US3034093A - Electrical connector socket - Google Patents

Description

May 8, 1962 A. BLAlN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR SOCKET Filed Jan. 25, 1957 24 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR Albert Bloin FIG. 4.

BY 5% 6T AGENT 3 034 093 ELECTRICAL coNisEcToR sooner Albert Blain, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Sperry Rand Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Dela- Ware Filed Jan. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 636,295 12 Claims. (Cl. 339176) disposed on circuit boards which may be readily installed and removed from racks provided for mounting purposes. Such installations must, by their very nature, be associated with connector structures capable of sup plying power and input signals to a particular circuit board, and capable further of taking output signals from said circuit; and it is also often required that a plurality of circuit boards be interconnected with one another to provide an overall circuit arrangement more complex than that present on a single circuit board.

' Connectors suggested for these uses heretofore have been subject to a number of disadvantages; and in particular, it has been found that such connectors do not operate efiiciently when, for some reason, the circuit board should become warped. Moreover, these prior connectors have often required special mounting apparatus which complicates the overall installation; and said prior connectors have been subject to the further disad vantages that, due to their construction, dirt or moisture may be entrapped adjacent contact points thereby providing one or more high resistance or open contacts. A further undesirable feature of such prior connectors has been that they are relatively expensive, do not permit for ready variation in 'the positions of the connectors themselves; and do not permit full visual and electrical inspection of each contact while it is in actual engagement with the circuit board.

The present invention serves to obviate the foregoing difficulties and provides an improved connector assembly wherein the connectors themselves may be readily disposed at varying locations on a supporting structure thereby to permit a custom connector assembly to be readily fabricated for use in a particular circuit, from standard components. The connectors of the present invention are further so constructed that they do not entrap dirt or moisture, permit ready visual and electrical inspection of the contacts themselves while in use, and maintain equal contact pressure on both sides of a printed circuit board regardless of Warpage in that board.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved connector assembly, particularly adapted for use as an edge connector on printed circuit boards.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved connector assembly which is less expensive to manufacture than other connectors suggested heretofore.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a connector assembly comprising a supporting structure having a plurality of contact thereon so arranged that the said contacts exhibit free motion with respect to the supporting sructure, whereby the overall assembly maintains its grip without loss of grip pressure even on a badly warped printed circuit board,

. Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a connector assmbly fabricated of a plurality of standard components and adapted to be readily assembled and disassembled whereby custom connector ts ateint ice assemblies may be readily for use in the provision of electrical connections toany given printed circuit board.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved connector assembly so arranged that it may be mounted in the same guide rails or other mounting structures utilized for mounting a printed circuit board itself, whereby the necessity of providing special connector mounting and supporting structures is obviated.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved connector assembly wherein the electrical contacts have an open type construction thereby minimizing the possibility ofdirt or moisture entrapment.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved connector assembly adapted to interconnect a plurality of circuit boards with one another and/or adapted to provide electrical input or output connections from a given circuit board.

In providing for the foregoing objects and advantages, the present invention contemplates the provision of an improved connector assembly comprising an elongated supporting strip of insulating material carrying a plurality of electrical contact elements thereon. In accordance with a particular feature of the present invention, the said insulating strip is adapted to be mounted in substantially coplanar relation with a printed circuit board, whereby the said board and connector assembly may be supported in common guide rail normally provided for support of the board itself. The said insulating strip or supporting structure comprises, in accordance'with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pair of strip elements each of which has a toothed or otherwise irregular edge; and the dimensions of the teeth on each strip are so related to the inter-teeth spaces on said strips that when the two strips are juxtaposed along their irregular or toothed edges, a plurality of apertures are provided for supporting said contact elements.

The said contact elements in turn comprise a supporting portion adapted for insertion in one of the aforementioned apertures; and this supporting portion carries at its two ends a pair of resilient contact elements lying substantially parallel to one another and to the plane of the assembled insulating strip. The said contact elements may take various configurations, as will be described, and in accordance with one form of the invention, the two contact elements are caused to extend beyond an outer edge of their mounting structure, and are thereafter bent toward one another to provide a resilient jaw adapted for engagement with the edge of a printed circuit board; the other ends of said contact elements being adapted to receive one of more electrical connections such as wire leads. In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, the jaw structure mentioned previously is provided at both ends of the said contact elements whereby the connector assembly is adapted to interconnect a plurality of circuit boards.

