Electric connection

Application filed June 13, 1918. Serial No. 339,557.

To all whom it may concern:

Be, it known that I, Farnum F. Dorsey, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State 5 of- New York, have invented certain new and useful,/improvements in Electric Connections; and I do hereby declare the folio wing to be a full, clear, and exact descrip- tion of the invention, such as will enable 10 others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same..

This invention relates to ah, electric connection of the type in' which a flexible conductor or cable is removably attached to an 15 electric terminal, in the form of a socket, by means of a plug-member secured to the end of the flexible conductor.

The object of the invention is to produce an electric connection, of the type in ques20 tion, which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, and more particularly one in which the plug-member may be made entirely of sheet-metal, in a single integral piece, of a form adapted to be readily and 25 securely attached to the conductor.

To the foregoing ends the invention resides particularly in the form of the plugmember hereinafter described, and in the manner in which this plug-member is at30 inched to the flexible conductor.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side-elevation of a plug-and-socket connection embodying the present invention, xvith the socket-member shown in section. 35 Fig. 2 is a side-elevation of the flexible conductor and the plug-member from,a point of view opposite to that of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an end-elevation of the plug-member.

The invention is illustrated as embodied 40 in a plug-and-socket connection suitable for use xvith electric ignition-apparatus, . aough the invention is obviously applicable to various other uses. The flexible conductor is in the form of a cable 5, provided with a 45 sheath 6 of insulating material. The plugmember comprises a sheet-metal sleeve 7, xvhich is clasped around the insulation 6 at some distance above the extremity of the conductor. From the sleeve 7 three integral 50 arms depend.’ The arm 8 is bent at a rightangle, at its lower end, to provide a part 9 which is perforated to receive the loxver extremity of the conductor 5. This conductor is secured to the part 9 by separating the 55 ends of its constituent wires and securing them in place by means of a drop of solder 10.

The other two arms 11 are bent inwardly at the lower ends, to provide inclined portions 12 xvhich facilitate the· introduction 60 of the plug-member into the socket. These arms 11 are also provided with outward projections 13. The arms 11, being free at their loxver extremities and inclined somewhat outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, constitute 65 spring-arms adapted to press outwardly against the xvalls of the socket-member and thus to insure a good electric connection, xvhile at the same time acting to retain the plug-member in the socket. In order that 70 the connection may be more secure, the socket-member or terminal 14 is provided with ah annular counterbore 15 which is engaged by the projections 13, as shoxvn in Fig. 1. By this arrangement the parts are 75 securely held together, though they may be disengaged by a strong pull on the conductor. The socket-member 14 is shown as embedded in a sleeve 16 of insulating material, but this is not an essential feature of the 80 invention.

A valuable feature of the invention resides in the fact that the projections 13 are located near the extremity of the conductor, thus permitting the conductive insert 14 in 85 the socket-member to be made comparatively short and inexpensive. It should also be noted that the resilience of the sleeve 7 is added to that of the arms 8 and 11,· owing to the fact that the sleeve is divided, so that 90 the arms can be made comparatively short while securing the necessary degree of elasticity.

It will be apparent that the plug-member just described may be formed very inex- 95 pensi vely, by punching and 'pressing operations, from flat sheet-metal, and that it may be easily secured to the flexible conductor.