Abstract:
A locking phono plug connector assembly having fingers that grip an interface port to prevent inadvertent disconnection from gravity or unintended disturbance of the wire is provided. A method of fastening/unfastening a plug is also provided, wherein an external sleeve is operated to fasten/unfasten the locking phono plug connector assembly.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     Phono plugs and other connectors for electronics or electrical connections for carrying signals between components or systems.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     The field of electronics requires cables or wires that are typically shielded to transfer signals between two or more sources. The shielded wires are terminated in plugs to electrically connect and deliver the signal to/from the desired components. An original common industry standard dimension plug has been the RCA style plug. The standard dimensions allow for mass production of connectors and cross compatibility of many items made by different manufacturers. The standard RCA plug may have a ring that would encompass the jack body with a snug fit, but not too snug to prevent easy attachment and removal.  
         [0003]     Conventional RCA plugs were originally designed for use on the phonograph players and their use was expanded to all stereo components such as receivers, cassette decks and in recent years other devices such as speakers. The modernization and introduction of audio visual equipment eventually brought the use of RCA plugs on televisions to receive inputs from items such as VCRs, DVD and video game players. The RCA jack is positioned on equipment in the rear to be mainly out of view of the user on the back panel of the component so that the RCA plug and wire is then positioned in a horizontal plane. The placement of the connector horizontally would allow for a loose fitting RCA plugs to still function satisfactorily.  
         [0004]     The advent of miniaturization and the trend of wall mounting electrical equipment such as televisions and stereo equipment caused the back or rear vertical face of the component to be inaccessible for plugs. The sides and the bottom of the electrical equipment would then remain available, but plugging cables into the side of wall mounted components placed them directly into view. The solution to reduce the unsightly wires was to move all connections to the bottom that was the easiest to remove wires from view. However, now the plugs became positioned vertically causing loose RCA plugs to either loose proper connectivity with the electrical device or fall completely out. The solution to just make the RCA plug a snugger fitting connection leads to problems of damaging the RCA jack or the inability for some individuals to make a proper connection. Further, once the connector was on a sufficient depth if the plug were too snug when the connector was removed it could result in the damage to the wires of the plug themselves from being pulled from the connector plug because too much force was required. The instant invention addresses all the abovementioned deficiencies and provide numerous other advantages.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The first embodiment is a connector comprising: a connector body; a post having an exterior surface engageable with the connector body, wherein the exterior surface includes a protruding surface feature; an external sleeve having an internal surface that is slidably engageable with the post; and, a plurality of engagement fingers mechanically interlocked between the post and the internal surface of the external sleeve.  
         [0006]     An additional embodiment is disclosed for a locking plug comprising: a connector body having an interior surface; a fastener member having an exterior surface slidably engageable with the interior surface of the connector body; a post having a receiving surface extending from a first end, wherein the first end includes a radially outwardly extending protrusion; an external sleeve having a guide slidably engageable with the receiving surface of the post and including an internal tapered surface; and, a plurality of engagement fingers mechanically interlocked between the radially outwardly extending protrusion of the post and the internal tapered surface of the external sleeve; and, a central terminal axially-positioned within the external sleeve.  
         [0007]     Another embodiment is a method of fastening/unfastening a locking plug comprising: providing a connector body; providing a post having an exterior surface engageable with the connector body, wherein the exterior surface includes a protruding surface feature; providing an external sleeve having an internal surface that is slidably engageable with the post; providing a plurality of engagement fingers; mechanically interlocking the plurality of engagement fingers between the post and the internal surface of the external sleeve; retracting the external sleeve toward the connector body to place into an unlocked position; and pushing the external sleeve away from the connector body to place in the locked position.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a partial cross sectional view of one embodiment of the invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the components of one embodiment;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  shows an optional central terminal of one embodiment;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  shows an optional insulator of one embodiment;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  shows post of one embodiment;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  shows one possible embodiment of fingers;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  shows an external sleeve;  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  shows a connector body; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  shows a fastener member. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     The deficiencies described above such as the connector being either too tight or too loose are solved through the use of a connector assembly  100  comprising a connector body  20  and an external sleeve  12  in combination with a plurality of fingers  10 . The connector assembly  100  has a feature of locking and unlocking the connector from the RCA jack to prevent the problems of falling off from excessive looseness or being too tight to easily attach and remove from the RCA jack. The connector assembly  100  may be connected to either end of a wire or cable that may be shielded. The connector assembly  100  as displayed may be substantially round and designed to accept an RCA jack, but the body could be modified by one skilled in the art to be of any configuration and with any number of electrodes or pins. Therefore the external sleeve  12  in conjunction with the plurality of fingers  10  could be adapted to lock or tighten onto any dimension jack to secure the connector assembly  100  onto a jack without requiring either tools or threading screws to prevent unintended release.  
