Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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HIGH TEMPERATURE HERM~TIC ELECTRICAL CONNECI'OR
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to an
electrical connector and, more particularly, to a high
temperature hermetic electrical connector of the type which
may be used in hostile environments.
A standard socket contact utilized in the connector
industry comprises a tubular member which has a pair of
opposed longitudinal slots therein opening at one end
thereof, defining a pair of longitudinally extending spring
fingers. The spring fingers function as spring beams which
resiliently engage a pin contact inserted in-to the socket
contact. Such a contact is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
3,564,4870 The contact is not suitable for use in hermetic
connectors in which the contact body is sealed into the
insulator of the connector by the use of heat, such as by
using a glass ring seal or by brazing, because the heat
used in the sealing process anneals the spring beams
causing them to lose thier resiliencce. Thus, in a
hermetic connector in which heat is used to form the seal
of the contact body in the insulator, it is necessary to
utilize a separate spring member which is mounted on the
contact body after the body is sealed in the insulator.
Normally, the spring member of the socket contact has been
permanently applied to the sealed socket contact body by
crimping, welding, etc. If the spring member becomes
damaged during use of the connector, it cannot be removed
from the contact body for replacement without distorting
the sealed contact body and, therefore, damaging the
hermeticity of the connector.
Therefore, what is needed in the industry, and which
constitutes the purpose of the present invention, is a
hermetic electrical connector in which the spring members
of the socket contacts may be removed from the sealed
contact bodies without damaging the seals so that damaged
socket contact springs may be replaced in the field without
impairing the sealing integrity of the connector.
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-2- L. J. Powell 4X
While the present invention will be described speciEically
with respect to a hermetic connector, it will be appreciated
from the following description that the invention may also
be applied to electrical connectors in which the contacts
are not heremetically sealed in the insulators in the
connectors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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According to a principal aspect of the present
invention, there is provided an electrical connector
including an insulator having a bore extending from a Eront
face to a rear face thereof. A socket contact including a
contact body is permanently mounted in the bore. The
contact body embodies a forward portion extending Eorwardly
of the front face. The forward portion has a longitudinally
extending open curved channel therein adapted to slidably
receive a mating pin contact. A pin contact-receiving
spring sleeve means longitudinally slidably mounted on the
forward portion of the contact body is adapted to
resiliently urge the pin contact against the wall oE the
channel. Retention means separable from the spring sleeve
means is removably mounted over the forward portion of the
; contact body for retaining the spring sleeve means thereon.
The spring sleeve means is longitudinally slidably removable
from the contact body when the retention means is removed
from said forward portion.
Thus, by the present invention, the socket contact body
may be heremetically sealed by the use of heat in the
insulator, and the spring member of the socket contact may
be replaced without distorting the sealed contact body and,
thus, impairing the hermeticity of the connector.
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-2a~ Ji~ J. Powe]L ~X
BRIEE~ DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of one
embodiment oE the connector of the present invention showing
one pair of pin and socket contacts mated;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary longitudinal
sectional view showing the details of structure of the
mating pin and socket contacts of the connector illustrated
in Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged ~ragmentary partial longitudinaly
sectional view through the rear insulator of the plug
conneetor rnember illustrated in Fig. 1 showing the "napkin"
spring sleeve of the socket eontact removed Erom the soeket
contact body;
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Fig. 4. is a front end view o~ the socket contact body
illustrated in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the "napkin"
spring sleeve oE the socket contact;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged frac~entary partial longitudinal
sectional view showing a second socket contact mounted in an
insulator disc used in the connector of Fig. 1 and mated with a
rear pin contacting portion of the first socket contact; and
Fig. 7 is an enlarged fra~mentary partial longitudinal
sectional view through an alternative form of the socket contact
of the present invention mounted in an insulator~
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is illu5-
trated in ~ig. 1 one embodiment of the connector of the present
invention, generally designated 10. The connector comprises a
a plug connector member 12 and a mating receptacle connector mem-
ber 14. The two connector members are retained in mating rela-
tionship by a coupling ring lZ or other equivalent means.
