Osram Sylvania Inc.

Gte Products Corporation

Tyco Electronics Logistics Ag

Osramsylavania Inc.

Ronald E Thomas

Steven M Boyd

Richard P Walker

Michael J Bonavita

Douglas G Seymour

K Troy Alwine

Timothy J Miller

Edward H Key

James C Humphrey

An outgassing shield () for a lamp socket () comprises a cup-shaped unit that fits over the end of the socket that penetrates a lamp reflector (), reducing the temperature upon the socket body and substantially eliminating outgassing. The elimination of the outgassing prevents deleterious buildup of outgassed materials on the reflector surface and the interior of the lens, thereby enhancing light output.

Outgassing shield for lamp socket

An electrical connector that comprises an electrically insulating housing having a front end and a back end displaced along a longitudinal axis. An electrical contact receiving aperture is formed in the housing and is arrayed parallel to the longitudinal axis. The back end of the connector housing further includes a contact receiving entrance that has a given cross-sectional, one-way footprint and has a given length &ldquo;L&rdquo; along the longitudinal axis. An electrical contact is positioned in the contact-receiving aperture, and has the same cross-sectional, one-way footprint as the entrance. At least a portion of the longitudinal length of the contact, designated &ldquo;L &rdquo; is sufficient to retain engagement with the contact receiving entrance until the contact enters the electrical contact-receiving aperture in the insulating housing. The one-way footprint assures correct alignment of the contact with the housing aperture and allows for a much smaller contact with lesser spacing between contacts, thus allowing for a greater contact density and a miniaturization of the connector.

Electrical connector

An angled lamp socket includes a body and a housing. The body contains therein opposing lamp retaining clips and a plurality of IDC contacts. The housing contains a plurality of holes to receive wire leads. The housing also contains a housing disc. The bottom portion of the IDC contacts are connected electrically to the wire leads and the top portion of the IDC contacts are connected to the lamp. When a lamp is inserted into the socket body, the horizontal axis of the lamp will extend at an angle in relation to the wire leads. In a preferred embodiment, such an angle is 90&deg; thereby providing a right angle lamp socket.

Angled IDC lamp socket assembly

A connector assembly which includes inner and outer connector housings and a locking spacer attached to the inner housing. The connector assembly may be obtained by the user with the locking spacer in a pre-installed position relative to the inner housing. Such pre-installed assembly includes a gasket contained within the connector assembly and held in place by the locking spacer. Latching members are provided which permit the locking spacer to be moved from the pre-installed position to a final installed position wherein the locking spacer will serve to maintain the gasket, and contacts within the inner housing, in place during use of the connector assembly.

Electrical connector with gasket abutting locking spacer

A lamp socket is provided that includes slidably engaging body and housing components. Resilient retention members are attached within the body component to grasp the base of a wedge base lamp to attach the lamp to the body component. Contacts extend into the body component to engage lead wires of the lamp. Such contacts extend out of the body component and through respective apertures in the housing component for electrical and mechanical attachment to a mating connector. The contacts are held in place relative to the body component by being inserted into body openings within the body component structured and arranged to hold the contacts in place.

Lamp socket

Lamp base housing, with geminal halves configured to engage a press seal

A lamp socket comprising: a body disposed about a longitudinal axis and having a cavity therein for receiving a plurality of electrical contacts; a bottom to said cavity; a plurality of apertures in said bottom; a plurality of electrical contacts in said cavity, each of said contacts having a lamp receiving portion within said cavity and an elongated terminal portion extending through said apertures and being bent at substantially 90 degrees to said longitudinal axis, said elongated terminal portions extending beyond the periphery of said body; latching tabs formed on said body adjacent said bottom; and a housing having a body receiving compartment and an elongated terminal portion receiving shroud joined to said housing, said body receiving compartment including latching slots for cooperative engagement with said latching tabs, said body being mounted in said body receiving compartment with said latching tabs being engaged with said latching slots.

The present invention features an electrical and electronic connector module having six degrees of freedom. The connector module is particularly useful in advanced electrical and electronic wiring systems, such as multiplexed wiring systems, wherein many electrical functions or signals share common wire pathways. The connector module comprises a male header containing a plurality of male connector elements. A plurality of female connector elements disposed in a receptacle assembly is designed to align and mate with respective ones of the male connector elements disposed in the male header. The header and receptacle align by means of a pair of header shoulder bolts that seat within apertures disposed on distal ends of the receptacle. The mating of the male-female connectors is assured by reason that the receptacle is allowed to float within a housing, which forms part of the receptacle assembly.

Connector module having six degrees of freedom

An article such, as an electrical connector, for mounting upon a substrate, such as a printed circuit board. The article includes a mounting plane having locating and centering means thereon. The locating and centering means comprises first and second spaced apart, depending lugs, each of which tapers from a first diameter proximal the mounting plane to a second diameter, narrower than the first diameter, distal said mounting plane. The first lug has a longitudinal slot extending its length in a given direction and the second lug has a longitudinal slot extending its length in a direction orthogonal to the given direction. The slots extending in different directions provide a centering and holding response which fixes the connector in position so that subsequent operations may be performed.

Article locating and centering means

An improved lamp socket, and method of fabricating same, including a housing having a cavity into which a plurality of contacts are inserted. The contacts function to mechanically retain the base of a lamp in place and to electrically connect the socket wiring to the contacts of such lamp.

Growing community of inventors

Warren, PA, United States of America

Ronald E Thomas