Cathode-ray tube socket
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a cathode-ray tube socket for use in connection between a cathode-ray tube and an electric circuit, and more particularly to a cathode-ray tube having a discharge gap for preventing an overvoltage from being applied by the cathode-ray tube to the electric circuit 
     Prior cathode-ray tubes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,016 (issued on May 10, 1966) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,412 (issued on Jan. 18, 1972), for example. In the disclosed cathode-ray tubes, a grounding conductor is curved arcuately in substantially concentric relation to the arrangement of contacts, and electrode members project from the grounding conductor with a discharge gap left between the electrode members and the contacts. The grounding conductor is positioned with respect to a body of the cathode-ray tube socket, but the electrode members are not positioned independently with respect to the respective contacts. Therefore, a discharge gap of a high dimensional accuracy cannot be produced in the assembled socket. If the discharge gap were to be disposed fully within the socket body to guard against entry of dust, the overall construction would be complicated, or the socket body would have to be constructed of a plurality of assembled members. Otherwise, dust would easily find its way into the discharge gap, causing varying discharging characteristics thereof which lower its reliability. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a cathode-ray tube socket which can easily be fabricated, has a discharge gap of a high dimensional accuracy, and prevents dust or other foreign matter from entering the discharge gap. 
     According to the present invention, contact pieces are force-fitted into and held in first positioning grooves in a body of an insulating material, and the positioned contact pieces have portions serving as first discharge electrode portions. The body has second positioning grooves defined therein and spaced a distance from the first positioning grooves, and second discharge electrode portions are force-fitted and positioned in the second positioning grooves. These second electrode portions are integrally united with a grounding conductor which is angularly bent in an arcuate shape. The positioned second electrode portions and the positioned first electrode portions of the contact pieces jointly define discharge gaps therebetween. The first and second electrode portions and the body jointly constitute closed discharge gap chambers so that dust or other foreign matter will not enter the discharge gap chambers. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cathode-ray tube socket according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a part of the socket shown in FIG. 1, where contact pieces and a grounding conductor are removed; 
     FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a part of the socket shown in FIG. 1A which is cut along line 3--3 and seen aslant from the bottom; 
     FIG. 1C is a cross-section showing a basic construction of a main body portion 12 of the socket according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of the socket shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the socket shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3A is a rear perspective view of the socket shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a main body portion of the socket of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a holder for a contact portion 18; 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main body portion illustrated in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a contact piece 28; 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a grounding conductor 41; 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a box member and a cover member; and 
     FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a high-voltage contact piece and a high-voltage discharge electrode. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, a body 11 of an insulating material is composed of a main body portion 12 in which terminal pins of a companion cathode-ray tube (CRT) will be inserted, and a high-voltage discharge gap chamber 13 integral with a side of the main body portion 12. Although the main body portion 12 of the practical embodiment of the CRT socket has rather a complex shape formed by many recesses and projections as seen from FIGS. 1, 1A and 1B, a simplified basic structure of the main body 12 comprises a center cylindrical tube 12a, a first cylindrical side wall 12b disposed outside the center cylindrical tube 12a concentrically therewith, a front annular wall 12c connecting both front ends of the first cylindrical side wall 12b and the center cylindrical tube 12a, a second cylindrical side wall 12d disposed outside the center cylindrical tube 12a concentrically therewith and behind the first cylindrical side wall 12b, the outer diameter of the second cylindrical side wall 12d being larger than that of the first one 12 b, an intermediate annular step wall portion 12e connecting a rear end of the first cylindrical side wall 12b and a front end of the second cylindrical side wall 12d to form a stepped portion of the socket, and a plurality of partition walls 12f disposed in parallel to the axis of the center cylindrical tube 12a at regular angular intervals to radially extend from the outer peripheral surface of the center cylindrical tube 12a to the inner peripheral surfaces of the first and second cylindrical side walls 12b, 12d, thereby forming a plurality of contact housings 17. Through holes 25 are made in the second cylindrical side wall 12d to communicate therethrough the respective contact housings 17 with the outside, of the main body portion 12 defining discharge chamber holes 25. According to the present invention, positioning grooves 23, 26 are provided both inside and outside of the second cylindrical side wall 12d near the respective through holes 25. Two discharge electrode faces 33, 42 are fixedly positioned in the respective inner and outer positioning grooves 23, 26 in opposing relation to each other via each through hole 25 to close the through hole from the respective inner and outer sides of the second cylindrical side wall 12d, thereby forming a substantially closed discharge chamber 25&#39;. One of the two discharge electrode faces 33, 42 is a portion 33 of a contact piece 28 accommodated in the contact housing 17 and either one of the two discharge electrode faces 33, 42 has a semispherical projection 48 formed therein by a press to oppose the other discharge electrode face, thereby defining therebetween a discharge gap. 