         [0018]     In one embodiment of the connector assembly  100 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , the connector body  20  is first attached to an end of a wire or cable (not shown), to which a post  22  having an exterior surface  26  engageable with the connector body  20  is inserted into the cable end (not shown) to secure the connector body  20  onto the cable that may then be compressed on by hand or with the assistance of a compression tool.  
         [0019]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the post  22  has an exterior surface  26  that may include a protruding surface feature  24 , which turn may be encompassed by an external sleeve  12  having an internal surface  14  that may be slidably engageable with the post  22 . The post  22  can be of any rigid material such as plastic, steel, aluminum or any other suitable alloy. The post  22  may also be made of a polymer that is conductive or coated with a conductive coating on the interior or the exterior surface  26  if required to electrically transmit signals or current. The post may have a retaining member  25  that may comprise an angled entrance ramp with a lip to retain the post within the body of a jacketed wire or cable (not shown). The post retaining member  25  can be any type of protrusion or other surface feature at or near the end of post  22  of sufficient dimension to create sufficient stress in the cable jacketing between the post  22  and connector body  20  to retain the post  22  without loosening or movement after initial assembly.  
         [0020]     The post  22  has an exterior surface  26  that may interact with an external sleeve  12 . The body of external sleeve  12  may encompass a plurality of engagement fingers  10  that may be mechanically interlocked between the post  22  and the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) when the post  22  is inserted into the cable end (not shown). Moreover, the plurality of engagement fingers  10  may be aligned axially with respect to the connector body  20 .  
         [0021]     The connector assembly  100  may also comprise an internal guide surface portion  28  positioned within the internal surface  14  of the sleeve  12 . This internal guide surface portion  28  allows the movement of an internal guide portion  45  of sleeve  12  relative to the fixed connector body  20 , which allows the connector assembly  100  to be maneuvered into a tightened or loosened position. The connector assembly  100  is in an unlocked or loosened position wherein the fingers  10  are spread open somewhat like opened flower petals, or other words radially expanded when internal guide portion  45  of the external sleeve  12  resides proximate the connector body edge  36 . The connector assembly  100  is in a locked or tightened position  52  when the internal guide portion  45  of the external sleeve  12  resides proximate the plurality of engagement fingers  10 .  
         [0022]     The plurality of engagement fingers  10  are actuated about the protruding surface feature  24  causing them to pivot and form a greater entrance diameter then when in the unlocked or loosened position. The engagement fingers  10  optionally also includes at the pad tip  72  or pad edge  71  on the plurality of engagement fingers  10  for gripping a jack with even more tension caused by the flexing of the shaft of the fingers  10  keeping the jack in constant spring tension. The fingers  10  are held in tension against the jack by the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12 . Moreover, means for securing the plurality of engagement fingers  10  into a fixed position as engaged with an interface port may include maneuvering an external sleeve  12  having an internal surface  14  that operates to tighten the fingers  10  onto the interface port. Those in the art should recognize that the interface port may be a common port facilitating connection of RCA jacks, connectors plugs, etc.  
