CA2085294C - Flexible spring electrical contact for an electrical connector - Google Patents
Flexible spring electrical contact for an electrical connector Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2085294C CA2085294C CA002085294A CA2085294A CA2085294C CA 2085294 C CA2085294 C CA 2085294C CA 002085294 A CA002085294 A CA 002085294A CA 2085294 A CA2085294 A CA 2085294A CA 2085294 C CA2085294 C CA 2085294C
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- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- contact
- flexible spring
- spring
- intermediate portion
- situated
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
- H01R13/02—Contact members
- H01R13/10—Sockets for co-operation with pins or blades
- H01R13/11—Resilient sockets
- H01R13/111—Resilient sockets co-operating with pins having a circular transverse section
Abstract
A female electrical contact including at least one axial elongate flexible spring offset from the axis (A) of the contact and elastically deformable in a transverse direction.
The flexible spring (6) comprises: a tail (5) engaged in a support (2, 4); a contact portion (7); an intermediate portion (8) situated between the tail portion (5) and the front contact portion (7), and having longitudinal curvature of large radius without any folding so as to enable it to bend elastically in a transverse direction; and a portion (10) of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby making the spring suitable for distributing bending stresses over the entire length of the intermediate portion and facilitating progressive and continuous elastic bending thereof; the said portions (5), (7), and (8) having predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto; an abutment surface (2a) being situated at the rear of the spring to keep its deformation within its elastic limits.
The flexible spring (6) comprises: a tail (5) engaged in a support (2, 4); a contact portion (7); an intermediate portion (8) situated between the tail portion (5) and the front contact portion (7), and having longitudinal curvature of large radius without any folding so as to enable it to bend elastically in a transverse direction; and a portion (10) of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby making the spring suitable for distributing bending stresses over the entire length of the intermediate portion and facilitating progressive and continuous elastic bending thereof; the said portions (5), (7), and (8) having predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto; an abutment surface (2a) being situated at the rear of the spring to keep its deformation within its elastic limits.
Description
--~. 2085294 A FLEXIBLE SPRING ELECTRICAL CONTACT FOR AN ELECTRICAL
CONNECTOR
The present invention relates to female type contacts for' an electrical connector, each contact having at least one elongate flexible spring extending substantially axially and spaced apart from the axis of the contact, the spring being elastically deformable in a transverse direction when an associated male type contact is inserted or extracted.
More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to contacts for connectors that are intended for space applications, which contacts, given the special features inherent to the space environment (vacuum, weightlessness, large temperature differences, corrective maintenance impossible), must satisfy requirements of high reliability, long lifetime, and as great a reduction as possible in the forces required for insertion and extraction.
Various "split-tube" contacts of the above-specified type are known in which the tube structure makes it difficult to control the insertion/extraction force, in particular because of tolerance ranges that are too large. It is therefore necessary to sort contacts so as to avoid contacts that are out-of-range.
In addition, presently manufactured flexible spring contacts do not provide sufficient safety margin. The Applicant has discovered that 'this drawback is a direct result of the structure and the method of manufacture used for the flexible springs currently in use. The contact end of a spring is obtained by folding a metal part that was initially rectilinear in the longitudinal direction. When the contact end is subjected to radial resilient forces during insertion/
extraction operations, it pivots relative to the fixing portion via a fold that acts as a hinge. As a result stresses are concentrated and the metal is subjected to considerable stress at the fold, which means that its safety factor is insufficient for certain applications such as space applications.
Furthermore, in a flexible spring contact organized in that way, only the contact end is displaceable and it alone .., determines the force bearing against the pin of the male contact with which it is required to co-operate (the bearing .
force being determined in particular by its length and its ' slope), thereby determining the insertion/extraction force.
The remainder of the spring is not involved in determining said force and as a result, when considered overall, the spring is too rigid for it to be possible to obtain an insertion/extra coon force that is as small as could be desired for making i't easy to operate connectors having a large or a very large number of contacts.
A particular object of the invention is thus to remedy the above-described drawbacks of present flexible spring electrical contacts so as to enable them to be more satisfactory with respect to various practical requirements concerning reliability, lifetime, and magnitude of insertion/extraction force, in particular fox special applications such as those that imply use thereof in the space environment.
