Lear Corporation

Eaton Intelligent Power Limited

Amphenol-tuchel Electronics Gmbh

Global Inventive Consulting, Inc.

Royal Precision Products, LLC

Pivotal Battery Corp.

Other

Riddell, Inc.

Slobodan Pavlovic

Michael Glick

Mohamad Zeidan

Brantley Natter

David Menzies

Tulasi Sadras-Ravindra

Nadir Sharaf

James Dawson

Gerhard Drescher

Reinhard Pusch

Allen Leo Mott

Cecil Lamar Brown, Ii

Reshma Rathod

Rutunj Rai

Dilip Daftuar

Eric Torrey

Richard Joseph Hampo

Juan Lopez

Michael Hardy

Mohamed Zeidan

Ajmal Imran Ansari

Aric Henderson Anglin

Aftab Ali Khan

Robert A Stewart

Sheikh Habibur Rahman

John M Van Dyke

John F Nathan

John Stack

Jason Degen

Paul Castellani

Rainer Busies

Dirk Winter

Dirk Placzko

Mohammad Zeidan

Mo Zeidan

A connector system for electrically connecting a power source to other power distribution components or assemblies, for example in a motor vehicle. This connector system includes a male connector assembly with an electrically conductive male terminal assembly having a male terminal body and an internal spring assembly. The male terminal body includes contact arms with irregular outer peripheries configured to reduce the insertion force associated with the male terminal body. The internal spring assembly includes a spring member and a spring holder that ensures and maintains proper relative positioning or alignment of the internal spring member within the male terminal assembly. The connector system also includes a female connector assembly with a female terminal assembly that receives the male terminal assembly and the spring assembly.

Electrical connector system with cylindrical terminal body

A power distribution assembly with boltless busbar system for electrically and mechanically connecting a component to a power source is disclosed. The power distribution assembly includes an interconnecting busbar segment that connects two boltless busbar system together. Each boltless busbar system includes a male busbar assembly and a female busbar assembly. The male busbar assembly includes a male terminal, internal spring member, internal male housing, and external male housing that receives an extent of the male terminal, the internal spring member, and the internal male housing. This male terminal includes a side wall arrangement that defines a receiver and further includes at least one contact arm. An internal spring member with at least one spring arm resides within the male terminal receiver. The female busbar assembly includes a female terminal with a receptacle that is dimensioned to receive both the male terminal and the spring member in a connected position to secure the female busbar assembly to the male busbar assembly.

Power distribution assembly with boltless busbar system

The present invention provides an electrical connector assembly for use in a high-power application, such as with motor vehicle electronics, that exposes the connector assembly to elevated temperatures and thermal cycling. The connector assembly includes a first electrically conductive connector formed from a first material, an internal spring member formed from a second material residing within the first connector, and a second electrically conductive connector with a receptacle dimensioned to receive both the first connector and the spring member to define a connected position, wherein the connector assembly withstands the elevated temperatures and thermal cycling resulting from the high-power application. To maintain the first and second connectors in the connected position, the spring arm of the spring member exerts an outwardly directed force on the contact beam of the first connector to outwardly displace the contact beam into engagement with an inner surface of the receptacle of the second connector.

Spring-actuated electrical connector for high-power applications

A shielded electrical connector system is disclosed. A male connector assembly includes a male terminal, a non-conductive internal male, and a conductive external male housing that receives an extent of the internal male housing. The male terminal includes a side wall arrangement defining a receiver and including at least one contact arm. An internal spring member resides within the male terminal receiver. A female connector assembly includes a female terminal with a receptacle that receives the male terminal and the spring member. Wherein in a connected position, the male terminal, the spring member, and the female terminal reside within an external female housing; the male terminal and the spring member reside within an internal female housing; the male terminal and the spring member reside within the internal male housing; and a major extent of both the male terminal and the spring member extend beyond the external male housing.

Shielded electrical connector system with internal spring component

A spring-actuated electrical connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting a device to a power source in high-power, high-voltage applications is disclosed. The connector assembly includes a first connector with an internal receiver, a plurality of side walls, and at least one contact beam. The contact beam integrally extends to an outer surface of the side wall and includes a free end that extends inward of the outer surface of the side wall. An internal spring member is dimensioned to reside within the receiver of the first connector. This assembly also includes a second electrically conductive connector with a receptacle dimensioned to receive both the first connector and the spring member to define a connected position during operation of the device. In the connected position, at least one spring arm of the spring member exerts an outwardly directed force on the contact beam of the first connector to outwardly displace the contact beam into engagement with the second connector.

An electrical connector assembly for electrically and mechanically connecting a component to a power source is disclosed. The connector assembly includes a male terminal with side walls defining a receiver. The side wall includes a contact arm that extends across an aperture in the side wall. The assembly also includes an internal spring member dimensioned to reside within the receiver of the male terminal. The spring member has at least one spring arm that extends from a base portion. The assembly further includes a female terminal with a receptacle dimensioned to receive both the male terminal and the spring member residing within the receiver of the male connector to define a connected position. In the connected position, the spring arm exerts an outwardly directed biasing force on the contact arm of the male terminal to outwardly displace it into engagement with an inner surface of the receptacle to ensure connectivity.

