Electrical mating systems
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorsLon R. Hoegberg, Brennan Fox
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical mating system can include a first connector having a plurality of first contacts, and a second connector having a plurality of second contacts. Each one of the first contacts can pair with one of the second contacts so that they provide electrical conduction between pairs of contacts when the first connector is properly mated to the second connector. At least one of the first contacts or first connector and/or one of the second contacts and the second connector can be sized and configured such that an open circuit occurs across a specific one of the pairs of contacts when the first connector is improperly mated to the second connector.
Claims15
An electrical mating system, comprising:
- a plurality of mating surfaces, each mating surface having:
- a plurality of contactors, each contactor at least as long as a first length, the plurality of contactors configured to mate with a plurality of opposing contactors of an opposing mating surface;
- and
- at least one seating contactor having a second length shorter than the first length, the plurality of mating surfaces configured to form a daisy chain circuit between the plurality of contactors and the plurality of the opposing contactors;
- and
- a contact module including a light emitting diode (LED), the contact module configured to:
- determine if each seating contactor of each of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting a respective opposing seating contactor of a respective opposing mating surface to determine if all mating surfaces of the plurality of mating surfaces are properly seated;
- and
- illuminate the LED for at least a period of time when each seating contactor of each of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting the respective opposing seating contactor of the respective opposing mating surface.
A line replaceable unit (LRU), comprising:
- a plurality of mating surfaces, each mating surface having:
- a plurality of contactors, each contactor at least as long as a first length, the plurality of contactors configured to mate with a plurality of opposing contactors of an opposing mating surface;
- and
- at least one seating contactor having a second length shorter than the first length, the plurality of mating surfaces configured to form a daisy chain circuit between the plurality of contactors and the plurality of the opposing contactors;
- and
- a contact module including a light emitting diode (LED), the contact module configured to:
- determine if each seating contactor of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting a respective opposing seating contactor of a respective opposing mating surface to determine if all mating surfaces of the plurality of mating surfaces are properly seated;
- and
- illuminate the LED for at least a period of time when each seating contactor of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting the respective opposing seating contactor of the respective opposing mating surface.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions configured to cause a computer to perform a method for an electrical mating system having a plurality of mating surfaces, each mating surface having (i) a plurality of contactors, each contactor at least as long as a first length, the plurality of contactors configured to mate with a plurality of opposing contactors of an opposing mating surface, and (ii) at least one seating contactor having a second length shorter than the first length, the plurality of mating surfaces configured to form a daisy chain circuit between the plurality of contactors and the plurality of the opposing contactors, the method comprising:
- determining if each seating contactor of each of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting a respective opposing seating contactor of a respective opposing mating surface to determine if all mating surfaces of the plurality of mating surfaces are properly seated;
- and
- illuminating a light emitting diode (LED) of a contact module for at least a period of time when each seating contactor of each of the plurality of mating surfaces is contacting the respective opposing seating contactor of the respective opposing mating surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.