Abstract A plug for insertion into a socket of the type having a diskshaped base member serving as a ground connection, such base member being formed with a central opening through which projects an electrically separate spring-loaded pin contact. The invention plug incorporates a ''''floating'''' ground plate of annular configuration designed for engagement with the socket base member, and a spring-biased axial conductor in alignment with the pin contact of the socket. A feature of the plug design is that the necessity for screwing the plug into the socket is eliminated through the use of a quick-connect-disconnect lever which is manually actuatable through a small angle to cause the radial extension of a deformable O-ring, thereby securing the plug in the socket after it has been linearly inserted thereinto. This precludes the possibility of abrading small metal particles from the respective contact surfaces, as may occur in conventional designs when engagement therebetween is brought about by relative rotational movement of plug and socket.
An electrical plug designed for linear insertion into a socket in situations where a relative rotary movement between plug and socket is ordinarily required in order to establish an electrical connection, said plug comprising: a tubular body member having an outwardly flanged forward edge, a sleeve encircling said body member and slidable therealong, the outer diameter of said sleeve being less than the inner diameter of said socket, an O-ring composed of deformable material lying between the forward edge of said sleeve and the flange on said body member, means manually actuatable following a linear insertion of said plug into said socket for moving said sleeve toward said flange, thereby compressing said O-ring and deforming the material of which it is composed radially outwardly and into frictional engagement with the inner surface of said socket, thus precluding any relative axial displacement between said socket and said plug until subsequent manual actuation of said means, said manually actuatable means including at least one lever mounted on said body member and rotatable about an axis extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of said plug, one end of said lever being in the form of a rotatable disk having a peripheral cam surface engaging the rearward edge of said sleeve, and an additional contact of annular configuration carried by said plug concentrically with said center contact, and means for spring loading said additional contact independently of the means for spring loading said center contact.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
241 words
An electrical plug designed for linear insertion into a socket in situations where a relative rotary movement between plug and socket is ordinarily required in order to establish an electrical connection, said plug comprising: a tubular body member having an outwardly flanged forward edge, a sleeve encircling said body member and slidable therealong, the outer diameter of said sleeve being less than the inner diameter of said socket, an O-ring composed of deformable material lying between the forward edge of said sleeve and the flange on said body member, means manually actuatable following a linear insertion of said plug into said socket for moving said sleeve toward said flange, thereby compressing said O-ring and deforming the material of which it is composed radially outwardly and into frictional engagement with the inner surface of said socket, thus precluding any relative axial displacement between said socket and said plug until subsequent manual actuation of said means, said manually actuatable means including at least one lever mounted on said body member and rotatable about an axis extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of said plug, one end of said lever being in the form of a rotatable disk having a peripheral cam surface engaging the rearward edge of said sleeve, and an additional contact of annular configuration carried by said plug concentrically with said center contact, and means for spring loading said additional contact independently of the means for spring loading said center contact.