Patent Grant
12088033
The system described herein relates to an electrical connector for forming an electrical plug connection with a coupling which is complementary to the connector and an electrical plug connection having such a connector and a method for producing such an electrical device.
Electrical connectors which serve for forming an electrical plug connection with a coupling which is complementary to the connector are known from the prior art.
Connectors of the type in question are also particularly known as panel connectors, i.e. the connectors are not fastened to the ends of electrical lines or cables but are instead installed in a fixed manner in an electrical device, in particular in the housing of an electrical device. In this case, connectors of the type in question particularly represent the male part of the electrical plug connection which they form with the complementary coupling. In this case, the coupling particularly forms the female part of the electrical plug connection.
Connectors of the type in question have a plurality of contact elements for electrically contacting an electrical apparatus arranged in the housing of an electrical device. The contact elements can consist of a metallic material.
Connectors of the type in question have a contact carrier element and a receiving element for receiving the coupling in a receiving space surrounded by the receiving element. This multi-part design comprising at least two parts particularly enables the connectors of the type in question to be easily mounted in the housing. In this case, the contact elements are guided through the contact carrier element. The contact carrier element consists in particular of an insulating material. The contact carrier element having the contact elements can therefore be arranged within the housing whilst the electrical device is being assembled. In a further step, it is then possible to insert the receiving element into the housing along a first direction through an opening in the housing. In this case, the receiving element engages with the contact carrier element and thus forms the connector. The contact elements which are guided through the contact carrier element have contacting regions. The contacting regions serve for electrically contacting complementary contacting regions of the coupling when this is plugged into the connector. The contacting regions extend into the receiving space of the receiving element contrary to the first direction, away from the contact carrier element, when the receiving element has been brought into engagement with the contact carrier element.
With such connectors, the problem of assembling the connector in a housing, in particular in a housing having very limited space, can be solved relatively advantageously. The overall contacting of the electrical device with the connector can take place independently of the connection of the receiving element to the housing. In practice, this represents a substantial simplification, particularly in view of the fact that the electrical connector often needs to be adequately sealed against dirt and/or liquids which could penetrate into the housing in the region of the electrical connector.
In connectors of the type in question, however, the problem arises that the contacting regions projecting into the receiving space may be live. This represents a risk to a person for whom a body part, for example a finger, penetrates into the receiving space. In connectors of the type in question according to the prior art, this risk is counteracted by electronic monitoring of a cover of the connector. This ensures that the contacting regions are not live when the cover is removed. However, this is both complex and prone to faults.
The system described herein is therefore based on the object of demonstrating an electrical connector of the type described above, an electrical device having such a connector and a method for assembling such an electrical device, in which reliable touch-protection of the connector is ensured by means of a cost-effective solution.
The object is achieved by an electrical connector, an electrical plug connection, an electrical device and a method for producing an electrical device described herein.
The connector which is illustrated and described has at least one touch-protection element, which is arranged in the receiving space when the receiving element is brought into engagement with the contact carrier element. The touch-protection element is designed to prevent a human body part which penetrates into the receiving space from touching the contacting regions of the connector.
Body parts which inadvertently penetrate into connectors of the type in question are typically human fingers. In practice, these have a certain minimum diameter. A touch-protection element which is designed to prevent a human body part which penetrates into the receiving space from touching the contacting regions is therefore understood to refer in particular to a touch-protection element which is designed to prevent a sold foreign body with a minimum diameter of 12.5 mm which penetrates into the receiving space from touching the contacting regions. According to DIN EN 605229, a solid foreign body having these dimensions corresponds to a finger where access to dangerous parts is concerned.
In this case, the task of preventing the human body part from touching the contacting regions can be assigned to a plurality of touch-protection elements. This particularly means that, in terms of its effect as an access barrier, a single touch-protection element does not have to cover the entire receiving space on its own. Instead, a plurality of touch-protection elements can also be arranged in the receiving space so that, overall, a barrier is produced which reliably keeps a human body part away from the contacting regions.
Therefore, a touch-protection element can be configured in such a way that the touch-protection element extends finger-like contrary to the first direction. The touch-protection element projects into the receiving space preferably, at least substantially, parallel to the contacting regions of the contact elements. The touch-projection elements, configured in a finger-like manner, preferably extend further into the receiving space than the contacting regions of the contact elements contrary to the first direction. In particular, a plurality of touch-protection elements can form a barrier comprising individual obstacles for a penetrating body part which are, in particular, configured in an at least substantially punctiform manner.
