CRIMP CONTACT

Abstract

This disclosure addresses the problem of aluminum and in particular stranded aluminum wires, which generally do not well bond to other metals such as e.g. copper or brass. In the long term, transition resistance changes, in particular under the influence of oxygen and due to the energizing with high currents. There is also a need for high-current connectors that can be flexibly strapped and field-wired. This disclosure provides a heavy-duty plug-type connector having at least one crimp contact, the transition between a crimping region formed of aluminum and a contact region formed of copper being shifted to the cylindrical or at least rotationally symmetric crimp contact. The stranded wire can thus be crimped with the crimp contact without the aforementioned problems. Furthermore, an additional inner thread and a pin that the can screwed into it are provided in the crimping region.

Claims

1. A heavy load plug connector comprising a plug connector housing, an insulating body and at least one crimp contact that is arranged in the insulating body, wherein the crimp contact is embodied at least in regions in a rotationally symmetrical manner, wherein the corresponding symmetrical axis extends in the plugging direction, wherein the crimp contact comprises a crimp region that is embodied from aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and wherein the crimp contact comprises a contact region (12, 22) that adjoins the crimp region (11, 21), said contact region being embodied from copper or a copper alloy, and that the crimp region (11, 21) is welded to the contact region (12, 22).

2. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crimp contact comprises in its crimp region a cylindrical hollow chamber having a cable insertion opening for receiving an aluminum stranded conductor.

3. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the crimp contact comprises in its cylindrical hollow chamber an additional inner thread.

4. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the actual inner diameter of the cylindrical hollow chamber is greater than the theoretical inner diameter of the additional inner thread so that the additional inner thread is flattened off.

5. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the crimp contact comprises within its hollow chamber a spike that points in a direction of the cable insertion opening.

6. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the spike comprises an outer thread, and that the crimp contact comprises a through-going opening having an inner thread that is tailored to said through-going opening so that the spike can be screwed by way of the through-going opening into the hollow chamber.

7. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the spike comprises a screw head so that said spike can be screwed with the aid of a screwdriver into the hollow chamber.

8. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface of the contact region is at least in part coated with silver.

9. A method for producing a crimp contact, comprising the following steps: 1) welding together a cylindrical copper rod and a cylindrical aluminum rod by frictional welding to form a common cylindrical rod having an aluminum part and a copper part, 2) producing by turning and/or drilling an aluminum part a crimp region having a hollow chamber for receiving an aluminum stranded conductor and producing a contact region from the copper part, and 3) coating the surface of the contact region at least in part with silver.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein that the frictional welding in the first method step comprises rotational welding and/or vibration welding.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second method step the hollow chamber is drilled with an actual inner diameter in the crimp region.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein an additional inner thread cut with a theoretical inner diameter in the crimp region on the hollow chamber side.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the theoretical inner diameter of the additional inner thread is smaller than the actual diameter of the hollow chamber.

14. A method for using a crimp contact, wherein initially a stranded conductor is inserted through a cable insertion opening into a cylindrical hollow chamber of a crimp region of the crimp contact and wherein in a later method step the crimp region is pressed together using a crimping tool, wherein after inserting the stranded conductor and prior to pressing together the crimp region spike is screwed into the hollow chamber of the crimp region opposite the direction of insertion of the stranded conductor.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein that the stranded conductor is held when screwing the spike by an additional inner thread of the hollow chamber using a particularly strong frictional force in the hollow chamber.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the stranded wires of the stranded conductor are pressed together by means of screwing in the Spike and are pressed from the interior against the crimp region, and that as a consequence furthermore oxide layers of the stranded conductors are broken open, as a result of which the cross conductivity is increased.

17. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the crimp contact comprises within its hollow chamber a spike that points in a direction of the cable insertion opening.

18. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the crimp contact comprises within its hollow chamber a spike that points in a direction of the cable insertion opening.

19. The heavy load plug connector as claimed in claim 7, where the screw head comprises a slot or a cross slot screw head.

20. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the stranded wires of the stranded conductor are pressed together by screwing in the spike and are pressed from the interior against the crimp region, and that as a consequence furthermore oxide layers of the stranded conductors are broken open, as a result of which the cross conductivity is increased.

Description

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

[0042] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and is further explained hereinunder.

[0043] In the drawings:

[0044] FIGS. 1a,b illustrate a cross sectional view and a perspective view of a crimp contact that is embodied as a pin contact,

[0045] FIGS. 2a,b illustrate a cross sectional view and a perspective view of a crimp contact that is embodied as a socket contact,

[0046] FIGS. 3a,b illustrate a cross sectional view and a perspective view of the pin contact having an inner thread,

[0047] FIG. 3c illustrates an enlarged view of the inner thread,

[0048] FIGS. 4a,b illustrate a cross sectional view and a perspective view of the socket contact having an inner thread,

[0049] FIG. 4c illustrates an enlarged view of the inner thread,

[0050] FIGS. 5a,b illustrate a 3D cross sectional view of the pin contact and socket contact having the additional inner thread,

[0051] FIGS. 6a,b illustrate a 3D cross sectional view of the pin contact and socket contact having the additional inner thread and a spike,

[0052] FIG. 7 illustrates a heavy load plug connector in an exploded view.

