Electrical power contact with two adjacent contact blades abutting each other
AssigneeFCI Americas Technology, Inc.
InventorsCharles Copper, Christopher S. Gieski
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power connector can include a dielectric connector housing and electrical contacts that are supported by the housing. The electrical contacts can each include first and second contact bodies. The first contact body can include a first contact blade and the second contact body can include a second contact blade that can define a mating portion of the electrical contact. The mating portion can be configured to mate with a complementary power connector along a mating direction so as to establish an electrical connection between the power connector and the complementary power connector. The contact blades can be configured slide with respect to each other along the mating direction.
Claims24
An electrical power contact configured to mate with a complementary electrical power contact in a forward direction, the electrical power contact comprising:
- a mounting portion configured to electrically connect to a substrate;
- a mating portion that extends along a forward direction with respect to the mounting portion, the mating portion configured to mate with the complementary electrical power contact, the mating portion including first and second contact blades disposed adjacent each other and abutting each other along a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the forward direction, wherein the first contact blade defines a first forwardmost tip, and the second contact blades defines a second forwardmost tip;
- an intermediate portion that extends between the mating portion and the mounting portion, the intermediate portion configured to transmit electrical current between the mating portion and the mounting portion,
- wherein a select portion of the power contact is configured to elastically angulate with respect to at least a portion of the mounting portion within a range that causes the first and second forwardmost tips to deflect a distance between approximately 0.25 mm and approximately 3 mm in the second direction, such that at least one of the first and second contact blades slides along the other of the first and second contact blades.
An electrical power connector comprising:
- an electrically insulative connector housing defining a mating interface and a mounting interface;
- and
- at least one electrical power contact supported by the connector housing, the electrical power contact including 1) a mounting portion that extends out from the mounting interface and is configured to electrically connect to a substrate, 2) a mating portion that extends out from the mating interface and is configured to mate with a complementary electrical power contact along a forward direction, the mating portion including first and second contact blades disposed adjacent each other and abutting each other along a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the forward direction, and 3) an intermediate portion that extends between the mating portion and the mounting portion, the intermediate portion configured to transmit electrical current between the mating portion and the mounting portion,
- wherein, in response to a force applied to one of the first and second contact blades along the second direction, a select portion of the power contact that includes the first and second contact blades angulates with respect to at least a portion of the mounting portion, and between 75% and 100% of the angulation occurs at a predetermined region of the electrical power contact.
A method of mating an electrical power contact of an electrical connector to a complementary power contact of a complementary electrical connector that includes an electrically insulative connector housing that supports the complementary power contact, the method comprising the steps of:
- generally aligning a mating portion of the electrical power contact with a mating portion of the complementary power contact, the mating portion of the electrical power contact including first and second contact blades that are disposed adjacent to each other and abut each other;
- bringing the mating portion of the electrical power contact into contact with the connector housing along a mating direction, such that the mating portion receives a force from the connector housing along a second direction that is substantially perpendicular with respect to the mating direction
- in response to the force, causing at least a portion of each of the first and second contact blades to deflect along the second direction so as to align the first and second contact blades with the complementary power contact;
- and
- after the causing step, mating the mating portion with the complementary power contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.