. In each of these embodiments, the cont-act elements are so supported by the aforementioned supporting element that they exhibit free motion on either side of the center mounting strip of the assembly, thereby to assure that positive and uniform contact pressure is maintained regardless of Warpage in the printed circuit board itself.

, The foregoing objects, advantages, construction and operation of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates one form of connector assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention, as

r v employed in interconnecting a plurality of circuit boards and inexpensively fabricatedv said boards.

' edges of the strips 11 and 12.

as well as in providing FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of a connector assembly 7 per se, of the type shown in FIGURE 1. V .1 {FIGURE 3 illustrates one form oi insulating strip construotedin accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 4 illustrates another form of insulating strip constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a clamp constructed in accordancelwith the present invention and adapted for use in the connector assemblies of FIGURES 1 and 2 FIGURE 6 is an end view of a contact element constructed in accordance with one form of the present invention.

external electrical connectionsto 7 elongated connector elements 19 and 20 attached to the V outer ends thereof. In actual practice, elements 18,19 and Zii'are integrally attached to one another, and may I be fabricated by a-single stamping operation adapted to FIGURE 7 is a side view of the contact element shown inFJGURE 6; 7 a 7 FIGURE 8 is a side view of another contact element constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIGURE 9jis an end view of the contact element shown in FIGURE 8.

Referring now'to the several figures, it will be seen.

that, in accordance with the present invention, a connector assembly, generally designated 10, comprises a pair of insulating strips 11 and 12, each of which has a toothed or otherwise irregular edge. As shown. in FIGURE 3, the several teeth 1'3 of each strip 11 or{12 may, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, be

- substantially rectangular in configuration; and these teeth [between the widths of the several teeth and interteeth spaces causes the formation of a plurality of apertures '15 intermediate each tooth on one of the strips and the 7 two, adjacent .teeth on the other of said strips. As is illustrated in FIGURE 2, the several apertures 15 are elongated in configuration, lie parallel to one another,

provide a substantially H-shaped structure, with the legs of the H ultimately providing contact portions 19 and 2t); and with the cross arm of the l-l ultimately providing central's'upporting element 18, by anappropriate bending operation. The contacts themselves may be fabricated of various conductive materials; and by way of example, actual contacts constructed in accordance with the present invention have been fabricated of .017:.OG15 Phosphor bronze one-half hard.

The central supporting element 1 8 of each contact 16 is adapted to be supported by one of the slots 15, already described; and in general an overall connector assembly would be fabricated by disposing one or more contact elements 16 and/ or one or more contact element 17 .(to be described) adjacent to strips such as 11 and 12 when such strips are spaced from one another; whereafter the two strips would be juxtaposed thereby to firmly clamp central supporting elements 18 therebetween. When so assembled, connector portions 19 and 2091: each element 16 lie generally parallel to one another and parallel to the opposite faces of central mounting strip lit-12; and, in the case of elementld, both opposed ends of portions 19 a'nd20 are bent toward one another, as at 21 and 22, thereby to provide a pair of resilient jaws spaced, beyond the outer free edges of mounting strip 11 .12. It will be noted that by this disposition, each of the contact portions 19and 72%} has ,free motion on either side of the central mounting strip 11-12, whereby thelcontact jaws 21 and 2 2 maintain their grip without loss of grip and extend generally transverse to the elongated outer However, it will be appreciated that other configurations and dispositions of the several apertures may be effected by appropriate choice of the edge configurations of strips 11 and 12.

