The present disclosure relates to a connector, and more particularly to a wire-clamping connector.
Conventional wire-clamping connectors mostly use a contact structure to clamp a wire core of a wire in a point-contact manner. Therefore, the wire can easily be separated from the contact structure by an external force, and due to the point-contact manner between the contact structure and the wire core, an electrical connection between the contact structure and the wire core is less than ideal.
In response to the above-referenced technical inadequacies, the present disclosure provides a wire-clamping connector, so as to improve on problems such as wires in conventional wire-clamping connectors being easily detached due to external forces, and a wire core of the wire being contacted in a point-contact manner so as to result in a poor electrical connection.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a wire-clamping connector that includes a housing and at least one contact element. The housing includes at least one through hole and at least one accommodating slot. The accommodating slot penetrates a top wall of the housing, the through hole penetrates a side wall of the housing, and the through hole and the accommodating slot are communicated with each other. The at least one contact element is disposed in the housing, and includes a bottom plate structure and an elastic sheet body. The bottom plate structure is disposed opposite to the top wall and includes a protruding portion that has a contact surface. A terminal portion of the elastic sheet body is fixed to the top wall, and a portion of the elastic sheet body is formed by the terminal portion extending in a direction toward the protruding portion. The elastic sheet body has an acute-angular structure, the acute-angular structure is configured to be adjacent to the contact surface, and an insertion interval is defined between the acute-angular structure and the contact surface. The through hole is configured for insertion of a wire, a wire core of the wire inserted in the through hole enters the insertion interval and is clamped together by the acute-angular structure and the contact surface, and an elastic restoring force generated by the pressed sheet body allows the wire core to adjoin the contact surface.
Therefore, in the wire-clamping connector provided by the present disclosure, through the elastic sheet body, the acute-angular structure, the contact surface, etc., the elastic sheet body and the bottom plate structure are in contact with the wire core in a surface contact manner. Further, when the wire core is inserted in the insertion interval, the elastic restoring force generated by the pressed elastic sheet body enables the elastic sheet body and the bottom plate structure to provide a relatively better clamping force to clamp the wire core.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.
The described embodiments may be better understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure.
The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. Numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third” can be used to describe various components, signals or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/signal from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, signals or the like.
References are made to
The two accommodating slots 12 can penetrate the bottom wall 15 of the housing 1, two openings 151 can be correspondingly formed on the bottom wall 15, and the two contact elements 2 can be arranged in the housing 1 through the two openings 151. In practical applications, each of the two contact elements 2 can include four fixing structures 27, and the housing 1 can correspondingly have four engaging slots 16. When each of the two contact elements 2 is disposed in the housing 1, each of the four fixing structures 27 is correspondingly engaged to one of the four engaging slots 16, so that the four fixing structures 27 are each firmly arranged in the housing 1. Each of the two contact elements 2 includes a bottom plate structure 21 and an elastic sheet body 3. The bottom plate structure 21 and the elastic sheet body 3 can be integrally formed. The bottom plate structure 21 can be bent in a direction toward the elastic sheet body 3 to form the four fixing structures 27, two of the four fixing structures 27 are arranged facing each other, and another two of the four fixing structures 27 are arranged facing each other. The bottom plate structure 21 and the elastic sheet body 3 can be connected to each other through one of the four fixing structures 27.
The bottom plate structure 21 can further have a first soldering section 22, a first smooth section 23, a protruding portion 24, a second smooth section 25 and a second soldering section 26. The protruding portion 24 includes a rising section 241, a platform section 242 and a lowering section 243. Two ends of the platform section 242 are respectively connected to one end of the rising section 241 and one end of the lowering section 243. The platform section 242 has a contact surface 2421. Two ends of the first smooth section 23 are respectively connected to the first soldering section 22 and the rising section 241, and two ends of the second smooth section 25 are connected to the lowering section 243 and the second soldering section 26. The first soldering section 22 and the second soldering section 26 are provided for a user to fix the contact element 2 to a circuit board by soldering. The first smooth section 23 and the second smooth section 25 can be arranged substantially parallel to a horizontal plane, and a surface of the first smooth section 23 and a surface of the second smooth section 25 can be substantially flush with each other. The rising section 241 is an inclined sheet structure formed by one end of the first smooth section 23 that is close to the platform section 242 gradually rising in a direction away from the horizontal plane. The platform section 242 can be arranged substantially parallel to the horizontal plane. The descending section 243 is an inclined sheet structure formed by one end of the platform section 242 that is away from the first smooth section 23 gradually descending toward the horizontal plane.
The two fixing structures 27 facing each other can be formed by two opposite sides of the first smooth section 23 extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and one of the two fixing structures 27 facing each other is connected to the elastic sheet body 3. The other two fixing structures 27 facing each other can be formed by two opposite sides of the second smooth section 25 extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the horizontal plane.
As shown from
In practical applications, an opening 3A can be formed between the bent section 33 and the elastic arm section 32, and the acute-angular structure 36 can be formed on a terminal of the elastic arm section 32 (that is, the another end of the elastic arm section 32 that is opposite to the one end of the elastic arm section 32 connected to the fixed section 31). The acute-angular structure 36 is configured to be adjacent to the opening 3A, and a part of the acute-angular structure 36 can be correspondingly located in the opening 3A. A tip of the acute-angular structure 36 points toward the contact surface 2421 of the platform section 242, and an insertion interval S1 is defined between the acute-angular structure 36 and the contact surface 2421. Specifically, the acute-angular structure 36 can be a substantially triangular column structure.
