US 2014/0193991 A1Published application

Electrical connector with anti-arcing feature

AssigneeAnderson Power Products, Inc.

InventorsCharles L York, Brian F Davies

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Abstract

A novel connector pair suppresses arcing during connection and disconnection. In one general aspect of the invention, first and second insulating barriers are configured to extend beyond corresponding first and second contacts, the barriers being arranged to cover a leading end of at least one of the contacts, and to engage with each other when the contacts are separated by a small gap, thereby closing off substantially all through-air arcing paths between them. In another general aspect of the invention, at least one electrical contact in a connector pair is a bimetal contact having a transitional segment made from high resistivity metal. The transitional segment is configured to make first and last contact during the initial phases of mating and un-mating, thereby increasing electrical resistance and significantly lowering the electrical current and the energy available for electrical arcing.

Claims18

Dependent claims

An electrical connector pair, comprising:

a first connector having a first insulating housing;
a first electrical contact supported within the first insulating housing, the first electrical contact having a connecting surface that is substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the insulating housing and terminates in a leading end of the first electrical contact;
a second connector having a second insulating housing;
a second electrical contact supported within the second insulating housing, the second electrical contact being configured to laterally engage with the connecting surface of the first electrical contact when the first connector is mated with the second connector;
a first insulating barrier within the first connector extending beyond and covering the leading end of the first electrical contact;
and
a second insulating barrier extending beyond the second electrical contact within the second connector, the second insulating barrier being configured so as to be in close proximity with the first insulating barrier when the first and second connectors are partially disconnected and the first and second electrical contacts are separated by a short distance, thereby blocking substantially all through-air arcing paths between the first and second electrical contacts.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.