It will moreover "be appreciated that the rectangular tooth and intertooth space configuration, shown in FIG- URES 1 through 3, is not mandatory, and a possible alternative construction in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 4. In this particular arrangement, the strip 11a has a plurality of teeth 13a which are generally triangular in configuration; and the intertooth spaces 14a between the several teeth 13a, are

also of substantially triangular configuration but are, as was the case in the arrangement of FIGURE 3, somewhat larger in dimension than teeth 1311. By this arrangement, therefore, the juxtaposition of two insulating strips one or more electrical contact elements. These contact elements may assume various forms, and one particular form designated 16, is adapted to provide interconnection between a plurality of circuit boards; while another general form designated 17, is adapted to permit external connections to be provided to a given circuit board.

Contact elements 16 are shown in greater detail in FIGURES 6 and 7; and these elements in general com,

prise a central supporting portion 18 having a'pair of 35 pressure on a printed circuit board, even though that board-might be badly warped.

Elements of the types thus described in reference to FIGURES 6 and 7 may be readily employed for interconnecting circuit boards into a more complex circuit. This particular consideration is illustrated in FIGURE 1, and it will be seen that printed circuit boards such as 23 and 24 may be disposed in generally coplanar relation one another, in a common mounting structure such as guide rails 25 and 26. The connector assembly 10 is interposed between the said boards 23 and 24 in generally coplanar relation with each, whereby connector assembly 10 may also be supported by the same guide rails 25 and 25 which are utilized to support boards 23 and 24. Each of the boards 23 or 24 may have at least 'one printed circuit thereon of any desired configuration;

and these printed circuits may include a number of conductive deposits, such as 27, adjacent the edges of said boards on one or both sides thereof. 7 When such boards are therefore inserted in the outer jaws 21 and 22 (see FIGURE 6), of connector elements .16, electrical continuity between the boards isestablished; and this continuity is maintained even though one or both of the boards should shift in position or be warped.

As mentioned previously, external electrical connections may be readily provided to a given circuit board by utilizing a slightly modified connector of the type designated 17; and such external connectionshave been designated 28 in the arrangement of FIGURE 1. The actual connector 17 which permits such electrical connections to be provided, is illustrated in greaterdetail in FIGURES 8 and 9. In particular, it will be noted that this modified connector assembly again employs a central supporting element 18a having a' pair of connector elements 19a and 20a attached thereto, whereby insertion of central element 18a into one of the slots 15 in the central mounting strip 10 causes connector POI"? tions 19a and 20a to lie generally parallel to the opposite faces of said strip 10 in a manner similar to that described in reference to connectors 16. As before, ele- 'ments 19a and 20a extend beyond an outer edge of central mounting strip 10 and are caused to be bent toward one another as at 21a, thereby to provide a resilient jaw for engaging a conductive deposit 27 'on a circuit board such as 23 or 24.

The other ends of elements 19a and 2011 are not bent toward one another, however, but are caused to extend, preferably beyond the other outer edge of mounting strip 11-42, in generally parallel relation to one another, as at 29 and 30, whereby external connections may be made to connector 17 at either or both of points 29 and 30, for instance by crimping a sleeve-like connection over one or both of these particular extension points.

It will be appreciated that clamping means shouldbe provided to maintain the overall connector assembly in assembled relation. One preferred form of such a clamp ing means is shown in FIGURE 5. This particular clamp includes an elongated portion 31 having a pair of depending portions 32 and 33 at the ends thereof, whereby bent around the outer edges of these strips to hold the 7 strips in firm juxtaposed relation. The clamp means further includes a central depending tongue 34 adapted for insertion into one of the slots 15; and this tongue has several functions. First, it assures that the clamp means does not shift along the mounting strip 19; secondly, by causing the strip 34 to be bent over a tooth such as 13 in one of the mounting strips 11 and 12, it provides a further clamp point intermediate the outer clamp points provided by portions 32 and 33; and thirdly, it acts as a spacing element in that it positively positions strips 11 and 12 relative to one another, thereby to predetermine the size and location of the several slots 15. The clamp means also includes a recess 35 in its uppermost portion 31 to assure that only a single slot 15 is occupied by the clamp; and it will be appreciated from an examination of FIGURES 1 and 2, for instance, that a further connector such as 16 or 17 may be supported on the connector assembly in a slot 15 disposed adjacent recess 35 of the clamping bracket.