[0053] The figures include in part simplified, schematic illustrations. In part, identical reference numerals are used for identical but however where appropriate non-identical elements. Various views of identical elements could be scaled differently.

[0054] FIG. 1a illustrates a cross sectional view and FIG. 1b illustrates a perspective view of a first crimp contact that is embodied as a pin contact 1. The pin contact 1 comprises a first crimp region 11 and a first contact region 12 that are in contact with one another at a first transition region 10, by way of example in that said crimp region and contact region are welded to one another, in particular by means of a frictional welding procedure. For this purpose, during production by way of example two cylindrical blanks, of which one is embodied from copper and the other from aluminum, are attached to one another in the axial direction and are welded to one another for example by means of rotational welding and/or vibration welding. In the subsequent working steps, the first contact region 12 that is embodied from copper can be provided with a contact pin 121 by means of a turning and drilling procedure so that this crimp contact is a pin contact 1.

[0055] It is possible to drill a first hollow chamber 111 into the first crimp region 11 that is embodied from aluminum. As a consequence, the first crimp region 11 comprises on its free-standing end adjacent to the hollow chamber a first cable insertion opening 110.

[0056] FIG. 2a illustrates a cross sectional view and FIG. 2b illustrates a perspective view of a second crimp contact that is embodied as a socket contact 2. The socket contact 2 comprises a second crimp region 21 and a second contact region 22 that are in contact with one another on a second transition region 20, by way of example in that said second crimp region and second contact region are welded to one another, in particular by means of a frictional welding procedure. For this purpose, during production by way of example two cylindrical blanks, of which one is embodied from copper and the other from aluminum are attached to one another in the axial direction and are welded to one another, for example by means of rotational welding and/or vibration welding. In the subsequent working steps the second contact region 22 that is embodied from copper can be provided with a contact socket 221 by means of a turning and drilling procedure so that this crimp contact is a socket contact 2. Naturally, the socket 221 comprises a socket hollow chamber 2211 that is likewise preferably produced by means of a drilling procedure.

[0057] A hollow chamber 211 can furthermore be drilled into the second crimp region 21 that is embodied from aluminum. As a consequence, the second crimp region 21 comprises a second cable insertion opening 210 on its free-standing end adjoining the second hollow chamber 211.

[0058] FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b illustrate in a comparable manner the pin contact 1 in a modified embodiment in which the pin contact 1 additionally comprises a first through-going opening 101 that comprises a cylindrical form in order to be able to receive a spike 113 that is not illustrated in this figure (illustrated in FIG. 6a). Furthermore, the modified pin contact 1 comprises a pin hollow chamber 1211 that is connected by way of the first cylindrical through-going opening 101 to the first hollow chamber 111. During production, the first through-going opening 101 is preferably generated by means of a drilling procedure so that the first through-going opening 101 is a through-going hole. Furthermore, it is possible to cut an inner thread 103 into the first through-going opening 101 so that the spike 113 that comprises an outer thread 2132 that is tailored to suit said inner thread can be screwed into the first through-going opening 101 and furthermore into the first hollow chamber 111.

[0059] Furthermore, the first crimp region 11 comprises in this modified embodiment in its first hollow chamber 111 a first additional inner thread 112 that is cut from the interior into the first crimp region 11 during production of the pin contact 1. This first additional inner thread 112 is used for the purpose of holding a stranded conductor, which is inserted into the first hollow chamber 111, in said chamber by means of an increased frictional force, even if the spike 113 is screwed into the first hollow chamber 111 in the direction of the first cable insertion opening 110, in other words against the direction of insertion of the stranded conductor.

[0060] FIG. 3c illustrates an advantageous embodiment of the first additional inner thread 112 in an enlarged view. It is clear that the theoretical inner diameter D.sub.T of the first additional inner thread 112 is smaller than the actual inner diameter D.sub.R of the first hollow chamber 111. The actual extent of this inner thread 112 is illustrated by means of the hatched area. Conversely, the non-hatched area illustrates the theoretical extent which extends over the actual extent of this inner thread 112 and which a theoretical inner thread having the theoretical thread depth T.sub.T and the theoretical thread inner diameter D.sub.T would have. The actual hollow chamber inner diameter D.sub.R is however larger than the theoretical thread inner diameter D.sub.T that is used as a measure for the inner thread that is to be cut. As a consequence, this inner thread 112 comprises an actual thread depth T.sub.R that is smaller than the theoretical thread depth T.sub.T and the actual extent of the thread 112 is more intensely flattened off than usual.

