EP1401057A1 - Borne électrique - Google Patents

Borne électrique Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1401057A1
EP1401057A1 EP02028980A EP02028980A EP1401057A1 EP 1401057 A1 EP1401057 A1 EP 1401057A1 EP 02028980 A EP02028980 A EP 02028980A EP 02028980 A EP02028980 A EP 02028980A EP 1401057 A1 EP1401057 A1 EP 1401057A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
coupling portion
terminal according
tubular element
female connector
introduction
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP02028980A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Antonio Falchetti
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Meccanotecnica Codognese SpA
Original Assignee
Meccanotecnica Codognese SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Meccanotecnica Codognese SpA filed Critical Meccanotecnica Codognese SpA
Publication of EP1401057A1 publication Critical patent/EP1401057A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/02—Contact members
    • H01R13/10—Sockets for co-operation with pins or blades
    • H01R13/11—Resilient sockets
    • H01R13/113—Resilient sockets co-operating with pins or blades having a rectangular transverse section
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/02—Contact members
    • H01R13/15—Pins, blades or sockets having separate spring member for producing or increasing contact pressure
    • H01R13/18—Pins, blades or sockets having separate spring member for producing or increasing contact pressure with the spring member surrounding the socket

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an electric terminal according to the preamble of claim 1.
  • electric terminals comprising a female connector made of tinned copper, which is cut and folded so as to form a pair of electric contact reeds able to accept between them and electrically contacting a male connector, such as for instance the terminal of a fuse.
  • Said contact reeds extend starting from a connecting portion, defined as "back" portion in the present description, which is firmly connected with other conductive elements, such as for instance a distribution bar of a fuse box.
  • Terminals of this type have proved to be faulty because in presence of intense and prolonged vibrations, such as those occurring in a motor vehicle, often they cannot firmly keep the male connector and tend to throw it out.
  • the introduction of the male connector results in undesired deformations of the female connector in directions that are orthogonal with respect to the direction of introduction of said male connector, and subsequently in the moving apart of the contact reeds and in a low reliability of the connection between the two terminals, particularly in case of vibrations.
  • the technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide an electric terminal having such structural and functional features as to have a better reliability, so as to firmly keep the male connector it is coupled with, avoiding in the meanwhile the drawbacks mentioned referring to electric terminals of the state of the art.
  • the numeral 1 globally refers to an electric terminal according to the invention.
  • the electric terminal 1 comprises a female connector, globally referred to with 10, obtained by cutting and folding from a sheet of metal, preferably a tinned copper alloy.
  • the female connector 10 mainly extends in a longitudinal direction X-X and has a back portion 12, which is arranged to be seamed onto the free end of a conductive element (not shown), and an opposite front portion 11 facing, in a removable way, with a male connector, i.e. engaging by means of a removable male/female coupling with a male connector, so as to establish an electric continuity with the latter.
  • the back portion 12 comprises a plurality of wings, referred to with 12a, which are folded so as to engage with a tab of a distribution plate or bar of a fuse box, or alternatively so as to seam the lead of an electric cable.
  • the back portion 12 of the female connector 10 is known per se and is not described in further detail in the following.
  • the front portion 11 of the female connector 10 couples with a male connector element M (indicated with a hatched line in Figure 4 ) , so as to create a removable male/female coupling.
  • the front coupling portion 11 is folded so as to assume a shape of an open tubular element extending in the aforesaid longitudinal direction X-X.
  • the front coupling portion 11 comprises a bottom wall 13, substantially plane and extending in the aforesaid direction X-X, from whose opposite longitudinal sides extend corresponding side walls 14 and 15 facing each other.
  • Said side walls 14 and 15 have corresponding longitudinal edges, referred to with 14a and 15a, folded so as to project from said side walls parallel to the bottom wall 13 and to face each other.
  • the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10 is provided with one or more contact reeds enabling the introduction in the aforesaid direction X-X of the male connector M, so as to establish an electric continuity therewith.
  • the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10 comprises two elastic contact reeds 16 and 17 extending inside said tubular element parallel to the side walls 14 and 15. Said two elastic contact reeds 16 and 17 therefore face each other.
  • Said reeds 16 and 17 are suitably sized so as to be elastically open one with respect to the other, thus enabling the introduction between them of the male connector M and keeping the latter between them with a given elastic strength.
  • the contact reeds 16 and 17 therefore cooperate to keep with a given elastic strength the male connector M in coupling position with the front portion 11 of the female connector 10, thus ensuring a firm connection also in case of vibrations.
  • the contact reeds 16 and 17 are obtained by folding from a portion connected to the front end of the side walls 14 and 15.
  • the contact reeds 16, 17 have an undulating development with first converging sections 16a and 17a jointed with following second diverging sections 16b and 17b.
  • Said first converging sections 16a and 17a are connected by means of a curved portion to the front ends of the side walls 14 and 15, whereas said second diverging sections 16b and 17b end up with end sections 16c and 17c curved towards the center of the female connector 10.
  • the electric terminal 1 comprises an outer tubular element 20, which is associated outside with the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10, so as to envelop and stiffen the latter and contrast its expansions in directions that are substantially perpendicular to the direction of introduction of the male connector M.
  • the function of said open tubular element 20 therefore is to contrast the expansion of the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10 during the introduction of the male connector M and until said male connector M is engaged with it.
  • the tubular element 2 has an open tubular section and is obtained by cutting and folding from a sheet of metal, preferably steel.
  • the tubular element 20 comprises an upper wall 21 that is substantially plane and extends in the aforesaid direction X-X, from whose opposite longitudinal sides extend corresponding side walls 22 and 23 facing each other.
  • Said side walls 22 and 23 have corresponding longitudinal edges, referred to with 22a and 23a, folded so as to be parallel to the upper wall 21 and to face each other.
  • the tubular element 20 has a longitudinal opening between the opposite edges 22a and 23a.
  • the outer tubular element 20 is fitted onto the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10 so as to envelop it, taking care that the open side of the tubular element 20 corresponds to the bottom wall 13 of the female connector 10, and consequently the open side of the female connector 10 corresponds to the upper wall 21 of the tubular element 20.
  • the purpose of the outer element 20 is to stiffen the female connector 10 and in the meanwhile to ensure the fastening of the electric terminal 1 within a seat of a supporting structure.
  • the side walls 22, 23 of the tubular element 20 are equipped with respective wings 24 projecting outside and inclined towards the back portion 12 of the female connector 10.
  • Said wings 24 constitute holding means engaging with the surfaces of a seat (not shown) of a supporting structure (not shown), for instance a plastic material fuse box.
  • the holding wings 24 are oriented so as to converge in the direction in which the terminal (with the outer element 20 mounted onto the female connector 10) is introduced into the aforesaid seat, and consequently diverge in the opposite direction, thus preventing the extraction of the terminal from its seat, when the male connector has to be taken out of the terminal.
  • the tubular element 20 comprises another tab 26 projecting outside from one of the edges 22a or 23a, in the example the edge 22a.
  • the tab 26 acts as an abutting and positioning element for a machine handling and mounting the tubular element 20 onto the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10.
  • This allows to keep the male connector M engaged with the front coupling portion 11 of the female connector 10 even in case of vibrations, thus making the electric terminal according to the invention particularly suitable to be used in fuse boxes mounted onto motor vehicles and the like.
  • the elastic characteristic of the contact reeds 16 and 17 allows to accept the introduction of male connectors M with different size, particularly as far as thickness is concerned, without endangering the stability of the electric connection.
  • the electric terminal according to the present invention allows to meet the aforesaid need and to overcome in the meanwhile the drawbacks mentioned in the introduction to the present description referring to the state of the art.
  • Another advantage of the electric terminal according to the invention consists in its high simplicity and in the possibility of manufacturing it through automated production lines.

