Electrical connector with coating piercing electrical contact
AssigneeAptiv Technologies AG
InventorMichael L. Mellott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrical connector assembly includes a generally planar metallic substrate having a surface with an electrically nonconductive coating and an electrical connector having a contact tab extending therefrom that is in mechanical and electrical contact with the metallic substrate. The contact tab defines two sharp points that are formed by two triangular portions of the contact tab that pierce the electrically nonconductive coating. An electrical shield incorporating the contact tab and a method of forming the electrical shield are also provided herein.
Claims16
An electrical connector assembly, comprising:
- a generally planar metallic substrate having a surface with an electrically nonconductive coating;
- and
- an electrical connector having a contact tab extending from a connector body, the contact tab being in mechanical and electrical contact with the metallic substrate, the contact tab forms a V-shaped configuration defining an apex and two non-coplanar triangular portions, each triangular portion terminating at a respective outwardly facing sharp point, a clamping force applied at the apex causes the sharp points to move laterally away from one another to scrape through the electrically nonconductive coating, thereby establishing electrical contact between the electrical connector and the metallic substrate.
An electrical shield formed of sheet metal, comprising:
- a contact tab extending from the electrical shield, the contact tab being in mechanical and configured to be in electrical contact with a metallic substrate, wherein the contact tab forms a V-shaped configuration defining an apex and two non-coplanar triangular portions, each triangular portion terminating at a respective outwardly facing sharp point, wherein a clamping force applied at the apex causes the sharp points to move laterally away from one another to scrape through an electrically nonconductive coating on a metallic substrate, thereby establishing electrical contact between the electrical shield and the metallic substrate.
A method of forming an electrical shield from sheet metal, comprising:
- forming a rectangular contact tab extending from the electrical shield and integral to the electrical shield;
- and
- bending the contact tab at a centerline such that the contact tab defines a V-shaped configuration defining an apex and two non-coplanar triangular portions, each triangular portion terminating at a respective outwardly facing sharp point, the two sharp points are configured to pierce an electrically nonconductive coating on a metallic substrate
- applying a clamping force at the apex which causes the sharp points to move laterally away from one another to scrape through the electrically nonconductive coating, thereby establishing electrical contact between the electrical connector and the metallic substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.