Patent Application
20180269598
This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119(a)-(d) of German Patent Application No. 102017105682.3, filed on Mar. 16, 2017.
The present invention relates to a contact carrier and, more particularly, to a contact carrier of an electrical contact unit.
A large number of electrical connectors are known which transmit electrical currents, voltages, signals and/or data with a large range of currents, voltages, frequencies and/or data rates. In the low, middle or high voltage and/or current ranges, and especially in the automotive industry, such connectors must ensure permanently, repeatedly and/or after a comparatively long service life a transmission of electrical power, signals and/or data without delay in adverse conditions. These adverse conditions can include warm, possibly hot, polluted, humid and/or chemically aggressive environments. Due to a wide range of applications, a large number of specially configured connectors are known.
The connector or housing of the connector can be installed on an electrical cable, a conductor, or a cable harness as a cable assembly. The connector or housing can alternatively be installed at an electrical unit or device such as a leadframe or a printed circuit board of an electronic component or mating connector. A connector disposed on a cable is commonly referred to as a plug connector and a connector disposed on an electrical component is a receptacle or socket connector.
Connectors corresponding to one another (connectors and mating connectors) usually have fastening or locking arrangements for long-term but releasable fastening or locking of the connector to the mating connector. Corresponding electrical contact elements or terminals must be securely received in the connector. Since the housings of the connectors are usually subject to a certain standardization, such as, for example, the FAKRA standard or a different standard, the most important dimensions of the housings have the same dimensions across different manufacturers.
Efforts are made to improve the cost-effective production of connectors, contact devices, and cable assemblies. In the prior art, two different kinds of joining methods, such as adhesive, soldering, or welding and crimping must be applied successively for producing an electrical cable assembly.
A two-pole electrical contact unit 80 according to the prior art is shown in
The contact elements 190, as shown in
In order to connect the cable contact sections which are embedded in the contact carrier body 100 to stripped longitudinal end sections 433 of two inner conductors 430 of a coaxial cable 40 in an electrically conductive and mechanically fixed manner, the longitudinal end sections 433 of the coaxial cable 40 are adhered, soldered or welded to the mechanical cable contact sections. The conductor mounting section 180 is accessible from the outside, i.e. upwardly open, and the longitudinal end sections 433 of the coaxial cable 40 are inserted in a vertical direction H into the conductor mounting section 180. The longitudinal end sections 433 of the coaxial cable 40 are then adhered, soldered or welded to the cable contact sections.
The contact carrier 81 with the coaxial cable 40 which is fastened thereon can be disposed in a contact carrier receptacle 200 of the shield contact device 82 as shown in
The shield contact device 82 is crimped onto the coaxial cable 40. The shield contact device 82, as shown in
Particularly in the automotive industry, simple, fast and mass-producible joining of cables to contact devices and/or contact units is desirable for an on-board electrical system which includes all electrical and electronic components in vehicles. The current two-part joining methods of electrical connectors and electrical cable assemblies are inefficient and not cost-effective.
A contact carrier for an electrical contact device comprises a contact carrier body and a contact element disposed in the contact carrier body. The contact carrier body has a connecting section and a conductor clamping section. The conductor clamping section is substantially closed in a circumferential direction of the contact carrier body and extends along a longitudinal direction of the contact carrier body. The contact element has a contact section extending from the connecting section for contacting a mating contact element.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the 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 disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The following description relates to a crimp contact unit 10 according to the invention being depicted using different features to the prior art mentioned above. Like reference numbers refer to like elements and only the differences from the prior art shown in
A crimpable contact carrier 11 of the crimp contact unit 10 according to an embodiment is shown in
One individual contact chamber 139, as shown in
In an embodiment, the contact carrier 11, including the top wall 134, is monolithically formed in a single piece. A materially one-piece contact carrier 11 is intended to be understood to mean a contact carrier 11 which cannot be separated without damaging the contact carrier 11. In an embodiment, the contact carrier 11 is formed by injection molding. In an embodiment, the contact carrier 11 is formed from a plastic material.
If the top wall 134 is completely closed, the top wall 134 has a predetermined breaking point 135 as shown in
Depending on a configuration of the top wall 134, the top wall 134 can be formed as an individual wing 134 with a lateral through-slot 135 as shown in
The contact chamber 139 or the top wall 134 is deformable or movable by an inner conductor crimping section 230 of a shield contact device 12 as shown in
As shown in
To position the longitudinal end sections 433 of the inner conductors 430 in the inner conductor clamping section 130, the longitudinal end sections 433 of the inner conductors 430 must be advanced from behind into the contact chambers 139 substantially linearly in the longitudinal direction L of the contact carrier 11 and the shield contact device 12. The longitudinal end sections 433 of the inner conductors 430 can then be mechanically clamped onto the cable contact sections of the contact element 190 by crimping.
