US3028574A

US3028574A - Electrical connector with resiliently mounted removable contacts

Info

Publication number: US3028574A
Application number: US834813A
Authority: US
Inventors: Monte Angelo M Di
Original assignee: Winchester Electroincs Corp
Current assignee: Winchester Interconnect Corp
Priority date: 1959-08-19
Filing date: 1959-08-19
Publication date: 1962-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 1979-04-03
Also published as: DE1149768B

Description

Aprll 3, 1962 A. M. MONTE 3,02 ,5

ELECTRICAL CON OR WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED E OVABLE CONTACTS Filed Aug. 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 |||||l||l||l|nll| llllllllllll i I I ullU QTTQENEYS April 1962 A. M. Dl MONTE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH RESILIENTLY MOUNTED REMOVABLE CONTACTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 19, 1959 3,028,574 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH RESHLIENTLY MOUNTED REMOVABLE CONTAQTS Angelo M. Di Monte, Lewisboro, N.Y., assignor to Winchester Electronics, incorporated, Norwalk, Conm, a

corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 8154,5313 9 Claims. (Cl. 339-61) The present invention relates to electrical connectors and relates, more particularly, to an electrical connector having resiliently mounted removable contacts.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector in which pre-wired contacts can be readily inserted or removed as desired. In such a connector, prewired contacts may be quicldy inserted in the connector for any desired wiring arrangement, can similarly be removed for replacement or a different wiring arrangement with a minimum of diificulty. The use of pre-wired contacts also prevents possible damage to the wiring terminals during the Wiring operation and it permits the use of crimped, solderless connections in connectors where the close spacing of the contacts would not permit the insertion of crimping tools or the like to make such connections.

I A further object of the invention is to provide a connector having removable contacts which are mounted in a body of resilient, rubber-like material. The use of such' a material for the connector body insures intimate contact between opposing faces of two connectors so as to minimize the efiects of leakage between adjacent contacts due to atmospheric conditions. It also prevents damage to the contacts and minimizes the possibility of poor connections due to vibration.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent and best understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary .view on an enlarged scale in vertical section of an electrical connector embodying the present invention illustrating the contacts in different po-' sitions;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in partial section on an enlarged scale of an assembled contact and retaining member of the connector shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in vertical section on an enlarged scale of an electrical connector embodying the invention with the male contacts and illustrating the contacts in different positions;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view in partial section on an enlarged scale of an assembled contact and retaining member of the connector shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view in partial section of a retaining member for the connectors shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

' Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate the female and male connectors and 11 respectively, of a pair of electrical connectors made in accordance with the present invention. For convenience and brevity, similar reference characters have been used to identify corresponding parts in the two connectors. The connectors illustrated are of the miniature type and each connector has a plurality of closely spaced contactswhich engage with corresponding contacts in the other connector when the two connectors are brought into engagement with each other in the usual manner.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 10 comprises a body 12 of a resilient rubber-like material such as neoprene having suitable insulating and dielectric properties. The

body of the connector contains bores 13 in each of which r 3,028,574 Patented Apr. 3, T962 erably molded in bores at the time of forming the body and are suitably bonded to the side walls of the bores.

The retaining member is formed of metal and has a sleeve-like portion 16 at the inner end thereof from which four spring gripping fingers 17 extend. The interior surfaces of the fingers taper inwardly from the sleeve and terminate at a shoulder 18 which is spaced from the outer end of the retaining member. The fingers are counterbored at their outer ends to the same diameter as the sleeve portion and are provided with a flared opening 1? for the reception of a removal tool 20.

When assembled to a contact, as shown for example in FIG. 2, the outer end of the contact, which includes a female receptacle 21, extends through the retaining member with the end of the sleeve portion abutting against a shoulder 22 of an enlarged terminal portion 23 of the contact. The shoulders 18 on the interior surfaces of the fingers 17 engage with a shoulder 24 formed at the end of a reduced portion 25 of the contact. Thus, the contact is held against movement in either direction relative to the retaining member.

The spring gripping fingers are urged into engagement with the contact by not only the resiliency of the metal from which they are formed, but also by the resiliency of the rubber-like material from which the body is formed which opposes any tendency of the fingers to spread apart when contacts are inserted or removed. This permits the retaining member to be made from ordinary metal such as brass or stainless steel without heat treatment ,and they can be made of relatively thin stock.

The connector shown in FIG. 3 also has a body 12a of resilient-rubber-like material which has a plurality of closely spaced, contact receiving bores 13a formed therein with retaining members, as described above, located in the respective bores. Male contacts 26 which have prongs 27 at the forward ends thereof are mounted in the body 12a of this connector. In this instance, the prongs of the contacts extend beyond the face of the connector body so that they can enter into the female receptacle portions of the contacts carried by the other connector when the pair of connectors arebrought into opposing relation.

Since less of the male contacts are enclosed within the connector body, the connector body for the male connector is somewhat shorter in height than the body for the female connector and the retaining members are located somewhat closer to the openings of the bores at the face of the connector body. Aside from these diiferences, the construction of the connector bodies, the contacts and the retaining members for the male and female contacts are the same and the description thereof need not be repeated.

The positions a, b and c of FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate the contacts being assembled in and removed from the connectors.

Position a shows a contact being inserted into one of the bores of the connector bodies. This is readily accomplished by simply pushing a pro-wired contact into the bore until the contact is seated in the retaining member as shown in position b. It will be noted that when the contact is in this position, the terminal portions -23 of the contacts are located entirely within the bores and the junctions of the connecting wire 28 which are connected thereto are protected and enclosed by the sidewalls of the bores.

