Conforming press-fit contact pin for printed circuit board
US5893779A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 18, 1996 |
| Grant date | Apr 13, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 18, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49217
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A novel press-fit electrically-conductive contact member, as, for example, an electrically-conductive metal pin, characterized by a conforming section which has an elastically-deformable region which acts as a spring and which is adapted to engage a substrate hole in a press-fitting relationship. The conforming section comprises opposed beam members configured to accommodate a considerably larger hole tolerance yet still provide sufficient retention force to stabilize the pin during a soldering process that such substrates may typically undergo. The beam cross-sections are configured to allow them to occupy a side-by-side position. Contact members with the conforming section can be manufactured by a wire-forming process in which end-to-end connected pins are formed as a continuous strip needing no excess material for carrying the pins, nor are any air gaps formed between the pins, and thus the finished continuous strip of pins can be wound up on a reel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.