Contact of an electrical connector with protection tabs for cantilever beams

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12170424-B2
Application number	US-202117399540-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2021
Priority date	Aug 11, 2021
Publication date	Dec 17, 2024
Grant date	Dec 17, 2024

Abstract

A contact includes a cantilever beam and a protection tab. The cantilever beam extends from a beam connected end to a beam free end along an insertion direction. The protection tab extends from a tab connected end to a tab free end in a direction opposite to the insertion direction. The tab free end is positioned adjacent to the beam free end.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical contact, comprising:
a cantilever beam extending from a beam connected end connected to a body of the electrical contact to a beam free end along an insertion direction; and
a protection tab extending from a tab connected end connected to the body of the electrical contact to a tab free end in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, the tab free end is positioned adjacent to the beam free end, the protection tab has a guard portion on an outer surface of the protection tab between the tab connected end and the tab free end, the guard portion is positioned further from a central longitudinal axis extending centrally through the contact than the beam free end and protects the beam free end of the cantilever beam, the guard portion is not aligned with the cantilever beam along the insertion direction.

2. The electrical contact of claim 1 , wherein the body includes a transition section and an end section each extending circumferentially around a dielectric housing receiving space defined by the electrical contact.

3. The electrical contact of claim 2 , wherein the transition section and the end section are separated from another along the insertion direction.

4. The electrical contact of claim 3 , wherein the beam connected end is connected to the transition section and the cantilever beam extends away from the transition section along the insertion direction.

5. The electrical contact of claim 4 , wherein the tab connected end is connected to the end section and the protection tab extends away from the end section in the direction opposite to the insertion direction.

6. The electrical contact of claim 5 , further comprising a connected beam extending along the insertion direction, the connected beam has a first end connected to the transition section and a second end connected to the end section.

7. The electrical contact of claim 6 , wherein the connected beam has a connected contact portion between the first end and the second end, the connected contact portion is positioned further from the central longitudinal axis extending centrally through the electrical contact than the first end and the second end.

8. The electrical contact of claim 5 , wherein the cantilever beam is one of a plurality of cantilever beams extending along the insertion direction from a top side and a bottom side of the transition section.

9. The electrical contact of claim 8 , wherein the protection tab is one of a plurality of protection tabs extending in the direction opposite to the insertion direction from a top side and a bottom side of the end section.

10. The electrical contact of claim 9 , wherein the tab free end of at least one of the protection tabs is positioned between a plurality of beam free ends of the cantilever beams along a width axis perpendicular to the insertion direction.

11. The electrical contact of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of connected beams extending along the insertion direction and each connected between a lateral side of the transition section and a lateral side of the end section.

12. The electrical contact of claim 1 , wherein the guard portion is formed by a bend in the protection tab between the tab connected end and the tab free end.

13. The electrical contact of claim 1 , wherein the guard portion is positioned in front of the beam free end along the insertion direction.

14. The electrical contact of claim 1 , wherein the cantilever beam has a cantilever contact portion between the beam connected end and the beam free end, the guard portion is positioned closer to the central longitudinal axis than the cantilever contact portion.

15. The electrical contact of claim 1 , wherein the cantilever beam and the protection tab are monolithically formed in a single piece.

16. An electrical connector, comprising:
an electrical contact having a cantilever beam extending from a beam connected end connected to a body of the electrical contact to a beam free end along an insertion direction and a protection tab extending from a tab connected end connected to the body of the electrical contact to a tab free end in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, the tab free end is positioned adjacent to the beam free end, the protection tab has a guard portion on an outer surface of the protection tab between the tab connected end and the tab free end, the guard portion is positioned further from a central longitudinal axis extending centrally through the electrical contact than the beam free end and is deflectable toward and away from the central longitudinal axis, the guard portion is not aligned with the cantilever beam along the insertion direction.

17. The electrical connector of claim 16 , further comprising a dielectric housing disposed within the electrical contact and an inner ferrule disposed around the dielectric housing, the inner ferrule is electrically connected to the electrical contact.

18. An electrical connector system, comprising:
an electrical connector including an electrical contact having a cantilever beam extending from a beam connected end connected to a body of the electrical contact to a beam free end along an insertion direction and a protection tab extending from a tab connected end connected to the body of the electrical contact to a tab free end in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, the tab free end is positioned adjacent to the beam free end, the protection tab has a guard portion on an outer surface of the protection tab between the tab connected end and the tab free end, the guard portion is positioned further from a central longitudinal axis extending centrally through the electrical contact than the beam free end, the guard portion is not aligned with the cantilever beam along the insertion direction; and
a mating connector including a mating contact, the mating contact is electrically connected to the electrical contact when the electrical connector is mated with the mating connector, the guard portion of the protection tab prevents the mating contact from contacting the beam free end of the cantilever beam.

19. An electrical contact, comprising:
a plurality of cantilever beams each extending from a beam connected end connected to a body of the electrical contact to a beam free end along an insertion direction; and
a plurality of protection tabs each extending from a tab connected end connected to the body of the electrical contact to a tab free end in a direction opposite to the insertion direction, the tab free end of each of the protection tabs is positioned adjacent to the beam free end of at least one of the cantilever beams, the tab free end of at least one of the protection tabs is positioned between a plurality of beam free ends of the cantilever beams along a width axis perpendicular to the insertion direction.

Assignees

• TE Connectivity Services Gmbh
• Te Connectivity Germany Gmbh
• Te Connectivity Solutions Gmbh

Inventors

• Swanger Nathan William
• Evans Nicholas Lee
• Schroll Neil Franklin
• Mumper Guenther
• Hall John Wesley
• Brandt Jochen

Classifications

• H01R13/6592

  the conductive member being a shielded cable · CPC title

• H01R13/6591

  Specific features or arrangements of connection of shield to conductive members · CPC title

• H01R13/6582 Primary

  with resilient means for engaging mating connector · CPC title

• H01R13/658

  High frequency shielding arrangements, e.g. against EMI [Electro-Magnetic Interference] or EMP [Electro-Magnetic Pulse] {(coaxial coupling devices specially adapted for high frequency H01R24/40; for flat or ribbon cable connectors H01R12/774; for coaxial cable H01R9/05)} · CPC title

• H01R13/648

  Protective earth or shield arrangements on coupling devices {, e.g. anti-static shielding}   (coaxially arranged shields H01R24/38) · CPC title