[0061] In other words, during production only the outer part of the theoretical inner thread is cut in the first crimp region 11 and the additional inner thread 112 that actually exists and is formed as a result consequently comprises a form that is a particularly flattened off form.

[0062] FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate in a comparable manner the socket contact 2 that has been modified in order to be able to receive a spike 213 that is not illustrated at this stage in this figure (illustrated in FIG. 6b). For this purpose, the socket hollow chamber 2211 is connected to the second hollow chamber 211 by way of a second cylindrical through-going opening 201. During production, this second through-going opening 201 is preferably produced by means of a drilling procedure so that the second through-going opening 201 is a through-going hole. A second additional thread 203 can also be cut into the second through-going opening 201 so that the spike 213 that comprises an outer thread 2132 that is tailored to suit said inner thread can be screwed into the second through-going opening 201 and furthermore into the second hollow chamber 211.

[0063] Furthermore, the second crimp region 21 comprises in the second hollow chamber 211 a second additional inner thread 212 that is cut during production from the interior into the crimp region 21 of the socket contact 2. This second additional thread 212 is used for the purpose of holding a stranded conductor that is inserted into the second hollow chamber 211 in said hollow chamber by means of an increased frictional force even if the spike 213 is screwed into the second hollow chamber 211 in the direction of the second cable insertion opening 210, in other words against the direction of insertion of the stranded conductor.

[0064] An advantageous embodiment of the second additional inner thread 212 is illustrated in an enlarged view in FIG. 4c. The actual extent of this inner thread 212 is illustrated by means of the hatched area. Conversely, the non-hatched area illustrates the further theoretical extent that a theoretical inner thread having the theoretical thread depth T.sub.T and the theoretical thread inner diameter D.sub.T would have. The hollow chamber inner diameter D.sub.R is accordingly larger than the theoretical thread inner diameter D.sub.T that is however used as a measure for the inner thread that is to be cut. As a consequence, this inner thread 212 comprises an actual thread depth T.sub.R that is smaller than the theoretical thread depth T.sub.T and the actual extent of the thread 212 is more intensely flattened off than usual.

[0065] In other words, during production only the outer part of the theoretical inner thread is cut in the second crimp region 21 and the additional inner thread 212 that actually exists and is formed as a result consequently comprises a particularly flattened off form.

[0066] FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate the pin contact 1 and the socket contact 2 having the respective cylindrical through-going opening 101, 201 in a cut 3D illustration opposite one another.

[0067] FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate the pin contact 1 and the socket contact 2 having the respective through--going opening 101, 201 and an associated first or second spike 113, 213. Each of the through-going openings 101, 201 comprises an associated inner thread 103, 203. The respective spike 113, 213 comprises in each case an outer thread 1132, 2132 that is tailored to suit said inner thread, and said spike is screwed into the respective through-going opening 101, 201 by means of said outer thread. Furthermore, the spike 113, 213 can comprise a screw head 1131, 2131 that renders it possible to screw in the spike from the pin hollow chamber or socket hollow chamber 1211, 2211.

[0068] FIG. 7 illustrates a complete heavy load plug connector in an exploded view. A pin contact 1 is illustrated in an exemplary manner. Said heavy load plug connector could likewise easily be a socket contact 2.

[0069] Furthermore, an insulating body 3 is illustrated that is provided so as to receive the pin contact 1. This insulating body 3 can be fastened for its part by way of fastening elements 31 in the plug connector housing 4.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0070] 1 Pin contact [0071] 10 First transition region [0072] 101 First through-going opening [0073] 103 Inner thread [0074] 11 First crimp region [0075] 110 First cable insertion opening [0076] 111 First hollow chamber [0077] 112 First additional inner thread [0078] 12 First contact region [0079] 121 Contact pin [0080] 1211 Pin hollow chamber [0081] 113 First spike [0082] 1131 Screw head of the first spike [0083] 1132 Outer thread of the spike [0084] 2 Socket contact [0085] 20 Second transition region [0086] 201 Second through-going opening [0087] 203 Inner thread [0088] 21 Second crimp region [0089] 210 Second cable insertion opening [0090] 211 Second hollow chamber [0091] 212 Second additional inner thread [0092] 22 Second contact region [0093] 221 Contact socket [0094] 2211 Socket hollow chamber [0095] 213 Second spike [0096] 2131 Screw head of the second spike [0097] 2132 Outer thread of the second spike [0098] 3 Insulating body [0099] 31 Fastening elements [0100] 4 Plug connector housing [0101] D.sub.R Actual inner diameter of the first/second hollow chamber [0102] D.sub.T Theoretical inner diameter of the additional inner thread [0103] T.sub.R Actual depth of the additional inner thread [0104] T.sub.T Theoretical depth of the further inner thread