KR100564179B1 - Contact with anti-skiving feature - Google Patents

Abstract

The contact insertable into the insulated housing of the connector has a mating end for receiving the corresponding mating contact, a retaining portion inserted into the connector, and a mounting end opposite to the mating end. The mounting end has a transition region formed to pass through the insulating housing without substantially shearing the insulating housing. A method of making a contactor includes providing a sheet material, stamping the sheet to form a carrier strip having a corner and a plurality of contacts, each contactor having a mounting end extending from an edge of the carrier strip. Arranging a window in the mounting ends of the tool, and removing the contactor from the carrier strip.

Contact, Anti-Shape, Carrier Strip, Transition Zone, Fusible Elements

Description

CONTACT WITH ANTI-SKIVING FEATURE}

1 is a front view showing one alternative embodiment of the contact of the present invention.

2 is a front view showing a series of contacts of the present invention on a carrier strip.

3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the carrier strip and the contacts shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the carrier strip and contact taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a portion of a connector housing capable of receiving a contactor of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the connector housing taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the connector housing shown in FIG. 5, showing the contact of the present invention inserted therein; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the contactor and connector housing taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7; FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: contactor

11: combined end

15: notch

19: transition region

21: holding

100: connector

103: hole

117: fusible element

200: carrier strip

The present invention relates to a contact having anti-shagging properties. In particular, the present invention relates to a contactor that can be inserted into a connector housing without substantially cutting the connector housing.

When separating the contacts from the carrier strip, the cutting tool generally creates a cutting edge with burr areas. As the cut moves through the connector housing during insertion, the burr scraps off the material layer from the retention portion of the connector housing. The shaving of the connector housing can reduce the amount of holding force provided by the connector housing to retain the contacts.

In addition, a portion of the housing shaved by the burr may remain on the contact even after passing through the connector housing. In order to remove such chamfers from the contacts, additional steps are required in the connector assembly process. The connector assembly may use a brushing step, for example, to remove the scraped portion from the contact before securing the fusible element to the contact. Such additional steps increase the manufacturing cost. If the shaved portions are not removed, such shaved portions may prevent the fusible element from properly attaching to the contactor. Therefore, it is not particularly acceptable for the shaved part to be generated in an automated application. Clearly, there is room for improvement in the art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact insert that can be inserted into a connector housing without shaving the housing.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a contact in which no scraped portion of the connector housing remains on top when the contact is inserted into the housing.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a contact with which the fusible element can be attached after the contact has been inserted into the connector housing without requiring a removal step.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can be assembled in fewer steps.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a contactor in one aspect of the present invention. The contact is insertable into the insulated housing of the connector, the contact having a mating end for receiving a corresponding mating contact, a retaining portion inserted into the connector, and a mounting end positioned opposite the mating end. The mounting end has a transition area formed to pass through the insulating housing without substantially shearing the insulating housing.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by a carrier strip in another aspect of the invention. The carrier strip comprises a sheet material having an edge and at least one contactor. The contact has a mounting end extending from the edge and including a window, a retaining portion extending from the mounting end, and a mating end extending from the retaining portion.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a connector in another aspect of the present invention. The connector has an insulating housing having at least one through hole and a contact insertable into the through hole. The contact has a mating end that receives a mating mating contact, a retaining portion that engages the connector, and a mounting end having a die controlled area located opposite the mating end and adjacent to the retaining portion. The die conditioned area passes through the insulated housing of the connector without substantially shearing the housing.

The above and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a contact manufacturing method in another aspect of the present invention. The method includes providing a sheet material, stamping the sheet to form a carrier strip having an edge and a plurality of contacts, each contact having a mounting end extending from the corner of the carrier strip; Disposing a window at the mounting ends of the contacts and removing the contacts from the carrier strip.

Other uses and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the specification and drawings.

1 illustrates one alternative embodiment of a contactor 10 of the present invention. As described in detail below, the contactor 10 is a component of the connector 100.

The contact 10 has a mating end 11 extending from the connector 100 to interact with a mating contact (not shown) extending from the mating connector (not shown). In one embodiment, the blade-like contacts shown in FIG. 1 preferably interact with a double beam contact on the mating connector. However, any type of contact may be used in the present invention.

