Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
  • H01R27/00—Coupling parts adapted for co-operation with two or more dissimilar counterparts

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of electrical supply systems for portable battery powered hand-held tools and other such items of electrical equipment which are particularly suitable for use in hazardous and inhospitable environments.
• hand held power tools When hand held power tools are to be used in remote locations at which no mains electricity supply is available, a number of alternatives exist for supplying power to the tools.
• the three sources of power most commonly used are pneumatic and hydraulic power and rechargeable batteries.
• the use of pneumatic or hydraulic power require the provision of mobile compressors or pumps respectively which are normally very bulky, require fuel and are not easily transportable.
• Cordless tools incorporating rechargeable batteries are available, but these suffer from a number of disadvantages.
• a power distribution system comprising a power point having at least two pairs of sockets, the sockets of each pair being connectable to opposite polarities of a direct current power supply means, at least two power distribution cables of different current carrying capacities relative to each other each containing two conductors and each provided with a power distribution plug which is engageable with the power point to electrically connect the cable associated therewith to at least one of the pairs of sockets, the plug connected to the cable of higher or highest current carrying capacity being engageable with more pairs of sockets than the plug connected to the cable of lower or lowest current carrying capacity.
• a load engageable plug Is connected the size of which is dependent on the current carrying capacity of the cable.
• a cable can be prevented from being overloaded by being connected to a load which is too large for the cable.
• power supply means In order that heavy high capacity power supply means do not always have to be taken to a location where work is to be carried out a variety of power supply means of different electrical capacity may be provided.
• One of these electrical supply means may be a relatively light duty supply which is connected to a power point having one pair of sockets only.
• the power point is advantageously provided with a switch for isolating the power point from its associated power supply means, and preferably a charge meter is also provided which indicates the extent to which the power supply has been exhausted.
• a charge meter is also provided which indicates the extent to which the power supply has been exhausted.
• the power supply means is preferably incorporated in a waistbelt, a back ⁇ pack, a case or a trolley.
• the external shape of each power distribution plug preferably conforms with part or all of the external shape of the power point.
• Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a power distribution system in accordance with the invention.
• Figures 2 to 4 show the power points and compatible power distribution plugs of the preferred embodiment.
• Figure 5 shows the connection between a power distribution cable and a tool.
• Figures 6 to 8 show the power points and compatible power distribution plugs of an alternative embodiment.
• Figure 9 shows a possible modification of the preferred embodiment.
• a suite of 24 volt rechargeable nickel cadmium power supplies of varying electrical capacities which comprises:-
• a waistbelt mounted power supply 1 consisting of a rainproof plastic belt containing four batteries connected In parallel to a control box 2.
• the power supply is rated at 15Ah, and is designated as a light duty supply relative to the other power supplies.
• a rucksack mounted power supply which is provided with a control box 4, rated at 15Ah and is designated as a medium duty power supply relative to the other power supplies.
• a portable case power supply 5 which is provided with a control box 6, rated at 30Ah and is also designated as a medium duty power supply relative to the other power supplies.
• a trolley mounted power supply 7 which is provided with a control box 8 rated at lOOAh and Is designated as a heavy duty power supply relative to the other power supplies.
• the suite of power supplies is provided with a selection of light, medium and heavy duty cables 9, 10 and 11, which contain
• 2 2 2 2 conductors having sectional areas of 1.5mm , 4mm and 16mm respectively, which may be made up from bundles of wires.
• the three types of cables are provided with plugs (30, 41, and 48 respectively) at one end for conection to one or more power supplies as described below, and a load engageable plug 13 at the opposite end for connection to a hand tool with an appropriate power rating.
• the light duty cables 9 can carry up to 15A, have 1.5mm conductors and are suitable for connection to tools which take up to 350W to operate such as jigsaws, orbital sanders, disc sanders, power files and 10mm diameter drills.
• the medium duty cables 10 can carry up to
• the heavy duty cable 11 2 can carry up to 93A, has 16mm conductors and is suitable for connection to tools which take upwards of 950W but less than 2200W such as large disc grinders, demolition hammers, circular saws and demolition breakers.
• Each tool is provided with a recessed twin pin socket 12 as shown in Figure 5, which is provided with flat 14 configured to mate with a corresponding flat 15 on the load engageable plug 13 in order to prevent incorrect insertion of the supplementary plug into the recessed twin pin socket.
