International Business Machines Corporation

Adaptive Technology, Inc.

Jeffrey McFadden

Arthur A Kurz

Richard M Barina

James W Deiso

William Drummond Owsley

Fred L Murray

A flexible electrical contact is formed as a convex dome structure extending from one side of a surrounding structure, with the convex dome structure and the surrounding structure forming an integral metallic structure. The convex dome structure includes a central contact portion and a number of legs extending between the central contact portion and the surrounding structure. Each leg extends radially outward from the central contact portion and circumferentially around part of the central contact portion. A number of convex dome structures of this kind may be part of a removable shield in an electronic enclosure, provided to electrically ground the shield to a conductive frame, reducing the level of RFI (radio frequency interference) emissions from a device. Alternately, a number of convex dome structures may be provided along spring strips fastened to such a shield. In such spring strips, electrical contact may occur between the shield and intermediate positions along the length of the legs.

Flexible dome electrical contact

Method and apparatus for manufacturing formed, plated component parts in a continuous production run which includes component parts of alternate configurations by advancing a strip of material of indeterminate length, within which strip the component parts are carried, through a plating operation continuously while the forming operation is modified to accommodate the alternate configurations without interrupting the continuity of the plating operation so as to enable relatively long uninterrupted production runs which include, within the longer runs, shorter runs of each of the alternate configurations. In addition, the formed and plated component parts are severed from the strip by a severing operation which is modified to accommodate the alternate configurations to deliver individual formed, plated component parts.

Continuous manufacture of formed, plated component parts having selected

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Cranford, NJ, United States of America

Jeffrey McFadden