An underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector

Abstract

The present invention provides an underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, comprising a guide sleeve, a compression spring, and a pressure plate. The guide sleeve comprises an upper guide sleeve and a lower guide sleeve. The upper guide sleeve includes a connector accommodating chamber, a first step, and a compression spring accommodating chamber in sequence, and the lower guide sleeve includes a compression spring accommodating chamber and a second step in sequence. The two ends of the compression spring are respectively located in the compression spring accommodating chambers of the upper and lower guide sleeves, and the outer diameter of the upper guide sleeve is smaller than the inner diameter of the compression spring accommodating chamber of the lower guide sleeve. The rear cable of the connector socket passes through the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, the lower guide sleeve, and the pressure plate in sequence. The pressure plate is fixed on the underwater platform, and the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, and the lower guide sleeve are fixed to the socket, and the compression spring is in an uncompressed state. The device realizes the reliable connection and separation of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector in a complex underwater environment, and meets a certain range of axial and radial displacements. It has a simple structure and strong versatility, and can improve the safety and reliability of underwater equipment plug-in and plug-out separation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of underwater vehicle launch control, and relates to an underwater pre-tightening device of a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, and in particular to reliable connection and reliable separation of electrical signals during the connection and separation process between an underwater UUV and an underwater platform. Background Art

[0002] Traditional underwater electrical connections use a dedicated plug-in / plug-out device that is mechanically unlocked and pulled apart. The mechanical structure is complex, the parts are of many types and quantities, the reliability is poor, and the volume and weight are large. Especially as the underwater working depth increases, the unlocking and separation forces increase linearly, and the design difficulty increases proportionally. In addition, the dedicated plug-in / plug-out device is machined using metal materials, which has a long design and processing cycle, high cost, and many assembly process links, which easily increase the number of links that are prone to failure, making it difficult to ensure and maintain.

[0003] The rubber-plastic electrical connector adopts direct plug-in docking, with few types and quantities of parts and simple structure. It adopts rubber-plastic material mold vulcanization processing, which is small in size, light in weight, and adaptable to a wide range of working depths. It has the advantages of strong resistance to deep water environment and excellent watertightness. It adopts universal and standardized structural design, with short cycle, low cost, fewer assembly process links, and greatly reduced links that are prone to failure. It has high reliability and is suitable for underwater lighting, underwater detection, underwater robots and other engineering systems. Since underwater equipment needs to be stationed for a long time, the natural environment is complex in the underwater environment, especially in the deep sea area. There is a risk of rubber-plastic electrical connectors falling off under the action of external forces, affecting the normal use of the equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to design a matching preload device to ensure that the rubber-plastic electrical connector can be reliably connected in a complex underwater environment. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the technical problem in the prior art that underwater rubber-plastic electrical connectors are easy to fall off under the action of external forces, the present invention provides an underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, which can realize reliable connection and separation of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector in a complex underwater environment and meet a certain range of axial and radial displacement changes. The device has a simple structure and strong versatility, and can improve the safety and reliability of plugging and unplugging of underwater equipment.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above technical problems is as follows:

[0006] An underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, comprising:

[0007] A guide sleeve, the guide sleeve comprising an upper guide sleeve and a lower guide sleeve, the upper guide sleeve interior sequentially comprising a connector accommodating chamber, a first step, and a compression spring accommodating chamber, and the lower guide sleeve interior comprising a compression spring accommodating chamber and a second step;

[0008] A compression spring, wherein both ends of the compression spring are respectively located in the compression spring accommodating chambers of the upper and lower guide sleeves, and the outer diameter of the upper guide sleeve is smaller than the inner diameter of the compression spring accommodating chamber of the lower guide sleeve;

[0009] The pressure plate, the tail cable of the socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector passes through the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, the lower guide sleeve and the pressure plate in sequence, the pressure plate is fixed on the underwater platform, the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, the lower guide sleeve and the socket are fixed, and the compression spring is in an uncompressed state.

[0010] Furthermore, a circular flange is provided at the end of the upper guide sleeve close to the connector accommodating cavity, and the connector accommodating cavity is used to accommodate the plug and socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector.

[0011] Furthermore, the plug of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is arranged on an underwater mobile platform.

[0012] Furthermore, the inner diameter of the first step through hole is smaller than the inner diameters of the connector accommodating cavity and the compression spring accommodating cavity on both sides, and one end of the compression spring fits on the first step.

