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:
Oct. 02, 1990
Filed:
Mar. 12, 1990
Wayne S Davis, Harrisburg, PA (US);
Charles E Reynolds, Mechanicsburg, PA (US);
Robert N Whiteman, Jr, Middletown, PA (US);
AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, PA (US);
Abstract
An electrical connector assembly comprising a pair of complementary connectors (10a, 12) incorporating 'pin saver' structure for preventing pin contacts (16) from being bent when the connectors (10a, 12) are mated or separated in a careless fashion. The 'pin saver' structure comprises a plurality of projections or ledges (42, 43, 44, 45) on one of the connectors (10a) for defining extended fulcrums around which the other connector (12) will rotate or turn if the connectors (10a, 12) are mated or separated from one another by relative movement in which the longitudinal axes (31) of the pin contacts (16) in one connector are not maintained substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes (32) of the receptacle contacts (14) in the other connector (10a) during mating or separation. The extended fulcrums cause the pin contacts (16) to be inserted into or withdrawn from the receptacle contacts (14) in directions such that the longitudinal axes (32, 31) of the contacts are maintained more nearly parallel to one another until the pin contacts (16) are substantially fully inserted into or fully withdrawn from the receptacle contacts (14) during mating or separation, respectively, to prevent the pin contacts (16) from being pressed against the sidewalls of the receptacle contacts (14) and bent or otherwise damaged during mating or separation of the connectors (10a, 12).