Comb-shaped interconnect of a looping bridge for looping a number of electric signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9755406-B2
Application number	US-201415100594-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 4, 2014
Priority date	Dec 20, 2013
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A looping bridge is disclosed for looping a number of electric signals through from a first electric module having a number of first electric terminals to a second electric module having a number of second electric terminals, said looping bridge comprising: a comb-shaped interconnect structure having a number of first comb teeth and a number of second comb teeth wherein the first comb teeth can be inserted into the first electric terminals and the second comb teeth can be inserted into the second electric terminals, and wherein the first comb teeth are electroconductively connected to the second comb teeth the comb-shaped interconnect structure being a comb-shaped circuit board.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A looping bridge for looping a number of electric signals from a first electric module having a number of first electric terminals to a second electric module having a number of second electric terminals, said looping bridge comprising:
a comb-shaped interconnect structure having a number of first comb teeth and a number of second comb teeth, wherein the first comb teeth can be inserted into the first electric terminals and the second comb teeth can be inserted into the second electric terminals, and wherein the first comb teeth are electroconductively connected to the second comb teeth;
wherein the comb-shaped interconnect structure is formed by a comb-shaped circuit board, wherein the comb-shaped circuit board has a plurality of circuit board layers, and an electric line configured to electrically connect one of the first comb teeth with one of the second comb teeth is positioned between every two successive circuit board layers; and
an additional comb-shaped interconnect structure having additional comb teeth, wherein at least a portion of the additional comb-shaped interconnect structure is configured to be placed on top of the comb-shaped interconnect structure to electrically connect comb teeth of the comb-shaped interconnect structure with comb teeth of the additional comb-shaped interconnect structure in pairs.

2. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein the first comb teeth are electroconductively connected in pairs to the second comb teeth, wherein each one of the first comb teeth is electroconductively connected to one of the second comb teeth.

3. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein the comb teeth are rectangular or rounded.

4. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein each of the comb teeth has an electric contact surface for contacting an electric terminal.

5. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein:
adjoining ones of the first comb teeth are spaced from one another by a first recess configured to receive a housing crosspiece of the first electric module between two adjoining ones of the first electric terminals; and
adjoining ones of the second comb teeth are spaced from one another by a second recess configured to receive a housing crosspiece of the second electric module between two adjoining ones of the second electrical terminals.

6. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein the first comb teeth are electrically insulated relative to one another and the second comb teeth are electrically insulated relative to one another.

7. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein the comb-shaped circuit board has a flexible circuit board section which flexibly connects a first circuit board section to a second circuit board section, wherein the first circuit board section comprises the first comb teeth and the second circuit board section comprises the second comb teeth.

8. The looping bridge according to claim 7 , wherein the flexible circuit board section is compression molded to the first circuit board section and the second circuit board section.

9. The looping bridge according to claim 7 , wherein the flexible circuit board section is S-shaped or U-shaped.

10. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein each of the comb teeth has a first electric contact surface on an upper side and a second electric contact surface on a lower side.

11. The looping bridge according to claim 1 , wherein the electric signals are phase signals of a polyphase signal.

12. A connector assembly for looping through a number of electric signals, comprising:
a first electric module comprising a first terminal block having a number of first electric terminals;
a second electric module comprising a second terminal block having a number of second electric terminals; and
a looping bridge comprising a first comb-shaped interconnect structure and a second comb-shaped interconnect structure, the first comb-shaped interconnect structure having a number of first comb teeth and a number of second comb teeth, and the second comb-shaped interconnect structure having a number of third comb teeth;
wherein the first comb teeth are electroconductively connected to the second comb teeth;
wherein the first comb-shaped interconnect structure is formed by a comb-shaped circuit board, the comb-shaped circuit board has a plurality of circuit board layers, and an electric line configured to electrically connect one of the first comb teeth with one of the second comb teeth is positioned between every two successive circuit board layers;
wherein the first comb teeth are inserted into the first electric terminals and the second comb teeth are inserted into the second electric terminals, thereby electroconductively connecting the first electric terminals with the second electric terminals in pairs, so that in each case, one of the first electric terminals is electroconductively connected to one of the second electric terminals; and
wherein the second comb-shaped interconnect structure is configured to be placed on top of the first comb-shaped interconnect structure to electrically connect comb teeth of the first comb-shaped interconnect structure with comb teeth of the second comb-shaped interconnect structure in pairs.

13. The connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first comb teeth are electroconductively connected in pairs to the second comb teeth, wherein each one of the first comb teeth is electroconductively connected to one of the second comb teeth.

14. The connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein each of the comb teeth has an electric contact surface for contacting an electrical terminal.

15. The connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein:
adjoining ones of the first comb teeth are spaced from another by a first recess configured to receive a housing crosspiece of the first electric module between two adjoining ones of the first electrical terminals; and
adjoining ones of the second comb teeth are spaced from one another by a second recess configured to receive a housing crosspiece of the second electric module between two adjoining ones of the second electrical terminals.

16. The connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first comb teeth are electrically insulated relative to one another and the second comb teeth are electrically insulated relative to one another.

17. The connector assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first comb-shaped circuit board has a flexible circuit board section which flexibly connects a first circuit board section to a second board section, wherein the first circuit board section comprises the first comb teeth and the second circuit board section comprises the second comb teeth.

18. The connector assembly of claim 17 , wherein the flexible circuit board section is compression molded to the first circuit board section and the second circuit board section.

Assignees

• Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co

Inventors

• Schaper Elmar

Classifications

• H01R9/2675

  Electrical interconnections between two blocks, e.g. by means of busbars · CPC title

• H05K1/148

  Arrangements of two or more hingeably connected rigid printed circuit boards, i.e. connected by flexible means · CPC title

• H05K1/117

  Pads along the edge of rigid circuit boards, e.g. for pluggable connectors · CPC title

• H02B1/205 Primary

  for connecting electrical apparatus mounted side by side on a rail · CPC title

• H01R31/08

  Short-circuiting members for bridging contacts in a counterpart · CPC title