Patent ID: 6568950
Filing Date: 2003-05-27
Classification: E05Y,H01R,Y10S

Abstract:
An umbilical disconnect connector comprising a plug assembly and a receptacle assembly:said plug and said receptacle assemblies being deployable in ready-to-mate, mated and triggered states, and having a common center axis and front and rear ends, in which said respective front ends are disposed to face one another; said receptacle assembly including a housing for receiving and supporting electromagnetic energy carrier means having termination means adjacent said housing front end, said housing ending in an annular groove facing outwardly from the axis and positioned adjacent to said termination means and a terminal abutment adjacent to said annular groove, and an ejection spring centered about the axis and positioned between said annular groove and said receptacle assembly rear end, said ejection spring having conditions of being relatively uncompressed and fully compressed; said plug assembly including a housing for receiving and supporting electromagnetic energy carrier means having, adjacent sad plug assembly housing front end, termination means disposed to establish a connection with said termination means in said receptacle assembly, a coupling ring having internal threads facing the axis and a timing ring having a surface extending normal to the axis and a notch in said surface, a collet, a shell and a locking sleeve positioned about the axis on and supported by said plug assembly housing, and a manifold assembly positioned adjacent said plug assembly rear end, and including a restraining shaft secured to said locking sleeve and positionable for enabling said locking sleeve to be placed in locking and unlocking positions, and a mechanism for enabling said restraining shaft to be placed in its locking and unlocking positions, and instrumentation coupled to said restraining shaft for positioning said shaft in its locking position and enabling said shaft to be placed in its unlocking position, said shell having an externally threaded support threadedly engaged with said coupling ring threads, and including a cylindrical portion and a plurality of slots therein extending from said threaded support and parallelly to the axis and towards said receptacle assembly housing, said collet including a hub concentrically surrounding said plug assembly housing and having a connection therewith for enabling an axial translation and a non-rotatable coupling tharebetween, a biased detent engageable with said timing ring and said timing ring notch thereof, and a plurality of cantilevered fingers extending from said hub and substantially parallelly to the axis towards said receptacle assembly housing, and individually terminating in a pair of protuberances extending respectively towards and away from the axis, said cantilevered fingers being capable of biasable movement towards and away from the axis and being positioned within said plurality of slots, and said locking sleeve having a cylindrical portion extending parallelly to the axis towards said receptacle assembly housing, an end terminating said cylindrical portion, a surface generally In contact with said collet fingers and said shell cylindrical portion, and an annular groove facing towards the axis, withdrawal interfacing spring elements having a coupling arrangement with said locking sleeve and said shell for biasing said locking sleeve and said shell towards one another, said withdrawal spring elements having conditions of being relatively uncompressed and fully compressed, a loading spring positioned between said coupling ring and said collet hub for biasing said coupling ring towards said plug assembly front end and said collet towards said plug assembly rear end, said biasing loading spring having conditions of being relatively uncompressed and fully compressed, wherein, in the ready-to-mate state, said axially inwardly facing protuberances abut said receptacle assembly terminal abutment and are positioned adjacent to said receptacle assembly annular groove, said axially outwardly extending protuberances are aligned with said locking sleeve annular groove to permit cantilevered movement of said inwardly extending protuberances over said abutment and into said receptacle assembly annular groove, said detent is engaged with said timing ring notch, said shell support is in contact with said collet hub, said interfacing spring elements are in a fully compressed condition, said restraining shaft Is in its locking sleeve unlocking position, said loading spring between said coupling ring and said cal let hub is in its relatively uncompressed condition, and said ejection spring in said receptacle assembly is in its relatively uncompressed condition, wherein, In the mated state, after said coupling ring has been rotated with respect to said shell, said axially inwardly facing protuberances are engaged with said receptacle assembly annular groove, said axially outwardly facing protuberances are positioned against said locking sleeve surface adjacent to said locking sleeve annular groove to prevent escape of said inwardly facing protuberances from said receptacle assembly annular groove, said detent is radially spaced from said timing ring notch, said shell support is spaced from contact with said collet hub, said interfacing spring elements remain in their fully compressed condition, said restraining shaft is positioned in its locking sleeve locking position, and said ejection spring is compressed by said locking sleeve upon contact with its end, wherein, in the triggered state, after said coupling ring has been rotated back with respect to said shell, said axially inwardly facing protuberances are disengaged from said receptacle assembly annular groove, said axially outwardly facing protuberances are again aligned with said locking sleeve annular groove upon escape of said inwardly facing protuberances from said receptacle assembly annular groove, said detent is again engaged said timing ring notch, said shell support remains spaced from contact with said collet hub, said interfacing spring elements are in their relatively uncompressed condition, and said restraining shaft is positioned in its locking sleeve unlocking position.