Electrical contact terminal with improved connection portion

1. An electrical contact terminal adapted to be mounted on an electrical cable comprising:

at least one connection portion adapted for mounting the electrical cable and at least one contact portion, wherein the connection portion is provided with at least one reactive film comprising at least two materials in a reactive form, this film being adapted to react after reception of a suited activation energy thereby producing heat and thus causing a bonding between the connection portion and a cable.

2. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the connection portion comprises at least one crimping means adapted to crimp a cable.

3. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film can be activated by applying pressure, heat, electrical current, optical means or a combination thereof.

4. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film is deposited on the connection portion by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD).

5. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film is arranged on the connection portion in form of a separate sheet.

6. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film comprises an average thickness of 10 μm-200 μm.

7. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film comprises a plurality of alternating layers, each layer comprising at least one of the said materials or the at least one reactive film comprises said materials in form of an agglomerate.

8. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film comprises a plurality of alternating layers, each layer comprising at least one of the said materials, each layer having an average thickness of preferably 1 nm-200 nm, or wherein the at least one reactive film comprises said materials which are essentially arranged in form of an agglomerate of clusters, said clusters having an average diameter of 1 nm-200 nm.

9. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive film further comprises at least one layer of fusible material.

10. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein one of the two materials is chosen from the group of transition metals while the other of the two materials is chosen from the group of metalloids.

11. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein one of the two materials is chosen from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum, aluminum while the other of the two materials is chosen from the group consisting of boron, carbon, silicon, nickel.

12. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical contact terminal is made of sheet metal.

13. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the connection between the cable and the connection portion sustains an extraction force which is greater by a factor of at least 10%, as compared to a corresponding standard crimping connection without the bonding.

14. The electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the two materials of the at least one reactive film are aluminum and nickel.

15. An assembly comprising an electrical contact terminal and at least one electrical cable manufactured by providing an electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , by arranging the at least one cable on the connection portion and by providing a suited activation energy to the at least one reactive film, thereby causing the activation and reaction of said film producing heat and thus causing a bonding between the connection portion and the cable.

16. A method for manufacturing an electrical contact terminal according to claim 1 , comprising the following steps:

a) providing a sheet metal for production of the electrical contact terminal;

b) stamping the form into the sheet metal as needed to produce the electrical contact terminal, while a guiding portion of the metal band is left unchanged to serve for continuation and guidance of the parts during production; and

c) performing necessary bending steps until the desired shape is reached; hereinafter step a) the electrical contact terminal is provided with at least one reactive film comprising at least two materials in a reactive form, this film being adapted to react after reception of a sufficient activation energy thereby producing heat and thus causing a bonding between the connection portion and an inserted cable.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the reactive films is provided after step b) to the connection portion.

18. The method according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the reactive films is deposited after step b) onto the connection portion by means of PVD.

19. The method according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the reactive films is provided after step a) to the part of the sheet metal which is adapted to form the connection portion.

20. The method according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the reactive films is deposited after step a) to the part of the sheet metal which is adapted to form the connection portion by means of PVD.

21. A method for assembling a cable to an electrical contact terminal, comprising the following steps:

a) providing a contact terminal according to claim 1 ;

b) arranging an electrical cable on the connection portion of the contact terminal; and

c) providing suited activation energy to the reactive film, causing the film to react producing heat and thereby establishing a bond between the connection portion and the cable.