TWI859526B - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electrical connector comprising an insulative housing, a pair of contacts and a temperature sensing element electrically connected with the contacts. The insulative housing defines a pair of slots extending in a front-and-rear direction, and the contacts are accommodated in the slots. The contacts comprises a first contact and a second contact mating with each other, and the first contact contacts with the temperature sensing element, one end of the second contact is contacting with the first contact and the other end is used for connecting with a complementary element.

Description

Electrical connector

The present invention relates to an electrical connector.

In the thermal management system of the BMS battery management module of traditional new energy vehicles, the temperature sensor used to detect temperature is usually fixed to the PCB or FPC/FFC by welding. When the temperature sensor is abnormal, the entire battery pack needs to be disassembled for replacement. This replacement operation is relatively difficult and may cause damage to the components and require recalibration. In addition, in view of the use requirements of different types of docking components, the corresponding plug ends need to be replaced for matching.

In view of this, it is indeed necessary to further improve the traditional electrical connector to solve the above problems.

The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with higher versatility.

To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides an electrical connector, which includes an insulating body, a conductive terminal and a temperature sensing element electrically connected to the conductive terminal, wherein the insulating body has a terminal slot extending in the front-rear direction, the conductive terminal is received in the terminal slot, wherein the conductive terminal includes a first terminal and a second terminal connected to each other, the first terminal is in contact with the temperature sensing element, and one end of the second terminal is in contact with the first terminal and the other end is used to connect with the connecting element.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the first terminal is fixed in the terminal slot, and the second terminal is pluggably connected to the first terminal.

The insulating body comprises a main body and a receiving portion extending forward from the main body, the receiving portion is formed with a receiving cavity opened toward one side, the temperature sensing element is at least partially received in the receiving cavity and connected to the first terminal in the receiving cavity.

Each of the first terminals has a fixing portion fixed in the terminal slot, a contact arm arranged on one side of the fixing portion, and a docking arm arranged on the other side of the fixing portion. The contact arm protrudes from the receiving cavity to connect with the temperature sensing element, and the docking arm is connected with the second terminal.

The plug-in portion of the second terminal is in a flat plate shape, and the docking portion of the docking arm is in a curved shape, which is elastic and elastically abuts against the plug-in portion.

The first terminal has a docking space which is open backwards and is provided for the insertion of the plug-in portion.

Each of the first terminals also has a protection arm extending from the fixing portion, and the plug-in portion of the protection arm and the second terminal is disposed on both sides of the docking arm in the height direction.

The first terminal also has a pressing portion arranged opposite to the docking arm in the height direction, the protruding direction of the pressing portion is opposite to the protruding direction of the docking portion of the docking arm, and the second terminal is sandwiched between the pressing portion and the docking portion.

The main body is opened outwardly toward one side in the height direction to form an open portion. The electrical connector also has a cover assembled on the open portion. The bottom wall of the first terminal extends backward and forms a protrusion protruding from the rear side of the open portion. The cover is upwardly abutted against the protrusion and at least partially covers the second terminal and the docking element.

The pressing portion is formed by protruding upward from the bottom wall, and a docking space is formed between the bottom wall and the docking arm for inserting the second terminal.

Compared with the prior art, the electrical connector of the present invention sets the conductive terminal as a first terminal and a second terminal that are connected to each other, utilizes the first terminal to contact the temperature sensing element, and uses one end of the second terminal to contact the first terminal and the other end to connect to the connecting element, so that different second terminals can be replaced to adapt to different connecting elements and usage requirements.

Please refer to the first to tenth figures which show a preferred embodiment of the electrical connector 100 of the present invention, wherein the first to seventh figures are the first embodiment of the electrical connector 100, and the eighth to tenth figures are the second embodiment of the electrical connector 100. In the first and second embodiments, the electrical connector 100 includes an insulating body 1, a conductive terminal 2, and a temperature sensing element 3 electrically connected to the conductive terminal 2.

Further, please refer to the first to fourth figures and the seventh to ninth figures, the aforementioned insulating body 1 has a terminal groove 101 extending in the front-back direction, and the aforementioned conductive terminal 2 is received in the aforementioned terminal groove 101. The aforementioned conductive terminal 2 includes a first terminal 21 and a second terminal 23 that are connected to each other. The aforementioned first terminal 21 is in contact with the aforementioned temperature sensing element 3, and one end of the aforementioned second terminal 23 is in contact with the first terminal 21, and the other end is used to connect with the docking element 5.

Specifically, the insulating body 1 comprises a main body 11 and a receiving portion 12 extending forward from the main body 11. The receiving portion 12 forms a receiving cavity 120 opened toward one side. The temperature sensing element 3 is at least partially received in the receiving cavity 120 and connected to the first terminal 21 in the receiving cavity 120.

