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EP-4742457-A1 - FEMALE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR A BUSBAR WITH GEOMETRIC TOLERANCE COMPENSATION

EP4742457A1EP 4742457 A1EP4742457 A1EP 4742457A1EP-4742457-A1

Abstract

A female electrical connector (1) for a bus bar, couplable to a corresponding male electrical connector, comprising: - a base body (3) including a connecting portion (5) defining a through opening (7) configured to be freely crossed by a terminal (100) of said male electrical connector, - a contact element (9) slidably arranged on said base body (3), and including a flange portion (11) and a plurality of contactor elements (13) arranged angularly spaced from each other around a first axis (B), and protruding with respect to said flange portion (11) along said first axis (B), said contactor elements (13) being configured to abut an external surface (101) of the terminal (100) of said male electrical connector thereby forming an electrical connection therewith, - a first elastic spring element (23) configured to push said flange portion (11) of the contact element (9) against said base body (3), - a second elastic spring element (42) arranged surrounding said contactor elements (13) of the contact element (9) and configured to apply a preload radial with respect to said first axis (B).

Inventors

  • CANTARELLI, DOMENICO
  • NOTARRIGO, Dario

Assignees

  • MISTA S.p.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20251023

Claims (10)

  1. A female electrical connector (1) for a bus bar, couplable to a corresponding male electrical connector, comprising: - a base body (3) including a connecting portion (5) defining a through opening (7) configured to be freely crossed by a terminal (100) of said male electrical connector, - a contact element (9) slidably arranged on said base body (3), and including a flange portion (11) and a plurality of contactor elements (13) arranged angularly spaced from each other around a first axis (B), and protruding with respect to said flange portion (11) along said first axis (B), said contactor elements (13) being configured to abut an external surface (101) of the terminal (100) of said male electrical connector thereby forming an electrical connection therewith, - a first elastic spring element (23) configured to push said flange portion (11) of the contact element (9) against said base body (3), - a second elastic spring element (42) arranged surrounding said contactor elements (13) of the contact element (9) and configured to apply a preload radial with respect to said first axis (B).
  2. Electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein each of said contactor elements (13) comprises a base portion (17) rigidly connected to said flange portion (11) and a free end portion (19) defining a contact surface (21) for forming said electrical connection with the terminal (100) of said male electrical connector.
  3. Electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein said contactor elements (13) extend along respective directions incident to said first axis (B) and converging to each other proceeding from said base portions (17) to said free end portions (19).
  4. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said second elastic spring element (42) is in the form of a torsion spring.
  5. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said first elastic spring element (23) is in the form of a cup spring comprising an annular body (25) arranged so as to surround an external band of said flange portion (11) of the contact element (9) and a plurality of retaining clips (27) arranged angularly spaced from each other around said first axis (B) along a peripheral border (29) of said annular body (25), each retaining clip (27) being configured to engage said contact element (9) so as to keep the flange portion (11) of the contact element (9) abutting against said connecting portion (5) of the base body (3).
  6. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a retaining element (35) extending externally with respect to said first elastic spring elements (23) and configured to hold in position said first elastic spring element (23) with respect to said base body (3).
  7. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of said contactor elements (13) comprises a free end (43) protruding with respect to said second elastic spring element (42) along said first axis (B) and extending radially outward with respect to said first axis (B) so as to prevent an axial sliding of said second elastic spring element (42) with respect to said contact element (9) parallelly to said first axis (B).
  8. A method for assembling a female electrical connector (1) for a bus bar, couplable to a corresponding male electrical connector, wherein said female electrical connector (1) comprises: - a base body (3) including a connecting portion (5) defining a through opening (7) configured to be freely crossed by a terminal (100) of said male electrical connector, - a contact element (9) including a flange portion (11) and a plurality of contactor elements (13) arranged angularly spaced from each other around a first axis (B), and protruding with respect to said flange portion (11) along said first axis (B), - a first elastic spring element (23) configured to push said flange portion (11) of the contact element (9) against said base body (3), - a second elastic spring element (42) arranged surrounding said contactor elements (13) of the contact element (9) and configured to apply a preload radial with respect to said first axis (B), the method comprising: - slidably arranging said contact element (9) on said base body (3), wherein said step of arranging the contact element (9) comprises bringing into abutment an external surface (12) of said flange portion (11) against a face (15) of said connecting portion (5) of the base body (3), - fitting with interference said second elastic spring element (42) on said contact element (9) so as to surround said contactor elements (13), - associating said first elastic spring element (23) to said contact element (9) so that said first elastic spring element (23) engages said flange portion (11) of said contact element (9) and said connecting portion (5) of said base body (3).
  9. The method according to claim 8, comprising plasticly deforming at least one connector element (13) so as to fold a respective free end portion (43) thereof radially outward with respect to said first axis (B) so as to prevent an axial sliding of said second elastic spring element (42) with respect to said contact element (9) along said first axis (B).
  10. The method according to claim 8, wherein said female electrical connector (1) has one or more of the characteristics of claims 2 to 7.

