US3116386A - Electrical cable connector - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 31, 1963 R. H. SPERZEL ELECTRICAL CABLE CONNECTOR Filed Nov. 15, 1960 INVENTOR.

ROBERT H. SPERZEL BLAIR i; BUCKLES ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,116,386 ELECTRICAL CABLE CONNECTOR Robert Ill. fiperzel, Cheshire, Conn, assignor to The Whitney Blake Company, New Haven, Conn. Filed Nov. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 69,353 1 Claim. (Cl. 200-1155) This invention relates to detachable electrical connectors and, more particularly, to fused plug-and-socket connectors for use in heavy-duty wiring systems designed for safe operation when exposed to liquids, vapors, or corrosive gases.

Electrical conductors in such systems are presently used and installed on docks, aboard ships, in mines, oil fields, manufacturing plants, and in buildings Where water condensation, fluids, or vapors create safety hazards. In these environments, an electrical connector must be waterproof, rugged, durable, and disengageable without producing dangerous arcs. Suitable fuses are needed to avoid overloading such electrical systems. If these fuses can be incorporated directly in the disengageable waterproof connectors employed at various points throughout these systems, multiple protection against overloads can be achieved, separately safeguarding different individual segments of these systems as required.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to provide an electrical connector incorporating fuses for preventing the passage of excessive overload current therethrough.

Another object of this invention is to provide a heavyduty, waterproof, electrical connector of the above character incorporating fuses which may be easily removed and replaced without destroying the waterproof characteristics and safety provisions of the connector.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a male connector of the above character capable of being engaged with a companion female connector and disengaged without producing external arcing.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a fused, waterproof, electrical connector of the above character in which the fuses may be easily replaced without destroying the waterproof properties thereof.

Other objects of the invention will be obvious in part and will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises a combination possessing the features, properties, and the relation of components which will be exemplified in the product hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector plug incorporating the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional horizontal plan View of the connector of FIGURE 1, partially exploded, showing one connector prong in assembled relationship and the other connector prong and fuse removed from the connector p s;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a removable spring element incorporated in the connector plugs of the present invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation view showing another element of the embodiment of FIG- URE 2.

The heavy-duty connector plug generally indicated at 149 in FIGURE 1 is formed as an integral plug body 12, preferably molded directly upon the end of a jacketed 3,116,385 Patented Dec. 31, 1963 2 electrical conductor pair 14. Removable fuses 16 and 18 are releasably secured within the connector plug 10, and these fuses are held in position by removable contact prongs 2t and 22.

As indicated in the exploded view of FIGURE 2, removal of one of the prongs 2?. permits the withdrawal of the corresponding fuse I8 for substitution of a new fuse. Reinstallation of the prong body in the body 12 of the connector plug 10, in the manner of prong 20 shown in FIGURE 2, restores the waterproof integrity of the connector plug and again puts the assembly in operative condition.

The detailed construction of the connector plugs of the present invention is clearly shown in FIGURE 2, where it will be seen that the integral molded plug body 12 encapsulates and surrounds the electrical conductors 3% and 40 which have been stripped of their insulating jacket and thus project from the end of the jacketed conductor pair 14. The insulation-stripped ground conductor 42 is also integrally embedded in the plug body. The electrical conductors 33 and it) are directly con nected to suitable conducting lugs 44 and 46 positioned in the base of internal fuse- cavities 48 and 50, formed in the connector plug body 12.

An apertured insulating plate 52, shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, is positioned at the outer end of the two cavities 48 and 5d, where it is integrally molded into the connector plug body 12. The insulating plate 52 is formed with two threaded apertures 54 and 56, respectively aligned with the fuse cavities 48 and 50 for accommodating the removable prong members 24) and 22. The insulating plate 52 also has an additional aperture 58 accommodating the ground conductor 42.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the integral molded plug body 12 surrounds the jacketed insulated conducting pair 14, the ground conductor 42, the insulating plate 52, and the two conductors 38 and it terminating in conducting lugs 44 and 4-5. The molded plug body 12 is formed with a projecting reverse-tapered housing portion so partially enclosing the protruding length of ground conductor 42 and substantially matching the reverse-tapered partial housings 24 and 26 enclosing portions of the contact prongs 2t) and 22.

As shown in FIGURE 2 and described above, the removable prongs 20 and 22 are formed with resilient and reverse-tapered insulating partial housings 24 and 26 enclosing a portion of the protruding electrical conductors such as conductor 76. Prong elements 20 and 22 are also provided with threaded connector studs 78 and 79 mating with the threaded apertures 54 and 56 formed in the insulating plate 52. The reverse-tapered jacket portions 24 and 26 of the protruding prong housings provide a resiliently-releasable interfitting engagement with corresponding reverse-tapered female socket apertures in mating socket units, and further enhance the waterproof integrity of these connector units.

