BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

[00011 The present invention relates to electrical connectors. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical socket with improved tolerance for angular and translational misalignment.

Description of Related Art

[0002] Radial sockets, also referred to as barrel terminals, are sockets configured to provide a female electrical connection interface for cylindrical electrical prongs or pins.

[0003] FIGS. 1 A and 1 B are side elevation and end views, respectively, illustrating a related art radial socket 1 00.

[0004] Referring to FIG. 1 A, the related art radial socket 100 has a length Lioo and includes a ring 1 12, a plurality of contact strips 1 14, and a ring 1 16. The contact strips 1 14 are affixed at one end of the radial socket 100 to the ring 1 12 and extend longitudinally to the opposite end of the radial socket 100 where they are affixed to the ring 1 16. A plurality of contact strips 1 14 are affixed to the rings 1 12 and 1 16 in approximately equidistant increments. The juncture between each of the contract strips 1 14 and the ring 1 1 6 is radially offset from the juncture between the corresponding contact strip 1 14 and the ring 1 12. As shown in FIG. 1 A and FIG. I B, for example, the juncture 126 formed by the ring 1 16 and the contact strip 1 14a is offset by an angle of 30-45 degrees relative to the juncture 122 formed by the ring 1 12 and the contact strip 1 14a. [0005] FIG. I B is an end view of the related art radial socket 100 of FIG. 1 A, incl uding the ring 1 16 and the plurality of contact strips 1 14. The ring 1 16 has an interior diameter D] \ . The juncture 126 formed by the contact strip 1 14a and the ring 1 16 is radially offset by an angle 0100 from the juncture 1 22 (on the opposite end of the radial socket 100 to the viewer) formed by the contact strip 1 14a and the ring 1 12 (see FIG. 1 Λ). As described above, the angular offset θ ι ο of the juncture 1 26 relative to the juncture 122 causes the radial socket 1 00 to form a concave shape. The plurality of contact strips 1 14 provides both a mechanical and electrical connection between the radial socket 100 and an electrical pin receivable therein. As shown in FIG. I B, the angular offset 01 oo of related art radial socket 100 is 30-45 degrees. The plurality of contact strips 1 14 forms an interior diameter D n ₄ of the related art radial socket 100.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a related art electrical connection system having a female electrical connection device 200 configured to mate with a male electrical connection device 220.

[0007] Referring to FIG. 2, the related art female electrical connection device 200 includes a plurality of related art radial sockets 100 rigidly connected to a support structure 210. Each of the radial sockets 100 includes the rings 1 12 and 1 16 and the plurality of contacts strips 1 14. The radial sockets 100 are configured to electrically and mechanically connect with a plurality of pins 222, which are rigidly connected to a support structure 224 to form male electrical connection device 220. When a pin 222 is inserted into a radial socket 1 00, the plurality of contact strips 1 14 of the radial socket 1 00 contacts the pin 222 and expands to accommodate the pin 222, thereby exerting a frictional force on the pin 222 to form and maintain a mechanical and electrical connection therebetween. [0008 J The radial sockets 100 are spaced by a distance X| ₀ o and the pins 222 are spaced by a distance Χ222· Because of the variations in the manufacturing of the female electrical connection device 200 and/or the male electrical connection device 220, one or more of the radial sockets 100 may be translationally misaligned with one or more of the pins 222 causing the distances Xi oo and X222 to be unequal. In order to compensate for potential translational misalignment between a radial socket 100 and a corresponding pin 222, the related art electrical connection system 200 has a translational misalignment tolerance Tioo- In other words, provided each of the pins 222 and radial sockets 100 are aligned within a distance T100, the related art female electrical connection device 200 is configured to receive a plurality of pins 222 and form a mechanical and electrical connection between each of the pins 222 and the contact strips 1 14 of the corresponding radial socket 100. If one of the radial sockets 100 and a corresponding pin 222 are misaligned by a distance greater than Ti oo _, connecting the male electrical connection device 220 to the related art female connection system 200 may cause damage to either the pin 222 or the corresponding radial socket 1 00. For example, the pin 222 may make contact with the ring 1 12 of the corresponding radial socket 1 00 and damage either the pin 222 or the radial socket 100.

