Patent ID: 7290469

Claim:
A self-forming socket, comprising: a housing having an interior wall forming a non-circular cross-section; a frame having a plurality of openings, wherein the frame is disposed against an interior wall of the housing; a plurality of pins closely packed in parallel, the pins including a large top end, a narrow shaft, a circumferential groove between a bottom end of the pin and the shaft, the groove being a smaller diameter than a diameter of the bottom end of the pin, and the bottom end including a narrowed, tapered distal end of the pin, wherein the groove includes an inner diameter; a biasing member to extend the top end of the pin away from the frame; the pins slidable along the shafts within the openings of the frame, the pin top end being above the frame and the bottom end being below the frame; and a resilient O-ring having about 30-90 Shore A hardness fitted to the bottom end of the pin within the circumferential groove, wherein when the pin is forced away from the frame, an angular lock force is generated that wedges the O-ring in an angular direction against the inner diameter of the groove.