ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR

• US 3,848,950 A
• Filed: 09/07/1972
• Issued: 11/19/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1972
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Automation Industries, Inc. (Prysmian SPA)
• Original Assignee: Ben F. Selk, Larry L. Mccormick
• Inventors: McCormick, Larry L., Selk, Ben F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Frazier, Roy D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Staab, Lawrence J.
• Application Number:
  US05/287,184
• Time in Patent Office: 803 Days
• Field of Search: 339/88-90,186,187,45,46,111 285/316,361,362,377
• US Class Current: 439/311
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/533 Bases, cases made for use in extreme conditions, e.g. high temperature, radiation, vibration, corrosive environment, pressure H01R13/52 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/623 Casing or ring with helicoidal groove
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/625 Casing or ring with bayonet engagement
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/627 Snap or like fastening
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/639 Additional means for holding or locking coupling parts together, after engagement, e.g. separate keylock, retainer strap

Abstract

An electrical connector is disclosed herein which employs a breech lock whereby the two sections of the connector may be readily mated or unmated by a simple rotation of the breech lock through a fraction of a turn. In addition, means are also provided for retracting the electrical contacts into a protected position until the two sections are fully mated.

Claims

1. An electrical connector including the combination of a plug section, a first set of electrical contacts on said plug section, a receptacle section effective to mate with said plug section, a second set of electrical contacts on said receptacle section, one of said sets of contacts being movable within its section between a first position wherein the contacts therein mate with the contacts in the other set when said sections are mated and a second position wherein the contacts therein do not mate with the contacts in the other set, and a set of mating threads on one of said sections to mesh with each other, said threads having a high pitch to cause the movable set of contacts to move from the second position into the first position in response to partial rotation in one direction and to cause the movabLe set of contacts to move from the first position into the second position in response to a partial rotation in an opposite direction.

2. The connector of claim 1 including a spring effective to coact with said threads, said spring having a sufficient force and said threads having a sufficiently high pitch to create a torque tending to rotate said threads relative to each other and retain said sections and the contacts in said sets fully mated together.

3. An electrical connector including the combination of a plug section, a first set of electrical contacts in said plug section, a receptacle section, a sleeve member in one of said sections, a shell member on said sleeve member, said shell member being axially movable relative to said sleeve member between a fully retracted and unmated position and a fully extended and mated position, a second set of electrical contacts in said receptacle section carried with said shell between a retracted position and an extended position, the contacts in said second set mating with the contacts in the first set when in the extended position and not mating with the contacts in the first set when in the retracted position, and a set of screw threads on said sleeve member and shell member for moving said shell member between said mated and unmated positions, said threads having a high pitch to cause the sleeve member to move said shell member between said fully retracted position wherein the contacts in said sets are retracted and said fully extended position wherein the contacts in said sets are mated in response to only a partial turn of the sleeve member.

4. The connector of claim 3 including a spring effective to coact with said threads, said spring having sufficient force and said threads having a sufficient pitch whereby one of said members tends to rotate and move said shell member and the second set of contacts into the extended and fully mated position.

5. An electrical connector including the combination of a plug section, a first set of electrical contacts in said section, a receptacle section, said receptacle section being effective to mate with said plug section, a second set of electrical contacts in said second section, a breech lock on said sections effective to releasably secure said sections together when they are mated, and means operatively interconnected with said breech lock for moving one of said sets of contacts into and out of engagement with the other of said sets of contacts when said breech lock secures said sections together and releases them from each other.

6. An electrical connector including the combination of a plug section, a first set of electrical contacts in said plug section, a receptacle section, a second set of electrical contacts in said receptacle section, said receptacle section being adapted to mate with the plug section whereby the electrical contacts in said first set mate with the electrical contacts in said second set, a breech lock on said sections adapted to releasably secure said sections together when they are mated with each other, and a set of mating screw threads on one of said sections for moving one of said sets of electrical contacts into and out of mating engagement with the other set of contacts.

