U.S. patent number 3,740,703 [Application Number 05/201,799] was granted by the patent office on 1973-06-19 for terminal clamp.
Invention is credited to Robert W. Sessions.
United States Patent |
3,740,703 |
Sessions |
June 19, 1973 |
TERMINAL CLAMP
Abstract
A terminal clip, particularly for connecting a lead conductor to
an electrode structure for making electrical connection to human
skin surface and the like, especially a disposable type electrode,
in which the electrode structure is provided with a button type
male terminal, the clip being constructed to engage such a terminal
by relative lateral movement of respective terminal clamping
portions thereof transverse to the axis of such a button terminal
wherein the clip may be attached to or detached from such a button
terminal with slight, if any, pressure being applied to the
electrode in the direction of the skin surface to which the
electrode may be applied.
Inventors: |
Sessions; Robert W. (Hinsdale,
IL) |
Family
ID: |
22747350 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/201,799 |
Filed: |
November 24, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/822; 411/520;
24/649; 439/829 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
11/22 (20130101); Y10T 24/45707 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
11/22 (20060101); H01R 11/11 (20060101); H01r
011/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;339/228,255,260,261
;24/106,115G,211M ;85/8.8 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: McGlynn; Joseph H.
Claims
I claim:
1. A terminal clip, particularly for use on electrodes having a
button type male terminal, comprising a pair of members having
superimposed portions, each of which has an opening therein of a
size to receive such a button terminal, means for pivotally
connecting said members for relative pivotal movements, in one
position of which the openings are substantially aligned to permit
reception of such a button terminal therethrough, spring means
operatively connecting said members to apply baising forces thereon
urging said members out of said one portion to dispose said
openings in non-alignment, cooperable means on said members for
facilitating manual movement of said members to said open position
in opposition to said biasing means, a projection means on one of
said members forming an abutment engageable with the other member
for limiting relative separating movement of said members, and
means on one of said members for operatively attaching a lead
conductor to said clip.
2. A terminal clip according to claim 1, wherein said abutment on
the one member is constructed to extend into and engage the edge of
the opening of the other member to limit pivotal movement of said
members.
3. A terminal clip particularly for use on electrodes having a
button type male terminal, comprising a pair of members having
superimposed portions, each of which has an opening therein of a
size to receive such a button terminal, means for pivotally
connecting said members for relative pivotal movement, in one
position of which the openings are substantially aligned to permit
reception of such a button terminal therethrough, spring means
operatively connecting said members to apply biasing forces thereon
urging said members out of said one portion to dispose said
openings in non-alignment, cooperable means on said members for
facilitating manual movement of said members to said open position
in opposition to said biasing means, one of said members being
provided with a projection extending into the opening of the other
member and adapted to engage an inserted button terminal,
cooperable with the other member of clamp such a terminal
therebetween, and means on one of said members for operatively
attaching a lead conductor to said clip.
4. A terminal clip according to claim 3, wherein said projection is
constructed to form an abutment extending into the opening of and
engageable with the other member to limit relative pivotal movement
of said members.
5. A terminal clip according to claim 4, wherein said projection
comprises a downwardly offset portion of the upper base portion
forming a part of the periphery of the opening therein, an edge of
such projection forming said abutment.
6. A terminal clip according to claim 1, wherein said members are
formed from sheet-metal stock, each member having a flat base
portion in which the associated opening is disposed, said base
portions being disposed in overlying relation, one upon the other
with said pivotal means connecting said base portions for pivotal
movement about an axis spaced from said openings and extending
normal to the general plane of said base plates, and a pair of
outwardly extending manually engageable portions, each carried by a
respective base portion along one said edge thereof with one of
such outwardly extending portions laterally disposed at one side
edge thereof and the other disposed at the laterally opposite side
edge of the other of said base portions, said biasing means being
operative to urge said base portions in directions tending to
separate said outwardly extending manually engageable portions,
said openings being so disposed in their respective base portions
that they may be disposed in substantial alignment when said
manually engageable portions are moved toward one another.
7. A terminal clip according to claim 6, wherein said pivotal means
includes an outwardly extending shank member, said biasing means
comprising a torsion spring having a central coil portion
encircling said shank member and two leg portions, each bearing on
a respective manually engageable portion.
