High density electrical connector system

The connector of claim wherein the said mounting means includes a hole and the contact includes a hole with a rivet extended through the said holes to lock the contact to the dielectric member.

The connector of claim wherein the said dielectric member is molded of a plastic material to include projections and the contact includes holes receiving said projections for mounting to said dielectric member.

An electrical contact for use in interconnecting the contact pads of a component to the contact pads of a circuit or the like wherein said pads are planar surfaces and the contact is disposed therebetween, the contact including a one-piece element of thin, conductive spring grade material formed to include a central portion having means to mount the contact on a mounting member and including radiating outwardly from the central portion at least four contact arms ending in contact tips adapted to engage the contact pads, the contact arms each being formed to extend in a sense transverse to the plane of the central portion to define a spring element deflected by displacement of the contact pads of the component toward the contact pads of the circuit with two of the contact arms oriented to engage the component contact pads and two of the contact arms oriented to engage the contact pads of the circuit and with the arms having force deflection characteristics to provide a force on said pads for each arm sufficient to produce a wiping action and a low-resistance, stable electrical interface with a balance of forces of the four arms precluding the center portion from being driven in twisting or rotary motion.

An electrical interconnection including a connector, component, and circuit having common planar surfaces containing high-density, closely spaced contacts, the component and circuit having contact pads each of a length greater than the width to facilitate the use of a contact having a spring beam adapted to be deflected to effect a wiping of the pad along the pad length with the pads of the component being oriented, with respect to the length thereof, generally at right angles relative to the length of the pads of the circuit to facilitate a close center-to-center spacing array of pads on component and circuit, the connector having a thin, dielectric, generally planar, member carrying discrete contacts extending between the component and circuit pads with each contact having at least two contact arms extending toward the pads of the component and oriented lengthwise parallel to the component pad length and two contact arms extending toward the pads of the circuit and oriented lengthwise parallel to the circuit pad length with the contact arms having tips adapted to engage the pads and the arms having spring characteristics to be deflected by displacement of the component toward the circuit to provide the wiping engagement of the pads and form a stable, low-resistance electrical interface.

In combination, a component and a circuit, or the like, adapted to be interconnected by a connector with the component and circuit having planar surfaces containing contact pads on given centers to be engaged by the contacts of the connector, such contacts being of a type deflected by closure of the component toward the circuit to provide contact wipe of the pads along a given axis to assure clean surfaces for the interconnection, the pads having a length sufficient to accommodate the length of the contact spring, including contact deflection and wipe, and a width appreciably less than the length to accommodate close pad spacing with the pad width varying from the ends toward the center to maintain a generally constant density of current flow from the pad ends toward the pad center while minimizing pad area to conserve metal plating and with the pad length of the component oriented generally transversely to the pad length of the circuit to optimize pad length of both circuit and component relative to the contact.

An electrical connector for use in interconnecting large numbers of planar conductive pads of a component to large numbers of planar conductive pads of a circuit on close centers to provide high density packaging including a thin flexible dielectric member with mounting means on centers compatible with the pads of the component and circuit, a contact held by the said mounting means in a position to interconnect each the component pad to the circuit pad, the contact having multiple resilient arms deflected by closure of the component toward the circuit, the pads of component and circuit effecting said deflection and with the contact arms having a geometry and characteristics to provide a balance of lateral forces in a plane parallel to the plane of the pads, component and circuit.