Patent Publication Number: US-9431721-B2

Title: Contact element

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of prior German Application No. 10 2013 013 458.7, filed Aug. 14, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to contact elements used to create an electrical contact between a first and a second electrical or electronic component. 
     The present invention relates in particular to a contact element which uses the connection method of an insulation displacement connection and of lamellae contacts for the respective electrical connection to the first and second electrical or electronic components. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Lamellae contacts are known from prior art, for example from WO 2009/062469 A2, whereas insulation displacement connections are described in a great number of embodiments, with DE 101 52 006 A1 being cited as an example. Other lamellae contacts are known from US 2001/0,022,050 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,536 B1; FR 2,311,483 A1; DE 101 49 574 A1; DE 103 52 761 A1 and DE 10 2010 044 612 A1. The lamellae contacts each have two legs that can resiliently accommodate a mating contact and have sufficiently large parallel contact areas for a good electrical contact. Such lamellae contacts are suitable for a great number of applications. 
     For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,287,686 A discloses a contact element with distinctively different lamellae contacts at both ends. In this way, contact can be established on the one side with a glass substrate with applied electrical circuit and on the other side with another lamella contact that is plugged into a printed circuit board. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosed embodiments may include contact elements that are economical and can be produced in an automated fashion. The disclosed embodiments may facilitate a quick and automatic assembly to electrically connect two electrical and/or electronic components. 
     The disclosed embodiments may be based on the idea of integrating in a one-piece component, such as a stamping, an insulation displacement connection, and a contact lamellae of a lamella contact, for example. In this way, two connecting methods may be used in one component. However, to ensure the mobility of the resilient contact lamella(e) the segments in which the two connecting methods are used may have to be decoupled from one another. According to certain embodiments, this is may be implemented via a recess in the material. 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a contact element to create an electrical contact between a first and a second electrical or electronic component. For this purpose, the contact element may be made of an electrically conductive material and used to connect an electrically insulated cable as a first electrical or electronic component to a second electrical or electronic component, which may be contacted via a contact tab that is inserted between the contact lamellae. 
     The contact element may consist of a one-piece, elongated and flat body, which may have opposite end segments in a longitudinal direction. Contact to the aforementioned electrical components may occur at the respective ends of the body in longitudinal direction. In this context, the term “flat” may mean that the longitudinal and lateral dimension of the body may be substantially greater than the depth and/or thickness of the body. For example, the body may consist of a metal, such as copper or alloys thereof. 
     An insulation displacement connection may be provided in a first end segment of the body. An insulation displacement connection may be a connection method where the electrical conductor of a cable including its insulation is pressed into the insulation displacement connection. The “sharp” contact legs of the insulation displacement connection may sever the insulation of the cable, and a gastight electrical connection to the electrical conductor may be created, for example. This may also be referred to as an “LSA” method (solder-, screw-, and strip-free method). 
     A second end segment of the body may form a lamellae contact with two lamellae (also referred to as contact lamellae). The lamellae may extend in the longitudinal direction of the body. At least one of the lamellae may be provided in a resilient fashion. If both lamellae are provided in a resilient fashion, they may be developed as oppositely resilient. 
     For the lamella(e) to be resilient perpendicularly to the longitudinal extension of the body, and so that the integration of the insulation displacement connection does not interfere with the elasticity of the lamella(e), a recess may be provided in the material of the body between the first and second end segment. The recess may separate the two end segments and create a decoupling. This may keep the lamella and/or lamellae in one direction perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the body in a resilient and/or elastic fashion. 
     In certain embodiments, the insulation displacement connection and the lamellae contact may be on a common plane and/or in a joint position. According to one embodiment, the connection between the first and second end segment may occur via a bridge of the body. 
     In certain embodiments, the lamella(e) of the lamellae contact may be developed resiliently in a direction parallel to the lateral extension of the body when a contact tab is inserted between the lamellae. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the recess in the material may be introduced into the body from a side wall and/or -edge of the body. For example, an opening may be created at the side wall and/or the recess in the material may be open at the side wall. The recess in the material may run in the direction of the opposite side wall or -edge. According to one embodiment, the recess can be straight and run perpendicular to the longitudinal extension and/or parallel to the lateral direction of the body. The first and the second end segment may be decoupled from one another in lateral direction and the relative mobility of the lamellae relative to one another may remain securely fixed parallel to the lateral direction and perpendicular to the longitudinal extension. 
     In certain embodiments, the recess in the material may not support the insulation displacement connection over its entire lateral extension. This may lead to a deformation in the connecting area between the first and second end segment when the electrical line is pressed in. For example, torsion about the connection bridge may create deformations. To prevent this, in an embodiment, the insulation displacement connection may have a support on its side wall facing away from the connecting area. The support may bridge the recess in the material and may have a bearing surface. During assembly, the bearing surface may contact a mating surface and therefore may support the side of the insulation displacement connection. The side of the insulation displacement connection may be decoupled from lamellae contact by the recess in the material. This process may reduce the occurrences of undesired deformations. 
     In certain embodiments, the material of the bearing surface may be crimped over and/or folded over as a reinforcement measure. For example, double layers may be formed to provide reinforcement. In an embodiment, multiple layers can compensate for spaces in the thickness between adjacent bodies, which may result in improved stability. In certain embodiments, when the support is arranged at an angle relative to the lateral direction of the body, such as by 90°, for example, the decoupling of the lamellae contact and insulation displacement connection may be improved. 
     In an embodiment, the body, including the insulation displacement connection, lamellae and recess in the material, may be punched out of a flat arc of material and/or blank. When support is provided with a crimping or an angled support, an additional bending process may follow for the folding or support. This may make the body a stamping part or, in certain embodiments, a stamping and bending part. 