The receiving portion 12 further comprises a pair of raised portions 121 located in the receiving cavity 120. Each of the raised portions 121 is formed to protrude upward and is in the shape of a strip extending in the front-rear direction. The pair of raised portions 121 are arranged side by side and spaced apart in the transverse direction.

The main body portion 11 is opened outwardly toward one side in the height direction thereof to form an open portion 112. In the present invention, the opening direction of the open portion 112 is opposite to the opening direction of the accommodating portion 12. Specifically, in this embodiment, the accommodating portion 12 is opened upward, and the open portion 112 is opened downward. Furthermore, the open portion 112 is opened backward while opening downward to allow the second terminal 23 and the docking element 5 to be inserted forward.

Specifically, the main body 11 includes a pair of side panels 113 disposed opposite to each other and a top panel 114 connecting the pair of side panels 113. The open portion 112 is formed by being surrounded and defined by the pair of side panels 113 and the top panel 114 and is open to the rear.

The main body 11 further includes a partition wall 115 that protrudes downward from the top plate 114. In the lateral direction, the partition wall 115 is located between the pair of side plate portions 113.

In addition, the electrical connector 100 further comprises a cover 4 assembled on the open portion 112. The cover 4 is disposed on the lower side of the main body 11 and comprises a base 41, a pair of limit walls 42 protruding upward from the upper surface of the base 41, a pair of first stop blocks 43 disposed on both sides of the base 41, a pair of second stop blocks 44 disposed on both sides of the base 41, and a rear stop block 45 located on the rear side of the base 41.

The pair of first stop blocks 43 are located at the front part of the cover body 4 and are relatively arranged on both sides of the cover body 4 in the transverse direction, so that the first stop convex portion 431 formed by the outer side protrusions cooperates with the front part of the main body 11; the rear stop block 45 is located at the rear end of the cover body 4, and the second stop block 44 is arranged on both sides of the cover body 4 in the transverse direction and is arranged adjacent to the rear stop block 45, so that the second stop convex portion 441 formed by the outer side protrusions cooperates with the rear part of the main body 11; the rear stop block 45 is located at the lower side of the docking element 5 to provide support therefor.

Furthermore, the pair of limiting walls 42 are arranged at intervals in the transverse direction and are located in the middle of the cover 4, and each of the limiting walls 42 extends in the front-rear direction. The partition wall 115 is located in the space formed by the pair of limiting walls 42 for alignment and limiting.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 to 7 , the first terminal 21 is fixed in the terminal slot 101 , and the second terminal 23 is pluggably connected to the first terminal 21 .

Each of the first terminals 21 has a fixing portion 211 fixed in the terminal slot 101, a contact arm 212 disposed on one side of the fixing portion 211, and a docking arm 213 disposed on the other side of the fixing portion 211. The contact arm 212 protrudes from the receiving cavity 120 to connect with the temperature sensing element 3, and the docking arm 213 is connected to the second terminal 23.

The contact arm 212 is correspondingly disposed just above the pad 121. In view of the flat arm-shaped structure of the contact arm 212, the pad 121 can provide support to the contact arm 212 on its upper side to prevent the contact arm 212 from deforming downward.

The plug-in portion 231 of the second terminal 23 is in a flat plate shape, and the abutting portion 2132 of the abutting arm 213 is in a curved shape and has elasticity to abut against the plug-in portion 231. Each of the first terminals 21 has a abutting space 210 that is open backwards for the plug-in portion 231 to be inserted into.

In addition, each of the first terminals 21 further includes a protection arm 214 extending from the fixing portion 211 . The protection arm 214 and the plug-in portion 231 of the second terminal 23 are disposed at two sides of the docking arm 213 in the height direction.

The aforementioned protective arm 214 is located on the non-joint side of the aforementioned docking arm 213. One side of the aforementioned docking arm 213 contacts the second terminal 23, and the other side oppositely arranged is the aforementioned non-joint side. In the present embodiment, the aforementioned non-joint side is the upper side of the aforementioned docking arm 213, and the length of the aforementioned protective arm 214 extending backward is less than the length of the aforementioned docking arm 213 extending backward, so that the rear end of the aforementioned protective arm 214 is located in front of the rear end of the aforementioned docking arm 213.

Each of the first terminals 21 further has a pressing portion 215 disposed opposite to the docking arm 213 in the height direction. The protruding direction of the pressing portion 215 is opposite to the protruding direction of the docking portion 2132 of the docking arm 213 . The second terminal 23 is sandwiched between the pressing portion 215 and the docking portion 2132 .