It is advantageously possible that the at least one touch-protection element or at least one further touch-protection element is a component of the receiving element. This particularly means that the corresponding touch-protection element is inserted into the housing with the receiving element during the assembly of the electrical connector. As a result, the touch-protection elements do not take up any space within the housing until the insertion of the receiving element into the housing and therefore do not constitute a hindrance, in particular during assembly procedures. It is possible to form the touch-protection elements in one piece with the receiving element, for example as a one-piece injection-molded part and/or plastic part. The receiving element can have, for example, a wall which faces the contact carrier element and on which at least one touch-protection element is received or which is formed in one piece with the at least one touch-protection element. This wall can expediently have openings through which the contacting regions of the contact elements can enter the receiving space. Alternatively and/or additionally, however, the touch-protection elements can likewise be formed as a component of the contact carrier element and/or in one piece with the contact carrier element.
Alternatively and/or additionally, at least one touch-protection element can form an electrically non-conductive end region of a contact element. In connectors which are formed in this way, this end region faces contrary to the first direction. In this respect, an end region likewise represents a barrier against a penetrating body part. The contacting region lying behind the end region along the first direction cannot be reached by the body part along the first direction since this is thus prevented by the end region. The end region can be formed from plastic. It can be a solid, electrically non-conductive portion and/or an electrically non-conductive coating.
It goes without saying that the connector can have a plurality of similarly and/or differently configured touch-protection elements of the types described above.
When forming the electrical plug connection, the at least one touch-protection element and/or at least one further touch-protection element is preferably received in a receptacle of the coupling which is complementary to the touch-protection element when the coupling is plugged into the connector. This enables the touch-protection elements to be designed as rigid elements, for example elements which are immovable relative to the connector. It is thus possible to dispense with complex mechanisms which ensure that the touch-protection elements clear the receiving space for the coupling to reach into the receiving space when the coupling is plugged into the connector. Moreover, the touch-protection elements can assume a mechanical guide function with regard to the coupling when the coupling is inserted into the connector. This can be useful, for example, to ensure that the coupling engages securely with the contact regions in the intended manner and does not “tilt”, for example, when inserted into the receiving space.
The receiving element can furthermore have a movable cover. The receiving space can be optionally opened and closed by such a cover. Such a cover on the one hand offers additional protection against dirt and spray water, for example; on the other, the cover forms an additional obstacle to unintentional penetration by body parts. The cover can be particularly advantageously designed to secure the coupling received in the receiving space against removal along the first direction. To this end, the cover can have a securing element, which is designed to cooperate with the coupling. Therefore, the securing element can be, for example, a projection which is designed to reach behind a suitable contour of the coupling. It is advantageous if an elastic restoring force is applied to the cover, which transfers the cover to a closed state, i.e. the state in which the cover closes the receiving space. Such an application of force is, in particular, also advantageous in order to hold a securing element in engagement with the coupling. It goes without saying that it is likewise possible to provide a corresponding securing element on the coupling, which acts on a suitably configured contour of the cover.
The connector which is illustrated and described can have a first sealing element for sealing between the receiving element and the housing and a second sealing element for sealing between the receiving element and the contact carrier element. In this regard, the sealing elements are separate components. As a result of this use of two sealing elements, the individual sealing elements themselves can be configured much more simply than the complex sealing elements known according to the prior art. Overall, this can therefore result in a substantially simpler construction of the connector whilst gaining freedom of design in terms of the precise spatial configuration of the receiving element, which can be exploited, in particular, to enable a more compact construction of the connector.
Alternatively and/or additionally, the connector can have a common sealing element with a comparatively complex configuration, in particular made from an elastic material, which is pulled onto the receiving element. This sealing element ensures the sealing of the receiving element both with respect to the housing and with respect to the contact carrier element.
It goes without saying that a corresponding electrical connector can also have further seals, particularly if the receiving element and/or the contact carrier element have a multi-part configuration.
In this regard, the connection between the receiving element and the contact element assumes a particular significance in that the connection can be configured in a way which is advantageous for the system described herein. Therefore, the receiving element can have a plug-in portion and the contact carrier element can have a plug-on portion which is complementary to the plug-in portion. The plug-in portion and the plug-on portion can be plugged together, in particular parallel to the first direction. The receiving element can thus be brought into engagement with the contact carrier element by plugging the plug-in portion and the plug-on portion together. Alternatively, it is also possible that the contact carrier element has the plug-in portion and the receiving element has the plug-on portion.
