US2762024A - Electrical connectors - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 4, 1956 c. w. HEATH 2,762,024

ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS Filed Jan. 25, 1955 INVENTOR CLARENCE W\\ LP\NS HEATH BY :3 l I ATTORNEY ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS Clarence Willans Heath, Bleasby, England, assignor to Cinch Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 25, 1955, Serial No. 483,893

1 Claim. (Cl. 339126) This invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to connectors adapted to receive an electrical plug or socket member.

According to the present invention an electrical connector comprises a tubular housing in which is supported an electri al contact member, the housing having one or more ci umferential slots formed therein and being positioned in an aperture formed in a base member, portions of which, adjacent to fine aperture, extend into said slots to receive the housing or assembly, the housing being flexible inwardly to permit its effective diameter to be reduced or its cross-sectional shape to be varied to retract the slotted portions from the support to permit the housing to be wididrawn from or inserted into said aperture.

A connector constructed according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a connector according to one embodiment of the invention mounted on a supporting base;

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the socket shown in Fig. 1 turned through an angle of 90;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the housing;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the supporting base on which the housing is mounted.

As shown the connector includes a metal housing 4 comprising a tube of generally circular cross-section spht longitudinally at 5 in order to make it resilient in a radial direction. Thus, diametrically opposite points of the member may be flexed inwardly towards the diam eter on which the split lies to decrease the effective dian'. eter of the housing or to cause the cross-sectional slope of the housing 4 to be varied, for example, to take an elliptical form as shown in dot-dash lines at 4a (Fig. 5) and thereby allow the insertion or withdrawal of the housing into or from the aperture 2 of the support i. The housing 4 is provided adjacent to its lower end with a pair of circumferentially extending slots 6, 7 whose width is slightly greater than the thickness of the base member 3; at its portions adjacent the aperture 2. From the lower end of the housing 4 extend a plurality of tags 8, and a wiring tag 9. The upper end of the housing is outwardly dared to form a lip 10 and, intermediate this lip 1d and the slots 6, 7, inwardly projecting embossrnents 11 are provided. The lip 10 is provided to guide the insertion hrto the member 4 of a co-operating plug member (not shown) and the embossments 11 are provided to engage within a recess, groove or the like on the exterior face of the co-operating plug member so as to retain the plug member within the housing 4.

The housing 4 is secured on the base member 1 by flexing it inwardly such that its cross-section takes the form shown at 4:; (Fig. 5), inserting the lower end of the housing 4 through the aperture until the slots 6, 7 are positioned opposite the adjacent edges of the aperture 2, and then releasing housing 4 to allow it to regain dtates Patent 0 2,762,024 Eatented Sept. 4, 1956 its prefiexed form. In this position the portions 12, 13 of the base member 1 adjacent the aperture 2 will lie within the slots 6, 7 respectively of the housing 4 so that each of the opposite longitudinal edges of the slots will be disposed in an opposite side of the base member 1. Likewise, the housing is readily removed from the base 1 by flexing the housing inwardly to retract the slotted portions of the housing from the edge portions of the aperture 2.

Located within the socket is an electrical contact member 14, which in this embodiment of the invention comprises an electrical socket member of a plug and socket coupling having a resilient plug receiving portion 15 provided with an electrical contact solder tag 16 extending from the lower end.

The contact member 14 is located within the housing 4 and spaced therefrom by an insulating sleeve 17 in which the contact member 14 is mounted. The sleeve 17 is prevented from rotating within the housing 4 by a radial projection 17a which projects into an aperture or recess 17b in the housing. The sleeve is located axially within the member 4 by shoulder portions 18, 19 of sleeve 17 abutting the lower face of portions 12, 13 respectively of base member 1 and by the tags 8 which are bent to project inwardly over the lower face of the sleeve 17.

The base member 1 is provided with fixing holes 3, 3 for the reception of screws or the like by which the connector may be secured to a panel or like support.

The connector is primarily intended to receive a plug member including a metal sleeve portion adapted to be inserted into the housing of the connector, the arrangement being such that the sleeve of the plug, when inserted, expands the housing and accordingly prevents its inward movement such as would disengage it from the base member 1. The plug member may be for use with a co-axial TV aerial lead and in this case the sleeve of the plug will be earthed through the housing of the connector.

It will be appreciated that although in the above described embodiment the connector is shown as provided with a plug receiving socket, it may equally well be provided with an electrical plug member co-operable with a socket member adapted to be inserted into the housing 4.

I claim:

An electrical installation comprising a supporting plate having an aperture, an electrical connector carried by said plate including a tubular housing, said housing having one or more circumferential slots formed therein, said plate having walls adjacent said aperture extending into said slots to receive said housing, said housing being flexible inwardly to permit its effective diameter to be reduced or its cross-sectional shape to be varied to retract the slotted portions from the support to permit the housing to be withdrawn from or inserted into said aperture, an insulating sleeve carried by and disposed within said housing, said sleeve having upper and lower ends, said housing having elements engaging said lower end of said sleeve for limiting withdrawal of said sleeve in one direction, said sleeve having an exterior abutment disposed adjacent a slot of said housing, said abutment engaging the lower surface of said supporting plate adjacent said aperture thereof for limiting withdrawal of said sleeve in an opposite direction, and a metal contact member carried by said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,248,399 Watts July 8, 1941 2,642,566 Regnier June 16, 1953 2,653,181 Millett Sept. 23, 1953

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