WO2020088714A1

WO2020088714A1 - Plug-in element for a plug

Info

Publication number: WO2020088714A1
Application number: PCT/DE2019/100923
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norbert Kropiewnicki
Original assignee: Harting Electric Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2018-10-30
Filing date: 2019-10-24
Publication date: 2020-05-07
Also published as: DE102018127091A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to electrical plug-in connections and, in particular, to plugs with plug-in elements for high currents with contact lamellae. In order to present a solution which further develops the known plugs for high currents with contact lamellae to the effect that a reduction of plug-in and/or pulling forces is achieved while maintaining a required current-carrying capacity, the invention proposes a plug-in element (1) for a plug comprising the plug-in element (1) and a mating plug-in element, wherein the plug-in element (1) comprises a plurality of contact lamellae (2) which comprise an electrically conductive material and are designed for electrical contact to be made by the mating plug-in element in the plugged-connected plug, wherein the plug-in element (1) has a spring element which clamps the contact lamellae (2) in the radial direction, wherein the plug-in element (1) has, in a plug-in region (3) which extends in the longitudinal direction of the plug-in element (1) and in which the plug-in element (1) and the mating plug-in element overlap when the plug is plug-connected, a contact region (4) and a spacer region (6) which follow one another in the longitudinal direction from the plug-in side of the plug-in element (1), wherein the contact region (4) and the spacer region (6) each comprise surfaces (5, 7) which face the mating plug-in element in the radial direction in the plug-connected plug, wherein the surface (7) of the spacer region (6) is recessed in relation to at least one portion of the surface (5) of the contact region (4) in the radial direction.

Description

Plug element for a plug

The present invention relates to the field of electrical

Plug connections and especially that of plugs with

Plug-in elements for high currents with contact blades.

A known plug-in or contact system comprises a male plug-in element and a female plug-in element which are inserted into one another for contacting, the female plug-in element having contact lamellae.

For applications with high currents (approximately more than 100 A or even more than 800 A), the plug elements are conventionally made of copper (or a comparable material), since this is associated with very good electrical conductivity.

However, copper is a relatively soft material and has only a small amount of spring properties. In order to address this, the contact blades provided in particular in the female plug-in element are provided with a so-called over-spring.

This spring, which is typically located in the front (i.e. towards the mating connector) area, is generated by a radial one

Load (ultimately on the male contact arranged inside when plugged in) normal forces which are distributed to the slats.

It has been found that the plug-in and pull-out forces (that is, the forces which occur when plugging or aiming the plug-in elements, ie the connection and disconnection of the contacts) are comparatively high in the known solutions which are designed for high currents, and in particular after a multiplicable plug and pull for manual operation become too high. Cases have been observed where forces in the range of 1500 N were necessary. So far, contact grease has been used to reduce the plugging and pulling forces in plugs with contact lamellae, but this, on the one hand, has an additional effect with the need to apply the contact grease

Work step in the manufacture and / or use of the connector and on the other hand does not allow a permanent solution, because that

Contact fat degenerates over time.

Another known approach is to use

Contact tapes, which in turn, however, with an additional

Manufacturing effort is connected.

An object underlying the present invention is to provide a solution in which a plug element for a plug

Contact lamella is available, which is suitable on the one hand for high currents and on the other hand avoids excessive insertion and / or pulling forces.

It is therefore desirable to present a solution that the known plug for high currents with contact blades in this regard

evolved that while maintaining a necessary

Current carrying capacity a reduction in plug-in and / or pulling forces is achieved.

The reduction of the insertion and / or pulling forces or the avoidance of excessive insertion and / or pulling forces is, in addition to aspects of

Handling of the connector also for the number of mating cycles of

Significance, especially if, as with conventional solutions, the insertion and withdrawal forces with an increasing number of insertion or

Pulls even increase. According to the invention, according to a first aspect, a plug-in element for a plug with the plug-in element and a mating plug-in element, the plug-in element comprising a plurality of contact lamellae with an electrically conductive material, which are designed for electrical contacting with the mating plug-in element in the plug inserted,

proposed as defined in claim 1, namely in a form in which the plug element has a spring element which the

Contact lamella spans in the radial direction, the plug element in a extending in the longitudinal direction of the plug element

Mating area in which the plug element and mating plug element overlap one another when the plug is inserted, one contact area and one in the longitudinal direction from the plug side of the plug element

Has distance area, the contact area and the

Spacer area each include surfaces that face the mating plug element in the plug in the radial direction, the surface of the spacer area springing back in the radial direction relative to at least part of the surface of the contact area.

It was found that a suitable geometric design of the plug element can have a positive influence on the plug and pull forces. The advantage of such a solution is that no additional components or additives are required. It was also found that the geometry of the

Contact lamellae advantages of a contact strip can be achieved, namely the provision of many contact points in a defined area, without having to use such a contact strip.