To this end, the present invention provides a female type electrical contact for an electrical connector, the contact including at least one elongate f7.exible spring extending substantially axially with an offset from the axis of the contact, and being elastically deforrnable transversely, essentially characterized in that said flexible spring comprises:
a 'tail portion engaged in a support;
a front contact portion designed to bear against a male type contact when inserted in said female contact;
an intermediate portion situated between the tail portion and the front portion of the contact, which intermediate portion is curved longitudinally towards the axis of the contact with curvature of large radius and without any fold, and is suitable for bending elastically in the transverse direction when a male type contact is inserted; and a portion of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby obtaining a reduction in resistance to bending suitable for distributing stresses over the entire length of 'the i intermediate portion and encouraging continuous and progressive elastic bending of said intermediate portion when the flexible spring co-operates with a male type contact; ' at least one of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second moment of area, and the front portion possessing predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto;
and in that said contact further comprises an abutment surface situated behind the flexible spring (relative to the axis of the contact) to limit transverse deformation of said spring and to keep it within its elastic deformation limits.
Advantageously, in a simple embodiment of the flexible spring, the portion of reduced second moment of area is narrower than the intermediate portion and the front portion on either side thereof. Still for the same purpose, the thickness of the flexible spring may be substantially constant throughout all of its portions; it is then possible, at least in some embodiments, for -the flexible spring overall to be obtained from a sheet of metal.
Still for the purpose of simplifying manufacture of the spring-blade cutouts, it is advantageous for the transverse curvature of the flexible spring to be substantiaJ.ly constant, at least over the entire length of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second momen4 of area, and the front portion. This transverse curvature can then be obtained by a conventional technique of curving the spring already cut out in a sheet of metal.
When made in accordance with the invention, each spring is capable of being highly adapted to elastic deformation without there being a concentration of stress in any particular region, with this being achieved by eliminating the fold that is present in the flexible spring of a prior art contact.
The elastic deformation limit can be extended by using beryllium-copper that is completely or partially treated to the core, and this remains possible within acceptable cost constraints with springs being produced from a cutout and curved thin strip of beryllium-copper regardless of which 208~2~4 technological solution (individual springs or groups of springs) is adopted.
Because of these dispositions that spread stresses over the entire surface of the part avoiding the stress concentrations that are usually encountered, a remarkable safety factor of more than 2 is achieved, between the range of normal use and the limiting deformation where deformation becomes permanent.
By appropriate scaling, the same shape can be applied to a lU wide range of contact sizes.
In a preferred embodiment which it seems should give satisfaction over a large number of applications, the contact further comprises:
an outer rigid tubular body inside which the above-mentioned flexible spring is received, the portion of the ' inside surface of said tubular body situated behind the flexible spring constituting 'the above-mentioned abutment surface; and an internal plug situated in the rear portion of said tubular body with the tail portion of the flexible spring being engaged between the plug and the tubular body.
In practice, 'the tubular body and the inside plug can be secured to each other by crimping, thereby clamping the tail portions of the springs between them.
Various structures associated with various manufacturing processes can be envisaged. Thus, in a first possible implementation, use is made of blade cutouts made in unitary form that have their tail portions engaged between the tubular body and the inside plug and the widths of their respective tail portions are such that they surround the inside plug and come into lateral abutment against one another. Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the flexible springs are connected together at a single component part and their tail portions are combined in the form of a tubular sleeve which is engaged between the tubular body and the inside plug. In either case, provision may be made for the tail portion to have at least one radial pro3ection extending inwards and engaged in a housing in the inside plug so as to hold the spring axially.
The invention will be better understood on reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments given .
by way of purely illustrative examples. In this description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a diametral section through a contact having three flexible springs made in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a unitary flexible spring used in the contact of Figure 1;
Figures 3 to 5 are cross-section views respectively on lines III-III, IV-IV, and V-V of Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a plane view of a metal blank cut out to constitute the flexible springs of the Figure 1 contact in grouped-together form;
Figure 7 is a diametral section through a single flexible spring contact made in accordance with the invention;
Figure 8 is a face view of a metal blank cut out to constitute the flexible spring of the Figure 7 contact; and Figures 9 and 10 are cross-section views on line X-X of Figure 7 showing the positions of the springs respectively with and without a male contact engaged in the Figure 7 contact.
With reference initially to Figures 1 to 5, the female type contact 1 comprises, for example, an outer tubular body or tube 2 which is open at both ends, one of its ends being intended to receive a male contact e.g. of the pin type (whose lateral outline is represented schematically in the figure by chain-dotted lines referenced by the letter M), and having an edge that curves inwards to form a guiding lip 3.
At its rear end, the tube 2 receives a solid plug 4 whose own rear end is shaped in any appropriate manner (not shown) enabling it to be connected to an electric cable.
