Itt Corporation

Itt Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.

Molex Corporation

Itt Industries, Inc.

Rene A Mosquera

Wayne A Zahlit

Jay Brian Betker

Chris Harold McDonald

Terry Lee Adams

Sohrab Safai

Michael A Lin

Carl Rodney Bunke

Jimmy W Powell, Sr

Del Wood

A connector includes sheet metal contacts () with termination ends () for terminating to wires and with mating ends () for mating to other contact devices such as circuit board pads. Each terminating end includes a wide groove part () with a groove bottom () that receives the wire insulation and with a pair of wide groove part wings () that are crimped around the insulation. Each termination end also includes a narrow groove part () for receiving a bared conductor of the wire, the narrow groove part having a bottom () that is offset from the wide groove part bottom (), and the narrow groove part having a pair of narrow groove part wings () that are crimped around the wire conductor.

Modular high density connector

A PC or CF (Compact Flash) card housing has housing halves (,) that each includes a sheet metal shield (,) with a main wall lying in a horizontal plane and with primarily vertical side walls (,), with the side walls of the housing halves overlapping when the housing halves are assembled together. Each shield side wall includes dimples (,) formed by deforming out areas of the sheet metal shield side wall. Each dimple has opposite faces respectively forming a recess and a projection. The recesses (,) of the top housing side walls receive projections (,) of the bottom housing side walls to lock the housing halves together when one is pushed vertically into the other. The dimples have opposite sides (,) connected by bends to surrounding sheet metal, and have lower ends (,) severed from surrounding sheet metal. Each housing half also includes a molded plastic body (,) molded to the side walls of the sheet metal shield, at side wall surfaces opposite the active sides that form interlocking recesses and projections.

Data card easily assembled housing

First and second mateable connectors (,) each has a row of very closely spaced contacts mounted in a corresponding insulative frame. Each contact (,) of the first connector includes a piece of sheet metal with a strip portion (,) bent into a loop (,), with the loop projecting forward of the front end (,) of the first connector insulator (,). Each contact (,) of the second connector has a mating end (,) in the form of a vertically-elongated plate that compresses the loop when the connectors mate. Each first contact includes a flat plate portion (,) lying in a vertical plane and in interference fit with the walls of a passage (,) in the first insulator. The first contact also includes a 90&deg; bend (,) that connects the strip portion (,) to the plate portion at the rear of the first insulator.

Next generation interconnect

A first connector of the type that has a pair of forwardly-projecting latch arms for locking into a cavity of a second connector, where the latch arms of the first connector have outer sides with slots that hold first auxiliary contacts, and the second connector has slots at opposite sides of its cavity for holding corresponding second auxiliary contacts. Each slot is aligned with a bore in the connector frame, with the bore being of rectangular configuration. Each auxiliary contact includes a plate portion lying in the bore in interference fit with the opposite sides of the bore, a strip portion that extends forward of the plate portion, and a 90.degree. bend that connects one side of the plate portion to an edge of the strip portion.

Connector latch with integrated auxiliary contacts

An electrical connector is disclosed in which a mounting flange, for mounting the connector on a panel, is releasably secured to the connector body while simultaneously providing a seal between the flange and the body. The seal is preferably in the form of an O-ring which cooperates with locking pins on the flange and matching recesses on the connector body to provide a detent mechanism that permits the releasable locking of the flange onto the body.

Connector with releasable mounting flange

A connector has three connection ports (12A, 12B, 12C) lying in a horizontal port plane (30), with a set of terminals (32) at each port, wherein each set of terminals includes a pair of terminals (41A, 42A) lying in a horizontal row plane (50), which includes sheet metal multi conductors (51-54) that form and connect together one corresponding terminal at each of the ports. Each sheet metal multi conductor forms a corresponding terminal at each port that all lie on the row plane, a middle (60) that lies in a horizontal offset plane (66) that is spaced from the row plane, and ends (62) with inclined parts (64) that extend between the row plane and the offset plane. The first and second terminals at each port are connected by identical multi conductors, where one is turned upside-down from the orientation of the other.

Three port connector

A connector assembly which includes a circuit board (18, FIG. 2 and 28, FIG. 3), a connector housing (40, 140), and a pair of flat flexible circuits (20, 22 and 30, 32). The flat flexible circuits have front end portions (50, 52 and 190, 192), where the circuit conductors form two spaced rows of connector contacts, and the circuits have stacked rear portions (60, 62 and 154, 156) where the conductors of the two flat flexible circuits are staggered and soldered to a single row of circuit board traces (80, FIG. 6).

