MLchartDataset catalogue

Patent · US10361528B2 · B2 · US

Connector housings, use of, and method therefor

(11) Publication number
US10361528B2
(21) Application number
14/990,388
(22) Filing date
2016-01-07
(30) Priority date
2012-09-14
(43) Publication date
2019-07-23
(45) Date of grant
2019-07-23
(51) IPC
B23K 101/18; B23K 103/00; B23K 103/04; B23K 103/08; B23K 103/12; B23K 103/14; B23K 11/11; B23K 11/16; B23K 11/18; B23K 26/24; B23K 26/32; F16B 17/00; F16B 21/18; F16B 5/08; F16F 1/04; H01R 13/187; H01R 13/24; H01R 13/627; H01R 24/58; H01R 4/48; H01R 43/16; H01R 43/18
(52) CPC
  • H01R Electrically-conductive connections; structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements; coupling devices; current collectors: 43/18, 13/187, 13/2421, 13/6277, 2201/12, 24/58, 4/4863, 43/16
  • B23K Soldering or unsoldering; welding; cladding or plating by soldering or welding; cutting by applying heat locally, e.g. flame cutting; working by laser beam: 11/115, 11/16, 11/18, 2101/18, 2103/04, 2103/05, 2103/08, 2103/12, 2103/14, 2103/50, 26/24, 26/32
  • F16B Devices for fastening or securing constructional elements or machine parts together, e.g. nails, bolts, circlips, clamps, clips or wedges; joints or jointing: 17/00, 21/186, 2200/50, 2200/60, 2200/71, 5/08
  • F16F Springs; shock-absorbers; means for damping vibration: 1/045
  • Y10T Technical subjects covered by former us classification: 29/49826, 403/52, 403/587, 403/604, 403/70
(73) Assignee
BAL SEAL ENG INC
(72) Inventors
DILMAGHANIAN FARSHID; BALSELLS PETER J; GHASIRI MAJID; CHANGSRIVONG DEREK
(54) Title
Connector housings, use of, and method therefor
(57) Abstract

A method of making a connector assembly includes attaching two stamped housing sections together to form a connector housing having a housing groove with a groove bottom and two side walls and providing the connector housings with a spring used as a mechanical connector and/or as an electrical connector for numerous applications and across numerous industries. The groove geometries can easily be altered using different stamping dies.

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Claims (19)