         [0023]     The connector body  20  could be formed of a rigid injection molded plastic or it could be made stamped from a metal blank or machined on a lathe or a CNC machine to the desired tolerances from a solid piece. The connector body  20  can either be an insulator or a conductor. The fingers  10  may be made of a resilient material and also having conductive properties such as a plastic filled with conductive material or metal. The fingers  10  could be stamped out of metal, machined or injection molded. The external sleeve  12  could be either made of a rigid plastic or a metal body and need not be conductive. The post  22  may be conductive and it could be either injection molded conductive polymers or a metal that is machined or stamped to the required dimensions.  
         [0024]     The connector assembly  100  is used to encompass usually a shielded wire or jacketed cable. Cables such as coaxial cable may have a rigid central wire that may be used alone within the connector assembly to make the electrical connection. Optionally the central wire could be inserted into a central terminal  18  positioned within the connector body  20  to possibly facilitate a better electrical connection. When the central terminal  18  is positioned within the body  20  an insulator  19  may be surrounding the central terminal within the post  22 . The external dimensions of the central terminal  18  are defined by the size of the RCA jack terminus that must be compatible in order to have a satisfactory connection and the internal dimensions are controlled by the central wire gauge.  
         [0025]     The connector assembly  100  is attached and detached to the RCA jack in part by the operation of the external sleeve  12  that has an upper diameter  15  of the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12  wherein the upper diameter  15  in an unlocked position expands the plurality of engagement fingers  10  and when in a locked position contracts the plurality of engagement fingers  10 . The external sleeve  12  has a lower diameter  16  of the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12  that mechanically retains the plurality of engagement fingers  10  in operation with the post when the external sleeve  12  is moved between the locked and the unlocked positions.  10 . The connector assembly  100  may have surfaces  9  upon an outer portion  13  of the external sleeve  12  contoured to ergonomically accept a thumb and a finger to assist in locking and unlocking the connector  100 . The connector assembly  100  may have a knurled surface  40  on the connector body  20  to assist in removing the connector body  20  from the RCA jack once the external housing  12  is in the unlocked position.  
         [0026]     The connector assembly  100  is fastened onto to the proximate and distal ends of a cable or wire that may contain a nonconductive jacket or coating. To attach the connector assembly  100  to one end of the wires, a fastener member  30  located near the distal end of the post  32 , may be compressed toward the connector body  20  press fitting the cable into position with the connector assembly  100 . This may help to prevent the electrode from pulling out of the center post and shorting out the connector. To attach the wire to the connector assembly  100  the wire end is inserted into an inner axial bore  38  of the connector body  20  for receiving a cable.  
         [0027]     The exterior surface  26  of the post  22  may have an external surface feature  32  and the connector body  20  may include an inner surface feature  34 , wherein the surface feature  32  may interact with the surface feature  34  to retain the fastener member  30  in a pre-cable assemble position.  
         [0028]     The connector assembly  100  may be placed on to an end of a cable  120  having an insulator  125  and a conductive core  130 . The connector assembly  100  may be affixed to the cable  120  and the conductive core  130  may be in electrical contact with the central terminal  18 . The fastener member  30  operates with the connector body  20  and the post  22  to retain the cable  120 .  
         [0029]     Still further, an embodiment of a locking plug  100  may comprise a connector body  20  having an interior surface  56 . The interior surface  56  of the connector body  20  retains post  22  by a friction fit that allows for easy installation with a compression tool. This friction fit allows for fast production of connecters by a compression tool without the need for welding or soldering connections like are required on prior art connectors. This removes time consuming secondary operations and limits sources of failure from poor welds or soldering. A fastener member  30  having an exterior surface  42  slidably engageable with an interior surface  44  of the connector body  20  maintains the cable by acting as a strain release to prevent pullout of the cable from the connector  100 .  
         [0030]     A compression tool (not shown) may be utilized to join the connector assembly  100  together and securely fasten component elements to prevent unintended disassembly. A central mechanical fastening component may be the post  22  having a receiving surface  26  extending from a first end, wherein the first end includes a radially outwardly extending protrusion  24 . The protrusion  24  at one end and a friction fit with interior surface  56  may facilitate the fastening of component elements of the connector assembly  100  and the cable  120 .  