The tail portions 5 of a plurality (in this case three) flexible springs 6 that are uniformly spaced apart circumfer-entially are engaged between the outer tube 2 and the plug 4.
As can be seen better in Figure 2, each spring 6 is in the form of an elongate metal spring blade made of beryllium-copper for example, and at least locally treated to its core. The spring has a front contact portion 7 and a rear tail portion 5 ._,, ~0~5294 which are connected together by an inter~diate portion 8 of continuous large-radius curvature towards the axis A of the contact and without folding.
In order to enable the spring to have sufficient stiffness given its relatively small thickness, it is curved transversely along its entire length. Tts radius of transverse curvature is the same, at least over the entire length of above-mentioned portions 7 and 8.
In order to increase the longitudinal flexibility of the metal spring and to obtain stress distribution along the entire length of its intermediate portion 8, thereby making it highly suitable for elastic bending when subjected to transverse forces, a region of reduced second moment of area is provided at 10 between the front portion of the contact 7 and its intermediate portion 8, said region being achieved in this case by reducing the width of the metal spring. The region of reduced width 10 is disposed between the portions 7 and 8 that are of progressively increasing width.
Finally, when seen from above (Figure 2) the flexible spring has an outline of varying width which, in combination with. its transverse curvature, gives rise to a member of longitudinally varying stiffness and of controlled longitudinal flexibility.
The cross-sections of the various portions of the contact 1 are shown in Figures 4 and 5, namely: in Figure 4 the cross-section of the contact portion of the springs on line IV-IV of Figure 1; in Figure 5 the cross-section of the tail portion 5 of the springs on line V-V of Figure 1; and finally, in Figure 3, an end view of the contact 3 on line III-III of Figure 1.
During a connection operation, inserting the pin M of a male contact in the female sleeve 1 causes the contact front portions 7 of the springs 6 to be raised transversely as shown in Figure 1. The wall 2a of the tubular body 2 serves as an abutment limiting the transverse deflection of the spring 6.
The controlled deformation in the various areas of each spring makes it possible, while maintaining good-quality electrical contact with the male pin, to reduce the force with which the contact portion 7 bears against the pin, thereby reducing the wear of these members.
Above all, such a shape makes it possible to work with the metal well below its elastic deformation limit (e.g. in a deformation range corresponding approximately to half the value of said limit, i.e. with a safety factor of 2), and it is thus certain that the metal will never be caused to work in its plastic deformation region. ' In addition, a flexible spring designed in this way can be made of a material having highly resilient properties such as core-treated beryllium-copper, using a manufacturing process that is simpler than that required of female contacts made as a single piece. In this case, as shown in Figure 2, each spring is cut out as a single flat piece from a metal sheet, after which it is curved transversely and longitudinally. Thereafter it is core-treated overall.
The tails 5 of the springs 6 are of a width such that when installed in the tubular body, they come into contact with one another laterally and together they cover the plug 4 completely, as can be seen in Figure 5. This ensures that the springs 6 are looked in appropriate positions laterally.
Furthermore, each spring 6 may have a radial projection 11 at or near the free end of its tail 5. The pro~eotion extends inwards and is engaged in a recess (e.g. an annular groove 12) formed in the plug 4. The springs 6 are thus retained axially.
Figure 6 shows an embodiment in which the tail portions 5' are integral with one another and form a tubular sleeve which is fitted inside the outer tube 12, being engaged between the outer tube and the plug 4. A11 of the springs 6' and the tubular sleeve 5' are connected together, thus forming a single piece given overall reference 13.
The piece 13 may be made in various different ways, e.g.
by machining individual springs 6' in a length of tube, or else, more simply and more cheaply, by cutting out a metal blank as shown in Figure 6 while flat and then in rolling it to form the transverse curvature of the springs 6' and of the sleeve 5'. Cutouts formed in the base of the metal blank enable the radial projections 11 for providing axial retention to be formed.
It will be understood that an electrical contact of the ' invention can be made with an arbitrary number of flexible springs using the dispositions set forth above. The flexible springs are then angularly distributed in uniform manner so that the male contact is guided axially by the springs or spring portions that face one another. ' ~iowever, if the contact has only one flexible spring, certain special features need to be provided as described below with reference to Figures 7 to 10, for the purpose of ensuring proper guidance for the associated male contact.
The contact 14 shown in Figure 7 is made, in general, in the same way as the contact 1 of Figure 1 (and the same numerical references are retained for designating items that ' are identical), with the exception that the contact 14 has only one flexible spring 6.
