Electrical connectors – With indicating or identifying provision – Connection indicating provision
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-06
2004-01-20
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With indicating or identifying provision
Connection indicating provision
C439S315000, C285S093000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679724
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector for under water or severe environment use, for example for the transmission of electrical, optical, hydraulic, air or other services, and to an indicator and/or a seal for use in such a connector.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known in the offshore oil and gas industry to connect up services at under water sites such as a well head installed on the sea bed. It is known from GB-A-2 192 316 to provide an under water electrical connector having a first part provided with a plug which houses a set of electrical contact terminals and a second part provided with a mating socket surrounding a corresponding set of electrical contact pins. The plug has a cylindrical outer surface designed to fit in the socket which is also cylindrical. In use, the second part of the connector is normally secured to a sea bed installation and the first part is mated with the second part by a diver who inserts the plug into the socket, whereby the contact pins make electrical contact with the contact terminals.
In some circumstances, for example in deep water, it may be preferred to use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) rather than a diver to make the connection. The plug may be formed with a rounded front end and the socket may be provided with a guide cone at its front end to assist mating of the connector parts, as disclosed in WO92/12554. So that the ROV operator knows when the parts are fully mated, cameras are provided to provide images of the operation. However, it is sometimes difficult to see whether or not the connector parts are in fact fully mated and this can result in considerable expense as the lack of an electrical connection due to the connector not being fully mated may not be discovered until after the ROV has moved away from the installation site. In this instance, the ROV must be relocated to the installation site to connect the parts resulting in a waste of time and money. Equally, if the connection is being made by a diver, the lack of full mating may not be discovered until the diver has left the site, leading to the same problem.
One solution to the above problem which is known in the art is to provide a peg on the socket connector part. The peg is adapted to tilt away from the line of the connector by between about 15-30° when the connector parts are fully mated so as to provide a visual indication to the ROV pilot that the connector parts are fully mated. However, the provision of such a peg adds complexity to the design of the socket connector part thus increasing manufacturing costs and reducing reliability.
Consequently, the present invention seeks to provide a visual indication to an ROV pilot or a diver of when the parts of a connector are fully mated without increasing the complexity of the design of the connector parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Viewed from a first aspect, the invention provides a connector for under water or severe environment use, comprising first and second connector parts adapted to be brought together from an unmated condition into a mated condition, and an indicator for indicating when the first connector part and the second connector part are fully mated, the indicator being provided on the first connector part and having at least one radially outwardly extending protrusion, the radial protrusion being movable during mating of the first and second connector parts, from a radially outer position or a radially inner position when the connector is in the unmated condition, to a radially inner position or a radially outer position, respectively, indicating that the connector is in the fully mated condition.
When the radial protrusion is in the radially outer position it will normally be visible to an ROV pilot via a camera or directly visible to a diver. The radial protrusion may include markings or colouration enabling the ROV pilot or the diver to see when it has moved from one radial position to the other and thus that the connector is fully mated. For example, a brightly coloured, e.g. orange, ring or other marking may align with a fixed portion of one of the connector parts at the point when the connector is fully mated. Alternatively the radial protrusion may be arranged when in the radially outer position to extend radially beyond an adjacent portion, e.g. a wall portion of the first connector part, and when in the radially inner position to be retracted below that adjacent portion. The radial protrusion in the inner position may then not be visible when viewed generally axially from the other side of the adjacent portion, for example by a camera or a diver.
The radial protrusion may be in the radially inner position when the connector is unmated, and in the radially outer position when the connector is mated. A marking or word, such as “mated”, may become visible when the connector is mated. The radial protrusion may for example be urged by the second connector part during mating from the inner position to the outer position. The radial protrusion may then return under its own resilience to the inner position when the connector parts are unmated. Alternatively, it may be held by a catch or the like in the inner position when the connector parts are unmated, the catch being actuated by the second connector part during mating to allow the radial protrusion to move to the outer position. The catch may then be arranged to recapture the radial protrusion and return it to the inner position when the connector parts are unmated.
Preferably, the radial protrusion is movable during mating from the radially outer position to the radially inner position, which latter position indicates that the connector is fully mated.
Preferably, the first and second connector parts have respective wall portions which, in the mated condition of the connector, together define an enclosure, wherein the radial protrusion is contained in the enclosure when in its radially inner position. Thus the radial protrusion is no longer visible to an ROV operator or a diver (a user) once it has withdrawn into the enclosure, thereby indicating that the connector is fully mated. Particularly if the radial protrusion is brightly coloured, its disappearance from view can give a user confidence that full mating has been achieved.
There may be a single radial protrusion, protruding outwardly from the first connector part at a suitable location for it to be readily visible. Thus the radial protrusion may be provided over only a limited extent of the circumference of the first connector part. Alternatively it may extend all the way round the periphery of the connector part, for example being annular in shape. This has the advantage that the radial protrusion is visible from several directions. In preferred arrangements, a plurality of radial protrusions is provided, all such radial protrusions being movable to indicate that the connector is in the fully mated condition. A plurality of radial protrusions has the advantage of being more readily visible than a single protrusion. The radial protrusions may be provided about the periphery of the first connector part separated from each other by radial slots. They may thus be in the form of petals. The radial slots may be simple cuts in the material of the indicator, but preferably they are wider, e.g. cut out, regions, such that interference between adjacent flaps is avoided when in the radially inner position.
The or each radial protrusion may be arranged to move to the radially inner position in various ways. In the embodiments in which the radial protrusion adopts the inner position when the connector parts are mated, the movement will be in response to the bringing together of the first and second connector parts. The inward movement of the radial protrusion may therefore be achieved by appropriate interaction of the indicator with the second connector part. In a preferred embodiment, during mating the indicator is engaged by a wall portion of the second connector part so that the radial protrusion is bent or squashed from the radially outer position to the radially inne
Dickinson Andrew W.
Hillman Ronald
Musker Philip
Nicholson Joseph A.
Alix Yale & Ristas, LLP
Bradley P. Austin
Nguyen Phuong-Chi
Tronic Limited
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