Abstract
The invention relates to an electrical contact for an electrical plug connection, said contact having a flexible element between a connecting region fixed in a housing and a movable contact region. In the electrical contact, the movement of the contact region and/or the deformation of the flexible element in the direction of an axis extending parallel to the plugging direction of the contact region is/are limited. Such contacts are provided in particular in power sockets for motor vehicles for creating an electrical connection to a trailer.
Claims
1. An electrical contact comprising a round cross section for an electrical plug connection, said electrical contact being mounted within a housing and having a flexible element between a connecting region and a movable contact region wherein: the connecting region is fixed in the housing within an overmolding or by means of press-fitting, the contact region comprises one of an electrical pin or a socket contact, the electrical pin or socket contact having a continuous and water tight combination of surfaces between the flexible element and the connecting region formed from a tubular face and an end face, the tubular face including or enclosing the flexible element, the flexible element with or without the contact region being enclosed in a portion of the housing comprising a sleeve; movement of the contact region and deformation of the flexible element along an axis parallel to a plugging direction of the contact region is significantly limited or prevented by at least one stop, but movement and deformation in any direction orthogonal to the plugging direction is possible, the electrical contact is designed in one piece, the electrical contact is stamped and the combined surfaces of the tubular face and end face of the electrical pin or socket contact and/or housing form a continuous and water tight surface set and create a hollow space which contains the flexible element that allows a sleeve to be formed around the flexible element with or without the contact region, through an overmolding process or a press fit to obtain a flexible element with or without the contact region, enclosed within the sleeve such that the electrical pin or socket contact does not allow a molding compound to enter within a hollow space inside the electrical pin or socket contact during the overmolding process and the hollow space containing the flexible element with or without the contact region is preserved if the electrical pin or socket contact is installed in the housing by means of a press fit, thus allowing movement of the flexible element inside of the hollow space and/or sleeve, said flexible element is designed in a form of a coil spring or said flexible element being designed in a form of two orthogonal leaf springs.
2. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the electrical contact has an overmolding interface or a sealing surface, the overmolding interface or the sealing surface being present on the outer side of a sleeve or of the electrical pin or socket contact.
3. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the electric pin or socket contact consists of an electric socket contact and wherein the overmolding interface is present by means of a pin in the overmold die and by means of a taper of the electrical socket contact downstream of the contact region.
4. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the electrical contact is enclosed in a sleeve, and movement and/or deformation of the flexible element of the electrical contact is limited by means of stops, the stops preferably being integrated into the sleeve.
5. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein movement of the contact region of the electrical contact is limited by means of at least one stop and wherein at least one stop is formed by a coil spring as a part of the flexible element.
6. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein flexible centering elements center the contact region of the electrical contact within the sleeve, the centering elements preferably being integrated into the sleeve and the centering elements being integrated into the contact region, and the centering elements being designed with sharp edges, so that they function at the same time as stops.
7. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is made of an elastic material.
8. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein movement of the contact region of the electrical contact is limited by an additional housing part and in that centering elements that center the contact region within the sleeve are integrated into the additional housing part.
9. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the electric pin or socket contact consists of an electric socket contact and wherein the electrical contact has a continuous enlargement of the outer contour, in order to allow the freedom of movement of the contact region after plastic overmolding, and/or has a taper of the inner contour that accommodates a pin supported in the overmold die, so as to enable overmolding within the electrical socket contact.
10. The electrical contact according to claim 1, wherein the flexible element is designed in the form of a coil spring and a cross section of the coil spring is rectangular.
Description
(1) In the following, the invention will be described with reference to drawings, but the invention is not, of course, limited to the illustrated embodiments. In the drawings,
(2) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a contact according to the invention with a coil spring as the flexible element;
(3) FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of an electrical contact according to the invention with two orthogonal leaf springs as the flexible element;
(4) FIG. 3 shows an electrical contact according to the invention with a coil spring as the flexible element, the contact being fixed in a sleeve;
(5) FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment of an electrical contact with centering elements, the electrical contact being fixed in an overmolding;
(6) FIG. 5 shows a socket with electrical contacts according to FIG. 1;
(7) FIGS. 6 and 7 show an alternative embodiment of a power socket with electrical contacts according to FIG. 1;
(8) FIGS. 8 and 9 show another alternative embodiment of a power socket with an additional housing part.
(9) FIG. 10 shows a further embodiment of an electrical pin contact
(10) FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of an electrical contact 1 according to the invention, with FIG. 1a showing a three-dimensional side view and FIG. 1b showing a longitudinal section through the electrical contact. The electrical contact can be divided into the sections of the connecting region 2 and the contact region 4, which are connected to each other by an electrically conductive flexible element 3. The flexible element 3 is formed in this embodiment as a coil spring. The contact region 4 is designed as a socket contact and the connecting region 2 is shown as a 2.8 mm flat contact for a plug connection to the wiring kit.
(11) FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of an electrical contact 1 according to the invention with two orthogonal leaf springs as the flexible element 3. FIG. 2a shows a three-dimensional side view of the electrical contact, which can be divided into the sections of the connecting region 2 and contact region 4, which are connected to each other by an electrically conductive flexible element 3. FIG. 2b shows the electrical contact 1, which is enclosed in a sleeve 5, with FIG. 2c showing a longitudinal section thereof. The contact region 4 is fixed in the sleeve in the axial direction by means of two different stops 6 and 6.1, so that the movement of the contact region 4 in the plugging direction is limited. The stops 6, which are integrated into the sleeve in the form of protrusions, ensure that the movement of the contact region in the axial direction is limited in the direction of the flexible element. The stop 6.1, which is formed on the opposite side of the contact region in the sleeve, ensures that the contact region cannot be pulled out from the housing. Four centering elements 7, which are designed as protrusions of the sleeve, fix the position of the contact region 4 so that it is centered within the sleeve 5.
