Carrier for socket type contacts having compliant pins

Details Carrier for socket type contacts having compliant pins Carrier for socket type contacts having compliant pins

1998-12-22

2001-02-13

Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

Contact terminal

Strip of detachable contacts

Reexamination Certificate

active

06186843

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier of contacts and a method for making a final type of each contact from the carrier, and especially for making right angled contacts each of which has a plurality of compliant pins extending therefrom.
2. The Prior Art
Compliant pins have become popular in establishing contact with conductors in a multi-layer board, a back plane, or a simple circuit board having a plated through hole. A compliant pin has a compliant portion which has a normal width greater than the hole diameter but which can be deformed when it is loaded into the circuit board hole so that contact edge portions of the compliant portion will establish the electrical connection required with the conductors in the circuit board hole. The compliant portion thus is essentially a relatively stiff spring arrangement which, after insertion into the circuit board hole, will bear against the periphery of the hole with sufficient force to retain the pin in the circuit board and to establish a sound electrical contact with the circuit board conductors.
Some commonly known types of compliant pins are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,186,982, 4,743,081, 4,206,964, and 4,606,589. Normally, the contacts are formed in a line of a carrier by which the contacts are simultaneously machined and then loaded into the housing of the connector. The related technique can be seen in Taiwan Pat. Nos. 79,204,276, 79,207,855, 79,209,166 and 83,100,727.
For example, in
FIGS. 4 and 5A
, a conventional contact carrier
8
comprises a plurality of contacts
80
connected to a guiding strip
81
. Each contact
80
comprises a mating portion
82
for receiving and contacting with a plug-type contact of a complementary connector (not shown), an engagement portion
83
for interferentially engaging with inner walls of a corresponding passageway of a housing which receives the contact, and a soldering tail portion
84
for being soldered to a circuit board.
Referring to
FIG. 5B
, the mating portion
82
is bent to form a U-shaped structure for receiving the plug-type contact of the complementary connector. An intermediate portion
86
between the engagement portion
83
and the tail portion
84
is perpendicularly bent so as to form a right angled portion of the contact
80
.
Although this carrier can meet the installation of the contacts to the housing to some extent, some problems still exist during formation of the final contacts. For example, a coining procedure is executed for removing the burs existing on the tail portion
84
and forming a round edge on the tail portion
84
. However, since the guiding strip
81
is directly connected to the tail portions
84
, the operation of the coining procedure may destroy the engagement between the guiding strip
81
and the tail portions
84
and affect the installation of the contacts
80
to the housing. Since the right angled contact requires a bending procedure to form the right angled intermediate portion
86
, an additional jig and an alignment procedure are required which complicates assembly and increases manufacturing costs.
Hence, it is requisite to provide a new contact carrier to solve the above problems as encountered in the conventional contact carrier.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a contact carrier by which the contacts thereon can be finalized easily and properly.
The second purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for finalizing contacts on a carrier.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a contact carrier comprises a guiding tape from which a plurality of linking strips extend and engage with a plurality of contacts each of which comprises a mating portion having a first half and a second half connected to each other via an engagement plate. A plurality of compliant pins extend from the first half and each compliant pin terminates as a free end. A plurality of linking strips engage with each first half. A guiding tape engages with the linking strips so that each linking strip is connected between the first half and the guiding tape.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for making contacts comprises steps of: stamping on a stock metal tape to form a carrier having a guiding tape from which a plurality of linking strips extend and engage with a plurality of contacts each of which comprises a mating portion having a first half and a second half connected to each other via an engagement plate, a plurality of compliant pins extending from the first half and each compliant pin terminating as a free end, a plurality of linking strips engaging with each first half, and a guiding tape engaging with the linking strips so that each linking strip is connected between the first half and the guiding tape; coining each compliant pin and the free end thereof for forming a round edge therearound; bending the engagement plate so that the first half, the second half, and the engagement plate together form a U-shaped receptacle and bending the compliant pin to form a right angled shape; assembling the contact having the U-shaped receptacle and the right angled compliant pins in a housing; and separating the guiding tape and the linking strips from the contacts.
These and additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the appended drawing figures.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3818423 (1974-06-01), McDonough
patent: 5175928 (1993-01-01), Grabbe
patent: 5452512 (1995-09-01), Foley et al.

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