GB1596775A

GB1596775A - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: GB1596775A
Application number: GB11933/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1977-03-22
Filing date: 1977-03-22
Publication date: 1981-08-26
Also published as: FR2385237A2; AU512586B2; ES234853U; BR7801750A; JPS53117797A; DE2812565A1; ES234853Y; FR2385237B2; AU3408178A; BE864925R; IT7821291A0; CA1087264A; SE7803262L; NL7802750A

Description

(54) ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR (71) We, AMP INCORPORATED, a corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States of America, of Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to a low or zero insertion force electrical connector.

In our patent No. 1440778 we have described a low or zero insertion force connector comprising male and female contacts, the male contact having a pair of resilient contact arms separated by an openended slot, the arms each having a respective first portion which portions diverge from one another towards free ends of the arms, remote sides of the free ends providing contact surfaces separated by a distance greater than the separation of opposed contact surfaces of the female contact so that the ends of the arms are receivable between the female contact surfaces at one angle with minimum interference and rotatable to engage the male and female contact surfaces maximum interference with resilient flexure of the male contact arms towards each other.

The present invention is an improvement in or modification of the above described invention.

According to one aspect of the invention, one contact arm has a second portion located between a root end of the one contact arm and the first portion and which converges towards the other contact arm as it extends from its root end.

Preferably both contact arms have second portions which converge towards each other as they extend from the root ends of the respective arms towards the first portions.

Each arm may have an outwardly directed tooth adjacent to the contact surface.

Preferably, the male contact arms are stamped from sheet metal and the female contact comprises a web, opposite sides of which are returned to provide arms arranged to confine co-planar sides of the free ends against the web.

Specific examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a first example of male and female contacts prior to mating; Figure 2 shows the contacts of the first example at a first stage of mating; Figure 3 shows the contacts fully mated; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines A-A of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a plan view of a second example of male contact in an insulating housing; Figure 6 is a plan view of a second example of female contact in an insulating housing; and, Figure 7 is a plan view of a third example of male contact.

The first example of connector comprises male and female contacts 1 and 2 each stamped in one piece from sheet metal.

The male contact comprises an elongate body 3 from one end of which extend a pair of resilient contact arms 5 and 6 separated by an open ended slot 7. The contact arms have first portions 8 which diverge towards the free ends 9 and transverse second portions 11 which converge as they extend from respective root end portions 12 projecting perpendicularly on opposite sides of the arm 5. Remote sides of the free ends provide contact surface 13 and cut outs 14 define outwardly directed, hooked teeth 15 adjacent the contact surfaces.

The female contact comprises a flat web 17 opposite sides of which are rolled up and returned to provide arms 18 inclined to the web. A lead-in corner is rebated to facilitate entry of the male contact.

To assemble the connector, the male contact is inserted into the female contact at an angle to the first stage of mating (Figure 2B) with minimum or zero interference. Rotation of the male contact in the plane of the arms to a final stage of mating brings the contact surfaces into engagement with opposed surfaces of the female contact with resilient flexure together of the contact arms. During initial stages of rotation the tooth on the arm 6 engages the female contact to prevent any tendency for the male contact to be drawn towards the mouth of the female contact arising as a result of reduction in reaction force and frictional resistance caused by tension in arm 6 during rotation. During the final stages of rotation the tooth loses its grip permitting engagement of the male and female contact surfaces. The inclination of the arms 18 urges co-planar sides of the male contact against the web.

An advantage of the example is that, the transverse orientation of the first and second arm portions improves the spring characteristics of the contact arms enabling a shorter slot and lever arm to be used than in the prior connector. The provision of the tooth enables maximum insertion of the male contact to be maintained during rotation. The configuration of the arms of the female contact increases the contact surface area.

In the second example, (Figures 5 and 6) the male contact arms 50 have first and second contact arm portion 51 and 52 respectively spaced by an intermediate portion 53. The root end portion 54 of the arms together with the second arm portions 52 define a rectangular latching frame a corner of which is connected by a laterally extending body portion to a wire connecting portion 56 comprising a crimping ferrule.

The lateral offset of the contact arm portions from the wire connecting portion provides sufficient clearance for two rows of the contacts to be mounted in respective apertures 58 in an insulating housing 59.

The rectangular framework provides a latching aperture for receiving a latching ramp 61 in the housing wall.

The female contact 60 has similarly offset contact and wire connecting portions 63 for enabling two rows of contacts to be mounted in a housing 64. The contact portion is similar to that of the first examples except that the arms 6l are pushed out at spaced apart locations in the web 62 behind which a latching ramp 65 engages to secure the contact in the housing.

In the third example (Figure 7), the male contact 70 is generally similar to the second example except that the body portion 71 is provided with tabs 75 to secure the contact in a housing 74 and a post 72 extends from the body for receipt in apertures of a printed circuit board.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A low or zero insertion force connector comprising male and female contacts, the male contact having a pair of resilient contact arms separated by an open-ended slot, the arms each having a respective first portion which portions diverge from one another towards free ends of the arms, remote sides of the free ends providing contact surfaces separated by a distance greater than the separation of opposed contact surfaces of the female contact so that the ends of the arms are receivable between the female contact surfaces at one angle with minimum interference and rotatable to engage the male and female contact surfaces with maximum interference with resilient flexure of the male contact arms towards each other, one contact arm having a second portion located between a root end of the one contact arm and the first portion and which converges towards the other contact arm as it extends from its root end.

2. A connector according to claim 1 in which both contact arms have second portions which converge towards each other as they extend from root ends of the respective arms towards the first portions.

3. A connector according to claim 2 in which each contact arm has an intermediate portion joining the first and second portions together, the intermediate portions being parallel.

4. A connector according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the one or each arm has an outwardly directed tooth adjacent the contact surface.

5. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims in which male contact arms are stamped from sheet metal and the female contact comprises a web, opposite sides of which are returned to provide arms arranged to confine co-planar sides of the free ends of the male contact arms against the web.

6. A connector substantially as described with reference to Figures 1--4 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A connector substantially as described with reference to Figures 5 and Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.