  1. A method for making a connector housing, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section, said first housing section comprising an upper flange, a lower flange, and a skirt section located between the upper flange and the lower flange, said upper flange being spaced from said lower flange by two spaced apart tapered sections, and said lower flange having a perimeter defining an opening; forming by stamping a second housing section, said second housing section comprising an upper flange, a lower flange, and a skirt section located between the upper flange and the lower flange, said upper flange being spaced from said lower flange by two spaced apart tapered sections, and said lower flange having a perimeter defining an opening; attaching said first housing section to said second housing section by abutting said two upper flanges to form a connector housing comprising a common bore and a housing groove comprising a groove bottom and two side walls; placing a canted coil spring inside said housing groove; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at an interface.
  2. The method of claim 1, wherein placing said canted coil spring inside said housing groove includes placing said canted coil spring in contact with said first housing section before said attaching step.
  3. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing said connector housing in contact with a seal element and into a header of an implantable medical device.
  4. The method of claim 1, wherein said skirt section of said first housing section and said skirt section of said second housing section form said groove bottom with two tapered surfaces having the interface located therebetween.
  5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second housing section is formed from a blank in a stamping process.
  6. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface is generally orthogonal to an axis passing through the common bore.
  7. The method of claim 1, further comprising abutting the canted coil spring against the skirt section of the first housing section and against the skirt section of the second housing section.
  8. The method of claim 7, wherein the canted coil spring has a smaller inside diameter than diameters of the two openings defining the common bore.
  9. The method of claim 8, further comprising projecting a pin through the common bore.
  10. The method of claim 7, further comprising sealingly disposing a seal element having a bore with a seal lip inside a header of an implantable medical device, and abutting the seal element against the connector housing.
  11. The method of claim 10, further comprising abutting the seal element and a second seal element abutting against a second connector housing, and providing a second canted coil spring in the second connector housing.
  12. A method for making a connector assembly, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section comprising a skirt section, an upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter, and a lower flange extending radially inward from the skirt section and comprising a perimeter defining an opening; forming by stamping a second housing section comprising a skirt section, an upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter, and a lower flange extending radially inward from the skirt section and comprising a perimeter defining an opening; forming a connector housing with a housing groove by abutting the two upper flanges or the two lower flanges where the two housing sections attach at an interface and wherein the openings of the first housing section and the second housing section define a common bore; biasing canted coil spring against the skirt sections of the two housing sections; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at an interface, which is generally orthogonal to an axis passing through the common bore.
  13. The method of claim 12, further comprising projecting a tab extending from the upper flange of the first housing section through the upper flange of the second housing section.
  14. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening of the first housing section defines a plane and wherein the groove bottom is tapered relative to the plane.
  15. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening of the first housing section defines a plane and wherein the groove bottom is orthogonal to the plane.
  16. The method of claim 12, further comprising projecting a pin through the common bore.
  17. The method of claim 12, wherein said upper flange of said first housing section is spaced from said lower flange of said first housing section by two spaced apart tapered sections.
  18. The method of claim 17, wherein said upper flange of said second housing section is spaced from said lower flange of said second housing section by two spaced apart tapered sections.
  19. A method for making a connector housing, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section, said first housing section comprising an exterior surface, an interior surface, an upper flange transitioning to a lower flange via a skirt section, the lower flange comprising a perimeter formed through the interior and exterior surfaces and defining an opening, the skirt section forming at least part of a housing groove, the upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter defining a surface area bounded by the outer perimeter, a planar surface at the interior surface and a perimeter formed through the interior and exterior surfaces defining an opening; and attaching said first housing section to said second housing section by abutting, at an interface, the upper flange of the interior surface of the first housing section against the planar surface at the interior surface of the flange at the second housing section to form the housing groove or by abutting, at an interface, the lower flange of the exterior surface of the first housing section against the planar surface at the interior surface of the flange of the second housing section to form the housing groove; wherein the surface areas of the outer perimeters of the upper flange of the first housing section and the flange of the second housing section are exposed; the openings of the first and second housing sections define a common bore for receiving a pin; placing a canted coil spring inside said housing groove; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at the interface.

Description

The present disclosure generally relates to connector housings for use with a spring and more particularly to connector housings made from stamped housing sections, stamped housing sections as part of a mechanical connector, as part of an electrical connector, in a medical application, and as methods for forming and using the stamped housing sections.

Implantable stackable lead connectors to date consist of a series of machined housings, also referred to as conductive contacts, separated by sealing members and wherein a spring contact is held in a groove defined at least in part by each machined housing section. Due to tolerance concerns and critical dimension constraints, the housing components may need to be precision machined, resulting in a high cost connector. Furthermore, as the size of the connectors decrease, the housings become very difficult to machine. Exemplary implantable medical connectors are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,437,855, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference for purposes of generally disclosing IMDs and in-line connectors used with IMD and components for forming or making in-line connectors. Connectors are also known for use as mechanical fasteners, as latching connectors, as holding connectors and as locking connectors. These connectors typically have a housing with a bore and a pin either with or without a pin groove.

