GB2064235A

GB2064235A - Electrical connecting member

Info

Publication number: GB2064235A
Application number: GB8032031A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Labinal SA; Precision Mecanique Labinal SA
Current assignee: Safran Electrical and Power SAS; Precision Mecanique Labinal SA
Priority date: 1979-10-09
Filing date: 1980-10-03
Publication date: 1981-06-10
Also published as: DE3037642C2; ES253407U; GB2064235B; FR2467490B1; DE8026644U1; ES253407Y; IT8068542A0; DE3037642A1; FR2467490A1; IT1129294B

Abstract

An electrical connecting member has a U-section body having a web 2 and two flanges 3, 4, one end of the body being adapted for connection to an electric circuit, the other end having the flanges with extensions 7, 8 folded into the body interior to form a clamp for the plug of a member to be connected to the circuit, and the end of each extension having a lug or tab 9 (only one shown) which projects laterally of the flange from which the extension extends. Variations are described with Fig. 3 (not shown) and Figs. 4-6 (not shown), respectively printed circuitry and fuse box applications. A synthetic plastics casing or box adapted to receive such a member with the lugs or tabs acting to facilitate introduction of the member to the casing and engaging a shoulder is disclosed (Figs. 7-9, not shown). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Electrical connecting member and casing or box therefor The present invention relates to an electrical connecting member, such as those which are adapted to receive a pin of a relay, a contact of a fuse or even a printed circuit. The invention is also concerned with a casing or box designed to receive such a connecting member.

The present invention is concerned with a connecting member of the type formed of a body made of a good electrically conducting material having, at one end, means for its connection to an electric circuit, i.e. means permitting either a current-supply wire to be plugged in, or the fixing of the arrangement on a printed circuit, or even the establishment, for example, of a fuse box, etc., the said body being folded so as to provide a Usection with a web or centre-rib and two flanges, each flange being provided with an extension folded so as to extend into the interior of the body so as to form a resilient clamp adapted to receive the member which is to be connected.

Such connecting members may be provided with means which permit them to be fixed in an insulating casing or box. Generally, these means are formed by tongues which are cut out either in the base of the centre-rib or at the ends of the flanges opposite to those provided with extensions, the said tongues projecting beyond the outside of the body. In order to place the connector in position, this latter is engaged in a channel provided in the box, which channel comprises a shoulder past which the tongue moves by means of an elastic deformation of this latter, the free end of the said tongue abutting against the shoulder so as to oppose the retraction of the connecting member when the latter is engaged.

It was found that such tongues had numerous disadvantages and that in particular they did not always serve their purpose. In actual practice, they are frequently deformed during the different manipulations and the connecting member finally is not satisfactorily held in the box or casing. In addition, each connecting member has to be made according to the thickness of the plug or pin which it has to receive. It is in fact very important that the extensions are not deformed beyond a certain degree with the introduction of the plug, otherwise the electrical connection is not good.

The present invention seeks to provide a connecting member which overcomes the various aforementioned disadvantages.

The connecting member which forms the subject of the present invention is of the type made of a good electrically conducting resilient material and formed by a U-section body having a centre-rib and two flanges, the said body being provided at one end with means for connecting it to an electric circuit while at the other end, each flange comprises an extension bent over so as to extend into the interior of the body between the said flanges in order to form a resilient clamp adapted to receive a pin of a member which is to be connected, such as a pin of a relay, a contact of a fuse or even a printed circuit, and each extension is bent so as to provide a substantially convex part, the convex surfaces being turned to face one another so that each convex part cooperates with the corresponding part of the other extension, the free end of each extension being extended to close tro the internal surface of the flange from which it extends and comprising laterally a lug projecting at the lateral surface of the said flange which it extends. Because of this arrangement, a connecting member is provided which is capable of receiving, while ensuring a substantially perfect contact, pins of a variable thickness and of which the means for the fixing thereof in the box are not subject to being damaged, the fixation in the said box being certain to be always substantially perfect.

Preferably, and in accordance with one particular feature, each lug is disposed so as to project along the free side of the flange opposite to the side adjacent to the centre-rib. Thus, the centre-rib may have a relatively large height, this giving a better rigidity to the connecting member.

According to yet another preferred feature, the bent portion of each extension has at least one slot. Thus, with the introduction of the pin, each part determined by the slot acts as an independent part, so that the electrical connection is better.

So as to facilitate the introduction of the connecting member into the box, while ensuring that the said member will be perfectly held in its seating, each lug forms an obtuse angle with the edge of the extension with which it is integral from the side of the end of the body opposite to that provided with means for being connected to an electric circuit and a right-angle from the other side.

