Insulation displacement connector and block therefor

Abstract

A terminal assembly includes a block and a plurality of clip-type terminals mounted to the block. The block is a dielectric body having a central section and fanning strip sections at opposed margins. The terminals are loosely received through the holes and have wire receiving portions on one side of the central section and lying intermediate the fanning-strip sections and base portions on the opposite side of the central section. A retaining plate engages with the body for enclosing the base portions of the terminals within the dielectric body. The retaining plate further has a plurality of elongate, parallel and spaced-apart raised rib portions arranged for engaging the base portions of the terminals, such that wire receiving portions thereof are held in position projecting through the holes. The terminals comprise clip terminals having a flat body that includes two opposed resilent arms cantilevered from the base of the terminal. The resilient arms are separated by a notch at an upper end for receiving a wire conductor, by a conductor-receiving slot that extends downwardly from a lower end of the notch, and by an enlarged aperture extending downwardly from a lower end of the slot to the base. Oppositely outwardly facing edges of the resilient arms extend downwardly at a divergent angle to the base and inwardly facing edges of the resilient arms defining the aperture diverge at a substantially identical angle, such that the portions of the resilient arm flanking the aperture are of constant width.