Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-06
2001-06-05
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241560
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male or female type of electric connector, and more particularly to an electric connector having depressible probe pins mounted in its insulating casing, the depressible probe pins being yieldingly depressed in the pin slots of the insulating casing when pushed against the contacts of a counter electric connector.
2. Related Arts
Referring to
FIG. 10
, a conventional pin-depressible type of male or female connector
23
comprises an insulating casing
20
having a plurality of contact pin slots
21
made therein and a corresponding plurality of probe pins
22
inserted in the contact pin slots
21
of the insulating casing
20
. Each probe pin
22
comprises a movable contact piece
22
a
and a stationary contact piece
22
b
integrally connected to the movable contact piece
22
a
via a zigzag spring
22
c
. Specifically the movable contact piece
22
a
appears partly from the contact pin slot
21
, and is responsive to abutment on a counter contact (not shown) for yieldingly withdrawing in the contact pin slot
21
, compressing the zigzag spring
22
c
to make a required electric connection between the probe pin
22
and the counter contact. The stationary contact piece
22
b
is in the form of square base, and is fixedly caught by the inner wall of the contact pin slot
21
when press-fitted therein.
Referring to
FIG. 11
, another conventional pin-depressible type of connector
24
has a depressible spring-biased probe pin
24
b
partly appearing from its cylindrical sleeve
24
a.
Disadvantageously the former depressible type of connector
23
has an increased electric resistance, and therefore it cannot permit a relatively large current to flow therethrough. As for the latter depressible type of connector
24
the coiled spring and sleeve prevent the connector size from being reduced below certain limits. Also, disadvantageously it cannot be produced without recourse to machining, and accordingly the cost involved for manufacturing is high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a depressible type of electric connector which is free of such defects as described above.
To attain this object an electric connector comprising an insulating casing having a plurality of contact pin slots made therein and a corresponding plurality of probe pins inserted in the contact pin slots of the insulating casing, is improved according to the present invention in that each of the probe pins comprises: a movable contact piece having a front projection and a rear convergence integrally connected to the front projection; and a stationary bifurcate contact piece having two contact arms extending from its base, whereby when the front projection of each probe pin appearing from the contact pin slot is pushed against a selected counter contact, the front projection of the probe pin is withdrawn in the contact pin slot to allow the rear convergence of the probe pin to invade the space defined between the two arms of the stationary bifurcate contact piece by yieldingly bending the opposite arms outward.
The stationary bifurcate contact piece may comprise further a detent extension projecting from its base for preventing invasion of the rear convergence beyond a certain limit.
The rear convergence of the movable contact piece may be integrally connected to the base of the stationary bifurcate contact piece by a resilient member.
The connector structure according to the present invention is simple, still assuring that a reliable electric connection be made between the movable and stationary parts thanks to invasion of the convergence of the movable piece into the bifurcate stationary piece, and at the same time, significantly increasing the current-carrying capacity thanks to use of the bifurcate shape of stationary part. These parts can be produced by stamping them from thin metal sheets. Accordingly the number of manufacturing steps, and hence the manufacturing cost can be substantially reduced.
Excessive invasion into the bifurcate stationary part can be effectively prevented by detent means, still permitting smooth withdrawal of the movable part.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be understood from the following description of depressible type of electric connectors according to preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are shown in accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2798125 (1957-07-01), Zink, Jr.
patent: 4636026 (1987-01-01), Cooney et al.
patent: 4838801 (1989-06-01), Bertoglio et al.
patent: 5576675 (1996-11-01), Oldfield
Furusawa Sadatoshi
Narumo Kinzo
Takahashi Ken'ichi
Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn
Honda Tsushin Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Nguyen Khiem
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