     To increase the current capacity, certain embodiments may connect a plurality of the aforementioned bodies to one another. In some embodiments, differently developed bodies, which, for example, may have only the lamellae contact (but not the insulation displacement connection), may be connected as well. For example, a body and another body may be arranged alternately, followed by a body, etc. As mentioned above, crimping may compensate for any gaps between the supports in which the body is arranged without insulation displacement connection and support. The bodies may be connected using adhesive force, frictional, and engagement connection methods. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in the following description. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a contact element in accordance with certain embodiments, with a body next to another body that has only a lamellae contact, but not an insulation displacement connection. 
         FIG. 2 a    shows a plurality of successively arranged bodies as shown in  FIG. 1 , next to a plurality of other successively arranged bodies as also shown in  FIG. 1 , in accordance with certain embodiments. 
         FIG. 2 b    shows a contact element including the plurality of bodies and other bodies from  FIG. 2 a   , in accordance with certain embodiments. 
         FIG. 3 a    shows a contact element of a plurality of bodies and other bodies, with the insulation displacement connection having a support, in accordance with certain embodiments. 
         FIG. 3 b    shows the contact element in  FIG. 3 a    mounted in a holder. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following, the same reference symbols are used for the same or similar elements in the different representations. Individual embodiments and individual characteristics may be combined to form various arrangements. 
       FIG. 1  shows a contact element according to the present invention. The contact element may have body  10 . Body  10  may be punched out of a flat material blank and/or material arc. For example, body  10  may be a metal stamping. Body  10  may be flat and elongated. It may have a longitudinal dimension L, a lateral dimension Q, and thickness D. The longitudinal dimension L may be the largest dimension, in which case body  10  is elongated, The depth and/or thickness D may be the smallest dimension, in which case body  10  is flat. Body  10  may include first end segment  11  and second end segment  12 . 
     An insulation displacement connection may be developed in the first end segment  11 . The insulation displacement connection may be U-shaped and include two opposite legs  13 ,  14  that form the insulation displacement connection contacts, as well as a bridge  17  that connects the legs. The insulation displacement connection may be formed by introducing a recess  15  into the flat material blank. The recess  15  may widen toward the first end of the body  10  in order to improve the connection of the electrical cable with conductor and insulation at the recess  15  between the separating clamp legs  13 ,  14 . In an embodiment, clamp legs  13 ,  14  may have insertion bevels  16 . 
     Second end segment  12  may also be substantially U-shaped. Second end segment  12  may have two contact lamellae  18 ,  19  that may be separated from one another by recess  20 . The lamellae may form the parallel legs of the U-shape. They may be connected to one another by a bridge  26 . At the second end of the body  10 , the lamellae  18 ,  19  may have facing crowns  27  between which a contact tab can be inserted. In an embodiment, at least one of the lamellae may be resilient; for example, in  FIG. 1  lamella  19  may be perpendicular to the longitudinal extension L and parallel to the lateral extension Q toward the left. However, in certain embodiments, both lamellae  18 ,  19  may be resilient in opposite directions parallel to the lateral direction Q. 
     If both bridges  17 ,  26  were connected directly to one another the elasticity of the lamellae  18 ,  19  in lateral direction Q may be compromised. Therefore, according to the certain embodiments, first end segment  11  and second end segment  12  may be separated and/or decoupled from one another by recess  21 . For example, first and second end segment  11 ,  12  may be connected only by connection segment and/or bridge  28  which, may be smaller, such as less than half the width. This may result in lamellae  18 ,  19  with the bridge  26  being “axis” elastically resilient. 
       FIG. 1  shows other body  30  which only has the lamellae contact with the lamellae  18 ,  19 . To increase the current capacity, other body  30  may be connected to body  10  with known connection methods. 
     In certain embodiments, a plurality of the bodies  10  may be connected to a plurality of the other bodies  30 , as shown in  FIG. 2 a   . Bodies  10  and other bodies  30  may be arranged in an alternating order, as shown in  FIG. 2 b   . In an embodiment, a plurality of bodies  10  may be arranged side-by-side. In this example, recess  15 , located between the separating clamp legs  13 ,  14  of the bodies  30 , into which an insulation of the cable could be pressed during the cutting process, may be unnecessary. To reduce the counteracting force of the insulation, a partially stripped cable or fully stripped cable may be used in the contact area. 
     In an embodiment, support  23  can be provided as shown in  FIGS. 3 a  and 3 b   . If an electrical cable is pressed into the recess  15  of the insulation displacement connection in direction P, there may be a risk that the first end segment  11  with the insulation displacement connection may become deformed with the connection segment  28  as point of rotation. To counteract this potential deformation, support  22  is provided. Support  22  may be an integral component of body  10  and may extend away from the insulation displacement connection at least partially parallel to the second end segment  12  in longitudinal direction L of the body  10 . Support  22  may bridge the opening of the recess  21  at one side wall of the body  10 . In an embodiment, support  22  may have bearing surface  23  that may run parallel to the strength and/or thickness D and to the lateral direction Q. Furthermore, support  22  may be crimped in the area of bearing surface  23  (i.e. the body  10  may be two-layered in the area). 
     If the contact element formed in this way, which includes a plurality of bodies  10  and a plurality of other bodies  30 , is arranged in an alternating fashion and assembled in a carrier  31 , the bearing surface  23  may be supported on a mating surface  25  of the carrier  31 . This may support torqueing forces that may occur in the connecting segment  28  and may prevent a deformation if a cable is pressed into the insulation displacement connection.