Electrical connector with components of better material and little lead, preferably on the basis of copper

Abstract

An electrical connector consists of a connector housing (10) and at least one electrical contact element (1). The connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) have a lead content of <0.1 weight percent. A method for manufacturing a contact element from a blank which has a lead content of <0.1 weight percent, uses the following method steps: Loading the blank into a manufacturing machine; producing a pin region or a socket region for electrically contacting another, opposite contact element; producing a fixing region for fixing the contact element in an insulating body; producing a crimp region for electrically connecting a conductor to the contact element or finishing the crimp region if the blank has already been previously prepared on a different machine; and removing the finished contact element from the manufacturing machine.

Claims

1. A connector, comprising: a connector housing (10) and, at least one electrical contact element (1), wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) has/have a lead content of <0.1 weight percent, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) consists of: CuZn32Mn2Si1Al or CuZn34Mn2SiAlNi or CuZn36 or CuZn37 or CuZn38 or CuZn39 or CuZn40 or CuZn42 or CuNi9Zn41FeMn or Cu-ETP or a mixture thereof and; a lead-free admixture, and wherein the lead-free admixture represents a content of less than or equal to 1 weight percent.

2. The connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) are formed from copper or a copper alloy whereof the lead content is <0.1 weight percent and, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) has/have a tensile strength Rm of ≥300 MPa and an elongation at break A11.3 of ≥5%.

3. The connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) consist(s) of a copper zinc alloy.

4. The connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) consist of: a copper zinc alloy (CuZn) with a zinc content of 35 weight percent to 42 weight percent or, a copper tin alloy (CuSn) with a tin content of 4 weight percent to 8 weight percent or, a copper nickel alloy (CuNi) with a nickel content of 0.5 weight percent to 30 weight percent or, a copper nickel zinc alloy (CuNiZn) with a nickel content of 10 weight percent to 20 weight percent and with a zinc content of 20 weight percent to 30 weight percent or, copper or a low-alloyed copper with additives of up to 3 weight percent.

5. The connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lead-free admixture contains Fe and/or Sn and/or Si and/or Ni.

6. A connector, comprising: a connector housing (10) and; at least one electrical contact element (1), wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) has/have a lead content of <0.1 weight percent, wherein the connector housing (10) and/or the electrical contact element (1) consists of: CuZn32Mn2Si1Al or CuZn34Mn2SiAlNi or CuZn36 or CuZn37 or CuZn38 or CuZn39 or CuZn40 or CuZn42 or CuNi9Zn41FeMn or Cu-ETP or a mixture thereof and; a lead-free admixture, and wherein the lead-free admixture represents a content of 0.5 up to and including 1.5 weight percent.

7. The connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the lead-free admixture represents a content of less than or equal to 1 weight percent.

8. The connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the lead-free admixture contains Fe and/or Sn and/or Si and/or Ni.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and will be explained in more detail below.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of a pin contact.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective illustration of a socket contact.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective illustration of a variant of the socket contact.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective illustration of a variant of the pin contact.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective illustration of a connector housing of a circular connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) The figures contain partially simplified, schematic illustrations. Identical reference sign are sometimes used for elements which are similar, but possibly not identical. Different views of similar elements may be drawn to different scales.

(8) The HARTING Technology group has made product catalogs and datasheets of all current products and their components available on the internet in the so-called download center (http://www.harting.com/DE/de/downloadcenter). In the following figures, contact elements are shown which can be produced, for example, with the above-mentioned materials, in particular with the aid of the machining technology. However, the geometrical diversity of the contact elements which can be produced with the said materials is not restricted.

(9) FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of a pin contact. The contact element 1 can be divided into a contact region 2 and a connection region 3. The contact region 2 is designed as a pin contact 2a. The connection region 3 is formed by a hollow cylinder 3a, which contains an axial slot 4. A ring element 5 is located between the contact region and the connection region. An insulating body (not shown here), which is provided for receiving contact pins, contains a recess into which the ring element 5 of the contact pin can be placed. The contact pin is thus held in the insulating body.

(10) FIG. 2 shows a perspective illustration of a socket contact. The contact region 2 is formed from a hollow cylinder in which wedge-shaped slots 2c are incorporated so that individual spring arms 2b are formed. The end regions of the spring arms are bent inwards towards the insertion orifice, so that a circular insertion orifice is formed. The ring element 5 here has substantially the same diameter as the socket-shaped contact region 2.

(11) FIG. 3 shows a further variant of the socket contact. Similar parts also have the same reference sings. In addition to the axial slot 4, the connection region 3 of this socket contact has a second slot 6, which is aligned substantially transversely to the axial slot 4.

(12) FIG. 4 shows a further variant of a pin contact. The contact pin has a U-profile 7 in the connection region 3. In the direction of the ring element 5, and parallel thereto, a wedge-shaped slot 6′ is incorporated in the U-profile 7. The flanks 7a of the U-profile are beveled. In other embodiments, the flanks 7a can also be parallel or inclined inwards or outwards.

(13) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a connector housing 10. However, the geometrical diversity of the connector housing which can be produced with the said materials is not restricted. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a connector housing 10, which can be produced from the above-mentioned lead-free materials. It is also the case here that there are no geometrical limits for the said materials when manufacturing a connector housing 10.

(14) The connector housing 10 consists of a base body 100, which forms a mating side and a cable outlet side. On the mating side, the contact elements (not shown) form the mating face of the connector. The contact elements can be pin contacts or socket contacts, which are produced according to the method presented above, for example.

(15) On the cable outlet side, the base body 100 has an external thread 110 via which a cable gland with integrated strain relief can be screwed on.

(16) The locking element 200 is pushed onto a cylindrical elongation of the base body 100 on the mating side. At the end, an external thread 210 is provided, via which the connector housing 10 can be connected to a mating connector and/or a device socket.

(17) Even where combinations of various aspects or features of the invention are shown in the figures in each case, it is clear to a person skilled in the art—unless indicated otherwise—that the combinations shown and discussed are not the only possible combinations. In particular, mutually corresponding units or feature complexes from different exemplary embodiments can be interchanged with one another.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(18) 1 Contact element 2 Contact region 2a Contact pin 2b Contact socket 2c Wedge-shaped slot 3 Connection region 3a Hollow cylinder 3b Base area 4 Axial slot 5 Ring element 5a Notch 6 Second slot 6′ Wedge-shaped slot 7 U-profile 7a Edge 10 Connector housing 100 Base body 110 External thread 200 Locking element 210 External thread