As is illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, two clamping brackets designated 36 and 37 may be utilized adjacent the opposing elongated ends of the composite central mounting structure 10, but further clamping means may be disposed between clamp elements 36 and 37, if desired. Moreover, as will be seen froma comparison of FIGURES l and 2, the clamping means 36 and 37 may be inserted from either side of the composite central mounting strip 1112.

It will be appreciated that the particular clamping means 36 and 37, which are illustrated in detail in FIG- URE 5, are illustrative only and other clamp structures may be employed. In particular, the tongue 34 may be eliminated and other forms of spacing and strip positioning means may be employed, although the particular structure already described in reference to FIGURE 5 is preferred by reason of its simplicity.

The connector assemblies thus described may, of course, be readily assembled and disassembled; and the contact elements 16 and 17 may be placed at varying positions along the central mounting strip in accordance with the particular requirements of a specific circuit. It will moreover be appreciated that due to the freely spaced relationship of connector portions, such as 19 and 20, with respect to central mounting strip 1112, there is little likelihood of moisture or dirt entrapment; and, as Will be seen from the arrangement of FIGURE 1, the contacts themselves may be readily inspected even while in actual use in connection with one or more printed circuit boards. Moreover, due to the coplanar relation of connector assembly 19 to boards 23 and 24, the connector assembly is supported by the same guide slots or mounting structure as are provided for supporting the circuit boards themselves; and this particular consideration greatly reduces the structural re- .have already, been described. Other variations will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. By way of example, the two strips 10 and 11 may be so constructed that one of said strips has a substantially straight edge and the other of said strips has a slotted or otherwise irregular edge, whereby juxtaposition of said strips again defines the plurality of apertures 15 due primarily to the slots or irregularities in the edge of one strip only. It must, therefore, be stressed .that the foregoing description is meant to be illustrative only and should not be considered limitative of my invention. All such variations and modifications as are in accord with the principles described are meant to fall within the scope of the appended claims. t ..I

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a pair of flat insulating strips each of which has opposedsubstant-ially planar sides which are wider than the thickness of said strips whereby each said flat strip defines a relatively thin edge between the planar sides thereof, each of said strips having a toothed configuration along the thin edge thereof, said flatstrips being disposed in juxtaposed substantially coplanar relation to one another along their relatively thin toothed edges, and an electrical connector element supported by said juxtaposed strips, said connector element including a supporting element extending-transverse to the substantially common plane of said strips and gripped between said toothed edges of said juxtaposed strips, said connector element also including a pair of elongated substam tially planar conductive elements each having a centrally located section of one side attached to one of the opposed ends. of said supporting element and extending in substantially parallel planar relation to one another adjacent and substantially parallel to the opposite relatively wide planar sides of said fiat insulating strips respectively.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said strips support a plurality of said connector elements withthe elongated conductive elements thereof being disposed sub stantially parallel to one another.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the opposite ends of each of said elongated conductive elements extend beyond the outer edges of said insulating strips, corresponding ends of said pair of conductive elements being bent toward one another whereby said pair of conductive elements define a pair of resilient conductive jaws.

located respectively beyond both outer edges of said juxtaposed insulating strips.

4. The combination of claim'l wherein one pair of corresponding ends of said elongated conductive elements extends beyond the outer edge of one of said insulating strips and are bent toward one another whereby said corresponding ends define a resilient jaw therebetween, and the other pair of corresponding ends of said conductive elements are substantially planar and extend in parallel spaced relation beyond the outer edge of the other of said insulating strips whereby an electrical conductor may be attached to at least one of said conductive elements at a position remote from said j-aw.

