Ground lug for electrical connector

An electrical connector having a grounding lug formed with an integral extension arm resiliently engaging one side of an electrical contact in the connector. A notch is formed in the extension arm which allows the arm to be readily removed so that the grounding connection between the lug and the contact may be broken when it is not needed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector and, 
more particularly, to a grounding lug for an electrical connector. 
In some electrical connectors it is desirable to provide grounding for one 
of the contacts in the connector to the shell thereof. Such grounding 
connection is typically provided by mounting a grounding lug in the 
insulator of the connector by the use of a screw which is in contact with 
the shell of the connector, and by the use of a wire which is soldered at 
its opposite ends to an exposed rear end of the grounding lug and the 
ground contact in the connector. The soldering operation is time consuming 
and inconvenient. It has been proposed that the grounding lug be provided 
with an extension arm which is formed at its end with a loop which slides 
axially over and circumscribes the contact when the lug is mounted in the 
connector insulator. However, if the user does not desire to have a 
grounding connection between the lug and the contact, such connection may 
be broken only by sliding the lug off of the contact. This requires that 
the entire lug removed from the insulator which is also a time consuming 
and inconvenient operation since it requires removal of the screw which 
mounts the lug in the insulator. 
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an 
improved grounding lug which provides electrical connection to a contact 
in the connector insulator without the requirement of soldering a wire 
therebetween, yet allows the electrical connection to be broken without 
the necessity of removing the entire lug from the insulator. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the principal aspect of the present invention, there is 
provided an electrical connector comprising an insulator containing at 
least one contact and a grounding lug. The grounding lug has an internal 
extension arm which is resiliently biased against only one side of the 
contact to provide electrical connection therebetween without a soldering 
operation. Such electrical connection may be broken without removing the 
grounding lug from the insulator by breaking the extension arm away from 
the body of the lug at a notched area thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a plug 
connector member generally designated 10 containing one form of the 
grounding lug of the present invention, generally designated 12 and best 
seen in FIG. 3. The connector member 10 comprises an insulator 14 mounted 
in a metal shell 16. The insulator is retained in the shell by means of a 
screw 18. The insulator contains a plurality of pin contacts 20, 22 and 
24, only three being shown by way of example, if desired. 
The grounding lug 12 is a stamped and formed sheet metal member having a 
flat body 26, the forward end of which is inserted into a relatively flat 
slot 27 in the insulator 14. 
Barbs 28 on the sides of the body 26 serve to frictionally retain the 
grounding lug in the slot. An opening 30 is formed in the forward portion 
of the body 26. The opening is aligned with the screw 18 when the lug is 
fully positioned in the insulator 14 whereby the screw may be 
self-threaded into the opening to provide positive retention of the lug in 
the insulator and electrical connection between the lug and the shell 16 
of the connector member 10. The electrical connection between the lug and 
the connector shell may be provided in a different fashion, if desired, as 
for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,961.An elongated opening 32 
is formed in the rear portion 34 of the lug body which extends rearwardly 
from the insulator 14 which may be utilized for connecting a wire to the 
lug, if desired. 
In accordance with the invention, electrical connection between the 
grounding lug and one of the contacts in the connector, namely, the 
contact 20, is provided by an integral extension arm 36 which extends 
outwardly and downwardly from one side of the rear portion 34 of the lug 
body. The arm 36 extends downwardly at a predetermined angle relative to 
the flat body 26 and the contact 20 so that when the lug is inserted into 
the slot 27 in the insulator, the arm will be resiliently biased against 
the side of the contact body. As best seen in FIG. 2, the arm tangentially 
engages the contact. A notch 38 is formed in the underside of the arm 36 
adjacent to the point that the arm joins to the body 26 to provide a break 
area whereby the extension arm 36 may be readily removed from the 
grounding lug in the event the user does not wish to have a grounding 
connection between the lug and the contact 20. It will be appreciated that 
such electrical connection may be readily broken because the extension arm 
36 bears against only one side of the contact body and thus may be removed 
from the lug and the contact without removing the lug from the insulator 
14. 
The rear of the contact 20 which is engaged by the extension arm 36 on the 
grounding lug is preferably in the form of a solder pot 40 which opens 
upwardly as indicated at 42. The arm 36 bears against the solder pot 40 
immediately in front of the opening 42 so that when solder is applied to 
the solder pot to affix an electrical wire thereto, the solder will extend 
to the joint between the contact and the extension arm by the wicking 
action of the solder. Thus, when a wire is being soldered to the pot 40, 
the extension arm 36 on the grounding lug will be simultaneously soldered 
to the contact 20. 
Reference is now made to FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings, which illustrate a 
second embodiment of the grounding lug of the present invention, generally 
designated 12a. In this embodiment, the notch 38a is formed in the upper 
surface of the extension arm 36a, and the extension arm is formed with a 
rearwardly extending finger 44 having a curved inner surface 46 which is 
complementary with and, therefore, conforms to the curved outer surface of 
the rear portion of the contact 20 so that intimate electrical contact is 
provided therebetween over a relatively large surface area. 
A further embodiment of the grounding lug of the invention is illustrated 
in FIGS. 6 and 7 wherein the body 26b of the lug 12b comprises a wire 
which is formed to provide the screw receiving opening 30b and wire 
receiving opening 32b. The rear of the wire is formed as a loop 36b which 
constitutes the extension arm of the grounding lug that engages the ground 
contact in the connector. The notch 38b which provides the break area for 
the extension arm is located at the forward end of the loop 36b. 
The embodiment of the grounding lug illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, generally 
designated 12c, is formed of wire similar to the embodiment illustrated in 
FIGS. 6 and 7, except that the extension arm 36c is not formed as a loop, 
but rather extends rearwardly similar to the arm 44 in FIGS. 4 and 5. The 
arm 36c is provided with an arcuate inner surface 46c which conforms to 
the surface of the ground contact. The notch 38c in this embodiment is 
located in the upper surface of the loop 36c. 
In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 8 and 9, each arcuate inner surface 
46, 46c which engages the contact extends over an arc substantially less 
than 180.degree.. Consequently, like the flat arm 36, the arms 36a, 36c 
engage only one side of the contact whereby the arms may be laterally 
disengaged from the contact. 
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the grounding lug of the 
present invention may be formed of different conductive materials and have 
a variety of shapes, and in each case has the advantage that a grounding 
connection is automatically made with the ground contact in the connector 
when the grounding lug is mounted in the insulator of the connector, and 
such grounding connection may be broken by the user if it is not needed by 
simply breaking the extension arm away from the grounding lug body by use 
of a suitable tool, such as a screwdriver.