To compensate the transverse forrx exerted by the contact portion 7 on the associated male contact pin M to guide it during insertion/extraction, a guidance and thrust piece 15 is provided facing the flexible spring 6 and optionally shaped approximately like a contact spring, except insofar as it is not designed to flex transversely. The guidance and thrust piece 15 has a tail portion 5 designed to be engaged between the tubular body 2 and the plug ~ in the same manner as a flexible contact spring 6 or 6' as described above. It is curved transversely, but it does not have a region of reduced second moment of area. It may advantageously be wider than a flexible spring so as to facilitate guiding the male pin M, as can be seen clearly in Figure 10 which shows the respective positions of the contact pieces 6 and 15 against a pin M
engaged in the contact. Figure 9 shows the same contact when the pin is absent.
The single flexible spring 6 and the guidance and thrust piece 15 may be organized as two independent members in the manner described above, each being individually engaged and retained between the tube 2 and the plug 4, or alternatively 'they may be in the form of a one-piece member obtained by cutting out a metal blank 16 while flat, as shown in Figure 8, and then rolling and curving said blank. The one-piece member 16 is then installed like the member 13 in Figure 6.
Naturally, and as can be seen from the above, the invention is not limited in any way to the particular embodiments and applications described above; on the contrary, the invention extends to any variant thereof. '
CONNECTOR
The present invention relates to female type contacts for' an electrical connector, each contact having at least one elongate flexible spring extending substantially axially and spaced apart from the axis of the contact, the spring being elastically deformable in a transverse direction when an associated male type contact is inserted or extracted.
More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to contacts for connectors that are intended for space applications, which contacts, given the special features inherent to the space environment (vacuum, weightlessness, large temperature differences, corrective maintenance impossible), must satisfy requirements of high reliability, long lifetime, and as great a reduction as possible in the forces required for insertion and extraction.
Various "split-tube" contacts of the above-specified type are known in which the tube structure makes it difficult to control the insertion/extraction force, in particular because of tolerance ranges that are too large. It is therefore necessary to sort contacts so as to avoid contacts that are out-of-range.
In addition, presently manufactured flexible spring contacts do not provide sufficient safety margin. The Applicant has discovered that 'this drawback is a direct result of the structure and the method of manufacture used for the flexible springs currently in use. The contact end of a spring is obtained by folding a metal part that was initially rectilinear in the longitudinal direction. When the contact end is subjected to radial resilient forces during insertion/
extraction operations, it pivots relative to the fixing portion via a fold that acts as a hinge. As a result stresses are concentrated and the metal is subjected to considerable stress at the fold, which means that its safety factor is insufficient for certain applications such as space applications.
Furthermore, in a flexible spring contact organized in that way, only the contact end is displaceable and it alone .., determines the force bearing against the pin of the male contact with which it is required to co-operate (the bearing .
force being determined in particular by its length and its ' slope), thereby determining the insertion/extraction force.
The remainder of the spring is not involved in determining said force and as a result, when considered overall, the spring is too rigid for it to be possible to obtain an insertion/extra coon force that is as small as could be desired for making i't easy to operate connectors having a large or a very large number of contacts.
A particular object of the invention is thus to remedy the above-described drawbacks of present flexible spring electrical contacts so as to enable them to be more satisfactory with respect to various practical requirements concerning reliability, lifetime, and magnitude of insertion/extraction force, in particular fox special applications such as those that imply use thereof in the space environment.
To this end, the present invention provides a female type electrical contact for an electrical connector, the contact including at least one elongate f7.exible spring extending substantially axially with an offset from the axis of the contact, and being elastically deforrnable transversely, essentially characterized in that said flexible spring comprises:
a 'tail portion engaged in a support;
a front contact portion designed to bear against a male type contact when inserted in said female contact;
an intermediate portion situated between the tail portion and the front portion of the contact, which intermediate portion is curved longitudinally towards the axis of the contact with curvature of large radius and without any fold, and is suitable for bending elastically in the transverse direction when a male type contact is inserted; and a portion of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby obtaining a reduction in resistance to bending suitable for distributing stresses over the entire length of 'the i intermediate portion and encouraging continuous and progressive elastic bending of said intermediate portion when the flexible spring co-operates with a male type contact; ' at least one of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second moment of area, and the front portion possessing predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto;
and in that said contact further comprises an abutment surface situated behind the flexible spring (relative to the axis of the contact) to limit transverse deformation of said spring and to keep it within its elastic deformation limits.
