Two electronic devices with multiple closely-spaced miniature terminals often must be connected. One example is a component such as a cell phone with component terminals spaced at a pitch of one millimeter or less and a circuit board with board terminals at a corresponding spacing. A contactor assembly that engages the terminals of the two devices to connect them should have contactors that are each resiliently compressible to assure that all terminals are firmly engaged with corresponding contactors for low resistance connections. A miniature contactor assembly that could be constructed at low cost and assured good contact with each of a plurality of pairs of closely spaced terminals, would be of value.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a miniature contactor assembly is provided which can reliably connect two rows of closely spaced terminals. The contactor assembly includes a wire bent into a row of contactors, with each contactor having at least three loops that lie one slightly behind another, but with all lying in primarily the same plane. The contactors are electrically separated by cutting the wire between adjacent contactors. The contactors are held together by a holder formed by a block of insulative polymer. The polymer block can be of elastomeric material so the wire portions within the block can bend, or the polymer block can be of rigid material with grooves near the surface to accommodate more bending.
In one contactor assembly, the contactors each have four 360° loops that each extends away from the contactor axis. The loops lie one slightly behind the other, but with the distance between the frontmost loop of the contactor and rearmost loop of the contactor being less than half, and usually less than one-quarter the height of the contactor.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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The contactors are especially useful to fit in a small space and connect miniature terminals. In a combination of a contactor assembly and devices with terminals that applicant has designed, the contactor 14 of
It is possible to connect two rows of terminals using a wire wound into only one loop, with the loop top and bottom contacting opposite terminals. It is also possible to connect two rows of terminals using a wire bent into only one top loop and one bottom loop. However, if one of such loops of a row of them is mounted so it is tilted considerably, then such tilted loop may not engage the corresponding terminal. Applicant's use of two loops at the top and bottom of the contactor, results in two widely spaced loops being compressed by a terminal. If a contactor is tilted, one of its two loops will be compressed a lot and the other will be compressed little or not at all, and at least one of the two loops will contact the corresponding terminal.
The use of at least two loops projecting from one of the faces of the block also helps in the manufacture of the contactor assembly. The contactors can be cut apart and laid on a surface of a jig, with the two lowermost loops helping to assure proper orientation of the contactors until the holder block is molded around the middles of the contactors.
Although terms such as “vertical”, “top” and “bottom” are used herein to describe parts as illustrated, it should be noted that the contactor assembly can be used in any orientation.
Thus, the invention provides a miniature contactor assembly for connecting two rows of terminals, which can be made at low cost and can connect together terminals that are very closely spaced. A row of contactors is formed from a single wire that is wound into a set of least three loops for each contactor, with the sets of loops electrically separated by cutting the wound wire or cutting away a length of the wire between each set of loops. The loops are held in the proper orientations and at the desired spacing, by a holder block of insulative (polymer) material. At least two loops project from one of the faces of the holder block, to help orient the contactors during manufacture. In a preferred contactor assembly, each contactor has four loops that each has an inner end that is spaced form the axis of the contactor.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.
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