Waterproof geophysical connector
AssigneeGeo Space Corporation
InventorsLarry M. Gray, Andrew Au
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A waterproof geophysical connector including a rigid plastic body supporting a hard plastic insert which in turn supports a plurality of electrical contacts. A compression nut is connected to the body and an electrical cable extends through the compression nut to the inside of the body and is connected to the electrical contacts. A plastic potting compound fills the body and a plastic overmold is applied between the cable and the body and a fluid clearance space is provided between a rotatable coupling ring and the outside of the body for clearing debris.
Claims5
A waterproof geophysical connector comprising:
- a hard rigid tubular plastic body having first and second ends, and having an inside and an outside,
- a hard plastic insert releasably connected to the first end of the body,
- a plurality of electrical contacts secured to the hard plastic insert,
- a compression nut releasably connected to the second end of the body,
- an electrical cable extending through the compression nut to the inside of the body and connected to the electrical contacts,
- a plastic potting compound filling the inside of the body and encapsulating the electrical connection of the cable to the electrical contacts,
- a plastic overmold applied to the outside of the second end of the body, the compression nut and the cable,
- a coupling ring rotatably mounted on the outside of the body, said ring including a lip engaging a lip on the hard plastic insert, said coupling ring including one or more slots therethrough for the passage of fluids, and
- the outside of the body including a depression adjacent said slots for allowing circulation of fluid between the body and the coupling ring for cleaning out debris.
The apparatus of claim I including a soft seal ring about the electrical contacts and in the plastic insert, and
- a dust cap releasably connected to the coupling ring and including a soft seal adapted to coact with the seal ring.
A waterproof geophysical connector comprising:
- a hard rigid tubular plastic body having first and second ends, and having an inside and an outside,
- a hard plastic tubing insert threadably connected to the inside of the first end of the body, and having first and second ends and an inside and an outside,
- a plurality of electrical contacts secured to the inside of the tubular insert, a soft plastic seal positioned in the first end of the tubular insert for sealing against a mating connection of the geophysical connector,
- a compression nut threadably connected to the inside of the second end of the body,
- an electrical cable extending through the compression nut to the inside of the body and connected to the electrical contacts,
- a plastic potting compound filling the inside of the body and encapsulating the electrical connection of the cable to the electrical contacts,
- a plastic overmold applied to the outside of the second end of the body, the compression nut and the cable,
- a tubular coupling ring rotatably mounted about the outside of the body, said ring including coupling threads and a lip engaging a lip on the outside of the hard plastic insert, said coupling ring including a plurality of slots therethrough for the passage of fluids, and
- the outside of the body including a depression adjacent said slots providing a space for allowing circulation of cleaning fluid between the outside of the body and the coupling ring for cleaning out debris therebetween.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.