The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 26, 1988
Filed:
Mar. 16, 1987
Frank A Harwath, Downers Grove, IL (US);
Paul L Rishworth, Chicago, IL (US);
Molex Incorporated, Lisle, IL (US);
Abstract
A low insertion force mating electrical contact structure is provided in a male terminal including a final contact portion and a forwardly extending lead-in portion having a gradual twisted cross section relative to the final contact portion. In a preferred embodiment, the male terminal is adapted to mate with a dual contact cantilever spring arm female terminal. Opposed smooth-milled surfaces on the male terminal extending through the lead-in portion to the final contact portion engage the female contact portions and gradually cam the female contacts outwardly to provide reduced insertion forces on the male pin during insertion. Varying the rate of change in the twist along the lead-in portion can define camming surfaces on the male terminal effective to substantially reduce the lifting force component of the insertion force so that the peak insertion force for the mating contact structure approaches only the frictional sliding force between the male and female contact portions, associated with the final stages of insertion and mating.