High-density electrical interconnect system

An electrical interconnect system comprising:

• a first support element;
• a first plurality of electrically conductive contacts secured to the first support element, each of the contacts of the first plurality of contacts having a substantially freestanding, flexible contact section, the contact sections of the first plurality of contacts being arranged in a first array of groups of multiple contact sections positioned in rows and columns, each of the contact sections of the first array comprising a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and at least one of the contact sections of each group of the first array being positioned such that the opposing surface of the contact section faces an external surface of a contact section from another group of the first array;
• a second support element;
• a plurality of discrete, electrically insulative buttresses arranged in rows and columns on a surface of the second support element;
• a second plurality of electrically conductive contacts secured to the second support element, each of the contacts of the second plurality of contacts having a contact section, the contact sections of the second plurality of contacts being arranged in a second array of groups of at least four contact sections positioned around a corresponding one of the insulative buttresses, each of the contact sections of the second array comprising a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and each group of contact sections from the first array being configured to receive a corresponding single one of the groups of contact sections from the second array such that, when each group of contact sections from the second array is received within a corresponding one of the groups of contact sections from the first array, each contact surface of each contact section of the first array contacts a corresponding one of the contact surfaces of the contact sections of the second array;
• and
• a fluid electrical insulator occupying a majority of all space located between the facing surfaces.

An electrical interconnect system comprising:

• a first support element;
• a first plurality of electrically conductive contacts secured to the first support element, each of the contacts of the first plurality of contacts having a substantially freestanding, flexible contact section, the contact sections of the first plurality of contacts being arranged in a first array of groups of multiple contact sections positioned in rows and columns, each of the contact sections of the first array comprising a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and at least one of the contact sections of each group of the first array being positioned such that the opposing surface of the contact section faces another group of the first array;
• a fluid insulator occupying a majority of all space located between each facing surface of the first array and the group of the first array faced by that facing surface;
• a second support element;
• a plurality of discrete, electrically insulative buttresses arranged in rows and columns on a surface of the second support element;
• and
• a second plurality of electrically conductive contacts secured to the second support element, each of the contacts of the second plurality of contacts having a contact section, the contact sections of the second plurality of contacts being arranged in a second array of groups of at least four contact sections positioned around a corresponding one of the insulative buttresses, each of the contact sections of the second array comprising a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and each group of contact sections from the first array being configured to receive a corresponding single one of the groups of contact sections from the second array such that, when each group of contact sections from the second array is received within a corresponding one of the groups of contact sections from the first array, each contact surface of each contact section of the first array contacts a corresponding one of the contact surfaces of the contact sections of the second array.

A method of manufacturing an electrical interconnect system, the method comprising the steps of:

• securing a first plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a first support element, wherein each of the contacts of the first plurality of contacts has a substantially freestanding, flexible contact section and the contact sections of the first plurality of contacts are arranged in a first array of groups of multiple contact sections positioned in rows and columns, each of the contact sections of the first array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and at least one of the contact sections of each group of the first array is positioned such that the opposing surface of the contact section faces an external surface of a contact section from another group of the first array with the facing surfaces being separated from one another primarily by air;
• and
• securing a second plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a second support element having a plurality of discrete, electrically insulative buttresses arranged in rows and columns on a surface thereof, wherein each of the contacts of the second plurality of contacts has a contact section and the contact sections of the second plurality of contacts are arranged in a second array of groups of at least four contact sections positioned around a corresponding one of the insulative buttresses, each of the contact sections of the second array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and each group of contact sections from the first array is configured to receive a corresponding single one of the groups of contact sections from the second array such that, when each group of contact sections from the second array is received with a corresponding one of the groups of contact sections from the first array, each contact surface of each contact section of the first array contacts a corresponding one of the contact surfaces of the contact sections of the second array.

A method of manufacturing an electrical interconnect system, the method comprising the steps of:

• securing a first plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a first support element, wherein each of the contacts of the first plurality of contacts has a substantially freestanding, flexible contact section and the contact sections of the first plurality of contacts are arranged in a first array of groups of multiple contact sections positioned in rows and columns, each of the contact sections of the first array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and at least one of the contact sections of each group of the first array is positioned such that the opposing surface of the contact section faces an external surface of a contact section from another group of the first array;
• securing a second plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a second support element having a plurality of discrete, electrically insulative buttresses extending from a surface thereof, wherein each of the contacts of the second plurality of contacts has a contact section and the contact sections of the second plurality of contacts are arranged in a second array of groups of at least four contact sections positioned around a corresponding one of the insulative buttresses, each of the contact sections of the second array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and each group of the contact sections of the first array is configured to receive a corresponding single one of the groups of contact sections from the second array such that, when each group of contact sections from the second array is received within a corresponding one of the groups of contact sections from the first array, each contact surface of each contact section of the first array contacts a corresponding one of the contact surfaces of the contact sections of the second array;
• and
• positioning a fluid electrical insulator such that the fluid electrical insulator occupies a majority of all space located between the facing surfaces.

A method of manufacturing an electrical interconnect system, the method comprising the steps of:

• securing a first plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a first support element, wherein each of the contacts of the first plurality of contacts has a substantially freestanding, flexible contact section and the contact sections of the first plurality of contacts are arranged in a first array of groups of multiple contact sections positioned in rows and columns, each of the contact sections of the first array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and at least one of the contact sections of each group of the first array is positioned such that the opposing surface of the contact section faces another group of the first array;
• positioning a fluid electrical insulator such that the fluid electrical insulator occupies a majority of all space located between each facing surface of the first array and the group of the first array faced by that facing surface;
• and
• securing a second plurality of electrically conductive contacts to a second support element having a plurality of discrete, electrically insulative buttresses on a surface thereof, wherein each of the contacts of the second plurality of contacts has a contact section and the contact sections of the second plurality of contacts are arranged in a second array of groups of at least four contact sections positioned around a corresponding one of the insulative buttresses, each of the contact sections of the second array comprises a contact surface on one side of the contact section and an opposing surface located opposite the contact surface on an opposing side of the contact section, and each group of contact sections from the first array is configured to receive a corresponding single one of the groups of contact sections from the second array such that, when each group of contact sections from the second array is received with a corresponding one of the groups of contact sections from the first array, each contact surface of each contact section of the first array contacts a corresponding one of the contact surfaces of the contact sections of the second array.