US5823830A — Tailess compliant contact

Claim 1

Independent Claim 308 words

An electrical contact which has a compliant section with a vertical axis and upper and lower ends, for press-fit into a hole of a board, and which has a top section extending generally upwardly from said upper end of said compliant section, wherein said compliant section has lateral and thickness dimensions that are perpendicular to each other and to said vertical axis, and wherein said compliant section is of the eye-of-the-needle type that includes a vertically-extending slot that extends through the entire thickness of said compliant section and that leaves a pair of largely vertical beams that have merging upper and lower ends and laterally spaced beam middle portions, with said beam middle portions having inner sides at said slot and having outer sides that lie furthest from said slot and with said compliant section having a predetermined maximum lateral spacing of said outer sides, with said compliant section having an extreme lower end that forms an extreme lower end of said contact, and wherein said contact has an initial configuration prior to said press-fit, characterized by: in said initial configuration, said lower end of said compliant section is convexly rounded, as seen in a front elevation view taken along a line extending along said thickness dimension, with said lower end extending downwardly of said slot and with said lower end, including said extreme lower end of said compliant section, having a radius of curvature (A) that is at least 20% of said predetermined maximum lateral spacing, as seen in said front elevation view, with said compliant section having a maximum thickness (R) and with said lower end of said compliant section including said extreme lower end thereof also being convexly rounded to have a radius of curvature (Q) that is at least 25% of the thickness of said compliant section as seen in a side elevation view.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 308 words

An electrical contact which has a compliant section with a vertical axis and upper and lower ends, for press-fit into a hole of a board, and which has a top section extending generally upwardly from said upper end of said compliant section, wherein said compliant section has lateral and thickness dimensions that are perpendicular to each other and to said vertical axis, and wherein said compliant section is of the eye-of-the-needle type that includes a vertically-extending slot that extends through the entire thickness of said compliant section and that leaves a pair of largely vertical beams that have merging upper and lower ends and laterally spaced beam middle portions, with said beam middle portions having inner sides at said slot and having outer sides that lie furthest from said slot and with said compliant section having a predetermined maximum lateral spacing of said outer sides, with said compliant section having an extreme lower end that forms an extreme lower end of said contact, and wherein said contact has an initial configuration prior to said press-fit, characterized by: in said initial configuration, said lower end of said compliant section is convexly rounded, as seen in a front elevation view taken along a line extending along said thickness dimension, with said lower end extending downwardly of said slot and with said lower end, including said extreme lower end of said compliant section, having a radius of curvature (A) that is at least 20% of said predetermined maximum lateral spacing, as seen in said front elevation view, with said compliant section having a maximum thickness (R) and with said lower end of said compliant section including said extreme lower end thereof also being convexly rounded to have a radius of curvature (Q) that is at least 25% of the thickness of said compliant section as seen in a side elevation view.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 39 words

The contact described in claim 1 wherein: the extreme lower end of said contact lies a distance N below the bottom of said slot, where said distance is no more than one-quarter of the height E of said slot.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 84 words

The contact described in claim 1 including: a circuit board of predetermined thickness, which has a plated cylindrical through board hole and which has upper and lower faces, said circuit board lower face being unobstructed to the passage of electromagnetic radiation immediately below said board hole; said compliant section of said contact lies in said board hole, with said lower end of said compliant section which forms the bottom of said contact, lying at least as high as the lower face of said board.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 176 words

A combination of a circuit board which has upper and lower faces and a plurality of plated holes extending along a vertical axis through said board, and a plurality of electrical contacts that each has a compliant section lying in interference fit in one of said holes and a top section projecting generally upwardly above the hole, where the compliant section of each contact is of the eye-of-the-needle type with a vertically-elongated slot that forms a pair of laterally-spaced beams, and where a region lying immediately below said circuit board and between first and second of said holes is unobstructed to the passage of electromagnetic energy, wherein: said first and second contacts each have convexly gradually rounded lower end means for minimizing radiation and reception of electromagnetic energy, said rounded lower end means forming the lower ends of said contacts and being rounded as seen in both a front elevation view and a side elevation view, with said views taken along lines that are perpendicular to each other and that are both perpendicular to said axis.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 176 words

A combination of a circuit board which has upper and lower faces and a plurality of plated holes extending along a vertical axis through said board, and a plurality of electrical contacts that each has a compliant section lying in interference fit in one of said holes and a top section projecting generally upwardly above the hole, where the compliant section of each contact is of the eye-of-the-needle type with a vertically-elongated slot that forms a pair of laterally-spaced beams, and where a region lying immediately below said circuit board and between first and second of said holes is unobstructed to the passage of electromagnetic energy, wherein: said first and second contacts each have convexly gradually rounded lower end means for minimizing radiation and reception of electromagnetic energy, said rounded lower end means forming the lower ends of said contacts and being rounded as seen in both a front elevation view and a side elevation view, with said views taken along lines that are perpendicular to each other and that are both perpendicular to said axis.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 65 words

The combination described in claim 4 wherein: said contacts are each formed of sheet metal with front and rear faces having primarily parallel flat portions as seen in a side elevation view, and said rounded lower end means each has a radius of curvature (Q), as seen in a side elevation view, which is at least one-quarter of the thickness (R) between said flat portions.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 45 words

The combination described in claim 4 wherein: said contacts each have extreme lower ends spaced a distance (N) below the bottom of the slot of the contact, where the distance (N) is no more than one-quarter the height (E) of the slot of the contact.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 184 words

An electrical contact which has a compliant section with a vertical axis and upper and lower ends, for press-fit into a hole of a board, said contact having a top section extending generally upwardly from said upper end of said compliant section, wherein said compliant section has lateral and thickness dimensions that are perpendicular to each other and to said vertical axis, and wherein said compliant section is of the eye-of-the-needle type that includes a vertically-extending slot that extends through the entire thickness of said compliant section and that has upper and lower slot ends and that leaves a pair of largely vertical beams that have merging upper and lower beam ends and laterally spaced beam middle portions, said compliant section lower end forming the lower end of said contact, and wherein said contact has an initial configuration prior to said press-fit, characterized by: in said initial configuration, said lower end of said compliant section is rounded and extends below the lower end of said slot by a maximum distance (N) that is no more than 25% of the height (E) of said slot.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 184 words

An electrical contact which has a compliant section with a vertical axis and upper and lower ends, for press-fit into a hole of a board, said contact having a top section extending generally upwardly from said upper end of said compliant section, wherein said compliant section has lateral and thickness dimensions that are perpendicular to each other and to said vertical axis, and wherein said compliant section is of the eye-of-the-needle type that includes a vertically-extending slot that extends through the entire thickness of said compliant section and that has upper and lower slot ends and that leaves a pair of largely vertical beams that have merging upper and lower beam ends and laterally spaced beam middle portions, said compliant section lower end forming the lower end of said contact, and wherein said contact has an initial configuration prior to said press-fit, characterized by: in said initial configuration, said lower end of said compliant section is rounded and extends below the lower end of said slot by a maximum distance (N) that is no more than 25% of the height (E) of said slot.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 45 words

The combination described in claim 7 wherein: said beam middle portions have outer sides spaced by a predetermined distance (G) of about 0.048 inch, and said lower end of said compliant section extends a distance (N) of about 0.012 inch below said slot lower end.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-10-19	2002-04-20	2002-10-20	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-10-19	2006-04-20	2006-10-20	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-10-19	2010-04-20	2010-10-20	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Tailess compliant contact

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag