Connector systems with magnetic retaining means
AssigneeHarris Corporation
InventorsWojciech Mysliwiec, Mark Benoit, Richard Furness
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Connector systems (10, 100) for electrically connecting two or more electrical components include a connector (14, 114) having one or more magnets (36a, 136a). Each magnet (36a, 136a) is attracted to another magnet (36b, 136b), or to a magentically-attractable element on the other connector (14, 114) of the system (10, 100) when the connectors (14, 12, 112, 114) are mated. The magnetic attraction helps to maintain the connectors (14, 12, 112, 114) in a mated condition. The magnets (36a, 36b, 136a, 136b) can be oriented so that surface normals of pole faces (37a, 37b, 137a, 137b) of the magnets (36a, 36b, 136a, 136b) are angled in relation to a mating direction of the connectors (14, 12, 112, 114).
Claims23
A connector system comprising a first connector, the first connector comprising:
- a first housing;
- a plurality of first contacts mounted on the first housing and being configured to mate in a first direction with a plurality of second contacts of a second connector;
- a plurality of first conductors, each of the first conductors being electrically connected to an associated one of the first contacts;
- and
- a first magnet mounted on the housing and having a pole face, wherein the first housing and the first magnet are configured so that a normal to the pole face extends in a second direction.
A connector system comprising a first connector, the first connector comprising:
- a first housing;
- a plurality of first contacts mounted on the first housing and being configured in an array so that ends of the first contacts are disposed substantially in a first plane;
- a plurality of first conductors, each of the first conductors being electrically connected to an associated one of the first contacts;
- and
- a first magnet mounted on the housing, the first magnet being positioned at least in part in a recess that extends inwardly from a first surface of the housing, wherein the first surface is disposed substantially in a second plane, the second plane being angularly offset from the first plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.