[0009] As shown in FIG. 2. the radial sockets 100 are preferably attached to the structure

210 at an angle of 90 degrees relative to the plane of the structure 21 0. Similarly, the pins 222 are preferably attached to the structure 224 at an angle of 90 degrees. Again, however, one or more of the radial sockets 100 may be angularly misaligned with one or more of the pins 222 because of the variations in the manufacturing of the female electrical connection device 200 and/or the male electrical connection device 220. The related art electrical connection system 200 has an angular misalignment tolerance a 100, meaning the related art female electrical connection device 200 is configured to receive a plurality of pins 222 and form a mechanical and electrical connection between each of the pins 222 and the contact strips 1 14 of the

corresponding radial socket 100 if the radial sockets 1 00 and the pins 222 are aligned within an angle ctioo- An angular misalignment greater than αιοο may cause similar damage to either the pin 222 or the corresponding radial socket 100 as described above.

[0010] Accordingly, there is a need to increase the translalional misalignment tolerance

Tioo and/or the angular misalignment tolerance a mo of the related art female electrical connection device 200 to avoid damage to the pin 222 and/or radial socket 100.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[001 1 ] In order to overcome these and other drawbacks of the related art, an electrical connection system is provided.

[0012] According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a female electrical connection device configured to mate with a plurality of electrical pins attached to a male electrical connection device, the female electrical connection device including a support structure a plurality of radial sockets rigidly attached to said support structure, each of the radial sockets including a first ring, a second ring substantially parallel to the first ring, and a plurality of conductive contact strips extending between the first and second rings, each of the plurality of conductive contact strips being attached to the first ring at a first position and attached to the second ring at a second position, the first position being offset from the second position at an angle greater than 50 degrees.

[ 001 | According to another aspect f an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method of making a female electrical connection device configured to mate with a plurality of electrical pins attached to a male electrical connection device, the method includine nrovidin t? a support structure, providing a plurality of radial sockets, each of the plurality of radial sockets including a first ring, a second ring substantially parallel to the first ring, and a plurality of conductive contact strips extending between the first and second rings, each of the conductive contact strips attached to the first ring at a first position and attached to the second ring at a second position, the first position being offset from the second position at an angle greater than 50 degrees, and attaching the plurality of radial sockets to the structure.

[0014] According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a radial socket including a first ring, a second ring substantially parallel to said first ring, and a plural ity of conductive contact strips extending between the first and second rings, each of the conductive contact strips attached to yje first ring at a first position and attached to the second ring at a second position, the first position being offset from the second position at an angle greater than 50 degrees.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Exemplary embodiments will be set forth with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0016] FIGS. 1A and I B are side elevation and end views, respectively, illustrating a related art radial socket;

[0017] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a related art electrical connection system, including a plurality of the related art radial sockets illustrated in FIGS. 1 A and I B;

[0018] FIGS. 3Λ and 3B are side elevation and end views, respectively, illustrating a radial socket according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; [00191 FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connection system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, including a plurality of the radial sockets illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B;

[0020] FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connection system illustrated in FIG. 4; and

[0021 ] FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connection system il lustrated in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0022 J Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be set forth in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings are not necessarily to scale and are instead provided to convey the inventive concepts to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0023] FIGS. A and 3B are side elevation and end views, respectively, illustrating a radial socket 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 3A, the radial socket 300 has a length L300 and includes a ring

3 12, a plurality of contact strips 3 14, and a ring 3 16. The ring 3 1 2 is substantially parallel to the ring 3 1 6. The plurality of contact strips 3 14 are affixed to the rings 3 12 and 3 1 6 in

approximately equidistant increments and extend longitudinally between the rings 3 12 and 3 1 6. The contact strips 314 may be any electrically conductive material, including silver, copper, etc., and may be affixed to the rings 3 1 2 and 3 16, for example, by welding. Alternatively, the contact strips 314 and the rings 3 12 and 3 16 may be formed from a single piece of conductive material (for example, by stamping) and bent to form the radial socket 300,

[00251 The junctures between the ring 3 16 and each of the contract strips 3 14 are radially offset from the corresponding junctures between the ring 3 12 and each of the contact strips 3 14 causing the radial socket 300 to form a tapered shape. Unlike the related art radial socket 100, the corresponding junctures of the radial socket 300 are preferably offset by an angle greater than or equal to 50 degrees. As shown in FIG. 3Λ, for example, the juncture 326 formed by the ring 3 16 and the contact strip 3 14a is offset by an angle that is preferably greater than or equal to 50 degrees relative to the juncture 322 formed by the ring 3 12 and the contact strip 3 14a. The increased angular offset causes the length L300 of the radial socket 300 to be shorter than the length Lioo of the related art radial socket 100, if all other dimensions of the radial sockets 300 and 100 are equal. The increased angular offset increases the tapered shape of the radial socket 300 relative to the related art radia 1 socket 100.

