Quick disconnect electrical connector having disassembly features for refurbishment

Claim 1

In the female portion of a quick disconnect of the type having inner, outer, and middle concentric sleeves which are all slidable with respect to one another, the forward ends of the sleeves being adapted to receive a male portion of the quick disconnect, the rearward end of the middle sleeve being connected to an elongated element, the middle sleeve having a rearwardly reduced diameter to provide an annular space between the middle and outer sleeves, a compression spring within said annular space for urging the outer sleeve forwardly with respect to the middle sleeve, the outer sleeve being counterbored at a forward end to receive balls which are radially slidable in apertures in the middle sleeve, the middle sleeve being counterbored to receive a spring means for urging the inner sleeve forwardly to open and close said apertures and thereby drop the balls inwardly and release the outer sleeve from the middle sleeve when the inner sleeve is pushed rearwardly, the improvement comprising: means located within a rear portion of said annular space and releasably connected to the middle sleeve for stopping rearward movement of the compression spring; means located within a forward portion of the annular space and releasably connected to the outer sleeve for stopping forward movement of the compression spring; and both stop means being removable rearwardly from the annular space when released from their respective sleeves, whereby, after release and removal of the stop means, the outer sleeve can be slid forwardly and removed entirely from the middle and inner sleeves without interference by said elongated element.