7. An electrical connector including the combination of a plug section, a first set of electrical contacts in said plug section, a receptacle section, a second set of electrical contacts in said receptacle section, said receptacle section being adapted to mate with the plug section whereby the electrical contacts in said first set mate with the electrical contacts in said second set, a breech lock including a member movably mounted on one of said sections for releasably engaging the other of said sections, said member being rotatably movable in a first direction into a first angular position and in a second direction into a second angulaR position, said member when in the first angular position being effective to securely lock said sections together in the mated position and when in the second angular position allowing said sections to freely mate and unmate, a mating set of screw threads on one of said sections for moving the set of electrical contacts thereon into electrical mating engagement with the other set of electrical contacts when rotated in said first direction and out of engagement when rotated in said second direction, and resilient spring means effective to react with said threads to bias said member toward said first angular position.

9. An electrical connector including the combination of a first member, a first set of electrical contacts in said member, a second member, said members being adapted to mate with each other, a second set of electrical contacts in said second member, a plurality of keys on one of said members and a plurality of key-ways on the other of said members, said keys and key-ways being positioned to complement each other when said members are mated together, a breech lock having detent means on one of said members and a keeper on the other of said members, said keeper being rotatably movable between a first position wherein it engages the detent means and a second position wherein it does not engage the detent means, and means on one of said members for moving the set of contacts on one of said members into engagement with the set of contacts on the other of said members when said keeper is rotated into said first position and for moving it out of engagement when said keeper is rotated into said second position.

10. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a first shell in said first section, a first set of electrical contacts in said shell, a second section, a second shell in said second section, said second shell being movable between an extended position and a retracted position, a second set of electrical contacts in said second shell, the electrical contacts in said second set mating with the electrical contacts in said first set of contacts when said shell is in the extended position, the electrical contacts in said second set being separated and electrically isolated from the contacts in the first set when said shell is in the retracted position, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the second shell, a first annular array of shoulders on said sleeve, a second annular array of shoulders on said first section, the shoulders in said second array being circumferentially spaced and positioned to engage the shoulder in said first array and secure said sections together, said shoulders being separated by a plurality of openings and positioned to allow said shoulders to pass therethrough when the sleeve is rotated into a first angular position and to engage the shoulders when it is rotated into a second angular position, and means for moving said second shell into said retracted position when said sleeve is rotated into said first angular position and into the extended position when said sleeve is rotated into the second angular position.

11. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a first shell in said first section, a first set of electrical contacts in said shell, a second section, a second shell in said second section and movable between an extended position and a retracted position, a second set of electrical contacts in said second shell and adapted to mate with said first set of contacts when said shell is in the extended position, a sleeve being rotatably mounted on the second shell, a first annular array of shoulders on said sleeve, a second annular array of shoulders on said first section, the shoulders in said second array being circumferentially spaced and positioned to engage the shoulder in said first array and secure said sections together, said shoulders being separated by a plurality of openings and positioned to allow said shoulders to pass therethrough when the sleeve is rotated into a first angular position and to engage the shoulders when it is rotated into a second angular position, means for moving said second shell into said retracted position when said sleeve is rotated into said first angular position and into the extended position when said sleeve is rotated into the second angular position, an electrical insulating insert in the first shell member, said first set of electrical contacts being disposed in said insert, an electrical insulating insert in the second shell member, said second set of electrical contacts being disposed in said second insert, one of said inserts being movable with said second shell between said retracted position wherein the contacts in the first and second sets are separated and an extended position wherein they are mated, and means on said sleeve for moving the movable insert between the retracted and extended positions when said sleeve is rotated between said angular positions.

12. The connector of claim 11 wherein said last means includes a high pitch thread for moving said insert between said positions with less than one turn, and a spring biasing the insert toward the extended position.

13. An electrical connector including the combination of a first shell member having a passage therein, a first set of electrical contacts in said shell member, a second shell member having a portion adapted to mate with said first shell member, a second set of electrical contacts in said shell member, a plurality of keys on said portion, a plurality of key-ways in said passage aligned with said keys and adapted to pass therethrough when said shell members are mated, a sleeve rotatably mounted on said first shell members for rotation between a first angular position and a second angular position, an annular shoulder on said sleeve adapted to engage the keys when said sleeve is in a second angular position, and a set of high pitch threads on said sleeve and effective to move said second set of contacts into a mating position when said sleeve is rotated into one of said angular positions.

