(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,517,361 Bi
Yatskov et al. (45) Date of Patent: Feb. 11,2003
(54) PRESET BEND PROVIDING STRAIN RELIEF IN AN ELECTRIC CONNECTOR
(75) Inventors: Alexander I. Yatskov, Kenmore, WA (US); Stephen V. R. Hellriegel,
Bainbridge Island, WA (US)
(73) Assignee: Cray Inc., Seattle, WA (US)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 09/706,347
(22) Filed: Nov. 3, 2000
(51) Int. CI.7 H01R 12/00
(52) U.S. CI 439/67; 174/117 F; 439/459;
439/456; 439/492; 439/499
(58) Field of Search 174/117 F, 117 FF;
439/67, 459, 456, 492, 499
6,194,664 Bl * 2/2001 Zamora et al 174/177 F
* cited by examiner
Primary Examiner—Tho D. Ta
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Harold H. Bennett, II; Seed IP Law Group PLLC
(57) ABSTRACT
A preset bend resulting in a strain relief in a flexible conductor strip that interconnects relatively displaceable first and second electrical contacts that are originally relatively oriented in first spaced apart positions and moveable to second more distantly spaced apart positions. The preset bend includes a substantially straight first leg extending substantially perpendicularly to an axis of relative motion between the first and second interconnected electrical contacts and feeding into a substantially hemi-circular- curve, which continues into a second leg extending toward the second electrical contacts in their spaced apart position.
12 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
