Omnetics connector tool
| The board connectors are flush with the edge of the board. This is the male connector. | 
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| This is the female connector. What looks like pins are actually 34 tubes. There is one alignment pin on the left, and a latch on the right. The wires go to a round bundle, and there is a grounding braid on each cable. | 
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| There is a latch only on one side (left in the photo), and if this
catches during disconnection, pins (tubes) will bend on that side.
The cable ends have no handles. The black plastic is 4×47mm, and 2.5mm thick. | 
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| On the chamber, there are sets of 6 connectors, in 3 back-to-back pairs. The top one was ripped off (red arrow). Scaling from this photo, and the measured G10 board thickness of ~1.2mm, the smallest spacing between the connectors is of order 8mm. | 
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| Prototype of a tool to remove these connectors.
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| Scan of the blades (png)
(pdf)
Cut 4 each from ~1.5mm brass sheet (155mm). (I got 2"×10" pieces from the K&S displays which you can find in most hardware stores). The holes are 1/8". The teeth are left a little long. Some after-construction trimming is shematically indicated: I trimmed the tips so that the jaws would fit in a 9mm gap. Optional: heat the pieces to relieve stresses, and flatten them. | 
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| 4 blades each on either side, slid onto a 1/8" brass rod, which has 4/40 threads tapped on the ends. There is a piece of brass tubing for a spacer. Tape the ends of the bundles together. | 
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| Make a sandwich of the top and bottom clamp pieces (47×3.5mm), and a third one wrapped in Al foil to make up the space you need in between. The top clamp piece is the same as the bottom one. After brazing, the middle of this strip will be cut out (see the prototype). | 
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| Trim the teeth so that you can squeeze the sandwich in between. | 
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| For the brazing, I used Mapp gas, 45% silver wire and low-temperature
brazing paste.
Check the blades to see if they have been warped by the brazing. Braze the cross pieces (50×19mm) on the back ends, leaving a little extra space between the blades. | 
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| Cut out the center of the top clamp piece.
Cut rubber pads from a bicycle tire, clean and glue with superglue. I trimmed the bottom so that the bottom jaw is 9mm thick. I will trim the top jaws also to 9mm. | 
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| Make the latch. I used a small brass hinge, and tapped 4-40 holes
to attach it. Solder the toothed piece, and use a
ballpoint pen spring.
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| Pictures will be added. |
Hubert Van Hecke Last modified: Thu Aug 2 14:48:13 MDT 2012