5. in combination, a pair of substantially planar insulator members each of which has an elongated relatively thin edge including a plurality of spaced teeth, the widths of at least portions of said teeth being less than the spaces between adjacent ones of said teeth, means for clamping said insulator members in juxtaposed relation along their elongated toothed edges with the teeth of each member being inserted into the interteeth spaces of the other of said members whereby a plurality of apertures spaced from one another along said elongated edges of said members are provided, said apertures being located at said less wide portions of said teeth, each of said apertures being'elongagted in in a direction transyerse to the direction of elongation of said elongated edge, and a plurality of electrical connector elements respectively inserted into said apertures and supported in spaced relation to one another by said clamped juxtaposed insulator members, eachof said conconfiguration with said apertures being disposed substantially parallel to one another nector'elements including a substantially :planarsupporting portion fnserted into one of saidlapertures and also including a substantially planar connector portion attached s to said supporting portion at a position external of said posed insulator members, the'opposed ends of said clamp member being bent adjacent the outer edges of said'ina sulator members, said clamping member including a portion extendinginto one of said apertures.

9. In combination, a pair of relatively wide elongated planar insulator strips, at least one of said strips having thereby to define a pair of opposed V of'a circuit structure.

an irregular relatively thin elongated edge, said strips be-' 7 ing juxtaposed alongsaid irregular edge thereby to form,

a substantially planar insulator structure. of appreciably greater width'than thickness having a plurality of spaced apertures defined respectively by spacings in said irregular edge,'and1a plurality of conductive elements mounted in spaced relation to one another on said insulator structure,

5 each of-said conductive elements including a supporting {portion-"inserted into "one of said apertures and further including at least one resilient electrical connector portion attached to said supporting portion and extending substantially parallel to the plane of said planar insulatorstruoture, resilient connector portion being attached to said supporting portion at a position spaced vfrom the surfacefof said insulator structure whereby said connector portion is adapted to move relatively freely with respect to said insulator structure.

*10. In combination, a substantially planar insulator 7 member having an elongated edge andhav-ing a plurality V of variable size apertures spaced from one another along a line'disposed substantially parallel to said edge, said insulator member being separable into a plurality of parts along said line, clamping means for maintaining said separable parts in a predetermined spatial relationship, and a plurality of electrical'connector elements supported in substantially parallel relation to one another by said insulator member, each of said connector elements iricluding a supporting element extending transverse to said member through one of said apertures, each of saidconnector elements further including ,a pair of. elongated resilient terminal elements attached to said supporting ele-v ment adjacent to and spaced from the opposed surfaces of said planar insulator member, said terminal elements extending substantially parallel to one another and toy the plane of said insulator member in spaced relation to said surfaces of said insulator member whereby said terminal elements are adapted to'flex relatively freely adjacent the opposed sides of said insulator member, each of said pairs of terminal elements including portions extending beyond said elongated edge of said insulator member jaws for the reception 11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said clamping means includes a spacer element inserted into one of said apertures forposition-ing said plurality of parts relative to one another to determine the size of said apertures whereby saidsupporting elements may be positively retained. 4

l2. Atermiual strip comprising a plurality of contact elements, each of said contact elements including a supporting portion and a pairof planar contact portions. substantially parallel toone another and perpendicular to said supporting portion', said supporting portion and said pair of resilient contact portions having a' unitary construction such that said pair of contact portions provides a pair of resilient terminals at each end of said supporting portion, and a pair of insulator strip elements having mating irregular edges, said irregular edges having dimensions such that there are a'pluralityof apertures produced when said strips are in juxtaposed coplanar relation at said ir-. regular edges, said apertures-being adapted to receive and firmly retain a substantially centrally located segment of said supporting portion, said insulator strip elements having dimensions such that said pair of terminals at each end of said contact element extend beyond the outer edges of said strip. 1 Relferences Cited in the file-of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Guttman May 1, 1906 1,615,168 Doppke Jan. 18, 1927 2,071,713 Terrill Feb.23, 19 7 2,317,710 Anderson Apr. 27, 1943 2,441,393 Buchanan et a1. May 1 1, 1948 2,581,967 Mitchell Ian, 8, 1952 2,641,747 Iohanson June 9, 1953 2,724,095 Rudner Nov. 15, 1955 2,730,683 Ayers et a1. Ian. 10, 1956 2,799,837 Powell July 16, 1957 2,853,689 Jackson et al. Sept. 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 580,001 Great Britain Aug. 23, 1946 644,540 Great Britain Oct. 11, 19

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