Electrical connectors – Coupling part including flexing insulation – Hinged or flexed detent on insulation engaging to secure...
Patent
1991-05-24
1993-02-16
McGlynn, Joseph H.
Electrical connectors
Coupling part including flexing insulation
Hinged or flexed detent on insulation engaging to secure...
H01R 1300
Patent
active
051866587
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an electrical contact for an electrical connector, more specifically to one made by stamping and forming an electrically-conductive metal plate and comprising an electrical conductor-crimping section at one end and an insulation cover-crimping section at the other end.
One example of such contact is a receptacle contact having a contact section for electrical connection with a section of a mating complementary plug contact between a conductor-crimping section and an insulation cover-crimping section at one side and also an engaging member or a lance to prevent the contact from slipping out after being inserted in an insulation housing as disclosed in the specification of Japanese Utility Patent Publication No. 4394/85.
This known contact provides sufficient distance between the conductor-crimping section and the insulation cover-crimping section, thereby overcoming disadvantages associated with a shorter length, i.e., possible cutting of the conductor in the wire-crimping operation and improper electrical contact with the wire conductor. In this way, the electrical connection operation is made easier and the height of the insulation housing to hold the contact is reduced.
The conventional engaging member or lance is made by cutting and forming outwardly the side edges of the section at the side of the insulation cover-crimping section, thereby providing resiliency of the engaging member. In order to maintain the contact having such an engaging member in the insulation housing, the contact is inserted in a cavity of the insulation housing at one or upper opening end and the engaging member is pushed inwardly by the inner wall of the cavity against its resiliency. Simultaneously, a fixed step portion formed on the one side wall of the cavity releases the inward pushing so that a tip of the engaging member is engaged with the step portion, thereby providing the contact with lance means in the direction opposite to the insertion thereof.
However, the engaging member is made by forming outwardly a relatively thin metal member, and thus insufficient in strength. It may also be bent or deformed when pulled in the opposite direction with a relatively strong force, thus, it may be broken due to metal fatigue when it is frequently inserted in and extracted from the insulation housing, i.e., when the number of insertions and extractions increases. Also, since the engaging member forms a substantially V-shaped gap with the side edge of the contact, such engaging member tends to catch and scratch wires and the engaging member may be deformed, especially when handling electrical wires having a plurality of contacts connected thereto. If a shorter engaging member is used to avoid such problems, the resiliency will be ineffective for proper engagement with the fixed step portion.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the conventional contact. For this end, an engaging member is formed by forming an outward projection in one side edge of a member between a conductor-crimping section and an insulation cover-crimping section of a contact.
A resilient lance is formed in an insulation housing for engaging such engaging member of the contact when inserted within the insulation housing.
In order to achieve the above object, the contact, according to the present invention, is made by stamping and forming an electrically conductive metal sheet and comprises a conductor-crimping section at one end, an insulation cover-crimping section at the other end, an electrical contact section with a complementary contact at one side between both crimping sections, a securing member at the other side between both crimping sections, and an engaging member to secure the contact within an insulation housing formed on the securing member.
The engaging member is formed by forming an outward projection in a part of the securing member at one side edge at the insulation cover-crimping section side of the securing member.
In the preferred embodiment of the present
REFERENCES:
patent: 2425670 (1947-08-01), Buell
patent: 4690477 (1987-09-01), Doutrich et al.
Kikuchi Shoji
Onoue Nobuaki
Aberle Timothy J.
AMP Incorporated
LaRue Adrian J.
McGlynn Joseph H.
LandOfFree
Electrical contact does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electrical contact, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical contact will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2145155