Electrical contact element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9915003-B2
Application number	US-201715469894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2017
Priority date	May 24, 2016
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

An electrical contact element formed of sheet metal having a first region and a second region. Each one of the first and second regions is coated with a coating including a first layer containing a first material having a lower standard electrode potential than the sheet metal material. The coating includes a second layer in the first region which is absent in the second region. The second layer is arranged underneath the first layer and contains a second material that has a lower standard electrode potential than the first material.

First claim

I claim:

1. An electrical contact element formed of a sheet metal material, comprising:
a first region;
a second region, wherein each one of the first and second regions is coated with a first coating including a first layer containing a first material having a lower standard electrode potential than the sheet metal material, wherein the first coating includes a second layer in the first region which is absent in the second region and wherein the second layer is arranged underneath the first layer and contains a second material having a lower standard electrode potential than the first material; and
a third region separated from the first region by the second region, wherein the third region is coated with a second coating comprising a first layer containing the first material, and a second layer arranged underneath the first layer and containing the second material, a third layer made of an alloy of the third material being absent in the third region.

2. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein the second region defines a distance between the first region and the third region, the distance having a value between 1 mm and 8 mm.

3. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein the first region forms at least a part of a fastening section of the electrical contact element for mechanically fastening the electrical contact element to a wire electrical cable and the second region forms at least a part of a connecting section of the electrical contact element for electrically connecting the electrical contact element to the wire electrical cable.

4. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet metal is made of copper or an alloy thereof, the first layer is made of a material having a standard electrode potential ranking between a standard electrode potential of the sheet metal material and a standard electrode potential of the wire electrical cable material, and/or the first layer is made of tin.

5. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein the second layer forms a galvanic anode made of zinc.

6. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein a hot dip tin layer is provided between the sheet metal and the first coating.

7. The electrical contact element according to claim 1 , wherein the first coating includes an additional third layer made of an alloy of a third material and the second layer is arranged between the first layer and the third layer.

8. The electrical contact element according to claim 7 , wherein the alloy of the third layer is a copper zinc alloy containing zinc in an amount of 30% to 40% by weight.

9. An electrical contact element formed of a sheet metal material, comprising:
a first region;
a second region, wherein each one of the first and second regions is coated with a first coating including a first layer containing a first material having a lower standard electrode potential than the sheet metal material, wherein the first coating includes a second layer in the first region which is absent in the second region and wherein the second layer is arranged underneath the first layer and contains a second material having a lower standard electrode potential than the first material; and
a third region separated from the first region by the second region, wherein the third region is coated with a second coating comprising a first layer containing the first material, a second layer containing the second material and a third layer made of an alloy of the third material, wherein the second layer is arranged between the first and third layers.

10. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein the second region defines a distance between the first region and the third region, the distance having a value between 1 mm and 8 mm.

11. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein the first region forms at least a part of a fastening section of the electrical contact element for mechanically fastening the electrical contact element to a wire electrical cable and the second region forms at least a part of a connecting section of the electrical contact element for electrically connecting the electrical contact element to the wire electrical cable.

12. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein the sheet metal is made of copper or an alloy thereof, the first layer is made of a material having a standard electrode potential ranking between a standard electrode potential of the sheet metal material and a standard electrode potential of the wire electrical cable material, and/or the first layer is made of tin.

13. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein the second layer forms a galvanic anode made of zinc.

14. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein a hot dip tin layer is provided between the sheet metal and the first coating.

15. The electrical contact element according to claim 9 , wherein the first coating includes an additional third layer made of an alloy of a third material and the second layer is arranged between the first layer and the third layer.

16. The electrical contact element according to claim 15 , wherein the alloy of the third layer is a copper zinc alloy containing zinc in an amount of 30% to 40% by weight.

17. An electrical contact element formed of a sheet metal material, comprising:
a first region;
a second region, wherein each one of the first and second regions is coated with a first coating including a first layer containing a first material having a lower standard electrode potential than the sheet metal material, wherein the first coating in the first and second regions includes a second layer which contains a second material having a lower standard electrode potential than the first material and which is arranged underneath the first layer and wherein the first coating further includes a third layer in the second region which is made of an alloy of a third material and arranged between the first and second layers, and wherein the third layer arranged between the first and second layers is also present in the first region; and
a third region separated from the first region by the second region, wherein the third region is coated with a second coating comprising a first layer containing the first material, a second layer arranged between the sheet metal and the first layer and containing the second material, and optionally a third layer made of the alloy of the third material and arranged between the first and second layers.

18. An electrical contact element according to claim 17 , wherein the second region defines a distance between the first region and the third region, the distance having a value between 1 mm and 8 mm.

19. The electrical contact element according to claim 17 , wherein the first region forms at least a part of a fastening section of the electrical contact element for mechanically fastening the electrical contact element to a wire electrical cable and the second region forms at least a part of a connecting section of the electrical contact element for electrically connecting the electrical contact element to the wire electrical cable.

20. The electrical contact element according to claim 17 , wherein the sheet metal is made of copper or a copper alloy, the first layer is made of a material having a standard electrode potential ranking between a standard electrode potential of the sheet metal material and a standard electrode potential of the wire electrical cable material, and/or the first layer is

Assignees

• Delphi Tech Inc

Inventors

• Gaertner Markus

Classifications

• H01R43/16

  for manufacturing contact members, e.g. by punching and by bending · CPC title

• C23F2213/30

  Anodic or cathodic protection specially adapted for a specific object · CPC title

• C23F2213/20

  Constructional parts or assemblies of the anodic or cathodic protection apparatus · CPC title

• H01R13/03 Primary

  characterised by the material, e.g. plating, or coating materials · CPC title

• C23F13/16

  Electrodes characterised by the combination of the structure and the material · CPC title