Tool for removing and installing connector

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a tool for installing and removing a housing which is positioned over a row of connector pairs and frictionally engaged with the rows of connector pairs, there being no integral connection between the housing and the contacts. The tool is designed to remove the housing when positioned over the contact members by utilizing a wedge on the tool which separates the contact members so that the housing can be pulled up over the contact members without rubbing thereagainst to remove any plating layers thereon. The housing is installed by the same tool wherein the housing is gripped and, upon insertion of the housing over the contact members, the wedge first spreads the contact members apart and the housing is disposed thereover without rubbing against the contact members. In the case of installation and removal of the housing member, the wedge is designed to push the contacts sufficiently far back so that they do not rest upon a preloading bar disposed within the housing. In this way, the housing can be removed by merely gripping the housing with the tool while the contacts are spread apart and then rocking the housing back and forth so that it can be removed upwardly over the contact members without sliding over the edges of the contact members. The installation would also require a gripping of the housing member but would not require the rocking motion, the housing being installed by a direct downward force thereon.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.