The mounting end 13 is located opposite the mating end 11 of the contact 10. The mounting end 13 preferably comprises a notch 15 with the arm 17 laterally positioned. The wall forming the notch 15 includes a generally smooth transition area 19. The transition region 19 is a region of reduced thickness, and preferably has a tapered or rounded shape as shown in FIG. Preferably, the transition region 19 is located on the notch 15 wall region closest to the engagement end 11. The advantages of the notch 15 and the transition region 19 are apparent from below.

The retaining portion 21 extends between the engaging end 11 and the mounting end 13 of the connector 10. Retention portion 21 is a portion of contact 10 that is tightly fitted within connector 100. Retention portion 21 may include an anti-wicking hole 23 to help prevent wicking of the solder that may occur towards the mating end 11 during subsequent manufacturing steps.

The manufacturing steps of the contact 10 are described with reference to FIGS. Mechanisms such as conventional stamping machines form a series of contacts 10 on a carrier strip 200. Carrier strip 200 is a sheet of suitable conductive material. In addition to contouring the contact 10 and punching the anti-wicking hole 23, a window 25 is formed in the contact 10 in the stamping process.

A portion of the wall forming the window 25 and adjacent the retaining portion 21 is deformed to create the transition region 19. Preferably, the transition region 19 is a die controlled region. Preferably, the transition region 19 is formed by a coining operation. However, other methods of forming the transition region 19 can also be used.

After the coining step, the cutting step cuts the contacts 10 from the carrier strip 200 to form individual contacts. When cut from the carrier strip 200, the windows 25 of the contacts 10 become notches 15. The contacts 10 are placed in the connector 100 after being cut using known techniques.

The connector 100 is described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. The connector 100 includes an insulated housing 101 having an array of holes 103 extending between the mating surface 105 and the mounting surface 107. Adjacent to the engagement surface 105, each hole 103 preferably has introduction surfaces 109, 111. Introducing surfaces 109 and 111 assist to align contact 10 and holes 103 during connector 100 assembly.

In addition, the holes 103 include portions having a reduced width between the engaging surface 105 and the mounting surface 107 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. The reduced portion forms the retention region 113 which holds the contacts 10 using an interference fit. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the retention region 113 may be a rib that projects inwardly from the walls forming the hole 103. The retention area 113 may extend axially along the length of the hole 103. Although shown as a rib, other protrusions may be used to form the reduced portion.

Preferably, the mating mating connector has a double beam contact that engages with the contact 10, so that the insulating housing 101 may include a pair of beam receiving notches 117 in communication with each hole 103. . Receiving notches 117 may receive distal ends of the double beams during engagement with the contacts 10. Receiving notches 117 are formed to accommodate the deflection of the double beam when the dual beam contacts engage the contact 10.

Preferably connector 100 is surface mounted to a substrate (not shown) using a reflow technique, preferably a Ball Grid Array (BGA) technique. To assist surface mounting, the aperture 103 may have an enlarged portion 115 adjacent to the mounting surface 107. As shown in FIG. 8, enlargement 115 is formed to receive at least a portion of fusible element 117, such as a solder ball. International Publication No. WO 98/15989 (International Application No. PCT / US97 / 18066) referenced herein discloses a method of securing solder balls to contacts.

Insertion of the contactor 10 into the connector 100 is described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. The contact 10 is inserted into the connector 100 after the contact 10 has been cut from the carrier strip 200 using known techniques. The mounting end 13 of the contactor 10 first enters the hole 103. The arms 17 of the contactor 10 pass freely next to the holding area 113 because these arms 17 are not aligned with the holding area 113. However, the transition region 19 of the contact 10 aligns with and engages with the retention region 113 during insertion. If the contact 10 is further inserted into the connector 100, the retaining portion 21 is engaged with the retaining region 113. The transition region 19 does not shave the retention region 113 during insertion because of its shape. Insertion of the contact 10 into the connector 100 may be performed by an automated technique.

When the contactor 10 is properly disposed within the connector 100, the fusible element 117 can be attached to the contactor 10 using the technique disclosed in, for example, the above-mentioned International Publication No. WO 98/15989. have. In accordance with the present invention, fusible element 117 can be attached to contactor 10 without requiring intermediate fabrication steps of contactor 10 such as brushing the shaved portion from contactor 10.

