Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
  • H01R12/50—Fixed connections
  • H01R12/51—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures
  • H01R12/55—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals
  • H01R12/58—Fixed connections for rigid printed circuits or like structures characterised by the terminals terminals for insertion into holes
  • H01R12/585—Terminals having a press fit or a compliant portion and a shank passing through a hole in the printed circuit board
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
  • H01R13/02—Contact members
  • H01R13/04—Pins or blades for co-operation with sockets
  • H01R13/05—Resilient pins or blades
  • H01R13/052—Resilient pins or blades co-operating with sockets having a circular transverse section

Definitions

• This invention relates to contact, connector or terminal elements for use with electronic circuit boards having pe rforations which are lined with conductive material, as part of a circuit printed on one or both sides of the board.
• PC printed circuit
• the holes are very small and their diameters may not be uniform, either before or after plating, so that connector posts of a fix ed uniform size cannot be relied on to provide uniformly good electrical contacts, A post which is smaller than the hole may fail to make a good electrical connection, while forcing a post into a smaller hole can damage the board and/or deform the post.
• the invention in each of its embodiments, resides in the provision of an intermediate portion of the connector which is bent or folded, and provided with slits or slots, to form a more or less tubular portion which presents an effective diameter large enough to have a snug interference fit with the wall of a plated hole, of any anticipated diameter, in a printed circuit board.
• the enlarged intermediate portion may have an outer surface of partial cylindrical form or may be completely cylind rical, or oval in cross-section. In no case does the formation of slits or slots reduce materially the conductive capacity of the connector.
• Fig. 1 represents a detail elevation of a post or point wherein the intermediate portion is provided with longitudinal slots to permit an increase in diameter;
• Fig. 2 represents a bottom end view of the post or point shown in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 represents a section on the line III-III of Fig. 1 ?
• Fig. 4 represents a section, as in Fig. 3, of a slightly modified post or point;
• Fig. 4 represents a section, as in Fig. 4, showing the post or .point of.- Figs. 3 and 4 inserted in a hole in a PC board; F ig . 5 r ep r e s ents a d etail elevation of the intermediate portion of a post or point wherein the increased effective diameter results f rom the bending of spaced wall portions into outwardly projecting ⁇ -shaped ridges, separated by longitudinal slots; Fig. 6 represents a section on the line VI-VI of Fig.
• Fig. 8 represents a section on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7;
• Fig. 9 represents a bottom end view of the post or point shown in Fig. 7, on an enlarged scale.
• the connector pins illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9 are adapted for use particularly in situations where no connection to the lower end of the pin is required. In each case it will be understood that the upper end of the post is integral with the stem, whether shown or not, to be connected into an electronic circuit.
• the post or pin 11, shown in Figs. 1 to 3, is made from a flat blank which is formed into a cylinder having a larger diameter portion 12, between shorter sections 13, 14 of an intermediate diameter and a snub-nosed lower end section 15 with the smaller diameter. Tapering transition zones 16 are formed between 12-13, 12-14 and 14-15.
• the portion 12 is provided with diametrically opposite longitudinal slots 17, 18, the slot 17 being conveniently located along the seam line 19, constituted by the meeting edges of the folded blank.
• the diameter of the portion 12 is calculated to be slightly greater than the maximum diameter likely to be encountered in a plated hole of a PC board.
• each end of each slot extends through the adjacent transition zone 16, the remaining walls of the portion 12 are compliant enough to fit readily into any normal PC board holes and to maintain good contact with the conductive lining thereof.
• the small diameter end section 15 is adapted to lead the post into its intended hole and the tapered transition zones facilitate entry of the posts snugly into holes of varying diameters.
• Fig. 4 shows a cross-section of a slightly modified post or pin 21 wherein the walls of the portions 22, separated by slots 27, 28, are not concentric with the whole unit, as in Fig. 3, but are defined by arcs on centers 29" offset from the unit center 29'.
• Each slot 27, 28 is an enlargement of a slit from which no material has been removed, the slit developed into slot 27 being the seam between vertical edges of the blank.
• Fig. 4A shows the point or pin of Fig. 4 inserted in a PC board hole having a diameter of maximum compatibility, i.edeem the post walls fitting closely against the wall of the hole.
• the post or pin 31, shown in Figs. 5 and 6, has a compliant portion formed, as in Figs.
• Tapering transition zones 39 are provided between portions of varying diameters.
• the post or pin 31 functions lik e post or pin 11 upon introduction into a PC board hole.
• the resiliency of the posts 34, 35 may be less than that of the compliant walls 12 (Figs. 1-3), but that characteristic can be determined by selecting metal of an appropriate gauge.
• a somewhat different concept is introduced in the manufactu re of the post or pin 41 shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, namely the provision of a blank which can be fold ed on itself endwise to bring formed cong ruent semi-cylindrical shells together in facing relationship where they constitute a cylindrical body.
• the external appearance of the connector is quite similar to that of the connector shown in Fig.
• the elongated blank has a narrow portion which, when sharply folded at 42, constitutes the 2-ply lower tail portion 43. Wider portions of the blank are shaped into the semi-cylind rical shells 44, 45 having intermediate diameter portions 46, 47 above and below the larger diameter main body 42. The edges of the shells are cut away in the zone of the body 48 to provide longitudinal slots 49 along the line of cleavage between the facing edges of the folded blank.
• a stem 50 is integ ral with the shell portion 44 and extends beyond the connector in any desired configuration for association with other elements of the circuit.
• the body 48 is somewhat flattened to assume an oval cross-sectional shape, as shown in the bottom end view of Fig.
• each connector body is such that it is effectively compliant (resilient) in the direction of its major diameter, such resiliency being a specific form of the multi-directional resiliency (along a plu rality of radii) exhibited by the connectors shown in Application Serial No. 556,775, of which this application is a continuation-in-part.

Landscapes

• Multi-Conductor Connections (AREA)
• Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24805022

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1985
  • 1985-12-17 WO PCT/US1985/002512 patent/WO1986004743A1/en unknown
  • 1985-12-17 EP EP19860900525 patent/EP0209542A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1985-12-23 CA CA000498484A patent/CA1257672A/en not_active Expired

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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