Rotatable electrical connector for coiled telephone cords
First Claim
1. A low friction rotatable electrical connector for use with coiled telephone cords, said connector comprising:
- a. a hollow insulated housing having a first plurality of electrical terminal means at one end, and a circular opening in the end wall at the opposite end of the housing;
b. a rotor assembly of insulating material rotatably mounted within the said circular opening so the rotor assembly may rotate freely relative to the hollow housing, and a second plurality of electrical terminal means associated with the rotor assembly;
c. the end of the rotor assembly within the housing having a transverse face supporting a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings that are spaced apart by insulating material, each contact ring being connected to a separate one of the second plurality of electrical terminal means;
d. a plurality of spring wire contact elements each mounted at one end within the housing so the contacts are arranged in a parallel array, each spring wire contact element having a portion biased into continuous wiping contact with a separate one of said concentric rings for making a reliable electrical connection between the relatively movable hollow housing and its rotor assembly;
e. each of said plurality of spring wire contact elements being of hairpin shape at its intermediate portion, the said housing having partitions interposed between the intermediate portions of the spring wire contact elements so as to stabilize and space these wire contact elements apart.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This low friction rotatable electrical connector is for use with coiled telephone cords to prevent the cord from becoming twisted and knotted-up during use. This connector is generally of insulating material formed with a hollow housing having a first electrical female socket built into one end wall, and a circular opening in the opposite end wall for supporting a rotor assembly that is also of insulating material. The free end of the rotor assembly has a male phone plug. The innermost end of the rotor assembly has an enlarged head with a transverse face supporting a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings that are insulated from each other. A circuit board is clamped within the housing, and it has a first plurality of spring wire contacts that are each urged into continuous wiping contact with a separate one of the concentric rings. A second plurality of spring wire contacts are mounted to the circuit board within the female socket for making contact with a standard male phone plug. The housing is provided with partitions to provide spacers between the first plurality of spring wires and separate partitions for providing spacers between the second plurality of spring wires so as to retain these contact elements in place. The location of this rotatable connector relative to the coiled telephone cord has many possibilities. The connector can be at either end of the cord, or intermediate the length of the cord, or built into the handset.
79 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A low friction rotatable electrical connector for use with coiled telephone cords, said connector comprising:
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a. a hollow insulated housing having a first plurality of electrical terminal means at one end, and a circular opening in the end wall at the opposite end of the housing; b. a rotor assembly of insulating material rotatably mounted within the said circular opening so the rotor assembly may rotate freely relative to the hollow housing, and a second plurality of electrical terminal means associated with the rotor assembly; c. the end of the rotor assembly within the housing having a transverse face supporting a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings that are spaced apart by insulating material, each contact ring being connected to a separate one of the second plurality of electrical terminal means; d. a plurality of spring wire contact elements each mounted at one end within the housing so the contacts are arranged in a parallel array, each spring wire contact element having a portion biased into continuous wiping contact with a separate one of said concentric rings for making a reliable electrical connection between the relatively movable hollow housing and its rotor assembly; e. each of said plurality of spring wire contact elements being of hairpin shape at its intermediate portion, the said housing having partitions interposed between the intermediate portions of the spring wire contact elements so as to stabilize and space these wire contact elements apart. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 18)
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5. A low friction rotatable electrical connector for use with coiled telephone cords, said connector comprising:
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a. a hollow insulating housing having a first electrical terminal means at one end and a circular opening at the opposite end of the housing; b. a rotor assembly of insulating material rotatably mounted within the said circular opening so the rotor assembly may rotate freely relative to the hollow housing, and a second electrical terminal means formed adjacent the outer end of the rotor assembly that is outside the housing; c. the end of the rotor assembly within the housing having a transverse face supporting a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings, and insulated conductors joining these concentric rings with the said second electrical terminal means at the outer end of the rotor assembly; d. and a circuit board means mounted within the said hollow housing and having a circuit element for cooperation with each of said plurality of concentric rings of the rotor assembly, said circuit elements being joined at one end to the said first electrical terminal means, each circuit element at the other end being furnished with a first spring wire contact element that is biased into wiping contact with a separate one of said concentric rings for making a reliable electrical connection between the relatively movable hollow housing and its rotor assembly, the hollow housing including partition means to stabilize these spring wire contacts and bias them toward the concentric rings. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21)
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14. A low friction rotatable electrical connector for use with coiled telephone cords, said connector comprising:
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a. a hollow insulated housing having a first electrical female socket built into one end wall of the housing and having an opening that is adapted to receive a standard male phone plug therethrough; b. a rotor assembly of insulating material rotatably mounted within a circular opening in an opposite end wall of the housing so the rotor assembly may rotate freely relative to the connector housing, and a second electrical terminal means mounted on the outermost end of the rotor assembly; c. the inner end of the rotor assembly within the housing having an enlarged head with a transverse end wall provided with a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings that are insulated from each other, and insulated conductors joining these concentric rings with the said second electrical terminal means; d. and a circuit board means mounted within the said connector housing and having a first plurality of spring wire contact elements mounted adjacent the innermost edge of the circuit board in a generally parallel array adjacent the concentric rings, each first spring wire contact element being urged into continuous wiping contact with a separate one of said concentric rings; e. the opposite edge of the circuit board supporting a second plurality of spring wire contact elements in a generally parallel array that is disposed at an inclined angle longitudinally of the female socket, each second spring wire contact element being adapted to be urged into contact with the said standard male phone plug, said circuit board means having separate circuit elements joining the fixed mounted ends of related pairs of first and second spring wire contact elements. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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22. A low friction rotatable electrical connector for use with coiled telephone cords, said connector comprising:
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a. a hollow insulated housing having a first plurality of electrical terminal means at one end, and a circular opening in the end wall at the opposite end of the housing; b. a rotor assembly of insulating material rotatably mounted within the said circular opening so the rotor assembly may rotate freely relative to the hollow housing, and a second plurality of electrical terminal means associated with the rotor assembly; c. the end of the rotor assembly within the housing having a transverse face supporting a plurality of concentric electrical contact rings that are spaced apart by insulating material, each contact ring being connected to a separate one of the second plurality of electrical terminal means, d. a plurality of spring contact elements mounted within the housing, and each contact element having a portion biased into continuous wiping contact with a separate one of said concentric rings for making a reliable electrical connection between the relatively movable hollow housing and its rotor assembly, each said spring contact element being joined with a separate one of the first plurality of electrical terminal means; e. wherein the said hollow housing is split longitudinally from one end to the other thereby forming a base portion and a cover portion, said first plurality of electrical terminal means being mounted in the base portion, said first plurality of electrical terminal means also being located within a female socket built into that end of the housing that has an opening that is adapted to receive a standard male phone plug formed at one end of a coiled telephone cord, said second electrical terminal means formed adjacent the opposite end of the rotor assembly being a standard male phone plug.
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Specification