Abstract:
An electrical connection device comprises a bifurcated contact to establish an electrical connection with a mating contact, the bifurcated contact having at least two limbs, at least one web region between the limbs, and an electrically conductive jacket that is in contact with said web region. The bifurcated contact includes a region wherein the jacket at least partially surrounds the two limbs, which provide a plurality of contact positions within the jacket.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The invention relates to an electrical connection device comprising a bifurcated contact for the establishing of an electrical connection with a mating contact.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Bifurcated contacts, that is contacts with two contact limbs or contact sections which can be arranged, for example, in an upright or horizontal manner, frequently serve for the establishing of an electrical connection and a mechanical connection with a tongue-like mating contact. In this arrangement, this mating contact can, for example, be associated with a relay, a fuse and/or the like. The limited current carrying capacity due to the increased heat development in the bifurcated contact is disadvantageous with such a connection. Conventional solutions which make up for this disadvantage result in a larger construction height.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is the underlying object of the invention to provide an improved electrical connection device of the initially named kind with which the aforesaid disadvantages have been eliminated.  
         [0004]     This object is satisfied in accordance with the invention in that the bifurcated contact is provided with an electrically conductive jacket which is in particular in contact with the web region of the bifurcated contact, on the one hand, and has contact positions with the mating contact in those regions in which it surrounds the two limbs of the bifurcated contact, on the other hand.  
         [0005]     The possibility now exists due to this design of providing the bifurcated contact with an electrically conductive jacket which provides an additional current path without enlarging the constructional height and thus reduces the generation of heat. This electrically conductive jacket can also comprise two limb-like sections, for example, just like the bifurcated contact. A further current path can therefore be provided, for example, with the electrically conductive jacket between a relay contact and a central electrical interface, for example, which was not possible with the previously usual additional sleeve of stainless steel to increase the normal contact force. The circumstance can thus therefore in particular also be taken into account that different load currents can occur in the central electrical system. Since the constructional height is not enlarged by the electrically conductive jacket, additional costs are saved. Advantages also result with respect to the respective installation situation with the small constructional height.  
         [0006]     Additional contact points to the mating plug of, for example, a relay or a fuse are therefore produced with the electrically conductive jacket without enlarging the constructional height, and indeed with the positive effect of a reduction of the heat development in the central electrical system and of improved current carrying capacity. The electrically conductive jacket forms an additional bridge between the mating piece such as a relay or a fuse and, for example, a conductor rail to which the bifurcated contact can be connected.  
         [0007]     In accordance with a preferred practical embodiment of the electrical connection device, the jacket for the forming of the contact points with the mating contact is provided with shoulders which project from the regions of the jacket surrounding the two limbs of the bifurcated contact into a gap lying therebetween and receiving the mating contact.  
         [0008]     The gap of the jacket is expediently aligned with the gap of the bifurcated contact.  
         [0009]     The jacket preferably has at least two respective shoulders coming into contact with the mating contact at each side of its gap. In this arrangement, two respective shoulders of the jacket coming into contact with the mating contact are advantageously disposed opposite one another.  
         [0010]     In a preferred practical embodiment of the electrical connection device, the jacket for the forming of the contact positions with the mating contact is provided with four shoulders of which two are disposed opposite one another in each case.  
         [0011]     The jacket is preferably provided with corresponding shoulders in the region of the free ends of the two limbs of the bifurcated contact.  
         [0012]     The jacket is expediently formed starting from a slit flat part with a base section and an elongate section extending away from it, with the elongate section being bent around the free limb ends of the bifurcated contact and the base section being bent laterally around the web region of the bifurcated contact.  
         [0013]     The jacket is preferably formed by a stamped part.  
         [0014]     It is also in particular of advantage for the elongate section of the jacket bent around the free limb ends of the bifurcated contact to extend at its free end up to and into the web region of the bifurcated contact. It is of advantage here for the base section of the jacket bent laterally around the web region of the bifurcated contact to at least partly cover the region of the free end of its elongate section bent around the free limb ends of the bifurcated contact.  
         [0015]     The base section of the jacket expediently extends beyond the height of the plug-in region of the cable contact over a specific region of the two limbs of the bifurcated contact. It is of advantage here for the base section of the jacket bent around the web region of the bifurcated contact and regionally over its two limbs to cover the elongate section bent around the free limb ends of the bifurcated contact.  
         [0016]     In a preferred practical embodiment, the jacket consists of a copper plastic alloy. The jacket should preferably have good electrical conductivity and good thermal relaxation stability.  
         [0017]     In accordance with a preferred practical embodiment, the jacket preferably formed starting from a flat part or a stamped part has a material thickness in a range from approximately 0.4 mm.  
         [0018]     The bifurcated contact can also expediently have a material thickness in a range from approximately 0.8 mm.  
         [0019]     As already mentioned, the bifurcated contact is expediently connected to a conductor rail. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]     The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to an embodiment and to the drawing; there are shown:  
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective representation of an electrical connection device having a bifurcated contact to establish an electrical connection with a mating contact;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective view of the bifurcated contact shown in  FIG. 1  with an associated jacket;  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a development of the jacket formed starting from a flat part or stamped part;  
         [0024]      FIG. 4  is a schematic front view of the jacket bent into its final form;  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a schematic side view of the jacket bent into its final form; and  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  is a schematic perspective view of the jacket. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0027]      FIG. 1  shows in a schematic perspective representation an electrical connection device  10  comprising a bifurcated contact  12  to establish an electrical connection with a mating contact  14 .  