[0013] Furthermore, the upper guide sleeve partially extends into the lower guide sleeve.

[0014] Furthermore, a mark is provided on the outer surface of the upper guide sleeve, and the mark is used to indicate the distance between the end surface of the upper guide sleeve extending into the lower guide sleeve and the second step of the lower guide sleeve.

[0015] Furthermore, the pressure plate is an L-shaped structure, with a through hole provided in the middle of one side and the other side installed at a preset position on the underwater platform.

[0016] Furthermore, the outer wall of the upper guide sleeve and the inner wall of the lower guide sleeve have a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, the first step through hole of the upper guide sleeve has a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, the second step through hole of the lower guide sleeve has a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, and the pressure plate through hole has a tolerance of 1.5-2mm.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are as follows:

[0018] The underwater pre-tightening device designed in the present invention is used to assist the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector in connecting electrical signals. The guiding and pre-tightening force of the plug and socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector are achieved through the joint action of the guide sleeve, the compression spring and the pressure plate, thereby ensuring that the connector will not loosen under the action of the underwater flow field, ensuring that the mechanical and electrical connections of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector are reliable before separation, thereby ensuring the continuity and effectiveness of the electrical signal.

[0019] The underwater pre-tightening device designed in the present invention adopts a compression spring to realize the pre-tightening of the plug and the socket, adapts to the axial position deviation and dynamic position change of the connector, and ensures that the installation platform where the plug and the socket are located will not fall off when there is a displacement within the designed stroke.

[0020] The underwater preload device designed by the present invention has a certain radial clearance between the upper and lower guide sleeves, which can adapt to the adjustment of radial position deviation and dynamic position change, and meet the small range shaking of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector. At the same time, each part is independently assembled to the socket cable, and the aperture tolerance of the cable passing position is adaptively designed to adapt to the radial position deviation and dynamic position change of the connector, reducing cable wear.

[0021] The components of the underwater pre-tightening device designed in the present invention have simple structures, are easy to process, have low costs, are convenient to assemble underwater, have strong versatility, and improve the safety and reliability of plugging and unplugging of underwater equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, which constitute a part of the specification, are used to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention, and together with the text description, explain the principles of the present invention. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0023] Figure 1 An exploded view of an underwater pre-tightening device of a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] The above drawings include the following reference numerals:

[0025] 1-plug, 2-socket, 3-upper guide sleeve, 4-lower guide sleeve, 5-compression spring, 6-pressure plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth to help fully understand the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may also be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details.

[0027] It should be noted that in order to avoid obscuring the present invention due to unnecessary details, only the device structure and / or processing steps closely related to the scheme of the present invention are shown in the drawings, while other details that are not closely related to the present invention are omitted.

[0028] The present invention provides an underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, which is a multi-part assembly device, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes a guide sleeve, a compression spring 5, and a pressure plate 6. The guide sleeve includes an upper guide sleeve 3 and a lower guide sleeve 4. The interior of the upper guide sleeve 3 includes a connector accommodating chamber, a first step, and a compression spring accommodating chamber in sequence, and the interior of the lower guide sleeve 4 includes a compression spring accommodating chamber and a second step. The two ends of the compression spring 5 are respectively located in the compression spring accommodating chambers of the upper and lower guide sleeves. The outer diameter of the upper guide sleeve 3 is smaller than the inner diameter of the compression spring accommodating chamber of the lower guide sleeve 4. The upper guide sleeve 3 can partially extend into the inner cavity of the lower guide sleeve 4. The socket tail cable of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector passes through the upper guide sleeve 3, the compression spring 5, the lower guide sleeve 4, and the pressure plate 6 in sequence. The pressure plate 6 is fixed on the underwater platform, and the upper guide sleeve 3, the compression spring 5, and the lower guide sleeve 4 are fixed to the socket. The compression spring 5 is in an uncompressed state.

[0029] The underwater pre-tightening device designed in the present invention is sleeved on the socket and cable of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector. When the socket is docked with the plug, the upper guide sleeve 3 is used to realize the installation guide of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, and the lower guide sleeve 4 is used to limit the radial displacement of the compression spring; after the socket is docked with the plug, the upper guide sleeve 3 is pressed against the plug installation platform under the action of the compression spring 5, and the plug and the socket are accommodated in the connector accommodating cavity, thereby ensuring the reliable connection of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector.