The shell 18 of the plug connector member 12 contains a
front insulator 20, a rear insulator 22, and an insulation disc
24 behind the rear insulator~ Preferably, the insulators are orm-
ed of a ceramic, such as 94~ to 96~ aluminum oxide. The shell 18
embodies an inwardly exten~ing annular 1ange 260 A peripheral
annular groove 28 is formed at the rear of the front insulator de-
2~ fining a rearwardly facing annular shoulder 30. The shoulder 30
abuts against the flange 26. The front insulator is removably
mounted in the shell lB by a snap ring 32 which is fitted in an
annular groove 34 adjacent to the forward end o~ the shell. The
front face 36 of the rear insulator abuts the flange 26 and engages
the rear surface of the front insulator. Alternately, annular
flange ^26 may be positioned~behind the xear face of the rear
insulator 22 depending on the direction ~i.e., internal or external)
of any pressurized or other mechanical loading requirements~ The
; location of the various annular insulator shoulders would ~e altered
to accommodate the flange in this position~
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Preferably, the rear insulator 22 is sealed by a hermetlc
seal to the shell 18. Such seal is provlded by means of a metal
ring, generally designatecl 38, having a cylindrical portion 40
~which is sealed to the shell by means of a brazing ring 4~ dis
posed in a groove 44 in the inner fiurface of the shell 180 The
ring 38 embodies an inwardly extending annular flange 45 which iB
sealed to the rear peripheral face of the rear insulator by an
. annular ring o brazing material ~6.
A rearwardly faciny annula:r shoulder 48 is formed on
the inside of the shell 18 behind the metal .sealing ring 38~ The
insulator disc 24 engages the shoulder 48 and is removably retain-
ed in the shell by means of a snap ring 50.
The barrel 52 of the receptacle connector membe~ 14 con-
tains a front insulator 20a, rear insulator 22a, and insulator
disc 24a,.which are identical to the parts 20, 22, and 24 of the
plug connector member, and are mounted in the barrel in exactly
the same manner as described previously in connection with the
plug connector member.
A plurality of socket contacts, generally designate~ 54,
are mounted in the plug connector member 12 and are adapted tomate with a plurality of pin contacts 56 mounted in the receptacle
connector member, only one pair o such pin and socket contacts
being illustrated in the drawings.
As best seen in ~ig. 2, the soc~et contact 54 has a
~5 cylindrical contact body 58 mounted in a cylindrical bore 60 which
extends from the front face 36 of the rear insulator to the rear
face 62 thereof~ A cylindrical passage 64 is provided in the
front insulator 20 coaxial with the hore 60. The contact body 58
embodies an enlarged cylindxical portion 66 which extends forwardly
of the front face 36 into the passage 64 in the front insulator~
A flexible metal eyelet or sleeve 67 is mounted in an enlarged
section 68 o~ the bore 60 which opens to the front face 36 of the
rear insulator and is counterbored as indicated at 69. The eyelet
surrounds the cylindrical contact body 58. The eyelet embodies a
front inwardly extending flange 70 and a rear inwardly extending
flange 72. The front flange 70 is brazed to the rear surface of
the enlar~ed portion 66 of the contact body, as indicated at 74~
The portion of the eyelet within the bore 68 is sealed to the wall
~ of the bore:by brazing, as indicated at 76. The brazed joints 74~
.76 provide a hermetic seal between the socket contact and t~e rear
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insulator. A seen in ~ig. 2, the cylinclrical contact bod~ oE
the socket contact has a loose fit :in -the bore 60 in the rear
insulator. Because the eyelet 67 is Eixed at one end to the
contact hody and is fixed at an axiall~ displaced rearward por-
tion thereof to the rPar insu~ator 22, and the eyelet is formedof a ~lexible metal, the socket contact body is capable of a
small degree of flexure, while the sealing integrity of the
contact in the insulator is retained, so that this mounting
structure accommodates ~or possible misalignment between the pin
lQ and socket contacts when the connector mem~ers 12 and 14 are
mated.