Landscapes

  • Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
  • Connector Housings Or Holding Contact Members (AREA)
EP02028980A 2002-09-18 2002-12-27 Borne électrique Withdrawn EP1401057A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT001981A ITMI20021981A1 (it) 2002-09-18 2002-09-18 Terminale elettrico.
ITMI20021981 2002-09-18

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1401057A1 true EP1401057A1 (fr) 2004-03-24

Family

ID=31898503

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP02028980A Withdrawn EP1401057A1 (fr) 2002-09-18 2002-12-27 Borne électrique

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1401057A1 (fr)
IT (1) ITMI20021981A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109659711A (zh) * 2019-01-25 2019-04-19 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种连接片

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0601564A2 (fr) * 1992-12-11 1994-06-15 The Whitaker Corporation Douille électrique résistant aux vibrations
FR2775131A1 (fr) * 1998-02-16 1999-08-20 Framatome Connectors Int Borne de connexion electrique a cage

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0601564A2 (fr) * 1992-12-11 1994-06-15 The Whitaker Corporation Douille électrique résistant aux vibrations
FR2775131A1 (fr) * 1998-02-16 1999-08-20 Framatome Connectors Int Borne de connexion electrique a cage

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109659711A (zh) * 2019-01-25 2019-04-19 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种连接片

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ITMI20021981A1 (it) 2004-03-19

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