The plug-in portion and the plug-on portion can be configured in particular in the manner of tubular portions, which are pushed inside one another. The plug-in portion and/or the plug-on portion can have an oval cross-section. It is particularly advantageous if the plug-in portion and/or the plug-on portion has a bearing surface orientated towards the other portion in each case and bearing against the other portion in each case. The bearing surface is preferably orientated in such a way that one of its main directions of extent runs parallel or at least approximately parallel to the first direction. The connector can be configured in such a way that the bearing surfaces slide against one another when the plug-in portion and the plug-on portion are plugged together, so that an overlap between the plug-in portion and the plug-on portion is formed in the region of the bearing surface.
Such a configuration in particular offers the advantage that, when mounting the receiving element in the housing, its position relative to the housing and the contact carrier element along the first direction can be specified relative to the housing. This can be realized, for example, by a stop which prevents further insertion of the receiving element into the housing beyond a certain position along the first direction. Possible tolerances in the relative position of the contact carrier element and the housing with respect to one another along the first direction can be compensated by the configuration of the connector with the plug-in portion and the plug-on portion. For example, depending on the position of the actual relative position in the tolerance zone, it is possible that the plug-in portion may reach further into the plug-on portion or not so far into the plug-on portion.
In particular, the first sealing element or the second sealing element can be an O ring. This can consist in particular of a rubber elastic material. This can consist in particular of a rubber elastic material. Such O rings are advantageous in that they are available as standard parts and can therefore be used cost-effectively. It has surprisingly been shown that reliable sealing can likewise be achieved with simple O rings when the sealing function, as described above, is assigned to both sealing elements.
The first sealing element can be a flat seal. A flat seal provides a comparatively large sealing surface. For example, this enables the position of the receiving element relative to the housing to be varied in a direction perpendicular to the first direction, for example in order to compensate tolerances in the relative position between the contact carrier element and the housing without thereby impairing the function of the seal.
The receiving element can have a bearing surface facing in the first direction for bearing against the housing and/or the first sealing element. In particular, the bearing surface enables the position of the receiving element relative to the housing along the first direction to be specified in that the bearing surface acts as a stop when the receiving element is inserted into the opening of the housing. The bearing surface can be arranged on the receiving element such that the bearing surface surrounds the receiving space. This is therefore particularly advantageous since the first sealing element can then be arranged between the housing and the bearing surface and, in this case, enables circumferential sealing around the plug connection.
In the case of the electrical apparatus to which the contact elements are electrically connected, the electrical device according to the system described herein is a circuit carrier element. The circuit carrier element can be a printed circuit board, for example. The contact elements can be connected to the circuit carrier element in a mechanically fixed manner.
The contact carrier element is arranged in the housing in a stationary manner. This can be achieved in particular in that the contact carrier element is mechanically connected to the circuit carrier element and the circuit carrier element is in turn received in the housing, in particular connected to the housing, in a stationary manner. The receiving element is inserted through an opening in the housing along the first direction and brought into engagement with the contact carrier element, whereby the connector is formed.
The receiving element can, for example, be fixed on the housing by means of suitable fastening elements. For example, the receiving element can be fastened on the housing by means of screws. In this case, but also in alternative configurations for fastening the receiving element on the housing, the sealing element can be squeezed between the receiving element and the housing along the first direction. In this regard, squeezing is particularly understood to refer to an elastic deformation or partial elastic deformation. The elastic pressure forces thereby generated between the sealing element and the receiving element or between the sealing element and the housing create an effective seal.
The second sealing element can be accordingly squeezed transversely to the first direction between the sealing element and the contact carrier element. In particular, the second sealing element can be squeezed between the plug-on portion and the plug-in portion. Squeezing the second sealing element transversely to the first direction is advantageous in that, when the receiving element is brought into engagement with the contact carrier element along the first direction, for example as a result of plugging the plug-in portion and the plug-on portion together, the degree of squeezing of the second sealing element—and therefore the sealing effect—can be independent of the relative end position of the receiving element and the contact carrier element with respect to one another. It is thus possible to make use of the tolerance compensation (already described above) along the first direction, whilst a squeezing of the second sealing element can also take place, which results in correspondingly good sealing.
