Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Spring actuated or resilient securing part
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-02
2001-12-11
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Spring actuated or resilient securing part
C439S825000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328615
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Contacts are commonly formed by machining a piece of metal to form a tubular rear end that can receive and crimp or solder to a wire, and a front mating end that forms a pin or socket. Several different types of contacts are required, including those with pin mating ends, those with socket mating ends, and those with mating and termination ends designed for solder, crimp, or pc tail connections. The machining of an entire contact results in considerable cost, and the need to keep several different contact types in inventory further increases the cost. In many cases, it is desirable to gold plate the mating end of the contact. If this is done by plating the entire contact, the cost of the gold increases, while if only the mating end is to be plated then there is a cost for masking the rest of the contact. Contacts which could be constructed at moderate cost and which were then available in different versions with minimum inventory, would be of value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a contact is provided with a mating end for releaseably mating to another contact and with a termination end for permanent attachment to a conductor, which can be constructed at moderate cost and in a manner that minimizes the amount of inventory required to provide contacts of slightly different types. The contact includes a terminus and a separate mater. The terminus has a rear portion for termination to a conductor, as by forming a tube that receives a wire or other conductor to solder or crimp to it, or by forming a pin that projects through a plated hole of a circuit board. The terminus has a front end forming a groove. The mater has a front portion forming a socket, pin, or other mating end for mating to another contact, and has a rear that fits into the groove in the terminus and that is locked in the groove. This allows gold plating of only about half of the entire contact, by gold plating all of the area of the mater. Also, slightly different termini and maters can be joined together to provide a variety of slightly different contacts.
In one contact, the groove at the front of the terminus opens forwardly, while the rear end of the mater slides axially into the groove and is locked therein. Locking can be accomplished by providing a press fit insertion of the mater rear end into the groove and/or by crimping the front end of the terminus to crimp the walls of the groove. In another contact, the groove opens radially outward, and the rear of the mater has a radially-inwardly-extending flange that lies in the groove. Where the mater is formed of sheet metal that has been bent into a largely cylindrical shape, insertion of at least a mater into a passage of an insulator of a connector, prevents the rear end of the mater from expanding radially out of the groove that opens radially outwardly.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Bradley P. Austin
Hammond Briggette R.
ITT Manufacturing Enterprises Inc.
Turner Roger C.
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