     Now, detailed explanations of a specific embodiment of the CRT socket according to the present invention will be given. The main body portion 12 is substantially of a thick circular shape having a circular hole 15 of the center cylindrical tube 12a defined therethrough in coaxial relation to a central axis 14. The main body portion 12 has a plurality of terminal pin insertion holes 16 formed in the front annular wall 12c defining a front face at equal intervals along a circle concentric with the central axis 14 for the insertion of the terminal pins of the cathode-ray tube. The main body portion 12 also has the contact housings 17 (FIG. 4) communicating respectively with the terminal pin insertion holes 16 and extending in an axial direction to the rear (i.e. the bottom in FIGS. 1 and 4) of the body 11. The contact pieces 28 (FIG. 7) are accommodated respectively in the contact housings 17 so that contact portions 18 of the contact pieces 28 are fitted in narrow portions of the housings 17 adjacent to the terminal pin insertion holes 6. Each of the contact housings 17 has an expanded portion 19 outwardly expanding, at a position behind the contact portion 18, away from the central axis 14. The main body portion 12 also has an engagement recess 21 defined in an inner wall surface of the first cylindrical side wall 12b at the narrow portion of each contact housing 17, the engagement recess 21 being positioned adjacent the radially outer face of the contact portion 18 away from the central axis 14. The engagement recess 21 extends parallel to the central axis 14 rear to the expanded portion 19 of the contact housing 17 where the recess 21 ends to form an engagement step portion 22 as shown in FIG. 1B. In the illustrated embodiment, no contact piece is accommodated in the contact housing 17 at an end of the circular arrangement of the contact housings 17 as seen from FIG. 3. 
     Positioning grooves 23a, 23b are formed in opposing relation to each other at corners where the opposing partition walls 12f meet the inner surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d as shown in FIGS. 1B and 6, the positioning grooves 23a, 23b extending in a direction along the central axis 14 of the main body portion 12 to reach an inner wall surface of the intermediate annular step wall 12e. Between the positioning grooves 23a, 23b, there is formed in the second cylindrical side walls 12d the discharge gap chamber hole 25 communicating therethrough the contact housing 17 with the outside of the body portion 12. The main body portion 12 has a smaller outside diameter at a front side relative to the arrangement of the discharge gap chamber holes 25. A pair of positioning grooves 26a, 26b (FIGS. 1A and 5) are provided on the outer surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d on both sides of each discharge gap chamber hole 25 in opposing relation to each other, the positioning grooves 26a, 26b extending in parallel to the central axis 14. Thus, the positioning grooves 23a, 23b are arranged along one circle concentric with the central axis 14, while the positioning grooves 26a, 26b are arranged along another circle concentric with the central axis 14 in radially outward relation to the positioning grooves 23a, 23b. 
     As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, each of the contact pieces 28 received in the contact housings 17, respectively, is produced by cutting and bending a single metal strip. The contact portion 18 is formed by bending a T-shaped end of the metal strip into a substantially tubular shape. The contact portion 18 has a flat face 18a remote from the central axis 14, in which is formed a small engagement finger 29 raised integrally therefrom as by slitting. The flat face 18a is held in plane-to-plane contact with the inner wall surface of the first cylindrical side wall 12b such that the small engagement finger 29 projects into the engagement recess 21 and the tip of the finger 29 engages the engagement step portion 22 for anchoring the contact piece 28 against removal (FIGS. 4 and 4A). The tubular contact portion 18 has an intermediate portion pressed and displaced inwardly, to form a resilient receptacle 31 for resiliently receiving the terminal pin inserted through the insertion hole 16. As illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 4A, a front end of the flat face 18a is fitted in between a projection 91 and the inner wall surface of the side wall 12b to keep the contact portion 18 from radial movement relative to the axis 14 upon insertion and removal of the cathode-ray tube terminal pin. 
