must be inserted simultaneously into the two notches so that a connection in two

  spaced points, in a known manner.

  The conductor is preferably pushed into the notches by means of a tool which is advantageously part of a connection assembly comprising an insulating housing in which the contact is mounted, and an insulating cover for pushing the conductor into the notches, then remaining fixed on the housing to cover the connection made between the contact member and the driver. This cover is preferably made with a pusher which is intended to bear against the driver and to drive it into the slots, if necessary, and which remains in contact with the driver

  during the final assembly, in order to keep it in

  necessary inside the notches of the organ of

  contact. Since drivers of different sizes

  must be buried in different depths in

  the notches, the size of the pusher is determined indepen-

  the size of the conductor on which the

contact must be fixed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second sections 10 of the two notches of the contact member have different widths, as do the third sections 11 and the fourth sections 13, those sections of the notch in the back plate (FIG. 1) being narrower than those of the front plate. Such a contact member can be used with conductors whose dimensions vary on a relatively large plate, because it is certain that for the limit values of this range, at least one of the notches makes a satisfactory connection, while on the most of

  of the beach, the two notches establish satisfactory connections

  faisantes. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the contact part 2 of the contact member according to the invention comprises two opposite pairs 20 and 21 of resilient contact arms 22 each having a first rounded surface 23 of contact, opposite to a corresponding surface of the opposite arm 22 of the other pair, and a second rounded surface 24 of contact opposite to a corresponding surface of the other arm 22

  of the same pair. The two pairs of first surfaces oppo-

  contact 23 define a first notch in the

  a support such as a printed circuit board or a male tongue contact member may be introduced to be connected to the contact member, while the two pairs of second opposed contact surfaces 24 delimit a second notch in which a similar support or a male contact member may be introduced, the first and second

  notches thus defined being perpendicular to each other.

  As clearly shown in Figure 2, the e <tr--

  Free ends of the arms 22 of each of the pairs 20 and 21 are bent so as to give a flared entry 25 to the first

  notch defined by the first surfaces 23 of contact.

  This part 2 of contact has the advantage of allowing the mounting of several contact members in a common housing, with the same orientation, which facilitates the realization of connection of conductors with the connection parts of the contact members, and which allows to obtain a connector that can be engaged with a row of male contact members comprising tabs arranged in planes perpendicular to each other, for example as it is the

  case for automotive headlight lamps.

  It goes without saying that many modifications can

  may be made to the contact organ described and shown

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

  1. Electrical contact member comprising a   conductive plate whose edge has a notch which   takes an input located at the edge and leading to a first section with convergent edges, this first section leading to a second section with straight and parallel edges, the contact member being characterized in that the second section (10) leads to a third section (11) with convex and convergent edges, the third section leading to a groove (12) which opens into a fourth flared section (13) leading to a fifth section (14) with convex and convergent edges, the maximum width of the fifth section (14) being smaller than that of the third section (11) and said fifth section (14) delimiting a closed end (15) for the notch (7).   2. Contact member according to claim 1, characterized in that the first section (9) comprises straight edges and convergent.   3. Contact member according to one of the claims   1 and 2, characterized in that the fifth section (14) to an enlarged opening (15).   4. Contact body according to any of the   preceding claims, characterized in that the sides   of the second section (10) are chamfered so as to present   remove relatively thin cutting edges.   5. Electrical contact comprising two members according to   any of the preceding claims arranged   in parallel planes and spaced so that their   check marks are aligned, characterized in that the second sections (10) of the notches (7) of the two contact members have different widths, as well as the third   sections (11) and the fourth sections (13).