The present invention relates to an electrical high power connection assembly, in particular for the use in electrical high power applications, such as applications in the field of electric or hybrid vehicles.

In the developing field of hybrid and electric vehicles, electrical connection components are required which are capable of transmitting large electrical currents and which are able to withstand high electrical voltages. Such components have to be reliable and secure and, at the same time, need to be easily producible in mass production processes. Usually, power contact terminals for the connection of electrical cables, e.g. to electrical power sources, are provided with a contact portion which, e.g. in the case of a female contact terminal, can be adapted to receive a contact pin of a corresponding male contact terminal.

Further, power contact terminals are provided with a connection portion which serves to mechanically and electrically connect the terminal to the electrical cable, usually via crimping. In this case, dismantled strands of the cable are inserted into the connection or crimping portion and, by any suitable means, crimping wings of the crimping portion are bent around the cable strands which thereby are connected to the contact terminal.

A typical prior art example of a power contact which is suitable for electrical high power applications is disclosed in the application WO 201 1 /077190 A1 . Therein, a female contact terminal is described which comprises a contact portion formed by a plurality of contact tongues which extend from a ring shaped base. Such ring shaped base is connected via an intermediate portion to a crimping portion which is used to connect the contact terminal to an electrical cable.

For securely mating the power contact terminal to a corresponding connector housing, the power contact terminal is provided with a cylindrical hood made of sheet metal which is provided with suitable latching and locking means. To electrically insulate the power contact terminal and the cylindrical hood inside of a connector housing, the power contact terminal needs to be provided with separate insulation elements.

A further example of an electrical power contact terminal is described in the application WO 2010/029391 A1 . Therein, an electrical power contact terminal is described which, similarly, is provided with a crimping portion for the connection to an electrical cable and with a contact portion provided with a plurality of contact tongues adapted to receive a contact pin of a corresponding male contact terminal. In an assembled condition, the contact portion is provided with a hood made of insulating material provided around the contact tongues. The power contact terminal disclosed in the application WO 2010/029391 A1 is designed particularly to be used in a rectangular connector assembly.

Yet, a further prior art example of an electrical high power connector is described in the application DE 10 2009 053 778 A1 . Therein, the electrical high power connection assembly described therein comprises a female contact terminal and first and second insulation elements. The first insulation element is mounted to the power contact terminal and fastened thereto by means of a latch element which snaps into an annular grove provided around the contact terminal. After mounting the first insulation element, the second insulation element is mounted to the contact terminal being arranged around the latch elements of the first insulation element, thereby securing the latch elements inside of the annular grove.

In view of above prior arts, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical high power connection assembly which allows for an improved mechanical and electrical connection and which, in particular, allows to reduce losses due to creeping currents.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical high power connection assembly with less complex and more reliable components.

These and other objects which will become apparent upon reading the following description are solved by an electrical high power connection assembly according to claim 1 . According to the invention, an electrical high power connection assembly is provided which is suitable to be mated to a counter connector. Preferably, the electrical high power connection assembly is adapted to receive a contact pin of the counter connector. In other words, preferably, the electrical high power connection assembly is suitable to be mated to a male counter connector.

The electrical high power connection assembly comprises :

- a power contact terminal, which is suitable to be electrically connectable to a contact element of the counter connector, comprising at least :

^■ a contact portion, for example for the reception of the contact pin, provided with a stop edge, and ^■ an intermediate portion.

The power contact terminal may also comprise a connection portion. The connection portion is, for example, a crimping portion which can be crimped to dismantled cable strands of an electrical high power cable.

The electrical high power connection assembly further comprises :

- a terminal carrier, which, in an assembled condition, is suitable to be mountable to the power contact terminal and preferably comprises an essentially cylindrical, e.g. tube shaped, carrier body, and

- a hood.

In the assembled condition, the hood is adapted to be mountable to the terminal carrier and preferably comprises an essentially cylindrical main portion and a locking portion. In a preferred embodiment, the terminal carrier and the hood are made from an insulating material, preferably from a plastic material. Thereby, no longer separate insulation elements are required and, thus, mounting space needed for mounting separate spring and insulation components can be saved.

According to the present invention, the terminal carrier comprises a sleeve-like section, preferably with an essentially closed circumferential surface, which, in the assembled condition, is adapted to be arranged around the intermediate portion of the power contact terminal. Thereby, the essentially closed circumferential surface can, for example, be interrupted by recesses or cuts. However, as opposed e.g. to separate arms being circularly arranged around the intermediate portion, the essentially closed circumferential surface is suited to continuously surround the intermediate portion of the contact terminal.

