Patent Grant
7513788
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to connectors.
2. Discussion of the Background
There is a need for electrical connectors that can be used in applications requiring RF or high-speed digital electrical signals.
In one aspect, the invention provides a quick connect (QC) connector. In one embodiment, the QC connector includes: a generally cylindrical body; a generally cylindrical lock ring surrounding at least a portion of the body, the lock ring comprising a finger, wherein the lock ring is moveable relative to the body along an axis that is generally parallel with a longitudinal axis of the body between a first position and a second position; a spring disposed in a space between the lock ring and the body, wherein, when the lock ring is in the second position, the spring is compressed; and a shroud surrounding at least part of the lock ring, wherein the shroud is moveable relative to the body and relative to the lock ring along an axis that is generally parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body between an open position, in which the shroud does not exert an appreciable inward force on the finger, and a closed position, in which the shroud exerts an appreciable inward force on the finger that causes the finger to bend inwardly.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method for mating a jack connector with a quick connect (QC) connector, wherein the QC connector comprises a generally cylindrical body, a generally cylindrical lock ring surrounding at least a portion of the body, the lock ring comprising a finger tending to flare outwardly, a spring disposed between the lock ring and the body, and a shroud surrounding at least part of the lock ring, wherein the shroud is moveable along an axis that is generally parallel with a longitudinal axis of the body. In one embodiment, the method includes: (a) positioning the QC connector in front of the jack connector; (b) exerting a force on the shroud in the direction of the jack connector so that a mating face of the body enters into a cavity defined by the jack connector; (c) after performing step (b), exerting a force on the shroud in the direction of the jack connector to cause the lock ring to (i) move in the direction of the jack connector relative to the body and (ii) compress the spring; and (d) after performing step (c), exerting a force on the shroud in the direction of the jack connector to cause the shroud to move in the direction of the jack connector relative to the lock ring so that the shroud exerts an inward force on the finger, thereby causing the finger to bend inwardly such that a lip of the finger engages a protuberance of the jack connector.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a method for un-mating a quick connect (QC) connector from a jack connector. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of: (a) gripping a shroud of the QC connector; (b) exerting a force on the shroud in a direction away from the jack connector so that the shroud moves relative to a lock ring that surrounds at least a portion of the body of the QC connector in the direction to allow a finger of the lock ring to move outwardly and disengage a member of the jack connector to which it was engaged, wherein, after the finger disengages the member, a spring automatically causes the lock ring to move in the direction away from the jack connector; and (c) disengaging a contact housed within the body of the QC connector from a contact of the jack connector.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of preferred embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, help illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use embodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
In some embodiments, jack connector 150 comprises a generally cylindrical member 152 that may have external threads 154, and the distal portion of member 152 defines a cavity 156. Disposed in cavity 156 may be a contact 158 (e.g., a female contact) for mating with a contact 104 (e.g., a male contact) 104 of QC connector 102. Preferably, a mating face 160 is formed at the rear end of cavity 156.
In some embodiments, QC connector 102 includes a body 106 having a front mating face 108. Preferably, body 106 defines a cavity in which contact 104 is housed. Preferably, an insulator 110 electrically insulates contact 104 from body 106.
In some embodiments, QC connector 102 also includes a generally elongate, ring shaped outer contact or lock ring 112 that surrounds a portion of body 106. The front portion of lock ring 112 may include resilient fingers 113. Resilient fingers 113 tend to flare outwardly as shown in
Part of the body that is surrounded by lock ring 112 has an outer diameter that is less than the inner diameter of lock ring 112. Thus, there exists a space between an inner surface of lock ring 112 and an outer surface of body 106. Preferably, a spring 114 is disposed within this space and positioned between a shoulder 116 of lock ring 112 and a shoulder 118 of body 106. Body 160 may include a retaining step 120 positioned just to the rear of shoulder 116 for limiting the axial movement of lock ring 112.
As shown in
To mate connector 150 with connector 102, shroud 122 should be positioned in the open position. That is, if shroud 122 is in the closed position, shroud 122 should be moved towards the rear of body 106 so that the front tip 124 of shroud does not exert an inward force on fingers 113, thereby allowing fingers 113 to flare outwardly.
With shroud 122 disposed in the open position, the user should grip shroud 122 and then, while gripping shroud 122, exert an axial force (F) on shroud 122 in the direction of connector 150 so that mating face 108 of body 106 enters cavity 156. As a result of the user exerting force F on shroud, shroud will exert an axial force on lock ring 112, which force will be in the direction of connector 150. As a result of the shroud 122 exerting the force on lock ring 112, lock ring 112 will exert an axial force on body 106 through spring 114, which force will be in the direction of connector 150, and, due to friction, lock ring 112 will exert an axial resistive force on shroud 122, which resistive force is in a direction opposite of force F and which has a magnitude equal or about equal to force F.
When mating face 108 is pushed into cavity 156, at some point the leading edge 165 of connector 150 will abut shoulder 118 (see
Because body 106 will no longer be able to move in the direction of the axial force applied by the user on shroud 122, the axial force applied by the user on shroud 122 causes both shroud 122 and lock ring 112 to move in the direction of the force. However, because of the friction between shroud 122 and lock ring 112, shroud 122 does not appreciably move relative to lock ring 112.
This movement of lock ring 112 will cause spring 114 to compress. Preferably, there is a limit to how far lock ring 112 can move relative to body 106 in the direction of the force F. For example, when surface 130 of lock ring 112 abuts shoulder 118, lock ring 112 will not be able to move in the direction of force F. When this occurs, the user should exert in the direction of connector 150 an axial force on shroud 122 where such axial force is greater than the force of friction between shroud 122 and lock ring 112. This force will cause shroud 122 to move relative to lock ring 122 in the direction of the force (see
When shroud 122 moves relative to lock ring 112 in the direction of the force and into its closed position, shroud 122 exerts an inward force on fingers 113 that forces the fingers to move inward (see
In this locked position, spring 114 is compressed and therefore exerts a force on shoulder 116 in the direction of arrow X and force on shoulder 118 in the direction of arrow F. However, because lips 135 are positioned behind (i.e., engaged with) protuberance 167, the force exerted by spring 114 on shoulder 116 does not cause lock ring 112 to move because the protuberance 167 acts as a stopper, and the force exerted by spring 114 on shoulder 118 urges body 106 in the direction of arrow F so that mating face 108 of connector 102 presses against mating face 160 of connector 150. Additionally, as illustrated in
There are several advantages of the above described embodiment of the connector system 100. For example, system 100 enables a user to easily mate and un-mate connectors 102 and 150. For example, in the embodiment described, the user need only push on shroud 122 in order to lock connectors 102 and 150 together. Another advantage is that the spring 114 maintains a constant force at the mating faces to keep them bottomed, and keeping the mating faces bottomed allows the connectors to have an uninterrupted ground path. An uninterrupted ground path allows the connectors to operate at higher frequencies and have improved electrical characteristics (e.g., VSWR and insertion loss).
Referring now to
While various embodiments/variations of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
The present application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/590,870, filed Nov. 1, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,846), which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/733,261, filed on Nov. 4, 2005, which are incorporated herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080096405 A1 | Apr 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60733261 | Nov 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11590870 | Nov 2006 | US |
| Child | 11961623 | US |
