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:
Aug. 23, 1994
Filed:
Jun. 04, 1993
Edward L Pentz, Greensboro, NC (US);
The Whitaker Corporation, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
A protective sleeve (100) for a pair of cantilevered spring contacts (15, 16) is formed by a blanking, forming and bending process (rather than a deep-drawn process) thereby providing a superior product at less cost. During the blanking process, a hole (104) is pierced within a transverse end wall (103) formed between respective first and second sleeve portions (101, 102). These sleeve portions (101, 102) are bent into semi-cylindrical shapes and are then bent towards each other and at right angles to the wall (103) to form the cylindrical sleeve (100). The hole (104) is sized to accommodate a given pin (20) but prevents an oversized pin (20') from being inserted therethrough, thereby preventing inadvertent damage to the contacts (15, 16) or to the sleeve (100). In an alternate embodiment, a barrel (107) is formed on a sleeve (100') rearwardly of the respective sleeve portions (101, 102), and the barrel (107) has a pair of lanced-out outwardly-extending ears (108, 109) received in an opening (11) on a contact assembly (13), thereby mounting the sleeve (100') on the contact (13). The sleeve 100' is also crimped on to a second diametrically-opposite opening (12) on the contact (13).