In an exemplary embodiment, a first abutting surface 361 of the acute-angular structure 36 facing the contact surface 2421 is flush with an inner side surface 321 of the elastic arm section 32 facing the bottom plate structure 21. An included angle θ between the first abutting surface 361 of the acute-angular structure 36 and the horizontal plane is equal to or less than 90°, an included angle θ between a second abutting surface 362 and the first abutting surface 361 of the acute-angular structure 36 can be between 45° and 65°, and the second abutting surface 362 is adjacent to the first abutting surface 361. In this way, when a wire core W1 is inserted in the insertion interval S1, the tip of the acute-angular structure 36 can be inserted in the wire core W1 more easily.
As shown in
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Furthermore, in the acute-angular structure 36 inserted in the wire core W1, the first abutting surface 361 and the second abutting surface 362 are connected to the wire core W1 in a surface contact manner, and the contact surface 2421 of the bottom plate structure 21 is also connected to the wire core W1 in the surface contact manner. Therefore, the wire core W1 and the contact element 2 have a relatively better electrical connection. In addition, when the wire core W1 is jointly held by the elastic sheet body 3 and the bottom plate structure 21, the tip of the acute-angular structure 36 is correspondingly inserted in the wire core W1, so that the wire W is not easily affected by external force and detached from the wire-clamping connector 100.
In an exemplary embodiment, the contact surface 2421 can be an arched surface, and a height of a middle position of the arched surface is lower relative to that of the remaining position of the arched surface. In this way, the wire core W1 that enters the insertion interval S1 is correspondingly positioned at a middle position of the contact surface 2421.
It is worth mentioning that, as shown in
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References are made to
The sliding member 4 can have a top wall 41, two side walls 42, two first abutting portions 43, four second abutting portions 44 and a limiting portion 45. Two opposite sides of the top wall 41 respectively extend in a same direction to form the two side walls 42. When the sliding member 4 is located at the first position or the second position, the top wall 41 can correspondingly shield at least a part of each of the two accommodating slots 12. The two first abutting portions 43 are arranged on an inner side of the top wall 41 and are respectively located in the two accommodating slots 12, and the four second abutting portions 44 are also arranged on the inner side of the top wall 41. Two of the second abutting portions 44 are located in one of the two accommodating slots 12, and another two of the second abutting portions 44 are located in another one of the two accommodating slots 12. The first abutting portions 43 are each located at one end of the sliding member 4 that is close to the through holes 11, and the second abutting portions 44 are each located at another end of the sliding member 4 that is away from the through holes 11.
As shown in
When the outer side of the connection section 34 is pressed by the first abutting portion 43, the bent section 33 is elastically deformed. The elastic restoring force generated by the elastic deformation of the bent section 33 allows the connection section 34 and the acute-angular structure 36 to more tightly abut against the first abutment portion 43 and the wire core W1, respectively.
In other words, when the wire core W1 is jointly held by the elastic sheet body 3 and the bottom plate structure 21, the first abutting portion 43 abuts against the connection section 34, such that the elastic arm section 32 and the connection section 34 are elastically deformed. The elastic restoring force generated by the elastic deformation of the elastic arm section 32 and the connection section 34 allows the acute-angular structure 36 and the contact surface 2421 of the platform section 242 to more tightly hold the wire core W1. That is, through the first abutting portion 43 of the sliding member 4, the bent section 33 and the connection section 34, the elastic sheet body 3 and the bottom plate structure 21 can clamp the wire core W1 with a relatively large clamping force, such that the wire W is even less likely to be detached from the wire-clamping connector 100 due to external force.
As shown in
In practical applications, when the sliding member 4 is in the first position, a shortest vertical distance between the limiting portion 45 and a bottom of the groove 19 can be less than a vertical height of the protruding bump 191. In this way, when the user moves the sliding member 4 from the first position to the second position (or when the user moves the sliding member 4 from the second position to the first position), the limiting portion 45 moves across the protruding bump 191, and the user can clearly feel the limiting portion 45 and the protruding bump 191 abutting against each other. Therefore, the user can clearly know that the sliding member 4 has left the first position or that the sliding member 4 has reached the first position.
As shown in
As shown in
In other words, when the user wants to insert the wire core W1 having a relatively large outer diameter in the wire-clamping connector 100, the user can first move the sliding member 4 to the second position to slightly widen the insertion interval S1 by the second abutting portion 44. Therefore, the user can easily insert the wire core W1 having a relatively large outer diameter in the insertion interval S1.
It is worth mentioning that, when the sliding member 4 is in the second position, each of the second abutting portions 44 does not contact the platform section 242, and an interval S3 is defined between each of the second abutting portions 44 and the platform section 242. That is, when the sliding member 4 is moved between the first position and the second position, the second abutting portions 44 do not contact the platform section 242.
As shown in
As shown in
Therefore, in the wire-clamping connector 100 of this embodiment, through the sliding member 4 and the first abutting portion 43, the second abutting portion 44, and the limiting portion 45 of the sliding member 4, the elastic sheet body 3 and the bottom plate structure 21 can better hold the wire core W1, and the user can more easily insert the wire core W1 having a relatively large outer diameter in the insertion interval S1.
The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.
This application claims priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/178,517 filed on Apr. 22, 2021, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Some references, which may include patents, patent applications and various publications, may be cited and discussed in the description of this disclosure. The citation and/or discussion of such references is provided merely to clarify the description of the present disclosure and is not an admission that any such reference is “prior art” to the disclosure described herein. All references cited and discussed in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties and to the same extent as if each reference was individually incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63178517 | Apr 2021 | US |