Electrical connector

Claim 1

An electrical connector comprising: a base member formed from electrically conducting ductile metallic material and having an inner surface, an outer surface, and a first thickness defined by the spacing bEtween said inner surface and said outer surface; a series of generally elongate selectively spaced grooved portions arranged in a predetermined pattern within said base member inner surface, the bottom of said grooved portions extending below said base member inner surface a predetermined depth and the sidewalls of said grooved portions extending upwardly normal to the plane of said inner surface, the spacing between the bottom of said grooved portions and said base member outer surface defining a second thickness thereat, said second thickness being less than said first thickness; a series of selectively deformable teeth extending outwardly from said base member inner surface a predetermined distance, said teeth being arranged in pairs, each tooth of said pair extending along substantially the length of and adjacent to an associated one of the pair of opposing sidewalls of an associated one of said grooved portions, said teeth having convex exterior surfaces defining the sides thereof, said exterior surfaces converging to a sharp edge defining the top of said teeth, the exterior convex surface of each of said teeth adjacent a corresponding grooved portion communicating smoothly with an adjacent sidewall of said grooved portion to provide a continuous surface thereat; the regions of said base member defined by said second thickness providing expandable web portions intermediate said base member first thickness regions, said base member thereby being longitudinally responsive to the expansion and contraction of a conductor disposed therewithin upon the selective closure of said base member about such conductor so as to form a mechanical and electrical coupling therebetween.