Patent Publication Number: US-8118623-B2

Title: Electrical contact having folded contacting portion

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electrical contact, and more particular to an electrical contact with the contacting portion formed of two-level layers type by folding up a metal sheet for reducing the cost on base to ensure strength and rigidity of the contacting portion. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Electrical contact defining blade portion is widely used for power transmission in battery connectors, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,403 issued to Po et al. on Jul. 11, 2000 and Taiwan Patent Issued Number 539270 issued to Chen on Jun. 21, 2003 each discloses a battery connector illustrating such a conventional electrical contact thereof. The electrical contact is punched or cut out from a comparably thick board-shaped metal sheet, and the soldering portion has a same thickness as that of the contacting portion. The thick soldering portion uses a lot of metal sheet and will increase the cost of the electrical contact. Obviously, an improved electrical contact which can reduce the cost is highly desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical contact with simplified manufacture and low cost. 
     In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical contact made from a metal sheet includes a contacting portion for mating with a mating contact, a terminal portion for connecting with a printed circuit board and a retaining portion connecting the contacting portion and the terminal portion. The contacting portion defines first and second contacting pieces made from the metal sheet and folded to abut against each other, and the terminal portion extends from one of the contacting pieces. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a metal sheet before folded to be an electrical contact; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an electrical contact folded from the metal sheet shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is another perspective view of the electrical contact shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to describe preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , disclosed here is an electrical contact  1  made in accordance with the present invention. The electrical contact  1  made from a metal sheet  100  which defines 0.25-0.3 mm thickness. The metal sheet  100  is punched or cut out to defines a first contacting piece  11   a  and a second contacting piece  11   b  connecting with the first connecting piece  11   a . A connecting portion  14  extending along a line A-A is provided at a joint of the first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b . The first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b  are disposed in a same plane as the metal piece  100 , and a pair of indentations  110  is respectively provided at upper and lower side edges of the joint of the first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b . The first contacting piece  11   a  defines a first retaining piece  12   a  extending from a side edge  111   a  opposite to the connecting portion  14 , and the first retaining piece  12   a  defines a first vertical piece  121   a  spaced from the first contacting piece  11   a  and with barbs facing to the side edge  111   a , and a first connecting piece  123   a  extending horizontally from an upper portion of the side edge  111   a  to connect the first contacting piece  11   a  and the first vertical piece  121   a . An opening  124  facing downwards is formed between the first contacting piece  11   a  and the first retaining piece  12   a , and the barbs  122   a  are disposed in the opening  124 . An L-shaped terminal piece  13  which extends horizontally and then upwards from a side edge of the first vertical piece  121   a  is used for connecting with a printed circuit board. 
     The second contacting piece  11   b  defines a second retaining piece  12   b  extending horizontally and then downwards from a side edge  111   b  opposite to the connecting portion  14 . The second retaining piece  12   b  has a same configuration as the first retaining piece  12   a  except that there is no terminal piece extending from the second retaining piece  12   b . The first contacting piece  11   a  is of a mirror image with regard to the second contacting piece  11   b , and the first retaining piece  12   a  is of a mirror image with regard to the second retaining piece  12   b.    
     Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , the metal sheet  100  can be folded along the line A-A to make the first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b  attaching to each other, synchronously, the first and second retaining piece  12   a ,  12   b  attaching to each other, and an electrical contact  1  thereof is provided. The first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b  abut against each other to provide a contacting portion  11  of the electrical contact  1 , the first and second retaining pieces  12   a ,  12   b  abut against each other to define a retaining portion  12  of the electrical contact  1 , and the terminal piece  13  extending from the first retaining piece  12   a  is defined as a terminal portion of the electrical contact  1 . The contacting portion  11  and the retaining portion  12  both are formed of two-level type by folding up the metal sheet  100 , and the terminal piece  13  is formed from one metal piece extending from the first retaining piece  12   a . Opposite surfaces  112 ,  113  of the contacting portion  11  can be contacted by a mating contact. The connecting portion  14  is folded to be provided as a front mating edge  111  of the electrical contact  1 , and at least the upper side edge of the contacting portion  11  defines guiding faces thereof for guiding a mating contact. 
     The contacting portion  11  folded by the first and second contacting pieces  11   a ,  11   b  has double thickness as that of the metal sheet  100  and is provided with a thickness similar to a conventional contact of a battery connector, which is strong enough for mating with a mating contact in a normal state. The electrical contact  1  does not include a second terminal piece extending from the second retaining piece  12   b  and provides only one terminal piece  13  extending from the first retaining piece  12   a  as a terminal portion of the electrical contact  1 , which can save the material that is to form the second terminal piece. Moreover, the cost of the electrical contact  1  can be reduced effectively. In other embodiment, the electrical contact  1  also can omit the first terminal piece  13  and set the terminal portion defined as a second terminal piece extending from the second retaining piece  12   b . A plurality of electrical contacts  1  can be retained to an insulative housing for providing an electrical connector, especially for providing a battery connector, and the second retaining piece  12   b  can be inserted into the housing to prevent the mating contact from being scraped by the side edge  111   b  of the second contacting piece  11   b . In other embodiment, the second retaining piece  12   b  also can be omitted, and more material of the metal sheet  100  can be saved, and the cost of the electrical contact can be further reduced. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.