The geometric design can be realized in the manufacturing process and does not require any additional components, making it simple

Construction and a simple structure can be achieved. The reduction in plugging and pulling forces also has a positive effect on the number of plugging cycles. The mechanical load on the

Contact surface is reduced. For comparison with known solutions, patterns were set up and investigations were carried out with regard to the insertion and removal forces, insertion cycles and current carrying capacity, the results showing an enormous improvement in the insertion and extraction forces, on average the insertion and extraction forces could be increased by approx. 55% be lowered. The possible mating cycles could be increased several times. The difference in current carrying capacity is within the tolerance range of 5%.

It is believed that when the known contact lamella plug is inserted, material is displaced along the rubbing surfaces, the cumulative effect of this displacement after some

Mating cycles leads to a very strong increase in the necessary forces.

The limitation of the contact area on the one hand limits the area of this material shift, the provision of the

To a certain extent it provides a reservoir for absorbing abrasion and material displacement that does not have a negative effect on the insertion and removal forces. In an advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the plug-in element has an essentially ring-shaped cross section in the plug-in area.

The plug-in element according to the invention, like other known plug-in elements, preferably has an essentially ring-shaped cross section in the plug-in area (any slits between the lamellae and grooves or the like not being present in the contact surfaces are also taken into account), although other cross-sections are also possible with a view to special applications or boundary conditions.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the electrically conductive material comprises copper, aluminum, a

Copper alloy and / or an aluminum alloy or consists thereof.

The use of copper, copper alloys, aluminum or

Aluminum alloys (including copper and

Aluminum) allows a desired one to be ensured

Current carrying capacity without incurring excessive costs for the material.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the contact lamellae are at least on a part of their surfaces, in particular on a part that is radial in the inserted plug

Facing the mating connector element is provided with a coating with a further electrically conductive material, preferably with nickel, a nickel alloy, silver, a silver alloy and / or gold.

The coating allows an additional reduction in the plug-in and / or pulling forces, the surface properties of the materials used being able to be used without the entire plug-in area having to be produced from these materials.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, at least some of the plurality of contact lamellae each have one or more grooves, at least in the contact area, which are located in

Extend longitudinally. It has been found that the provision of grooves with a contact area also has an advantageous effect on the insertion and / or pulling forces.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the spring element is arranged at least in part in the contact area.

For the most effective use of the spring properties of the spring element, it is preferably arranged completely or at least partially where the plug elements are (should) be in contact with one another.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the plug element is a female plug element, which is designed to receive the mating plug element in the form of a male plug element.

The invention preferably provides that the plug element according to the invention is a female plug element, but is not limited to this.

In another advantageous embodiment of an aspect of the invention, the contact lamellae extend over the contact area and the spacing area and are separated from one another by slots, in particular slots that pass through the contact area and spacing area.

Features of advantageous embodiments of the invention are

defined in particular in the subclaims, further advantageous features, designs and refinements for the person skilled in the art also being apparent from the above explanation and the following discussion. The present invention is further illustrated and explained below on the basis of exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figures. 1 shows a schematic and perspective illustration of the

Illustration of an embodiment of the plug element according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the plug element according to the

Embodiment of Fig. 1,

3 shows a schematic sectional view of the plug element according to the exemplary embodiment from FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 4 shows a schematic front view of the plug element according to the exemplary embodiment from FIGS. 1 to 3 and

Fig. 5 is a schematic enlarged view of a detail from the

Representation of the plug element in FIG. 4.

In the accompanying drawings and the explanations for these drawings, corresponding or related elements - insofar as is expedient - are identified by corresponding or similar reference numerals, even if they are in

different embodiments can be found.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic and perspective view to illustrate an embodiment of the invention

Plug element, while a side view of the plug element according to the embodiment of FIG. 1 shows. It can be seen in the perspective view of FIG. 1 that the plug element 1 has a plurality of contact lamellae 2 in its front region (on the left in the illustration of FIG. 1), which are each separated from one another by slots 9.

The contact blades 2 also each have a spring receptacle 10, in which an over-spring (not shown) is received and, to a certain extent, fixed in the longitudinal direction. Since the person skilled in the art is familiar with such spring springs, it is not necessary to use the spring springs or their

To describe application or further details here in more detail.

1 also shows grooves 8 in the contact area of the contact lamellae 2, which will be discussed further below.

FIG. 2 shows the plug-in element 1 from FIG. 1 in a side view, the contact lamellae 2, the slits 9 separating these and the spring receptacle (s) 10 also being recognizable here. The front area (left in FIG. 2) of the plug element 1 is formed by the plug area 3. The plug-in area 3 results from the fact that both are in this area when plugged in (not shown)

Plug-in elements, female and male, overlap each other. The person skilled in the art is also familiar with this overlapping or intermeshing of the plug elements, so that a further discussion can be dispensed with.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view of the plug element according to the exemplary embodiment from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, wherein FIG. 4 shows a schematic front view of the plug element according to the

Embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 shows. 5 shows a schematic enlarged view of a detail from the representation of the plug element in FIG. 4. The arrangement in FIG. 3 corresponds to that of FIG. 2 in its arrangement, however FIG. 3 shows a sectional representation. As already discussed above, the plug-in element 1 comprises contact lamellae 2 separated by slots 9, which are located in the plug-in area 3 of the

Extend plug element 1. The contact lamellae 2 have in their front area (on the left in the illustration in FIG. 3) a recess on their outside, which forms the spring receptacle 30 for the over-spring.

