Electrical connectors

#The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with electrical connectors that can be used in current power applications.

#Electrical connectors are available in many different forms. One form of connector has a socket with a hyperboloid arrangement of spring contact wires that make a sliding contact with an inserted male pin element. Such sockets are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,107,966 and 3,470,527, both to Bonhomme, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,746, to Nania et al., each of which three patents is hereby incorporated herein by reference. These connectors have many advantages such as high reliability and low insertion force. Such connectors are available from Hypertac Limited of London, England and from Hypertronics, Inc. of Hudson, Mass., U.S.A.

#Although such sockets are widely used in low power applications, their use in high current applications can present difficulties because the relatively localized contact points leads to high current densities at these points. Also, to ensure close contact of the spring wires with the mating surface of the pin, they need to be relatively stiff, leading to relatively high insertion forces. U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,566, to Dent, which patent is hereby incorporated herein by reference, describes a form of hyperboloid socket connector adapted for use at high power. In this arrangement the female assembly has a plurality of concentric sleeves each supporting hyperboloid spring contacts. The male assembly has a central contact pin surrounded by one or mare concentric collars. The spring contact elements on the female assembly contact the external surface of the pin and the collar or collars when the two assemblies are mated with one another. This arrangement enables the overall contact area to be increased so that current density is reduced.

#A connector according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a female component or first assembly of an electrical connector constructed according to the teachings of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a male component or second assembly of an electrical connector constructed according to the teachings of the present invention;

#With reference first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first exemplary electrical connector of the present invention consists of two assemblies, namely a first assembly 1 having a generally female, socket construction and a second assembly 2 having a generally male construction. The second assembly 2 is insertable within the first assembly 1 to establish mating electrical connection between the two parts. The electrical connector of the present invention can be used for any electrical application, but has particular utility in high power/high current applications, typically up to about 1000 Amps.

#With reference now also to FIG. 3, the first assembly 1 may be manufactured from a solid metal body 10, which for example may be made of copper, and as shown has a generally cylindrical shape. The body 10 may be plated or otherwise coated with any conventional protective material such as nickel or gold. At a proximal end 11 (shown on the left side of the first assembly 1 in FIG. 3), the body 10 has a short, blind, axial bore 12 or slot or other feature with which the exposed end of a cable or busbar (not shown herein) can be secured. An opposite, distal end 13 of the body 10 (shown on the right side of the first assembly 1 in FIG. 3) is open and provides an outer tubular collar 14 surrounding a recess 15 with its most distal end being formed into a ring 14′.

#Inside the recess 15, the body 10 is formed with a contact element in the form of a solid, male pin 16 extending coaxially within the collar 14 for about two thirds of its length. The pin 16 has a rounded forward end 17 that is recessed from the collar 14 at the open, distal end 13 of the first assembly 1. The pin 16 provides a secondary electrical contact for the first assembly 1 of the electrical connector. The first assembly 1 is completed by a resilient contact element in the form of a hollow, metal, cylindrical component 18 that supports a plurality of metal spring contact wire elements 19 extending generally longitudinally in a hyperboloid configuration, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 4. This provides the primary, outer electrical contact for the first assembly 1 of the electrical connector.