Electrical terminals for flat wire

Claim 1

A pair of terminals capable of being secured to a television antenna wire or the like wherein said wire comprises a layer of substantially flat insulation of predetermined width having two spaced conductors therein so that each of said terminals is electrically connected to one of said conductors wherein, each of said terminals being substantially a mirror image of the other and comprising a pair of plate-like members, each of said pairs comprising first and second plate-like members, a deformable hinge disposed between said first and second members in each of said pairs for maintaining said members of each pair in fixed angular relation with respect to each other prior to deformation of said hinges, means for piercing the layer of insulation and contacting the conductors in the wire, said means comprising an array of insulation piercing, electrically conductive elements coupled to at least one of said members in each of said pairs and extending generally toward the other member in said pair, electrically conductive connecting means mechanically coupled to one of said members and said array of electrically conductive elements in each of said pairs for connection with external conductive members, means for releasably coupling said first and second pairs to each other so that said pairs define a generally U-shaped cross-section with one member in one of said pairs being coplanar with a corresponding member in the other pair, said members cooperating to form the base of said U and the other member in each of said pairs cooperating to form the legs of said U, the distance between said legs being slightly larger than the predetermined width of the wire, the two pairs of members thus cooperating to form a single locating area for receiving the antenna wire so that the wire can be received therebetween while its lateral movement is restricted thereby to maintain the conductors in alignment with their corresponding array of electrically conductive elements, said legs positioning said wire while the wire is pressed between said first and second members in each of said pairs and said arrays of electrically conductive elements pierce the layer of insulation comprising the wire to make electrical contact with their corresponding conductor while said terminals are coupled to each other.