An electrical connector and a female end plug thereof

Abstract

A female end plug of an electrical connector comprises a basic part and a sacrificial part, wherein the basic part comprises a contact part and a support part, wherein the head of the support part forms an accommodating cavity for accommodating and installing the contact part, and electrical contact is formed between the contact part and the support part, and the sacrificial part is installed on the head of the accommodating cavity, and the sacrificial part forms electrical contact with the basic part. The sacrificial part can be made of tungsten alloy as a whole or in the contact surface part. The present invention also provides an electrical connector, which comprises the female end plug. The sacrificial part is arranged in the present application to transfer the discharge position from the support part originally in the working position to the sacrificial part in the non-working position. The discharge at the non-working position on the conductive part does not affect the conduction, thereby improving the safety and stability of the connector.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of connectors, and in particular, relates to an electric connector and a female end plug thereof. Background Art

[0002] With the development of new energy technology, both motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles have a trend of electrification and high power is one of the development directions. At present, the plugging and unplugging of high-power connectors have the phenomenon of sparking and discharging, that is, the terminals of the connector will generate strong arcs during the plugging and unplugging process. The arc is actually the ionization phenomenon of the gas when the terminal is very close to the gap. According to relevant research, if the field strength is greater than 3e6V / m, electrons on the cathode surface will be pulled out by the electric field and move toward the anode under the acceleration of the electric field. On the way, they will collide with neutral atoms or molecules, produce more electrons and ions, and generate high temperature to make more electrons from the cathode to be emitted outward, and finally generate high-temperature and highly conductive free gas between the terminals to form an arc. The arc lasts for a very short time, but the power is extremely high, which will damage the plating of the connector terminal and even the terminal body, making the terminal unable to connect, causing damage to the connector and connected parts. In dangerous situations, it may even endanger personal and property safety, so how to eliminate the harm of the arc to the electrical connection system is one of the issues that must be considered in actual use.

[0003] The existing technology is mainly divided into two major directions: controlling power-on at the system end and suppressing spark hazards at the device end. Specifically, the system end controls the power supply current output by detecting the insertion of the connector, increasing the delay or controlling the current rise rate; the system end adds capacitors, inductors, resistors, etc. to the connector, all for the purpose of reducing the tip voltage value of the connector when the gap is very small.

[0004] The high voltage and high current transmission mode will generate arcs during the insertion and removal of the connector. In fact, it is the ionization phenomenon of the gas between the contact pairs under the action of the strong electric field. It has extremely high power. Although it is only instantaneous, it will still generate high temperature and strong light, burning the conductive parts of the connector. When the relative distance between the conductive parts reaches a certain value, the internal electric field strength is higher than the breakdown voltage of the medium, and an arc will appear. At present, there is still no better way to suppress the occurrence of arcs, and most of them are to reduce the impact of arcs.

[0005] In view of this, it is necessary to develop an electrical connector and a female plug thereof to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector and a female end plug thereof.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0008] A female end plug of an electrical connector comprises a basic part and a sacrificial part, wherein the basic part comprises a contact part and a support part, wherein the head of the support part forms an accommodating cavity for accommodating and installing the contact part, and electrical contact is formed between the contact part and the support part, and the sacrificial part is installed at the head of the accommodating cavity, and the sacrificial part forms electrical contact with the basic part, and the sacrificial part can be made of tungsten alloy as a whole or in the contact surface part.

[0009] Furthermore, the contact ring surface of the sacrificial part in contact with the male terminal is made by electroplating tungsten alloy on the surface of the metal substrate.

[0010] Furthermore, the sacrificial part may also be made of other high temperature resistant metals.

[0011] Furthermore, the sacrificial member includes a connecting cylinder, and contact pieces arranged in a circumferential array on the connecting cylinder, wherein the contact pieces extend in a direction away from the accommodating cavity, a narrow gap is formed between two adjacent contact pieces, and the contact pieces are matingly connected with the male terminal.

[0012] Furthermore, an outer wall of the support member head is provided with a mounting step, and the connecting cylinder is coaxially clamped on the mounting step.

[0013] Furthermore, the contact piece includes a transition section and a bending section. The connecting cylinder bends inwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity to form the transition section, and the transition section bends outwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity to form the bending section. The cross-sectional area of ​​the contact piece tends to gradually shrink in the direction away from the accommodating cavity.

[0014] Furthermore, the connecting cylinder is provided with a penetrating dividing groove along its axial direction, the dividing groove is connected with the narrow gap, the connecting cylinder has a card point array along the circumferential direction, the mounting step is provided with a mounting groove along its circumference, and the card point is card-engaged with the mounting groove.

[0015] Furthermore, the contact piece includes a hollow portion formed by a plurality of ribs and annular portions fixed on both sides of the hollow portion, the annular portion is slidably connected in the accommodating cavity, and the middle section of the hollow portion is bent inward or outward so that the hollow portion is hourglass-shaped or drum-shaped.

[0016] Furthermore, a welding cup is provided at the tail of the support member.

[0017] The present invention also provides an electrical connector, which includes the female end plug.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: the present application sets a sacrificial part in such a way that the discharge position is transferred from the support part originally in the working position to the sacrificial contact piece in the non-working position, and the discharge at the non-working position on the conductive part does not affect the conduction, thereby improving the safety and stability of the connector; in addition, the contact piece is made of an alloy material with an extremely high melting point and heat dissipation property, thereby ensuring that the contact piece is not damaged under the action of an electric arc, and at the same time, the instantaneous high-temperature heat can be quickly dissipated; secondly, the setting of the contact piece increases the overall current-carrying capacity, thereby further improving the overall stability and safety of the connector. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a female end plug of an electrical connector according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 A front view of a female end plug of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 A female end plug of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of

[0023] Figure 4 A half-section view of a support member in a female end plug of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 The figure is a schematic structural diagram of a sacrificial component in a female plug of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Reference numerals and component descriptions in the drawings:

[0026] 1-basic part; 11-support part; 111-accommodating cavity; 112-installation step; 1121-installation groove; 113-protrusion; 114-welding cup; 12-contact part; 121-hollow part; 122-annular part; 2-sacrificial part; 21-connecting cylinder; 211-dividing groove; 212-card point; 22-contact sheet; 221-transition section; 222-bending section; 23-narrow gap. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below through specific implementation methods. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0028] refer to Figures 1 to 3 A female end plug of an electrical connector comprises a basic part 1 and a sacrificial part 2. The basic part 1 comprises a contact part 12 and a support part 11. The head of the support part 11 forms a receiving cavity 111 for receiving and installing the contact part 12. Electrical contact is formed between the contact part 12 and the support part 11. The head of the receiving cavity 111 is provided with a sacrificial part 2. The sacrificial part 2 forms electrical contact with the basic part 1. The sacrificial part 2 can be made of tungsten alloy as a whole or in the contact surface part. Preferably, the contact annular surface (the contact annular surface is the inner annular surface of the transition section 211 described below) of the sacrificial part 2 in contact with the male terminal is made by electroplating tungsten alloy on the surface of the metal substrate, which reduces the amount of tungsten alloy used and thus reduces the manufacturing cost. The present application transfers the discharge position from the contact part 12 originally in the working position to the sacrificial part 2 in the non-working position by setting the sacrificial part 2. The discharge at the non-working position on the conductive part does not affect the conduction, thereby improving the safety and stability of the connector.

[0029] In line with the above, the sacrificial member 2 may also be made of other high temperature resistant metals.

[0030] refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The sacrificial member 2 includes a connecting cylinder 21, a contact piece 22 arranged in a circumferential array on the connecting cylinder 21, the contact piece 22 extending in a direction away from the accommodating cavity 111, and a mounting step 112 provided on the outer wall of the head of the support member 11, and the connecting cylinder 21 is coaxially connected to the mounting step 112. Specifically, the thickness of the connecting cylinder 21 is equal to the depth of the mounting step 112, so as to ensure smoothness during connection, the contact piece 22 is matched and connected with the male terminal, and further, the inner wall of the contact piece 22 abuts against the circumferential surface of the male terminal, and a narrow gap 23 is formed between two adjacent contact pieces 22, and the setting of the narrow gap 23 can generate a greater elasticity during the insertion of the male terminal, so as to facilitate the connection between the male connector and the female connector.

[0031] Furthermore, the contact piece 22 includes a transition section 221 and a bending section 222. The connecting cylinder 21 bends inwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity 111 to form the transition section 221. The transition section 221 contacts the male terminal and provides a radial restraining force for the circumferential surface of the male terminal to prevent the male terminal from radially offset and sliding relative to the female plug, thereby ensuring stability during use. It is worth noting that the contact portion between the transition section 221 and the male terminal is the arc generating portion. In order to ensure resistance, the contact piece 22 as a whole can be made of alloy materials such as tungsten-copper alloy, tungsten-silver alloy, silver-nickel alloy, and silver-copper alloy. The transition section 221 bends outwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity 111 to form the bending section 222. It is worth noting that the diameter of the bending section 222 is larger than the diameter of the transition section 221. The setting of the bending section 222 can improve the fault tolerance rate when the male terminal is connected, thereby improving the efficiency of docking. The cross-sectional area of ​​the entire contact piece 22 tends to gradually decrease in the direction away from the accommodating cavity 111 . This design improves the overall aesthetics of the sacrificial component 2 .