The contact carrier element and/or the receiving element, in particular the plug-on portion and/or the plug-in portion, can have a groove for receiving the second sealing element. Such a groove can prevent slipping in or on the respective component. The groove can extend in particular orthogonally to the first direction. In such a case, the groove ensures that the second sealing element remains in an intended position of the second sealing element relative to the receiving element and/or the contact carrier element when the two elements are brought into engagement with one another.
The electrical device can be a converter and/or an inverter. In particular, the electrical device can be a converter and/or invertor for use in a motor vehicle. Electrical devices installed in motor vehicles are generally exposed to adverse environmental conditions, for example in an engine compartment; i.e. the seal plays a particular role here. At the same time, the installation space is often limited, which is why, in terms of their dimensions, housings must take up as little installation space possible. The connectors described above, which can be constructed in a particularly space-saving manner, can be used particularly advantageously therein. In particular, this can refer to an ancillary unit inverter. Ancillary unit inverters serve to supply electric energy to drives which do not serve directly for the movement of the motor vehicle.
The contact elements can be connected to the direct voltage circuit of the converter and/or inverter. Such direct voltage circuits can be designed for voltages of up to to 600 volts, in particular up to 1000 volts, during their intended use. In particular, with regard to the penetration of moisture, reliable sealing is therefore advantageous in these cases.
During the production of the electrical device, the contact carrier element and the contact elements can be connected to the circuit carrier element and the circuit carrier element can be incorporated in the housing. It is essentially possible for the contact elements and/or the contact carrier element to be connected to the circuit carrier element when the circuit carrier element is already incorporated in the housing. In this case, “incorporation in the housing” is understood to refer, in particular, to the production of a fixed connection between the circuit carrier element and at least one housing part. However, it is particularly advantageous if the contact carrier element and the contact elements are firstly connected to the circuit carrier element and then connected to at least part of the housing. The advantage consists in particular in the easier handleability of the circuit carrier element prior to its installation in the housing, in particular within the framework of automated production.
After the connection of the contact elements and the contact carrier element to the circuit carrier element, and in particular after the incorporation of the circuit carrier element in the housing, the receiving element is inserted into the housing through a corresponding opening in the housing. In this case, the receiving element engages with the contact carrier element and therefore forms the connector.
Further practical embodiments and advantages of the system described herein are described below in connection with the drawings, in which:
The exemplary connector illustrated in
The contact elements 10 and the contact carrier element 12 are arranged within a housing 18 of an exemplary electrical device. For greater clarity, only a detail of the housing 18 is illustrated in
The connector can have a movable cover 22. The cover 22 is illustrated in the closed state in
To form the electrical plug connection, the coupling 16 is inserted along the first direction 28 into the receiving space, which is surrounded by the receiving element 14. In this case, the contact regions 30 of the connector come into contact with complementary contact regions 30 of the coupling and form an electrical connection therewith.
An exemplary connector with a plugged-in coupling 16 is shown in
As can be seen in
The second sealing element 36 is arranged between the receiving element 14 and the contact carrier element 12. As illustrated by way of example in
In the example illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
The exemplary receiving elements 14 shown in
As shown in
The two second sealing elements 36 shown in
As in the example shown, the receiving element 14 can have a plug-in portion 42. In the examples shown, the grooves 40 are each arranged in the region of an outwardly facing surface of the plug-in portion 42.
As revealed in
An exemplary connector is illustrated in
As in the example shown, the contact elements 10 can alternatively and/or additionally have touch-protection elements 48. As in the example shown, these can be formed as electrically non-conductive end regions, in particular made from plastic, of the contact elements 10 extending with the contact regions 30 into the receiving space. Analogously to the touch-protection elements 46 described above, these can likewise form a barrier consisting of a plurality of punctiform obstacles. As in the example shown, such a barrier can also be jointly formed by the touch-protection elements 46, 48.
In the example shown, the touch-protection elements 46 are formed on a wall 50 of the receiving element 14 which faces the contact carrier element 12 when the connector is mounted. As in the example shown, the wall 50 can have openings 52 through which the contact elements 10 can enter by means of their contact regions 30. For better understanding, in
The features of the invention which are disclosed in the present description, in the drawings and in the claims can be essential to the realization of the invention in its various embodiments both individually and in any combinations. The invention is not restricted to the described embodiments. It can be varied within the scope of the claims and taking into account the knowledge of a person skilled in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102018126483.6 | Oct 2018 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2019/078683 | 10/22/2019 | WO |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2020/083886 | 4/30/2020 | WO | A |
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| 37 28 456 | Mar 1989 | DE |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220069506 A1 | Mar 2022 | US |
