Female electrical contact

Abstract

A female electrical contact for making electrical contact with a mating male pin contact. The female contact is formed from a single piece of sheet metal and includes a pair of opposed contact leaves encased in the end of a tubular member of rectangular cross section. The tubular member has a closed end with a small aperture at its center, opening into between the two opposing contact leaves. The base for the contact leaves is U-shaped and has a pair of tabs which are bent to retain one of the rectangular faces of the tubular member in firm fixed position. The closed end may be concave to provide a camming action for the male pin to be inserted in the aperture therein. Additionally, a terminal strip portion can be provided extending from the U-shaped face to provide connection for an external conductor. Opposite sides of the tubular member can be foreshortened to bear against the two leaves to aid in biasing the leaves inwardly toward one another. If desired, the entire contact, with the exception of the terminal and closed end, can be encapsulated in a plastic cover layer by a dipping process or by insertion of a shrinkable plastic tubing over the contact. The contact can be used either singly or in a multi-contact connector block.