Safety guard for an RF connector
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsWilliam N. Taylor, Richard R. Mett, Mark W. Curry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a safety guard for a type-N coaxial connector that prevents casual human contact with a conductive center pin of the coaxial cable. The safety guard is preferably made of a dielectric material and is generally tubular in shape. The safety guard is adapted to be installed on existing connectors in the field, or to be part of a connector assembly that is to be installed on a coaxial cable. Among the advantages of the present invention are substantial reduction in complexity over prior art interlock connector designs. The safety guard of the present invention is provided for a male connector only, thereby alleviating the need for modification of the mating female connector.
Claims28
A coaxial connector comprising:
- a conductive center pin;
- a shield disposed around said conductor center pin;
- and
- an electrically insulating safety guard disposed between said conductive center pin and said shield,
- wherein a distance between an end of the conductive center pin and an end of the electrically insulating safety guard is at least a standoff distance, and
- wherein said standoff distance is greater than the distance between said end of the conductive center pin and an end portion of said shield closest to said end of the electrically insulating safety guard.
A coaxial connector comprising:
- a conductive center pin;
- a shield disposed around said conductive center pin;
- and
- an electrically insulating safety guard disposed between said conductive center pin and said shield,
- wherein said conductive center pin and said shield are an integral part of the coaxial connector, and wherein the electrically insulating safety guard is slidably attachable around said conductive center pin to the coaxial connector such that the safety guard can be retrofitted onto the coaxial connector, and wherein a distance between an end of the conductive center pin and an end of the electrically insulating safety guard is a predetermined distance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.