(12) FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment to the electrical contact 1 shown in FIG. 2, wherein the flexible element 3 is designed as a coil spring and is likewise enclosed in a sleeve 5. In this embodiment, an alternative stop 6.2 is shown. Same is a component of the coil spring in the flexible element and limits the movement of the contact region in that the coil spring can be compressed only to a limited degree. On the opposite side in the axial direction, the stop 6.1 prevents the electrical contact from being pulled out from the housing. In this embodiment, the maximum thickness of the stamped material of the contact region is 0.5 mm. Thus, the distance between the coil spring (stop 6.2) and the contact region 4 is approximately 0.1 mm. On the opposite side, between the stop 6.1 and the contact region 4 the distance is approximately 0.3 mm. Therefore, due to manufacturing tolerances, an overall movement of the contact region in the axial direction (parallel to the insertion direction) of only about 0.1 to 0.4 mm is possible.
(13) In this embodiment it is also apparent that the surfaces of the stamped contacts form a continuous surface set, whereby water tightness is achieved with press-fitted or embedded contacts.
(14) FIG. 4 shows a further alternative embodiment of the inventive electrical contact 1 with a rigidly designed coil spring as the flexible region, the three centering elements 7 being part of the electrical contact and integrated into the contact region 4. In this embodiment the connecting region 2 is fixed in a plastic overmolding 9, for example in a power socket housing. The flexible element 3 is designed as a coil spring that is of rigid design due to the rectangular cross-section, so that no counter-stop need be present. This rigidity of the spring protects the flexible element from overstretching and the contact region from moving in the plugging direction.
(15) The surfaces of the stamped contacts of this embodiment likewise form a continuous surface set, so as to permit plastic overmolding of the contacts, in which the continuous surface set of the contact in combination with the walls of an overmold die, confines the molding compound during the overmolding process.
(16) The inner boundary of the overmolding 9 in FIG. 4b is produced by means of a pin in the die, which pin is small enough to fit through the contact region 4.
(17) FIG. 5 shows a three-dimensional side view (FIG. 5a) and a plan view (FIG. 5b) of a power socket 8 according to the invention, in which ten electrical contacts 1 are integrated according to FIG. 4a. Three centering elements 7.1 within each contact region 4 ensure that the contact region is centered within the sleeves of the socket and at the same time function as stops to limit the axial movement of the contact region. For this purpose, the outer edges of the centering elements 7.1 are designed with sharp edges.
(18) FIGS. 6 and 7 show an alternative embodiment of a power socket 8 with electrical contacts 1 according to FIG. 1. In this arrangement, eight electrical contacts, each of which can be divided into a connecting region 2 (2.8 mm flat contact), an electrically conductive flexible element 3, and a contact region 4, are enclosed in a socket housing 9. Inside this housing 9, the connecting region 2 of the electrical contacts is fixed in a plastic overmolding or press fit housing. Fixing of the connecting region 2 within a plastic overmolding or press fit housing is achieved by combining the surfaces of the contact and the housing through an overmolding or press-fit process to form a continuous surface set 12 in the area which extends between the contact region 4 and the connecting region 2. The continuous surface set 12 does not contain any gaps or open paths traces from the area facing the contact region to the area facing the connecting region. The contact region 4 remains movable in the flexible element 3 in the non-axial direction due to the coil spring and is centered within the sleeves of the socket housing by centering elements 7.1 which also at the same time can function as stops to limit the movement of the contact region in the axial direction. The stop 6.2 is an integral part of the coil spring in the flexible element and limits the movement of the contact region in that the coil spring can be compressed only to a limited degree, since it is of rigid design due to the rectangular cross section.
(19) The surfaces of the stamped contacts of this embodiment also form a continuous surface set, so as to permit a plastic overmolding of the contacts, in which the continuous surface set of the contact in combination with the walls of an overmolding die, confines the molding compound for overmolding.
(20) FIGS. 8 and 9 show another alternative embodiment of a power socket 8 with eight electrical contacts 1 that can each be divided into a connecting region 2 (2.8 mm flat contact), an electrically conductive flexible element 3 and a contact region 4. In this embodiment, an additional housing part 10 is provided that prevents movement of the contact region 4 by means of stops 6.1. Additional stops 6.2 also limit the movement of the contact region in the axial direction. The connecting region 2 of the electrical contacts is additionally fixed in a plastic overmolding. The additional housing part 10 also includes centering elements 7, which ensure that the contact region 4 is centered within the socket housing 9.
(21) FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of an electrical pin contact 1, with FIG. 10a showing a three-dimensional side view and FIGS. 10b-c showing a longitudinal section through the electrical pin contact. The electrical pin contact can be divided into the sections of the connecting region 2 and contact region 4, which are connected to each other by an electrically conductive flexible element 3. The flexible element 3 is designed in this embodiment as a coil spring and is enclosed in a sleeve 5.
(22) Embodiments of the electrical contact described herein include a hollow space (11) inside the contact, a tubular face (12), an end face (13) and a hollow space (14) which contains the flexible element. These features are illustrated within at least FIGS. 1a, 1b, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4b, 6a, 7a, 7b, 9b and 10c.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
(23) 1 electrical contact 2 connecting region of the electrical contact 3 flexible element of the electrical contact 4 contact region of the electrical contact 5 sleeve 6 stop that is designed as a protrusion 6.1 stop that also forms the end of the housing 6.2 stop that is formed by a coil spring 7 centering element 7.1 sharp-edged centering element that also functions as a stop 8 power socket 9 housing of the power socket 10 additional housing part 11 a hollow space inside the contact 12 a tubular face 13 an end face 14 a hollow space which contains the flexible element
