Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-25
2001-08-21
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Distinct contact secured to panel circuit
C439S078000, C439S876000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276946
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
My present invention relates to an electric plug-in connection between at least one winding of the stator of an electric motor and the electronic circuitry provided on a circuit board of the electric motor. More particularly, the invention relates to a plug connection in which a connection can be made between the printed circuit board and a stator winding utilizing a conductor which is soldered to the printed circuit board and engaged in a socket wired to the electric motor stator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Printed circuit boards with plug-in connectors are, of course, known for a variety of applications. In a typical connector of that type, the plug-in member can be soldered to the printed circuit board and can project therefrom to engage in a socket.
In the case of electric motors wherein the socket may be electrically connected to at least one stator winding, the socket makes electrical contact with the plug-in member which communicates the electrical contact to the solder junctions with the printed circuit board. The socket can form a clamping contact, i.e. a contact which clampingly engages opposite sides of an end of the sheet metal strip forming the plug-in contact. It is important in earlier systems of this type that the sheet metal strip be substantially perpendicular to the surface of the printed circuit board and that it be sufficiently stiff so that, on positioning the printed circuit board in the motor housing, the blade formed by the end of the strip opposite that at which solder joints are formed on the printed circuit, is automatically inserted in the socket or clamping contact with sufficient force to spread the latter and enable a good electric connection to be made.
Because of vibrations inherent in the operation of such motors, the solder junction between the metal strip and the printed circuit board can be subjected to significant mechanical load and can break down, especially with aging of the solder junction and/or as a consequence of the application of elevated temperatures to such junctions. In these cases, the solder joints can be damaged or completely broken. The interruption of electrical connections between the stator winding and the electronic circuitry can result in failure of the electric motor and that, of course, can cause other damage elsewhere in a manufacturing plant or wherever the motor is provided. The maintenance of a reliable electrical connection, in spite of such vibrations, is ensured in the system of DE-OS 196 30 424 in which a higher-current contact plug is connected via an additional flexible conductor, especially via a cable, to a solder junction on the printed circuit board. A drawback of this system is that two separate conductors must be used and must be connected together at the plug-in portion of the contact, thereby raising the number of components required and, more significantly, involving higher mounting costs and requiring increasing amounts of time for creation of the assembly.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple and easily produced plug-in connection of the aforementioned general type, with sufficient strength and stiffness to be easily mounted or formed, which will remain reliable over extended periods of time and which is relatively insensitive to external mechanical effects.
Another object of this invention is to provide a plug-in connection which can be assembled rapidly and inexpensively and which is free from drawbacks of earlier systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the invention in an electric plug-in connection between at least one winding of the stator of an electric motor and a printed circuit board which carries the control electronic circuits for the electric motor and which is soldered to a first electrical solder contact and which has in the mounted state an end plugged in to a socket connected with the winding. The plug can be formed with a flexible connection with a second electrical solder contact to the printed circuit board.
The two solder contacts and the plug can be formed on a single sheet metal strip and the flexible connection can be formed by a bent region of the sheet metal strip. It is important for the purposes of the present invention that the two solder contact portions and the plug be formed from a single sheet metal strip and that the flexible connection be formed by a bent region of this sheet metal strip.
The electrical plug-in connection of the invention has a relatively simple construction whereby an additional flexible electrical connection is integrated into the plug member. Only a single component need be fabricated and mounted thereby reducing the mounting costs and fabricating costs and the time required for operation. In a relatively simple manner, a one-piece plug connection which is especially easily handled and which has the required strength and structural stability can be fabricated unitarily with the flexible connection which practically makes the plug-in connector immune to external mechanical influences, like, for example, vibration of the electric motor. Should there be a failure of the first solder junction, the second electrical connection between the plug strip and the printed circuit board remains intact and reliable.
It has been found to be especially advantageous to provide the sheet metal strip so that its lower end is slit to form strip segments on either side of the slit. This has been found to provide an especially simple and inexpensive way of providing a plurality of solder junctions. An especially simple and inexpensive formation of the contact member from a single sheet metal blank by a single stamping and bending operation is thus possible.
In further embodiments of the invention, the sheet metal strips can have two or more slits at their lower ends, subdividing these lower ends into three or more partial strips or segments, each of which has a formation at its extremity which can form a solder junction with the printed circuit board and lies opposite the end of the strip which plugs into the socket. The individual segments can each be relatively rigid or can be provided with a flexible or bent region and at least one of these segments can be formed with the flexible bent region while at least one other segment is relatively rigid. It has been found to be advantageous to provide two flexible segments straddling an intermediate rigid segment.
In still another embodiment of the invention, the first solder contact is provided intermediate the length of the sheet metal strip between the second solder contact and the portion of that strip which is plugged into the socket. Here the sheet metal strip is not slit to form strip segments but rather is a single continuous strip. With the embodiments of the invention the flexible region, e.g. between the first and second contact of the single strip or along any of the strip segments can be a zig-zag bend or a bend which is of wave shape, preferably a sinusoidal shape or a meander.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4808113 (1989-02-01), Kanesige et al.
patent: 5632629 (1997-05-01), Legrady
patent: 20 35 326 (1971-07-01), None
patent: 44 22 787 (1995-01-01), None
patent: 196 08 032 (1997-09-01), None
patent: 196 30 424A (1998-01-01), None
patent: 196 30 424 (1998-01-01), None
Bradley Paula
Dubno Herbert
Nguyen Truc
Wilo GmbH
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