Further, the sleeve-like section, which may be formed by a guide portion, comprises at least a flexible latch portion. Advantageously, the guide portion and the flexible latch portion are both provided with essentially half circular cross-sections.

Thereby, in the assembled condition, an end portion of the flexible latch portion engages the stop edge of the power contact terminal to lock the terminal carrier to the power contact terminal. Moreover, these cross-sections, preferably essentially half circular cross-sections, can be interrupted by cut-outs or recesses which serve to provide the sleeve-like section with the required flexibility, or by recesses e.g. for coding purposes. In a preferred embodiment, upon mounting the terminal carrier to the power contact terminal, the flexible latch portion is adapted to be deflected outwardly by an outer surface of the power contact terminal, thereby allowing a movement of the terminal carrier along a mounting direction. In other words, the terminal carrier can be moved onto the power contact terminal until the flexible latch portion comes into engagement with an outer surface of the power contact terminal.

Upon further movement, the flexible latch portion is pressed outwardly, such that the terminal carrier can be moved further.

Upon further movement, the flexible latch portion can, for example, snap back into its original configuration, for example, when the flexible latch portion is placed around the intermediate portion of the power contact terminal.

In this original configuration, an end portion of the flexible latch portion can then engage the stop edge of the power contact terminal, such that the terminal carrier can no longer be moved in the opposite direction and, thereby, is locked to the terminal carrier. In a preferred embodiment, when the hood is mounted to the terminal carrier, the locking portion is arranged around the flexible latch portion, thereby inhibiting an outward deflection of the flexible latch portion. Thus, when the hood is mounted to the terminal carrier, the end portion of the flexible latch portion is secured in engagement with the stop edge of the power contact terminal, such that the hood provides an additional assurance function for the mounted state of the terminal carrier.

In other words, preferably the hood provides a similar function as so-called terminal position assurance (TPA) members. Preferably, only when the terminal carrier is properly mounted to the power contact terminal, the hood can be moved properly into a mounted position on the terminal carrier. In a preferred embodiment, the power contact terminal is adapted to transmit large currents as they are required, for example, in the field of hybrid or electric vehicles of at least 5 A, more preferable of at least 10 A, even more preferably of at least 25 A, yet even more preferably of at least 50 A, and most preferably of at least 100 A.

Of course, different features, alternatives and/or embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other in various arrangement to the extent that they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive of others.

The present invention will be better understood and other features and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description including embodiments for illustrative purposes with reference to the figures, presented as non-limitative examples, which can be used to complete the understanding of the present invention and the description and, where appropriate, contribute to its definition, in which:

- Fig. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of an electrical high power connection assembly,

- Figs. 2A and 2B show schematic perspective illustrations of a hood,

- Figs. 3A and 3B show schematic perspective illustrations of a terminal carrier,

- Fig. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of a terminal carrier which is about to be mounted to a power contact terminal,

- Fig. 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a terminal carrier which is partially mounted to the power contact terminal,

- Fig. 6 shows a perspective schematic view of a terminal carrier which is mounted to the power contact terminal, - Fig. 7 shows a partially cut view of the power contact terminal of Fig. 6 from a different perspective,

- Fig. 8 shows the power contact terminal of Fig. 6, whereby a hood is mounted to the terminal carrier,

- Fig. 9 shows a partially cut view of the power contact terminal with the hood of Fig. 8, and

- Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the power contact terminal with the hood of Fig. 8. It should be noted that, on figures, structural and/or functional elements which are common to different embodiments may have the same reference sign. Thus, unless otherwise stated, these elements have structural, dimensional and material properties which are identical.

Fig. 1 shows an exploded schematic view of an electrical high power connection assembly 100 which is adapted to be mated to a corresponding counter connector, not currently shown. The electrical high power connection assembly 100 comprises /

- a hood 200 ,

- a terminal carrier 300, and

- a power contact terminal 400.

The power contact terminal 400 comprises a contact portion 401 and, in a preferred embodiment, is provided with a plurality of, preferably at least 4, more preferably in between 4 and 10, most preferably 8, contact tongues 405. The contact tongues 405 form a circular arrangement and comprise an inwardly bent section which is adapted e.g. to be biased against an outer surface of an inserted contact pin, not currently shown, received by the power contact terminal 400.