The invention is also concerned with a casing or box designed to receive a connecting member such as defined above, the said box being of the type having a body of synthetic plastics material provided with at least one channel or passage adapted to receive the connecting member, the said passage having an opening at one end for the introduction of the said member and at its other end with a slot for the passage of the plug to be connected, means being provided for cooperating with the corresponding parts of the connecting member for holding the latter when it has been introduced into the passage, and wherein the said passage has two parallel grooves on each of its faces designed to cooperate with the lateral surface of the flanges, each groove having a shoulder turned from the side of the slot.Because of this arrangement, it is possible for the connecting member to be engaged in the passage according to two angular positions offset by 1800, this greatly facilitating the assembly.

Finally, preferably the depth of each groove is smaller than the height of the lugs. Thus, when the connecting member is fitted into its casing or box, a light pressure is applied to the ends of the lugs, so that the convex parts of the extensions are held one against the other.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by reference to particular embodiments which are given simply by way of example and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a connecting member according to the invention.

Figure 2 is also a perspective view of the member shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the connecting member shown in Figure 1, Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views which show connecting members disposed in strip form for being used in fuse boxes, Figure 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of connecting members disposed in strip form for fuse boxes, Figure 7 is a perspective view of a casing or box designed to contain two connecting members according to the invention, Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line VIll-VIll of Figure 9, Figure 9 is a sectional view on the line IX-IX of Figure 7.

Shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a connecting member according to the invention, which is made of a resilient metallic material which has good electrical conductivity, the said member being bent so as to provide a U-section body 1 having a web or centre-rib 2 and two flanges 3 and 4. The body comprises, at one end, lugs 5 which permit an electric conductor wire to be gripped and lugs 6 adapted to grip an insulating sheath in which an electric conductor is arranged.

The flange 3 is provided with an extension 7 which is bent between the flanges so as to form a convex part 7a. The flange 4 is provided with an extension 8 which is bent so as to provide a convex part 8a which is adapated to cooperate with the part 7a. The extension 7 is formed with a slot 1 while the extension 8 has a slot 12.

The extension 7 is adapted to bear by means of its free end against the internal face of the flange 3 and the said free end is formed with a lug or tab 9 which is bent so as to project at the external surface of the flange 3, the said tab extending from the side of the lugs 5 and 6.

By means of its free end, the extension 8 bears against the internal surface of the flange 4 and is formed with a tab or lug 10, which projects beyond the external surface of the said flange 4.

As will be seen from the different Figures, the side of the tabs 9 and 10 facing away from the side of the extensions 5 and 6 forms an obtuse angle with the corresponding flange, while the opposite face of the said tabs forms a right-angle.

Represented in Figure 3 is a connecting member according to the invention which is adapted to be fixed on a printed circuit. The connecting member according to this Figure comprises a U-section body 15 having two flanges 1 6 and 1 7 which are provided with an extension 18 and 19, respectively, the said extension being bent over towards the interior of the body so as to provide convex parts 1 8a, 1 9a, the free ends of the extensions being formed with a tab 20.

Cn the side opposite to the extensions 1 8, 1 9 the body 15 has a lug 21 which is designed to be engaged in a slot of a printed circuit and soldered so as to be connected to the different connections of the said circuit.

Represented in Figures 4 and 5 are connecting members which are designed for the equipment of a fuse box and which are accordingly arranged in strip form for being electrically connected to one another.

Represented in the embodiment according to Figure 4 are two connecting members 22, 22a, each of these members having a U-section body 23 with two flanges 24, 25, the flange 24 being provided with a folded and bent extension 26 comprising a tab 27, while the flange 25 has a folded and bent extension 28 which is cut so as to provide a tab which cannot be seen in the Figure.

In this constructional form, each body 23, on the side opposite to the flanges 24, 25, comprises two plug pins 29, which are adapted to be engaged in corresponding socket-type connectiors, which are not shown.

The different connecting members 22, 22a are made from a suitably cut and folded metal strip and, in this constructional form, the different connecting members are connected to one another by a strip 30, in which is made a crease or fold 31 so that the interval between each connecting member and the following member is relatively restricted.

In the modified constructional form which is shown in Figure 5, the strip 30 does not have any crease or fold 31, so that the different connecting members 22, 22a are separated by a larger distance. In this Figure 5, the same references as those in Figure 4 are used for indicating the same members.

