Ocean Design, Inc.

Other

Teledyne Instruments, Inc.

Pontus Subsea Connectors LLC

Lockheed Corporation

Teledyne Odi, Inc.

Stillwater Trust

Abyssal Systems, Inc.

James L Cairns

Stewart M Barlow

Peter R Baxter

Srikanth Ramasubramanian

William S Taylor

Steven J Kowalcky

Dennis K Ferbas

A connector for sealably engaging contacts therein and permitting reliable disengagement thereof includes a first unit having one or more elongated shafts. Each elongated shaft includes at least one first contact. The connector further includes a second unit having a body with one or more channels therein. Each channel includes at least one second contact. Each channel is configured to receive at least a portion of one of the elongated shafts therein to permit electrical connection of the one or more first contacts to the respective one or more second contacts. The second unit further includes an axial slit extending radially outwardly from each channel toward an outer surface of the body of the second unit. Each slit of the second unit is a circumferentially discontinuous portion of the channel configured to prevent the second unit from forming a constrictive belt around the one or more elongated shafts therein.

Pressure tolerant deep-sea electrical connector

A receptacle unit of a connector for sealably engaging and disengaging contacts therein can include one or more closed inner chambers. At least one of the one or more inner chambers being configured to contain a receptacle contact. Each receptacle contact can be configured to engage a plug contact of a plug unit of a connector. A closed cavity can be at least partially in contact with each inner chamber. The closed cavity can contain a deformable material. At least a portion of the closed cavity can be configured to be movable with respect to another portion of the closed cavity to permit balancing of pressure of the deformable material within the closed cavity to pressure outside of the closed cavity.

Underwater mateable and un-mateable electrical connector

An apparatus for creating a sealed conduit between separate volumes includes a first unit and a second unit. The first unit includes a housing defining a first volume, a conduit, and at least one first penetrable interface. The at least one first penetrable interface is reconfigurable from a closed, sealed, condition when not penetrated by the conduit to a sealed condition with the conduit passing therethrough when penetrated by the conduit. The second unit includes a housing defining a second volume and at least one second penetrable interface.

Apparatus for creating a sealed conduit between separate volumes

A connector for sealably engaging and disengaging contacts therein can include a first unit and a second unit that is movable with respect to the first unit between an unmated position and a mated position. The first unit can have one or more closed chambers therein. Each closed chamber of the first unit contains fluid and one or more first contacts. The second unit can have one or more closed chambers therein, each closed chamber of the second unit containing fluid and one or more second contacts. Each second contact is configured to engage one of the first contacts. The one or more closed chambers of the first unit remain sealed from the one or more closed chambers of the second unit throughout mating and demating of the first and second units.

Device for sealably connecting circuits in contaminated environments and methods of using and making same

A penetrable interface configured to separate two or more spaces can include an elastomeric seal having a first segment and a second segment. A portion of the second segment can be integrally formed with a portion of the first segment. The first and second segments can create a sealing engagement therebetween in the absence of an applied force on the second segment. The first and second segments can be distorted out of sealing engagement when subjected to the applied force on the second segment.

Sealable, penetrable interface and methods of making and using same

An apparatus, combination and method of sealably enclosing junctions include an elastomeric seal that extends at least partially into a socket of a connector. The presently disclosed technology can be useful in sealably enclosing junctions of individual, jacketed-wire conductors to the terminals of underwater connectors. The presently disclosed technology can serve some or all of several purposes. A first of these purposes can be to sealably enclose a conductor-to-connector junction to prevent fluid ingress. A second purpose can be to electrically insulate a junction from its external environment, and a third purpose can be to provide strain relief for a jacketed-wire conductor at a junction.

Sealed conductor termination

A connector for sealably engaging contacts therein can include a first unit having one or more first contacts that can each include an elongated shaft with a conductive tip. A second unit can have one or more closed chambers therein. Each closed chamber can contain fluid. At least one of the closed chambers can contain one or more second contacts. Each closed chamber can have at least one resilient end wall portion including a bore and a tap integrally formed with the resilient end wall portion. The bore and the tap can create a sealing engagement therebetween when not engaged with the first contact, and create a sealing engagement with the first contact when engaged with the first contact. At least a portion of each closed chamber can be configured to be movable with respect to another portion of the closed chamber.