Citations (100)

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Record as JSON 
{
  "publication_number": "US10361528B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Connector housings, use of, and method therefor",
  "abstract": "A method of making a connector assembly includes attaching two stamped housing sections together to form a connector housing having a housing groove with a groove bottom and two side walls and providing the connector housings with a spring used as a mechanical connector and/or as an electrical connector for numerous applications and across numerous industries. The groove geometries can easily be altered using different stamping dies.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method for making a connector housing, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section, said first housing section comprising an upper flange, a lower flange, and a skirt section located between the upper flange and the lower flange, said upper flange being spaced from said lower flange by two spaced apart tapered sections, and said lower flange having a perimeter defining an opening; forming by stamping a second housing section, said second housing section comprising an upper flange, a lower flange, and a skirt section located between the upper flange and the lower flange, said upper flange being spaced from said lower flange by two spaced apart tapered sections, and said lower flange having a perimeter defining an opening; attaching said first housing section to said second housing section by abutting said two upper flanges to form a connector housing comprising a common bore and a housing groove comprising a groove bottom and two side walls; placing a canted coil spring inside said housing groove; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at an interface.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein placing said canted coil spring inside said housing groove includes placing said canted coil spring in contact with said first housing section before said attaching step.",
    "3. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing said connector housing in contact with a seal element and into a header of an implantable medical device.",
    "4. The method of claim 1, wherein said skirt section of said first housing section and said skirt section of said second housing section form said groove bottom with two tapered surfaces having the interface located therebetween.",
    "5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second housing section is formed from a blank in a stamping process.",
    "6. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface is generally orthogonal to an axis passing through the common bore.",
    "7. The method of claim 1, further comprising abutting the canted coil spring against the skirt section of the first housing section and against the skirt section of the second housing section.",
    "8. The method of claim 7, wherein the canted coil spring has a smaller inside diameter than diameters of the two openings defining the common bore.",
    "9. The method of claim 8, further comprising projecting a pin through the common bore.",
    "10. The method of claim 7, further comprising sealingly disposing a seal element having a bore with a seal lip inside a header of an implantable medical device, and abutting the seal element against the connector housing.",
    "11. The method of claim 10, further comprising abutting the seal element and a second seal element abutting against a second connector housing, and providing a second canted coil spring in the second connector housing.",
    "12. A method for making a connector assembly, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section comprising a skirt section, an upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter, and a lower flange extending radially inward from the skirt section and comprising a perimeter defining an opening; forming by stamping a second housing section comprising a skirt section, an upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter, and a lower flange extending radially inward from the skirt section and comprising a perimeter defining an opening; forming a connector housing with a housing groove by abutting the two upper flanges or the two lower flanges where the two housing sections attach at an interface and wherein the openings of the first housing section and the second housing section define a common bore; biasing canted coil spring against the skirt sections of the two housing sections; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at an interface, which is generally orthogonal to an axis passing through the common bore.",
    "13. The method of claim 12, further comprising projecting a tab extending from the upper flange of the first housing section through the upper flange of the second housing section.",
    "14. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening of the first housing section defines a plane and wherein the groove bottom is tapered relative to the plane.",
    "15. The method of claim 12, wherein the opening of the first housing section defines a plane and wherein the groove bottom is orthogonal to the plane.",
    "16. The method of claim 12, further comprising projecting a pin through the common bore.",
    "17. The method of claim 12, wherein said upper flange of said first housing section is spaced from said lower flange of said first housing section by two spaced apart tapered sections.",
    "18. The method of claim 17, wherein said upper flange of said second housing section is spaced from said lower flange of said second housing section by two spaced apart tapered sections.",
