Northern Telecom Limited

Northern Electric Company Limited

Robert Brian Dunn

John D Lee

Terence A Ashby

Frank R Campbell

Bruce Wiltshire

A multiple contact connector has an elongate actuating member which is reciprocally mounted in a housing holding the contacts, the contacts in one or more linear arrays. On longitudinal reciprocation of the actuating membert it is also caused to reciprocate up and down in a direction normal to the longitudinal direction. In so doing it pushes on the contacts, deflecting them sideways. The connector is then assembled or inserted, after which the actuating member is moved to release the contacts. A substantially zero insertion force is obtained.

Multiple contact zero insertion force connector

A self-shearing connector for electrical conductors comprises a helical spring of rectangular cross-section wire around a central member extending from a body member. The spring has an upper or end turn with an end part of an external diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the next or lower turn. On compression of the spring the end part of the upper or end turn is pushed down into the next turn shearing off the end of the conductor. The conductor is gripped between the lower turn and the body or between the spring turns. If the conductor is insulated, the gripping pressure splits the insulation at opposite sides of the conductor to provide electrical contact.

Self-shearing connector for electrical conductors

An insulation slicing terminal, stamped from electrically conducting sheet material, has a base portion and two cantilevered legs extending from the base portion providing opposed side edges between which a conductor is positioned. The top edge and side edge of each leg intersect at an abrupt angle to form insulation slicing edges, the two top edges forming a shallow Vee formation. An initial small gap is provided between the side edges by a first swage on one leg near the junction with the base portion. A further swage on one of the legs nearer the top of the leg acts to prevent movement of the conductor out of the terminal once the wire is inserted past the further swage. As a further feature, the shallow Vee formation, of the top edges, has an apex prior to slitting which is a radiused flat, permitting off-center tolerances on slitting without detrimentally affecting the insulation slicing edges.

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Ottawa, Canada

Robert Brian Dunn