         [0031]     A locking mechanism for the fingers may be an external sleeve  12  having a guide  45  that is slidably engageable with the receiving surface portion  28  of the post  22 . The guide portion  45  of the external sleeve  12  has an internal dimension less than that of either the protruding surface  24  or the end edge  36  of the connector body  20  that acts as an end stop. The external sleeve  12  has a locked position when guide portion  45  is adjacent or touching the base  46  of the plurality of fingers  10 . The external sleeve  12  may include an internal tapered surface  14  that when in the locked position reduces the inner diameter of the plurality of fingers  10  when measured at the inner face  72  of the finger pad  71 .  
         [0032]     The plurality of fingers  10  are mechanically interlocked between the radially outwardly extending protrusion  24  of the post  22  and the internal tapered surface  14  of the external sleeve  12 . Thus when the external sleeve is pulled toward the end edge  36  of the connector body  20  then pressure is removed from the inner face  72  of the plurality of fingers  10  when the inner surface  14  no longer contacts the back side portion  73  of the fingers  10 . The elastic fingers  10  thus expand and is easily removed from the jack. The external sleeve  12  has an ergonomic portion  9  to allow the user to grip the external sleeve to aid moving from the locked to the unlocked positions. An optional feature is a gripping surface  40  disposed upon the connector body  20  to aid in removal of the connector  100  once placed into the unlocked position. Also optionally available is a central terminal  18  axially-positioned within the external sleeve  12  to aid in the transmission of the signal from the cable  120  to the jack.  
         [0033]     An optional feature to further assist in getting a positive lock is to have an upper diameter  15  having a reduced diameter compared to the rest of the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12 . The upper diameter  15  when the external sleeve  12  is in an unlocked position expands the plurality of engagement fingers  10  and when in a locked position contracts the plurality of engagement fingers  10 .  
         [0034]     To further aid in the retention of the connector  100  onto the jack is a lower diameter  16  of the internal surface  14  of the external sleeve  12  that mechanically retains the plurality of engagement fingers  10  when in operation with the post  22  when the external sleeve  12  is moved between the locked and the unlocked positions.  
         [0035]     Another feature is an outer portion  13  of the external sleeve  12  also provided in conjunction with the contoured portion  9  to ergonomically accept a thumb and a finger to assist in locking and unlocking the connector. The oval shape of the outer portion  13  is useful to allow for the grasping of plugs if the plugs are in close proximity. The current modern media device may have rows of closely placed jacks that make individual removal and replacement very cumbersome if they were round instead of ergonomically shaped.  
         [0036]     An embodiment of a method of fastening/unfastening a locking plug may comprise the steps of providing a connector body  20 . Then the next step is providing a post  22  having an exterior surface  26  engageable with the connector body  20 , wherein the exterior surface  26  includes a protruding surface feature  24 . Then a step may be to provide an external sleeve  12  having an internal surface feature  45  that is slidably engageable with the post  22 ; and, providing a plurality of engagement fingers  10 .  
         [0037]     With all the features present then assembling them by mechanically interlocking the plurality of engagement fingers  10  between the post  22  and the internal surface feature  45  of the external sleeve  12 . Then a step may include inserting the post  22  containing the plurality of engagement fingers  10  interlocked with the internal surface feature  45  of the external sleeve  12  into the connector body  20 . An additional step may be to adjust the depth of the post  22  to allow for the retention and pivoting of the plurality of engagement fingers  10  during sliding of the external sleeve  12  from an unlocked position to a locked position.  
         [0038]     Further methodology for fastening/unfastening the connector assembly  100  may include retracting the external sleeve  12  back against the connector body  20  to place into the connector assembly  100  unlocked position. Once unlocked, the external sleeve  12  may be pushed away from the connector body  20  to close the fingers  10  and place the counter assembly  100  in the locked position. A step of unlocking may be the reverse of the steps above. Removal of the connector  100  may include unlocking the external sleeve  12  and then grasping the body  20  and pulling to release the connector  100  from the jack.  
         [0039]     While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth above are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. The claims provide the scope of the coverage of the invention and should not be limited to the specific examples provided herein.