Electrical connector

Claim 2

A female electrical contact member adapted to receive a corresponding male contact member, said female member including at least one ferrule portion having a polygonal bore therethrough, a plurality of beams extending longitudinally from the ferrule portion, each beam comprising a pair of intersecting surfaces forming an internal corner, the corners of the beams forming longitudinal extensions of corner sections of the polygonal bore, said corner section extensions being twisted at least partially along their length thus being angularly displaced from the respective corners of the ferrule portion, wherein the insertion of the corresponding male member through the ferrule and beams twists the beams into alignment with the corners of the bore and creates torsional stress on the male member substantially throughout the length of the contact of the male member with the twisted beams.

Claim 3

A contact member in accordance with claim 1, which includes a front and rear ferrule portion interconnected by the plurality of beams.

Claim 4

A contact member in accordance with claim 1, wherein the polygonal bore is rectangular in cross-sectional configuration.

Claim 5

A contact member in accordance with claim 1, wherein ferrule portions are located at opposite ends of the bore and are interconnected by the plurality of beams, the ferrule portions being displaced angularly relative to the axis of the bore.

Claim 6

A contact member in accordance with claim 1, which includes cantilever spring members extending radially from the ferrule portion to retain the contact member in an appropriate cavity.

Claim 7

A contact member in accordance with claim 5, which includes abutment lugs extending radially from a ferrule portion to limit axial movement of the contact member in one direction while the cantilever spring member limits axial movement in the other direction.

Claim 8

A contact member in accordance with claim 1, wherein a pair of polygonally shaped ferrule portions are located at opposite extremes of the bore with the corners of the ferrule portions being in angular alignment.

Claim 9

A female contact having a longitudinal passage extending therethrough for the reception of an associated male contact, said female contact comprising a noncircular barrel portion at one end and having a noncircular bore therethrough, the bore including a plurality of longitudinally extending internal tracking surfaces to nonrotatively mate with complementary external tracking surfaces extending along the length of an associated male contact, torsion beam means extending from the barrel and generally along the longitudinal passage, the internal surfaces of the beam means forming corners which are extensions of the internal tracking surfaces and which are twisted out of radial alignment with the internal tracking surfaces to provide torsional stress on the male contact as it is inserted through the beam means as the corners of the beam means are twisted into radial alignment with the internal tracking surfaces.

Claim 10

A female contact having a longitudinal passage extending therethrough for the reception of an associated male contact, said female contact comprising a noncircular barrel portion at one end and having a noncircular bore therethrough, the bore including a plurality of longitudinally extending internal tracking surfaces to nonrotatively mate with complementary external tracking surfaces extending along the length of an associated male contact, torsion beam means extending from the barrel and generally along the longitudinal passage, the internal surfaces of the beam means forming corners which are extensions of the internal tracking surfaces and which are twisted out of radial alignment with the internal tracking surfaces to provide torsional stress on the male contact as it is inserted through the beam means as the corners of the beam means are twisted into radial alignment with the internal tracking surfaces.

Claim 11

A socket contact in accordance with claim 8, wherein the beam means comprises a plurality of elongate angle members opening toward the central axis of the contact and spaced circumferentially around the axis.

Claim 12

A socket contact in accordance with claim 9, wherein a longitudinal segment of each angle member is twisted about a longitudinal axis.

Claim 13

A contact member in accordance with claim 8, in combination with a housing wherein the housing is provided with a cavity to accommodate the contact member, the cavitY including an axially extending portion having a cross-sectional configuration generally complementary to the noncircular barrel portion of the contact to retain the barrel portion therein against relative rotary motion as the associated male contact is inserted therein.

Claim 14

The combination claimed in claim 11, wherein the cavity includes a shoulder means extending radially therein and the contact including resilient spring means extending radially outwardly adapted to radially compress as the contact is inserted through the shoulder means and to provide means preventing removal of the socket from the cavity.