Circuit board and method of making the same

Claim 1

A circuit board, comprising an insulating member having an outer surface, at least one recess extending inwardly from said outer surface and having an open end at the latter, and an inner surface surrounding said recess; electrically conductive contact means installed at least in part in said recess, said contact means including a base portion secured to said insulating member and a plurality of independently deflectable resilient retaining portions electrically and mechanically connected to each other by way of said base portion, said retaining portions extending from said base portion at circumferentially spaced locations of said recess towards said open end and each being deflectable from a normal position in which it is located adjacent to but defines a gap with said inner surface to thereby store energy; and at least one current-conducting terminal extending through said open end into one of said gaps, deflecting the respective retaining portion out of said normal position so that such retaining portion frictionally engages said terminal and biases the same into frictional engagement with said inner surface, so that said terminal can be withdrawn by overcoming the force of said frictional engagement.