DISCONNECTABLE CONNECTOR

Abstract: A disconnectable connector for use in systems for handling and manipulating an encapsulated quantity of radioactive material is made of two components which can be connected together in a manner which permits either component to swivel through a wide range of angles around the other component, without danger of becoming acciden­ tally disconnected. A positive latch holds the two compo­ nents together. The latch must be intentionally opened in order to disconnect the two components one from the other.

Description: CONNECTOR This invention is related to systems for handling and manipulating an encapsulated quantity of radioactive material, wherein the capsule containing the radioactive material is stored in a radiation-shielding component of the system and, in use, the capsule is moved under control of a linearly substantially inextensible transversely flexible operator (e.g.: a flexible cable) from that component via a guide tube or the like to a remote position where its radiation is put to use. A typical system is illustrated and described in U.S. Patents No. 4,211,928 and No. 4,225,790. Such systems generally incorporate in the flexible operator a disconnectable connector device made of two parts for use in exchanging the capsule containing the radioactive material when the -latter is spent, or when it is desired to use a different radioactive material in a given system. Examples of connector devices are shown and described in U.S. Patents No. 2,816,341 and No. 3,237,977. This invention is more particularly directed to improvements in such two-part connector devices. A basic requirement in connector devices intended for use in systems for manipulating a quantity of radioactive material is that they be reliable and safe under all conceivable conditions that could be encountered in their use and transportation and in the operation of systems in which they may be incorporated. Connection and disconnection must be able to be made positively and, when made, must remain made under all such conditions. Since a capsule of radioactive material will be removed by means of a linearly substantially inextensible flexible operator through a flexible guide tube from a stored position to a "use" position, and back again, the connector should be able to follow bends and twists in the guide tube in order to minimize chances of becoming stuck in a sharp turn in the guide tube. Assuming the connector has ability to bend around curves in the guide tube, it should not become disconnected when bent to an extreme angle as might occur should the capsule and connector emerge from the guide tube. At the same time the connector should be rugged in construction and simple to use. In general two types of connectors have up to now been used in systems of the type described above. One type uses a ball-and-socket configuration in which a first part or component of the connector (male) has a ball at one end and a second component (female) has a socket for receiving and retaining the ball. U.S. Patent No. 3,237,977 shows one example of that type in which a spring-load latch is used to hold the ball locked into the socket when the two components are connected together. The connector of that patent satisfies the requirements of safety and utility which are mentioned above; however, it has limited ability to follow sharp turns in the guide tube, or inside the storage unit. Another ball-and-socket type connector that is in use has a side slot connecting with the socket in the female member, and the male member is engaged by sliding the neck on which the ball is supported into the slot while the two components are at a right-angle one to the other, and then turning the male member in the socket so that the two components are aligned extending away from the ball-and-socket joint. That connector is simple in design, and can flex up to 90 degrees in one plane which embraces the female member, but it can easily fall apart when it emerges from constraint of the guide system and is flexed to the 90-degree angle, at which connection and disconnection are normally made. A second type of connector makes use of a hole in one component and a hook in the other, arranged so that the parts or components can be connected and disconnected while being held at an angle (e.g.: 90 degrees) one to the other. In one example of this latter type of connector, a first component has a flat hook while the second component resembles a clevis with its pin permanently in place The pin has a rectangular cross section, such that the hook can engage it, or be disengaged from it, only if the two components are at an angle of 90 degrees one to the other. Upon being engaged at that angle, the two components can be straightened and will then remain connected together with freedom to swivel in only one plane to a range of angles approximating 180 degrees. However, in the extreme angle at which disassembly is possible, this connector can accidentally become disconnected. Another connector of the second type has a flat extension on one component with a uniquely-shaped hole in it, and a dog-leg pin extending from the other component for mating with that hole. This connector is connected and disconnected when the components are held at a right angle in a first plane while one component is moved around the axis of the other in a second plane that is perpendicular to the first plane. When assembled, this connector can swivel through about 180 degrees in only the first plane. Any attempt to swivel it in the second plane will fail except when the components are in that extreme positional angle in the first plane in which disassembly is possible, and then it can accidentally disconnect. Thus, like the ball and socket connector described immediately above, it is possible for these connectors of the second type to fall apart under circumstances that might be encountered during use of the systems in which they are incorporated. This weakness is built into the design; it is a weakness in principle. Connectors according to the present invention are made of two components each of which has at one end a loop which resembles, perhaps, a