Patent 7351121 was granted and assigned to Molex on April, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An electrical terminal includes first and second contact members having outer pressure contacting end portions for pressure engaging a pair of spaced electrical devices. The contact members have enlarged inner end portions. A sleeve includes a through hole for slidably receiving the inner end portions of the contact members at opposite ends thereof. The through hole has opposite open ends through which the pressure contacting end portions of the contact members project. Restricted stops are formed at the open ends of the through holes for abutting the enlarged inner ends of the contact members to define outer limit positions of the pressure contacting end portions of the contact members. A biasing member is disposed in the through hole to resiliently bias the contact members in opposite directions. The invention contemplates that an outside diameter of the sleeve at a first end thereof be smaller than an outside diameter of the sleeve at a second end thereof. Thereby, the smaller diameter end is easily formed into a restricted stop, and the larger diameter end of the sleeve can be used for clamping and disassembling the terminal from an electrical device without damaging the sleeve.