Spring contact and method of manufacturing same
AssigneeAlps Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorsToshiharu MORI, Keisuke YAMAZAKI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spring contact to which a compressive load is to be imposed includes a base, a first elastic arm of a helical shape, a first contact, a second elastic arm of a helical shape, and a second contact. The first elastic arm includes a first fixed end supported on the base and a first end portion at a free end. The first contact is provided at the first end portion and protruding in a direction from which the load acts. The second elastic arm includes a second fixed end supported on the base and a second end portion at a free end. The second contact is provided at the second end portion. The second contact is placed independent of the first contact and protrudes in the direction from which the load acts.
Claims7
A spring contact to which a compressive load is to be imposed, the spring contact comprising:
- a base;
- a first elastic arm of a helical shape, including a first fixed end supported on the base and a first end portion at a free end;
- a first contact provided at the first end portion and protruding in a direction from which the load acts;
- a second elastic arm of a helical shape, including a second fixed end supported on the base and a second end portion at a free end;
- and
- a second contact provided at the second end portion, the second contact being placed independent of the first contact and protruding in the direction from which the load acts.
A method of manufacturing a spring contact, comprising:
- forming a first portion including a first contact and a second portion including a second contact in a material formed of a metal plate;
- forming a first elastic arm having a first spring constant and including a first end portion by helically bending the first portion;
- forming a second elastic arm having a second spring constant greater than the first spring constant and including a second end portion by helically bending the second portion;
- disposing the first end portion and the second end portion such that an end face of the first end portion faces a back face of the second end portion with respect to a direction in which a load is applied;
- simultaneously deflecting the first elastic arm and the second elastic arm such that the second elastic arm goes beyond an elastic limit with the first elastic arm being within an elastic limit by imposing a compressive load simultaneously on the first end portion and the second end portion;
- and
- with the load being removed, causing the end face of the first end portion to contact the back face of the second end portion and causing an initial load to be generated in the first elastic arm, through an amount of spring back of the second elastic arm being smaller than an amount of spring back of the first elastic arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.