US1679067A - Electrical connecter - Google Patents

Description

July 31, 1928.

1679067 A. B. WISEMAN ELECTRICAL CONNECTER 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Sept. 12, 1925 II h v Imw m Patented Jul 31, i928.

ALBENUS'B. wrsnman, or GRAND RAPIDS, ufcnxean.

ELECTRICAL connncrna.

Application filed September 12, 1925. Serial No. 56,011.

This invention relates to improvements in electrical connecters and while designed primarily for use in connection with portable electric motors, may be employed in making electrical connections between a source of current supply and various other electrical machines or apparatuses.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a connecter embodying a socket and a plug insertable therein and in which the socket will be so constructed that allcontacts therein will be completely covered when the plugis not in place,so that a workman will not be liable to be injured by v coming in contact with any live wires or'contacts when inserting or removlng the plug or even if, through ignorance, he should insert J his fingers into the socket. Likewise, the invention contemplates aconnefcter embodying a socket so constructed that the insertion of a-tool or any other metallic object into the plug will not cause disasterous results. 7

Another object of the invention is to so construct the, connecter that when the plug is properly inserted it can not'be directly pulled out of the socket or otherwise. displaced to cause short circuiting or imperfect contact of the coacting conductor terminals of the plug and socket.

Another object of-the invention is to provide a connecter .soconstructed that, when the plu the con uctor contacts within the plug'will be protected-by an insulating medium in such a manner as to prevent injury thereto or water coming in contact therewith Another object of the invention 1s to so construct the connecter that the ccnductor terminals of he plug and socket 'wlll be securely held in mutual engagement when the plug is properly inserted into the socket,'so that there can be no imperfect contacts between the parts which might result in'dam-- agingthevmotor or other machine or apparatus to beisupplied with current. I

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through an electrical connecter embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical front to reat sectional view through the socket of the connecter, the plug being removed. v

Figure 3 is 'a horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyon the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.- j

is either inserted or not inserted.

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating a set of the plug and socketconductor terminals in position about to be engaged.

Figurej is a top plan view of the plug, one of the conductor terminalsof the plug beln shown in section.

Figure 6- is a diametric sectional View takensubstantially on the line 6-6 of Fig ure 5, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 7 is a perspective viewof the insulating member'of the socket.

Figure 8 is a sectional view. illustrating a modification in the constructionof the conductor terminals of the socket In the illustrated embodiment of. the invention, the connecter is designed for use in connection with motors of the three-phase type with ground connection, two-phase type without ground connection, or single-phase type with ground connection. and the socket of the connecter is designed for attachment to any suitable fixed support such as a" wall.

The said socketcomprises a cylindrical metallic body shell indicated by the numeral 1. and provided ,intei'iorly at its open lower end with an annular flange 2 and, exteri rly,

at its )open upper end with an outstaning annular flange 3. A cap section 4 is provided to close the upper endof. the body shell 1 and is of dome-like form, the cap section being provided interiorly at its open bottom with an inwardly projecting annular flange 5 into which are threaded bolts 6 which are engaged through openings in the' flange 3 of the body shell 1, to secure the parts together, a packing gasket 7 being in-- terposed between the flanges 3 and 5 so as.

to insure against the entrance of moisture between the flanges. The cap section 4 is provided at its rear side with an attaching portion Shaving openings 3 through which any suitable securing elements such'as sorews.

or bolts may be engaged for the purpose .of securing the tap section to a fixed support, and thereby support the socket as a whole, and in advance of the said attaching portion and in its upper side, the cap section 4 is formed with a threaded opening 10 into which may befitted 'a conduit. (notshown) for the conductor wires which lead into the socket and are indicated by the numeral 11.

Arranged within the body shell 1* of the plug is a body 12 of insulating material;

