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US 3,938,874 AGranted
Electrical connector contact retention system
AssigneeThe Bendix Corporation
InventorNormand C. Bourdon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical connector that includes an assembly for demountably mounting the electrical contacts within a connector body. The contact retention system includes an insert (30) that includes a plurality of generally rectangularly shaped retention members (31) that provide for lateral support of a contact (10) in addition to preventing rearward movement of the contact once it is completely inserted into the insert (30). The retention members are resiliently expandable in a radial direction so that the contact retention members will expand to allow the enlarged portion of the contact to pass through the insert but contract behind the enlarged portion of the contact to prevent rearward movement thereof.
Claims6
An electrical connector unit comprising:
- a first insulator having a plurality of bores therethrough extending from a forward face to a rearward face, each of said bores having a central axis;
- and
- a second insulator having a front face mounted against the rearward face of the first insulator, said second insulator having a plurality of passages therethrough, each axially aligned with the central axis of a respective bore in said first insulator, each of said bores and passages adapted to receive an electrical contact, which is insertable from the rear of said second insulator, each of said contacts having an enlarged section defining a rearwardly facing shoulder and a forwardly facing shoulder, said second insulator further including:
- a plurality of rectangularly shaped contact retention members disposed in each of said passages, said members having a front end, a rear end, and an adjacent side between front and rear ends which is integral with said second insulator so that said retention members extend from the walls of said second insulator passages, each of said rear ends tapering inwardly from the wall of said passage towards said central axis in the direction of said first insulator, each of said forward ends including a forwardly facing surface which faces in the direction of said first insulator, said forwardly facing surface being generally parallel to the front face of said second insulator and integral with said passage wall at the end furthest from the axis of said passage, each of said forwardly facing surfaces being equally distant from said second insulator front face, each of said retention members being resiliently expandable away from said central axis to permit said enlarged contact section to pass into said passage and past said retention members upon forward insertion of the contact into said passage and respective bore from the rear of said second insulator, said retention members contracting behind the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact upon insertion so that the forwardly facing surfaces of said retention members engage the rearwardly facing shoulder of the contact to limit rearward movement of the contact in said passage, said contact retention members being substantially rigid in the axial direction when in their contracted position behind the enlarged portion of the contact so as to provide a positive stop against rearward movement of the respective contact.
1 more element
In the combination of an electrical connector of the type having a plurality of electrical contacts retained by an insert, the improvement wherein the insert comprises:
- an insulator having a front face, a rear face, and a plurality of passages therethrough extending from the front face to the rear face, each of said passages having a central axis, each of said passages adapted to receive a respective electrical contact which is insertable from the rear of said insulator, each contact having an enlarged section defining a rearwardly facing shoulder;
- and
- a plurality of contact retention members disposed in each of said passages, each of said retention members integral with said insulator and including a forward portion and a rearward portion, each of said rear portions tapering from the wall of said passage inwardly towards the central axis in the direction of said insulator front face, each of said forward portions of said retention members including a forward facing surface which faces in the direction of the front face of said insulator, said forward facing surface being generally parallel to the front face of said insulator and integral with said passage wall at the end furthest from the central axis of said insulator, each of said forward facing surfaces being equally distant from said insulator front face, each of said retention members being resiliently expandable away from said central axis to permit said enlarged contact section to pass into said passage and past said retention members upon forward insertion of the contact into the passage from the rear of said insulator, said retention members contracting behind the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact so that each of the forward facing surfaces of said retention members engage the rearward facing shoulder on the contact to limit rearward movement of the contact in said passage, said contact retention members being substantially rigid in the axial direction when in their contracted position behind the enlarged portion of the contact so as to provide a positive stop against rearward movement of the respective contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.