half of a chain link. In a first component the loop is rigidly fastened at both ends to the main body of the component, which has a socket at its other end to receive an end of a manipulating cable or other flexible operator. In the second component the loop, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, is rigidly fastened at one end to the main or principal body of the component, and a gap is provided between the other end of this loop and the principal body; the loop in this case forms a rigid hook, and the closed loop of the first component can pass through the gap, to engage and disengage the two components. Means are provided in the second component to close the gap with a latch or the like. When the gap is closed with both components connected together the two loops are firmly interlocked and the two components are free to swivel each with respect to the other through a range of angles up to at least 180 degrees in substantially any plane which includes said other component. A connector made according to the invention is able to follow sharp bends and twists in a guide tube without regard to changes of direction and without being limited to such changes in any one plane, and it will do so safely, and reliably; with no risk of disconnection in a sharp turn, or if taken out of the guide tube. The connector can be separated only intentionally. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a first component of the connector having a closed substantially rigid loop at one end; FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through a sedond component of the connector having a substantially rigid hook at one end with an operating and a rectractable latch across the opening; FIG. 3 is a side view of the component of Figure 1; FIG. 4 is an end view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3; FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section through the principal body of the second component shown in Figure 2'to which the hook is affixed; FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5; FIG. 7 is a side view taken on line 7-7 of Figure 5; FIG. 8 is a side view taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7; ; FIG. 9 is a longitudinal section through the latch member of the second component shown in Figure 2; FIG. 10 is an end view taken on line 10-10 of Figure 9; FIG. 11 is an end view taken on line 11-11 of Figure 9; FIG. 12 shows the two components of the connector separated, in a posture ready to be connected one to the other; FIG. 13 shows the connector assembled with the first component swivelled about 90 degrees relative to the second component in a first plane containing the second component; and FIG. 14 shows the connector assembled with the first component swivelled about 60 degrees relative to the second component in a second plane coating the second component; to illustrate this, the second component has been rotated around its longitudinal axis approximately one-quarter turn in Figure 14, as compared with Figure 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The first component 10 of the connector is a rigid tubular body 12 open at one end 14 to receive an end of a flexible cable 16, and closed at the other end 17 to which a rigid eye 18 is fixed. The inner surface 20 of the eye is preferably rounded, as shown. The eye 18 and body 12 can be made of one piece of suitable metal, for example 4130 steel. The second component 30 of the connector has a principal generally tubular body 32 the bore 33 of which is open at one end 34 to receive an end of a flexible cable 36, and closed at the other end 37 but for a hole 38 provided for the passage of a latch member 40. A hook 42 is fixed at one end 44 to the closed end 37, and has an opening 46 at the other end for coupling with the eye 18 of the first component 10. The latch component 40 has a base 48 which fits slidingly within the bore 33 in the principal body and holds a spring 50 in a recess 52. The spring bears on the end 54 of the cable 36 which resides within the principal body, and biases the latch component 40 to a closed position in which it substantially bridges the opening 46 of the hook. A transverse bore 56 is the base 48 serves to hold a finger-catch 57 (see Figure 12) which is accessible via a slot 58 through a sidewall of the principal body 32 (see Figure 8) for retracting the latch component 40 from the opening 46. The inner surface 60 of the hook is rounded, as is shown in Figure 5 and Figure 8. The latch component 40 is a rigid bar fixed to the closed end of the base 48. This bar is off-set slightly from the base (Figs. 9-11), and an off-set groove 62 is provided running longitudinally inside the bore 33 of the principal body 32, for fitting the latch member 40 and its base 48 into the principal body. Figure 12 shows the two components 10 and 30 separated but juxtaposed as if ready to be connected together. To connect them, the latch member 40 is retracted by pulling the finger-catch 57 toward the end of the slot 58 nearer to the cable 36. The eye 18 is then passed through the opening 46 and the latch is released, to close the opening under bias-force from the spring 50 (Figure 2). Thus, it is seen that the connector of the invention will not accidentally part once the two components have been joined together. Referring to Figures 13 and 14, the second component 30 is shown lying in a first plane (i.e.: the plane of the paper) in which the latch member 40 is upper-most toward the viewer. The first component 10 has its eye 18 in the same plane. The first component is easily swivelled 90 degrees to either side of the second component in this first plane, being shown 90 degrees to one side of the second component in Figure 13. Thus, the first component is free to swivel through a range of angles up to at least 180 degrees relative to the second component in the first plane; and, clearly, the same is true of the second component relative to the first component. In Figure 14 the second component 30 is rotated about one-quarter turn around its longitudinal axis, so that the finger catch 57 and slot 58 are uppermost toward the viewer. The