Electrical connector assembly with internal spring component

An electrical connector system for electrically and mechanically connecting with a component in a motor vehicle is disclosed. The connector system includes a motor vehicle component and a male connector assembly with a male housing that receives a male terminal. This terminal includes a receiver and side walls with a contact arm that extends across an aperture in the side wall. An internal spring member with at least one spring arm resides within the male terminal receiver. A female connector assembly includes a female terminal with a receptacle that receives both the male terminal and the spring member. A female housing receives the female terminal and an extent of the male connector assembly. When the connector system moves from the partially assembled state to a connected position for connection of the vehicle component, the male connector assembly is inserted into female housing, the contact arm is brought into sliding engagement with an angled internal segment of the female housing, and the contact arm is inwardly displaced as the contact arm slidingly engages with the angled internal segment.

Electrical connector system with internal spring component and applications thereof

The present invention is an RFID-enabled electrical connector with connector position assurance ('CPA') features, comprised of an electrical connector having a plug, a socket, and a CPA feature; a strategically located electrically conductive material, such as a conductive polymer or metalized plastic; and an RFID tag. The present invention can be fabricated using a standard RFID tag, or a mini-RFID tag that has no antenna. The lack of antenna gives the mini-RFID tag an effective transmission distance of less than 25 mm. In the illustrated embodiments, until the CPA feature has been fully deployed, the RFID tag or mini-RFID tag cannot be read because of the strategic placement of the electrically conductive material. The RFID tag can only be properly read after the CPA feature has been fully deployed.

RFID-enabled electrical connector

The present invention is a system and method using a hand-mounted force sensor to verify installation of a CPA-enabled electrical connector. The system has at least one CPA-enabled electrical connector with a locking button; at least one hand-mounted force sensor; an interface board; a transmission channel; a system processor; a non-transitory computer readable memory element; a display; and an input. The hand-mounted force sensors have an electrical output that is proportional to the force. The method is accomplished with the steps of mounting at least one force sensor so that it will record the force exerted when depressing a locking button of a CPA-enabled electrical connector; depressing the locking button; measuring the force; recording the force; comparing the force to a pre-determined threshold; passing the CPA-enabled electrical connector if the force was less than the pre-determined threshold and otherwise failing it.

System and method using a hand-mounted force sensor to verify installation of connector-position-assurance enabled electrical connector

The present invention is an electrically conductive polymer that is stable with respect to both time and environmental conditions. Most electrically conductive polymers have bulk resistance that varies (increases) over time. The current electrically conductive polymers also vary when they are exposed to harsh environments. The time and environmental variability is attributable to both the type of fiber and the type of coating used. The present invention uses stainless steel fibers that have an outer most coating that is one of tin, tin-lead, tin-silver, tin-palladium, tin-silver-palladium, and silver-palladium. The coating comprises 5%-40%, by weight, of the coating fiber. The coated fiber comprises 25%-35%, by weight, of the electrically conductive polymer. The bulk polymer is at least one of polypropylene ('PP'), polycarbonate ('PC'), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (&#x201c;ABS&#x201d;), polyethylene (&#x201c;PE&#x201d;), polyether ether ketone (&#x201c;PEEK&#x201d;), and polyethylene terephthalate (&#x201c;PET&#x201d;).

Formulation for a stable electrically conductive polymer

The present invention is a system and method using a hand-mounted force sensor to verify installation of a CPA-enabled electrical connector. The system has at least one CPA-enabled electrical connector with a locking button; at least one hand-mounted force sensor; an interface board; a transmission channel; a system processor; a non-transitory computer readable memory element; a display; and an input. The hand-mounted force sensors have an electrical output that is proportional to the force. By interposing a force sensor between the locking button and the source of force, the force to close the locking tab can be read. The method is accomplished with the steps of mounting at least one force sensor so that it will record the force exerted when depressing a locking button of a CPA-enabled electrical connector; depressing the locking button; measuring the force; recording the force; comparing the force to a pre-determined threshold; passing the CPA-enabled electrical connector if the force was less than the pre-determined threshold and otherwise failing it.

The present invention is an RFID-enabled electrical connector with connector position assurance ('CPA') features. The RFID tag is only readable after the CPA features have been fully deployed. The electrical connector is comprised of at least two parts, a socket and a plug. In the illustrated embodiment, a connector housing is positioned between the socket and plug, with both the socket and plug connecting to the connector housing. Until the CPA feature has been fully deployed, the RFID tag is covered by an electrically conductive material, preferably an electrically conductive plastic. The RFID tag can only be properly read after the CPA feature has been fully deployed. To prevent signal leakage, the RFID tag can alternately be placed inside a five-sided box fabricated from electrically conductive material, preferably electrically conductive plastic.

Growing community of inventors

Novi, MI, United States of America

Slobodan Pavlovic