Electrical shuttle connector

An electrical connector comprising:

• an elongated male pin;
• a receptacle having a rearward facing arcing contact face and an opposing stop face disposed rearward of the arcing contact face;
• a shuttle constructed and arranged to slide axially within the receptacle between a mated position and a disengaged position and through an unmated position orientated between the mated and disengaged positions, the mated position being orientated forward of the disengaged position;
• the shuttle having a forward facing arcing contact surface, a rearward facing trailing stop surface, and a lateral inward facing primary contact surface;
• the arcing contact surface of the shuttle being engaged electrically to the arcing contact face of the receptacle and the primary contact surface of the shuttle being engaged electrically to the male pin when the shuttle is in the mated position;
• the arcing contact surface of the shuttle being axially spaced from the arcing contact face of the receptacle and the primary contact surface of the shuttle being engaged to the male pin when the shuttle is in the unmated position;
• and
• the arcing contact surface of the shuttle being spaced axially from the arcing contact face of the receptacle and the trailing stop surface being in an engageable relationship to the stop face of the receptacle thereby preventing axial withdrawal of the shuttle from the receptacle when the shuttle is in the disengaged position.

A method of disconnecting an electrical shuttle connector comprising the steps of:

• sliding an elongated male pin in an axial rearward direction against a primary contact surface of a stationary shuttle orientated within a stationary receptacle in a mated position;
• engaging a fin projected laterally outward from the male pin axially against the shuttle;
• disengaging a rearward facing arcing contact face of the stationary receptacle from a leading arcing contact surface of the shuttle when the shuttle axially moves from the mated position to an un-mated position within the receptacle;
• un-flexing laterally a cantilevered member of the shuttle;
• simultaneously un-mating the primary contact surface of the shuttle from the male pin in the lateral direction when the shuttle axially moves rearward from the unmated position to a disengaged position within the receptacle;
• and
• removing the male pin from the receptacle.