, preferably porcelain, and :inorder to accommodate the plug which will presently be 3 a conductor terminal or contact indicated contact comprises a'base portion 22 which is inasmuch as-the .contacts 21 are of a width described, the said body is formed axially lation. Screws 32 are threaded through the with a cylindrical bore indicated by the body 12 of the socket and are threaded 1nt0 numeral 13, the bore opening through theopenings 33 formed im the bases 22 of the upper and lower ends of the said body 12 several cofitacts, and it'willbe observed that and the said body being supported at its botin this manner the contacts are secured in tom upon the flan ge 2, as best shown in Figplace with their bases 22 resting upon the ures 1 and 2 of the drawings. An annular bot-tom walls 19 of xthe respective recesses. flat gasket 14 of insulating material is dis- The screws 32 passalso through conductor posed upon the upper endof the body 12, strips 34' which are disposed against the 1nand an annular metal plate 15 is disposed ner walls of the respective recesses 18 and upon the upper side of the gasket .14, bolts preferably seated flush in sald walls as shown 16 being fitted through the flange 2, the body in Figure 3 of the drawings; The screws 12, gasket 14, and plate /15, and nuts 17 be- 32 pass through the lower ends of the strips ing threaded upon the upper ends of the 34' and the upperends of the strips are sebolts 'to bear against the upper side of the cured by screws 35 fitted through the outer said plate 15 and thus secure the parts in side of the body 12 and threaded intoopentheir assembled" re ation. lugs 36 formed in the upper end portions of A series of recesses 18 is formed in the the respective strips 34. Each strip 34 at wall of the bore 13 of the body 12 and open lts upper end is formed with incisions and at their upper ends throu h the upper'end bent to provide wire gripping lugs 37 and:

of the body and at their l owerends termithe conductor wires 11 are led through insunate approximately midway between the uplating bushings 38 in the'plate15, and are .per and lower ends'of the body, the bottom, anchored by the lugs 37. to the respective wallspf the said recesses being indicated by conductor strips 34. Where'- three leads or the numeral 19. Grooves 20 are likewise conductors are present in the circuit, they formed-in the wall of the .bore 13 and extend are connected to three of the conductorstrips vertically and open at their lower ends 34' and where a ground is employed the con through the 'bdttom of the body 12 and at' ductor wire wh ch is indicated by the numeral their u per ends through the tsp of the said 39, is connected to the fourth one of the conbody, t e groovesbeing loca at one side ductor strips 34, at one end and at its other of a respectiveone of the recesses 18,so that end by a blnding screw 40, to ,a boss 41 the recesses have open sides presented to formed upon the inner side. of the cap sec their respective grooves. tion 4 at the front thereof, as best shown in Arranged within each of the recesses '18 is Figure 2 of the drawings, so that this particular contact is grounded by way of the easof the socket. 7

general by the numeral ,21 and most'clearly in'g[t will be evident from th f th fi e oregoing k a shownin Figure 4 of the drawings. -This of metal and which has an integral u standsubstantially equal tm the width offthe re ing contact finger 23 the upper'end 0 which cesses in which they are housed, the edges is rounded as at 24, for a purpose which will of thecofitact fingers 23' and'25 will be prepresently be made apparent. The contact sented inwardly at the surface of the wall loo nger 23 being integral with the base 22, is, of .the bo r e 13 in the body 12, and in order J of course, fixed, and the contact as a whole to preclude ahy possibility of a workman comprises a second contact finger which/is short circuiting any of the contacts by careindicated bythe .numeral 25 and of substan-J lessly-inserting' tools or other metallic obtially the same contour as thefinger 23, bejects into the socket, and likewise "in order ing provided with a rounded end 26, This to provide against inj ries which would contact finger 25 'is yieldably supported in result if he inserted h's fingers mto the a manner which will now be explained. A socket a d the contacts were exposed, means thin copper leaf 27 and a steel spring leaf is provided for shielding the contacts when 28 are disposed in overlappiiig relation and the plug is not inserted in the socket, this are secured at their lower ends, by screws 29, feature constituting also, as willbe presently to that end of the base 22 opposite the end explained, a medium whereby the plug will which supports the finger 23. Screws 30 are be securely held in place when properly secured through the leaves 27 and 28 and fitted into the socket. The means referred threaded into the outer side of the finger to above comprises a metallic shell 42-which 25, and the leaves are formed with a slight is preferably of rectangular formfand open bend, as indicated at 31, near their lowerat its bottonf where it is provided with a ends and immediately above the upper surflange 43 through which securing elements face of the base 22, so that the finger 25 is 44 are engaged to secure the shell to the yieldably supported in aposition inclining upperside of the plate 15 and insulating toward the finger 23, the rounded upper ends gasket.14.- -The; openings in the said gasket of the fixed'and yieldable fingers] being loor disc 14 and the plate15 are indicated cated opposite each other and in spaced re.- respectively by the numerals 45 and 46, and

V Y A J. i

the numeral 47 indicates a cylindrical body of fiber or other suitable insulating mate-v rial which is slidably fitted through the said openings 45 and 46. The body 47 is provided at its upper end with a substantially rectangular head 48 which more or less snugly fits within the shell 42, so that rotation of the body 47 is preventediand yet the body may have free up anddown movement through the openings45 and 46.

