US2672594A - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

March 16, 1954 J MORTON 2,672,594-

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed March 31, 1953 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 This invention is an electrical connector which. summarizedzbrieflygf comprises. cooperating 'male andfemetle 'connectm'g-Iplugs or. elements, so designed'as to cause a pull exerted upon awire' or jconductor extendingfrom' either of said elements to :b'e translatedinto'a force tendingto bind the elements with 'one anothermore tightly;

Heifetofor'e', conventional electrical connectors of thetyp'e" in which'a plug on'the end of an appliance cord or like conductor is engaged with a complementaryplug on,"'for example; an extension cord, tendto separate when pull is exerted on the 'appliance'cor'd;extension cord,"or both. This is, of course undesirable, not only because "the electrical connection- 1s destroyed at times when a lamp; kitchen appliance, or the like'isin use, but also because partial separation of the coacting' plug elements bares the prong members or the male plug in many instances,"while still preserving the electrical connection. A hazardous c0ndition',-whi'ch may cause injury to'anyone who touches the hated prong members;- thus 're- 's'ults 3 t Themain'object of the' presentinvention, ac-

cordingly; is r to provide an electrical connector which'will beso designed as'to cause pull exerted upon the "cords extending in opposite directions from the 'eng'aged plug eleinents topro'duce an "efiect which will be theexact reverse of that heretofore, obtaining. In other words, heretofore, said pull has caused the plug elementsto become separated. 1 In' accordance :with the present in vention, the cordcarried bythe "female plug element extends past the male' plug element," and the cord carried by'the male plug'elem'entextends past the female element,-in an opposite direction; lv Thus, pull exerted-upon either-of these cordstends-merely to cause the" plug elementsito b'ei forcedtoward one anothemthereby preserving,

at all times, a propensafe; electrical connection. 1;

-. Another objectof importance-is tofiprovide a device ofthe type statedwhich can be embodied in multiple electrical-connections emanating from a common source, as well as in-a single electrical hOO'k-upor connection, is ,.":;L....'.T;.;..I Another' object. bfrimport'ance. is ltoprovide-a device" of, the. ltype sta'ted which caln be incorporated inimale and .female electrical. connecting :-.plugs without adding materially to the expense :of manufacture'thereof;

. Stillianother object of importanceis to provide aiconnjecting means-Les Edescr'ihed in whichthe femaleirportiom of the-connecting d'evice will be providedywitlr-nnsefiditouend mannermass,

more-,1 ormonduitgthroughmhich a: cord extendin the several-yiewsgand wherein: 1

p its. nd of said. e ess-;,; :1; alea luacondnctori a bee d signated. gen- -femal'e connectin'g Telementbeing adapted for use with any of.-;'a'numb'errof different male elements varying ifrom one 1 another as to .the particular shapemfdesignthereof':: .Other objects will appear from the following description; the" :claimsl't appended-thereto, and from. the annexed? drawing; which like reference characters'designate likeparts throughout Figure 1.is' a perspective View of an electrical connector formed inaccordance with the present invention; as it appears when in use;

@Figure 2 is an enlarged lon'gitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyoniline 2-'2-of'Figure 1;

Figure -3 Ba transverse sectional view on line 3-3 ofFigure 2; and T Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view on line 4+4 ofFigure 2.. s

The electrical connector constituting the present invention includes male and female plug elements, each of-whi'ch will be described in turn.

The male plug-element has been designated generally by the reference: numeral l0, and in- ,cludes-acmolded body lz of plastic, rubber, or any other suitable electrically insulative material.

-'As shown in-Figure 2, the body I2 may be formedat its outer end, to a reduced cross sectional area, the body l2 having a generally tap ered configuration for. this purpose, with the op .posite' sides ll of thebody-converging in a directionaway from the inner end of said body.

'andfi, a peripheral-skirt l8 on said inner end of the body-12.- An axial bore 20 formed in the body l2 opens atone end-upon the center area of the recess 46;- said axial bore having; its other end opening into branch passages 22.

The branch passages; 22, as shown inFigure 2, are both curved rearwardly adjacent the point at which they communicatewiththe axial bore 20, and are extended along .7 opposite sides. of the bore 20,- diverging in the direction ,of the recess l6 and opening at operally, by the: reference numeral 24 and includes pair of leads 26,-; Leads ZB-extend. through the axial bore 20,; and are 'separateclwhere said bore 2:] merges into the branch passages 22. One lead 26 -thenextended ,throughone passage 22; and

the other. lead .26. isiextended .through'the other .z ss geszz; Aswill be noted ffromFigure 2, the crindirctorifl extendsinomithat send of thezmale -plugrelementAMI-aimed; is'iengaged withithel:female 3 plug element of the device, the conductor 24 extending directly through said female plug element in a manner to be made presently apparent.