Preferably, the contact tongues 405 extend from a ring shaped base 406, whereby a stop edge 407 is provided at a side of the ring shaped base 406 facing away from the contact tongues 405.

The power contact terminal 400 further comprises an intermediate portion 402 and a crimping portion 403, whereby crimping wings 404 are crimped around dismantled cable strands 501 which extend out of an inner insulation 503 of a coaxial cable 500. The terminal carrier 300 is adapted to be mounted to the power contact terminal 400 and comprises an essentially cylindrical carrier body 301 . For mounting the electrical high power connection assembly 100 to a respective connector housing, not currently shown, the terminal carrier 300 is provided with mounting recesses 319.

The terminal carrier 300 comprises a sleeve-like section 303 which is formed by a guide portion 305 and a flexible latch portion 307.

The hood 200 comprises a locking portion 203 and an essentially cylindrical main portion 202, i.e. up to fabrication intolerances. The main portion 202 is provided with an essentially circular cross- section.

The main portion 202 and the locking portion 203 are separated by an annular step 205 such that the locking portion 203 is provided with a larger diameter as the main portion 202.

The hood 200 is further provided with an opening 201 which allows for insertion for example of a male contact pin of a corresponding counter connector. The hood 200 is shown in more detail in Figs. 2A and 2B. In order to lock the hood 200 to the terminal carrier 300, the hood 200 is provided with recesses 207 which upon mounting of the hood 200 to the terminal carrier 300 receive projections 315, as shown on Fig. 1 , provided at the flexible latch portion 307 of the terminal carrier 300.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 2B, the hood 200 may be provided with a coding element 209 which protrudes inwardly from an inner surface of the hood 200. Accordingly, the terminal carrier 300, preferably the flexible latch portion 307, may be provided with a complementary coding recess 31 1 , as shown on Fig. 1 , such that upon mounting the hood 200 to the terminal carrier 300 the coding element 209 is placed within the coding recess 31 1 . These coding elements facilitate the provision of a correct orientation of the hood 200 with respect to the terminal carrier 300. Thereby it is assured that the recesses 207 are correctly oriented with respect to the projections 315.

Figs. 3A and 3B show the terminal carrier 300. As one may derive from Fig. 3A, the sleeve-like section 303 is formed by the guide portion 305 and the flexible latch portion 307 which are both provided, preferably, with essentially half circular cross-sections. As shown, the flexible latch portion 307 is formed by latch elements 308, for example three latch elements 308, which are separated by cut-outs 310, such that, preferably, the essentially half circular cross-section of the flexible latch portion 307 is provided with the required flexibility.

Thus, the sleeve-like section 303 has an essentially closed circumferential surface which provides a robust construction, i.e. the outer surface of the sleeve-like section 303 is essentially continuous and only interrupted by cut-outs 310 and, optionally, the coding recess 31 1 . At the same time, the cut-outs 310 allow for sufficient flexibility such that the latch elements 308 are bendable.

This construction allows that the continuous, preferably insulating, surface of the sleeve-like section 303 is maximized to accordingly minimize losses due to creeping currents as they can occur in high electrical power applications. Further, the cut-outs 310 are dimensioned such that, upon an inwardly directed deflection of the latch elements 308, i.e. a deflection directed towards the inside of the terminal carrier 300, opposing side faces 312, shown on Fig. 3B, of the latch element 308, which are formed by cut-outs 310, mutually abut each other, thereby preventing a further inwardly directed deflection.

Thus, due to this construction, as opposed to free standing latching elements which would be susceptible to damage for example upon transport when the terminal carrier is not mounted to the power contact terminal 400, the flexible latch portion 307 is provided with advantageous stability and robustness.

When the latch elements 305 are pressed inwardly, preferably the flexible latch portion 307 forms a stable half-tube. To this end, the ratio of the width of a cut-out 310 with respect to the width of a latch element 308 is in between 0.001 and 0.5, more preferably in between 0.005 and 0.4, even more preferably in between 0.01 and 0.3 and most preferably in between 0.05 and 0.2. For example, if the width of a cut-out 310 is 0.5 mm, and the width of latch element 308 is 4 mm, the ratio is 0.125.

As further shown in Fig. 3A, each latch element 308 is provided with ribs 313, for example three ribs 313, which extend along the latch element 308, essentially in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the terminal carrier 300.

As it will be clear to the skilled person, the exact number of ribs 313 as well as of latch elements 308 may vary if desired.

