Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Spring actuated or resilient securing part
Patent
1999-06-01
2000-08-15
Nguyen, Khiem
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Spring actuated or resilient securing part
439909, 607 37, H01R 1122
Patent
active
061027537
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical female connector, especially for establishing contact with a contact pin on the proximal end of an electrode cable which is connectable to an implantable heart stimulator, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator, whereby the female connector has an electrically conductive sleeve; arranged in a connector part of the heart stimulator.
DECSRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
A commonly found connector for this purpose in the general form includes a metal sleeve in which the electrode cable's contact pin is inserted and affixed with a locking screw accessible from the outside of the connector part. The locking screw achieves contact between the sleeve and the pin and simultaneous axial locking of the electrode cable, thereby preventing detachment of the electrode cable from the connector part. This fixation method requires the use of screwdrivers, tiny mechanical screws and special seals for same.
Connectors for this purpose have also been proposed which are capable of achieving automatic contact between the contact pin and the female connector when the electrode contact pin is inserted into the connector. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,366 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,807 describe such female connectors which are formed from a torus-shaped spring which radially presses against a corresponding contact surface on the pin when the pin is inserted, thereby achieving mechanical contact on all sides between the male contact pin on the electrode and the female connector built into the heart stimulator's connector part. Contact points are sealed with separate seals devised on the exterior of the contact pin end of the electrode cable and/or on the inside the connector. European application 0339877 shows a connector for a pacemaker, this connector having electrically conductive elastomer rings which permit both a positive mechanical connection and, accordingly, electrical contact between contact surfaces and simultaneous sealing to keep fluid from reaching the contact pin. These contact rings do not have any well-defined contact and sealing surfaces, so the electrically conductive elastic rings must be supplemented with separate sealing rings in order to achieve efficient sealing of contact surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,346 describes a connector for a pacemaker in which the contactarrangement is formed by a spring ring which can be expanded by depressing a shaft section, projecting from the connector part, of the spring, in order to permit the insertion of an electrode cable's contact pin. However, such a projecting operating element can cause inadvertent detachment of the electrode cable.
Another way of affixing an electrode cable pin in the connector part of a heart stimulator is described in European application 0590756. Here, the afixing device is formed by a spring plate, molded into the connector, with opposing, resilient gripping tongues designed to grip the cable's contact pin while simultaneously preventing any detachment of the electrode cable from the connector arrangement, the retention force of the clamp thereby increasing when an detachment force is exerted on the electrode cable. The grip of the gripping tongues on the cable end's contact pin could cease if pressure were exerted on the spring plate's opposing, projecting lateral tips.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a female connector of the kind cited initially with which a contact pin can be quickly affixed to the connector part with a simple manual operation.
For this purpose, the female connector according to the invention is characterized by an elastic sleeve which has a curved shape in the relaxed state, the sleeve being arranged so it can be made to assume an essentially straight conformation to permit insertion of the contact pin into the sleeve. When the contact pin has been inserted into the sleeve means, after the sleeve has been straightened into an essentially straight conformation, which can be accomplished with an external aid in the form
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Nguyen Khiem
Nguyen Son V.
Pacesetter AB
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