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US 5,123,852 AGranted
Modular electrical connector
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJohn B. Gillett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible film-type modular connector comprising a fixed block and a movable wedge-shaped block which is received within a V-shaped opening formed in the fixed block. The oblique angle at which contact is made between the fixed and movable blocks provides relative contact wipe and consistently reliable registration between the blocks while maintaining high contact normal force with low applied forces (i.e. zero insertion force). The oblique angle can be individually tailored to meet particular requirements as the connector is capable of connecting a variety of different components including cables, Printed Circuit Boards, Printed Circuit Cards, and other substrates.
Claims14
A separable electrical connector comprising:
- a fixed block including a tapered wall;
- a first flexible film sheet including electrical contacts thereon, disposed adjacent said tapered wall of said fixed block;
- a movable block including a tapered wall corresponding to the tapered wall of said fixed block for mating with said fixed block, said tapered walls lying in parallel planes and approaching each other at an angle to said planes when said fixed block and said movable block are mated;
- a second flexible film sheet having contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered side of said movable block for engagement with said electrical contacts on said first flexible film sheet when said movable block is mated with said fixed block;
- a resilient member disposed between one of said fixed block and said movable block and its associated flexible film sheet;
- said movable block being wedge-shaped having a wide base, a narrow tip and a second tapered wall forming a pair of tapered walls with said first tapered wall;
- and
- said resilient member being disposed between said base of said movable block and said second flexible film sheet.
5 more elements
A separable electrical connector comprising:
- a generally V-shaped fixed block including a pair of tapered walls forming said V-shape;
- a first flexible film sheet including electrical contacts thereon, disposed adjacent said tapered wall of said fixed block;
- a movable block including a tapered wall corresponding to the tapered wall of said fixed block for mating with said fixed block, said tapered walls lying in parallel planes and approaching each other at an angle to said planes when said fixed block and said movable block are mated;
- a second flexible film sheet having contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered side of said movable block for engagement with said electrical contacts on said first flexible film sheet when said movable block is mated with said fixed block;
- a resilient member disposed between one of said fixed block and said movable block and its associated flexible film sheet;
- said movable block being wedge-shaped having a wide base, a narrow tip and a second tapered wall forming a pair of tapered walls with said first tapered wall;
- an inner housing in which said fixed block is received;
- and
- an outer housing in which said movable block is received wherein said inner housing and said outer housing mate to form a module encasing said fixed block and said movable block.
6 more elements
A separable electrical connector comprising:
- a generally V-shaped fixed block including a pair of tapered walls forming said V-shape;
- a first flexible film sheet including electrical contacts thereon, disposed adjacent said tapered wall of said fixed block;
- a movable block including a tapered wall corresponding to the tapered wall of said fixed block for mating with said fixed block, said tapered walls lying in parallel planes and approaching each other at an angle to said planes when said fixed block and said movable block are mated;
- a second flexible film sheet having contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered side of said movable block for engagement with said electrical contacts on said first flexible film sheet when said movable block is mated with said fixed block;
- a resilient member disposed between one of said fixed block and said movable block and its associated flexible film sheet;
- said movable block being wedge-shaped having a wide base, a narrow tip and a second tapered wall forming a pair of tapered walls with said first tapered wall;
- and
- said fixed block further includes an aperture formed therein and said first flexible film sheet being a pair of flexible film sheets extending on opposite tapering walls of said fixed block, each film of said pair of film sheets extending through said aperture.
5 more elements
A separable electrical connector comprising:
- a fixed block including a tapered wall;
- a first flexible film sheet including electrical contacts thereon, disposed adjacent said tapered wall of said fixed block;
- a movable block including a tapered wall corresponding to the tapered wall of said fixed block for mating with said fixed block, said tapered walls lying in parallel planes and approaching each other at an angle to said planes when said fixed block and said movable block are mated;
- a second flexible film sheet having contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered side of said movable block for engagement with said electrical contacts on said first flexible film sheet when said movable block is mated with said fixed block;
- a resilient member disposed between one of said fixed block and said movable block and its associated flexible film sheet;
- said movable block being wedge-shaped having a side base, a narrow tip and a second tapered wall forming a pair of tapered walls with said first tapered wall;
- said fixed block comprises:
- a pair of fixed wedge-shaped blocks each one of said pair of fixed wedge-shaped blocks having a wide base and a narrow tip, said pair of fixed wedge-shaped blocks disposed side by side with said wide base of each one of said pair of fixed wedge-shaped blocks disposed adjacent one another, wherein said movable block is received between said narrow tips of an adjacent pair of said fixed wedge-shaped blocks;
- and
- said first flexible film sheet comprises a pair of flexible film sheets, one film of said pair of films extending from said base to said tip of one of said pair of fixed wedge-shaped blocks, the other one film of said pair of films extending from said base to said tip of the other of said pair of fixed blocks.
7 more elements
A reusable, separable electrical connector comprising:
- at least one generally v-shaped fixed block having at least one pair of tapered planar walls forming said v-shape;
- a first flexible film sheet including electrical contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered planar walls of said fixed block;
- a movable block having at least one symmetrical wedge-shaped body having a wide base, an opposite narrow tip and first and second tapered planar walls between said tip and opposite ends of said base complementing said fixed v-shaped block for mating thereto, said tapered walls of said fixed and movable blocks lying in parallel planes when said movable block and fixed block are mated;
- a second flexible film sheet having contacts thereon disposed adjacent said tapered walls of said movable block for engagement with said electrical contacts on said first flexible film sheet when said movable block is mated with said fixed block;
- and
- a resilient member disposed between said wedge-shaped body and said second flexible film sheet.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.