During crimping, the crimping sections 230, 240, 250 of the shield contact device 12 are substantially simultaneously or partially successively crimped. The inner conductor crimping section 230 of the contact device 12 is crimped onto the conductor clamping section 130 of the contact carrier 11, the shield crimping section 240 of the contact device 12 is crimped onto an electrical outer conductor 440 and/or a ferrule 400 of the outer conductor 440 of the coaxial cable 40, and the insulation crimping section 250 of the contact device 12 is crimped onto an electrical outer insulation of the coaxial cable 40.
The two-pole contact unit 10 with a two-pole coaxial cable 40 crimped thereon forms an electrical cable assembly 1 as shown in
When crimping the inner conductor crimping section 230 of the contact device 12 onto the conductor clamping section 130 of the contact carrier 11, the at least one crimp terminal 232 is moved onto the respective top wall 134 such that the top wall 134 begins to move and breaks the predetermined breaking point 135. The wing, as shown in
In an embodiment, in order for the respective crimp terminal 232 to be able to actuate the top wall 134 or the wing or wings, the crimp terminal 232 can have at least one inwardly facing projection 233, 234 as shown in
The cable contact section 193 of the respective contact element 190 can be configured such that the longitudinal end section 433 of the respective inner conductor 430 is well clamped. In an embodiment, the respective cable contact section 193 can have a rounded corner region as described in greater detail below with reference to
In an embodiment, it is possible to fix two crimp terminals 232, 232 to each other, which are opposite each other in a conductor crimping section 230, by a wedge or a dovetail joint. This mechanical connection can also be set in place using a laser welding 235. In another embodiment, instead of a wedge or a dovetail joint, a laser welding 235 can be applied to the two crimp terminals 232, 232.
Additional embodiments will now be described with reference to one individual contact chamber 139 shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
In the embodiment of
A substantially three-stage method of producing a two-pole coaxial cable 40 with a contact unit 10 will now be described in greater detail with reference to
In Step I, the coaxial cable 40 is prepared by mounting of a ferrule 400. Step I includes up to four or more substeps and a prefabricated coaxial cable 40 is obtained at the end of Step I.
In Substep I.1, the coaxial cable 40 is stripped from an outer insulation 450 at its free longitudinal end section and thus a longitudinal end section 443 of the outer conductor 440 of the coaxial cable 40 is exposed as shown in
In a Substep I.2, the ferrule 400 shown in
In another embodiment, the ferrule 400 is first separated from the carrier strip, then the ferrule 200 is moved onto the rear section of the longitudinal end section 443 of the exposed outer conductor 440 and crimped thereon. The rear section of the longitudinal end section 443 of the exposed outer conductor 440 and the ferrule 400 may also be moved towards each other.
The ferrule 400 is plastically deformable and integrally formed. The ferrule 400 is open and has two crimping flanks prior to mounting on the coaxial cable 40. Each crimping flank of the ferrule 400 has a circumferential edge section. The two circumferential edge sections are formed substantially complementary or substantially in a form-fitting manner with each other such that an enclosure is formed in a light-tight manner between the crimping flanks of the mounted ferrule 400 in the longitudinal direction L.
In a Substep I.3, a free section of the outer conductor 440 is disposed outside of the ferrule 400. In an embodiment in which the Substep I.3 is omitted, it is obligatory to make the ferrule 400 from an electrically conductive material. In another embodiment, a free end of the outer conductor 440 substantially coincides with a free end of the ferrule 400 in the longitudinal direction L.
In a Substep I.4, a free longitudinal end section of an electrical inner insulation 410 of the coaxial cable 40, which protrudes at the free end of the outer conductor 440, is stripped. Subsequently, two free longitudinal end sections 433 of two inner conductors 430 protrude from the coaxial cable 40 as shown in
In Step II, the free longitudinal end sections 433 of the two inner conductors 430 are positioned in the two contact chambers 139 of the conductor clamping section 130 of the contact carrier 11 and are linearly advanced therein. The contact carrier 11 is already disposed in the shield contact device 12, which has not yet been crimped. In another embodiment, the inner conductors 430 are initially disposed in the two contact chambers 139 and subsequently provide the contact carrier 11 together with the coaxial cable 40 in the shield contact device 12 which has not yet been crimped. The crimp contact unit 10 including the contact carrier 11 and the contact shield device 12 is then ready to be crimped.
In Step III, a single crimp action is carried out which connects the coaxial cable 40 in an electrically conductive and mechanically fixed manner to the contact carrier 11 and also in an electrically conductive and mechanically fixed manner to the shield contact device 12. Three crimps, including an inner conductor crimp, an outer conductor crimp and an insulation crimp, are established substantially simultaneously as described above. When carrying out the crimp method, the contact device 12 can still be located on a carrier strip 290 shown in
In other embodiments, the elements described above can be applied to all contact carriers, crimp contact units and production methods of cable assemblies. Embodiments including the features described herein can be applied anywhere that crimp connections are to be produced or established, including in applications beyond the automotive industry and beyond coaxial cables.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102017105682.3 | Mar 2017 | DE | national |
