Electrical terminals, terminating methods and assemblies

• US 4,849,596 A
• Filed: 06/30/1987
• Issued: 07/18/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1985
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alliance Winding Equipment, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Joyal Products Incorporated
• Inventors: Riordan, Edward D., Warner, Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldberg, E. A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Donovan, Lincoln
• Application Number:
  US07/068,654
• Time in Patent Office: 749 Days
• Field of Search: 219/56.1, 219/56.22, 219/91.2, 219/118, 228/4.5, 339/278 T
• US Class Current: 219/56.22
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 11/163 Welding of coated materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 41/10 Connecting leads to windings making electric connections in general H01R43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 43/0228 without preliminary removing of insulation before soldering or welding

Abstract

A terminal pin is provided with a widened connecting section defining shoulders on the terminal so that the terminal serves as a standoff to support a device such as a coil remote from a circuit board. The terminal preferably is provided with ridges and grooves. The ridges have sloping surfaces which guide a wire into the grooves during assembly of a wire to the terminal. The surfaces bordering the grooves are adapted for frictional locking engagement with the wire. The wire can be fused to the terminal by a solderless fusing process. The ridges protect the wire from damage by the fusing electrodes, and deformation of the ridges preferably serves to lock the wire into the grooves. Preferably, the wire-receiving grooves are formed in the widened connecting section.

Claims

1. A method of terminating a wire comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a terminal having a plurality of ridges and one or more grooves extending substantially parallel to the alongside one another so that each said groove lies between two of said ridges on a surface of the terminal, each said ridge having an outermost extremity and oppositely-facing side walls extending away from said extremity and sloping away from one another;

(b) engaging the wire in at least one of said grooves by juxtaposing the wire with said grooves and ridges so that the wire extends generally parallel to said grooves and ridges and moving the wire towards the grooves and ridges so that said sloping side walls of said ridges guide the wire into said grooves; and

(c) bonding the wire to the terminal with the wire disposed in the grooves.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said terminal is provided with said grooves and ridges arranged along oppositely-directed faces of the terminal and said engaging step includes the step of winding said wire onto the terminal in a helical pattern.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bonding step includes the step of deforming the outermost extremities of said ridges so that the deformed extremities lock said wire in said grooves.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bonding step includes the step of fusing said wire to said terminal by contacting said terminal with a pair of electrodes so that said electrodes do not contact the portions of said wire disposed in said grooves and passing an electric current between said electrodes through said terminal.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein said step of engaging said electrodes with said terminal include the step of engaging at least one of said electrodes with said ridges.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein said step of engaging said electrodes with said terminal includes the step of forcing said at least one electrode onto said ridges during said step of passing electric current between said electrodes so that the extremities of said ridges are deformed under the combined influence of forces applied by said at least one electrode and heat generated by said electric current.

7. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said step of engaging the wire in at least one of said grooves is performed so that a portion of the wire engaged in each groove protrudes outwardly beyond the outermost extremities of the adjacent ridges, and wherein said bonding step includes the step of preliminarily contacting a pair of electrodes with said terminal and said wire so that at least one of said electrodes engages the protruding portions of said wire, and directing an electric current through said electrodes, said wire and said terminal.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 wherein said wire is an insulated wire and bonding step further comprises the steps of heating said at least one of said electrodes and transmitting heat from said at least one electrode to said wire to thereby vaporize insulation from said protruding portion of said wire.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein said bonding step includes the step of forcing said at least one electrode towards said terminal during said preliminary contacting step and then forcibly contacting said at least one electrode with said ridges so that the extremities of said ridges are deformed under the combined influence of forces applied by said at least one electrode and heat generated by said electric current.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said terminal is provided with said grooves and ridges arranged along oppositely-directed faces of the terminal, said engaging step including the step of winding said wire about said terminal in a helix, said bonding step including the steps of placing said terminal between a pair of opposed electrodes so that said oppositely-directed faces confront said opposed electrodes and moving said electrodes towards one another.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said engaging step includes the step of frictionally engaging said wire with said side walls of said ridges so that said side walls retain said wire in said one or more grooves.

12. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein said wire is an insulated wire.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wire is a wire extending from an electrical device, the method further comprising the step of physically fastening said terminal to said electrical device.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said electrical device is a coil comprising a bobbin and a plurality of turns of said wire on said bobbin, said step of physically fastening including the step of fastening said terminal to said bobbin.

15. A method of mounting and connecting an electrical device having a body and a fine wire extending from the body comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a terminal having proximal and distal ends, a proximal shaft portion at the proximal end, a connecting portion distal to the proximal shaft portion and a proximal shoulder projecting transverse to said proximal shaft portion and its juncture with the connecting portion, the connecting portion having at least one groove therein;

(b) physically engaging the proximal shaft portion in a hole in the device so that said proximal shoulder bears on the device and the distal end of the connecting portion is remote from the device;

(c) engaging a wire extending from the device in said groove and fusing the wire to said connecting portion; and

(d) fastening the distal end of said terminal to said substrate so that said connecting portion supports said device remote from said substrate and electrically interconnects said device with said substrate.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15 wherein said substrate is a circuit board, said step of fastening said distal end of said connecting portion including the step of soldering the distal end of said terminal to said circuit board.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said terminal has a distal shaft portion projecting from the distal end of said connecting portion and a distal shoulder at the proximal end of said distal shaft portion, said step of fastening said terminal to said substrate including the step of inserting said distal shaft portion into a hole in said circuit board so that said distal shoulder bears on a top surface of said circuit board.

18. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said electrical device is an electromagnetic coil having a polymeric bobbin, said step of physically engaging said proximal shaft portion including the step of engaging said proximal shaft portion in a hole in said polymeric bobbin.