Abstract: A high reliability socket contact assembly is provided, of the type that has a seamless exterior, which has tines with closely spaced initial and final points of pin contact engagement, and which has a closed entry region limiting the size of pin contacts that can be inserted, which can be constructed at low cost. The assembly includes a seamless barrel (12, FIG. 3) having a cylindrical cavity (16) extending into its front end, and a clip (20) formed of sheet metal rolled into a tube and lying in the cavity. The clip has a rearward portion (32), tines (42a-42d) extending forwardly from the rearward portion and having free forward tips, and a forward portion. The tips (56) of the tines have radially inner edges (60) lying on a first imaginary circle, and the forward portion of the barrel forms a closed entry region (72) having an inside diameter no greater than the diameter of the first imaginary circle, to prevent entry of pins of a diameter that could damage the tines. In one barrel (FIG.

Abstract: A surface mount connector in which contacts mounted in two or more rows of contact passages have tails bent so that their end portions lie in a common plane for engaging traces on a printed circuit board. Each contact is a two piece part. The two parts are mounted in the corresponding contact passage from the opposite end faces of the insulator, so that the tails may be bent during the forming of the rear parts of the contacts rather than after mounting of the contacts in the passages. A retention arrangement is provided between the front and rear parts of the contacts which allows either a permanent connection between the parts, or a releasable connection so that the front and rear parts of the contacts may be removed from the passages and replaced if necessary.

Abstract: A self-locking electrical connector is disclosed in which a locking ring is mounted in an annular groove in the interior of a coupling nut on the plug of the connector. When the plug is mated with the receptacle, inwardly extending projections on the locking ring ride up over a low-angle ramp on the shell of the receptacle and then snap into a locking groove formed in the receptacle shell behind the ramp to lock the connector members together. The surface of the locking groove next to the low-angle ramp is formed as a high-angle ramp which allows removal of the projections of the ring from the groove when the coupling nut is rotated with high torque to unthread from the shell. In an alternative embodiment, the locking ring is carried by the receptacle shell, and the locking groove and angular ramps are formed on the inner surface of the coupling nut.