Transverse end slots 21 and 23, formed at the tips of the removable prongs 2t) and 22, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, both accommodate a screwdriver and provide torque leverage for removal and reinstallation of these prongs whenever needed. Cooperative resilient engagement of the flexible partial housings 24 and 26 of the prongs 2t) and 22 with the body 12 of connector plug it) makes the assembled connector plug completely waterproof. The peripheral shoulders 30 and 31 formed on the reverse-tapered yieldable housings 24 and 26 on prongs 2t and 22 are positioned for yielding interfitting engagement with enlarged portals such as portal 34 formed at the entrance of the fuse cavity 55). Thus the installation of these prongs, such as prong 22, by threading stud 78 into the threaded aperture 56 in plate member 52 produces this yielding interfit by drawing the collat directly into portal 34. Each of the peripheral flanges 30 and 31 yieldably engages the periphery of the mating portal apertures formed in the body 12 of connector plug 10.

If desired, an inwardly-projecting rib 36 may be formed on the inner wall of the portal apertures, such as the rib 36 formed in portal aperture 34 shown in FIG- URE 2, thus providing additional yielding deformation of the resilient flange 36 when the prong 22 is installed in the connector plug 10.

To assure a firm and positive electrical connection between each fuse and the adjoining conductor elements, a conducting spring element such as spring member 62 is positioned at the base of each fuse cavity between the conducting lugs 44 and 46 and the adjoining fuses 16 and 18. Thus, the conducting spring element 62 is shown in the enlarged view of FIGURE 3 and it preferably includes a flexible stranded conductor 64 secured as by the soldered connections 66 and 63 to terminal disks 7t) and 72. Helical coil spring 74 surrounds the stranded conductor 64 between the two terminal disks 7b and 72.

In its extended position, the helical spring 74 urges the two terminal disks apart as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. Accordingly, when fuse 1.6 is urged into its fuse cavity 48 by the insertion of the removable prong 29, as shown in FIGURE 2, the resilient conducting spring element 62 is compressed, with its central stranded conductor 64 nesting Within the compressed helical spring 74. The spring element 62 thus provides a firm and positive electrical connection, and the central stranded conductor 64, supplementing the conductive path of the spring '74 itself, provides ample conductivity through the connector plugs of the invention.

The plug body 12 is preferably formed of a tough, resilient, moldable material such as neoprene which provides suitable insulating qualities. The apertures plate member 52 incorporated within the plug body 12 may be formed of such hard, tough materials as Teflon or nylon, providing durable threads in the threaded apertures 54 and 56 to permit numerous fuse replacements and reinstallations of the removable prongs 2t and 22 without damage to the threads of these apertures.

It is noteworthy that the projecting ground conductor 42 protrudes further from the assembled connector plug unit 10 than either of the removable conductor prongs 2t) and 22. This protruding ground conductor mates with a corresponding ground contact in the mating female connector, and permits the grounding of static charges prior to the connection of new equipment or new circuits into an operating power system.

The fused connector plugs of the present invention may be adapted to provide detachable plug-in connections for any desired number of conductors or conductor pairs. For example, a single conductor may be employed with a single fuse and fuse cavity; a pair of conductors with one or two fuses and fuse cavities may be incorporated in this connector plug; or, if desired, three, four, or more separate conductors, with or Without fuses, may be incorporated in the connector plugs of this invention as shown in FIGURE 2.

The connectors of the present invention provide economical and easily-manufactured plug-and-socket units.

They are easily disconnected and interchanged, and whenever necessary, the enclosed fuses can be conveniently removed and replaced. These connectors are safe and waterproof, and they may be disconnected and disassembled innumerable times without affecting their safety and waterproof qualities.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efiiciently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above product without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claim is intended to cover all of the general and specific features of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

A moisture-impervious self-fused connector for a multiconductor electrical cable comprising, in combination, a molded connector body of semi-flexible insulating material formed with a pair of substantially cylindrical parallel recesses extending longitudinally Within said body from a first end thereof to terminations at a pair of insulatingly spaced electrical conductor lugs, means on said lugs connecting to wire conductors of an electrical cable extending into said connector body, a substantially rigid plate member of insulating material embedded within said semi-flexible body in proximity to said first end thereof and intersecting both of said parallel recesses substantially at right angles, said plate member being formed with threaded apertures passing through said member in alignment with each of said recesses, a pair of substantially cylindrical portal openings in said body each aligned with one of said apertures and extending from said rigid plate member to said first end of said body, an annular rib portion of said semi-flexible body extending inwardly from the periphery of each of said enlarged cylindrical portal openings, a pair of removable electrical conducting prongs each having a threaded end in cooperative and removable engagement with one of said threaded apertures in said rigid plate member, each said prong having a substantially cylindrical collar of semi-flexible insulating material adjacent the threaded end thereof and cooperatively engaging the annular rib portion of said body portal opening to effect a substantially hermetic seal between said removable prongs and said connector body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,023,264 Brucker Dec. 3, 1935 2,516,148 Rose et al. July 25, 1950 2,599,023 Shaul June 3, 1952 2,676,223 Whitaker Apr. 20, 1954 2,742,624 Stevens Apr. 17, 1956 2,785,319 Simpson et al. Mar. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 345,199 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1931 784,847 Great Britain Oct. 16, 1957 920,345 France Jan. 4, 1947

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