Electric connection assembly with overbent soldering pin

Abstract

An electric connection assembly for surface mounting on a circuit board comprises a soldering pin. The soldering pin has a starting portion disposed in a housing of the electric connection assembly, a middle portion, and an end portion disposed at an end of the soldering pin opposite the starting portion and contacting the circuit board. The middle portion is bent from the starting portion in a direction toward the housing and the end portion is bent from the middle portion in a direction away from the housing. An acute angle is formed between both the starting portion and the middle portion and between the middle portion and the end portion.

Claims

1. An electric connection assembly for surface mounting on a circuit board, comprising: a soldering pin having a starting portion disposed in a housing of the electric connection assembly, a middle portion, and an end portion disposed at an end of the soldering pin opposite the starting portion and contacting the circuit board, the middle portion is bent from the starting portion in a direction toward the housing and the end portion is bent from the middle portion in a direction away from the housing, an acute angle is formed between both the starting portion and the middle portion and between the middle portion and the end portion, the housing has a pocket receiving at least a portion of the soldering pin, the pocket is open in a direction toward the circuit board, the end portion has a contacting region forming an electrical connection with the circuit board, at least a portion of the contacting region is located in the pocket.

2. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein the end portion extends beyond the starting portion in a direction parallel to the starting portion.

3. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein a first bending portion is disposed between the starting portion and the middle portion and a second bending portion is disposed between the middle portion and the end portion, the first bending portion turns into the second bending portion with no straight section between the first bending portion and the second bending portion.

4. The electric connection assembly of claim 3, wherein a bending radius of at least one of the first bending portion and the second bending portion is greater than twice a material thickness of the soldering pin.

5. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein the end portion is bent in a direction toward the starting portion.

6. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing has a supporting surface and the end portion of the soldering pin is disposed on a same plane with the supporting surface.

7. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein a transition between the middle portion and the end portion of the soldering pin extends into the pocket.

8. The electric connection assembly of claim 7, wherein the housing has a transition recess connecting the pocket and a receiving aperture in which the soldering pin is received in the housing.

9. The electric connection assembly of claim 8, wherein a portion of the soldering pin between the starting portion and the middle portion is received in the transition recess.

10. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, further comprising an electric device connected to the starting portion of the soldering pin.

11. The electric connection assembly of claim 1, wherein an entirety of the pocket is open in the direction toward the circuit board.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of an electric connection assembly according to the prior art;

(3) FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of another electric connection assembly according to the prior art;

(4) FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of an electric connection assembly according to an embodiment; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electric connection assembly of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

(6) Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

(7) An electric connection assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The electric connection assembly 1 is shown in the unsoldered condition 1 in FIGS. 3 and 4.

(8) The housing 3 of the electric connection assembly 1 differs from the housings 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The pocket 53 of the housing 3 shown in FIG. 3 has an inclined pocket inner side 55. The first bending portion 33 of the soldering pin 5 has at least a section abutting the inclined pocket inner side 55, but detaches from this at the transition of the first bending portion 33 into the middle portion 9. In the shown embodiment, the soldering pin 5 has a rectangular cross-section.

(9) The middle portion 9 and the second bending portion 39 of the soldering pin 5 shown in FIG. 3 are completely received in the pocket 53. The soldering pin 5 of FIG. 3 has a Z-shape 5c. Both the first deflection angle 37a and the second deflection angle 37b of the Z-shape 5c are obtuse angles 37d, so that complementary angles 37e between the starting portion 7 and the middle portion 9 and between the middle portion 9 and the end portion 11 are acute angles 38. In an embodiment, each of the obtuse angles 37d is approximately 130. The bending radius 35 of at least one of the first bending portion 33 and the second bending portion 39 is greater than twice the material thickness d of the soldering pin 5.