     The contact piece 28 has a neck portion 32 extended from the contact portion 18 and bent outwardly along an inner wall surface of the intermediate annular step wall 12e. The engagement step portion 22 is sandwiched between the neck portion 32 and the finger 29 of the contact piece 28, so that the contact piece 28 is fixed in place in the direction parallel to the axis 14 so as to be positioned stably upon insertion and removal of the terminal pins. The neck portion 32 has an outer end from which a discharge electrode portion 33 extends rearwardly along an inner wall surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d. The discharge electrode portion 33 has a rear end from which an outer extension 34 extends radially outwardly away from the central axis 14 along a rear surface of the main body portion 12. A terminal 35 extends integrally rearwardly from a rear end of the outer extension 34. 
     The discharge electrode portion 33 has on opposite sides thereof engagement flanges 36a, 36b projecting in a width direction thereof and being slightly bent toward the central axis 14 obliquely to the face of the discharge electrode portion 33. The engagement flanges 36a, 36b have the front edges inclined for facilitating insertion thereof into the positioning grooves 23a, 23b. For assembly, the engagement flanges 36a, 36b are force-fitted respectively into the positioning grooves 23a, 23b from behind the main body portion 12 to cause the discharge electrode portion 33 to tightly close the discharge gap chamber hole 25 on the side of the inner surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d owing to a biasing force of the bent engagement flanges 36a 36b against the chamber hole 25. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the outer extension 34 of the contact piece 28 is substantially fitted in each of radially extending recesses 39 defined in the rear end surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 8, a grounding conductor 41 is bent from a strip-shaped conductive member into an arcuate form extending along an outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 and having its width direction parallel to the central axis 14. From one marginal side of the grounding conductor 41 a plurality of discharge electrode portions 42 extend in a width direction thereof. Each of the discharge electrode portions 42 has opposite engagement edges 43a, 43b extending from both sides thereof, the engagement edges 43a, 43b being bent slightly obliquely and radially outwardly away from the central axis 14. The engagement edges 43a, 43b are tapered so that the distance therebetween is progressively reduced toward a distal end of the discharge electrode portion 42. The engagement edges 43a, 43b are force-fitted into the positioning grooves 26a, 26b, respectively, from the front side of the main body portion 12 to position the discharge electrode portion 42. As thus assembled, the discharge electrode portion 42 tightly closes the discharge gap chamber hole 25 on the side of the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d owing to a biasing force of the bent engagement edges 43a, 43b against the chamber hole 25. The distal end of each discharge electrode portion 42 is fitted in a slot 45 formed integrally with the positioning grooves 26a, 26b adjacent a rear edge portion of each discharge gap chamber hole 25. 
     The grounding conductor 41 has a plurality of dust-prevention lugs 46 each of which projects integrally from the other marginal side thereof and is bent toward the central axis 14 to close a guide recess 24 formed in the peripheral surface of the second cylindrical side wall at a boundary portion between the hole 25 and the outer surface of the intermediate annular step wall 12e to communicate therebetween. A plurality of shallow fitting recesses 47 are formed in the outer surface of the intermediate annular step wall 12e so as to surround marginal edges of the corresponding guide recesses 24. The dust-prevention lugs 46 are fitted respectively in the fitting recesses 47 to close the guide recesses 24. The guide recesses 24 are provided to allow passage therealong of semispherical projections 48 formed integrally with the respective electrode portions 42 at the centers thereof when the electrode portions 42 are fitted into the positioning grooves 26a, 26b. The electrode portion 33 of the contact piece 28, the electrode portion 42 of the grounding conductor 41, the dust-prevention lug 46, and the inner wall surface of the discharge gap chamber hole 25 jointly constitute a discharge gap chamber 25&#39;. A discharge gap 49 is defined between each electrode portion 33 and the semispherical projection 48 projecting from the corresponding electrode portion 42 toward the electrode portion 33. The grounding conductor 41 has substantially flat portions where the electrode portions 42 and the dust-prevention lugs 46 project in opposite directions. Therefore, the grounding conductor 41 has a substantially polygonal shape. 
