Contact pin header connector repair method and repair fixture

An annular insulator is positioned around a compliant contact section of a replacement contact pin for a header contact pin connector prior to insertion of the replacement contact pin through a header pin mounting hole and then both the replacement pin and the annular insulator being carried by the replacement pin are simultaneously pounded into snug received relationship within an associated pin receptor connector hole. A header contact pin repairing fixture has a plurality of size reducing holes for reducing the cross sectional dimension of the compliant section, one of which has an insulator end receiving opening for nesting receipt of a tapered wall at the end of the insulator to hold it in an upright orientation above and in alignment with the smallest sizing hole during insertion of the replacement pin into the insulator bore.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a method of repairing a contact pin header 
connector employed to connect a plurality of elongate contact pins carried 
thereby with associated pin receptor connectors of a contact interlayered 
backplane and an apparatus for facilitating such repair. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a prior art header connector assembly 10 is 
seen carrying a plurality of elongate header contact pins 12 that are 
received within and extend through associated interlayered pin receptor 
connectors 14. The pin receptor connectors 14 are mounted within pin 
receptor holes 13 extending through a backplane 15 of a multiport 
telephonic switch or the like. The header connector assembly 10 includes a 
rectangular, insulating header body 16 with a contact wall 18 extending 
between a pair of opposed, spaced, generally rectangular legs 20 extending 
perpendicularly from opposite ends of the contact wall 18. The contact 
wall 18 has a plurality of pin mounting holes 22 within which an enlarged 
diameter section or shoulder 12A of the contact pin 12 is snugly received 
and frictionally held. The enlarged diameter section 12A of the pin 12 is 
located between an aft pin section 12B protectively positioned between the 
legs 20 and a forward, leading end section 12C which protrudes from a back 
side 15A of the backplane 15. Between the enlarged diameter section 12A 
and the leading end section 12C is a compliant contact section 12D. 
The compliant section is located within the backplane 15 and makes 
electrical contact with conductive layers 24 imbedded within the backplane 
15 at inner layer connectors 25 within the pin receptor connector 14. As 
seen in FIG. 3A, the compliant contact section 12D has an H-shaped cross 
section with two pairs of spaced arms 26 and 28 in opposed relationship 
with respect to one another. The arms 26 and 28 resiliently press against 
the inner sides of the pin receptor holes 13 and the interlayered 
connector 25 to endure good electrical contact. 
In addition, when it becomes necessary to repair the header connector 
assembly 10 the H-shaped cross section of the compliant contact section 
12D enables it to be distorted into a reduced cross sectional dimensional 
shape, as shown in FIG. 3B. With this reduced dimensional shape shown in 
FIG. 3B, the compliant contact section 12D is enabled to be inserted into 
an annular insulator 30 shown in FIG. 4. 
The annular insulator 30 has an elongate cylindrical body 32 and an annular 
shoulder 34 mounted to and radially extending outwardly from one end of 
the elongate body 32. Adjacent the opposite end of the cylindrical body is 
a tapered, preferably truncated conical, wall 36 that slants inwardly in a 
direction extending toward the end 37 opposite from the end with the 
annular shoulder 34. Extending through the shoulder 34, the elongate 
cylindrical body 32 and the tapered wall 36 is an elongate, centrally 
located cylindrical bore 38. The bore 38 is sized to snugly receive the 
compliant section 12D after it has been distorted into the reduced 
dimensional shape shown in FIG. 3B. 
In accordance with the known method of repair of the header assembly 10, a 
selected one of the contact pins 12 is first removed from both the pin 
receptor hole 13 in the backplane 15 and from the associated pin mounting 
hole 22 in the contact wall 18 of the header body 16. This is accomplished 
by firmly grasping the object, or target, contact pin 12 with a so-called 
signal pin extraction tool (not shown) and then hammering the extraction 
tool in a direction away from the header contact wall 18 with a slide 
hammer attached to a handle end of the pin extraction tool until the 
object pin 12 has been fully removed from both the backplane 15 and the 
header body 16. This is done while the header assembly 10 remains mounted 
to the backplane 15 with the remaining contact pins 12 still 
interconnected with the backplane 15 and the contact wall 18. 