' The openings 45 and 46 are of the same.

diameter as "the bore 13 of the body 12 and it will be observed by referenceto Figure 2 of the drawings, that nornially the body occupies a position filling the upper end of the bore and completely covering the 'one end fits over a. boss 53 at the upper end of the guide and at its lower end fits overa similar boss 54 secured'in place by a pin 55 which extends through the lower end oi'the body 47 of the insulating shield and which pin is provided with a head 56 constituting an abutment and wear element. 'Ey reference to Figure 2, it will be observed that the spring normally holds the member 47 in the lowered position in which it fills the upper end of thebore 13 and covers and protectsthe contacts 21, and it will further be observed by reference to'this figurethat in this position of the member, the head 48 restsrat its under side upmn the upper side of the plate 15 adjacent the ope ning 46 therein, so that by reason of this mutual engagement .of-the parts, the downward movement of the member "47 is limited.

.The plug of the connecter is indicated in general by the numeral 57 and the same comprises a one piece body portion 58 and handle 61 cylindrical in form'and of some suitable insulating material such for example as hard maple wood. The body is formed with an axial bore 59 which at one end communicates with a bore 60 formed in the handle 61. A circular guard 62 is provided at the juncture of the body 58 and the handle 61 arid may be of rubber or other insulating material so as. to protect the hand of the user when inserting the plug into the socket. The bore '59-,0f the plug body 58 terminates short of the opposite end of the body or, in other words, the end,

which is to be introduced into the bore 13 of the socket, and a series of slots 63 etc formed in the said body 58 near its said end and communicate with the bore 59, the

slots corresponding, of course, in number to the number of contacts which are to be carried by the plug body. These contacts are indicated in general by (the numeral 64 and each comprises a metal body having a head portion 65 provided with a depending nose 66, the lower side, of which is transversely rounded as at 67, so as to adapt the same to readily enter between the rounded upper ends 24 and 26 of the contact fingers 23 and 25 of the respective contacts 21 when the plug is fitted intothe socket. The head 65 of each of the contacts ,64 is formed with an opening 68, and a screw 69 is fitted through the opening and threaded into a bushing 70 embedded in the plug body 58. Conductor strips 71 are disposed flush in the surface 'ofthe body 58 above the upper ends of the slots 63 and between the body and the inner "sides of the respective contacts 64, the. roundedlower side 67 of each contact being located immediately at the upper end of a respective one of the said slots. Each *conductorstrip 71 is turned inwardly at rightangles'as at 72, against the top wall of the respective slot 63, and thence downr wardly at right angles, as' at 7 3, against the upper-portion of the inner wall of the respective slot, and securing screws 74 are fitted through these latter portions of the conductor strips and are threaded into bushing 7 5 embedded in the insulatorplug body 58. \A cable 76 is led firom the motor or other electrical apparatus or machine to-be supplied with current, through the bore 60 of the handle 1, which handle is preferably treated with a suitable water-proofing com position, and the wires constituting a part of this cable and indicated by the numeral 77, are led through respective ones of the conductor strips 71 and connected by binding screws 78 to the projecting lower end portions 73 of said strips. An abutment and wear element 79 is preferably secured to the end of the plug body 58 to contact the corresponding element 56 of the socket.

By comparison of Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings, it will be observed that the grooves 20 and the contacts 64 are of such dimensions that the contacts may enter the lower ends of the grooves, at the time .the plug-is inserted into the Socket, and

pass upwardly through the grooves to.

coact with the respective contacts 21 when the plug has been rotated to the right a short distance; approximatgly one-eighth of a revolution, and the' spring 52 has expanded to forcethe plug 'in an outward direction, or the handle 61 is manually pulled outwardly, it being understood that at the time of insertion of the luginto the socket, the insulating shield 4 will be forced inwardly against the tensioneof the spring 52. It will nowbe evident, by reference to Figure 2 of the drawings, that when the plug isnot inserted in the socket, the