Description

Field of the invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector usable on electrical energy conductive bars, commonly referred to by the expression busbar, suitable for electrically connecting different components of a related system to each other. In particular, the present invention relates to a female type electrical connector couplable to a corresponding male type electrical connector for the conduction of electrical energy, for example in applications characterized by high current. Prior art In the field of electrical energy conduction, particularly for establishing an electrical connection between a first component, for example a busbar, and a second component, it is widely known to use pairs of electrical connectors carried respectively by the first component and the second component and configured to mutually engage in order to establish an electrical connection. Generally, such pairs of electrical connectors comprise a first electrical connector commonly referred to as "female type" and a second electrical connector commonly referred to as "male type", wherein the female electrical connector defines a seat suitable for receiving an electrical terminal, for example a pin, of the male connector. More in detail, female electrical connectors generally comprise one or more contact elements defining contact surfaces intended to abut against the electrical terminal of the male connector, thereby establishing the electrical connection between the two connectors. A limitation of known electrical connectors is represented by the fact that the mutual engagement between the male connector and the female connector requires high precision in the positioning of the contact elements, which can be compromised by the chain of geometric tolerances introduced during the design phase of the connectors, as well as by incorrect alignment of the components to be electrically connected. Therefore, there is a particularly felt need to produce electrical connectors capable of guaranteeing an electrical connection between two components even in the case of misalignments, for example parallel or angular, between the electrical terminal of the male type electrical connector and the corresponding seat of the female type electrical connector. For this purpose, document US 11,855,388 B2 describes a female type electrical connector couplable to a pin of a corresponding male type electrical connector, comprising an elastic contact element configured to be mounted on a contact circuit and an external housing arranged to protect the contact element. In particular, the elastic contact element comprises a plurality of shaped laminations connected to each other by a connecting element and having respective contact portions and respective. More in detail, the contact portions are shaped so as to define respective shaped contact areas suitable for abutting against the pin of the male connector, establishing the electrical connection between the pin and the contact element. The curved elastic portions are, instead, received within a compartment defined by the external housing and are made in such a way that when the pin is inserted inside the connector with misalignment, they elastically deform by abutting against an external surface of the housing and causing the housing to translate, aligning it with the pin. This solution is not, however, free from drawbacks. In fact, a female type electrical connector of this type proves complex in design and realization. Furthermore, the shaped geometry of the contact portions does not guarantee an electrical contact in case of deformation Object of the invention It is therefore an object of the invention to produce an electrical connector of the type indicated above which is free from the drawbacks discussed above. In particular, an object of the invention is to produce a female type electrical connector that allows receiving an electrical terminal of a corresponding male connector even in the case of misalignments, for example parallel or angular misalignment, between the terminal and the respective seat of the two connectors. A further object of the present invention is to produce an electrical connector of the type indicated above which is simple and economical to produce. Summary of the invention With a view to achieving the aforementioned object, the invention has for its object a female type electrical connector for a busbar, couplable to a corresponding male type connector, comprising: a base body including a connection portion defining a through opening configured to be freely traversed by a terminal of the male connector,a contact element slidably mounted on the base body, and including a flanged portion and a plurality of contact elements angularly spaced apart from each other around a first axis and protruding relative to said flanged portion along said first axis, the contact elements being configured to abut with an external surface of the terminal of the male type electri