Apparatus for making slotted beam contact elements

摘要

A slotted beam contact element for an electrical connector is constructed by forming an opening in a metallic strip and applying forces to at least one portion of the strip adjacent the opening to reshape said portion. Then a bifurcated beam is formed in the strip with at least portions of the furcations of the beam encompassing the opening after which the furcations are moved toward each other to cause the portions encompassing the opening to define a slot of predetermined width characteristics suitable for receiving an insulated conductor and for establishing electrical contact between the conductor and the furcations. For some uses of these kinds of contact elements, selected portions of the furcations may be coated or plated and/or heat treated prior to moving the furcations to their final closed position.