As best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the socket contact body
58 embodies a semi-cylindricai forward portion 80 which extends
forwardly from the elllarged portion 66 of the body coaxial with
the center axis thereof. A spring sleeve, as shown in Fig~ 5,
generally designated 82, is mounted on the forward semi-cylindri-
cal portion 80 of the contact body, as seen in Fig. 2. The spring
sleeve 82 may be in the form of a conventional "napkin'l spring
which has been used previously in the art. The spring sleeve
embodies a first semi-cylindrical section 84 which is complementary
to and embraces the curved outer surface 85 of the forward portion
80 of the contact body. The sleeve 82 also embodies a pair of
inwardly extending spring sections 86 which extend o~er the inner
curved surface 88 of the forward portion 80 of the socket contact~
The curved inner surface 88 of the socket contact body is comple-
mentary to the cylindrical pin contact 56. When the pin contact
is mated with the socket contact, the sprin~ sections 86 of the
spring sleeve 82 expand outwardly and thus exert a resilient
spring force upon the pin cont:act, urging it into intimate en~age-
ment with the curved inner surface 88 of the socket contact. Thespring sections 8~ of the "napkin" spring are preset so as to
produce a predetermined retention force hetween the pin contact 56
and the forward portion 80 of ~he socket contact body 58.
In contrast to a~conventional socket contact utilizing a
"napkin" spring in which a fixed ring is formed on the contact
body in front of the "napkin" spring to retain the spring on the
contact body, the socket contact 54 of the present in~ention eli-
minates such ring so that the spring sleeve 82 ma~ be slid longi-
tudinally onto the orward portion of the ~ocket contact.
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As seen in Fig. 2, an annular flange 90 extends inwardly from
the wall of the passage 64 in front oE the spring sleeve 82
The pin contact 56 extends throuqh an axial bore 92 in the
flange. The flan~e provides a closed entry whlch protects the
spring sleeve 82 a~ainst damage which mi~ht otherwise occur due
to mismating the contacts or insertion of testing probes into
the connectorO Further, the flange 90 removably retains the
spring sleeve 82 on the socket contact bodyO That is to say,
the spring sleeve 82 may be removed from the contact body b~
releasing the snap ring 34 and removing the fxon~ insulator from
the rear insulator of the connector, whereupon ~he spring sleeve
may be simply slid off the forward port.ion 80 of the socket body.
Thus, the socket contact spring sieeve is field replaceable with-
out affecting the sealing integrity of the socket contact body
mounted in the rear insulator. The removable spring sleeve
arrangement 82 far the socket contact has a further advantage in
that it permits selected spring sleeves to be removed from the
socket contact bodies in the plug connector member where a fewer
number of electrical paths are required through the connect~r th~n
there are contacts in order to minimize the mating forces between
the plug and receptacle members while still maintaining hermeticity
within the connector. In addition, the spring retention forces o~
individual spring sleeves 82 may be varied to suit critical elec-
krical paths requiring increased vibration resistance, thermal
creep resistance, etc.
The conductor 94 for each socket contact, illu~trated in
Fig. 1, may be directly connected to the rear poxtion ~6 of the
socket contact body which extends from the rear face 62 of the
rear insulator by wire-wrappin~, brazing, etc. However~ in accord-
ance with the invention, preferably a "push-on" contact approach
is used which allows a plurality of conductors to be electrically
connected to the socket contacts in the connector simultaneously.