As will be seen from Figures 2 and 3, within the recess [5, at opposite sides of the axial bore 20, terminal screws 28 are threaded into, embedded, or otherwise fixedly mounted in the body l2, said terminal screws passing through the laterally extended legs 30 of elongated, parallel, conductive prong members 32.

The female plug element of the electrical connecting device has been designated generally by the reference numeral 34. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, said element 34 comprises side by side, contacting plug bodies 36, 38. These are formed with longitudinally aligned,

communicating, channels 40, 42 cooperating to form element 34 to a substantially U-shaped cross section from end to end thereof.

Plu bodies 36, 38 are formed with communicating cavities 44, 46, at opposite sides of the channels 40, 42. In the bottom of cavities 46, terminal screws 48 are threaded, to mount within the cavities 46 female prong elements 50. Elements at one end, have outwardly extended end portions through which screws 48 pass, said elements 50 being extended in parallelism with and along opposite sides of the channels 40, 42 and being formed, at their other or free ends, with reversely bent portions which will be springably tensioned to engage the male prong members 32.

Connected to the screws 48 are leads 52 of the female conductor 54. Leads 52 extend through angularly extended openings '56 formed in the opposite side walls of the plug body 36, and within the cavities 54 of said plug body 38, the leads are knotted as at 58.

It will be seen that at opposite sides of the channel 40 thereof, the body 36 is formed with apertures 60 communicating with the cavities 44, through which apertures the male prong members 32 are extended when the male and female plug elements are to be connected.

The bodies 36, 38 of the female plug element will, of course, be fixedly attached to one another in any suitable manner, and in some forms of the invention, the female plug element can be molded or otherwise fashioned from a single plug body, rather than two as shown.

In any event, the female conductor 54 extends from that end of the female plug element 34 that abuts against the male plug element l0, and is extended longitudinally of and beyond the male plug element. Similarly, the male conductor 24 extends from that end of the male plug element It! adjacent the female element 34, and is disposed longitudinally of the female element 34.

As a result, when the male and female elements are electrically connected in the manner shown in Figure 2, any pull exerted upon the conductor 24 or conductor 54 will serve merely to connect the plug elements more tightly than previously. Thus, the result obtained is exactly the reverse of that heretofore obtained when pull is exerted on the conductors, and an accidental breaking of the electrical circuit will not occur under any circumstances. To disconnect the plug elements, it is necessary that said elements be grasped in both hands, and pulled apart.

In the drawing, I have shown one presently preferred example of the invention. However, obviously the inventive concept can be embodied not only in electrical connectors of the "single type shown, but also in multiple connectors.

Further, the idea could be embodied in plugs formed upon light sockets, or directly in appliances such as vacuum cleaners or the like.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector comprising: male and female plug elements adapted for interengagement on relative longitudinal movement of the elements toward one another; and a conductor arranged longitudinally of each element, and extending therefrom in the direction of and beyond the other element, thus to cause pull exerted on either conductor in a direction away from the interengaged elements to be translated into a force tending to urge said elements longitudinally of and toward one another, said male element having an axial bore and branch passages communicating with said bore for extension of the twin leads of a conductor through said bore and branch passages, said male plug element including prong members to which said leads are secured.

2. An electrical connector comprising: a male plug element including a body, prong means extending from one end thereof, and a conductor extending from said one end and connected to said prong means; and a female plug element including a body, socket means in one end thereof for receiving said prong means, and a conductor connected electrically to said socket means and extending from said one end of the female plug body, the conductor of each element extending longitudinally of and beyond the other element, thus to cause pull exerted on either conductor in a direction away from the interengaged elements to be translated into a forcejending to urge said elements longitudinally of and toward one another.

3. An electrical connector comprising: a male plug element including a body, prong means extending from one end thereof, and a conductor extending from said one end of and connected to the pron means of the body; and a female plug element having an end to end channel, said female element including socket means in one end thereof for receiving said prong means, and additionally including a conductor connected electrically to said socket means and extending from said one end ofthe female element, the conductor of the male element extending through said channel beyond the female element, and the conductor of the female element extending longitudinally of and beyond the male element, thus to cause pull exerted upon either conductor to be translated into a force tending to urge the respective elements toward one another.

4. An electrical connector comprising a male plug including a body, prong means extending from one end thereof, and a conductor disposed axially of said body and extending from said one end of the body between the prong means, said conductor being connected electrically to said prong means; and a female plug element having an end to end channel extending longitudinally and centrally thereof to impart :a U-shaped cross sectional configuration to said female element, said female element including socket means in one end thereof for receiving said prong means and additionally including a, conductor connected electrically to said socket means, the conductor of the female element having leads connected to opposite sides of the female element and extending longitudinally of and beyond the opposite sides of the male element, with the conductor of the male element extending within said channel,

thus to cause pull exerted upon either conductor in a direction away from the engaged elements to be translated into a force tending to urge said elements toward one another.

DANIEL J. MORTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 10 1,635,312 Diehl July 12, 1927 2,047,623 Felts July 14, 1936

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