Dual arm 17 and notch 15 may assist in improving the safety and placement of fusible element 117 on contact 10. First, dual arm 17 and notch 15 provide a larger surface area to which fusible element 117 can be attached than conventional contacts. Larger surface areas can increase the bonding force between fusible element 117 and contactor 10.

Notch 15 may also assist to align fusible element 117 on contactor 10. During reflow, fusible element 117 flows into the void area defined by notch 15 even when not properly centered on contactor 10. As the fusible element 117 is reflowed into the void area, the remainder of the fusible element 117 is displaced into the void area. That is, fusible element 117 is moved to the center position during reflow. This helps to provide a more uniform connector 100.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with various forms of preferred embodiments, other similar embodiments to the disclosed embodiments which perform the same function of the invention without departing from the invention may be used or modifications and additions. It should be understood that they can be prepared. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any one embodiment, but should be limited in scope in accordance with the contents of the appended claims.

Contactors having anti-shagging properties according to the present invention can be inserted into the connector housing without substantially shaving the connector housing. Thus, there is no need for an additional step to remove the shaved portion from the contact, thus reducing manufacturing costs, and since there is no shaved portion, the fusible element can be properly attached to the contact.

Claims (32)

A contact insertable into the insulated housing of the connector, A mating end for receiving a mating contact; A retention portion inserted into the connector, And a mounting end positioned opposite the mating end and having a transition region formed to pass through the insulating housing without substantially shaping the insulating housing. The contact of claim 1 wherein the transition region is a die controlled region. 3. The contactor of claim 2 wherein said die controlled region is coined. 10. The contact of claim 1 wherein the transition region is substantially smooth. 2. The contact of claim 1 wherein the transition region comprises a region of reduced thickness. 6. The contactor as in claim 5, wherein said reduced area is tapered. The contact as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting end further comprises a notch formed by a wall, said transition region occupying at least a portion of said wall. The contact as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting end further comprises a pair of arms disposed on the side of said transition region. A sheet material having an edge, A carrier comprising a mounting end comprising a window extending from the corner and having a transition region, a retaining portion extending from the mounting end, and at least one contact comprising a mating end extending from the retaining portion strip. 10. The carrier strip of claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the window is a die conditioned area. 11. The carrier strip of claim 10, wherein the die controlled region is coined. 10. The carrier strip of claim 9, wherein a wall forms the window and at least a portion of the wall has a deformed area. 13. The carrier strip of claim 12, wherein said deformed region is adjacent said retaining portion. 13. The carrier strip of claim 12, wherein the deformed region is substantially smooth. 10. The carrier strip of claim 9, wherein the deformed region is tapered. An insulating housing having at least one through hole, It is insertable in the through hole and has a mating end for receiving a mating contact, a retaining portion for mating a connector, a die-controlled area opposite the retaining portion and opposite the retaining portion, and substantially without shearing the insulating housing. And a contact comprising a mounting end formed to pass through the insulating housing. 17. The connector of claim 16, wherein the die adjusted region is coined. 17. The connector of claim 16, wherein the die adjusted region is tapered. 19. The connector of claim 18, wherein the die adjusted region is rounded. 17. The connector of claim 16, wherein the mounting end further comprises a notch defined by a wall and the transition region occupies at least a portion of the wall. 17. The connector of claim 16, wherein the mounting end further comprises a pair of arms disposed on the side of the transition area. 17. The connector of claim 16, further comprising a fusible element attachable to the contact. 23. The connector of claim 22, wherein said fusible element is a solder ball. Is how to make contact, Providing the sheet material, Stamping the sheet to form a carrier strip having an edge and a plurality of contacts, each contact having a mounting end extending from the corner of the carrier strip; Placing a window at the mounting ends of the contacts; Removing the contacts from the carrier strip, And wherein the contacts can pass through the insulating housing of the connector without substantially shearing the insulating housing. 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising die adjusting the area of the windows. 27. The method of claim 25, wherein die adjusting comprises coining an area of the windows. 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising modifying at least a portion of the windows of the contacts. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the modifying step comprises smoothing at least a portion of the windows. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the modifying step includes tapering the portion of the windows. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein said modifying comprises deforming at least a portion of said windows located opposite said edge of said carrier strip. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said removing comprises cutting said contacts across said mounting ends, wherein a cut is through said windows. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said removing occurs after placing a window.

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