CA1153439A - Electrical contact assembly - Google Patents

Electrical contact assembly

Info

Publication number
CA1153439A
CA1153439A CA000409613A CA409613A CA1153439A CA 1153439 A CA1153439 A CA 1153439A CA 000409613 A CA000409613 A CA 000409613A CA 409613 A CA409613 A CA 409613A CA 1153439 A CA1153439 A CA 1153439A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
sleeve
liner
tubular liner
annular
contact
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000409613A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
David O. Gallusser
Herbert K. Uhlig
Donald L. Pfendler
David L. Frear
Valentine J. Hemmer
Gary C. Toombs
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Bendix Corp
Original Assignee
Bendix Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US06/079,273 external-priority patent/US4262987A/en
Application filed by Bendix Corp filed Critical Bendix Corp
Priority to CA000409613A priority Critical patent/CA1153439A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1153439A publication Critical patent/CA1153439A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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  • Connector Housings Or Holding Contact Members (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT

An electrical contact (47) includes a tubular liner (1) stamped and rolled from a sheet of an electrically conductive material with an annular connector retention recess (13) provided in the external surface thereof between a mating end and a wire receiving end. One or more sleeves (21, 27) are telescoped over the liner (1) with at least one sleeve deformed in place into the annular recess (13). One of the sleeves (21) can be axially aligned preparatory to deforming it into the recess by an internal projection (25) which engages an annular groove (19) on the liner (1). A second sleeve can be axially aligned by lancing it to the liner (1) and by prick-punching the sleeve.

Description

3~3~

This invention relates to elec-trical contact assemblies and especially to miniature contact assemblies of the socket and pin type used in multicontact electrical connectors.
This is a division of copending Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 352,493, filed May 22, 1980.
With the increasing complexity of modern electronic systems and the trend toward minia-turization of system com-ponents, interest has been created in reducing the size of the connectors re~uired to interconnect the wires extending between the various system modules. It has long been the practice to utilize multiwire socket and pin connectors for such purposes.
In such connectors the wires interconnecting the system modules are inserted into elongated contacts and crimped in place. The contacts are then inserted in a connector where they are removably retained by a retention mechanism. Dozens of such contacts may be provided in a single connector.
A common practice is to machine each individual contact, however, this is expensive and therefore many inventors have turned to stamping and rolling the contacts from sheet material. Examples of contacts ~ormed in this manner are disclosed in U.S. patents No. 3,286,223, No. 3,317,887, No.
3,721,943, No. 4,072,394 and No. 4,120,555. Many of these contacts include an inner tubular liner forming the contact with one or more sleeves coaxially mounted over the tubular liner to protect and strengthen the contact. These assemblies generally have an annular projection near their midpoint which cooperates with the retaining mechanism to removably secure the ~3L53~
cont~ct in a connector. Examp:Les of arranyements for, -thus, securin~ the contacts are shown in U.S. paten-ts No. ~,072,394, No. 4,082,398 and No. ~,120,556. Other types of socke-t and pin contacts have an annular recess which cooperates with a retaining mechanism to secure the contact in a connector. These types of contacts have heretofore been machined to form the recess.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical contact of the type having an annular retention recess which can be easily and inexpensively fabricated.
It is another object of the invention to provide such an electrical contact which can be rolled from sheet material and in which the contac-t sleeves can be secured to the contact liner by deforming the sleeves in place on the liner.
According to the present invention there is provided an electrical contact assembly which includes a tubular liner and a sleeve. The tuhular liner has a front mating portion, a rear wire receiving portion and a center section defining an annular bushing retention recess in the outer surface of the tubular liner between the front and rear portions, the front mating portion including a plurality of fingers forming a socket. The sleeve is telescopically mounted over at least one portion of the tubular liner and secured thereon by deforming the sleeve in place into the annular bushing retention recess in the tubular liner, the sleeve being axially longer than the tubular liner and with the front portion of the sleeve being turned inward and angularly rearward to form a guide for a mating pin type contact leading to the socket and with the ~.~53~
rear portion of the sleeve extending beyond the wire receiving portion of the tubular liner and being radially enlarged to receive the insula-ting jacket adjacent the stripped end of a wire received in the wire receiving portion of the tubular liner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

.... .
Eigure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a contact liner made in accordance with the teachings of the invention;
Figures 2 and 3 are longitudinal sectional views through contact sleeves used with the contact liner shown in Figure l;