     With the cathode-ray tube socket of the present invention, the discharge electrode portions 33 of the contact pieces 28 are force-fitted into the respective positioning grooves 23a, 23b, with the discharge gaps 49 being defined between the positioned electrode portions 33 and 42. The discharge electrode portions 42 are also fixedly positioned by force-fitting them into the positioning grooves 26a, 26b. The body 11 is molded of a synthetic resin material with a high dimensional accuracy. Therefore, the distance between the discharge electrode portions 33 and 42 can be of a high accuracy, and so is the length of the discharge gap 49. The electrode portions 42 of the grounding conductor 41 are simultaneously positioned simply by force-fitting the grounding conductor 41 from the front side of the body 11, and the contact pieces 28 are positioned by force-fitting thereof from the rear side of the body 11. Therefore, the parts can be assembled in a simple operation. The body 11 is a single construction, rather than an assembly of two front and rear halves, with the discharge gap chambers 25&#39; being not defined by the body 11 itself. The discharge gap chambers 25&#39; are closed by the electrode portions 33, 42 and the dust-prevention lugs 46 to guard against entry of dust through the guide recesses 24 and hence a reduction in operation reliability. The closed discharge gap chambers 25&#39; are automatically constructed by force-fitting the contact pieces 28 and the electrode portions 42 in position. With the grounding conductor 41 being composed of a strip-shaped conductor angularly bent around the central axis 14, the material required of the grounding conductor 41 and the electrode portions 42 can be more effectively used than would be the case with a grounding conductor constructed as a ring-shaped strip with its transverse direction normal to the central axis 14. Accordingly, the socket can be of a reduced outside diameter. The contact pieces 28 may be of a so-called bifurcated type. 
     The high-voltage chamber 13 of the body 11 will now be described. As shown in FIGS. 1, 9 and 10, the high-voltage chamber 13 is composed of a square box member 51 integrally projecting from a side of the main body member 12, and a cover member 52 closing a front opening in the box member 51. High-voltage discharge electrodes 53, 54 are disposed in the box member 51 in confronting relation to each other. These high-voltage discharge electrodes 53, 54 comprise square metal plates having central semispherical protuberances projecting toward each other with a high-voltage discharge gap defined therebetween. In the illustrated embodiment, the electrode 53 extends substantially centrally in the box member 51 in a direction parallel to the central axis 14, while the electrode 54 is held against a side wall 51a of the box member 51 which faces the electrode 53. The electrode 54 has opposite edges guided and held in support grooves 55a, 55b defined in the side wall 51a and extending in the direction parallel to the central axis 14. 
     One of the contact pieces 28 closest to the high-voltage chamber 13 serves as a high-voltage contact 28h, which, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 11, is formed integrally with the high-voltage discharge electrode 53. The high-voltage contact 28h includes a contact portion 18a having a rear end extending rearwardly and from which a connecting portion 57 is bent substantially at a right angle toward the high-voltage chamber 13. The connecting portion 57 passes through a passage 59 defined in a partition 58 between the main body portion 12 and the box member 51 into the high-voltage chamber 13, as shown in FIG. 10. The connecting portion 57 extends along an inner surface of a rear plate 51c of the box member 51. The connecting portion 57 is positioned on one side of the electrode 53 opposite from the electrode 54, and includes a neck portion 57a (FIG. 11) extending obliquely in a forward direction (i.e. in an upper direction in FIGS. 10, 11) toward the electrode 53 and integrally joined to a rear edge of the electrode 53. The electrode 53 is connected to a high-voltage front terminal 35h extending in the forward direction remotely from the high-voltage contact 28h and the electrode 54. 
     The electrode 53 is coupled to the high-voltage front terminal 35h by a bent portion 61 which is substantially surrounded by a rectangular tubular wall 62 integrally projecting from the rear plate 51c. The opposite edges of the electrode 53 are held in a support slot 63a defined in the partition 58 and a slot 63b formed in the rectangular tubular wall 62. Ribs 64 are disposed on inner surfaces of the box member 51 between marginal edges of the electrodes 53 and 54 for increasing the creeping distance. The electrode 54 has a terminal 65 projecting rearwardly from the rear plate 51c of the box member 51 as shown in FIG. 4. 