;circuiting can occur if a careless workman should inserta tool or other metallic ob ect into the socket. Likewise, as the plug is fitted into the socket, the plug body will occupy the space formerly occupied by the lower portion of the insulating body 47, so that the vcontacts of both the socket and plug are protected as in theformer instance. It will also be evident from the foregoing that the pressure exerted by the insulating body 47 through the medium of the spring 52, against the plug body 58, when the coiltacts of the plug are in engagement with the contacts of the socket, insures against any accidental disarrangement of the arts and likewise insures against the plug bcing accidentally pulled out of the socket it any strain is imposed upon'the cable;76, inasmuch as to disengage the plug front the socket it is necessary to shove the plug igwardly and then rotate theSame to bring t e plug contacts into alinement with the respectiveslots 13, referencdto'Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings, it will also be observed that one of the grooves shown in Figure 3 is of less width than the other grooves, and likewise one of the contacts shown in Figure'5, is of less thickness than v the other contacts, and thereforegit is impossible for the plug to be inserted into i the socket except in ,the proper and intended manner. It will, furthermore, be evident that inasmuch as the contacts of the plug are held firmly in engagement with the contacts within the socket, throughthe pressure exerted by the spring 52agairist the insulating body 147, and likewise due to the frici tional engagement of the noses 66 of the q contacts 64 between the fixed and yieldabl'y supported fingers of the contacts 21, there can be no play between the contacting parts such as would be liable to cause arcing or .Figure 8 of the drawings illustrates a modified form-ofsopket contact and in this figure, the numeral-SOindicates in general the contact which is mounted in thelsame manner as the contact shown in-Fi'gur 4 of ;the drawings and includes a base port on 81 correspondingto the base portion 22 of the (previously described contact, and a fixedv from. In this embodiment, the yieldable contact finger is indicated bythe numeral 83 and the same is supported by spring leaves 84: corresponding to the leaves 27 and 28, at that end of the base portion 8L opposite the end from, which the contact \82 extends. In this embodiment, however, a screw 85 is threaded at one end into the yieldable finger i, 83 and extends loosely through a slot 86 formed in the fixed contact finger 82, a spring 87 being arranged upon ,the said screw-to bear between the head 88 thereof and the outer side of/ the finger 82, so as to yieldably draw the finger 83 toward the finger 82. f

Having thus described the invention,what I claim is: V

1. An electrical connecter; comprising a socket, and a plug, the socket including a body of insulating material having a bore to receive the plug, said bore having open sided vrecesses in its wall, a pluralitypf contacts supported by the body and arranged within the" recesses, a plurality of contacts upon the plug for engagement with the first'mentioned contacts when 'the plug is inserted into the bore, and an insulator movable within the boreand'nor'mally occupying a POSltiOD for closing the open sides of the recesses for shielding the first mentioned oa" contacts and displaceable' by the plug upon itsinsertion into the bore, said plug and insulator having intimate sliding with the wall of thebore. v

2. An electric connecter comprising a socket, and a plug, the socket including a body of insulating material having a bore to receive the plug, said'bore having open' sided recesses in its wall, contacts supported by the body and arranged intherecesses, a plurality of contacts upon the plug for engagement with the first mentioned contactswhen the plugis inserted into the bore, an insulator movable within the bore and normally occupying a position for closing the open sides of the recesses for shielding the first mentioned contacts and displaceable by the engagement,

\ the lbs plug upon its'insertio'n into the bore, said I I plug and insulator having I intimate sliding means yieldably holding the insulator said normal position,

3. An velectrical connecter comprising "a socket, and a lug, thesocket including a body gfinsulatlng material having a bore to receive the plug, the said bore Being cylindrical and having grooves and recesses formed in its walls, a'plurality'of contacts supported by the body and arranged about Q. i

v the wall of the bore in said recesses and rel-' atively displaced with relation to the upper end of a respective one of 'the grooves, a

plurality of contacts upon the plug engage- ,seftion of the plug into the boge and enable through the grooves at the time of in,-

"on engaging the first mentioned contacts,

said insulator also serving to shield the first mentioned contacts when the plug is withdrawn from the bore of the body.

4. An electrical connecter comprising a socket, and a plug, the socket including a body of insulating material having a bore to receive the plug, the said bore being cylindrical and having grooves and recesses formed in its Walls, contacts mounted in-the recesses and relatively displayed with relaa plurality of contacts upon the plug en-' gageable through the grooves at the time of insertion of the plug into the bore and engageable with respective ones of the first mentioned contacts, when the plug is rotated after insertion, a cylindrical body of insulating material movable longitudinall within the bore and having intimate'sli ing engagement with the wall of the bore, and a spring coacting with' the said body and yieldably normally holding the same in position to close the recesses shielding the first mentioned contacts.

In testimony. whereof I aflix my signature.

.. l AliBENUS B. WISEMAN. a s.]

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