Itt Corporation

John R Moore

Gerald R Nieman

Clarence L Clyatt, Iii

Eric J Paulus

Albert Ragl

Scott A Zehrung

A connector is described of the type that has contacts lying in insulative material in a housing, wherein a separate positioner (24 in FIG. 2) of insulative material is molded about each contact (22) to form a terminal device (20), and the terminal devices can be arranged in a variety of configurations. Each terminal device includes an elongated metal contact with front and rear end portions and a middle, and an insulative positioner (24) molded about the middle. The terminal devices lie in the housing with the molded positioners of adjacent contact devices substantially abutting each other and holding the contact ends in a predetermined pattern, wherein the axes of all terminal devices extend parallel to each other. The middles of the contacts are hollow and include access openings (52 in FIG. 5) into which molding material can flow, so the molded material of the positioner seals the middle of the inside of each contact. The positioners are preferably of triangular cross section, as seen along an axis of the contact, and are positioned in a row with the flat sides (71) of alternate contacts lying in a common plane and with an apex (76) of a positioner therebetween lying on that plane.

Connector with modular terminal devices

A contact assembly for installation in an electrical connector, provides effective electromagnetic filtering in a simple, compact, and rugged construction that facilitates in-field replacement of a damaged contact assembly. The contact assembly includes a signal conductor, a diode for diverting high voltages on the signal conductor to ground, and a 'pi' filter for filtering out unwanted frequencies. The 'pi' filter includes a ferrite bead inductor coupled to the signal conductor and a first capacitor coupling a location of the signal conductor on a first side of the inductor to ground. The other capacitor of the 'pi' filter is formed by the capacitance of the diode, with the diode connected to a signal conductor location on a second side of the inductor, and with the capacitance of the diode similar or equal to that of the first capacitor. The diode is mounted in a notch of the signal conductor, the ferrite bead inductor lies immediately forward of the notch, and the first capacitor lies immediately forward of the ferrite bead. A ground conductor has a sleeve portion that immediately surrounds both the first capacitor and the ferrite bead, and has a finger contacting the diode. Solder holds the finger of the ground conductor in place both mechanically and electrically. A quantity of epoxy fills the remaining notch area and forms the middle of the assembly with a cylindrical periphery to facilitate insertion and removal from a long narrow hole in the connector.

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Tustin, CA, United States of America

John R Moore