Shielded heavy duty cable connector

Claim 2

In a first heavy duty electrical cable connector including an electrically insulating first housing and an electrically conducting first terminal mounted in said first housing, said first terminal being formed for securement of an electrical cable thereto and being formed for electrical connection to a second terminal mounted in a second connector upon orientation of said terminals in a predetermined relative angular relation about the axis of advancement of said terminals into electrical connection, said first housing including electrically insulating terminal shielding sleeve means extending from said housing to at least partially shield said terminal, the improvement comprising: securement means affixed to said first housing and formed to secure said first terminal in fixed predetermined angular orientation about said axis of advancement in said first housing; first indexing means affixed to said shielding means, said first indexing means being formed by at least one recess and one protrusion in the end surface of said sleeve means to interfit in mating engagement with a portion of said second connector and being further formed to position said first terminal in angularly indexed relation to said second terminal in said second connector for electrical connection thereto upon orientation of said first indexing means for mating engagement with said portion; and said sleeve means is further formed for resilient angular displacement about said axis of advancement while said protrusions are in mating engagement with said recesses to allow relative rotation of said connectors for bayonet connection of said terminals.

Claim 3

In a pair of heavy duty electrical cable connectors formed for securement in end-to-end relation and including first and second electrically insulating housings and first and second electrically conductive terminals mounted respectively in said housings, said terminals each being formed for securement of an electrical cable thereto and being further formed for bayonet connection to each other to form an electrical connection upon orientation of said terminals in end-to-end relation in a predetermined relative angular relation about the axis of advancement of said terminals during connection, said first and second housings each being provided with resiliently axially compressible and angularly flexible electrically insulating terminal shielding sleeves extending from said housing to provide a shield for said terminals, the improvement comprising: securement means affixed to each of said housings and formed to secure each of said terminals in a fixed predetermined angular orientation about said axis of connection in the respective housings in which said terminals are mounted; and indexing means formed in the end surface of said sleeve means and in the housing of the remaining connector, said indexing means being formed by at least one protrusion in the end surface of one of said sleeves and at least one mating recess in the remaining of said sleeves for interfitting mating engagement of said sleeves, said protrusion being visually apparent from the side of said connectors during mating with said recess, and said protrusion and recess being formed to position said first and second terminals in relative angularly indexed relation for bayonet connection upon orientation of said protrusion and recess for mating engagement of said sleeves.

Claim 4

In a pair of heavy duty electrical cable connectors formed for securement in end-to-end relation and including first and second electrically insulating housings and first and second electrically conductive terminals mounted respectively in said housings, said terminals each being formed for securement of an electrical cable thereto and being further formed for bayonet connection to each other to form an electrical connection upon orientation of said terminals in end-to-end relation in a predetermined relative angular relation about the axis of advancement of said terminals during connection, said first and second housings each being provided with resiliently axially compressible and angularly flexible electrically insulating terminal shielding sleeves extending from said housing to provide a shield for said terminals, the improvement comprising: securement means affixed to each of said housings and formed to secure each of said terminals in a fixed predetermined angular orientation about said axis of connection in the respective housings in which said terminals are mounted; and indexing means formed in the end surface of said sleeve means and in the housing of the remaining connector, said indexing means being formed by at least one protrusion in the end surface of one of said sleeves and at least one mating recess in the remaining of said sleeves for interfitting mating engagement of said sleeves, said protrusion being visually apparent from the side of said connectors during mating with said recess, and said protrusion and recess being formed to position said first and second terminals in relative angularly indexed relation for bayonet connection upon orientation of said protrusion and recess for mating engagement of said sleeves.

Claim 5

A pair of heavy duty electrical cable connectors as defined in claim 2 wherein, each connector is idenTically formed with said indexing means being provided by a pair of opposed protrusions and a pair of opposed recesses in each end of said sleeves, and said terminals are formed for bayonet connection upon rotation of said connectors through an angle of 90* until said protrusions of each connector are aligned with said recesses of each connector.

Claim 6

A pair of heavy duty electrical cable connectors as defined in claim 3 wherein, said connectors are mounted together with said protrusions and recesses in mating relation and said terminals interengaged.