Rectangular Butt Contact Connector for High Current Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-intensity electrical connectors with butt contacts face challenges in meeting safety standards due to the difficulty in preventing contact between test fingers and live parts, especially when dealing with currents greater than 200 Amps and voltages over 50 volts, as the diameter of contact elements approaches the maximum diameter of the test finger.
Innovation Solution
A unipolar electrical connector design featuring a plug with a contact pin that penetrates an active base, utilizing a protective disc with a rectangular passage and bayonet-type locking mechanism, along with a cylindrical sleeve and elastically retractable piston to ensure secure and keyed connections, preventing incorrect mating and inadvertent disconnections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the diameter of contact elements is increased to handle high-intensity currents greater than 200 Amps, then the current carrying capacity is improved, but the test finger can no longer be prevented from accessing live parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from circular contact elements to rectangular contact elements with dimensions 2a and 2b, where 2a > 2b. This dimensional change allows the longer dimension to accommodate high current requirements while the shorter dimension maintains test finger protection by staying below the test finger diameter threshold.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact elements employ asymmetric rectangular geometry rather than symmetric circular shapes. This asymmetry enables one dimension (2a) to be large enough for high-current conduction while the other dimension (2b) remains small enough to prevent test finger access, resolving the contradiction between power capacity and safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective disc with rectangular passage is used to prevent test finger access, then safety compliance is improved, but the locking mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the protective function and locking function into a single integrated mechanism. The rectangular passage opening in the protective disc serves both to limit test finger access and to accommodate the rectangular contact element, while the bayonet-type locking engages through the same structural features, merging safety and connection functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The rectangular passage opening in the protective disc performs multiple functions: it protects against test finger access by limiting the opening size, accommodates the rectangular contact element for proper alignment, and enables the bayonet-type locking mechanism. This multi-functionality reduces overall device complexity despite the added safety requirements.
3Reliability
If bayonet-type locking with lugs and ramps is implemented, then connection security is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bayonet-type locking mechanism employs asymmetric rectangular geometry with distinct longer (2a) and shorter (2b) dimensions. This asymmetry provides inherent mechanical keying that guides proper alignment during insertion, reducing the precision required for lug and ramp engagement compared to symmetric designs that would require more precise alignment tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The rectangular passage opening and rectangular contact element are designed to guide the insertion process before the bayonet locking engages. The rectangular geometry preliminarily aligns the plug and socket, ensuring that the lugs and ramps engage in the correct orientation, thereby reducing the manufacturing precision required for the locking features themselves.
4Ease of manufacture
If rectangular contact elements with different dimensions are used, then polarization and correct connection are improved, but the adaptability to different connector types decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The rectangular contact elements with dimensions 2a and 2b (where 2a > 2b) provide inherent polarization and mechanical keying. This asymmetric geometry ensures that plugs can only connect to sockets with matching orientation, preventing incorrect connections and ensuring proper polarization, while the standardized rectangular form factor maintains adaptability within the same connector family.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6A~6E
AI summary
The invention relates to single-pole electrical connector having butt contacts, consisting of an active base (1) and a plug (2) provided with a contact pin (3) which is to penetrate into the base (1) in order to engage with a resilient contact (4) provided in the latter, at least the penetrating portion of said contact pin (3) of said plug (2) having a generally substantially rectangular cross-section, and said base (1) being further provided, at the end thereof, with a protective disk (5) in which a pass-through opening (6) is provided, said pass-through opening having a rectangular cross-section that corresponds to the cross-section of the pin (3) of the plug (2), particularly characterized in that the small sides of the rectangular pin (3) comprise lugs (7) for engaging with rails of the base (1), while the rectangular pass-through opening of the protective disk of the base comprises notches on the small sides thereof through which said lugs (7) are to pass.