Electric motor equipped with a quick-disconnect cable connector

Abstract

An electric motor is connected to a power supply by a quick-disconnect cable connector which can be detachably connected to a terminal box of the motor. In one form of the invention, a protective cover is detachably mounted on the terminal box over the cable connector so that the cable connector can not be connected or disconnected without first removing the protective cover. A sensor detects the state of mounting of the protective cover and produces a corresponding output signal, on the basis of which a control circuit automatically electrically disconnects the cable connector from the power supply of the motor when the protective cover is removed from the terminal box. In another form of the invention, the motor is a pole change motor which can operate with either a first number of poles or a second number of poles. The terminal box has a first terminal corresponding to the first number of poles and a second terminal corresponding to the second number of poles. A detector detects whether the cable connector is connected to the first or the second terminal and produces a corresponding output signal. A control circuit automatically connects the motor to a protection device for the first number of poles or a protection device for the second number of poles based on the output of the detector.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.