Advantageously, in a simple embodiment of the flexible spring, the portion of reduced second moment of area is narrower than the intermediate portion and the front portion on either side thereof. Still for the same purpose, the thickness of the flexible spring may be substantially constant throughout all of its portions; it is then possible, at least in some embodiments, for -the flexible spring overall to be obtained from a sheet of metal.
Still for the purpose of simplifying manufacture of the spring-blade cutouts, it is advantageous for the transverse curvature of the flexible spring to be substantiaJ.ly constant, at least over the entire length of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second momen4 of area, and the front portion. This transverse curvature can then be obtained by a conventional technique of curving the spring already cut out in a sheet of metal.
When made in accordance with the invention, each spring is capable of being highly adapted to elastic deformation without there being a concentration of stress in any particular region, with this being achieved by eliminating the fold that is present in the flexible spring of a prior art contact.
The elastic deformation limit can be extended by using beryllium-copper that is completely or partially treated to the core, and this remains possible within acceptable cost constraints with springs being produced from a cutout and curved thin strip of beryllium-copper regardless of which 208~2~4 technological solution (individual springs or groups of springs) is adopted.
Because of these dispositions that spread stresses over the entire surface of the part avoiding the stress concentrations that are usually encountered, a remarkable safety factor of more than 2 is achieved, between the range of normal use and the limiting deformation where deformation becomes permanent.
By appropriate scaling, the same shape can be applied to a lU wide range of contact sizes.
In a preferred embodiment which it seems should give satisfaction over a large number of applications, the contact further comprises:
an outer rigid tubular body inside which the above-mentioned flexible spring is received, the portion of the ' inside surface of said tubular body situated behind the flexible spring constituting 'the above-mentioned abutment surface; and an internal plug situated in the rear portion of said tubular body with the tail portion of the flexible spring being engaged between the plug and the tubular body.
In practice, 'the tubular body and the inside plug can be secured to each other by crimping, thereby clamping the tail portions of the springs between them.
Various structures associated with various manufacturing processes can be envisaged. Thus, in a first possible implementation, use is made of blade cutouts made in unitary form that have their tail portions engaged between the tubular body and the inside plug and the widths of their respective tail portions are such that they surround the inside plug and come into lateral abutment against one another. Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the flexible springs are connected together at a single component part and their tail portions are combined in the form of a tubular sleeve which is engaged between the tubular body and the inside plug. In either case, provision may be made for the tail portion to have at least one radial pro3ection extending inwards and engaged in a housing in the inside plug so as to hold the spring axially.
The invention will be better understood on reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments given .
by way of purely illustrative examples. In this description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a diametral section through a contact having three flexible springs made in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a unitary flexible spring used in the contact of Figure 1;
Figures 3 to 5 are cross-section views respectively on lines III-III, IV-IV, and V-V of Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a plane view of a metal blank cut out to constitute the flexible springs of the Figure 1 contact in grouped-together form;
Figure 7 is a diametral section through a single flexible spring contact made in accordance with the invention;
Figure 8 is a face view of a metal blank cut out to constitute the flexible spring of the Figure 7 contact; and Figures 9 and 10 are cross-section views on line X-X of Figure 7 showing the positions of the springs respectively with and without a male contact engaged in the Figure 7 contact.
With reference initially to Figures 1 to 5, the female type contact 1 comprises, for example, an outer tubular body or tube 2 which is open at both ends, one of its ends being intended to receive a male contact e.g. of the pin type (whose lateral outline is represented schematically in the figure by chain-dotted lines referenced by the letter M), and having an edge that curves inwards to form a guiding lip 3.
At its rear end, the tube 2 receives a solid plug 4 whose own rear end is shaped in any appropriate manner (not shown) enabling it to be connected to an electric cable.
The tail portions 5 of a plurality (in this case three) flexible springs 6 that are uniformly spaced apart circumfer-entially are engaged between the outer tube 2 and the plug 4.
As can be seen better in Figure 2, each spring 6 is in the form of an elongate metal spring blade made of beryllium-copper for example, and at least locally treated to its core. The spring has a front contact portion 7 and a rear tail portion 5 ._,, ~0~5294 which are connected together by an inter~diate portion 8 of continuous large-radius curvature towards the axis A of the contact and without folding.
In order to enable the spring to have sufficient stiffness given its relatively small thickness, it is curved transversely along its entire length. Tts radius of transverse curvature is the same, at least over the entire length of above-mentioned portions 7 and 8.