After the object contact pin 12 has been extracted, in accordance with the 
known method of repair, the pin mounting hole 22 is enlarged to first 
enable passage of a drill bit into drilling engagement with the associated 
pin receptor connector hole 13. Using the relatively reduced diameter 
drill bit, the associated pin receptor connector hole 13 is enlarged to a 
diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical body 
32 to enable receipt of the cylindrical body 32 within the enlarged pin 
receptor connector hole 13. However, the enlarged pin receptor connector 
hole 13 is smaller than the outer diameter of the annular shoulder 34 to 
block the annular shoulder 34 and thus the entire annular insulator 30 
from passing entirely through the pin receptor hole 13. Then the empty pin 
mounting hole 22 from which the object contact pin 12 has been extracted 
is also enlarged with a drill to a diameter which is slightly larger than 
the outer diameter of the of the annular shoulder 34 of the annular 
insulator 30 to accommodate passage of the entire insulator 30 including 
the shoulder 34 through the enlarged pin mounting hole 22. 
A replacement pin 12' is fabricated by distorting the compliant contact 
section 12D to reduce the cross dimensional dimensions of the compliant 
section 12D of a replacement pin 12', FIG. 5, from that shown in FIG. 3A 
to that shown in FIG. 3B. Preferably a new contact pin, other than the 
extracted contact pin 12 is fabricated to produce the replacement pin 12'. 
Alternatively, the object contact pin 12 that was extracted is fabricated 
to produce the replacement contact pin 12'. In any event, in accordance 
with the known method, the contact pin selected for fabrication into a 
reduced cross dimensional replacement pin 12' has its compliant contact 
section 12D reduced by forcing the selected contact pin 12 successively 
into a regressively, size-ordered series of four different sized holes in 
a No. 13 drill gauge, starting with the largest drill gauge hole and 
ending with the smallest sized drill gauge hole until the compliant 
contact section 12D has been progressively reduced with respect to its 
cross sectional dimension to that shown in FIG. 3B. This reduction in 
cross sectional dimension enables insertion of the reduced cross sectional 
compliant contact section 12D into the elongate bore 38 of the insulator 
30, as shown in FIG. 5. 
In accordance with the known repair method, the insulator is inserted 
through the empty, enlarged, header pin mounting hole 22, and the 
cylindrical body 32 is inserted fully into the empty, enlarged pin 
receptor hole 13 with the shoulder 34 in abutting relationship with the 
surface of the backplane 15 at the bottom of and within the enlarged pin 
mounting hole 22. The cross dimensionally reduced replacement pin 12' is 
then releasably grasped at the end of the elongate signal pin insertion 
tip tool. The pin insertion tip tool is then manually manipulated to 
maneuver the leading end section 12C through the empty enlarged pin 
mounting hole 22 and into the opening of the cylindrical bore 38 adjacent 
the shoulder 34 while seated in the bottom of the pin mounting hole 22 in 
abutting relationship with the backplane 15. A slide hammer is attached at 
an end opposite the end grasping the replacement pin and used to hammer 
the replacement pin 12' through the elongate bore 38 of the insulator 30 
while held within the enlarged receptor pin hole 13 until the enlarged 
diameter section 12A is in abutting relationship with the shoulder 34, as 
shown in FIG. 5. 
The desired end result of this process is the location of the replacement 
pin 12' in the bore 32 of the insulator 30 seated within the enlarged pin 
receptor hole 22 with the enlarged diameter section 12A in abutting 
relationship with the collar 34 and contained within the enlarged pin 
mounting hole 22 of the header connector contact wall 18, as shown in FIG. 
5. 