[0026] FIG. 3 B is an end view of the radial socket 300 of FIG. 3 A, including the ring 316 and the plurality of contact strips 3 14.

[ 00271 Referring to FIG. 3 Γ3, the ring 3 16 has an interior diameter D3 K,. The juncture 326 formed by the contact strip 3 14a and the ring 3 16 is radially offset by an angle 0300 from the juncture 3 12 (on the opposite end of the radial socket 300) formed by the contact strip 3 14a and the ring 3 12 (see FIG. 3 A). As shown in FIG. 3B, the angular offset Θ300 of the radial socket 300 is preferably greater than or equal to 50 degrees causing the plurality of contact strips 3 14 to form an interior diameter D _{3 i 4} of the radial socket 300.

100281 The angular offset Θ300 may be measured, for example, as follows. The center o the ring 3 16 and the center of the ring 3 12 form a longitudinal center axis through the center of the radial socket 300. The center axis and the juncture 326 form a line 336 substantially parallel to the plane of the ring 3 1 6. The center axis and the juncture 322 form a line 332 substantially parallel to the plane of the ring 312. As shown in FIG. 3B, the angle Θ300 is the difference between the line 332 and the line 336 measured along the plane substantially parallel to the rings 312 and 3 16.

[0029] As shown in FIGS. I B and 3B, the diameter D3 1 relative to the diameter 0 _{3 16} of the radial socket 300 is smaller than the diameter D _¾ 14 relative to the diameter D n ₆ of the related art radial socket 100. In other words, the difference between the diameters Ι¾ κ, and D ₃ ] ₄ of the radial socket 300 is greater than the difference between the diameters D] u, and D n of the related art radial socket 100.

[0030] In some exemplary embodiments, the rings 3 12 and 31 6 of the radial socket 300 may have diameters D312 and D ₃₁₆ that are equal to the diameters Dm and D n 6 of the related art radial socket 100. In these exemplary embodiments, the angular offset Θ300 causes the diameter D314 of the plurality of contact strips 31 4 to be smaller than the diameter D) _{i 4} of the related art radial socket 100. The smaller diameter D314 increases the frictional force exerted on a pin 222 and creates a stronger and more persistent mechanical and electrical connection between the radial socket 300 and the pin 222.

[0031 ] More preferably, however, the diameters D ₃ i ₂ and D ₃ i ₆ of the rings 3 12 and 316 may be larger than the diameters D[ |2 and DJ , of the rings 1 1 2 and 1 16 of the related art radial socket 100. In these exemplary embodiments, the angular offset O30 causes the diameter D314 of the plurality of contact strips 3 14 to be approximately equal to the diameter D| 14 of the related art radial socket 100 despite the larger size of the ring 3 16 relative to the ring 1 16. As described below, the increase in diameter D ₃ i ₆ of the ring 316 (relative to the diameter Dn ₆ of the ring 1 1 6) increases the translational and angular tolerance of the radial socket 300 while the approximately equal diameter D ₃ ] ₄ of the contact strips 3 14 (relative to the diameter Dn ₄ of the contact strips 1 16) allows the radial socket 300 to maintain a mechanical and electrical connection between the radial socket 300 and the pin 222,

[0032] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an electrical connection system including a female electrical connection device 400 configured to mate with the male electrical connection device 220 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Referring to FIG. 4, the female electrical connection device 400 includes a plurality of radial sockets 300 rigidly connected to the structure 210. Each of the radial sockets 300 includes the rings 312 and 316 and the plurality of contacts strips 3 14 therebetween. The radial sockets 300 are configured to electrically and mechanically connect with the plurality of pins 222, which are rigidly connected to the structure 224 of the male electrical connection device 220. The structure 21 0 and the structure 224 may be any suitable electrical and mechanical device, such as a bus bar, a server, a server rack, etc. in order to accommodate the pins 222, the diameters D312 and D ₃ | ₆ of the rings 3 12 and 3 1 6 are greater than the diameter of each pin 222. The contact strips 314 form a flexible mesh with a diameter _t that is less than the diameter of each pin 222. When a pin 222 is inserted into a radial socket 300, the plurality of contact strips 314 of the radial socket 300 contacts the pin 222 and expands to accommodate the pin 222, thereby exerting a frietional force on the pin 222 to form and maintain a mechanical and electrical connection therebetween. Accordingly, a mechanical connection is formed between the structures 210 and 224 and an electrical connection is formed from the structure 21 0 through the plural ity of contacts strips 314 and the pins 222 to the structure 224. [0034 j The radial sockets 300 are spaced by a distance X ₃ oo and the pins 222 are spaced by a distance X222. in order to compensate for potential translational misalignment between a radial socket 300 and a corresponding pin 222, the female electrical connection device 400 has a translational misalignment tolerance T ₃ oo- In other words, the female electrical connection device 400 is configured to receive the plurality of pins 222 and form a mechanical and electrical connection between each of the pins 222 and the contact strips 3 14 of the corresponding radial sockets 300 provided each of the pins 222 and radial sockets 300 are aligned within a distance

