초록 ▼

A dual-port electrical cable female connector head primarily useful for branch circuit extension of and for fixture tapping into a relocatable wiring system, the female connector head of the invention is located at one end of a length of electrical cable which carries one or more circuits and into w

A dual-port electrical cable female connector head primarily useful for branch circuit extension of and for fixture tapping into a relocatable wiring system, the female connector head of the invention is located at one end of a length of electrical cable which carries one or more circuits and into which lighting fixtures or other electrical loads are to be tapped at predetermined locations of the wiring system by connection to tapping ports formed in respective female connector heads. A male connector head joined to the length of cable at the other end thereof connects to a branch circuit port formed in a female connector head of an adjacent length of cable in the wiring system. The relocatable wiring system is thus formed along its length by repetitive units consisting of lengths of cable with one of the female connector heads of the invention being joined to one end of the cable and a male connector head being joined to the other end of the cable, the female connector head of the invention having two connection ports disposed in angular relationship to each other which is out of plane of the body of the female connector head with both ports being capable of use either as a tapping port or as a branch circuit port. The female connector head of the invention improves prior wire system connectors by providing a more compact, less expensive and more easily manufactured female connector head and which also exhibits a low profile in use and is manufactured using fewer discrete parts while displaying greater operational flexibility in use.

대표청구항 ▼

In a relocatable wiring system having lengths of cable carrying circuit conductors and male connector heads each having pin terminals and female connector heads each having at least first and second ports with socket terminals disposed therein, each length of the cable having one of the male connect

In a relocatable wiring system having lengths of cable carrying circuit conductors and male connector heads each having pin terminals and female connector heads each having at least first and second ports with socket terminals disposed therein, each length of the cable having one of the male connector heads joined to one end thereof and one of the female connector heads being joined to the other end of the cable, the combination thus forming a basic structural unit of the wiring system, multiples of the basic unit being connected together to form branch circuits of the wiring system by connecting a male connector head of one of the units to the first port of a female connector head of an adjacent unit, the pin terminals of said male connector head being received by the socket terminals located in the port receiving said male connector head, the wiring system further including a pluggable connector joined to an electrical load such as a lighting fixture, the pluggable connector having pin terminals and being receivable by the other port of the female connector head to engage the pin terminals of the pluggable connector with the socket terminals of the other port to electrically connect the electrical load to a circuit formed at least in part by a given one of the circuit conductors carried by the cable, the female connector head being improved and thereby improving the wiring system, the improvement comprising: a housing connected to and receiving an end of the cable thereinto at one end of the housing, ends of the circuit conductor extending from the end of the cable into the interior of the housing, the first port being located at a first location of the housing and the second port being located at a second location of the housing in proximity to the first port, the first and second ports being disposed out of plane with each other and at an angular relation to each other; and, electrical terminal means disposed within the housing and carried by at least one of the circuit conductors for electrical and mechanical connection to at least one of the circuit conductors, the electrical terminal means carrying the socket terminals disposed in the first and second ports, the electrical terminal means comprising at least one electrically conductive terminal element electrically connected to one of the circuit conductors, the terminal element carrying one of the socket terminals disposed in the first port and one of the socket terminals disposed in the second port.