Electrical connector device securable to metal member

• US 4,023,882 A
• Filed: 05/10/1976
• Issued: 05/17/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Borge Hugo Pettersson
• Original Assignee: Borge Hugo Pettersson
• Inventors: Pettersson, Borge Hugo
• Primary Examiner(s): McGlynn, Joseph H.
• Application Number:
  US05/685,122
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• Field of Search: 339/94-99
• US Class Current: 439/426
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/26 Connections in which at least one of the connecting parts has projections which bite into or engage the other connecting part in order to improve the contact H01R4/188, H01R4/203, H01R4/5075 take precedence; using shape memory materials H01R4/01
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 439/927 Conductive gasket

Abstract

An electrical connector device comprises a disc-like connector element having a hole therethrough. From a face thereof substantially hard contact means projects outwardly, in the form of an annular ridge which tapers outwardly to a sharp or rounded edge and which is concentric to the hole and radially spaced therefrom. An elastically deformable sealing element overlies said face of the connector element and, in the unused device, embeds the contact means. Tightening of a screw through the hole, to secure the device to an object member, forces the contact means through the sealing element and partway into the object member. The annular electrical connection thus formed is durably sealed by the compressed sealing member.

Claims

1. A device for providing a good and durable mechanical and electrical connection between an electrical conductor and an object member even though the object member may have an electrically insulating surface coating that is required to remain intact except in a limited zone of electrical connection, said device comprising:

A. a rigid connector element of electrically conductive material having a substantially flat surface that faces substantially in one direction;

B. means on a portion of said connector element other than its said surface for connecting an electrical conductor to it;

C. substantially hard electrically conductive contact means on said connector element, projecting a distance in said one direction from said surface thereof and tapering to an edge remote from said surface that is capable of penetrating a surface coating on an object member, said contact means being spaced from the edges of said surface of the connector element;

D. a sealing element of elastically deformable material

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the connector element has a hole therethrough, the axis of which is normal to its said surface, further characterized by:

1. said contact means being ridge-like, annular, and concentric to said hole; and

2. bonded to and overlying substantially the whole of said surface of the connector element,having a substantially flat surface parallel to said surface of the connector element and spaced in said direction more than said distance therefrom, andcompletely embedding said contact means;

and

E. force exerting and maintaining means engaging a portion of said connector element other than said surface thereof and comprising a part which is movable relative to the connector element, said force exerting and maintaining means being cooperable with an object member for compelling substantially translatory motion of the connector element in said one direction whereby the sealing element is compressed between the connector element and a surface portion of the object member while the contact means is forced through the sealing element and into penetrating engagement with said surface portion of the object member, and for confining the connector element in a position relative to the object member at which such engagement is maintained while the compressed sealing element cooperates with the connector element and the object member to maintain a seal all around the zone of such engagement.

5. The device of claim 2, further characterized by:

a coating of an adhesive material over said surface of the sealing element, for retaining said seal upon removal of the screw from the object member.

4. said force exerting and maintaining means comprising a screw which extends through said hole and is receivable in a hole in the object member, said screw being snugly embraced by said sealing element.

6. A device for providing a good and durable mechanical and electrical connection between an electrical conductor and an object member even though the object member may have an electrically insulating surface coating that is required to remain intact except in a limited zone of electrical connection, said device comprising:

A. a rigid electrically conductive connector element having a pair of opposite faces and through which there is a hole that has its axis transverse to said faces;

B. substantially hard electrically conductive contact means on one of said faces of the connector element defining an annular ridge that projects from said face, is substantially concentric to said hole, and is radially spaced from both the inner and the outer edges of said face, said contact means, in cross-section, being tapered to a sharp edge so as to make an annular line contact with a surface engaged thereby that is substantially parallel to said one face;

C. means for securing an electrical conductor to a portion of the connector element other than said one face thereof;

D. a fastening member than can extend through said hole and through a registering hole in an object member and by which a clamping force can be exerted and maintained upon the connector element whereby said one face thereof is urged towards the object member; and

E. a sealing element of elastically deformable material overlying substantially the whole of said one face of the connector element and having a substantially flat surface parallel to said one face, said sealing element

11. The device of claim 6 wherein said sealing face of the connector element is flat, and the connector element has a hole therethrough that has its axis normal to said sealing face of the connector element, further characterized by:

1. said contact means being ridge-like and annular, concentric to said hole and spaced radially therefrom; and

2. said means for forcefully urging the connector element into clamping relationship with an object member comprising a screw which extends through said hole and is receivable in a hole in an object member.