     The cover member 52 is substantially fitted over a front outer peripheral surface of the box member 51. As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, locking members 66a, 66b of a V-shaped cross section extend integrally rearwardly from rear ends of side plates 52a, 52b of the cover member 52 which are held respectively against confronting side walls 51a, 51b of the box member 51. Tapered ridges 68a, 68b are integrally formed on outer surfaces of the side walls 51a, 51b, the tapered ridges 68a, 68b progressively projecting laterally toward the rear ends thereof. The cover member 52 is fixed to the box member 51 when the locking members 66a, 66b, are locked by the tapered ridges 68a, 68b. As shown in FIG. 1, the main body portion 12 has a high-voltage protective groove 71 defined in a front surface thereof in surrounding relation to the high-voltage contact 28h, the protective groove 71 communicating with the central hole 15. A protective member 72 (FIG. 10) is inserted in the protective groove 71 and held against the partition 58. The protective member 72 is integral with the cover 52 and closes the passages 59 while pressing the connecting portion 57 against the rear plate 51c (FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of ribs 73 are integrally formed with the cover member 52 between the electrodes 53 and 54 to increase the creeping distance along an inner surface of the cover member 52 between the electrodes 53 and 54. A presser projection 74 is integrally formed on an inner surface of the cover member 52 for pressing the bent portion 61 rearwardly against a projection 75 integrally projecting from the rear plate 51c. 
     The high-voltage terminal 35h projects out of the cover member 52 through a small hole 76 defined in the cover member 52. In the illustrated embodiment, the high-voltage terminal 35h is shielded by a protective cover 77 molded of synthetic resin integrally with an edge of the cover member 52 remotely from the main body portion 12 so that the protective cover 77 will be angularly movable about the joined edge. When the protective cover 77 is turned into confronting relation to the front surface of the cover member 52, U-shaped locking members 78a, 78b formed integrally with the protective cover 77 are locked on locking ridges 81a, 81b (FIG. 2) on the side plates 52a, 52b of the cover member 52. The protective cover 77 has a recesss 83 through which a lead wire connected to the high-voltage terminal 35h can be led out of the protective cover 77. 
     When the electrode portions 33 and 42 of the contact pieces 28 and the grounding conductor 41 are respectively force-fitted into the main body portion 12, they are automatically positioned in confronting relation with distance gaps of a prescribed length defined therebetween. Since the discharged gap chambers 25&#39; can be closed off the exterior by the electroce portions 33, 42, and the inner surfaces of the discharge gap chamber holes 25, the dust-prevention lugs 46 may be dispensed with. 
     As mentioned before, the guide recesses 24 are required for allowing the passage of the semispherical projections 48 as long as the discharge electrode portions 42 are inserted into the positioning grooves 26a, 26b in the direction of the axis 14, and these guide recesses 24 must be covered with the lugs 46 for dust-prevention. However, in the case where the electrode portions 42 are forcibly mounted on the main body member 12 to close one of the openings of the holes 25 in the direction in which the semispherical projections 48 project, the guide recesses 24 are not needed and the dust-prevention luge 46 may be dispensed with. 
     Semispherical projections may be formed on the electrode portions 33 of the contact pieces 28, as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 7. With such an alternative, the semispherical projections 48 on the electrode portions 42 may be replaced by flat electrodes and those guide recesses 24 are not required anymore. Therefore, the dust-prevention lugs 46 as well as the fitting recesses 47 may also be dispensed with. However, it will be necessary to form guide recesses in the inner surface of the second cylindrical side wall 12d along and between the positioning grooves 23a and 23b at the respective contact housing 17, thereby allowing the semispherical projections on the electrodes 33 to pass therethrough when the latter are to be force-fitted into the positioning grooves 23a, 23b. Such guide recesses may be closed by the outer extensions 34 of the contact pieces 28 shown in FIG. 7, which double as duct-prevention lugs. 
     Although a certain preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it should be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.