This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Expensive tools with precisely set dimensions are required in known contacts for the connection to printed circuit boards such as press-in contacts. Press-in contacts are known from several publications, e.g. EP 0 451 674 A or DE 36 23 453 A. One of the significant disadvantages of such solutions is the fact that, as previously explained, the tools for the manufacturing are very expensive and are furthermore not flexible as regards their dimensions, which for its part conditions an expensive development for achieving the optimal final dimension of the press-in contact.
Furthermore, it is disadvantageous for various usages and very small contacts if the originally available contact cross section is often reduced by free stampings and as a consequence the current-carrying capacity and the mechanical stability are reduced or appropriately larger hole diameters must be selected.
A press-in contact and a method for manufacturing a press-in contact are known from WO 2005 122 337 A1. The known press-in contact comprises a contact body and two shanks formed in one piece with it and are formed by non-cutting working, wherein a separating procedure and a widening are provided in order to form a press-in area. The two shanks form a tip at which a separating gap is provided.
DE 202 18 295 U1 discloses a contact element for printed circuit boards with a pin part for being pressed into a bore of the printed circuit board and which comprises two approximately parallel arms constructed in such a manner that they can be moved against one another counter to a return force.
DE 102013103818 A1 relates to a method for manufacturing pressed-in contacts of a stamped contour with a connection body into shanks connected to the latter which are arranged facing one another, wherein the shanks comprise press-in areas and end areas facing away from the connection body and with contact sections which face each other and/or at a distance from each other in a defined manner and relates to the deforming of the shanks comprising moving the end areas of the shanks onto one another with at least a partial plastic deformation of at least one of the shanks, wherein the contact sections of the shanks touch one another in a defined manner at least in sections after a removal of the load.
Various other press-in connections are sufficiently known in the prior art and are suitable in particular for producing electrical contacts with low transitional resistances. The connections can be rapidly and economically manufactured and can guarantee a high degree of reliability and a long service life-provided that they have the correct design, manufacture and assembly. It is known to provide press-in contacts with deformable shape elements which deform in a most defined manner possible during the mounting of the contact and which should have a certain contact force or holding force.
E.g., firmly bonded methods, for example soldered connections can be at least partially substituted by press-in connections. Press-in connections can usually be produced while forming a non-positive component as well as a positive component. At least minimal deformations can result during the press-in contact and/or the associated reception of contact which can contribute to an increase in the holding force and an enlargement of the contact surface. However, it turned out that known press-in contacts can have tolerance variations and various problems in practice conditioned by the manufacture which for their part can be expressed in large dispersions during mounting forces and/or in contact forces of the joined connections. This can result on the one hand in that no sufficiently large contact force can be generated so that the desired reliability of the connection is not present. Furthermore, the magnitudes of the contacts conditioned by the manufacture cannot be scaled as desired so that compact structural shapes cannot be readily realized.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds