Patent ID: 7037127

Claim:
A low force electrical contact, comprising: (a) a socket; (b) a plurality of tines disposed in said socket; (c) said plurality of tines adapted to receive a pin, wherein said pin includes a first center longitudinal axis that is not in parallel alignment with a second center longitudinal axis of said socket, (d) means for connecting a wire to said socket; wherein said plurality of tines are adapted to contact said pin during its insertion when an axial misalignment occurs in any direction between a center longitudinal axis of said pin and a center longitudinal axis of said plurality of tines; and including an undercut portion in each of said tines a predetermined distance from said tip; wherein each of said tines includes a patch of material that is adapted to contact a pin, said patch being disposed intermediate said tip and said undercut portion; wherein a diametrically opposed pair of said patches of material includes an inside diameter that is less than an inside diameter of said undercut portion, and wherein said socket includes a hood having a predetermined inside diameter that surrounds said plurality of tines, and wherein when said pin is mated inside of said socket, said plurality of tines extend radially outward a greater amount at said tip than at a socket contact, and wherein a gap that exists intermediate said plurality of tines and said inside diameter of said hood is substantially identical along the longitudinal length of said plurality of tines.