[0030] In the above technical solution, a circular flange is provided at the end of the connector accommodating cavity of the upper guide sleeve 3. After the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is connected, the flange fits tightly against the outer wall of the plug mounting platform (such as UUV), thereby increasing the stress-bearing surface and making the underwater preload device more load-bearing.

[0031] In the above technical solution, the inner diameter of the first step of the upper guide sleeve 3 is smaller than the inner diameters of the connector accommodating cavity and the compression spring accommodating cavity on both sides. The compression spring fits with the first step in the upper guide sleeve to avoid direct contact with the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector to cause wear.

[0032] In the above technical solution, the upper guide sleeve 3 partially extends into the inner cavity of the lower guide sleeve 4 to ensure the consistency of the guide during the connector insertion process. A mark is set on the outer surface of the upper guide sleeve 3, and the mark is used to indicate the distance between the end face of the upper guide sleeve 3 extending into the lower guide sleeve 4 and the second step of the lower guide sleeve 4. Setting this distance can make the connector adapt to dynamic position changes and avoid excessive compression of the compression spring 5.

[0033] In the above technical solution, the pressure plate 6 is an L-shaped structure, with a through hole in the middle of one side for passing the cable, and the other side is installed at a preset position of the underwater platform by screws.

[0034] After the underwater pre-tightening device of the present invention is installed on the socket, the inner wall of the upper guide sleeve is tightly fitted with the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector socket, and the outer wall of the upper guide sleeve and the inner wall of the lower guide sleeve have a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, which is used to meet the small-range radial movement of the connector and prevent the underwater UUV from shaking and bending and damaging the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector. The internal through hole of the first step of the upper guide sleeve is used for the cable at the tail of the socket to pass through, with a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, the through hole of the second step of the lower guide sleeve has a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, and the through hole of the pressure plate has a tolerance of 1.5-2mm, which is used to adapt to slight radial displacement and avoid cable wear.

[0035] Taking the docking of underwater UUV and underwater platform as an example, the underwater pre-tightening device is applied to the reliable connection and reliable separation of electrical signals between underwater UUV and other vehicles and underwater platform.

[0036] In this embodiment, the underwater preload device is suitable for underwater working environments with a depth of no more than 400m. By calculation, when the water pressure is 0Mpa, 1Mpa, 5Mpa, and 10Mpa, respectively, the corresponding rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector pull-out force is 261N, 337N, 421N, and 493N. According to the pull-out force, the design parameters of the compression spring are calculated as shown in Table 1. The inner wall of the upper guide sleeve in the device fits tightly with the rubber-plastic electrical connector socket, the outer wall of the upper guide sleeve and the inner wall of the lower guide sleeve have a tolerance of 1mm, the inner tube length of the lower guide sleeve is 28mm, the upper guide sleeve and the lower guide sleeve are pressed in the axial direction with a 2mm spacing, the lower guide sleeve through hole has a tolerance of 1mm, and the pressure plate through hole has a tolerance of 2mm.

[0037] Table 1 Compression spring design parameters

[0038]

[0039] In this embodiment, the underwater pre-tightening device is used for electrical signal connection between the underwater UUV and the underwater platform. The installation and use method is as follows:

[0040] 1. Install and fix the plug 1 of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector on the underwater UUV bulkhead;

[0041] 2. Insert the upper guide sleeve 3 into the rear cable of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector socket 2. After inserting into place, fit the upper guide sleeve tightly with the socket (the socket is made of rubber-plastic material, and the upper guide sleeve is made of metal materials such as stainless steel. Through reasonable parameter design, the two can achieve tight fit);

[0042] 3. Insert the compression spring 5 into the cable at the end of the socket 2;

[0043] 4. Insert the lower guide sleeve 4 into the cable at the tail of the socket 2 and put it on the upper guide sleeve;

[0044] 5. Insert the pressure plate 6 into the tail cable of the socket 2, install the pressure plate 6 at the predetermined position of the underwater platform bracket, stabilize the guide sleeve and the compression spring on the socket, and fix the connector socket on the underwater platform. At the same time, vulcanize the tail cable of the socket 2 and the cable of the underwater platform to connect them.

