GB1327348A - High voltage connector - Google Patents

Abstract

1327348 Two-part couplings AMP Inc 19 Jan 1972 [4 Feb 1971] 2506/72 Heading H2E Before a high voltage plug is mated with a live socket 136 the male contact 18 is pushed into a sleeve 32 against the resistance of a coil spring 42. It is automatically locked in position by a plunger 72 which is urged by a leaf spring 68 into a hole 44 in the contact. When the connectors are mated the end 138 of the socket pushes on a trigger 84, causing it to slide against the resistance of a coil spring (80, Fig. 7, not shown). A ramp at the end of the trigger 84 slides over shoulders (74) on the plunger 72 and forces the plunger downwards. The male contact 18 is thus released, and is urged forward by the spring 42 to mate with the contact in the socket very rapidly, thus minimizing arcing. Any gases produced by arcing pass through a vent 24 and a hole 26 to a passageway 20. The contact comprises an arc-extinguishing insulating tip 28 and a mating part 22 screwed on to the hollow part. A flexible conductor 104 is welded at one end to a key 30 brazed on to the male contact, and at the other end to a connector 110 crimped to a cable core 105. The key 30 slides in a slot 36 in the sleeve 32 and stops against the end of the slot to prevent removal of the contact. When the contact 18 moves forward to the mating position leaf springs 58 (Fig. 6), attached to slightly outwardly flared fingers 54 on the sleeve 32, easily bend outwards to allow a shoulder 64 on the contact to pass, but the ends 62 of the springs rest over the ends 56 of the fingers in such a way that a large force is needed to move the shoulder past when the contact is pushed back into the sleeve. The contact 18 and the sliding trigger 84 are guided in holes in a dielectric cap 98 which is fixed at one end of the sleeve 32 and supports this end in a housing 116, 118, A plate 46 fits in the housing and is fixed to a plug 45 in the other end of the sleeve 32 by a screw 50 which also supports the coil spring 42. The housing is covered by a moulding 119, 128 of resilient insulating material, which in turn is covered by a conductive shield 134. The socket 136 fits in a conical cavity 132 in the moulding, a groove 139 engaging a ridge 133. The plug is manipulated by a "hot stick" which engages a stiff wire loop 14 fixed to a pin 10 which fits in a vertical hole 16 or, as shown, in a horizontal hole (not shown). A plate 124 with a probe 122 serves as a capacitive-divider-type voltage detector, and has a conductive cap 126.