High density connector assembly

A system is described for electrically grounding plug and receptacle connectors (12, 16, FIG. 3) as they mate, which occupies minimal space that would otherwise be occupied by regular pin-and-socket contacts, and which isolates sparks created during ground connections. Each connector has a dielectric housing (54, 80) lying at the end of a circuit board (60, 82). The receptacle connector has a shield (100) extending around its dielectric housing, the shield having a tab (162) that is soldered to a grounded trace (160) on the corresponding circuit board. The plug connector carries a plug ground member (142) that has a front end (144) for engaging the shield on the connector member when the connectors mate, the plug ground member having a rear end forming a tab (172) that is soldered to a grounded trace (174) on its corresponding circuit board. The plug ground member lies in a groove (140) of the dielectric housing, with a resilient bent portion (146) projecting out of the groove. The connector housing shield has a strip (120) which is bent 180.degree. to extend within a side of the shield.

IC card connector shield grounding

A miniature socket contact (10, FIG. 1) is described which fits within the thickness of a device such as PC board plated hole (20), which is firmly retained within the hole, without damage to the hole plating during removal, and wherein each pin-contacting beam (70, 72) has two points of contact with an inserted contact pin (14). The contact is formed of sheet metal and has an upper retention portion (30) forming retention tabs (42-46), with each tab having an inner part (50) extending radially inwardly, an outer part (56) extending radially outwardly with a tip (60) that presses against the hole walls, and a bent middle (54) that guides an inserted pin and is preferably deflected outwardly by the inserted pin to press the tab tip firmly against the hole walls. The contact has a lower contacting portion (32) forming a pair of downwardly converging beams (70, 72) whose lower ends engage the inserted pin. As seen in a view (FIG. 6) along the contact axis, the inner edge (74e, 76e) of each beam lower end has a sharply curved middle (110) spaced from the pin (14) and opposite sides that each have a pin-engaging location ( 116, 118).

Socket contact for mounting in a hole of a device

A connector has upper and lower rows of contacts (20, 22, FIG. 4 ) whose contact tails (40, 42) are soldered to front and rear rows of pads (26, 24) on a circuit board (14), which provides flexibility in downward deflection of all contact tails in a short forward-rearward distance (B) . While the upper tails of the upper row of contacts extend at a downward-forward incline, the lower tails have rear portions (80) with inclined parts (90) that extend at an upward-forward incline, and forward portions (82) with inclined parts (92) that extend at downward-forward inclines. A heating bar (102, FIG. 7 ) for heating the forward ends (120, 122) of the contact tails for reflow soldering to the pads, has slots (124) in its lower surface (106) that extend from its rear end (126) to a location (130) behind its front end (132).

Termination of contact tails to PC board

An edge connector (12, FIG. 1 ) of simple construction and small thickness is provided, with a forward end which can receive a card or circuit board (14) and a rear end which can receive a pluggable connector (40), to connect contact pads (70) of the circuit board to terminals (110, 112) of the pluggable connector. The connector includes an insulative housing (16) having a rearward end portion (20) and having upper and lower cantilevered beams (22, 24). The beams extend forwardly from the rear portion, with a gap (26) between them, and with the front end (30) of the gap having an increased thickness to receive the circuit board. A flat flexible cable (34) lies in the gap, with a front (122) that is upwardly bent and received in a slot (124) of the upper beam portion, and with the forward portions of the cable conductors being exposed at their lower surfaces (164). An actuator (74) extends between the upper and lower beam portions and can be slid forwardly (F) to squeeze the beam portions together, to press the exposed conductor surfaces firmly against the conductive pads on the circuit board. The circuit board has slots (100, 102) in its edge, which receive pins (106, 108) that extend across the enlarged front end (30) of the gap.

Low profile edge connector

Holdown key for low profile connector

Peg held connector

Holddown system for connector

A boardlock is provided for holding down the housing of an electrical connector to a circuit board, which can be constructed at low cost and which assures good electrical and mechanical connection between the connector housing and circuit board. The boardlock is designed to be pushed downwardly through a cylindrical hole in a connector flange and through a larger diameter cylindrical hole drilled into the circuit board. The boardlock is formed from a piece of sheet metal which is bent to form largely tubular upper and lower portions (40, 42, FIG. 2 ) received respectively in the flange hole and in the larger diameter board hole, with largely vertical edges of the bent sheet metal engaging the walls of the hole. The boardlock has a pair of horizontal separation slots (76, 78) extending a limited distance from each vertical edge to separate the upper and lower portions, to allow the edge regions (86, 88) of the lower tubular portion to be bent to a larger radius of curvature to engage the walls of the larger circuit board hole. A vertical middle portion (62) of the boardlock has a projecting bump (60) on the lower tubular portion to center the lower tubular portion in the circuit board hole. The lower tubular portion forms a pair of fingers (56, 58) that lie within the top of the circuit board hole, and which press against the lower surface of the housing flange. The tapered bottom portions of the boardlock have slits forming ramps to which solder adheres, so any pullout forces cause compression of some of the solder.

Growing community of inventors

Laguna Niguel, CA, United States of America

Rene A Mosquera