The difficulty with this process that has been observed in practice is that 
because of the relative fragility of the insulator 30, the requisite tight 
dimensional tolerances and the difficulty of maintaining proper 
co-alignment of the replacement pin 12' with the bore 38, the insulator 30 
often are damaged in the process of inserting the replacement pin 12' 
fully into the bore 38. For example, the cylindrical body 32 of the 
insulator 30 breaks away from the shoulder 34 when the replacement pin 12' 
is inserted into the insulator 30. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention a new method of repairing a 
contact pin header to connector which alleviates the insulator breakage 
problem and facilitates insertion of the replacement pin into the annular 
insulator with a new sizing fixture which performs the dual function of 
properly sizing the compliant section and holding the insulator during 
replacement pin insertion into the annular insulator to reduce insulator 
pin breakage. 
Preferably, the method of the present invention for repairing a contact pin 
header connector having a contact wall with a plurality of pin mounting 
holes for carrying a plurality of contact pins extending through the wall 
and connected at a compliant contact section with an associated plurality 
of interlayered pin receptor connectors of a backplane to which the header 
connector is mounted comprises the steps of removing a contact pin from a 
selected one of the plurality of pin mounting holes in the contact wall of 
the header connector, positioning an annular insulator around a 
replacement pin with a compliant contact section at a preselected location 
between opposed ends of the replacement pin, enlarging the selected pin 
mounting hole sufficiently to enable the replacement pin and the annular 
insulator carried by the replacement pin to pass through the selected pin 
mounting hole, after enlarging the selected pin mounting hole, inserting a 
leading edge portion of the replacement pin through the selected pin 
mounting hole and the associated backplane interlayered pin receptor 
connector until the annular insulator is received within the associated 
backplane interlayered pin receptor connector and with the annular 
insulator being held within the associated backplane interlayered pin 
receptor, pushing the replacement pin through the annular insulator until 
the compliant contact section is protectively surrounded by the annular 
insulator within the associated backplane interlayered pin receptor 
connector. 
The present invention also contemplates repairing a contact pin header 
connector having a contact wall with a plurality of pin mounting holes for 
carrying a plurality of contact pins extending through the wall and 
connected with an associated plurality of interlayered pin receptor 
connectors of a backplane to which the header connector is mounted, by 
performance of the steps of removing a contact pin from a selected one of 
the plurality of pin mounting holes in the contact wall of the header 
connector, fabricating a replacement pin by reducing the diameter of a 
compliant contact portion of the replacement pin to enable receipt of both 
the compliant contact portion and an annular insulator surrounding the 
compliant contact portion within the associated backplane interlayered pin 
receptor connector by passing the compliant contact portion through a 
sizing hole in a pin sizing fixture having inner section with a diameter 
less than that of the compliant contact portion of the replacement pin, 
and an outer, relatively enlarged section extending between and joining a 
relatively enlarged pin receiving opening having a diameter larger than an 
outer diameter of the annular insulator and the diameter of the relatively 
reduced inner section, positioning the annular insulator around the 
replacement pin at a preselected location between the opposed ends of the 
replacement pin by the steps of supporting an end of the insulator in the 
outer, relatively enlarged section in an upright orientation with its 
central axis of the inner section of the sizing hole, and pushing the 
replacement pin through the annular insulator and into the inner section 
of the sizing hole while the insulator is being supported in the outer 
relatively enlarged section with the compliant section within the 
insulator, and inserting the replacement pin and insulator through the 
preselected pin mounting hole and through the associated backplane pin 
receptor connector with the compliant section protectively surrounded by 
the annular insulator located in the associated backplane pin receptor 
connector. 