    "19. A method for making a connector housing, the method comprising: forming by stamping a first housing section, said first housing section comprising an exterior surface, an interior surface, an upper flange transitioning to a lower flange via a skirt section, the lower flange comprising a perimeter formed through the interior and exterior surfaces and defining an opening, the skirt section forming at least part of a housing groove, the upper flange extending radially outwardly from the skirt section and having an outer perimeter defining a surface area bounded by the outer perimeter, a planar surface at the interior surface and a perimeter formed through the interior and exterior surfaces defining an opening; and attaching said first housing section to said second housing section by abutting, at an interface, the upper flange of the interior surface of the first housing section against the planar surface at the interior surface of the flange at the second housing section to form the housing groove or by abutting, at an interface, the lower flange of the exterior surface of the first housing section against the planar surface at the interior surface of the flange of the second housing section to form the housing groove; wherein the surface areas of the outer perimeters of the upper flange of the first housing section and the flange of the second housing section are exposed; the openings of the first and second housing sections define a common bore for receiving a pin; placing a canted coil spring inside said housing groove; and welding together the first housing section and the second housing section at the interface."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure generally relates to connector housings for use with a spring and more particularly to connector housings made from stamped housing sections, stamped housing sections as part of a mechanical connector, as part of an electrical connector, in a medical application, and as methods for forming and using the stamped housing sections.\n\nImplantable stackable lead connectors to date consist of a series of machined housings, also referred to as conductive contacts, separated by sealing members and wherein a spring contact is held in a groove defined at least in part by each machined housing section. Due to tolerance concerns and critical dimension constraints, the housing components may need to be precision machined, resulting in a high cost connector. Furthermore, as the size of the connectors decrease, the housings become very difficult to machine. Exemplary implantable medical connectors are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,437,855, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference for purposes of generally disclosing IMDs and in-line connectors used with IMD and components for forming or making in-line connectors. Connectors are also known for use as mechanical fasteners, as latching connectors, as holding connectors and as locking connectors. These connectors typically have a housing with a bore and a pin either with or without a pin groove.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01R 43/18",
    "B23K 11/115",
    "B23K 11/16",
    "B23K 11/18",
    "B23K 2101/18",
    "B23K 2103/04",
    "B23K 2103/05",
    "B23K 2103/08",
    "B23K 2103/12",
    "B23K 2103/14",
    "B23K 2103/50",
    "B23K 26/24",
    "B23K 26/32",
    "F16B 17/00",
    "F16B 21/186",
    "F16B 2200/50",
    "F16B 2200/60",
    "F16B 2200/71",
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    "H01R 13/187",
    "H01R 13/2421",
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    "Y10T 29/49826",
    "Y10T 403/52",
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    "Y10T 403/604",
    "Y10T 403/70"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B23K 101/18",
    "B23K 103/00",
    "B23K 103/04",
    "B23K 103/08",
    "B23K 103/12",
    "B23K 103/14",
    "B23K 11/11",
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    "B23K 11/18",
    "B23K 26/24",
    "B23K 26/32",
    "F16B 17/00",
    "F16B 21/18",
    "F16B 5/08",
    "F16F 1/04",
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    "H01R 13/627",
    "H01R 24/58",
    "H01R 4/48",
    "H01R 43/16",
    "H01R 43/18"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "BAL SEAL ENG INC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "DILMAGHANIAN FARSHID",
    "BALSELLS PETER J",
    "GHASIRI MAJID",
    "CHANGSRIVONG DEREK"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2016-01-07",
  "publication_date": "2019-07-23",
  "grant_date": "2019-07-23",
  "priority_date": "2012-09-14",
  "application_number": "US-201614990388-A",
  "family_id": "50274628",
  "citations": [
    "DE19807663A1",
    "EP2387113A2",
    "EP2497527A2",
    "GB2194298A",
    "US2002122690A1",
    "US2003094812A1",
    "US2003096526A1",
    "US2004167582A1",
    "US2005027327A1",
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    "US2006228166A1",
    "US2006270277A1",
    "US2006270286A1",
    "US2007100386A1",
    "US2008246231A1",
    "US2010029145A1",
    "US2010279558A1",
    "US2010289198A1",
    "US2011280653A1",
    "US2011281476A1",
    "US2012213575A1",
    "US2012299352A1",
    "US2013149031A1",
    "US2014130329A1",
    "US2014162487A1",
    "US2014259617A1",
    "US2014378008A1",
    "US2015240900A1",
    "US2015316115A1",
    "US2016076568A1",
    "US2016204557A1",
    "US2016265574A1",
    "US2017352984A1",
    "US2017373425A1",
    "US2018375244A1",
    "US3174500A",
    "US4655462A",
    "US4678210A",
    "US4826144A",
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