Patent ID: 8435044

Claim:
An elastic contact device for electrically contacting electronic components, wherein the contact device includes at least one basic module having a longitudinal axis, each basic module including: an elastic core for defining an elasticity of the basic module, the elastic core undergoing an axial elastic deformation in response to an axial compression; a first contact terminal element and a second contact terminal element coupled with the elastic core in axially opposed positions; and at least one elongated contact element extending axially between the first terminal element and the second terminal element; wherein each elongated element is configured to have a buckling axial critical load higher than zero for self-sustaining in absence of external forces during a production of the basic module and lower than a threshold compression for buckling thereby not contributing to the elasticity of the basic module during operation thereof, the threshold compression corresponding to a threshold deformation of the elastic core with respect to a rest condition of the elastic core ranging between 0.1% and 50%.