A preferred embodiment of the header contact pin repairing fixture of the 
present invention is preferably employed in practicing the method of the 
invention includes a rigid member with a plurality of size reducing holes 
of different size for successively reducing the cross sectional dimension 
of a compliant contact section of a replacement header contact pin by 
successively forcing the compliant contact section through the plurality 
of sizing holes of successively smaller size until the compliant contact 
section has been sufficiently reduced in cross sectional dimension to 
enable receipt of the compliant contact section within an elongate bore of 
an annular insulator, and providing for supporting the annular insulator 
in an upright orientation and against lateral misaligning movement to 
facilitate forced insertion of the compliant contact section into 
protective insulating receipt within the bore of the annular insulator 
after being sufficiently reduced to enable receipt within the bore.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D the preferred embodiment of the 
header contact pin repairing fixture 40 include a rigid, preferably steel, 
rectangular top member 42 supported at opposite ends by a pair of 
substantially square legs 44 and 46 secured to the top member 42 by means 
of counter-sunk, screw fasteners 48. As best seen in FIG. 6B, the top 
member 42 has a plurality of size reducing holes 50, 52, 54 and 56 in one 
straight line series across the length on one side and another series of 
size reducing holes 58, 60, 62 and 64 on the other side. The two series 
are arranged in a descending order based on their different size. The 
largest holes 50 and 58 have diameters on the order of 0.031 inch while 
the smallest sizing holes 56 and 64 having diameters on the order of 0.026 
inch. The cross sectional dimension of the compliant contact section 12D 
of the replacement pin 12' is reduced by successively forcing the 
compliant contact section through the plurality of size reducing, or 
sizing, holes 50-56 and 58-64 of successively smaller size until the 
compliant contact section 12D has been sufficiently reduced in cross 
sectional dimension to enable receipt of the compliant contact section 12D 
within the elongate bore 38 of the annular insulator 30. 
Referring specifically to FIG. 6D, the top 42 carries means, preferably in 
the form of insulator end receiving tapered holes 66 and 68 for supporting 
the annular insulator 30 in an upright orientation and against lateral 
misaligning movement to facilitate forced insertion of the compliant 
contact section 12D into protective insulating receipt within the bore 38 
of the annular insulator 30 after being sufficiently reduced to enable 
receipt within the bore 38. 
Referring now also to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, the annular insulator support 
holes 66 and 68 are substantially identical, and, accordingly, the 
description of only the insulator support hole 66 described with reference 
to these drawing figures should be understood to apply also the insulator 
support hole 68. The insulator support hole 66 is aligned with an elongate 
replacement contact pin receiving opening in the rigid member 42 which 
preferably coincides with the smallest sizing hole 56. The smallest sizing 
hole 56 thereby advantageously serves a dual function. Alternatively, a 
separate pin receiving opening is provided beneath the insulator support 
surface. As illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the insulator is supported by 
the insulator support hole in order to press the compliant contact section 
12D into snug, protective receipt within the bore 38 of the insulator 30, 
and in so doing, the leading end section 12C is forced out of the open end 
70 of the bore 38 at the leading end 36 of the insulator 30. 
As best seen in FIG. 7C, the insulator end receiving opening 66 provides 
means for nesting receipt of the leading end 36 of the elongate insulator 
30 above and in alignment with the replacement contact pin receiving 
opening 56. The insulator end receiving opening 66 has a tapered, 
preferably truncated conical, wall 71 formed in the rigid member 42 and 
aligned above the contact receiving opening 56. The contact receiving 
opening 56 has a cross sectional dimension 72 adjacent the top surface 43 
of the rigid member 42 that is greater than the outer diameter 74 of the 
leading end section 12C of the elongate replacement pin 12' to enable 
receipt of the leading end section 12C within the insulator end receiving 
opening 66. The conical wall 71 defines an insulator abutment surface 76 
extending from an inner location 78 beneath the top surface 43 to the 
location at which the wall 71 merges with the replacement pin receiving 
opening 56 which is recessed in the top surface beneath the abutment 
surface. The abutment surface 76 has a cross sectional dimension that is 
less than the outer diameter 74 of the leading end section 12C of the 
elongate insulator 30 to support the leading end section 12C of the 
elongate insulator 30 above the replacement contact pin receiving opening 
56 during forced insertion of the leading end 12C through the bore 38 of 
the annular insulator 30. 
Preferably, the inwardly tapered wall 71 of the insulator end receiving 
opening 66 has a frusto-conical shape which conforms to a frusto-conical, 
tapered shape of the leading end of the tapered wall section 36 of the 
elongate insulator 30 to provide substantially continuous seating 
engagement with the leading end of the tapered wall section 36 of the 
insulator 30. advantageously, the inwardly tapered wall section 71 of the 
insulator end receiving opening 66 supports the tapered wall 36 section at 
a location intermediate and spaced from both the top surface 43 of the 
rigid member 42 and the recessed pin receiving opening 56. This 
facilitates easy receipt of the insulator end section 36 and end 37 by 
guiding them into the replacement pin receiving opening 56. In addition, 
the conforming frusto-conical shapes of the insulator end section 36 and 
the wall 71 of the insulator end receiving opening 66 co-act to assist in 
proper vertical alignment of the insulator 30 and the leading end of the 
replacement pin 12' and to then restrain them against relative lateral 
misaligning movement. 
Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, the preferred method for repairing the 
contact pin header connector 16 begins first with the step of removing a 
contact pin, or object pin, 12 from a selected one of the plurality of pin 
mounting holes 22 in the contact wall 18 of the header connector 16. Next, 
a replacement pin 12', either the original pin just extracted, if not bent 
and of the appropriate length to extend beyond the backplane for point to 
point wire contact required in the repair process or, if not, a previously 
unused replacement pin 12' is fabricated. Preferably, this fabrication is 
performed in accordance with the method described above by reducing the 
diameter of the compliant contact section of the replacement pin 12'. This 
reduction enables receipt of both the compliant contact portion 12D within 
the bore 38 of the annular insulator 30 surrounding the compliant contact 
section 12D and the annular insulator 30 within the associated backplane 
interlayered pin receptor connector hole 13. The compliant contact section 
12D is through the pin receiving and sizing hole 56 after passing through 
and being guided by wall 71 of the insulator end receiving opening 66 in 
the pin sizing fixture 40. 
The annular insulator 30 is then positioned around the replacement pin 12' 
at a preselected location, as shown in FIG. 7B, with the annular collar 34 
in abutting relationship with the enlarged diameter section 12A between 
the opposed ends, or end sections, 12C and 12B of the replacement pin 12'. 
Preferably, this is performed by the repairer first inserting the leading 
end section tip 12C' into opening of the bore 38 adjacent the collar 34 
and pressing a portion of the replacement pin lead end section 12C partly 
into the bore 38 preferably using holding the insulator with the hand and 
which is only approximately 0.25 inch in length and has an outer diameter 
of only approximately 0.034 inch. The replacement pin 12' being much 
longer than the annular insulator 30, having a length of approximately 0.1 
inch, is preferably held with a needle nose pliers which is used to insert 
the replacement pin 12' into the insulator 30. The insulator 30 is held by 
hand in an upright orientation with the frusto-conical surface of tapered 
wall 36 in nestled supportive engagement with the mating surface 71 at 
location 78, as shown in FIG. 7C, while the leading end section 12C is 
pressed through the bore 38 until the end section tip 12C' and a length of 
the leading end section 12C slightly protrudes from the end 36 by 
approximately 0.030 inch, as shown in FIG. 7A and also shown in broken 
line in FIG. 7C. 
Use of the repairing fixture 40 at this stage of the replacement pin 
insertion process is preferred but not necessary to avoid significant pin 
and insulator breakage and the pin is capable of being partially inserted 
to the extent shown in FIG. 7A with the use of only pliers. However, 
thereafter the clearance between the replacement pin 12' and the bore 38 
is slight to create a very tight fit and for the remainder of the pin 
insertion process the end 36 of the insulator 30 is supported in the 
outer, relatively enlarged section or opening 66 in an upright orientation 
with its central axis aligned with that of the inner section of the pin 
receiving opening of the sizing hole 56 while pushing the replacement pin 
12' through the annular insulator 30 and into the inner section of the 
sizing hole 56 while the insulator 30 is being supported in the outer 
relatively enlarged section 66. This is preferably performed with a slide 
hammer with a pin insertion tip which is used to pound the replacement pin 
12' through the bore 38 until the enlarged diameter section 12A abuts 
against the shoulder 34 to block further relative movement between the 
replacement pin 12' and the insulator 30. 