In order to increase the longitudinal flexibility of the metal spring and to obtain stress distribution along the entire length of its intermediate portion 8, thereby making it highly suitable for elastic bending when subjected to transverse forces, a region of reduced second moment of area is provided at 10 between the front portion of the contact 7 and its intermediate portion 8, said region being achieved in this case by reducing the width of the metal spring. The region of reduced width 10 is disposed between the portions 7 and 8 that are of progressively increasing width.
Finally, when seen from above (Figure 2) the flexible spring has an outline of varying width which, in combination with. its transverse curvature, gives rise to a member of longitudinally varying stiffness and of controlled longitudinal flexibility.
The cross-sections of the various portions of the contact 1 are shown in Figures 4 and 5, namely: in Figure 4 the cross-section of the contact portion of the springs on line IV-IV of Figure 1; in Figure 5 the cross-section of the tail portion 5 of the springs on line V-V of Figure 1; and finally, in Figure 3, an end view of the contact 3 on line III-III of Figure 1.
During a connection operation, inserting the pin M of a male contact in the female sleeve 1 causes the contact front portions 7 of the springs 6 to be raised transversely as shown in Figure 1. The wall 2a of the tubular body 2 serves as an abutment limiting the transverse deflection of the spring 6.
The controlled deformation in the various areas of each spring makes it possible, while maintaining good-quality electrical contact with the male pin, to reduce the force with which the contact portion 7 bears against the pin, thereby reducing the wear of these members.
Above all, such a shape makes it possible to work with the metal well below its elastic deformation limit (e.g. in a deformation range corresponding approximately to half the value of said limit, i.e. with a safety factor of 2), and it is thus certain that the metal will never be caused to work in its plastic deformation region. ' In addition, a flexible spring designed in this way can be made of a material having highly resilient properties such as core-treated beryllium-copper, using a manufacturing process that is simpler than that required of female contacts made as a single piece. In this case, as shown in Figure 2, each spring is cut out as a single flat piece from a metal sheet, after which it is curved transversely and longitudinally. Thereafter it is core-treated overall.
The tails 5 of the springs 6 are of a width such that when installed in the tubular body, they come into contact with one another laterally and together they cover the plug 4 completely, as can be seen in Figure 5. This ensures that the springs 6 are looked in appropriate positions laterally.
Furthermore, each spring 6 may have a radial projection 11 at or near the free end of its tail 5. The pro~eotion extends inwards and is engaged in a recess (e.g. an annular groove 12) formed in the plug 4. The springs 6 are thus retained axially.
Figure 6 shows an embodiment in which the tail portions 5' are integral with one another and form a tubular sleeve which is fitted inside the outer tube 12, being engaged between the outer tube and the plug 4. A11 of the springs 6' and the tubular sleeve 5' are connected together, thus forming a single piece given overall reference 13.
The piece 13 may be made in various different ways, e.g.
by machining individual springs 6' in a length of tube, or else, more simply and more cheaply, by cutting out a metal blank as shown in Figure 6 while flat and then in rolling it to form the transverse curvature of the springs 6' and of the sleeve 5'. Cutouts formed in the base of the metal blank enable the radial projections 11 for providing axial retention to be formed.
It will be understood that an electrical contact of the ' invention can be made with an arbitrary number of flexible springs using the dispositions set forth above. The flexible springs are then angularly distributed in uniform manner so that the male contact is guided axially by the springs or spring portions that face one another. ' ~iowever, if the contact has only one flexible spring, certain special features need to be provided as described below with reference to Figures 7 to 10, for the purpose of ensuring proper guidance for the associated male contact.
The contact 14 shown in Figure 7 is made, in general, in the same way as the contact 1 of Figure 1 (and the same numerical references are retained for designating items that ' are identical), with the exception that the contact 14 has only one flexible spring 6.
To compensate the transverse forrx exerted by the contact portion 7 on the associated male contact pin M to guide it during insertion/extraction, a guidance and thrust piece 15 is provided facing the flexible spring 6 and optionally shaped approximately like a contact spring, except insofar as it is not designed to flex transversely. The guidance and thrust piece 15 has a tail portion 5 designed to be engaged between the tubular body 2 and the plug ~ in the same manner as a flexible contact spring 6 or 6' as described above. It is curved transversely, but it does not have a region of reduced second moment of area. It may advantageously be wider than a flexible spring so as to facilitate guiding the male pin M, as can be seen clearly in Figure 10 which shows the respective positions of the contact pieces 6 and 15 against a pin M
engaged in the contact. Figure 9 shows the same contact when the pin is absent.