• FIGS 2, 3 and 4 illustrate three control boxes 2, 4 and 8 for attachment to the power supplies 1, 3 and 5, and 7 respectively.
• the control boxes are provided with power points 19, 20 and 21 respectively, on/off switches 22, 23 and 24 respectively for isolating the power point from the supply and charge indicators 25, 26 and 27 respectively which show the extent to which the charge in the power supply has been used.
• Control box 2 ( Figure 2) is attached to the light duty supply 1 and is provided with a light duty power point 19 having two sockets 28 and 29 each being connected to a different polarity of the light duty supply and having square and round cross sectional shapes respectively.
• Each light duty cable 9 contains two conductors each of which is connected to a contact 31 or.32 in a light duty plug 30.
• the contacts 31 and 32 have identical cross sectional shape and spacing to the sockets 28 and 29 respectively, and are dimensioned so as to allow only the light duty " plug 30 to be engaged with the light duty power point 19 in one orientation.
• the medium duty supply 3 is provided with a control box 4 ( Figure 3), which is identical to control box 6 on medium duty supply 5.
• the control box 4 is provided with a medium duty power point 20 having two sockets 33 and 34 connected to one polarity of the medium duty supply and two sockets 35 and 36 connected to the other polarity of the medium duty supply.
• the shape, size and spacing of socket pairs 33, 35 and 34, 36 is identical to those of socket pair 28, 29 of the light duty power point 19 which means that two light duty plugs 30 can be simultaneously inserted into the medium duty power point 20.
• Each medium duty cable 10 contains two conductors one of which is connected to two contacts 39 and 40, and the other of which Is connected to two contacts 37 and 38 of a medium duty plug 41, the contacts being configured so that they are engageable in the sockets of the medium duty power point in one orientation only.
• the heavy duty supply 7 is provided with a control box 8 ( Figure 4) with a heavy duty power point 21 having three sockets 42, 43 and 44 connected to one polarity of the heavy duty supply and three contacts 45, 46 and 47 connected to the other polarity of the supply.
• the shape, size and spacing of the socket pairs 42, 45 and 43, 46 and 44, 47 are Identical to those of socket pair 28, 29 of the light duty power point 19 which means that three high duty plugs 30 can be simultaneously engaged in the heavy duty power point 21.
• the heavy duty socket 21 is engageable by a light duty plug 30 in combination with a medium duty plug 41.
• Each heavy duty cable 11 is provided with a heavy duty plug 48 and contains two conductors each of which is connected to three contacts 49, 50, 51 or 52, 53, 54 the contacts being configured so that they are engageable In the sockets of the heavy duty power point 8 in one orientation only.
• FIGS 6 to 8 show an alternative plug and power point system that can be used instead of the plugs and power points shown in Figures 2 to 4. The main differences from the system described are given below.
• the three contacts 55, 56, and 57 of the heavy duty plug 61 which are connected to the same conductor are graded in size and are spaced from the contacts 58, 59 and 60 connected to the other conductor by varying distances.
• the size shape and spacing of the contacts 63, 64, 65 and 66 of the medium duty plug 62 are equivalent to those of contacts 55, 56, 58 and 59 of the heavy duty plug, and contacts 68 and 69 of the light duty plug are identical in size shape and spacing to contacts 63 and 65 of the medium duty plug and contacts 55 and 58 of the heavy duty plug.
• the power points 70, 71 and 72 connected to the heavy medium and light electrical supplies (1, 3 and 5, and 7) respectively are provided with sockets configured to receive the heavy, medium and light duty plugs respectively.
• the heavy duty power point 70 may be engaged by a medium duty plug 62 or a light duty plug 67 in its smaller sockets
• a medium duty power point 71 may be engaged by a light duty plug 67 in its smaller sockets.
• the external configuration of the plugs 61,62 and 67 is tapered and designed to be an exact match with the appropriate power point or section of a power point with which the plug engages. This feature considerably facilitates engagement of the plug in the power point which is particularly useful when the operation is being performed in the dark and/or with cumbersome gloves on. While the tapered design is only shown with reference to the second embodiment described it could also be applied to the embodiment shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Alternatively the plugs and power points of the preferred embodiment ( Figures 2-to 4) could be curved at one end as shown in Figure 9, which would also ease correct insertion of the plugs into the power points.

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• Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
• Cable Accessories (AREA)

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• 1988
  • 1988-11-15 GB GB888826712A patent/GB8826712D0/en active Pending
• 1989
  • 1989-11-02 EP EP19890912643 patent/EP0444078B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1989-11-02 DE DE1989608898 patent/DE68908898T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1989-11-02 WO PCT/GB1989/001325 patent/WO1990006006A1/en not_active Ceased
• 1991
  • 1991-05-13 GB GB9110351A patent/GB2243502B/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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