The present invention relates to an electrical contact and, more particularly, to an electrical contact having an area with different mechanical and/or electrical properties.
For known electrical contacts such as contact pins, female connectors, crimp connectors, or cable shoes, it is frequently necessary for particular areas of the contact to have properties different from those of the contact material from which the contact is manufactured. For example, it can be necessary for a contact surface of the contact, which makes a connection to a further contact, to have increased conductivity, improved resistance to corrosion, or a greater mechanical hardness in order to improve an electrical connection to another contact. It is also frequently necessary to increase the durability or lifespan of the contact for frequent connections.
Expensive and complex methods are generally used in order to produce such areas of the contact. For example, at least one further material is deposited onto the contact material by electroplating or chemical vapor deposition. Such methods lead to desired results but are generally costly and require several working steps, high expenditure on material, and generally have a low degree of selectivity.
An electrical contact according to the invention comprises an electrically conductive contact material and a plurality of particles adhered to an area of the contact material. At least some of the particles have a portion penetrating into the contact material.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:
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.
An electrical contact 1 according to an embodiment is shown in
As shown in
In the shown embodiment, the electrical contact 1 has two areas 15 in which particles 17 are deposited on the contact material 3. A material of the particles 17 can be selected for the desired application; to improve the electrical and/or mechanical properties of an area 15, the particles 17 may be gold, silver, tin, brass, bronze, zinc, or alloys of such metals. In order to increase only the mechanical friction in the area 15 of the contact material 3, for example, particles 17 of non-conductive materials may also be used.
In an embodiment, the particles 17 are deposited on the contact material 3 by gas dynamic cold spraying. In an embodiment, the particles 17 are deposited at supersonic speed in a particle beam, for example, at speeds of more than 400 meters per second. In other embodiments, the particles 17 have a speed between 500 and 1000 meters per second. The speed dictates how deep the particles 17 in the area 15 penetrate into the contact material 3 and how well they adhere thereto. At higher speed, the particles 17 can penetrate more deeply into the contact material 3 but are themselves also more strongly deformed by the forces which arise when they impact on the contact 1. The speed can be selected depending on the desired field of use, the selected material and the desired form of a coating formed by the particles 17.
Solid or dry particles 17 can be used, as a result of which it is possible to dispense with wet-chemical methods of deposition. It is likewise possible to dispense with firstly placing materials which are intended to be deposited onto the contact material 3 into a liquid or gaseous aggregate state.
In order to achieve a high spatial resolution when depositing particles 17 onto the contact material 3, a mask can be used which allows a particle beam to only reach sections which are not covered by the mask. The mask is then located between a particle source, for example a nozzle of a gas dynamic cold spraying device and the contact 1.
If required for certain properties, the contact 1 can also be additionally coated, for example galvanically, through printing techniques or through chemical vapor deposition.
A first area 15 having particles 17 overlaps the contact surface 5 and a second area 15 having particles 17 overlaps the crimp section 7. Exemplary configurations of the first area 15 which overlaps the contact surface 5 are described in greater detail below with reference to
A first area 15 with particles 17 overlapping the contact surface 5 is shown in
At least some of the particles 17 have a portion penetrating into the contact material 3, as shown in
Some of the particles 17 form particle conglomerates 21, as shown in
As shown in
The layer 25 shown in
Recesses or undulations in the surface 19 which possibly arise due to the impact of particles 17 can remain in existence so that the material of the fused particles 17 fills them. If, as a result, the layer 25 penetrates partially into recesses in the surface 19, the layer 25 adheres better to the contact material 3. As an alternative to the depicted layer formation, particles 17 can also be only partially surface-fused by heating, so that these connect to one another more strongly or the surface of the particles 17 and/or of particle conglomerates 21 is smoothed.
It is also possible here that the material of the particles 17 or layer 25 in
A second area 15 with particles 17 overlapping the surface structure 11 of the crimp section 7 is shown in
The surface structure 11, as formed by the grooves 13, provides both stability and conductivity for a connection of the crimp section 7 with an electrical conductor. In the case of the depicted longitudinal grooves 13, an electrical conductor such as a wire, for example, can be arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the grooves 13. When the crimp flanks 9 are closed, the electrical conductor is pressed at least partially into the grooves 13 and the areas 31 protruding from the surface 19 are pressed into the material of the conductor. As a result, an electrical conductor is retained securely in the crimp section 7. At the same time, the protruding areas 31, which can in particular have the form of edges, penetrate any oxide layers which may be present on the conductor and improve the electrical connection to the conductor. The particles 17 present on the surface 19, as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2015 210 460 | Jun 2015 | DE | national |
This application is a continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2016/062889, filed on Jun. 7, 2016, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to German Patent Application No. 102015210460.5, filed on Jun. 8, 2015.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/EP2016/062889 | Jun 2016 | US |
Child | 15834600 | US |