Electric connecting elements for piezoelectric plates

Details Electric connecting elements for piezoelectric plates Electric connecting elements for piezoelectric plates

2003-01-29

2004-03-23

Paumen, Gary (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Energy cell substitution device including plural contacts or...

C439S073000, C310S348000, C310S354000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06709285

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improved electric connecting element for piezoelectric plates and particularly to an electric connecting element adopted for use on an input end of the piezoelectric plates to facilitate installation and achieve good electric connection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
At present the methods of establishing electric connection between a piezoelectric plate
10
and a circuit board
20
can be grouped in the following types:
FIG. 1
illustrates one type of electric connection in which the connection spot
12
for either the high voltage output end or the power supply input end of the piezoelectric plate
10
is directly soldered through a leg
30
or
40
. As the piezoelectric plate
10
is subject to shaking when conductive, especially the shaking of transverse frequency, the legs
30
and
40
are prone to fracture. Moreover, connection done entirely by soldering is a tedious and troublesome operation. The space required for shaking is restrictive and limits its performance.
FIG. 2
shows another type of electric connection. It mainly has the legs
30
and
40
bent to form integrated electric connection plates
50
. Each connection plate
50
is bent to form an elastic section
51
corresponding to the electric connection spot
12
. For installation, the piezoelectric plate
10
is wedged in and the elastic section
51
provides an elastic force to anchor the piezoelectric plate
10
to establish electric connection. The elastic force of the elastic section
51
also provides a desired shaking space for the piezoelectric plate
10
to maintain its effectiveness. However, shaking of the piezoelectric plate
10
may occur in the longitudinal direction in addition to the transverse direction. Clipping by the smooth surface of the elastic section
51
, the piezoelectric plate
10
is easy to get loose or break away under excessive shaking. To remedy this drawback, some tries to shorten the distance between the elastic sections
51
of the two connection plates
50
. But such an approach creates a risk of fracturing the fragile piezoelectric plate
10
. Moreover, such a design also is dubious in terms of practicality.
FIG. 3
depicts yet another type of electric connection that has a housing box
60
to hold the piezoelectric plate
10
. It has a plurality of legs
61
connecting to the piezoelectric plate
10
and a plurality of cushion units
62
coupling with the legs
61
to constrain the piezoelectric plate
10
. As the piezoelectric plate
10
is located in the housing box
60
and connected to the legs
61
and retained by the cushion units
62
, the shaking generated by the piezoelectric plate
10
may be absorbed and eliminated by the cushion units
62
, and the legs
61
may be prevented from fracturing. While such a design can resolve most of the problems occurred in applications, the housing box
60
and its lid
70
take a greater amount of space. It does fit very well for electronic products that demand a smaller size.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore the primary object of the invention is to resolve the aforesaid disadvantages. The invention provides an improved electric connecting element that has an elastic section connecting to an electric connection spot of the input end of a piezoelectric plate. The elastic section has one end extended to form an anchor section to fasten to a circuit board and another end extended upwards above the piezoelectric plate to form a retaining section to prevent the piezoelectric plate from shaking loose from the electric connection spot of the piezoelectric plate. Thus the piezoelectric plate may have a better electric connection and also may be held securely without breaking away under excessive shaking.


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