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:
Nov. 22, 1994
Filed:
Mar. 29, 1993
Welles K Reymond, Waterbury, CT (US);
General DataComm, Inc., Middlebury, CT (US);
Abstract
A contact element for an electrical connector or an integrated circuit which is used with a hold-down mechanism has a base portion, a spring portion having at least partially helical spring elements, and a tapered contact portion which mates in a biased manner with the conductive rim of a hole. The contact element is particularly useful for surface mount applications. The spring portion is preferably arranged with a partially helical spring configuration so that compression of the spring also effects a torsional rotation of the contact portion. The contact element can be fabricated from: a flat sheet with punching, rolling, and/or forming operations, thin walled drawn parts, or modular parts. Additionally, spring sections may be arranged in tandem, in either a co-rotational or counter-rotational manner to provide additional degrees of design freedom with respect to compression range, axial spring rate, and rotational rate. Contact elements can be associated with insulating housings and/or spacers which provide functions such as alignment, compression limitation, contact support, and installation fixturing. In a preferred embodiment the contact portion has a non-linear taper which permits the normal mating force to be well defined regardless of the diameter of the conductive rim of the hole.