         [0028]     The cable contact  12  can be connected to a current conductor  16 . The mating contact  14 , for example of tongue form in the present case, can be associated, for example, with a relay, a fuse or the like.  
         [0029]     The bifurcated contact  12  is provided with an electrically conductive jacket  18 . This jacket  18  can in particular be in contact with the web region  20  of the bifurcated contact  12  (cf. e.g. the contact regions  38  in  FIG. 3 ), on the one hand, whereas, in the regions in which it surrounds the two limbs  22  (cf. in particular  FIG. 2 ) of the bifurcated contact  12 , it has contact positions with the mating contact  14 , on the other hand, which are formed in the present case by shoulders  24  (cf. in particular  FIG. 2  again).  
         [0030]     In  FIG. 2 , the bifurcated contact  12  recognizable in  FIG. 1  with the associated electrically conductive jacket  18  is shown again in a schematic perspective representation. In the present case, the mating contact has been omitted for reasons of clarity.  
         [0031]     The electrically conductive jacket  18  is therefore provided with shoulders  24  to form the contact positions with the mating contact  14  (cf.  FIG. 1 ). As can in particular be recognized with reference to  FIG. 2 , these shoulders  24  are directed—starting from the regions of the jacket  18  surrounding the two limits  22  of the bifurcated contact  12  into the gap  26  lying therebetween and accepting the mating contact  14  (cf.  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0032]     In this arrangement, this gap  26  of the jacket  18  is aligned with the gap  28  of the bifurcated contact  12 .  
         [0033]     As can in particular again be recognized with reference to  FIG. 2 , in the present case the jacket  18  has in each case at least two shoulders  24  coming into contact with the mating contact  14  (cf.  FIG. 1 ) on each side of its gap  26 . In this arrangement, two respective shoulders  24  of the jacket  18  entering into contact with the mating contact  14  are disposed opposite one another.  
         [0034]     In the present embodiment, the jacket  18  is provided with precisely four shoulders  24  to form the contact positions with the mating contact  14 , of which, as already mentioned, two respective ones are disposed opposite one another. The jacket  18  is provided in the region of the free ends of the two limbs  22  of the bifurcated contact  12  with the respective shoulders  24 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 3  shows a development of the jacket  18  formed starting from a flat part or stamped part. In  FIG. 4 , the jacket  18  bent into its final shape is reproduced in a schematic front view.  FIG. 5  shows the jacket  18  bent into its final shape in a schematic side view.  FIG. 6  shows the jacket  18  bent into its final shape in a schematic perspective view again.  
         [0036]     As can be seen from FIGS.  3  to  6 , the jacket  18  can be formed, in particular starting from a slit flat part, with a base part  30  and an elongate section  32  extending away from it. The elongate section  32  is bent around the free limb ends  34  of the bifurcated contact  12  (cf. also  FIG. 2 ) and the base section  30  is bent laterally around the web region  20  of the bifurcated contact  12 .  
         [0037]     The elongate section  32  of the jacket  18  bent around the free limb ends  34  of the bifurcated contact  12  extends with its free end  36  up to and into the region of the web  20  of the bifurcated contact  12  (cf. also again  FIGS. 1 and 2 ). In the present case, this free end  36  of the bent over elongate section  32  of the jacket  18  ends contingently with the lower edge of the base section  30  (cf. in particular  FIGS. 4 and 6 ).  
         [0038]     As can again in particular be recognized with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the base section  30  of the jacket  18  bent laterally around the web region of the bifurcated contact  12  at least partly covers the region of the free end  36  of its elongate section  32  bent downwardly around the free limb ends  34  of the bifurcated contact  12 .  
         [0039]     In the present case, the base section  30  of the jacket  18  extends beyond the height of the web region of the bifurcated contact  12  over a specific region of the two limbs  22  of the bifurcated contact  12 .  
         [0040]     The base section  30  of the jacket  18  bent laterally around the web region of the bifurcated contact  12  and regionally over its two limbs  22  also covers—over a corresponding length—the elongate section  30  bent around the free limb ends  34  of the bifurcated contact  12  (cf. also  FIG. 2  again).  
         [0041]     The jacket  18  can advantageously consist of a copper plastic alloy with good electrical conductivity and a good thermal relaxation stability.  
         [0042]     The jacket  18  formed in the present case starting from a flat part or stamped part preferably has a material thickness in a range from approximately 0.4 mm.  
         [0043]     The bifurcated contact  12  can also, for example, have a material thickness in a range from approximately 0.8 mm.  
         [0044]     The electrically conductive jacket  18  therefore produces additional contact points to the mating contact  14  associated, for example, with a relay, a fuse or the like, without the constructional height being increased. Additional costs are correspondingly saved and the installation situation improved. The heat development in the central electrical system is reduced to a minimum and the current carrying capacity improved with the additional contact points to the mating contact or mating plug. The electrically conductive jacket  18  therefore represents an additional bridge between the mating contact  14  associated, for example, with a relay or a fuse and the current conductor  16 .