Advantageously, during this pounding of the replacement pin 12 fully into 
the bore the mating relationship between the frusto-conical surfaces 71 
and 80 provides restraint against relative lateral movement between the 
insulator 30 and the pin receiving opening 56 while also tending to self 
align the insulator 30 with the bore 38 centered directly above and 
coaligned with the elongate axis of the pin receiving opening 56. It 
should be appreciated that the inwardly slanted wall 71 will provide the 
end 36 with nestled support even in the absence of the frusto-conical 
surface 80 carried at the end 36 of the insulator 30. Also, advantageously 
the elongate passageway of the pin sizing opening 56 also provides snug 
support of a the portion of the leading end section 12C to restrain it 
against lateral relative movement and bending during the slide hammering 
with a pin insertion tip tool 78 of the replacement pin 12' while also 
maintaining the replacement pin 12' in proper centered alignment with the 
enlarged diameter opening 66. 
Referring now also to FIGS. 8A and 8B, the replacement pin end section 12B 
is used to manipulate the replacement pin 12' and the fully inserted 
insulator 30 being carried by the leading end section 12C to insert the 
leading end section 12C and the insulator 30 through the preselected pin 
mounting hole 22, as seen in FIG. 8A. The insertion of the insulator 30 
with the replacement pin 12' is then continued through the associated 
backplane pin receptor connector opening 13 of the associated pin receptor 
14 with the compliant contact section 12D protectively surrounded by the 
annular insulator 30 located in the associated backplane pin receptor 
connector 14, as shown in FIG. 8B. 
Preferably, the insulator 30 is pushed into the receptor hole 13 by using a 
slide hammer grasping the end section 12B opposite the leading end section 
12C to pound the replacement pin 12' toward the backplane 15 after the 
leading end section has been positioned in the receptor opening 13 and the 
leading end 36 of the insulator 30 has been positioned at the mouth 17 of 
the receptor hole 13. Advantageously, the elongate directed force of the 
slide hammer against the replacement pin 12' at end section 12B is 
transferred to the insulator 30 via the previously obtained abutting 
relationship of the enlarged diameter section 12D of the replacement pin 
12' against the shoulder 34 of the insulator 30 being carried by the 
leading end section 12C. Simultaneously, the insulator 30 cushions the 
adverse impact of the blows on the backplane 15 while assisting in 
maintaining the replacement pin 12' in correct alignment and orientation. 
As best seen in FIG. 8B, the selected pin mounting hole 22 is sufficiently 
enlarged to enable the shoulder 34 of the annular insulator to be snugly 
received within the selected pin mounting hole. Advantageously, the pin 
mounting hole 22 thereby also provides alignment and guidance to the 
insulator 30 while the body of the insulator 30 is being pushed through 
the enlarged backplane receptor hole 13 before the insulator 30 has been 
fully inserted into the backplane pin receptor hole 13. 
Thus, an important aspect of the invention is that the annular insulator 30 
is mounted and carried by the replacement pin 12' before being pushed into 
the associated pin receptor 14. The compliant contact section 12D is 
protectively surrounded by the annular insulator 30 during insertion of 
both the compliant section 12D and insulator 30 into the associated 
backplane interlayered pin receptor connector 14. 
The pounding of the replacement pin as described herein is preferably 
performed with a slide hammer 84 shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The slide 
hammer 84 has a pin insertion tip tool 86. The insertion tip tool 86 has a 
cylindrical body 88, a bore 90 for receiving the aft pin section 12B of 
the replacement pin 12' and a slot 92 for receiving the enlarged diameter 
section 12A of the replacement pin 12'. 
While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed in 
detail, it should be appreciated that variations may be made with respect 
to these details without departing from the scope of the invention as 
defined in the following claims. For instance, while it is preferred that 
the enlarged diameter opening 66 has inwardly tapered walls which 
gradually merge with the pin receiving opening 56 to enhance 
self-alignment, as discussed above, a cylindrically shaped, relatively 
enlarged diameter opening for snugly receiving and supporting the 
cylindrical outer wall of the insulator adjacent the end 36 is also 
contemplated. Likewise, while use of the header contact repairing fixture 
40 as described above is preferred in premounting the insulator 30 to the 
replacement pin 12' prior to insertion into the enlarged pin receptor hole 
13 such use is not required with respect to the aspect of the inventive 
method relating to insertion after the premounting has been accomplished.