plane referred on Figure 13 is now perpendicular to the paper, and the paper on which Figure 14 appears lies in a second plane which embraces the second component. The first component 10 can swivel around the second component in this second plane as easily as it did in the first plane, and with equal freedom; the first component is shown swivelled about 60 degrees to one side of the second component in Figure 14. From the two exemplary positions illustrated and described in Figures 13 and 14, it is clear that the two members of the connector of the present invention have freedom when connected together for either one of said members to swivel through a range of angles up to at least 180 degrees relative to the other of said members in substantially any plane which includes said other member. The rounded surfaces 20 and 60 provided on the inner faces of the eye 18 and the hook 42, respectively, are provided to extend this range of angular freedom. The connector of this invention can therefore easily follow sharp bends in a guide tube, including a series of sharp bends which change direction from one bend to the next. Nothwithstanding this wide-ranging freedom to swivel, the connector of this invention will not accidentally part when in an extreme swivel-angle position.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. For use in systems for removing an encapsulated quantity of radioactive material under control of a linearly substantially inextensible transversely flexible operator from one location to another via a guide tube or the like, disconnectable connector means consisting essentially of two components adapted respectively to be fitted end-to-end into said operator and including means for joining said two components together end-to-end with freedom for either one of said components to swivel through a range of angles up to at least 180 degrees relative to the other of said components in substantially any plane which includes said other component, comprising a first connector component having at one end a substantially rigid loop, and a second connector component having at one end a substantially rigid hook with an opening through which said hook is engageable in said loop, means to close said opening for maintaining connection of said components throughout said range of angles when said hook is engaged in said loop, and means to open said opening so as to permit said hook and loop to be engaged and disengaged, with said one end of each confronting said one end of the other. 2. For use in systems for moving an encapsulated quantity of radioactive material under control of a linearly substantially inextensible transversely flexible operator from one location to another via a guide tube or the like, disconnectable connector means consisting essentially of two components adapted respectively to be fitted end-to-end into said operator and including means for joining together end-to-end said two components with freedom for either one of said components to swivel through a range of angles up to at least 180 degrees relative to the other of said components in substantially any plane which includes said other component, comprising a first connector component having at one end a substantially rigid loop, and a second connector component having at one end a substantially rigid hook with an opening through which said hook is engageable in said loop, a closure element supported by said second connector component for substantially spanning said opening, means for resiliently biasing said closure element into a closed position across said opening for maintaining connection of said components throughout said range of angles when said hook is engaged in said loop and manuallyoperable means for retracting said closure for said opening so as to permit said hook and loop to be engaged and disengaged. 3. Connector means according to Claim 2 in which said second component has a principal body and said hook spans said one end of said body, said hook being rigidly affixed at one of its ends to said body, and said opening being between the other end of said hook and said body, said closure element being a rigid bar which is slideably engaged in said body and movable into a position spanning said opening, means resiliently to bias said bae into said position, and means to retract said bar from said opening. 4. Connector means according to Claim 3 in which said principal body is generally tubular in shape and said bar is supported on a fubular base which fits telescopically into said principal body, with said bar oriented in the direction of the tubular axis toward said other end of said hook and spring means in said body for urging said base toward said hook. 5. Connector means according to Claim 4 in which said principal body is closed across the end to which said hook is affixed but for a hole through which said bar can pass, said body being open at the other end to receive an operator means. 6. Connector means according to Claim 4 including a slot in the side wall of said principal body, and means extending through said slot from said base retract said bar from said opening. 7. Connector means according to Claim 1 in which at least one of said components is fixed at its other end to an end of said linearly substantially inextensible transversely flexible operator. 8. Connector means according to Claim 2 in which at least one of said components is fixed at its other end to an end of said linearly substantially inextensible transversely flexible operator. 9. Connector means according to Claim 4 in which said principal body is open in its second end, and an end of said transversely flexible linearly substantially inextensible operator is fixed end-wise into said open end. 10. Connector means according to Claim 2 in which said first connector component is open in its second end, and an end of said transversely flexible linearly substantially inextensible operator is fixed end-wise into said open end.

Inventors: MUNRO III, JOHN JOSEPH
Applicants: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS INC
Application year: 1982
Main classification: G01F5
IPC codes: F16B45, G21F5, G21K5