Claims
- 1. A method of making a contact member from a generally planar shaped workpiece of conductive material of a predetermined thickness having first and second generally parallel faces of a predetermined area terminating in a third face of a predetermined width comprising the steps of:
- (a) continuously supporting said first and second faces of the workpiece substantially throughout the entire area thereof save for first and second unsupported area of predetermined width and length on each of said first and second faces disposed adjacent to said third face to prevent lateral deformation of said first and second faces save for deformation in said unsupported areas of predetermined width and length located on said first and second faces; and
- (b) while continuously, supporting said first and second faces of the workpiece, imparting a shearing force to said third face of said generally planar shaped workpiece at a location along the width of said unsupported area and intermediate said first and second faces to form first and second tongues, a substantial portion of each of said tongues having a thickness greater than one-half the thickness of the generally planar shaped workpiece.
- 2. A method as defined in claim 1 in which said shear force imparted to said third face in a manner to produce a burnishing of the sheared surfaces of said tongue-like members to form a highly polished surface thereon.
- 3. A method as defined in claim 1 in which said shear force is imparted to said third face in a manner whereby the width of each said tongue is less than the width of said unsupported areas.
- 4. A method as defined in claim 1 in which said shear force is imparted to said third force in a manner whereby the length of each said tongue is less than the length of said unsupported areas of said workpiece.
- 5. A method as defined in claim 1 including the step of forming said tongues into a predetermined curved configuration simultaneously with imparting the shearing force to said third force of said workpiece.
- 6. A method as defined in claim 1 the further step of separating said contact from the workpiece by exerting forces on said planar shaped workpiece proximate said third face, said forces being exerted in the same direction as said shearing force.
- 7. A method of making a device of the character having a pair of diverging tongues, each tongue having transversely spaced edges and opposing inner faces from a generally planar shaped workpiece of a predetermined thickness having first and second generally parallel faces of a predetermined area terminating in a third face of a predetermined width comprising the steps of:
- (a) continuously supporting said first and second faces of the workpiece throughout the entire area thereof save for unsupported areas of predetermined width and length on each of said first and second faces disposed adjacent to said third face; and
- (b) while continuously supporting said first and second faces of the workpiece throughout the entire area thereof save for the unsupported areas, imparting a shearing force to said third face of said generally planar shaped workpiece at a location along the width of said unsupported area and intermediate said first and second faces thereof to simultaneously form six generally planar surfaces defining the edges and inner, opposing surfaces of said tongues.
- 8. A method of making a device as defined in claim 7 for use as a contact member in which the shear force is imparted to said third face of said workpiece in a manner to form inner, opposing surfaces of the electrical contact member which are generally concave in cross-section.
- 9. A method of making an electrical contact as defined in claim 7 in which the shear force is imparted to said third face of said workpiece in a manner to form inner opposing surfaces of the contact member which are generally convex in cross-section.
- 10. An apparatus for making a contact member from a generally planar shaped workpiece of conductive material of a predetermined thickness having first and second generally parallel faces terminating in a third face said contact member having a pair of outwardly diverging tongues of a predetermined configuration, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a supporting body having a workpiece receiving cavity formed therein;
- (b) workpiece supporting means closely receivable within said cavity of said supporting body for rigidly supporting the first and second faces of said workpiece throughout their entire area save for an unsupported portion of predetermined size; and
- (c) shearing means closely receivable within said cavity of said supporting body for imparting a shearing force to said third face of the workpiece at a location proximate said unsupported area and intermediate the first and second faces thereof to controllably generally bisect the unsupported portion of the workpiece, said shearing means comprising a punch closely receivable within the cavity formed in said supporting body, said punch including:
- (i) a body portion; and
- (ii) a cutter portion carried by said body portion, said cutter portion having walls tapering inwardly at a predetermined angle to define an included angle of between about 60 degrees and about 80 degrees, and terminating in an apex defining a shearing edge.
- 11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10 in which said included angle of said cutter portion is approximately 70 degrees.
- 12. An apparatus for shearing a generally planar shaped workpiece of a predetermined wall thickness having first and second generally parallel faces terminating in a third face of a predetermined width, to form a pair of outwardly diverging, tongue-like members of a predetermined size and shape, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) workpiece supporting means for continuously supporting the first and second faces of said workpiece, during shearing throughout substantially their entire areas save for a shear area of a predetermined width and length, said workpiece supporting means comprising:
- (i) a first supporting element having a first face for engagement with said first face of the workpiece throughout the entire area thereof save for said shear area; and
- (ii) a second supporting element having a first face for engagement with the second face of the workpiece throughout the entire area thereof save for said shear area;
- (b) shearing means for imparting a shearing force to said third face of said generally planar shaped workpiece to controllably generally bisect the workpiece intermediate two generally parallel lines transversely spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of said shear area to form the tongue-like members, said shearing means comprising a punch having a width slightly less than the width of said shear area, said punch including side walls tapering inwardly at a predetermined angle.
- 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 12 for forming a contact having a pair of outwardly diverging tongue-like members, each of said tongue-like members having an average wall thickness greater than one half the wall thickness of the workpiece.
- 14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 in which said contact has a length less than the length of said unsupported area.
- 15. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 in which said side walls of said punch are generally concave in cross-section.
- 16. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 in which said side walls are generally convex in cross-section.
- 17. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 for forming an electrical contact.
- 18. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 for forming a thermal contact.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 162,740, filed Mar. 1, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,763 which is a continuation-in-part application of co-pending Ser. No. 886,233 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
162740 |
Mar 1988 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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886233 |
Mar 1986 |
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