Specifically, the first terminal 21 includes a bottom wall 216 and a pair of side walls 217 arranged opposite to each other on both sides of the bottom wall 216 in the transverse direction. In the present embodiment, the fixing portion 211 is formed by extending forward flatly from the bottom wall 216, the protective arm 214 is connected to one of the side walls 217 via a first connecting wall 2181, and the docking arm 213 is connected to the other side wall 217 via a second connecting wall 2182, and the first connecting wall 2181 is overlapped on the upper side of the second connecting wall 2182.

The bottom wall 216 of the first terminal 21 extends rearward and forms a protrusion 2161 protruding from the rear side of the opening 112 . The cover 4 abuts upward against the protrusion 2161 and at least partially covers the second terminal 23 and the docking element 5 .

The pressing portion 215 is formed to protrude upward from the bottom wall 216 , and a docking space 210 for inserting the second terminal 23 is formed between the bottom wall 216 and the docking arm 213 .

The first terminal 21 also has a shielding portion 219 located at the rear thereof. The shielding portion 219 is T-shaped from top to bottom and has a crossbeam 2191 extending in the transverse direction and a folding portion 2192 formed by bending downward from the rear end of the crossbeam 2191, so that the vertical cross-section of the shielding portion 219 in the middle along the transverse direction is L-shaped. The folding portion 2192 partially covers the docking space 210 from the rear side, and can protect the docking arm 213 when the first terminal 21 is docked with the second terminal 23, thereby preventing the second terminal 23 from causing damage to the docking arm 213 when the second terminal 23 is abnormally plugged in.

In addition, the electrical connector 100 further comprises an insulating member (not shown) which is accommodated in the insulating body 1 and wraps the temperature sensing element 3. The insulating member wraps the connection portion between the temperature sensing element 3 and the conductive terminal 2. In the embodiment shown in the present invention, the temperature sensing element 3 is completely accommodated in the accommodation cavity 120, the pair of pins 31 is connected to the contact arm of the first terminal 21, and the molten plastic material forming the insulating member is filled in the accommodation cavity 120, and wraps the temperature sensing element 3 and the connection portion between the temperature sensing element 3 and the contact arm.

When the electrical connector 100 of the present invention is docked, the docking element 5 is first electrically connected to the connecting pin 232 of the second terminal 23, and then the second terminal 23 connected with the docking element 5 is inserted from back to front into the docking space 210 of the first terminal 21 and sandwiched between the docking arm 213 and the pressing portion 215 to make pressing contact with both.

Please refer to the first to fifth figures, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned docking element 5 is a flexible flat cable (FFC) or a flexible circuit board (FPC), and when the docking element 5 is a flexible flat cable, its signal contact is more stable, thereby having a more stable electrical connection and signal transmission performance.

In addition, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned docking element 5 has a pair of docking tongues 51 arranged side by side and spaced apart in the transverse direction to be electrically connected to the corresponding second terminal 23, and each of the aforementioned docking tongues 51 has a through hole 512 formed by penetrating it in the height direction.

The second terminal 23 further has a connecting pin 232 disposed perpendicular to the plug-in portion 231. The connecting pin 232 is bent and extended from the plug-in portion 231 and inserted into the through hole 512 of the docking element 5 to be mechanically and electrically connected thereto.

Please refer to FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 which show a second embodiment of the electrical connector 100 of the present invention. The basic structure and assembly relationship of the electrical connector 100 are basically the same as those of the first embodiment, and will not be described in detail here. Only the differences will be described below:

In the present embodiment, the aforementioned docking element 5 is a cable crimped with the aforementioned conductive terminal 2, and the cable has good bending performance and can be used in a space that needs to be bent; in addition, in the present embodiment, in response to the needs of the docking element (cable) 5, the aforementioned second terminal 23 has a retaining portion 233 positioned with the aforementioned insulating body 1 and a crimping portion 234 connected to the docking element 5; the aforementioned cover body 4 has a receiving groove 47 located at its rear end and recessed downward to match the insulating outer skin of the aforementioned cable 5.

As described in the first and second embodiments, the first terminal 21 can be connected to the second terminal 23 in the first embodiment or the second terminal 23 in the second embodiment, and has better versatility, thereby being applicable to the use requirements of different types of docking components 5.

The electrical connector 100 of the present invention arranges the conductive terminal 2 as a first terminal 21 and a second terminal 23 that are connected to each other, the first terminal 21 contacts the temperature sensing element 3, one end of the second terminal 23 contacts the first terminal 21, and the other end is used to connect to the docking element 5, so that different second terminals 23 can be replaced to adapt to different docking elements and usage requirements.

It is particularly important to point out that, for ordinary technicians in this field, equivalent changes made to the present invention under the teachings of the present invention should still be included in the scope claimed by the patent application scope of the present invention.

