System for molding electronic components

Claim 1

The process for manufacturing molded electronic components including the steps of: a. forming a metal sheet to have a series of spaced apart cutout patterns, each pattern including at least two opposing spacedapart pairs of slots extending from a central opening to points on said sheet short of its edges to define at least two narrow, elongated prong-like strips each joined to the metal sheet at one end only with their free ends extending into the central opening, said central opening having a width corresponding to the desired width of the molded part. b. connecting the free ends of the metal strips to the terminals of a row of electronic components to make electrical contacts thereto and to support each of said components in one of the central openings, c. situating the metal strip in a closable mold having mold cavities of the same width as the width of the central openings in the sheet and spaced-apart in correspondence with the spacing of said central openings and closing the mold whereby each component is supported in a mold cavity in non-contiguous relationship with the walls thereof, d. introducing fluid molding material by way of at least one of said pairs of slots into at least one of said cutouts extending to a mold cavity for passage into the mold cavity to fill the mold and encapsulate the component therein with the excess molding material flowing by way of an opposing pair of slots into at least one other of said cutouts extending from each cavity, e. causing the molding material to set, opening the mold and then removing the metal sheet with its supported molded components from the mold, f. severing the prong-like strip from the carrier strip to form individual molded components having strip-like terminal connections extending therefrom.