Board-operated electrical connector for printed circuit boards

Claim 1

A board-operated connector for connecting a pair of spaced printed terminals located on a printed circuit board with a pair of corresponding output leads carried by said connector in order to connect the terminals with other parts of the electrical system with which the printed circuit board is used, said pair of printed terminals being arranged in a column oriented transverse to a first edge of said circuit board, the first of said terminals lying farther than the second terminal from said board edge with its boundary that is nearest said edge located at a first predetermined distance from the edge, with its geometric center lying a second predetermined distance from said board edge, and with its boundary that is most remote from said edge lying a third predetermined distance from the edge, the geometric centers of said printed terminals being spaced from each other by a fourth predetermined distance, said second printed terminal lying with its boundary that is most remote from said edge at a fifth predetermined distance from the board edge, which connector comprises: (a) a pair of output leads; (b) first and second contacts, each of said contacts having: (i) a free end associated with a predetermined one of said printed terminals and electrically connected with a predetermined one of said output leads, (ii) an open position, and (iii) a closed position for contact with its said associated printed terminal; (c) a narrow hollow body formed of rigid, insulative material for housing said contacts and for carrying said output leads fixedly attached to said connector body and extending outward therefrom, said body having a median plane and two main walls parallel to said plane which are connected by two narrow walls, said walls together defining the interior of said connector body and defining an opening for receiving said printed circuit board, said circuit board when inserted by the user of the container in said board-receiving opening being guided through a predetermined path into a operative position within the interior of said body in which position said board is disposed generally parallel to said main walls, said first edge of the circuit board moving past said first and second contacts as the board moves through its said predetermined path, said two contacts being arranged in a column transverse to said board-receiving opening with said first contact positioned nearer to said opening, the geometric centers of said two contacts being spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the aforesaid fourth predetermined distance; (d) resiliently deformable, elongated support means for each of said first and second contacts, each of said support means: (i) normally supporting its respective contact in the contact's open position, and (ii) being insulated, together with its associated contact, from the other of said two contacts and the latter's associated support means; (e) actuator means for each of said resiliently deformable support means, each of said actuator means being positioned to deform the support means with which it is associated to urge its respective contact, in a direction generally normal to said median plane, into its said closed position; and (f) means for operating both said actuator means in automatic response to the insertion of the printed circuit board in said board-receiving opening and movement of the board along said predetermined path, said means for operating said actuator means comprising movable carriage means positioned alongside said pair of elongated support means and supporting at least one of said actuator means, at least one of said actuator means comprising a rigid pin formed of insulative material extending perpendicularly from said carriage means in a direction transverse to its associated elongated support means, said carriage means: lying entirely outside said predetermined path followed by said printed circuit board, when it is inserted in said connector body and is moved along said path, at least until the board first reaches a safe position, and as the board is moved farther along said predetermined path into its said operative position, being pushed by said board to cause said at least one actuator means supported on said carriage means to press its associated contact toward its fully closed position, said carriage means operating said actuator means only after the printed circuit board has been moved, while said first contact is held by its said support means in its normal open position, to said safe position within the interior of said connector body, in which position said first edge of the circuit board has moved along said predetermined path of the circuit board beyond said first contact a distance greater than the aforesaid fifth predetermined distance, but less than said first predetermined distance, to bring said first contact to a position between said first and second terminals, said carriage means, in automatic response to insertion of said printed circuit board in said board-receiving opening and movement of the board along its said predetermined path to an initial contacting position, in which position said first edge of the circuit board has moved beyond said first contact a distance greater than the aforesaid first predetermined distance, but less than said third predetermined distance, causing said actuator means to move said contacts into contact with their respective printed terminals on the printed circuit board, whereby all contact between said first contact and said second printed terminal is avoided from the time the printed circuit board is inserted within the connector at least until it reaches its said safe position, and whereby said contacts are brought into initial contact with their respective printed terminals on the printed circuit board only after the board has been inserted in said connector body to its said initial contacting position, and into full pressure contact with said printed terminals only after the circuit board has been moved into its fully operative position within the connector body.