Wire-to-wire connector with shunt

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10840614-B2
Application number	US-201916416825-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2019
Priority date	Aug 2, 2017
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

This disclosure provides a method and apparatus for connecting and disconnecting a first wire to a second wire. More specifically, an apparatus that includes a first electrical contact, a second electrical contact, an insulated housing, and a male contact prong (i.e., a shunt) is disclosed. In an embodiment, the first and second electrical contacts conductively connect with a first and second wire, respectively, via an insulation displacement connector. Furthermore, the male contact prong conductively connects (i.e., shunts) the first and second electrical contacts together. A wire-to-wire contact with shunt allows for two wires to be quickly and efficiently connected and disconnected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a shunt portion comprising an electrically-conductive contact portion configured to selectively engage an electrical contact; and
a cap portion detachably connected to the shunt portion, wherein the cap portion comprises an insulated insert portion configured to selectively engage the electrical contact in place of the electrically-conductive contact portion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a break-away portion connecting the shunt portion to the detachable cap portion.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the electrically-conductive contact portion comprises two contact prongs and two latching prongs, and wherein the two contact prongs are electrically connected to each other.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the insulated insert portion comprises two insulated tines.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the two contact prongs are spaced a distance apart equal to a second distance between the two insulated tines.

6. A system comprising:
a connector comprising:
an insulated housing; and
a first electrical contact within the insulated housing;
wherein the insulated housing includes a male-contact-receptacle portion exposing a portion of the first electrical contact; and

an electrical shunt comprising:
a shunt portion comprising an electrically-conductive contact portion configured to selectively electrically and mechanically engage the first electrical contact through the male-contact-receptacle portion; and
a cap portion comprising an insulated insert portion configured to selectively mechanically engage the first electrical contact.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the electrically-conductive contact portion comprises two contact prongs and two latching prongs, and wherein the insulated insert portion comprises two insulated tines.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the two contact prong receptacles is configured to allow for a respective one of the two insulated tines to mechanically connect to a corresponding electrical contact.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the two contact prongs and the two shunt latching prongs extend parallel to each other from a base of the shunt portion.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the electrically-conductive contact portion further comprises a shunt cap sealing pin.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the insulated housing further comprises a latching receptacle portion comprising a shunt cap sealing pin receptacle and two latching prong receptacles.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the shunt cap sealing pin receptacle has a matching geometry to the shunt cap sealing pin.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the two latching prongs are configured to latch with two or latching prong receptacles.

14. The system of claim 7 , wherein the male-contact-receptacle portion comprises two contact prong receptacles spaced a distance apart equal to a second distance between the two contact prongs and equal to a third distance between the two insulated tines.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein each of the two contact prong receptacles are configured to allow for one of the two contact prongs to electrically and mechanically connect to the first electrical contact.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein a thickness of each of the two contact prongs is greater than a distance between two contact tines of the first electrical contact.

17. A method of disconnecting a first and a second wire comprising:
removing an electrical shunt from an insulated housing, wherein removing the electrical shunt removes an electrically-conductive contact portion of the electrical shunt from a male-contact-receptacle portion of the insulated housing; and
inserting an insulated insert portion of a cap portion of the electrical shunt into the male-contact-receptacle portion of the insulated housing.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising removing the cap portion from the electrically-conductive contact portion.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the removing an electrical shunt from an insulated housing electrically disconnects a first electrical contact from a second electrical contact, and wherein the first electrical contact is electrically and mechanically connected to a first wire and the second electrical contact is electrically and mechanically connected to a second wire.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising inserting a sealing portion of the cap portion into a sealing pin receptacle portion of the insulated housing to seal the electrical contacts within the insulated housing.

Assignees

• Avx Corp

Inventors

• Lybrand Brent

Classifications

• H01R31/08 Primary

  Short-circuiting members for bridging contacts in a counterpart · CPC title

• H01R13/6273

  comprising two latching arms · CPC title

• H01R11/05

  the connecting locations having different types of direct connections · CPC title

• H01R13/193

  Means for increasing contact pressure at the end of engagement of coupling part {, e.g. zero insertion force or no friction} · CPC title

• H01R4/2404

  the contact members having teeth, prongs, pins or needles penetrating the insulation · CPC title