It should also be noted that the assembly of the contacts to the retaining members in this manner, permits the connecting wires to be secured to thecontacts by a crimping operation which would otherwise be impractical in instances where the contactsare closely spaced. However, soldered connections may be used if desired.

To remove a contact for replacement or to change the wiring of the connector, the removal tool 20 is inserted through the opening of the bore in the face of the connector body as shown in position c. The end of the removal tool is shaped to engage with the flared opening at the ends of the spring fingers and upon engagement therewith, it forces the spring fingers apart against the resiliency of the connector body until the end of the tool is seated against the shoulder 18 at the end of the counterbore in the retaining member. This releases the contact for movement in a rearward direction and it can then be readily removed'from the connector body by pulling on the connecting wire or the contact can be forced out by prolviding a centrally located movable member within the too The bodies for the female and male connectors are mounted in metal shells 29 which are provided with flanges 30 at their lower ends. The flanges on the respective connectors may be arranged so that they will telescope when the connectors are brought together.

To bring the opposing contacts and the mating faces of the connector bodies of the pair of connectors into engagement, a rotatable jack screw 31 is carried by the male connector at one end thereof and engages with a socket 32 carried by the female connector. For polarization purposes, a similar rotatable member with a socket is carried at the other end of the male connector and a screw engaging therewith is carried by the female connector.

It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An electrical connector comprising a body of resilient material having a bore extending therethrough, a metal contact retaining member located in a fixed position entirely within the bore, said member including a sleevelike portion defining a contact receiving opening and having a series of spring fingers extending therefrom, said spring fingers having outer surfaces which are in engagement at the outer ends thereof with the surface defining the bore in the body and having interior surfaces tapering inwardly as they extend from the sleeve-like portion and terminating at shoulders spaced inwardly from the outer ends of said fingers and an electrical contact removably mounted in said bore, said contact having an end extending through the contact retaining member in the bore and having a portion of reduced section intermediate its ends, said reduced portion having shoulders at opposite ends thereof one of which engages with the sleeve-like portion of the retaining member and the other of which engages with the shoulders at the ends of the tapered interior surfaces of the spring fingers whereby the contact is held against movement relative to the body of the connector.

2. An electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the electrical contact includes a wiring terminal having a wire electrically connected thereto, said wiring terminal and a portion of the wire connected thereto being located within the bore in the connector body.

3. An electrical connector as defined in claim 1 which includes a metal shell surrounding and attached to the resilient connector body.

4. An electrical connector comprising a body of resilient material having a bore extending therethrough, a metal contact retaining member located in a fixed position entirely within the bore, said contact retaining member including a sleeve-like portion defining a contact receiving opening and having a series of spring fingers extending therefrom, said spring fingers having outer surfaces which are in engagement at the outer ends thereof with the surface defining the bore in the body and having interior surfaces tapering inwardly as they extend from the sleevelike portion and terminating at shoulders spaced inwardly from the outer ends of said fingers, the outer ends of said fingers defining an enlarged opening extending from the shoulders to the outer ends of the fingers and an electrical contact removably mounted in said bore, said contact having an end extending through the contact retaining member in the bore and having a portion of reduced section intermediate its ends, said reduced portion having shoulders at opposite ends thereof one of which engages with the sleeve-like portion of the retaining member and the other of which engages with the shoulders at the ends of the tapered interior surfaces of the spring fingers whereby the contact is held against movement relative to the body of the connector.

5. An electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the outer ends of the spring fingers of the retaining member define an opening larger than the end of the electrical contact extending therethrough, said opening being shaped for the insertion of a removal tool between the outer ends of the spring fingers and the end of the contact extending therethrough.

6. An electrical connector comprising a body of resilient material having a plurality of closely spaced bores extending therethrough, a metal contact retaining member located in a fixed position entirely within each of said bores, each of said retaining members including a sleevelilze portion defining a contact receiving opening and having a series of opposing spring fingers extending therefrom, said fingers having outer surfaces engaging throughout their length with a surface of the body defining the bore with the outer ends thereof defining an enlarged opening and having interior surfaces tapering inwardly from the sleeve-like portion to shoulders formed at the bottom of said enlarged opening and an electrical contact removably mounted in each of said bores, each of said contacts having an end extending through the contact rctaining members in the respective bores and having a portion of reduced section intermediate its ends,,said reduced portion having shoulders at opposite ends thereof one of which engages with the sleeve-like portion of the retaining member and the other of which engages with the shoulders at the ends of the tapered interior surfaces of the spring fingers whereby the contact is held against movement relative to the body of the connector.

7. An electrical connector as defined in claim 6 wherein each of the electrical contacts includes a wiring terminal having a wire electrically connected thereto, said Wiring terminal and a portion of the wire connected thereto being located within the bore in the connector body.

8. An electrical connector as defined in claim 6 wherein the enlarged opening at the outer ends of the spring fingers is shaped to receive an end of a removal tool between the spring fingers and the end of the contact located therein.

9. In an electrical connector, the combination comprising a connector body of resilient material having a bore extending therethrough and contact-retaining means located within said bore intermediate the ends thereof, said contact-retaining means comprising a cylindrically shaped body having a front end and a rear end with an opening extending therethrough, said cylindrical body being split at its front end to form expandable fingers, said fingers having inner surfaces defining the opening in the cylindrical body and having outer surfaces extending along and contacting with the surface of the connector body defining the bore therein, said inner surfaces of the fingers including portions tapering inwardly toward the front end of the cylindrical body and having an internal shoulder spaced from the front end of the cylindrical body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,383,926 White Aug. 28, 1945 2,419,018 Gudie Apr. 15, 1947 2,685,073 Damon July 27, 1954 2,917,722 Cobbett et al. Dec. 15, 1959