Contact structure for multiple wafer semiconductor rectifier arrangement

Claim 1

An article of manufacture for use in the manufacture of a semiconductor rectifier device having a plurality of interconnected semiconductor wafers each of which is electrically connected to the conductors of the device by inserting same between a pair of sectional areas of the current conductors which form the contacts of a clamp-type mounting, and wherein the device is then enclosed in an insulating material so that conductor portions extend therefrom in a desired predetermined direction, comprising: a strip of conductive sheet material having a plurality of openings therein so that the surface thereof is divided into a plurality of sectional areas to form a geometric structure which is entirely enclosed by the conductive sheet material and with the sectional areas of said structure forming the associated supporting and upper contacts for each clamp-type mounting for the plurality of semiconductor wafers of said device and all of the respective current conductors for said contacts and for said device, the surface areas of said contacts and the portions of said conductors interconnecting said clamp-type mountings being interlocked with one another within the central portion of said structure, at least one of the contacts of each associated pair of supporting and upper contacts being bent out of the plane of said strip of conductive sheet material and a separate semiconductor wafer clamped between each associated pair of contacts, and the portions of said current conductors which are to form the external connections for said rectifying device extending from the central portion of said structure toward the edges thereof in at least two different directions and at desired angles with respect to one another and being connected to the surrounding portions of said strip of conductive sheet material to support the central portion of said structure within said strip during the manufacturing process.