US2231348A

US2231348A - Manufacture of electric contactor prongs

Info

Publication number: US2231348A
Application number: US278451A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frederick R Reutter
Original assignee: Scovill Inc
Current assignee: Scovill Inc
Priority date: 1939-06-10
Filing date: 1939-06-10
Publication date: 1941-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 1958-02-11

Description

Feb. 11, 1941. F. R. REUTTER 2,231,348

MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC CONTACTOR PRONGS Filed June 10, 1939 Iig.4.-.

INVENTOR Frederick R.Reutter TTORNEY Patented Feb. 11, 1941 MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC CONTACTOR PRONGS Frederick R. Reutter, Waterbury, Conm, assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application June -10, 1939, Serial No. 278,451

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of electric contactor prongs and particularly to the method 01 forming serrations or projections on the prongs for the purpose of providing a secure anchorage for the prong when inserted into an electric plug made of rubber or a similar material.

The main object of this invention is to make a contactor prong for the above use in which the original metal stock from which the prong is made is no wider than the finished width of the prong, and by a swaging operation portions of the stock are forced outwardly beyond the original width of the prong blank and constitute a series of serrations or teeth-like projections.

15 This invention is an improvement on my copending application filed January 11, 1938, Serial Number 184,399. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description which taken in connection 20 with the accompanying drawing discloses two forms of my invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the body portion of an electric plug showing a contactor prong in its finished state embedded therewithin.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a prong member, per se, as it appears after the first blanking operation showing a series of notches cut into the orig- 30 inal side edge of the blank to produce the desired number of teeth.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the blank after a secondary operation of swaging is performed to force the teeth outwardly'beyond the original 35 width of the prong blank.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the toothed portion of the blank taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawing, the numeral indicates a 40 plug body which in this case may be of the soft rubber type having a socket II provided therein to receive the con'tactorprong I2 in its finished state. The socket H preferably is somewhat restricted relative to the dimensions of the cross 45 section of the prong so as to cause the prong to be inserted therewithin only by a forced fit.

The manner in which the prong I2 is produced is best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 wherein the original blank is indicated by the numeral I3. This 50 original blank l3 out of which the prong I2 is fabricated is of the same width as the metal stock from which the blank is cut, the strip stock being shown in dotted outline in Figure 2 and indicated by the letter K.

55 Adjacent one end of the blank l'3 a series of notches M are cut in from the opposite longi tudinal edges; specifically these notches'are cut so that one edge of the notch is disposed substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blank while the other edge is inclined to the 5 axis so as to produce a seriesof serrations or sawlike teeth 15, the points of which are still within the original blank width. Along with the operation of cutting out the notches, other piercings may be efiected at the same time, as for instance, 10 the terminal lug notch i6 provided at the inner end of the blank and two piercings l1 and I8.

In order to force the teeth I 5 outwardly beyond the blank width, one or more elongated depressions or sockets l9 are formed within the stock at the base of the teeth l5. These sockets may be struck inwardly from one flat plane of the blank 13 or preferably they are struck inwardly from the two opposite sides of the blank in a manner as best shown in Fig. 4; The sockets 2o l9 are produced by a punching operation and are so formed as to cause the metal of the blank 13 to be displaced and drifted outwardly beyond the original, opposite longitudinal edges of said blank. Thus the teeth l5 will be forced outwardly from their original position so that they project beyond the original blank width as shown in Fig. 3. Simultaneously with the forming of the depressions l9, the outer end 20, the notch l6 and the piercing l8 may be slightly bevelled so as to give the blank a more finished appearance.

While there has been shown only one form of the invention, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited thereto but may comprehend other methods of construction without de- 5 parting from the spirit of the invention.

- What I claim is:

1. The method of producing a conductor prong for an electric connector plug comprising cutting a longitudinal blank from a strip of metal of the same width, cutting a series of notches in from the longitudinal edge of said blank to form a plurality of teeth on a plane common with the blank, and swaging in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the blank an elongated socket into said blank directly in back of all of said notches and thereby causing all the teeth to be forced outwardly beyond the original longitudinal edge of said blank.

2. The method of forming a conductor prong for an electric connector plug comprising cutting a longitudinal blank from a strip of metal of the same width, cutting a series of notches in from the opposite longitudinal edges of said blank to form a plurality of sharp teeth on a plane come mon with the blank, and swaging in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the blank elongated sockets into said blank directly in back of all of said notches and thereby causing the opposite sets of teeth to be forced outward-1y beyond the original longitudinal edges of said blank.

3. The method of producing a conductor prong for an electric connector plug comprising cutting a longitudinal blank from a strip of metal of the same width, cutting a series of notches in from the opposite longitudinal edges of said blank to form a plurality of sharp teeth on a plane common with the blank, and swaging elongated sockets adjacent the base of said notches in from both opposite sides of said blank and in a direction perpendicular thereto and thereby causing the opposite sets of teeth to be forced outwardly beyond the original longitudinal edge of said blank.

4. The method of producing a conductor prong for an electric connector plug comprising cutting a longitudinal blank from a strip of metal of the same width, cutting a series of notches in from one longitudinal edge of said blank of a character to provide a plurality of buttress shaped teeth on a plane common with the blank, and swaging an elongated socket into said blank at the base of said notches and in a direction perpendicular to the plane of said blank and thereby cause all the teeth to be forced outwardly beyond the original longitudinal edge of said blank.

FREDERICK R. REU'I'IER.