[0045] 6. The underwater UUV is docked with the underwater platform, that is, the plug and socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector are plugged in, so that the compression spring is compressed and deformed and is in a compressed state, and the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is compressed.

[0046] Specifically, the underwater UUV is slowly brought closer to the pressure plate along the underwater platform bracket, the compression spring is compressed to generate pre-tightening force, and the connector is gradually inserted to the marked position of the upper guide sleeve. At this time, there is a 2mm gap between the end face of the upper guide sleeve extending into the lower guide sleeve and the second step of the lower guide sleeve, so that the connector can adapt to dynamic position changes during the erection of the UUV. When the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is pressed, the end face of the upper guide sleeve fits the outer wall of the underwater UUV, so that the outer wall of the underwater UUV is subjected to force (pressure between the underwater UUV and the underwater platform).

[0047] The underwater UUV and the underwater platform are docked by the underwater pre-tightening device designed by the present invention. When the underwater UUV and the underwater platform produce axial displacement changes within a certain range, the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is still in a compressed state through the controllable deformation stroke of the compression spring, which can ensure the continuity of the electrical signal connection; when the underwater UUV and the underwater platform are separated, and the separation forms a deformation stroke greater than the compression spring, the watertight connector is no longer subject to the pre-tightening force of the compression spring, and the watertight plug and socket produce a separation action under the action of the separation tension, and the electrical connection is disconnected. At the same time, the radial clearance of the upper and lower guide sleeves allows a small range of radial displacement changes between the underwater UUV and the underwater platform.

[0048] Features described and / or illustrated above for one embodiment may be used in the same or similar manner in one or more other embodiments, and / or combined with or used in place of features in other embodiments.

[0049] It should be emphasized that the term "include / comprises" when used herein refers to the presence of features, integers, steps or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or combinations thereof.

[0050] The many features and advantages of these embodiments are apparent from this detailed description, and thus the appended claims are intended to cover all such features and advantages of these embodiments that fall within their true spirit and scope. Furthermore, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not intended that the embodiments of the invention be limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, but rather all suitable modifications and equivalents falling within the scope thereof are intended to be covered.

[0051] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

[0052] Parts of the present invention that are not described in detail are well known to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An underwater pre-tightening device for a rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector, characterized in that: include A guide sleeve, the guide sleeve comprising an upper guide sleeve and a lower guide sleeve, the upper guide sleeve interior sequentially comprising a connector accommodating chamber, a first step, and a compression spring accommodating chamber, and the lower guide sleeve interior comprising a compression spring accommodating chamber and a second step; A compression spring, wherein both ends of the compression spring are respectively located in the compression spring accommodating chambers of the upper and lower guide sleeves, and the outer diameter of the upper guide sleeve is smaller than the inner diameter of the compression spring accommodating chamber of the lower guide sleeve; The pressure plate, the tail cable of the socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector passes through the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, the lower guide sleeve and the pressure plate in sequence, the pressure plate is fixed on the underwater platform, the upper guide sleeve, the compression spring, the lower guide sleeve and the socket are fixed, and the compression spring is in an uncompressed state.

2. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A circular flange is arranged at the end of the upper guide sleeve close to the connector accommodating cavity, and the connector accommodating cavity is used to accommodate the plug and the socket of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector.

3. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The plug of the rubber-plastic watertight electrical connector is arranged on the underwater mobile platform.

4. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner diameter of the first step through hole is smaller than the inner diameters of the connector accommodating cavity and the compression spring accommodating cavity on both sides, and one end of the compression spring fits on the first step.

5. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper guide sleeve portion extends into the lower guide sleeve.

6. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 5, characterized in that: A mark is arranged on the outer surface of the upper guide sleeve, and the mark is used to indicate the distance between the end surface of the upper guide sleeve extending into the lower guide sleeve and the second step of the lower guide sleeve.

7. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pressure plate is an L-shaped structure, with a through hole provided in the middle of one side and the other side installed at a preset position of the underwater platform.

8. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A tolerance of 0.5-1 mm is left between the outer wall of the upper guide sleeve and the inner wall of the lower guide sleeve.

9. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first step through hole of the upper guide sleeve has a tolerance of 0.5-1mm, and the second step through hole of the lower guide sleeve has a tolerance of 0.5-1mm.

10. The underwater pre-tightening device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The through hole of the pressure plate has a tolerance of 1.5-2 mm.

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