ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR WITH CLOSURE ELEMENTS

Abstract

An electrical connector having a body with a central portion and a front portion, a tubular body extending from the central portion to the front portion, the tubular body defining a cavity, an electrical contact at least partially housed within the cavity, and a closure element configured for insertion into the cavity such that the electrical contact cannot be accessed from outside the electrical connector is disclosed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying Figures of which:

FIG. 1 is an oblique view of a receptacle-type electrical connector according to the present invention configured with three closure elements extracted from the electrical connector;

FIG. 2 is another oblique view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 configured with the closure elements inserted into the electrical connector;

FIG. 3 is another oblique view of the electrical connector of FIG. 1 configured with the closure elements inserted into the electrical connector and showing a tool for extracting the closure elements;

FIG. 4 is an oblique view of a plug-type electrical connector according to the present invention configured with three closure elements extracted from the electrical connector;

FIG. 5 is another oblique view of the electrical connector of FIG. 4 configured with the closure elements inserted into the electrical connector;

FIG. 6 is another oblique view of the electrical connector of FIG. 4 configured with the closure elements inserted into the electrical connector and showing a tool for extracting the closure elements;

FIG. 7 is an orthogonal view of the plug-type electrical connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the receptacle-type electrical connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a partially cross-sectional view of the plug-type electrical connector of FIG. 4 taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a partially cross-sectional view of the plug-type electrical connector of FIG. 4 taken along line X-X of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a partially cross-sectional view of the receptacle-type electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line XI-XI of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a partially cross-sectional view of the receptacle-type electrical connector of FIG. 1 taken along line XII-XII of FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is an oblique view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is another oblique view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1,

FIG. 15 is an orthogonal view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1,

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1 taken along line XVI-XVI of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is another orthogonal view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is another orthogonal view of the closure element associated with the receptacle-type connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is an oblique view of the closure element associated with the plug-type connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 20 is another oblique view of the closure element associated with the plug-type connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 21 is an orthogonal view of the closure element associated with the plug-type connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the closure element associated with the plug-type connector of FIG. 4 taken along line XXII-XXII of FIG. 21; and

FIG. 23 is another orthogonal view of the closure element associated with the plug-type connector of FIG. 4.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising: a body having a central portion and a front portion;a tubular body extending from the central portion to the front portion, the tubular body defining a cavity;an electrical contact at least partially housed within the cavity; anda closure element configured for insertion into the cavity such that the electrical contact cannot be accessed from outside the electrical connector.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the closure element is sized and shaped so that the closure element does not protrude from the tubular body after insertion into the cavity.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, the closure element further comprising: a terminal gripping element.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein the terminal gripping element is sized and shaped with respect to the cavity so that the closure element may not be removed only using the fingers of a hand but the closure element may be removed using a tool.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein the electrical connector is a receptacle-type connector, the electrical contact is a plug-type contact, and the closure element is substantially cap-shaped, and is configured for insertion into the cavity and over the plug-type contact.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 5, the closure element further comprising: a flare adjacent to the terminal gripping portion, the flare having an increased outer diameter to ensure friction locking between the closure element and an inner wall of the cavity.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 5, the closure element further comprising: an end part having a decreased diameter with respect to the electrical contact to ensure friction locking between the closure element and the electrical contact.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 5, the closure element further comprising: two flat faces on the outer surface of the closure element.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 8, wherein the terminal gripping portion comprises an axially projecting ridge which extends in a direction transverse with respect to the planes of the flat faces.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein the electrical connector is a plug-type connector, the electrical contact is a receptacle-type contact, and the closure element is substantially pin-shaped, and is configured for insertion into the receptacle-type contact.

11. The electrical connector according to claim 10, the closure element further comprising: a flare adjacent to the terminal gripping portion, the flare having an increased with respect to the diameter of the receptacle-type electrical contact to prevent complete insertion of the closure element into the receptacle-type electrical contact.

12. The electrical connector according to claim 11, wherein the terminal gripping portion comprises an axially projecting tab.