Level bridges are known in prior art. They comprise a two-part structure, in which two metal sheets or wires are inserted at one side in a fastener.
It is disadvantageous in these level bridges that they can easily be jammed during insertion and here an opening develops at the end not held. This opening frequently leads to shearing so that the level bridge is destroyed during the attempted insertion or is severely compromised in its function.
In order to counter this disadvantage, it was frequently tried in the past to connect the end not held as well. For this purpose, classical connection techniques were used, such as soldering.
Even in these connected level bridges, the handling had to be done very carefully during the insertion process because the probability of shearing, although lower, still existed depending on the quality of the connection. Additionally, this second step was expensive and prone to errors.
Other level bridges additionally comprise one or more elastic arms in each level to be contacted. They too can easily jam during insertion, here additionally leading to the problem that the jamming can occur in each level.
Furthermore, the production of such level bridges is expensive because in multi-part components the positioning of the respective parts in reference to each other is very important.
Additionally, the known level bridges require a multitude of tools, for example punching, bending, and/or embossing tools, which also leads to increased production costs.
Additionally it is disadvantageous that multi-part components also require an increased storage expense for the basic parts in production.
In particular when the levels to be connected show only a short distance from each other, level bridges of prior art are unsuitable because the available elastic arms cannot be produced in a suitable fashion due to potential processing and material tolerances.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds