Electrical connectors
AssigneeElectrical Equipment, Inc.
InventorGraeme Sandwith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical connector system including contacts configured to electrically couple to cables at one end and to one another at the other end. Contacts may be housed in rubberized insulations, which in turn may be housed in various types of receptacles, e.g., bulkhead mounts, wall mounts, in line connectors, or caps. Male contact may be disposed within opening of female contact, but insulation surrounding male contact may be configured to envelope insulation surrounding female contact. As a result, an overall diameter of insulations and contacts may be reduced significantly, permitting the use of receptacles sized to accommodate openings previously reserved for metal-on-metal insulating connection systems.
Claims38
An electrical connector system comprising:
- a contact having a first end configured to electrically couple to a cable and a second end configured to electrically couple to another contact;
- and
- an insulation configured to completely surround at least the second end of the contact;
- wherein the contact is a male contact;
- and further wherein the insulation is spaced radially from a perimeter of the second end a distance sufficient to accommodate a female contact and an insulation surrounding the female contact radially inwardly of the insulation surrounding the male contact.
An electrical connector system comprising:
- a contact having a first end configured to electrically couple to a cable and a second end configured to electrically couple to another contact;
- and
- an insulation configured to completely surround at least the second end of the contact;
- wherein the contact is a female contact;
- and further wherein the insulation circumferentially abuts a perimeter of the second end.
A receptacle for securing an end of at least one electrical contact and insulation, comprising:
- an entrance into an interior opening at one end of the receptacle;
- and
- a sidewall surrounding the interior opening;
- wherein the sidewall has a cross-section generally equal to an outer cross-section of a rubber insulation surrounding a male contact;
- wherein both the male and female contacts are rated at at least 1000V.
An electrical connector system comprising:
- a contact having a cable end and a contact end;
- an insulation completely surrounding the contact end;
- and
- a receptacle configured to completely surround the insulation and contact proximate the contact end;
- wherein, if the contact is a male contact, the insulation is spaced radially from a perimeter of the contact end a distance sufficient to accommodate a female contact and an insulation surrounding the female contact radially inwardly of the insulation surrounding the male contact;
- and
- wherein, if the contact is a female contact, the insulation circumferentially abuts a perimeter of the contact end.
An insulation for an electrical connector system, comprising:
- a cable end having an opening configured to receive a contact having a tip;
- a contact end having a second opening and an entrance to the second opening;
- an internal channel extending between the opening and second opening;
- wherein the insulation is configured to position the tip axially internally of the entrance;
- and
- retention means for keeping at least one of a contact and a receptacle in a predetermined position relative to the insulation;
- wherein the insulation is rubber;
- wherein, if the contact is a male contact, the contact end is configured to provide a radial gap between the tip and an inner wall of the insulation sufficient to receive a female contact and an insulation surrounding the female contact;
- and
- wherein, if the contact is a female contact, the contact end is configured to provide no radial gap between the tip and an inner wall of the insulation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.