DE8909562U1 - Contact element for insulation displacement connection technology - Google Patents

Description

89 6 16 88EN

Siemens AG

Contact element for insulation displacement connection technology 5

The invention relates to a contact element which, in the direction of the element, has a connecting part which is essentially U-shaped in cross section for connection to an electrical conductor and a contact part for connection to a counter-contact element, with at least one area of the connecting part provided with a contact slot which is open to an open side of the U-cross section for pressing in a conductor, and with holding slots for the conductor which are worked out of the U-section of the connecting part on a side of a slot area facing away from the contact part.

Such a contact element is already known from US -PS 4,243,288, and the insulation displacement connection technology used in such a contact element makes it possible to connect a conductor surrounded by an insulating sheath to the contact element without the insulating sheath having to be detached from the conductor in the connection area. To do this, an end section of the conductor aligned parallel to the connection part is pressed from the open side of the U-contour of the connection part into insulation displacement contact slots which are formed by wall sections of the connection part which are angled transversely to the direction of the connection part. Edges of the wall sections which delimit the contact slot cut through the insulating sheath of the conductor and clamp the conductor between them in such a way that, with appropriate design and dimensioning of the contact slot, a permanent electrical contact is established between the conductor and the contact element.

However, this connection technology requires that the contact points between the conductor and the contact element are kept safely free from tensile stresses acting on the conductor.

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Therefore, on the side of the slot area facing away from a contact part of the contact element, mutually complementary tabs are worked out of both side walls of the U-contour, which wrap around the conductor and its insulating material covering in opposite directions, pressing into the covering. This largely prevents tensile stresses acting on the conductor from affecting the contact points formed by the insulation displacement contact slots between the contact element and the conductor. IO

The object of the present invention is to further improve a contact element of the type mentioned at the outset with regard to the absorption of the tensile stresses acting on a conductor.

According to the invention, this problem is solved by providing between the slot area of the connecting part and the contact part on both sides of a conductor end section inserted into the U-contour of the connecting part, further tabs are worked out of the U-contour of the connecting part and are designed to partially wrap around the conductor in opposite directions.

In this way, in addition to the strain relief device provided at the conductor-side end of the contact element, a further strain relief device is advantageously implemented between the slot area of the connection part and the contact part of the contact element, whereby the contact points between the contact element and the conductor can be kept free of forces in an improved manner.

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to two figures.

The images show, each greatly enlarged, 35

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Fig. 1 the connection part of a contact element seen from the open side of the U-contour of the connection part and

Fig. 2 the connector shown in Fig. 1 from the side

from above, with one side wall of the U-contour of the connecting part partially removed.

In detail, it can be seen from the figures that the contact element 1 consists of a contact part 2 and a connection part 3 in the direction of the element. The contact part, whose design is not shown in detail, can be, for example, a contact spring into which a contact pin or a contact blade of a counter-contact element can be inserted. The connection part 3 is intended for connecting the contact element to an electrical conductor.

For this purpose, the connecting part 3 has a substantially U-shaped cross-section, whereby a groove 4 is formed for inserting an end section 5 of an electrical conductor 6.

Wall parts 8 are cut out of the base 7 of the U-contour of the connecting part 3 formed by the U-shaped cross section of the connecting part 3 and are angled transversely to the direction of the connecting part 3 between side walls 9 of the U-contour of the connecting part.

The wall parts 8 form contact slots 10 that are symmetrical to the U-contour and also open to the open side of the U-contour, into which the conductor 6 is pressed when the conductor end section 5 is inserted into the U-contour of the connection part. In this case, edges of the wall parts 8, each of which delimits a contact slot 10, cut through an insulating material covering of the conductor 6 and clamp the conductor 6 between them in such a way that a permanent electrical connection is established between the conductor 6 and the contact element 1.

The two contact slots 10 provided in the contact element 1 shown in the figures are provided in a middle section of the connection part, which can be referred to as the slot area of the connection part.

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On the side of the slot area 11 facing away from the contact part 2, the connecting part 3 is provided with extended side wall sections 12 which can be bent as tabs 13 in opposite directions to one another around the conductor end section 5 inserted into the U-contour, partially wrapping around the conductor 6.

Using a suitably designed tool, the tabs 13 can be pressed against the insulating material covering of the conductor 6 in such a way that they partially constrict it, press into the insulating material covering and can thereby absorb tensile stresses acting on the conductor 6. The contact points between the connection element 1 and the conductor 6 are thus kept largely free of forces.

To improve the intercepting effect of the tabs 13, tabs 14 of the same type and effect as the tabs 13 are provided between the slot area 11 and the contact part 2 of the contact element 1. The tabs 14 create a further strain relief device, so that the contact slots 10 formed by the wall parts are additionally relieved.

In addition, the additional interception device formed by the tabs 14 advantageously prevents the conductor 6, in the case of a contact element with two contact slots 10 spaced apart from one another in the direction of the connection part, from being able to undesirably migrate out of the contact slot 10, which is further away from the interception device formed by the tabs 13.

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Claims (1)

89 &thgr; 16 88DE • · · I Protection claim 1. Contact element which, in the direction of travel of the element, has a connecting part which is essentially U-shaped in cross-section for connection to an electrical conductor and a contact part for connection to a counter-contact element, with at least one contact slot provided in the area of the connecting part and open to an open side of the U-cross section for pressing in a conductor, and with retaining tabs for the conductor worked out of the U-contour of the connecting part on a side of a slot area facing away from the contact part, characterized in that between the slot area of the connecting part and the contact part on both sides of a conductor end section inserted into the U-contour of the connecting part, further tabs are provided, which are worked out of the U-contour of the connecting ^part and are designed to partially wrap around the conductor in opposite directions. 02 01