[0035] The radial sockets 300 are preferably attached to the structure 210 at an angle of

90 degrees relative to the plane of the structure 21 0. Similarly, the pins 222 are preferably attached to the structure 224 at an angle of 90 degrees. In order to compensate for potential angular misalignment between a radial socket 300 and a corresponding pin 222, the female electrical connection device 400 has an angular misalignment tolerance a ₃ oo, meaning the female electrical connection device 400 is configured to receive the plurality of pins 222 and form a mechanical and electrical connection between each of the pins 222 and the contact strips 3 14 of the corresponding radial sockets 300 if the radial sockets 300 and the pins 222 are aligned within an angle α ₃₀ ο·

[ 361 As will be described in more detail below, the increased angular offset 0 ₃ oo of the radial sockets 300 (relative to the angular offset 0 _{1 0} o of the related art radial sockets 100) increases both the translational misalignment tolerance T300 (relative to the translational misalignment tolerance T 100 of the related art radial sockets 100) and the angular misalignment tolerance a ₃₀ o of the radial sockets 300 (relative to the angular misalignment tolerance a 100 of the related art radial sockets 100). [0037] FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connection system illustrated in FIG. 4.

|0038] Referring to FIG. 5, the pin 222c is angularly misaligned relative to the radial socket 300c. Because the pin 222c is angularly misaligned at an angle greater than the angular misalignment tolerance a mo of the related art radial sockets 100, connecting the male electrical connection device 220 to the related art female connection system 200 would likely cause damage to either the pin 222c or the corresponding radial socket 100.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 5, however, because the diameter D _{3 i} 2 (see F IG. 3B) of the ring

3 12 is greater than the diameter D] ₍₂ of the ring 1 12. the pin 222c is able to enter the radial socket 300c and form an electrical and mechanical connection with the contact strips 314 of the radial socket 300c without damaging either the pin 222c or the radial socket 300c. Furthermore, the increased angular offset Q ₃₀₀ of the radial sockets 300 (relative to the angular offset θ ιοο of the related art radial sockets 100) of at least 50 degrees increases the frictional fit between the radial sockets 300 and the pins 222 and allows the radial sockets 300a and 300b to maintain a stable electrical and mechanical connection with the pins 222a and 222b, respectively.

10040] FIG. 6 is another cross-sectional view of the electrical connection system illustrated in FIG. 4.

[0041 ] Referring to FIG. 6, the radial socket 300c is translationally misal igned relative to the pin 222c. Because the radial socket 300c is translationally misaligned greater than the translational misalignment tolerance Tioo of the related art radial sockets 100, connecting the male electrical connection device 220 to the related art female connection system 200 would likely cause damage to either the pin 222c or the corresponding radial socket 100. [0042] As shown in FIG. 6, however, because the diameter D ₃ i ₂ of the ring 3 12 is greater than the diameter Dn2 of the ring 1 1 2, the translational misalignment tolerance T oo is up to 0.01 inches or greater. Accordingly, the pin 222c is able to enter the radial socket 300c without damaging either the pin 222c or the radial socket 300c. Furthermore, the increased angular offset Θ300 of the radial sockets 300 (relative to the angular offset Ojoo of the related art radial sockets 100) of at least 50 degrees increases the frietional fit between the radial sockets 300 and the pins 222 and allows the radial sockets 300a and 300b to maintain a stable electrical and mechanical connection with the pins 222a and 222b, respectively.

[0043] While exemplary embodiments have been set forth above, those skilled in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure wil l readily appreciate that other embodiments can be realized within the scope of the invention. For example, disclosures of specific numbers of radial sockets, conductive strips, and the like are illustrative rather than limiting, as are disclosures of specific materials. Therefore, the present invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims.