Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Spring actuated or resilient securing part
Patent
1996-04-17
1998-05-12
Paumen, Gary F.
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Spring actuated or resilient securing part
H01R 1311
Patent
active
057497559
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electric terminal, particularly a female electric terminal designed to mate with a male blade type terminal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Female electric terminals made by blanking and bending conductive sheet metal are known, and comprise, integrally, a contact body with contact elements cooperating with a male blade terminal, and a deformable portion for connection to an electric cable.
More specifically, the contact elements consist of one or more pairs of blades projecting from the contact body and cooperating with respective opposite faces of the male terminal. The contact blades of female terminals of the type briefly described above are symmetrical in relation to the plane of the male terminal so as to cooperate with facing contact areas on either side of the terminal.
Terminals of the aforementioned type are only suitable for use with flat blade male terminals as opposed to those with shaped blades, e.g. those having ridged cross sections which are becoming increasingly popular because they require less material for given mechanical characteristics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a female terminal designed to overcome the aforementioned limitation and, in particular, to cooperate with male terminals having either flat or shaped blades.
According to the present invention, there is provided a female electric terminal made of conductive sheet metal. The terminal comprises integrally, a contact body with contact means which cooperate with a male terminal and a portion for connection to an electric cable. The said contact means has first and second flexible blade means projecting from opposite walls of the contact body and cooperating elastically with respective opposite faces of the male terminal. The first and second blade means are asymmetrical in relation to the plane of the male terminal so as to define offset contact areas on the respective faces of the male terminal. The first and second blade means have respective flexible portions of at least substantially the same flexural rigidity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Two preferred, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a view in perspective of a first embodiment of a female electric terminal in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;
FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively show a longitudinal half section, a top plan view, a bottom plan view, and a front view of the FIG. 1 terminal;
FIGS. 6 and 7 show front views of the FIG. 1 terminal engaged by a flat blade and a ridged cross section blade male terminal respectively;
FIG. 8 shows a flat sheet metal blank from which to produce the FIG. 1 terminal;
FIG. 9 shows a bottom plan view of a second embodiment of a female terminal in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;
FIG. 10 shows a flat sheet metal blank from which to produce the FIG. 9 terminal.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Number 1 in FIG. 1 indicates a female electric terminal 1. It should be stressed that terms such as "top", "bottom", "front", "rear" and similar in the following description are in no way limiting and are used purely for reasons of clarity with reference to the position of terminal 1 as shown in FIG. 1.
Terminal 1 is formed in one piece from conductive sheet metal by means of blanking, pressing and bending operations.
Terminal 1 substantially comprises a contact body 2 designed to cooperate indifferently with a flat blade male terminal 3a (FIGS. 2, 6) or with a terminal 3b featuring a shaped, ridged cross section blade (FIG. 7); and with a deformable portion 4 for connection to an electric cable 5.
Body 2 substantially comprises a box portion 6 with a closed rectangular cross section, from which connecting portion 4 extends rearwards. Box portion 6 comprises a bottom wall 10 and a top wall 11 parallel to each other and to a plane a defining, in use,
REFERENCES:
patent: 4175821 (1979-11-01), Hunter
patent: 4720276 (1988-01-01), Takahashi
patent: 4963102 (1990-10-01), Gettig et al.
patent: 5162004 (1992-11-01), Kuzuno et al.
patent: 5269712 (1993-12-01), Denlinger et al.
patent: 5554056 (1996-09-01), Henricus op ten Berg
Genta Alessandro
Rampone Renzo
Framatome Connectors International S.A.
Paumen Gary F.
Ta Tho Dac
LandOfFree
Female electric terminal does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Female electric terminal, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Female electric terminal will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-974927