1~S3~L3g Figure 4 is an isometric sectional view of a contact assembly incorporating the liner of Figure 1 and the sleeves of Figures 2 and 3 with a portion enlarged for clarity;
~ igure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through a connector in which the contact assembly of Figure 4 is retained;
Figure 6 is an isometric view of a stamping from which the contact liner of Figure 1 is rolled; and Figures 7 through 10 are partial longitudinal sec-0 tional views through other embodiments of the invention.Detailed Description Figure 1 illustrates a contact liner 1 which is stamped.and formed from a sheet of a resilient, electrically conductive material such as a beryllium copper alloy. The liner 1, when rolled into the tubular shape shown, has a longitudinal seam 3 which is not mechanically sealed. The front or mating portion of the liner 1 has at least two spring fingers 5 which form a socket for receiving a pin type electrical contact. The rear portion of the liner is provided with a plurality of internal annular projections 7 which grip a wire inserted into the bore 9 of the liner and a plurality of longitudinal slots 11 which assure symmetrical distortion of the liner when it is crimped to electrically and mechani-cally secure the contact to the wire.
` Intermediate the mating portion and the wire receiving portions, the liner 1 is provided with an annular recess 13. The recess 13 tapers axially toward the forward portion of the liner and radially inward as at 15 to a s!houlder 17 which forms an angle c~ of approximately 15 with the plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the liner 1.
Forward of the annular recess 13 is an annular groove 19 which, as will be discussed below, is used to align parts of the contact during assembly.
Figure 2 illustrates the coniguration of a sleeve 21 having the edge at one end turned inward as at 23 to form a ~S3~393 guide in the assembled socket contact for the pin of a mating pin type contact. The sleeve 21 is provided with an annular internal projection 25 which, as will be seen, cooperates with the annular groove 19 in the liner 1. A second sleeve 27 shown in Figure 3 is enlarged at one end to form a cup 29 joined to the main body of the sleeve 27 by a shoulder 31 and is provided with an outwardly projecting annular stop ring 33.
Figure 4 illustrates the liner of Figure 1 and the sleeves of Figures 2 and 3 in assembled ~orm. The sleeve 27 slides over the rear wire receiving portion of the liner 1 and is secured in place by lancing to form a finger 35 which extends into the bore 9 of the liner 1 together with a finger 37 on the liner 1. The finger 35 also serves as a stop for a wire (not shown) inserted into the bore 9 of the liner. The opening 39 produced by lancing serves as an inspection hole through which full insertion of the wire into the contact assembly can be verified. The sleeve 27 is also prick-punched to set axial aiignment thereof relative to the liner.
The other sleeve 21 slides on the forward end of the liner 1 over the contact fingers 5 until the internal annular projection 25 on the sleeve engages the annular groove 19 in the liner 1. With the sleeve 21 thus axially aligned with the liner 1, the inwardly turned end 23 of the sleeve 21 serves as a guide (closed entry) for urging a pin type contact (not sho~n) into alignment with the socket formed by the contact fingers 5.
The ends 41 and 43 of the sleeves 21 and 27 respectively are deformed by a rolling process into the annular recess 13 in the liner 1 to permanently secure them in place. The end 43 of sleeve 27 is rolled into engagement with the tapered surface 15 of the recess 13 and the end 41 of sleeve 21 is rolled over the shoulder 17 of the liner recess so that the end thereof abuts the outer surface of the end 43 of sleeve 27 as shown in the enlarged portion of Figure 4.
Both sleeves may be rolled simultaneously by telescoping the ~53~9 end 43 of sleeve 27 into the end 41 of sleeve 21 prior to the rolling step. The end of liner 1 is flared as at 45 to form an abutment for the shoulder 31 of the sleeve 27 either before or after the sleeve 27 is mounted on the liner 1.
The assembled contact 47 is inserted in a suitable connector such as that shown in Figure 5. The connector 49, only a portion of which is shown, includes an annular shell 51 which houses a generally cylindrical grommet 53, a wafer 55 and a generally cylindrical insert 57, all of which are made ~0 of electrically insulating materials. The insert 57 forms the front end of the connector and the grommet 53 the rear. The insert 57 and wafer 55 are provided with bores 59 and 61 respectively therethrough which are counterbored from the rear. The grommet 53 is provided with a bore 63 with sections ~5 65 of reduced diameter near the rear thereof.
The bores 59, 61 and 63 are axially aligned within the connector 49 with the resilient, longitudinal fingers 67 of an annular bushing 69 which seats against the counterbore in the wafer 55 extending into the counterbore in the insert ~0 57. The grommet 53 is made of a resilient material so that the assembled contact 47 can be inserted into the connector 49 from the rear through the bore 63 in the ~rommet 53 and into the bores 61 and 59 of the wafer 55 and insert 57 respectively until the annular stop ring 33 on the contact abuts the bushing 69. As the sleeve 2~ of the contact slides through the resilient fingers 67 of the bushing 69, the fingers are radially deflected until shoulders 71 on the fingers snap into engagement with the shoulder 72 on the contact to lock the contact 47 within the connector. To remove the contact 47, a tubular tool (not shown) is inserted in the bore 59 of the insert around the contact sleeve 21 until it engages lip 73 on the ends of fingers 67 to radially deflect the fingers and disengage them from the shoulder 72 on the contact so that the contact can then be pushed rearward and out through the bore 63 in the grommet 53.