The single flexible spring 6 and the guidance and thrust piece 15 may be organized as two independent members in the manner described above, each being individually engaged and retained between the tube 2 and the plug 4, or alternatively 'they may be in the form of a one-piece member obtained by cutting out a metal blank 16 while flat, as shown in Figure 8, and then rolling and curving said blank. The one-piece member 16 is then installed like the member 13 in Figure 6.
Naturally, and as can be seen from the above, the invention is not limited in any way to the particular embodiments and applications described above; on the contrary, the invention extends to any variant thereof. '
Claims (9)
1/ A female type electrical contact for an electrical connector, the contact including at least one elongate flexible spring extending substantially axially with an offset from the axis of the contact, and being elastically deformable transversely, characterized in that said flexible spring comprises:
a tail portion engaged in a support;
a front contact portion designed to bear against a male type contact when inserted in said female contact;
an intermediate portion situated between the tail portion and the front portion of the contact, which intermediate portion is curved longitudinally towards the axis of the contact with curvature of large radius and without any fold, and is suitable for bending elastically in the transverse direction when a male type contact is inserted; and a portion of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby obtaining a reduction in resistance to bending suitable for distributing stresses over the entire length of the intermediate portion and encouraging continuous and progressive elastic bending of said intermediate portion when the flexible spring co-operates with a male type contact;
at least one of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second moment of area, and the front portion possessing predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto;
and in that said contact further comprises an abutment surface situated behind the flexible spring relative to the axis of the contact to limit transverse deformation of said spring and to keep it within its elastic deformation limits.
a tail portion engaged in a support;
a front contact portion designed to bear against a male type contact when inserted in said female contact;
an intermediate portion situated between the tail portion and the front portion of the contact, which intermediate portion is curved longitudinally towards the axis of the contact with curvature of large radius and without any fold, and is suitable for bending elastically in the transverse direction when a male type contact is inserted; and a portion of reduced second moment of area situated between the intermediate portion and the front portion, thereby obtaining a reduction in resistance to bending suitable for distributing stresses over the entire length of the intermediate portion and encouraging continuous and progressive elastic bending of said intermediate portion when the flexible spring co-operates with a male type contact;
at least one of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second moment of area, and the front portion possessing predetermined transverse curvature imparting desired stiffness thereto;
and in that said contact further comprises an abutment surface situated behind the flexible spring relative to the axis of the contact to limit transverse deformation of said spring and to keep it within its elastic deformation limits.
2/ A contact according to claim 1, characterized in that the portion of reduced second moment of area is narrower than the intermediate portion and the front portion on either side thereof.
3/ A contact according to claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the flexible spring is substantially constant throughout all of its portions.
4/ A contact according to claim 1, characterized in that the transverse curvature of the flexible spring is substantially constant, at least over the entire length of the intermediate portion, the portion of reduced second moment of area, and the front portion.
5/ A contact according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises:
an outer rigid tubular body with said flexible spring being contained therein, said tubular body having an inside surface constituting said abutment surface situated at the rear of the flexible spring; and an internal plug situated in a rear portion of said tubular body, the tail portion of the flexible spring being engaged between the plug and the tubular body.
an outer rigid tubular body with said flexible spring being contained therein, said tubular body having an inside surface constituting said abutment surface situated at the rear of the flexible spring; and an internal plug situated in a rear portion of said tubular body, the tail portion of the flexible spring being engaged between the plug and the tubular body.
6/ A contact according to claim 5, characterized in that it includes a plurality of distinct flexible springs whose tail portions are of widths such that they surround the internal plug while coming laterally into abutment against one another.
7/ A contact according to claim 5, characterized in that it includes at least two flexible springs formed together as a single piece, and in that their tail portions form a tubular sleeve surrounding the plug.
8/ A contact according to claim 5, characterized in that it includes a single flexible spring and in that it also includes a guidance and thrust piece for the co-operating male contact, which piece is disposed facing the flexible spring.
