Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Clair M Rively

Vernon L Plagge

The lead-in wires of a fluorescent lamp (or similar device) are electrically connected to the base pins by mechanical means instead of welding or soldering the members to each other in the conventional manner during the lamp-basing operation. This is achieved by forming the pins from solid metal or heat-tempered 'stiff' sheet metal, placing the ends of the precut lead wires in a pair of apertures provided in the plastic insulator portion of the base, and then force-fitting the ends of the rigid metal pins into the apertures so that they are firmly anchored in the insulator portion--thus clamping the pins in positive engagement with the captured ends of the lead wires and concurrently completing the base assembly. The length of the exposed portions of the metal pins and the spacing therebetween are controlled to provide pin-terminals that conform with established standards but eliminate the expensive and inefficient soldering or welding operations required to connect the lead wires to the hollow pins of conventional type bases that are preassembled and thus have such hollow pins previously staked or fastened to the base structure.

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Middletown Township, NJ, United States of America

Clair M Rively