100: electrical connector 1: insulating body 101: terminal slot 11: main body 112: open part 113: side plate 114: top plate 115: partition wall 12: receiving part 120: receiving cavity 121: padding part 2: conductive terminal 21: first terminal 210: docking space 211: fixing part 212: contact arm 213: docking arm 2132: docking part 214: protective arm 215: pressing part 216: bottom wall 2161: protrusion 217: side wall 2181: first connecting wall 2182: second connecting wall 219: shielding part 2191: cross beam 2192: folding part 23: second terminal 231: plug-in part 232: connecting pin 233: holding part 234: pressing part 3: temperature sensing element 31: pin 4: cover 41: base 42: limiting wall 43: first stop block 431: first stop convex part 44: second stop block 441: second stop convex part 45: rear stop block 47: accommodating groove 5: docking element 51: docking tongue 512: perforation

The first figure is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the first embodiment of the electrical connector of the present invention. The second figure is a view of the electrical connector shown in the first figure from another angle. The third figure is a three-dimensional exploded view of the electrical connector shown in the first figure. The fourth figure is a view of the electrical connector shown in the third figure from another angle. The fifth figure is a further exploded view of the electrical connector shown in the first figure after the insulating body and the cover are removed. The sixth figure is a three-dimensional view of the first terminal of the electrical connector shown in the first figure. The seventh figure is a cross-sectional view of the electrical connector shown in the first figure. The eighth figure is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the second embodiment of the electrical connector of the present invention. The ninth figure is a partial exploded view of the electrical connector shown in the eighth figure after the insulating body is removed. The tenth figure is a three-dimensional exploded view of the electrical connector shown in the ninth figure after the insulating body and the cover are removed.

100:Electrical connector

1: Insulation body

11: Main body

112: Opening section

12: Containment Department

120: Receiving chamber

121: Raised part

212: Contact arm

214: Protective Arm

219: shielding part

232: Connecting pin

3: Temperature sensing element

4: Cover

41: Base

42: Limiting wall

43: First stop block

431: First stop convex part

44: Second stop block

441: Second stop convex part

45: Rear stopper

51: Butt tongue

Claims (10)

An electrical connector includes an insulating body, a conductive terminal, and a temperature sensing element electrically connected to the conductive terminal. The insulating body has a terminal slot extending in a front-rear direction. The conductive terminal is received in the terminal slot. The conductive terminal includes a first terminal and a second terminal connected to each other. The first terminal contacts the temperature sensing element. One end of the second terminal contacts the first terminal, and the other end is used to connect to the connecting element. As described in item 1 of the patent application scope, the first terminal is fixed in the terminal slot, and the second terminal is pluggably connected to the first terminal. As described in item 2 of the patent application scope, the insulating body has a main body and a receiving portion extending forward from the main body, the receiving portion is formed with a receiving cavity open to one side, the temperature sensing element is at least partially received in the receiving cavity and connected to the first terminal in the receiving cavity. As described in item 3 of the patent application scope, each of the first terminals has a fixing portion fixed in the terminal slot, a contact arm arranged on one side of the fixing portion, and a docking arm arranged on the other side of the fixing portion, the contact arm protrudes from the receiving cavity to be connected to the temperature sensing element, and the docking arm is connected to the second terminal. As described in item 4 of the patent application scope, the plug-in portion of the second terminal is in the form of a flat plate, and the docking portion of the docking arm is in a curved shape, which is elastic so as to elastically abut against the plug-in portion. As described in item 5 of the patent application scope, the first terminal has a docking space that is open backwards for the insertion of the plug-in portion. As described in item 4 of the patent application scope, each of the first terminals also has a protective arm extending from the fixing portion, and the plug-in portion of the protective arm and the second terminal is placed on both sides of the docking arm in the height direction. An electrical connector as described in any one of items 4 to 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the first terminal also has a pressing portion arranged opposite to the docking arm in the height direction, the protruding direction of the pressing portion is opposite to the protruding direction of the docking portion of the docking arm, and the second terminal is sandwiched between the pressing portion and the docking portion. As described in item 8 of the patent application scope, the main body is opened outwardly toward one side in the height direction to form an open portion, and the electrical connector also has a cover assembled on the open portion, the bottom wall of the first terminal extends backward and forms a protrusion protruding from the rear side of the open portion, the cover is upwardly abutted against the protrusion and at least partially covers the second terminal and the docking element. As described in item 9 of the patent application scope, the aforementioned pressing portion is formed by protruding upward from the aforementioned bottom wall, and the aforementioned bottom wall and the aforementioned docking arm are spaced to form a docking space for inserting the second terminal.

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