To this end, a socket contact 98 is mounted in a cylindrical bore
101 coaxial with a respective cylindrical bore 60 in the rear
insulator. The rear of the socke-t contac-t 98 may be crimped onto
the conductor 94. The forward mating end of socket contact 98 may
be identicaI to the socket contact 54 and thus comprises a spring
sleeve 8~a mounted on a for~ard portion 80a of the contactO The
rear contacting portion 9~ of socket contact 54 is in the form of
a pin contact similar to the contact 56 except that the terminal
~end 100 thereo~ has a reduced diameter defining a xearwardly fac-
; ~ ing annular shoulder 102. The terminal end 100 mates with the
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socket contact 98 in the sam~ manner that t:he pin contact 56 and
socket contact 54 rnate, as explained previously herein, and the
shoulder 102 removably retalns sleeve 82a on the ~orward portion
80a of the contactO An enlarqed portion 104 of -the contact body
of the socket contact 9~ engages a forwardly facincJ shoulder 106
in the insulator disc 24 surrounding the opening lOl for restrain-
ing rearwaxd movement of the socket con~act in the disco
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the disc
24 will contain a like number of socket contacts 98 as the socket
contacts 54. The disc serves to properly position and hold the
socket contacts 98 so that ~hey may be pushed individu~lly or
simultaneously onto the rear pin contacting portions g6 of the
socket contacts 54 mounted in the rear insulator 220 The insula-
tion disc mounting for the socket contacts 9~ also assures that
such contacts will be maintained in good electrical engagement
with the socket contacts 54 even under high vibra~ion conditions~
It will be noted that the socket contacts 98 are not
sealed in the insulator disc 24. Consequently, after removing
the disc 24 from the shell 18, each individual contact ~8 m~y be
pulled forwardly out of tne disc; and if necessary, a damanged
spring sleeve 82a can be removed from the socket contact body.
As with the contacts 54, the spring sleeves 82a on the socket
contacts 98 may be readily removed by sliding the sleeves axially
off the contact bodies.
The pin contacts 56 in the receptacle connector member 14
may be hermetically sealed into the rear insulator 22a in the
same manner that the socket contacts 54 are mounted in the rear
insulator 22 o~ the plug connector member. Also, the insulator
disc 24a may contain socket contacts 98a identical to the contacts
98 in the disc 24. Thus, the connector members 12 and 14 differ
only in the construction of the mating socket and pin contacts 54
and 56, respectively. Although the front and rear insulatoxs 20
22, 20a and 22a referred to herein have been disclosed as being
formed of a ceramic material and the contacts are hermetically
sealed to the ceramic material by brazing, it will be appreciated
that the contacts could be hermetically sealed intc other ~orms of
insalators by different seaIing techniqaes. For example, the
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insulators may be formed of plastic; in which case, the contacts
may be sealed therein by means of a suitable epoxy resin. Fur-
ther, the contacts could be sealed by glass ring seals in metal
plates; in which case, the glass ring seal~ would provide the
insulation mounting for the contacts~ While the advantages of
the present invention are achieved to the greatest extent in a
herme~ically sealed connector, it will be appreciated that the novel
socket contacts of the inven~ion with the front removable spring
sleeves may be utilized in any connector, whether sealed or
unsealed.
Reference is now made to Fig. 7 which illustrates an
alternative form of the invention, wherein a socket contact 110
is mounted in a plastic insulator 112. The socket contact has a
cylindrical body 114 mounted in a bore 116 extending from the
ront face 118 to the rear face 120 of the insulator 11~. The
contact body may be hermetically sealed in the insulator, if
desired. The socket contact body embodies a forward portion 122
having a spring sleeve 124 slidably mounted thereon, equivalent
to the forward portion 80 and spring sleeve 82 in the first i
embodiment of the invention disclosed herein. Rather than utili-
zing a second insulator in front of the insulator 112 to retain
the spring sleeve 124 on the contact body, in this embodiment a
metal, cylindrical hood 126 is slidably mounted on the forward
portion 122 of the contact body behind the spring sleeve 124.
The hood extends forwardly beyond the forward portion 122 of the
contact body, and embodies an inwardly extending rolled-over lip
128 which provides a closed entry for the socket contact, and
retains the spring slee~e 124 on the contact body. As in the
first embodiment o~ the invention, the spring sleeve 124 may be
removed if damaged, or if it is desired to replace the same with
a sleeve of different si~e or spring characteristics, but in this
case by removing the hood 126 rather than a front insulator. It
is to be understood; however, that a removable fronk insulator
could be used, if desired, to provide support for the front ends
of the hoods, and thus avoid excessive bending of the contacts
which could damage the hermetic seals of the contact bodies 114
in the insulator 120. Thus, i.t will be appreciated that this
embodiment of the invention has all the advantages discussed here-
inabove with reSpQct to the first embodiment illustrated in FigsO
1 to 6.
~eferring again to ~ig. 6, if desired, ~he contact 98
could be replaced by the hooded conta¢t 110 illustrated in Fig. 7.
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