9/ A contact according to claim 5, characterized in that the tail portion has at least one radial projection extending inwards and engaged in a housing of the internal plug for axial retention purposes.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| FR9115780A FR2685558A1 (en) | 1991-12-19 | 1991-12-19 | ELECTRIC CONTACT WITH FLEXIBLE BLADE FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR. |
| FR9115780 | 1991-12-19 |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2085294A1 CA2085294A1 (en) | 1993-06-20 |
| CA2085294C true CA2085294C (en) | 2001-05-15 |
Family
ID=9420222
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002085294A Expired - Fee Related CA2085294C (en) | 1991-12-19 | 1992-12-14 | Flexible spring electrical contact for an electrical connector |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US5322459A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0547969A1 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2085294C (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2685558A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (17)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2739623B2 (en) * | 1993-05-17 | 1998-04-15 | 矢崎総業株式会社 | Socket type terminal |
| US5498179A (en) * | 1994-05-04 | 1996-03-12 | Woodhead Industries, Inc. | Electrical connector |
| JPH09185970A (en) * | 1995-12-28 | 1997-07-15 | Yazaki Corp | Female terminal |
| US5897404A (en) * | 1996-09-30 | 1999-04-27 | The Whitaker Corporation | Socket terminal |
| US6296533B1 (en) * | 1998-08-31 | 2001-10-02 | The Whitaker Corporation | Electrical receptacle contact |
| JP2000100522A (en) * | 1998-09-18 | 2000-04-07 | Yazaki Corp | Shield connector |
| DE69908953T2 (en) * | 1999-11-30 | 2004-05-19 | Preci-Dip Durtal Sa | Contact member for an electrical connector |
| MY135471A (en) * | 2002-01-09 | 2008-04-30 | Philip Morris Prod | Cigarette filter with beaded carbon |
| US7784471B2 (en) * | 2003-01-09 | 2010-08-31 | Philip Morris Usa Inc. | Cigarette filter with beaded carbon |
| FR2853997B1 (en) * | 2003-04-15 | 2009-07-03 | Guy Coulon | CONTACT PIECE FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR |
| US6997750B2 (en) * | 2003-07-23 | 2006-02-14 | Fci Americas Technology, Inc. | Electrical connector contact |
| DE102005024679A1 (en) * | 2005-05-30 | 2006-12-07 | Rohde & Schwarz Gmbh & Co. Kg | Socket and method for its preparation |
| FR2902240B1 (en) | 2006-06-13 | 2014-07-04 | Souriau | MONOBLOC ELASTIC SOCKET CONTACT WITH CONTROLLED FORCE INSERTION |
| US7717410B2 (en) * | 2006-10-24 | 2010-05-18 | Wieslaw Julian Oledzki | Smooth non-linear springs, particularly smooth progressive rate steel springs, progressive rate vehicle suspensions and method |
| JP5349594B2 (en) | 2008-07-29 | 2013-11-20 | サン−ゴバン グラス フランス | Electrical connection using male and female electrical connectors and male and / or female electrical connectors |
| DE102012017949A1 (en) * | 2011-09-28 | 2013-03-28 | Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. | Terminal fitting |
| US9450322B2 (en) | 2015-01-16 | 2016-09-20 | Amphenol Corporation | Electrical contact having tines with edges of different lengths |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL256844A (en) * | 1959-10-21 | |||
| DE8205678U1 (en) * | 1982-03-02 | 1983-12-22 | Leopold Kostal GmbH & Co KG, 5880 Lüdenscheid | Electrical connector device |
| DE3342742C2 (en) * | 1983-11-25 | 1985-10-24 | Otto Dunkel GmbH Fabrik für elektrotechnische Geräte, 8260 Mühldorf | Process for the manufacture of contact spring bushings |
| DE3412877A1 (en) * | 1984-04-05 | 1985-10-17 | Otto Dunkel GmbH Fabrik für elektrotechnische Geräte, 8260 Mühldorf | METHOD FOR PRODUCING CONTACT SPRING SOCKETS |
| DE3412874C1 (en) * | 1984-04-05 | 1985-08-22 | Otto Dunkel GmbH Fabrik für elektrotechnische Geräte, 8260 Mühldorf | Method of manufacturing contact spring bushings |
| DE3412875A1 (en) * | 1984-04-05 | 1985-10-17 | Otto Dunkel GmbH Fabrik für elektrotechnische Geräte, 8260 Mühldorf | METHOD FOR PRODUCING CONTACT SPRING SOCKETS |
| DE3606340A1 (en) * | 1986-02-27 | 1987-09-03 | Kostal Leopold Gmbh & Co Kg | Electrical plug contact socket |
-
1991
- 1991-12-19 FR FR9115780A patent/FR2685558A1/en active Granted
-
1992
- 1992-12-14 CA CA002085294A patent/CA2085294C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1992-12-16 EP EP92403428A patent/EP0547969A1/en not_active Ceased
- 1992-12-21 US US07/993,622 patent/US5322459A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| EP0547969A1 (en) | 1993-06-23 |
| US5322459A (en) | 1994-06-21 |
| FR2685558B1 (en) | 1995-06-02 |
| CA2085294A1 (en) | 1993-06-20 |
| FR2685558A1 (en) | 1993-06-25 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKLA | Lapsed |