Electrical connectors – Contact comprising cutter – Insulation cutter
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-26
2001-07-24
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Contact comprising cutter
Insulation cutter
C335S278000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264493
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to electrical connectors. More specifically, the invention relates to an electrical plug connection between a knife-edge contact and the contact end of a conductor, in particular for closing an electrical connection in an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle.
Knife-edge contacts are known in fuse boxes of motor vehicles. The knife-edge contact is sheathed by a plastic bush in such a way that the flexible properties of its contacts are preserved. A plain plug contact is inserted into the plastic bush in the direction of the planes defined by the contacts of the knife-edge contact and is guided by the plastic bush. Because the knife-edge contact must be supported flexibly and because the plug contact has to be threaded in, this type of plug connection is only conditionally suited to rational production.
An easily produced plug connection has become known from German Patent DE 43 44 584 C2. Magnet valves for controlling an automatic transmission for a motor vehicle are accommodated in a control housing. The terminal contacts between the magnet valves and the electric lines leading to an electronic control unit must be capable of meeting stringent demands. A secure electrical connection in oil must be assured, despite the vibrations and temperature changes that occur. To that end, it is provided that the magnet valves each have two hooplike, resilient knife contacts that engage in openings of terminal contacts in a prestressed manner.
The press-fitted contact between the knife contacts and the terminal contacts comes about only if the magnet valves are positioned and fixed exactly. Moreover, the contact forces can lessen with age. Because of the necessity of openings in the terminal contacts, either stamped metal sheets or wire lines provided with additional plugs must be used as the electrical lines. Moreover, the contact region is not fully shielded from the outside, and so only limited protection against short circuits that are caused by metal chips in the transmission oil is achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,190 to Humphrey discloses an electrical component mounting and connection assembly for a direct connection with a conductor. The contact end of the conductor is oriented vertically to the plane defined by a knife-edge contact. A base part has an insertion opening for introducing the knife-edge contact.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an electrical plug connection between a knife-edge contact and a conductor, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods of this general type and which furnishes a reliable, economical electrical plug connection that is simple to produce.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an electrical plug connector assembly, comprising:
a knife-edge contact with knife contacts defining a plane;
a plastic bush having an insertion opening formed therein adapted to receive the knife contacts of the knife-edge contact;
a conductor with a contact end oriented perpendicularly to the plane defined by the knife contacts of the knife-edge contact, the contact end being embedded in the plastic bush, extending into the insertion opening, and being free of plastic sheathing in the insertion opening.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the contact end is sheathed with plastic in a zone upstream of the insertion opening and in a zone downstream of the insertion opening.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the contact end is integrally formed with the conductor.
In a preferred embodiment, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, in combination with a magnet valve of a motor vehicle transmission and an electronic control unit, an electrical plug connection which connects the magnet valve to the electronic control unit. The connection assembly comprises:
a contact carrier formed onto the magnet valve, and a knife-edge contact supported by the contact carrier, the knife-edge contact having knife contacts defining a plane;
a plastic bush having an insertion opening formed therein adapted to receive the knife contacts of the knife-edge contact;
a conductor leading from the plastic bush to the electronic control unit, the conductor having a contact end oriented perpendicularly to the plane defined by the knife contacts, the contact end being embedded in the plastic bush, extending into the insertion opening, and being free of plastic sheathing in the insertion opening.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the contact carrier covers the insertion opening of the plastic bush.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the contact end of the conductor extends parallel to or coplanar with a plane of the conductor.
If the knife-edge contact comes into contact with the knife-edge plug contact at some arbitrary point thereon, it suffices for a reliable contact between the knife-edge contact and the contact end of a conductor or knife-edge plug contact. The demands for precision in the fastening of the knife-edge plug contact are therefore not very stringent in the plug-in direction. This is highly advantageous, for instance, when magnet valves with knife-edge contacts are inserted into the control housing of an automatic transmission. Most particular, contact forces cannot lessen as the material ages. As a result, it is possible to dispense with costly stamped grid material with elastic properties in the contact region.
Because of the fact that the knife-edge contact is movable while the counterpart contact is rigid, guidance for the knife-edge contact and shielding of the contact region can be achieved especially simply and reliably. Any special additional covering is superfluous because the assembly provides for the necessary shielding of the contacts.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an electrical plug connection between a knife-edge contact and the contact end of a conductor, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3609643 (1971-09-01), Connan
patent: 4671596 (1987-06-01), Soma
patent: 4682840 (1987-07-01), Lockard
patent: 4778407 (1988-10-01), Myers
patent: 4820190 (1989-04-01), Humphrey
patent: 5037329 (1991-08-01), Wright
patent: 5295857 (1994-03-01), Toly
patent: 5725290 (1998-03-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 5749746 (1998-05-01), Tan et al.
patent: 43 44 584 A1 (1995-06-01), None
patent: 4344584C2 (1996-12-01), None
patent: 4305544C2 (1997-08-01), None
patent: 0 039 978 A1 (1981-11-01), None
patent: 0 077 610 A2 (1983-04-01), None
patent: 066 615 A2 (1995-03-01), None
patent: 0 691 707 A1 (1996-01-01), None
patent: 0 734 095 A1 (1996-09-01), None
Loibl Josef
Scheuerer Ulf
Greenberg Laurence A.
Hammond Briggitte R.
Lerner Herbert L.
Luebke Renee
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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