53~39 Figure 6 illustrates a stamping 75 from which the tubular liner of the contact assembly is formed. A sheet of resilient, electrically conductive material such as a beryllium copper alloy is placed on a form so that when the blank is stamped ridges 77 and 79 are formed transverse to the longitudinal axis of the blank. The ridges 77 and 79 form the annular recess 13 and groove 19 respectively in the external surface of the liner when the blan~ is rolled into tubular form. In addition, transverse ridges 80 which form the internal projections 7 are also stamped into the sheet 75.
The above described electrical contact assembly utili~ing first and second sleeves, and the method of making the electrical contact assembly are also disclosed and are claimed in above-identified parent application Serial No.
352,493.
In a second embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 7, one sleeve 81 extends along the entire length of the liner 1 with an integrally formed annular projection 83 serving as the stop. In another embodiment shown in Figure 8, the sleeve 85 covering the wire receiving end of the liner 1 does not extend axially to the annular recess 13 in the liner 1 but terminates in the annular stop ring 87. In yet another embodiment of the invention, three sleeves are mounted on the liner 1 as shown in Figure 9. In addition to the sleeve ~1 covering the contact fingers, a second sleeve 89 which is rolled into the annular recess 13 extends rearward to the stop ring 91 and a third sleeve 93 covers the wire receiving ring. In this arrangement, the stop ring may be formed by either the second or third sleeves. Finally, Figure 10 illustrates an embodiment ~L53~39 of the invention wherein the stop ring 95 is formed on the liner 1. It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that many other variations all within the spirit of the invention could be made, and hence the par-ticular embodiments shown are for illustrative purposes only and the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof.

Claims (2)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. An electrical contact assembly comprising:
a tubular liner having a front mating portion, a rear wire receiving portion and a center section defining an annular bushing retention recess in the outer surface of the tubular liner between said front and rear portions, said front mating portion comprising a plurality of fingers forming a socket; and a sleeve telescopically mounted over at least one portion of the tubular liner and secured thereon by deforming said sleeve in place into the annular bushing retention recess in the tubular liner, said sleeve being axially longer than the tubular liner and with the front portion of the sleeve being turned inward and angularly rearward to form a guide for a mating pin type contact leading to said socket and with the rear portion of the sleeve extending beyond the wire receiving portion of the tubular liner and being radially enlarged to receive the insulating jacket adjacent the stripped end of a wire received in the wire receiving portion of the tubular liner.
2. The electrical contact assembly of claim 1 wherein the center section of the tubular liner also defines an annular groove on the external surface of the tubular liner and wherein the sleeve is provided with a radially inward projection which engages said groove and axially aligns the sleeve with said tubular liner preparatory to deforming said sleeve into said annular bushing retention recess.
CA000409613A 1979-09-27 1982-08-17 Electrical contact assembly Expired CA1153439A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000409613A CA1153439A (en) 1979-09-27 1982-08-17 Electrical contact assembly

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US79,273 1979-09-27
US06/079,273 US4262987A (en) 1979-09-27 1979-09-27 Electrical connector
CA000409613A CA1153439A (en) 1979-09-27 1982-08-17 Electrical contact assembly

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1153439A true CA1153439A (en) 1983-09-06

Family

ID=25669791

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000409613A Expired CA1153439A (en) 1979-09-27 1982-08-17 Electrical contact assembly

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1153439A (en)

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