[0032] Furthermore, the connecting cylinder 21 is provided with a through-going dividing groove 211 along its axial direction, and the dividing groove 211 is connected with the narrow gap 23. The provision of the dividing groove 211 increases the elasticity of the connecting cylinder 21 during the assembly process, and the connecting cylinder 21 can be clamped on the mounting step 112 with a small force, which is convenient for assembly and improves the assembly efficiency. The connecting cylinder 21 has a clamping point 212 arrayed along the circumferential direction, and the mounting step 112 is provided with a mounting groove 1121 along its circumferential direction. The clamping point 212 is clamped with the mounting groove 1121, which is convenient for installation and simple to manufacture. The clamping point 212 can also adopt various structures such as convex hull, puncture, and barb.

[0033] Reference again Figure 1 and Figure 3The contact member 12 includes a hollow portion 121 formed by a plurality of ribs and annular portions 122 fixedly connected to both sides of the hollow portion 121. The annular portion 122 is slidably connected in the accommodating cavity 111. The middle section of the hollow portion 121 is bent inward or outward so that the hollow portion 121 is in an hourglass or drum shape. Preferably, the hollow portion 121 is bent inwardly in an hourglass shape, and the ribs of the hollow portion 121 are designed in a curved manner, thereby increasing the force-bearing area of ​​the hollow portion 121 and making the damping effect more significant. After the front end of the male terminal extends into the accommodating cavity 111, it passes through the contact piece 12 and abuts against the bottom of the accommodating cavity 111. The contact piece 12 and the circumferential surface of the male terminal are tightly matched. Specifically, the circumferential surface of the male terminal inserted into the contact piece 12 is tightly matched with the inner wall of the annular portion 122 and the inner wall of the middle section of each rib, so that the male terminal forms a state of multiple contacts. When the male terminal or the female plug is subjected to external force or other influences, the contact piece 12 will produce a small range of elastic deformation with the movement of the male terminal, and then produce partial sliding relative to the accommodating groove, which plays a role in reducing or eliminating external forces and improving the stability of the connector. At the same time, the contact piece 12 in the present application can be replaced with other intermediate parts of the elastic contact piece 12 such as torsion springs, wire springs, springs, etc. The setting of the contact piece 12 increases the overall current carrying capacity and improves the overall stability and safety of the connector.

[0034] Reference again Figure 4 The outer wall of the support member 11 away from the sacrificial member 2 is provided with a protrusion 113, and the cross-sectional area of ​​the protrusion 113 is gradually reduced in the direction away from the sacrificial member 2. When the female end plug is connected to the external housing, the protrusion 113 can achieve unidirectional fixation to ensure the tightness of the connection. A solder cup 114 is provided at the rear of the support member 11 to facilitate the connection of the wire.

[0035] The present invention also provides an electrical connector, which comprises a female end plug.

[0036] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A female end plug of an electrical connector, characterized in that: The invention comprises a basic part and a sacrificial part, wherein the basic part comprises a contact part and a support part, wherein a head of the support part forms a receiving cavity for receiving and installing the contact part, an electrical contact is formed between the contact part and the support part, the sacrificial part is installed at the head of the receiving cavity, the sacrificial part forms an electrical contact with the basic part, and the whole of the sacrificial part or the contact surface part thereof is made of tungsten alloy; The sacrificial member comprises a connecting cylinder, and contact pieces arranged in a circumferential array on the connecting cylinder, wherein the contact pieces extend in a direction away from the accommodating cavity, a narrow gap is formed between two adjacent contact pieces, and the contact pieces are matched and connected with the male terminal.

2. A female end plug of an electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The contact ring surface of the sacrificial part in contact with the male terminal is made by electroplating tungsten alloy on the surface of the metal substrate.

3. The female end plug of an electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer wall of the support member head is provided with a mounting step, and the connecting cylinder is coaxially clamped on the mounting step.

4. The female end plug of an electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contact piece includes a transition section and a bending section. The connecting cylinder bends inwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity to form the transition section. The transition section bends outwardly in a direction away from the accommodating cavity to form the bending section. The cross-sectional area of ​​the contact piece tends to gradually decrease in a direction away from the accommodating cavity.

5. The female end plug of an electrical connector according to claim 3, characterized in that: The connecting cylinder is provided with a through dividing groove along its axial direction, the dividing groove is communicated with the narrow gap, the connecting cylinder has a card point array along the circumferential direction, the mounting step is provided with a mounting groove along its circumference, and the card point is card-engaged with the mounting groove.

6. The female end plug of an electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contact piece includes a hollow portion surrounded by a plurality of ribs and annular portions fixed on both sides of the hollow portion. The annular portion is slidably connected in the accommodating cavity. The middle section of the hollow portion is bent inward or outward so that the hollow portion is hourglass-shaped or drum-shaped.

7. The female end plug of an electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: A welding cup is arranged at the tail of the support member.

8. An electrical connector, characterized in that: It comprises the female end plug as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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