Connector for sealably engaging and disengaging contacts, and methods of making and/or using same

The cable termination may include a housing and a cable having at least one conductor disposed within the housing with an elastomeric body disposed in the housing and constrictively stretched over a portion of the cable. A retainer may be disposed around a portion of the cable for retaining the elastomeric body on the cable. The cable termination may also include an enclosure capable of changing volumetrically in response to fluctuating pressure disposed in the housing and around a portion of the cable.

Cable termination

The boot seal may include an elastomeric body constrictively stretched over an end of a cable and a retainer to grip the cable. The retainer may be a body having a central opening to receive the cable and have a plurality of inclined tines extending radially inwardly from the body with the inclined tines having distal ends forming the central opening. The elastomeric body may have a first sleeve on an end of the boot seal for receiving the end of the cable.

Boot seal

A plug and receptacle electrical connector can be repeatedly connected and disconnected in harsh environments such as seawater. The plug unit has blade-like pins with insulated shafts and conductive tips. The plug unit engages the receptacle unit housing socket contacts within closed, nested, oil-filled chambers. The chambers are pressure balanced to the in-situ environment and to each other and employ positive means to remain sealed before, during, and after mating and demating.

Electrical connector having an end-seal with slit-like openings and nipples

A pressure-balanced enclosure for subsea use, and in particular for use as a submersible junction box in which subsea cables can be joined. The apparatus maintains a balanced pressure within the termination chamber; it is field installable, testable, and repairable. The termination chamber is not oil-filled; instead, it is substantially filled with a solid particulate fill material which includes a portion of elastomeric material.

Pressure-balanced subsea enclosure with elastomeric fill material

A coupler mechanism comprising plug and receptacle units sealably mates and de-mates first and second reservoirs. In the mating sequence, the plug and receptacle units are brought together so that their end-seals are pressed tightly against each other axially, thus forming a sealed barrier between the units and the outside environment. Once the face-to-face seal between the units has been established, further engagement displaces slidable seal elements laterally, thereby creating an opening between the reservoirs, the opening remaining sealed from the outside environment before, during and after mating. The sequence for demating the units is just the reverse of the mating sequence. One embodiment of the invention applies the aforementioned construction to harsh-environment electrical, fiber-optical, and hybrid electro-optical connectors.

Dual reservoir coupler

An apparatus and method for sealably joining cables to pressure-balanced submersible junction boxes. The apparatus maintains a balanced pressure within the termination chamber; it is field installable, testable, and repairable. The termination chamber is not oil-filled; instead, it is substantially filled with a solid particulate fill material. An apparatus and method for sealably containing the cable's bitter end within the termination chamber are further provided. The apparatus includes a cable termination assembly having a chamber with a first end including a load bearing cable-attachment to sealably join a cable to the chamber, and a second end including an underwater connector. Within the chamber one or more optical and/or electrical conductors from the cable are terminated to respective one or more attachment points of the connector. The apparatus prohibits cable pistoning into the termination chamber.

Pressure-balanced subsea junction box and cable termination apparatus and method

A robotically mateable connector has a flying-lead plug unit and a receptacle unit adapted for releasable mating engagement with the plug unit. The plug unit includes a robotic manipulator grip assembly. A rear end shell which includes a cable attachment fitting holds a plug module having an outer surface carrying a plurality of axially spaced, annular contacts of gradually decreasing diameter towards a forward end of the module, and is rotatable relative to a plug front shell. The receptacle unit contains a receptacle module having a bore containing spaced annular contact seats of gradually increasing diameter designed for engagement with the plug contacts when the plug and receptacle units are fully mated. This provides a robotically actuated electrical connector that requires no rotational keying and relieves cable torque.

Robotically mateable rotary joint electrical connector

An apparatus and method for managing one or more flexible lines such as optical fibers, wherein each fiber has two fixed ends. Optical fibers are arranged in a curved figure-eight pattern lying in three-dimensions on the exterior curved winding surface of a tubular shell. The configuration is guided by winding tracks on either exterior side of shell. The curvatures of the shell and winding tracks are such that the bend of the managed fibers is everywhere equal to or greater than the fiber minimum bend radius.

Growing community of inventors

Ormond Beach, FL, United States of America

James L Cairns