Separable hose coupling

Claim 1

In a separable connector for connecting a hose to a vacuum cleaner and for establishing an electric circuit between the hose and the cleaner, an inner sleeve of electrical insulating material, means for securing said sleeve to the outer surface at one end of the hose, said sleeve being formed with an outwardly extending flange at one end thereof, an outer metallic sleeve around said inner sleeve with one end thereof abutting against said flange, radial projections on one of said sleeves for spacing said sleeves apart to provide an annular space therebetween, manually retractable latch members disposed in said space and projecting through openings in said outer sleeve for releasably engaging surfaces on said vacuum cleaner, a pair of electric contacts carried by said inner sleeve and extending in spaced relation through apertures in said outer metallic sleeve, lugs of insulating material extending from said inner sleeve into said apertures at the ends of the latter adjacent to said flange for providing an insulation barrier between said contacts and the metal of said outer sleeve at said ends of the apertures and an axially extending projection from said flange engaging a recess in the adjacent end of said outer sleeve to prevent relative rotation between the two sleeves, whereby said contacts are prevented from touching the edges of said apertues in the outer metallic sleeve.