Electrical connector contact
View Patent ↗An electrical connector assembly including a housing, electrical contact terminals, a hood and a filter member. The housing is sized and shaped to be plugged into an electrical connector socket of an initiator of a gas generator. A first one of the terminals has a wire connection section and a female connection section. The hood surrounds the female connection section of the first terminal. The hood is a stamped and rolled sheet metal member which has a general tube shape. The filter member is connected to the first terminal for providing electromagnetic induction suppression. The filter member can be on a filter assembly having a multi-capacitor chip attached to a spring lead frame.
1. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having a portion adapted to be inserted into an electrical connector socket of an initiator of a gas generator;
electrical contacts in the housing, wherein a first one of the contacts comprises a sideways outwardly extending contact tab with a contact surface at an outer end of the contact tab; and
a filter assembly in the housing, wherein the filter assembly comprises an electrical lead frame with a spring beam and a filter circuit electrically mounted on the lead frame, wherein the lead frame comprises a contact surface at an end of the spring beam which is biased into contact with the contact surface of the contact tab.
2. An electrical connector as in claim 1 further comprising a metal hood mounted on the first contact.
3. An electrical connector as in claim 2 further comprising a ferrite tube located over the hood.
4. An electrical connector as in claim 1 wherein the first contact comprises cantilevered attachment sections extending from a rear end of a female connection section, and wherein one of the cantilevered attachment sections comprises the contact tab.
5. An electrical connector as in claim 1 wherein the filter circuit comprises capacitors assembled as a chip and connected to the first contact by the lead frame.
6. An electrical connector as in claim 5 wherein the capacitors comprise two groups of capacitors connected in parallel, and wherein a first one of the groups comprises two capacitors connected in series.
7. An electrical connector as in claim 5 wherein the lead frame comprises a first contact area, a second contact area, and the spring beam between the first and second contact areas, wherein the first contact area makes a wiping surface contact with the electrical contact.
8. An electrical connector as in claim 7 wherein the chip is surface mounted on the second contact area and the second contact area comprises an aperture therethrough which the chip is mounted over.
9. An electrical connector filter assembly for assembly into an electrical connector, the filter assembly comprising:
a lead frame comprising a first contact area, a second contact area, and a spring beam section between the first and second contact areas, wherein the first contact area is adapted to make a wiping surface contact with an electrical contact of the electrical connector; and
a filter circuit directly electrically mounted to the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit comprises capacitors and is attached to the lead frame as a modular one-piece unit.
10. An electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 9 wherein the capacitors are assembled as a one-piece chip and surface mounted to the lead frame.
11. An electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 10 wherein the second contact area comprises an aperture therethrough, wherein the chip is mounted over the aperture.
12. An air bag electrical connector-comprising:
a housing which is sized and shaped to be plugged into an electrical connector socket of an initiator of a gas generator;
a plurality of electrical contacts in the housing; and
an electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 9 connected to a first one of the electrical contacts in the housing.
13. An electrical connector filter assembly for assembly into an electrical connector, the filter assembly comprising:
a lead frame comprising a first contact area, a second contact area; and
a filter circuit directly mounted to the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit comprises a plurality of capacitors, wherein the lead frame comprises a hole in the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit is mounted over the hole, and wherein the hole provides an air insulator between the lead frame and a portion of the filter circuit,
wherein the filter circuit comprises a ground contact area at an exterior side in a middle section of the filter circuit, and wherein the ground contact area is spaced from the lead frame by the hole and insulated from the lead frame by the air insulator at the hole.
14. An electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 13 wherein the lead frame comprises mounting barbs for mounting the lead frame in a plastic connector housing.
15. An electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 13 wherein the lead frame comprises a spring beam section between the first and second contact areas.
16. An electrical connector filter assembly for assembly into an electrical connector, the filter assembly comprising:
a lead frame comprising a first contact area, a second contact area; and
a filter circuit directly mounted to the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit comprises a plurality of capacitors, wherein the lead frame comprises a hole in the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit is mounted over the hole, and wherein the hole provides an air insulator between the lead frame and a portion of the filter circuit,
wherein the first contact area of the lead frame comprises a terminal contact area adapted to be assembled into an electrical connector with a terminal, and to make a removable surface contact against the terminal.
17. An electrical connector filter assembly as in claim 16 wherein the terminal contact area is adapted to slide along a portion of the terminal during assembly of the electrical connector.
18. An electrical connector filter assembly for assembly into an electrical connector, the filter assembly comprising:
a lead frame comprising a first contact area, a second contact area; and
a filter circuit directly mounted to the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit comprises a plurality of capacitors, wherein the lead frame comprises a hole in the lead frame at the second contact area, wherein the filter circuit is mounted over the hole, wherein the hole provides an air insulator between the lead frame and a portion of the filter circuit, wherein the filter circuit comprises two groups of capacitors connected in parallel, and wherein one of the groups of capacitors comprises two capacitors connected in series.
19. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having a portion adapted to be inserted into an electrical connector socket of an initiator of a gas generator;
electrical contacts in the housing, wherein a first one of the contacts comprises a sideways outwardly extending contact tab with a contact surface; and
a filter assembly on the housing, wherein the filter assembly comprises an electrical lead frame with a spring beam and a filter circuit electrically mounted on the lead frame, wherein the lead frame comprises a contact surface on the spring beam which is biased into contact with the contact surface of the contact tab.