Mounting and contacting assembly for plate-shaped electrical device

Claim 1

In a mount in the form of a circuit board for holding an electrical device comprising a plate member with a periphery bearing a multiplicity of electrical contacts in a predetermined array, said circuit board having a window larger than said plate member for receiving same, said circuit board being provided with conductor runs and connection means for operatively linking said conductor runs to respective electrical contacts of said plate member, the improvement comprising: a multiplicity of elastically resilient holding tabs attached to the circuit board, at least some of said holding tabs being operatively connected to respective conductor runs of said circuit board, said holding tabs including respective tab portions projecting into said window in a disposition corresponding at least in part to the array of electrical contacts on the periphery of the plate member, the connection means including at least some of said holding tabs, said window having approximately the same size and shape as said plate member, said plate member having a first side and a second side facing opposite thereto, said tab portions including short tab portions having a first length and long tab portions having a second length greater than said first length, said lengths differing by a sufficiently great amount and said holding tabs being sufficiently resilient so that, upon an engagement of said tab portions with said first side of said plate member and a motion thereof through said window, all of said tab portions initially bend in the direction of motion of said plate member and said short tab portions subsequently snap back in a direction opposite said motion of said plate member, said short tab portions engaging said second side and said long tab portions engaging said first side of said plate member upon a mounting thereof in said window.