Electrical connectors – Self aligning contact – Contact mounted in floating nonconductive holder
Patent
1995-02-28
1996-09-10
Bradley, P. Austin
Electrical connectors
Self aligning contact
Contact mounted in floating nonconductive holder
439247, H01R 1364
Patent
active
055540414
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an electrical connection device with automatic positioning.
More precisely, the invention relates to an electrical connection device in which it is possible to compensate automatically and without manual intervention for possible misalignment between the male connection element and the female connection element.
There exist numerous circumstances in which it is desired to establish an electrical connection by engagement of a male connection element with a female connection element, one of the elements being mounted on a stationary device while the other element is mounted on a moving device that is brought face to face with the first device to enable connection to be made. When the second device is displaced manually, then it is possible to put the two connection elements accurately into alignment. In contrast, when the displacement is remotely controlled, then it is very difficult to guarantee that the two connection elements are accurately positioned. This can give rise to it being impossible to make the connection or to a high risk that one of the connection elements will be damaged when the two elements of the electrical connection are engaged with each other.
Such a problem can arise in installations for cutting piles of sheets of textile material. Accompanying FIGS. 1 and 2 show such an installation. The installation comprises a certain number of stationary tables 10, 12 which are in alignment and on which the sheets of textile material that are to be cut are spread out and stacked. The stacks of sheets are cut by a cutting assembly 14 which essentially comprises a cutting head 16 mounted for X and Y movement, e.g. by means of a moving gantry 18.
In order to reduce the overall cost of an installation and in order to optimize utilization thereof, it is advantageous to provide a single cutting machine 14 that works with a plurality of tables 10, 12, etc. It is clear that the cutting machine is much more expensive than a spreading table. Optimization is achieved by using one or more independent spreading tables for preparing a series of stacks that are fed continuously to the cutting machine while the stacking table which has been used is temporarily associated with the cutting machine and remains stationary during cutting. For that purpose, the cutting machine 14 is mounted on rails 20, 22 which enable it to be displaced automatically so as to be brought successively up to each of the spreading tables 10, 12, etc. However, to transfer the stacks of sheets from the tables 10, 12 onto the cutting machine 14, it is necessary to control operations both on the tables 10, 12 and on the cutting machine 14, in particular the starting up of conveyor systems, so as to allow a stack of sheets to be transferred from a table 10, 12 until the cutting machine 14. It is thus necessary to synchronize the operation of members associated with the tables 10, 12 with the operation of members belonging to the cutting machine 14. Such synchronization requires electrical signals to be interchanged between the tables 10, 12 and the machine 14. Clearly one solution would consist in establishing flexible and permanent electrical links by means of cables between the machine 14 and each of the tables 10, 12, nevertheless, it will be understood that if the number of tables is large and if the distances to be travelled by the cutter are long, then such a solution is difficult to implement.
A solution therefore consists in providing respective male and female connection elements on the cutter 14 and on the tables 10, 12, etc., and in interconnecting said elements successively each time the cutting machine 14 comes up to one of the tables 10, 12. However, it will be understood that whatever the accuracy with which the cutting machine 14 may be displaced automatically along the rails 20, 22, positioning cannot be sufficiently accurate to ensure optimum conditions for mutually engaging the connection elements.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection device with automatic positio
REFERENCES:
patent: 3495206 (1970-02-01), Pfister
patent: 4917619 (1990-04-01), Nishiwaki
patent: 5120243 (1992-06-01), Mee
patent: 5167520 (1992-12-01), Henry et al.
patent: 5392371 (1995-02-01), Morlion et al.
Bradley P. Austin
Lectra Systemes S.A.
Wittels Daniel
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