Mount electrical connectors
AssigneeZierick Manufacturing Corporation
InventorJanos Legrady
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surface mounted connector for surface mounting on a generally flat conductive surface of a printed circuit board includes a base which has a generally flat surface suitable for contact with an attachment to a conductive surface of the printed circuit board. An electrical contact, which may be in the form of a pin, post, IDC, test point, or receptacle, has at least one portion projecting from the base in a direction normal to the base. At least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connects the contact to the base. The contact, base and the bent intermediate connecting portions are all formed from a generally flat sheet of conductive material. A blank for the surface mounted connector, as well as a rolled strip of connectors is disclosed.
Claims26
A surface mounted connector for surface mounting on a generally flat conductive surface of a printed circuit board, the connector comprising a base defining a plane and forming a generally flat substantially solid surface defining a predetermined area suitable for contact with and attachment to an associated flat conductive surface of the printed circuit board;
- a contact having at least one portion projecting from said base in a direction substantially normal to said plane defined by said base;
- at least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base, said contact, base and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion all being formed of a generally flat sheet of conductive material, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder.
A surface mounted connector for surface mounting on a generally flat conductive surface of a printed circuit board, the connector comprising a base defining a plane and having a generally flat surface suitable for contact with an attachment to an associated flat conductive surface of the printed circuit board;
- a contact having at least one portion projecting from said base in a direction substantially normal to said plane defined by said base;
- and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base, said contact, base and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion all being formed of a generally flat sheet of conductive material, wherein said base comprises two base portions and said contact comprises two elongate substantially juxtaposed contact portions each having ends respectively proximate and remote in relation to said base, said remote ends being joined to each other by an integral bent bridging portion, two bent intermediate connecting portions being provided each connecting one of said proximate ends to an associated one of said base portions.
A strip of series connected surface mounted connectors for automated mounting on a surface of a printed circuit board, each connector comprising a base defining a plane and forming a generally flat substantially solid surface defining a predetermined area suitable for contact with and attachment to an associated flat conductive surface of the printed circuit board;
- a contact having at least one portion projecting from said base in a direction substantially normal to said plane defined by said base;
- and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base, said contact base and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion all being formed of a generally flat sheet of conductive material, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder;
- and frangible connecting means between each two adjacent connectors, whereby a strip of connectors can be advanced to an automated mounting station and a connector at the downstream end of the strip can be separated from the strip by severing said frangible connecting means between said connector at the downstream end and an adjacent immediately succeeding connector in the strip.
A rolled strip of series connected surface mounted connectors for automated mounting on a surface of a printed circuit board, each connector comprising a base defining a plane and forming a generally flat substantially solid surface defining a predetermined area suitable for contact with and attachment to an associate flat conductive surface of the printed circuit board;
- a contact having at least one portion projecting from said base in a direction substantially normal to said plane defined by said base;
- and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base, said contact, base and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion all being formed of a generally flat sheet of conductive material, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder;
- frangible connecting means between each two adjacent connectors;
- and a rotatable support member on which the strip of connectors is helically wound, said rotatable support member defining an axis of rotation, said connectors being oriented so that said contacts extend in directions substantially parallel to said axis of rotation, said frangible connecting means being sufficiently flexible without breaking to allow said connectors to be arranged along circular arcs when helically wound about said support member.
A blank for a surface mounted connector comprising a stamping from a flat sheet of electrically conductive material and including in a common plane at least one base portion defining a predetermined area creating a generally flat substantially solid surface upon formation of the connector from the blank and being suitable for attachment to an associated surface of a printed circuit board;
- a contact, and at least one intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base portion, whereby at least one portion of said contact can be moved to a position substantially normal to said plane by bending said at least one intermediate connecting portion to form the surface mounted connector, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder.
A blank for a plurality of series-connected surface mounted connectors comprising a stamping from an elongated strip of a flat sheet of electrically conductive material which includes a plurality of blank portions successively stamped along said strip;
- and at least one frangible tab between adjacent blank portions connecting adjacent blank portions to each other, each blank portion comprising at least one base portion defining a predetermined area creating a generally flat substantially solid surface upon formation of the connector from the blank and being suitable for attachment to an associated surface of a printed circuit board;
- a contact;
- and at least one intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base portion, whereby at least one portion of said contact can be moved to a position substantially normal to said plane by bending said at least one intermediate connecting portion to form the surface mounted connector, whereby two adjacent surface mounted connectors can be separated from each other by severing the tab connecting the same, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder.
A method of forming a surface mounted connector, comprising the steps of forming a blank from a flat sheet of electrically conductive material to form, in a common plane, at least one base portion creating a generally flat substantially solid surface defining a predetermined area upon formation of the connector from the blank and being suitable for attachment to an associated surface of a printed circuit board;
- a contact;
- and at least one intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base portion;
- and deforming the blank by moving at least one portion of the contact to a position substantially normal to said plane by bending said at least one intermediate connecting portion to form the surface mounted connector said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder.
A surface mounted connector formed by the steps of forming a blank from a flat sheet of electrically conductive material to form, in a common plane, at least one base portion creating a generally flat substantially solid surface defining a predetermined area upon formation of the connector from the blank and being suitable for attachment to an associated surface of a printed circuit board;
- a contact;
- and at least one intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base portion;
- and deforming the blank by moving at least one portion of the contact to a position substantially normal to said plane by bending said at least one intermediate connecting portion to form the surface mounted connector, said base being provided with aperture means forming spaces defining areas substantially smaller than said predetermined area for promoting flow of solder on the conductive surface of the printed circuit board into said spaces by capillary action upon heating and reflow of the solder.
A rolled strip of series connected surface mounted connectors for automated mounting on a surface of a printed circuit board, each connector comprising a base defining a plane;
- and having a generally flat surface suitable for contact with an attachment to an associated flat conductive surface of the printed circuit board;
- a contact having at least one portion projecting from said base in a direction substantially normal to said plane defined by said base;
- and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion integrally connecting said contact to said base, said contact, base and at least one bent intermediate connecting portion all being formed of a generally flat sheet of conductive material;
- frangible connecting means between each two adjacent connectors;
- and a rotatable support member on which the strip of connectors is helically wound, said rotatable support member defining an axis of rotation, said connectors being oriented so that said contacts extend in directions substantially parallel to said axis of rotation, said frangible connecting means being sufficiently flexible without breaking to allow said connectors to be arranged along circular arcs when helically wound about said support member, wherein said bases of said connectors have a predetermined dimension in the radial direction when helically wound on said rotatable support member;
- and further comprising spacer means for maintaining said contacts in adjacent layers spaced from each other at a distance to define a spiral connector-receiving space having a radial dimension substantially equal to said predetermined dimensions, whereby the rolled strip of connectors can be received within the spiral connector receiving space with minimal contact interference between bases in adjacent layers, and wherein said spacer means comprise a continuous flat strip of flexible material;
- and an undulating wave-like strip of material attached to said flat strip of material having a peak-to-peak distance along the length of said flat strip substantially corresponding to the distance between successive contacts in the strip, and a peak-to-peak height along a radial direction normal to said flat strip substantially equal to the difference between said predetermined radial dimension and the dimension of said contact in the radial direction when helically wound on said rotatable support member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.