Yet another constructional form of the connecting member is shown in Figure 6, this member being adapted for the equipment of a fuse box. In this modified constructional form, the different connecting members 33, 33a, etc. are interconnected by a strip 44 which has a crease or fold 45. Each connecting member 33, 33a comprises a U-section body 34 with two flanges 37, 38, the flange 37 being provided with a folded and bent extension 39 having a tab 41, while the flange 38 has a folded and bent extension 40 and a tab 42. Each connecting member is made with two lugs 36 for gripping an electric conductor and two lugs 35 for gripping the insulating sheath of this conductor. Obviously, as in the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the strip 44 may be formed without a crease or fold 45 and, in this case, the connecting members 33, 33a are spaced further apart.

Figures 7, 8 and 9 show one particular example of a box designed to be used with the connecting member of Figure 1 and 2, the said box which bears the reference 50, being made of a moulded synthetic plastics material. The box 50 has two channels or passages 51 which are designed to receive a connecting member and each passage 51 has, at one end, an opening 52 for the introduction of the connecting member and, at its other end, a slot 53 through which will be engaged the member to be connected, for example, a fuse or a card of a printed circuit or a similar member.Provided in the passage 51 on one of its internal faces are two grooves 54 and on its opposite internal face two grooves 55, the distance separating a groove 54 from a groove 55 which faces it being slightly smaller than the space between the two free ends of the lugs 9 and 1 0. Each groove 54 is terminated from the side of the opening 52 by a shoulder 56, while a shoulder 57 is provided for closing each groove 55.

For facilitating the positioning of the connecting member, each passage 51 has two sloping surfaces 58.

In order to position the connecting members in the passages 51 of the box 50, it is sufficient to engage the said connecting members so that the flanges 3 and 4 cooperate with the sloping surfaces 58 until the tabs 9 and 10 extend into the said surfaces 55 and 54 respectively. This positioning operation is effected without it being necessary to apply a considerable force, because of the shape of the lugs and, once the connecting member is placed in position, it can no longer be withdrawn.

It is possible to present the connecting member in accordance with two positions offset by 1 80o; in one of the positions, the tab 10 cooperates with the groove 54 and the member 9 cooperates with the groove 55, in the manner as shown in Figure 8, whereas in the other case, the tab 10 is engaged in the other groove 55 and the tab 9 in the other groove 54.

It will be noted that the depth of the grooves 54 and 55 is such that when the connecting member is placed in position, the tabs abut against the base of the grooves, and this makes it necessary for the bent or curved parts 7a and 8a to be applied perfectly one against the other, so that with the introduction of the plug, the latter is perfectly gripped in the clamp.

It is obvious that the invention is not limited to the constructional form which have just been described and which have been illustrated and that it is possible to incorporate therein numerous modifications as regards details, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. Electrical connecting member of the type made of a resilient material which is a good conductor of electricity and which is formed of a U-section body having a web or centre-rib and two flanges, the said body being provided at one end with means for connecting it to an electric circuit, while at the other end, each flange comprises an extension which is folded so as to extend into the interior of the body between the said flanges in order to form a resilient clamp designed to receive a plug of a member to be connected, such as a pin of a relay, a contact of a fuse or even a printed circuit, and wherein each extension is bent so as to provide a substantially convex part, the convex surfaces facing one another so that each convex part cooperates with the corresponding convex part of the other extension, the free end of each extension being extended in the vicinity of the internal surfaces of the flange from which it extends and comprising laterally a lug or tab projecting at the lateral surface of the said flange from which it extends.

2. Electrical connecting member according to claim 1, wherein each tab is disposed so as to project along the free side of the flange opposite to the side adjacent the centre-rib.

3. Electical connecting member according to claim 1, wherein the bent part of each extension has at least one slot.

4. Electrical connecting member according to claim 1, wherein each tab forms an obtuse angle with the edge of the extension with which it is integral from the side of the end of the body opposite to that provided with means for being connected to an electric circuit and a right-angle from the opposite side.

5. Casing or box designed to receive at least one member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and of the type having a body of synthetic plastics material provided with at least one passage designed to receive the connecting member, the said passage having an opening at one end for the introduction of the said member and at its other end a slot for the passage of the plug to be connected, means being provided for cooperating with the corresponding members of the connecting member for holding the latter when it has been introduced into the passage, wherein the said passage has two parallel grooves on each of its faces adapted to cooperate with the lateral surface of the flange, each groove providing a shoulder turned away from the side of the slot.

6. Box according to claim 5, wherein the depth of each groove is smaller than the height of the tabs or lugs.

7. An electrical connecting member substantially as shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, or Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings and described herein with reference thereto.

8. A casing or box for an electrical connecting member substantially as shown in Figures 7 to 9 of the accompanying drawings and described herein with reference thereto.