14. An electrical connector including the combination of a first shell member, a first set of electrical contacts in said shell member, a passage extending axially into said first shell member, a plurality of key-ways circumferentially spaced around the passage, a second shell member, a second set of electrical contacts in said second shell member, a barrel on the second shell member adapted to fit into said passage when said shell members are mated, a plurality of keYs circumferentially spaced around said barrel and adapted to mate with and fit into said key-ways when said shell members are mated, said keys forming a plurality of shoulders circumferentially spaced around said barrel, a sleeve rotatably mounted on said first shell member for rotation between a first angular position and a second angular position, a plurality of keeper means on said sleeve, said keeper means being positioned to pass between said keys when the sleeve is in the first angular position and to engage the shoulders formed by the keys when the sleeve is in the second angular position, a high pitch set of threads on said sleeve, and a spring exerting an axial force on said sleeve.

15. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, an electrical insulating insert in said section, a first set of electrical contacts in said insert, a second section adapted to mate with said first section, an electrical insulating insert in said second section, a second set of electrical contacts in said second insert, the electrical contacts in said sets being adapted to mate with each other, one of said inserts being movable relative to its section between a fully retracted position wherein said electrical contacts are completely separated and electrically unmated and a fully extended position, wherein said electrical contacts are completely engaged and electrically mated, and high pitch thread means operatively interconnecting one of said inserts to its section for moving said one of said inserts relative to its section said pitch being sufficiently high to cause, when said sections are mated, one of said inserts to move from the fully retracted position to the fully extended position as a result of only a partial revolution.

16. The connector of claim 15 including a breech lock.

17. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a second section, a breech lock on said sections movable between a lock position and an unlock position releasably securing said sections together, a first set of electrical contacts in one of said sections, a second set of electrical contacts in the other of said sections, one of said contact sets being movable between a mating position wherein the contacts therein engage and mate with the contacts in the other set of contacts and an unmated position wherein the contacts therein separate from and do not mate with the contacts in the other set, and a set of mating screw threads operatively interconnected with said breech lock for moving said movable set of contacts between the mated position and the unmated position as said breech lock moves between locked position and the unlocked position.

18. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a second section, a breech lock on said sections for releasably securing said sections together when one of said sections is rotated in a first direction and for releasing said sections when it is rotated in a second direction, a first set of electrical contacts in one of said sections, a second set of electrical contacts in the other of said sections, one of said contact sets being movable between a mating position wherein it engages the other set of contacts and an unmated position wherein it does not engage the other set, a set of mating screw threads for moving said movable set of contacts into said mating position when said first section is rotated in said first direction and into said unmating position when said first section is rotated in said second direction, and said threads having a high pitch whereby said set of contacts moves between said mated and unmated positions when said first section is rotated less than one revolution.

19. The connector of claim 18 including a spring producing an axial force which coacts with said set of threads for biasing said contacts toward the mated position.

20. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a second section adapted to mate with said first section, a first set of electrical contacts in said first section, a second set of electrical contacts in said second section, said second set of contacts being movable in said second section between a mating position wherein said contacts mate with the contacts in the first set when said sections are mated and an unmating position wherein said contacts are separated from the contacts in the first set, an annular array of shoulders on one of said sections, an annular array of projections on the other of said sections, said projections being circumferentially spaced and positioned to allow said projections to pass between said shoulders when one of said sections is rotated in a first direction into a first angular position and to engage the shoulders when rotated in a second direction into a second angular position, a set of mating threads on one of said sections for moving said second set of electrical contacts between said mating and unmating positions when said projections are moved between said first and second angular positions, and a spring resiliently biasing said threads toward said mating position.

21. An electrical connector including the combination of a first section, a first shell member in said first section, a first set of electrical contacts in said first shell member, a second section adapted to mate with said first section, a second shell member in said second section adapted to mate with said first shell member when said sections are mated with each other, a second set of electrical contacts in said second shell member, a sleeve in one of said sections, said sleeve being rotatably mounted relative to the shell member in said section, a set of mating threads on said shell and said sleeve effective to move said shell between an extended position wherein said shell members and the electrical contacts in said sets mate when said sleeve is rotated in one direction and a retracted position wherein said shell members and the electrical contacts in said sets are separated when said sleeve is rotated in the opposite direction, an annular array of shoulders on one of said sections, an annular array of projections on the other sections, said shoulders and said projections being circumferentially spaced around and positioned to engage each other and secure said sections together when said sleeve is rotated in said first direction, and said projections and annular shoulders being positioned to allow said projections to pass between said shoulders when the sleeve is rotated in the second direction.