7. being thick enough, in the unused device, to completely embed said contact means,being bonded to said one face of the connector element across substantially the whole area thereof and to said contact means, andbeing penetrable by the contact means upon the application of clamping force to the connector element, to enable the contact means to bite into an adjacent surface of an object member and make good electrical contact therewith in an annular contact zone while the compressed sealing element cooperates with the connector element and the object member to provide a seal around said contact zone both radially inwardly and radially outwardly thereof.

12. The device of claim 7 wherein said screw has a head that overlies an opposite face of the connector element and wherein said means for connecting an electrical conductor to the connecting element comprises a lug that is clampingly confined between the head of said screw and said opposite face of the connector element.

8. A device whereby an electrical connection can be made to a metal object member that has a hole therein, a substantially flat surface around said hole, and an electrically insulating coating on said surface that must remain intact except at a limited zone of electrical contact adjacent to said hole, and whereby a seal can be maintained all around said hole and said zone of electrical contact to prevent leakage through the hole and galvanic corrosion at said zone, said device comprising:

A. a rigid connector element of electrically connecting material having

1. a hole therethrough,

2. a substantially flat surface surrounding said hole and normal to the axis thereof, said surface facing in one direction, and

3. an annular ridge projecting in said direction from said surface and tapering in said direction to a sharp annular edge which lies substantially in a plane that is parallel to said surface and is spaced in said direction therefrom, said ridge being radially spaced from both said hole and the perimeter of said surface;

B. a screw member received in said hole in the connector element and receivable in a hole in an object member, for exerting a clamping force by which the connector element is urged in said direction towards a surface on the object member that surrounds the hole therein; and

C. a sealing element of elastically deformable material overlying substantially the whole of said surface on the connector element, said sealing element

9. snugly embracing said screw,being bonded to said surface and to said ridge, andin its unused condition completely embedding said ridge but being penetrable by said ridge when the sealing element is elastically deformed under axial compression between the connector element and the object member, to allow the ridge to bite into the metal of the object member.

10. A device for providing a good and durable mechanical and electrical connection between an electrical conductor and an object member even though the object member may have an electrically insulating surface coating that is required to remain intact except in a limited zone of electrical connection, and even though the conductor and the object member may have substantially differing galvanic potentials, said device comprising:

A. a rigid connector element of electrically conductive material having a sealing face that faces substantially in one direction;

B. means on a portion of said connector element other than its said sealing face for connecting an electrical conductor to it;

C. substantially hard electrically conductive contact means on said sealing face, projecting in said direction therefrom and tapering to an edge remote from said sealing face that is capable of penetrating a surface coating on an object member;

D. a sealing element of elastically deformable material embedding said contact means, said sealing element having an outer face configured in substantial correspondence with a surface portion of an object member and having an inner face which overlies and is bonded to portions of said sealing face of the connector element all around the contact means;

E. means for forcefully urging the connector element in said direction and in clamping relationship with an object member to compress the sealing element and force the contact means through the sealing element and into penetrating engagement with a surface portion of the object member, compression of the sealing element also establishing it in sealing relationship to the connector element and the object member all around the contact means; and

F. a coating of an adhesive material over the outer face of the sealing element, for retaining said sealing relationship upon removal of said means for forcefully urging the connector element in said direction.

13. A device for providing a good electrical connection between an electrical conductor and an object member that has a hole therethrough and has a substantially flat electrically conducting surface adjacent to the hole, whereby such connection can be made even though said surface may have an insulation coating that is required to remain intact except in a limited zone of electrical connection, and whereby corrosion of the connected parts is effectively prevented even though they may have substantially different galvanic potentials, said device comprising:

A. a rigid, electrically conductive connector element having a hole therethrough and having a face normal to the axis of said hole and surrounding the same;

B. substantially hard electrically conductive contact means on said connector element projecting outwardly from said face thereof in spaced relation to said hole and to the periphery of said face and having a taper in the direction away from said one face to define an edge that can partway penetrate the metal of an object member;

C. means for securing an electrical conductor to a portion of the connector element other than said one face thereof;

D. a sealing element of elastically deformable material bonded to and overlying said face of the connector element, said sealing element embedding the contact means and being disposed both radially inwardly and radially outward thereof, said sealing element having a flat outer face that is substantially parallel to said face of the connector element;

E. fastening means for securing the device to an object member and for establishing a clamping force between the connector element and a surface of the object member that opposes said face of the connector element, such clamping force causing the contact means to be forced through the sealing element and into good electrically connecting engagement with the object member and causing the sealing element to be compressed into sealing relationship with the object member all around the zone of such engagement, said fastening means comprising a screw that can extend through said hole in the connector element and the hole in the object member; and

F. a coating of an adhesive bonding material over said outer face of the sealing element, whereby the device is retained in place on an object member when the screw is withdrawn so that the seal between the object member and the connector element is not disrupted.