Assembly forming interfitting socket and plug for connection to a circuit in which the socket is mounted, without the circuit opening

Claim 1

An assembly forming an interfitting socket and plug for connection to a circuit in which the socket is mounted, without the circuit opening, wherein: (a) the socket comprises: (1) a body made of insulating material and provided with an outwardly open housing; (2) a switch located in said housing near the bottom thereof and having two contact elements which are borne by conducting blades allowing series connection of the switch to the circuit through said body by being embedded in said insulating material, one of said blades having a rectilinear free end part projecting from said insulating material near the bottom of the housing and forming a substantially rectilinear elastic member bearing one of the contact elements so as to allow the return of the switch into position of closure by an elastic return force and to form a contact by pressure; and (3) two first branch contact elements integral with said conducting blades and projecting from said insulating material on two opposite side walls of the housing inside said housing; and (b) the plug comprises: (1) a push element made of insulating material for opening the switch against said elastic return force when the plug is inserted into the outwardly open housing, said push element having a front end adapted for engagement with said elastic member which extends in a transverse direction with respect to the direction of insertion of the plug into the socket, and said push element having opposite side faces guided along said opposite walls of the housing, whereby the push element occupies virtually the whole width of the housing; and (2) two second branch contact elements located on said opposite side faces of the push element and borne by conducting blades allowing connection of said second branch contact elements to respective conductors through said push element by being embedded in the insulating material thereof, each second branch contact element coming into contact with a respective first branch contact element for a penetration of the plug less than that necessary for opening the switch, so that each pair constituted by a first branch contact element and a corresponding second branch contact element forms a sliding contact, said pressure type contact and said sliding type contacts lying substantially in a same plane parallel to said direction of insertion.