Abstract Female contact elements are a stacked plurality of dished washers radially slotted from the central hole toward the outer edge so that they form a plurality of flexible fingers which extend in the direction from which a male rod connector (or plug) is inserted. A pressure shoulder on the male rod presses against the fingers of the first washer, forcing the fingers toward the plane of the outside edge of the washer, and causing their tips to move centrally and press firmly against the male rod. In so moving, the fingers press against those of the next washer in the stack, similarly pressing its fingers against the male rod. The female contact elements are mounted in an elastomeric housing whose open, or male rod receiving, end is provided at its end with an inside lip which closes over a retainer shoulder on the male rod, retaining it in place against the reaction forces of the washer fingers, which would tend to push it out. The retainer shoulder may be axially elongated to form a sealing plug which will seal the connector against the entry of external fluids. The device is particularly suitable for providing a heavy current path, with high contact pressures, even in the presence of an ambient insulating fluid, such as oil.
Inventors
👤 P Cochrane
Bibliographic Details
Application Number—
JurisdictionUS
Data Sourcegoogle_patents
Last Synchronized2026-11-05 15:53
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01R; H01R24/00; H01R24/58; H01R2105/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 4
Claim 1
Independent Claim
151 words
An electrical connector comprising a plug and receptacle in which a. the plug comprises a first circularly cylindrical portion including a contact surface and a second circularly cylindrical portion positioned contiguous and concentric with said first portion and having a greater diameter than said first portion, the second portion thus providing a protruding shoulder of greater diameter than the contact surface contiguous to the contact surface and associated therewith; b. the receptacle comprises a stack of annular dished washers slotted from their inner periphery to from a plurality of centrally extending contact fingers, the said dished washers in the stack being stacked against one another with their contact fingers extending in the direction from which the plug is to be inserted; c. retaining means are provided to retain the plug in the receptacle with the protruding shoulder displacing the contact fingers into contact with the associated contact surface of the plug.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
151 words
An electrical connector comprising a plug and receptacle in which a. the plug comprises a first circularly cylindrical portion including a contact surface and a second circularly cylindrical portion positioned contiguous and concentric with said first portion and having a greater diameter than said first portion, the second portion thus providing a protruding shoulder of greater diameter than the contact surface contiguous to the contact surface and associated therewith; b. the receptacle comprises a stack of annular dished washers slotted from their inner periphery to from a plurality of centrally extending contact fingers, the said dished washers in the stack being stacked against one another with their contact fingers extending in the direction from which the plug is to be inserted; c. retaining means are provided to retain the plug in the receptacle with the protruding shoulder displacing the contact fingers into contact with the associated contact surface of the plug.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
148 words
The connector claimed in claim 1 which d. the plug comprises a plurality of contact surfaces each with an associated protruding shoulder as recited in a) of claim 1, and the diameter of each protruding shoulder is not greater than the diameter of the next adjacent contact surface with which the shoulder is not associated; and e. the receptacle comprises a plurality of stacks of dished washers, the number of such stacks being equal to the number of contact surfaces in the plug, each such stack being so located in the receptacle and having contact fingers of such dimensions that they can be displaced by a protruding shoulder into contact with the contact surface associated with the protruding shoulder simultaneously with similar displacement of the contact fingers of each of the other stacks of the plurality into contact with a contact surface by the protruding shoulder associated therewith.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
The connector claimed in claim 2 in which each contact surface of the said plurality thereof is insulated from the others, and each stack of dished washers is insulated from all the other stacks of the said plurality thereof.