Safety electrical connector

Claim 2

A safety electrical connector assembly for usage wherein said assembly is continuously electrified comprising: connector means, a male contact portion in said connector means, a cap of non-conductive material fixed upon an end of said male contact portion, said cap being of not greater cross sectional dimension than said male contact portions, and a preformed insulating housing having a passageway therethrough, said male contact portion being wholly disposed within said passageway and said cap being disposed at least in part within said passageway, said male contact portion and said cap being spaced from the wall of said bore by an amount no more than three-sixteenths inch.

Claim 3

The safety electrical connector assembly claimed in claim 1 including: a source of electrical power, and an electrical cable at one of its ends being in electrical connection with said source, said assembly being electrically mounted on the other end of said electrical cable.

Claim 4

The safety electrical connector assembly claimed in claim 2 wherein said male contact portion and said cap are substantially circular in cross section and including means in said male contact portion for enabling axial releasable electrical engagement thereof with a mating female contact portion.

Claim 5

The safety electrical connector assembly claimed in claim 3 wherein said male contact portion is split into two parts and integral projection means extends from one of said parts, said cap being fixedly mounted upon said projection, said male contact portion and said cap being concentrically and axially disposed relative to each other.

Claim 6

The safety electrical connector assembly claimed in claim 2 including a second electrical connector assembly in combination therewith, said second assembly being electrically mounted at the end of a second cable, said second assembly comprising: a second preformed insulating housing having a passageway therethrough, second connector means disposed within said passageway in said second housing, and a female contact portion in said second connector means, said male contact portion and said female contact portion being in electrical engagement.

Claim 7

The safety electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first housing has an external wall and said second housing has a portion overlaying said external wall to protect said connector means and second connector means from external deleterious media.

Claim 8

The safety electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 6 including: latch means on said housings comprising a recessed sleeve molded into one of said housings, a cam pin extending from a wall within said recess, a cam member having a cam surface thErein for engaging said cam pin, said cam member being rotatably mounted in the other of said housings, and a lever mounted on said cam member, said lever being rotatably minipulable from a first position in which said cam member may be withdrawn from said sleeve, to a second position in which said cam surface and said cam pin and hence said housings are locked together, said lever providing a visual signal as to whether said housings are locked together or may be separated.