(10) As shown in FIG. 3, the middle portion 9 is bent from the starting portion 7 in a direction toward the housing 3 and the end portion 11 is bent from the middle portion 9 in a direction away from the housing 3. The end portion 11 protrudes from the pocket 53 and projects beyond the starting portion 7 and the first bending portion 33 in a direction parallel to the starting portion 7. The acute angle 38 between the starting portion 7 and the middle portion 11 is smaller than the acute angle 38 between the middle portion 9 and the end portion 11. The acute angle 38 between the starting portion 7 and the middle portion 9 opens towards the housing 3, and the acute angle 38 between the middle portion 9 and the end portion 11 opens away from the housing 3. In an embodiment, the end portion 11 is parallel to the starting portion 7 and the first bending portion 33 and the second bending portion 39 are in a same plane as the starting portion 7, the middle portion 9, and the end portion 11.

(11) As shown in FIG. 3, the first bending portion 33 is partially located in a transition recess 57 which connects the receiving aperture 27 to the pocket 53. The transition recess 57 is delimited in the direction of the starting portion 7 by a convex supporting or stopping surface 59, which the first bending portion 33 abuts at least in sections. FIG. 3 shows that the first bending portion 33 turns into the second bending portion 39 with no straight section in between so that the middle portion 9 simply consists of the two bending portions 33, 39.

(12) The end portion 11, as shown in FIG. 3, has a free end 61 which is bent in the direction of the starting portion 7 and away from the circuit board 19. The end portion 11 thus contacts the circuit board 19 at a defined contact point 63 and not with a possible burr 65 which may occur at the free end 61 as a result of cutting the soldering pin 5 to size, as shown in enlargement 77 in FIG. 3. The free end 61 of the end portion 11 which is bent in the direction of the starting portion 7 can result from the second bending portion 39 or can be produced by a third bending portion. A straight portion of the end portion 11 can be located between the possible third bending portion and the second bending portion 39. The bending radius of the bent free end 61 can be greater than the bending radius 35 of the first bending portion 33 and/or the second bending portion 39.

(13) The soldering pin 5 is soldered onto a surface of the circuit board 19 at the contact point 63 by surface mounting or SMD mounting. In an embodiment, the end portion 11 is tin plated to facilitate soldering. In an embodiment, less than 50% of the contact point 63 is received in the pocket 53 of the housing 3. If heat is applied to the soldering pin 5 and the soldering pin 5 undergoes linear expansion, the position of the electric connection assembly 1 with respect to a plane of the circuit board 19 will not change. The electric connection assembly 1 may be slightly raised from the circuit board 19 but will not be laterally displaced parallel to the circuit board 19.

(14) The contacting region 23 of the Z-shape 5c of the soldering pin 5 protrudes from the pocket 53 so that the electrical connection 49, such as the solder joint 51, can easily be viewed and also examined with the aid of the camera 47 along the inspection direction 45. The contacting region 23 can constitute part of the end portion 11 or can extend over an entirety of the end portion 11. The excess length 43 of the soldering pin 5 of the Z-shape 5c is considerably smaller than the excess length 43 of the S-shape 5a of the soldering pin 5 shown in FIG. 1 and corresponds approximately to the excess length 43 of the J-shape 5b of the soldering pin 5 shown in FIG. 2. In order to be able to assess the quality of a solder joint 51, it is necessary to be able to view 50% of said solder joint 51. This can still be achieved with the electric connection assembly 1 shown in FIG. 3, even if the contacting region 23 is located partially within the pocket 53. If it is possible to use an inclined inspection direction 45a, the complete solder joint 51 can still be viewed even if it is located largely in the pocket 53. The possibility of verifying solder joints 51 makes it possible to carry out an effective and simple quality control and to optimize processes, which can likewise result in a reduction in costs.

(15) The electric connection assembly 1 is shown in the unsoldered condition 25 and without a circuit board 19 in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 3 has recesses 79 and the electric connection assembly, in the shown embodiment, has seven soldering pins 5 in a Z-shape 5c. The middle portion 9 of the Z-shape 5c and the second bending portion 39 of the Z-shape 5c are received in the pocket 53. The pocket 53 of the electric connection assembly 1 is configured such that all seven soldering pins 5 are each partially received in the pocket 53. In order to prevent a mechanical and an electric contact of the individual soldering pins 5 with one another, each of the seven soldering pins 5 has a corresponding transition recess 57. The transition recesses 57 are each separated from one another by a separating wall 81.