High current male and female power connector assembly

Details High current male and female power connector assembly High current male and female power connector assembly

1999-09-02

2001-10-30

Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With contact preventer or retractable cover part

Movably mounted

C439S889000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06309231

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to electrical power connectors, and more specifically, to a male connector and a female connector forming a power connector assembly having a safety feature for reducing the likelihood of a person inadvertently coming into contact with an electrically-live metal component within the power connector assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known that a high current electrical connection can be very dangerous. If a person comes into contact with an electrically live metal component, the person may be critically injured. Due to the large size of high current socket contacts in industrial plants, it is possible, using many typical electrical power connectors, for a person to insert a finger or other object into a socket opening and touch electrically live components within the socket. For example, in circuses and theatrical environments, a need exists to connect and disconnect high amperage circuits in locations which might be accessible to the public.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,823 to Bemardini, proposes a solution to the above-described problem. The '823 reference is hereby incorporated into this specification in its entirety. In the '823 patent, a female contact is provided for creating an electrical connection only upon insertion of a male plug. Insertion of a foreign object such as a finger will not produce a connection and thus there is no threat of electrocution. The female contact described in the '823 patent includes two separate areas, one which is energized (17) and one which is unenergized (15). Within the female contact is a biased plunger
21
. The plunger is biased to a first position shown in
FIG. 1
for blocking fingers and other extraneous objects from entering the female contact. The plunger can be moved by the male plug, against the spring biasing, to a position which completes the electrical connection between the male plug and the female contact. The '823 patent, however, does not describe any structure for preventing a person from contacting the energized area (17). Further, the '823 patent only describes a simple locking mechanism for locking the male and female contacts together.
Accordingly, needs still exist in the art to satisfy these requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a male and female power connector assembly having a safety feature helping to prevent an individual from inserting a finger or other object into a socket opening and touching electrically live metal components within the socket.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a male and female power connector assembly in which all electrically live metal components are housed within electrically non-conductive housings.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a male connector in which an electrically live inner sleeve is housed within an electrically non-conductive housing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a male and female power connector assembly having a unique locking mechanism for preventing longitudinal and rotational movement of the male and the female connectors when in a coupled position.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a male and female power connector assembly which is reliable in operation, and cost effective to manufacture.
The present invention is directed to a male and female power connector assembly in which the male contact is provided with a biased plunger which prevents insertion of a finger into contact with an electrically live component housed within the male connector. The female connector also includes a housing which prevents or renduces the likelihood of an object coming into contact with an electrically live component on the female connector. The male and female power connector assembly of the present invention also includes a unique alignment and locking mechanism including a slot having a recessed area on the male connector for engagement with a tab in the female connector. Also a front flange in the male connector can have at least one slot for engagement with a pin in the female connector.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by the male connector for insertion into a female connector. The male connector includes an outer sleeve having a large diameter entry bore for receiving the female connector. An electrically energizable inner sleeve is provided. The outer sleeve is an electrical insulator. A biased plunger is positioned radially inwardly from the inner sleeve for preventing unauthorized access from the outer sleeve to the inner sleeve and is adapted to move in response to a longitudinally directed force by the female connector from a first position to a second position for electrically connecting the female connector to the energizable inner sleeve.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by an electrical connector assembly which includes a male connector including an outer sleeve having a large diameter entry bore and an electrically energizable inner sleeve. A biased plunger is positioned radially inwardly from the inner sleeve and movable from a first position beyond the inner sleeve to a second position within the inner sleeve A female connector includes an outer sleeve having a large diameter entry bore for receiving the male outer sleeve, a pin having an electrically non-conductive front portion and an electrically energizable portion. When the pin is brought into contact with the biased plunger, the biased plunger is moved from the first position to the second position and the electrically energizable portion of the pin is brought into contact with the electrically energizable sleeve.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of coupling a male connector and female connector to prevent longitudinal and rotational movement when in a coupled position. The male connector and the female connector are aligned such that a pin in the female connector is aligned with a slot in the male connector and such that a tab in the female connector is aligned with a groove in the male connector. The male connector is pushed into the female connector to compress a spring biased pin. One of the male connector and the female connector is rotated to engage the pin with a flange in the male connector and to engage the tab with a recess in the male connector to thereby prevent longitudinal movement of the male connector relative to the female connector and to engage the spring biased pin with a groove in the female connector to thereby prevent rotational movement of the male connector relative to the female connector.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description thereof are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2729800 (1956-01-01), Knudsen
patent: 3508188 (1970-04-01), Buck
patent: 4796159 (1989-01-01), Miksche
patent: 4818237 (1989-04-01), Weber
patent: 5015195 (1991-05-01), Piriz
patent: 5681187 (1997-10-01), Fukushima et al.
patent: 5685730 (1997-11-01), Cameron et al.
patent: 5921823 (1999-07-01), Bernardini

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