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:
Mar. 29, 1994
Filed:
Jan. 12, 1993
David C Johnson, Winston Salem, NC (US);
Keith L Volz, Jamestown, NC (US);
Warren A Bates, Winston Salem, NC (US);
Frederick R Deak, Kernersville, NC (US);
Robert M Renn, Pfafftown, NC (US);
The Whitaker Corporation, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
A pluggable connector system (10) has a male housing (11, 11', 11', 11'') snapped together with a female housing (12, 12', 12', 12'') thereby providing a quick-disconnect feature. One of the housings, or both, carries a flexible etched circuit (16). The flexible etched circuit (16) may engage another flexible etched circuit (16) or, via a suitable interface, may engage a printed circuit board (17) having at least one circuit pad (19) thereon. One embodiment of a suitable interface is a flexible electrical connector (21) having a plurality of circuit traces on an elastomeric core. In another embodiment, the flexible etched circuit (16) is backed up by resilient means (33, 35) and engages the circuit pad (19) directly. The means for releasably retaining the housings (11, 11', 11', 11'' and 12, 12', 12', 12'') comprises a pair of spring-loaded manually-releasable latches (24, 24', 25) or a pair of bifurcated latching ears (43, 44).