Electrical connectors – With guiding means for mating of coupling part – Rodlike guide member extending in coupling direction or...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-30
2001-01-09
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With guiding means for mating of coupling part
Rodlike guide member extending in coupling direction or...
C439S079000, C439S374000, C439S572000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171133
ABSTRACT:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a contact-making device having a connector strip and having a plurality of contact legs which project from the connector strip and are to be inserted into holes in a circuit board in the course of the connector strip being mounted on said circuit board.
Such contact-making devices are frequently used for example for supplying control units or electrical components with electrical energy or signals in motor vehicles, and are known from the art. The control units or the electrical components either form a structural unit with the connector strip or can be connected thereto. The contact legs of the known contact-making device project from the connector strip and are inserted into the holes in the circuit board for the purpose of mounting. In the mounted state of the contact-making device, the contact legs penetrate through the circuit board, where they are soldered to conductor tracks arranged on the circuit board. As a result of this, the connector strip is fixed on the circuit board and, at the same time, has contact made with it.
The known contact-making device has the disadvantage that it is very complicated to mount since even slight deviations of the usually very thin contact legs from their intended position lead to them kinking when the connector strip is mated to the circuit board. Particularly in the case of the large number of contact legs of the connector strip for a control unit in a motor vehicle, the known contact-making device can, therefore, usually be mounted only manually.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A The invention is based on the problem of configuring a contact-making device of the type mentioned in the introduction in such a way that it can be mounted in a particularly simple manner and the risk of the contact legs kinking is minimized.
This problem is solved according to the invention by virtue of the fact that the connector strip has a guide plate, which is provided with cutouts for guiding the contact legs and can be displaced along the contact legs in the course of mounting.
This configuration makes it possible firstly to connect the guide plate to the contact legs in the course of the mounting of the connector strip on the circuit board. In the process, the contact legs penetrate the accurately fitting cutouts in the guide plate and are aligned relative to the holes in the circuit board. Individual contact legs are thereby reliably prevented from kinking as they are inserted into the holes in the circuit board. By virtue of the invention, the mounting of the connector strip on the circuit board is configured in a particularly simple manner. Moreover, the mounting can be automated. The guide plate may have particularly small dimensions in relation to the connector strip and to the circuit board, with the result that the contact legs can be inserted into the cutouts in the guide plate in a very simple manner.
In accordance with one advantageous development of the invention, the guide plate can be aligned relative to the circuit board in a very simple manner if the guide plate has guide elements provided for penetrating cutouts in the circuit board.
A contribution is made to further simplifying the mounting of the contact-making device according to the invention if the connector strip can be connected to the guide plate to form a premountable unit in which the ends of the contact legs lie approximately in one plane together with that surface of the guide plate which faces the circuit board.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, the connector strip can be aligned relative to the guide plate in a particularly simple manner if the guide elements of the guide plate are of sleeve-type configuration and if the connector strip has guide pins designed for penetrating the guide elements.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, the connector strip can be connected to the guide plate with a particularly low expenditure of force if on their inner sides, the sleeve-type guide elements of the guide plate are configured such that they taper toward the side facing the circuit board.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, the guide elements of the guide plate are braced in the cutouts in the circuit board when the connector strip is mated to the circuit board if, at their ends facing the circuit board, the internal diameter of the sleeve-type guide elements is smaller than the diameter of the guide pins of the connector strip, and if the guide elements have a longitudinally slotted configuration. The contact-making device according to the invention has particularly high stability as a result of this.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, a contribution is made to further simplifying the connection of the connector strip to the guide plate if the guide pins are configured such that they taper toward their free ends.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, the premounted state of the connector strip and the guide plate is defined particularly exactly if the guide pins each have a notch and the sleeve-type guide elements have lugs penetrating the notch in the premounted state of the connector strip and guide plate. This contributes to further simplifying the mounting of the contact-making device according to the invention.
The connector strips which are provided for connecting control units of a motor vehicle, in particular, themselves frequently bear plug-in connections onto which connectors for signal lines are plugged. In the case of these connector strips, it is important that force influences always act perpendicularly on the circuit board, in order to avoid subjecting the circuit board to unnecessary mechanical stresses. In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, the connector strip is reliably aligned in an intended position after mounting on the circuit board if the guide plate and/or the connector strip have/has spacers provided for bearing on the circuit board.
In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, a contribution is made to further simplifying the mounting of the connector strip on the guide plate if the cutouts for the contact legs in the guide plate have a funnel-shaped configuration on the side facing the connector strip.
As a rule, the contact legs have angular portions leading to the holes in the circuit board. In accordance with another advantageous development of the invention, these angular portions do not result in an increase in the distance between the connector strip and the circuit board if the guide plate has grooves for accommodating angular portions of the contact legs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4875863 (1989-10-01), Reed
patent: 5186633 (1993-02-01), Mosser, III
patent: 5240422 (1993-08-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5468154 (1995-11-01), Yip et al.
patent: 5980314 (1999-11-01), Roberts
patent: 6033258 (2000-03-01), Huang et al.
patent: 0702432 (1996-03-01), None
Altuner Turgay
Möller Birgit
Bradley Paula
Farber Martin A.
Le{acute over (o)}n Edwin A.
Mannesmann VDO AG
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