Pace, Incorporated

Jeffrey Alan Snell

William J Siegel

Paul Alan Dunham

John Franklin Wood

Gary Silas Sines

David L Gilbert

Dung T Le

Charles H McDavid

John Walter

William Jordan Siegel

A soldering heater cartridge with replaceable tips and a soldering iron for use therewith is constructed of a tip heater cartridge with an elongated cartridge body that has a tubular body member, electrical connectors at a first end of the tubular body member for plug-in connection with an electrical connector assembly of a soldering iron handpiece, a soldering tip for mounting on the cartridge body and a heater mounted within the cartridge body and electrically connected to the electrical connectors. The tip end part is located at a second end of the cartridge body and the heater is located within the tip end part, the soldering tip being replaceably mountable over the tip end part in heat exchange contact with it.

Soldering heater cartridge with replaceable tips and soldering iron for use therewith

A self-grounding soldering tip having a spring which serves for connecting the soldering tip to a heater bobbin for establishing a secure grounding of the soldering tip. A bobbin tube extends within the heater bobbin for removably retaining the soldering tip within the bobbin. The connection between the spring and bobbin tube provide tip-to-ground continuity. Moreover, the contact surfaces of the spring and bobbin tube are wiped clean upon plug-in and plug-out. The spring and bobbin tube are located in a cooler area of the soldering iron to slow down the rate of oxidation. Also, the spring and bobbin tube are made of the same or compatible materials, e.g., stainless steel, to prevent reactions that normally occur between incompatible metals.

Self-grounding soldering iron tip arrangement and a soldering iron for use therewith

A tip heater cartridge and a soldering iron with handpiece for use therewith in which, according to a preferred embodiment, a precision molded plastic sleeve is provided on the tip heater cartridge body. The sleeve is provided with an axially extending, radially projecting key which assures accurate tip-to-handpiece orientation and also produces a rigid mechanical interlock between the tip heater cartridge and the handpiece to ensure that there is no axial rotational or lateral movement or load transmitted from the tip of the tip heater cartridge to the electrical connector. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the end of the key acts with the handle keyway to prevent over insertion of the tip heater cartridge into the handpiece, which could damage the electrical connector assembly, and an O-ring on the electrical connector assembly acts to produces a seal relative to the body of the cartridge that prevents solder fumes from flowing into the connector assembly. The O-ring also serves to assist in retaining the cartridge within the handle and provides additional lateral support to the cartridge.

Tip heater cartridge and soldering iron for use therewith

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Abingdon, MD, United States of America

Jeffrey Alan Snell