Te Connectivity Germany Gmbh

Tyco Electronics Corporation

Te Connectivity Corporation

Steinbeiss-forschungszentrum

Michael Leidner

Helge Schmidt

Soenke Sachs

Marjorie Kay Myers

Stefan Thoss

Frank Mücklich

Eva Henschel

Dominique Freckmann

Leander Reinert

Herr Kim Eric Trinh Quoc

Sönke Sachs

An electrically conductive contact element for an electrical connector comprises a contact surface having a plurality of caverns arranged under the contact surface in a microstructure and an auxiliary material filled in the plurality of caverns.

Electrical contact element for an electrical connector having microstructured caverns under the contact surface

A contact element comprises an electrically conductive layer and a masking layer. A contact side of the contact element is at least partly covered by the masking layer and the electrically conductive layer. The electrically conductive layer and the masking layer form a contact surface having alternating regions of the masking layer and the electrically conductive layer.

Contact element and method for production thereof

The invention relates to a method for producing at least one functional region on an electrical contact element such as, for example, a switching contact or a plug type contact. In order to prevent the high environmental burden which is disadvantageous in wet-chemical methods and to overcome the restriction to a very small number of materials caused in hot dip methods in physical technical terms, and to substantially improve the spatial possibility for selection and structuring which is insufficient in both techniques, there is provision according to the invention for at least one material coating to be applied mechanically in a highly selective manner to the contact element in the functional region and subsequently highly energetic thermal radiation such as, for example, a particle beam in the form of an ion and/or electron beam, to be directed onto the at least on material coating.

Method for manufacturing at least one functional area on an electric contact element such as a switching contact or a plug contact

A method of manufacturing an electrical component includes providing an electrically insulating substrate having an outer surface, applying a coated structure on the outer surface and irradiating the coated structure with an electron beam to form an electrical conductor on the substrate. The irradiating may include heating the coating layer to melt the coating layer to form the electrical conductor. The coating layer may have a low binder concentration and a high metal concentration. The irradiating may include vaporizing substantially all the binder leaving a substantially pure metallic layer to form the electrical conductor. The coating layer may be irradiated until non-metallic material of the coating layer is completely removed.

Electrical components and methods and systems of manufacturing electrical components

A method of manufacturing a coated structure on a substrate includes positioning a substrate in a vapor deposition chamber having a crucible with source material. The method includes evaporating the source material with electron beams from an irradiation source, the evaporated source material being deposited on the substrate as a coating layer. The method includes ablating the coating layer with the electron beams to selectively remove portions of the coating layer leaving a circuit structure on the substrate. The evaporating and ablating are accomplished in situ within the vapor deposition chamber using the same irradiation source.

Methods of manufacturing a coated structure on a substrate

The invention relates to a method for producing at least one functional region () on an electrical contact element () such as, for example, a switching contact or a plug type contact. The at least one functional region (), for example, a contact location or a connection region for crimping or soldering connections is limited to a partial area of the contact element. In order to prevent the high environmental burden which is disadvantageous in wet-chemical methods and to overcome the restriction to a very small number of materials caused in hot dip methods in physical technical terms, and to substantially improve the spatial possibility for selection and structuring which is insufficient in both techniques, there is provision according to the invention for at least one material coating () to be applied mechanically in a highly selective manner to the contact element in the functional region () and subsequently highly energetic thermal radiation () such as, for example, a particle beam in the form of an ion and/or electron beam, to be directed onto the at least one material coating (). The material coating () can contain new materials or material combinations which cannot be provided by previous methods. The invention further relates to a device for producing such a functional region and a contact element having such a functional region (), the contact element () being produced in accordance with the above method.

An electrical contact assembly includes a first electrical contact having a first mating element, and a second electrical contact having a second mating element. The first and second electrical contacts being configured to mate together at the first and second mating elements such that the first and second mating elements engage each other at a contact interface. A distribution of contact pressure across the contact interface at least partially coincides with a distribution of electrical current flow across the contact interface.

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Lambrecht, Germany

Michael Leidner