The plug-in area 3 comprises a contact area 4, which is provided with the grooves 8, and a spacing area 6, the contact area 4 adjoining the spacing area 6 and being arranged between the contact area 6 and the front opening of the plug-in element 1, through which the mating plug-in element ( not shown) is introduced.

The inner surface 5 of the contact blades 2 in the area of

Contact area 4 lies further inside than the inner surface 7 of the contact blades 2 in the area of the spacing area 6. With others

Words, the surface 7 of the spacing area 6 jumps back in the radial direction (here outwards) relative to the surface 5 of the contact area 4 of a contact lamella 2, so that when the mating plug-in element is inserted, its outer diameter is essentially matched to the inner diameter of the contact area 4 ( more precisely, which is slightly larger than the inner diameter, which is given by the area between the grooves 8, in order to achieve reliable contacting, the contact lamellae being pressed against the mating plug element by the over-spring (not shown)) in

Distance area 6, the inner surface 7 of the contact blades 2 is spaced from the outer surface of the mating connector. FIG. 4 shows the plug-in element 1 in a front view (ie seen from the left in FIG. 2 or 3), here again the contact lamellae 2 separated from the slots 3, which are provided with grooves 8 in the contact area 4. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 4.

The inner contour of a contact lamella 2 each has three contacting sections of the surface 5 in the circumferential direction, which establish the electrical contact between the plug element 1 and the mating plug element and between which the grooves 8 are arranged.

As already discussed above, the over-spring is located over (or around) the contact area 4 in use. The grooves 8 are pushed in the axial direction (insertion direction), as a result of which the contact geometry can be mapped. The contact area 4 ends with the undercut formed by the spacing area 6. The diameter in the undercut or

Distance area 6 is larger than the outer diameter of the male contact, whereby the rubbing surfaces are reduced. In the context of the illustrated embodiment, the

Contact geometry optimized by an undercut in combination with several contact points that are designed as groove geometry in the direction of insertion. Due to the geometry of the contact lamellae, the plugging and pulling forces can be reduced enormously, the number of plugging cycles increased and the current carrying capacity almost maintained.

The design of the embodiment is for illustration only and the shapes, dimensions and relationships are not as that

To limit the invention. Plug element for a plug

List of reference symbols plug element

Contact lamella

Mating area

Contact area

Surface of the contact area

Distance range

Distance area surface

groove

slot

Feather mount

Claims

Plug element for a plug claims

1. plug-in element (1) for a plug with the plug-in element (1) and a mating plug-in element, the plug-in element (1) comprising a plurality of contact blades (2) with an electrically conductive material which are used for electrical contacting with the

Mating plug element are configured in the inserted plug, the plug element (1) having a spring element that tensions the contact lamellae (2) in the radial direction,

wherein the plug element (1) in a plug region (3) extending in the longitudinal direction of the plug element (1), in which

Plug element (1) and mating plug element overlap one another when the plug is inserted, one after the other in the longitudinal direction from the plug side of the plug element (1) has a contact area (4) and a spacing area (6),

wherein the contact area (4) and the spacing area (6) each comprise surfaces (5, 7) which face the mating plug element in the plug in the radial direction,

wherein the surface (7) of the spacing area (6) springs back in the radial direction relative to at least a part of the surface (5) of the contact area (4), at least a part of the plurality of contact lamellae (2) at least in the contact area (4) each having one or more Has grooves (8), which are in

Extend longitudinally.

2. plug element (1) according to claim 1 with a substantially annular cross section in the plug region.

3. plug-in element (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electrically conductive material comprises copper, aluminum, a copper alloy and / or an aluminum alloy or consists thereof.

4. plug element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact lamellae (2) at least on part of their surfaces (5, 7), in particular on a part (5) which faces the mating plug element in the radial direction in the inserted plug, are provided with a coating with another electrically conductive material, preferably with nickel, a nickel alloy, silver, a silver alloy and / or gold.

5. Plug element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the spring element is arranged at least in part in the contact area (4).

6. plug-in element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the plug-in element (1) is a female plug-in element (1) which is designed to receive the mating plug-in element in the form of a male plug-in element.

7. Plug element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact lamellae (2) extend over the contact area (4) and the spacing area (6) and from one another through slots (9), in particular over the contact area (4) and spacing area (6 ) through slots (9) are separated.