Due to these ribs, the latch elements 308 are advantageously provided with a suitable stiffness against forces which act essentially along the longitudinal axis of the terminal carrier 300. At the same time, these ribs 313 allow for sufficient flexibility, such that the latch elements 308 are bendable inwardly or outwardly. Further, projections 315 are provided on respective ribs 313. Figs. 4 to 6 illustrate mounting of the terminal carrier 300 to the power contact terminal 400. As shown in Fig. 4, to this end, the terminal carrier 300 is moved along a mounting direction 601 onto the power contact terminal 400. Upon this mating procedure, the flexible latch portion 307 comes into contact with an outer surface of the power contact terminal 400, i.e. for example with outer surfaces of contact tongues 405, and thereby is deflected outwardly, essentially in expansion directions 603, shown on Fig. 5, thereby allowing a further movement of the terminal carrier 300 along the mounting direction 601 .

Upon further movement, when the terminal carrier 300 reaches its mounted position, as shown in Fig. 6, the flexible latch portion 307 snaps back into its original configuration, such that an end portion 309 of the flexible latch portion 307 comes into engagement with the stop edge 407 of the power contact terminal 400 to lock the terminal carrier 300 to the power contact terminal 400. In other words, due to this engagement, a movement of the terminal carrier 300 against the mounting direction 601 is inhibited. As also shown in Figs. 4 to 6, the electrical high power connection assembly 100 is, preferably, used in combination with a coaxial cable which consists of cable strands 501 provided inside of the inner insulation 503 of a cable shielding, which is not visible, and an outer insulation 505.

In order to connect the cable shielding, for example to a shielding of a connector housing, a shielding member 507 is provided which is placed within a portion where the cable shielding is dismantled, i.e. the outer insulation 505 is removed.

When the electrical high power connection assembly 100 connected to the coaxial cable 500 is mounted inside of a connector housing, the shielding member 507 can come into electrical contact with a connector shielding such that a shielding continuity throughout the connector can be established. Fig. 7 shows a partially cut view of the power connection assembly 100 shown in Figs. 6. In order to further secure the mounting of the terminal carrier 300 to the power contact terminal 400, the terminal carrier 300 is provided with a locking protrusion 317, also shown on Figs. 1 and 3A, which extends inwardly from an inner surface of the terminal carrier 300.

Further, the power contact terminal 400 comprises a locking recess 409, such that, when the terminal carrier 300 is mounted to the power contact terminal 400, the locking protrusion 317 is placed within the locking recess 409.

In order to secure the engagement between the end portion 309 and the stop edge 407, the hood 200 is mounted to the terminal carrier 300, as shown in Fig. 8.

When the hood 200 is mounted to the terminal carrier 300, the locking portion 203 is arranged around the flexible latch portion 307 of the terminal carrier 300, thereby inhibiting an outward deflection of the flexible latch portion 307. Consequently, the hood 200 provides, on the one hand, an additional assurance to secure the engagement between the end portion 309 and the stop edge 407 and, thus, the mounting of terminal carrier 300 to the power contact terminal 400, and, on the other hand, also a detection mechanism of the correctly mounted state of these components.

In other words, the hood 200 provides an assurance function similar to a TPA member. For example, when the terminal carrier 300 is only partially mounted to the power contact terminal 400, as it is for example shown in Fig. 5, due to the outward deflection of the flexible latch portion 307, the hood 200 cannot be mounted to the terminal carrier 300. Only when the terminal carrier 300 is placed in its fully mounted position, as shown in Fig. 6 or Fig. 7, the hood 200 can be mounted thereto.

As depicted in Fig. 8 and also in Fig. 9, which shows a partially cut view of the components of Fig. 8, to lock the hood 200 to the terminal carrier 300, the projection 315 of the terminal carrier 300 is placed inside of the recess 207 of the hood 200.

Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the power connection assembly 100 of Figs. 8 and 9. As one may derive from this figure, when the hood 200 is mounted to the terminal carrier 300, the annular step 205 which is arranged between the locking portion 203 and the main portion 202 of the hood 200 abuts an edge 306 of the terminal carrier 300, thereby further inhibiting a movement of the hood 200 in the mating direction 601 . In this cross-sectional view, the end portion 309 is visible in engagement with the stop edge 407, thereby locking the terminal carrier 300 to the power contact terminal 400.

Obviously, the present invention is not limited to embodiments which are here above described and provided only as examples. It also includes different modifications, and alternatives that may be considered by the person skill in the art as part of the present invention, including all combinations of different embodiments here above described, taken alone or in combination.