8. A terminal clip according to claim 7, wherein said projection
comprises a downwardly offset portion of the upper base portion
forming a part of the periphery of the opening therein, an edge of
such projection forming said abutment.
9. A terminal clip according to claim 8, wherein one of said base
portions has an elongated extension to which such a lead conductor
may be operatively connected.
10. A terminal clip according to claim 9, wherein said extension is
constructed to receive a wire forming such conductor for direct
attachment to such extension.
11. A terminal clip according to claim 9, wherein said extension is
provided with a button terminal corresponding to the terminal of
such an electrode, wherein a female connector terminal on such a
conductor, normally engageable directly with the male button
terminal of such an electrode may be mounted on said terminal of
the clip and the latter engaged with the terminal of such an
electrode.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present invention is directed to a terminal clip for connecting
an electrical conductor of electro-medical equipment or the like to
an electrode or other structure, particularly for electrodes
adapted to be attached to the skin of a patient for effecting an
electrical connection between such patient and electro-medical
equipment which is responsive to body or skin currents.
Electrodes of the type referred to may employ a structure adapted
to be adhesively secured to the skin surface of a patient, such
electrode being provided with a terminal, for example a button type
male terminal adapted to be snapped into a cooperable female
terminal connected to the conductor involved. A portion of such
button terminal, or other means conductively associated with the
terminal, may be utilized for the electrical connection between the
terminal and the skin surface, a suitable conductive gel often
being employed for this purpose.
The so-called "button" or "snap-on" type of connecting terminals
normally employs a button-type male member having an enlarged head
which is adapted to be inserted in the cooperable member, which
usually is of a semi-resilient construction having resilient
portions engageable with the head of the button and which must be
separated, or rather sprung into a position permitting insertion
and engagement with the head of the button member. Such spreading
action must be achieved by disposing the two terminals in
cooperable position for engagement and applying pressure to force
the female terminal on the male terminal.
In the case of an electrode mounted on the skin surface of a
patient such applying pressure thus results from the application of
pressure on the female terminal in a direction toward the skin
surface, thereby also forcing the male terminal toward the skin
surface. Depending upon the force required to effect the mounting
engagement of the terminals, obviously the applied pressure will
result in a considerable pressure on the terminal of the electrode
tending to compress the adjacent flesh of the patient until the
firmness thereof is greater than the pressure forces required to
effect engagement of the two terminals. It is believed apparent
that where an electrode structure is constructed for adhesive
mounting on the skin surface of the patient with a conductive gel
forming the conductive connection between the electrode terminal
and the skin surface, the necessary pressure required to effect
connection of the terminals results in a considerable pressure on
such conductive gel, tending to spread such gel outwardly with two
disadvantageous results. First, such pressure results in a severe
spreading of the gel radially outward in all directions from the
central terminal which, in many instances, is sufficient to effect
a separation of the adhesively connected portions of the electrode
from the skin surface, thereby considerably reducing the effective
attaching area and which, in some cases, could even result in a
sufficient weakening of the adhesive bond between the electrode and
the skin surface to a point where electrical conduction is impaired
by the poor connection of the electrode structure to the skin
surface. At the same time, the forcing of the conductive gel
outwardly away from the central portion of the electrode containing
the terminal structure, removes the conductive gel from the
specific spot in which it was to do its work, namely between the
inner face of the electrode terminal structure and the opposing
skin surface, thus further reducing the efficiency of the
conductive connection following release of the applied
pressure.
The present invention therefor is directed to the problem of
eliminating the undesired displacement of the conductive gel by
eliminating the necessity of applying pressure at any time to the
terminal of the electrode structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The problem of the invention is solved by the production of a
terminal clip by means of which a conductor may be operatively
connected to an electrode of the type described without the
application of undesired pressure on the terminal in a direction
towards the skin surface i.e., by providing a structure in which
the applying forces are laterally directed to portions of the
terminal clip with substantially no force whatsoever being applied
in a direction toward the electrode structure or the terminal
thereof.
These results are achieved in the present invention by an
arrangement in which a pair of members are pivotally connected for
limited movement about an axis substantially normal to the skin
surface to which such an electrode is supplied, such members having
super-imposed portions, each of which are provided with an opening
therein of a size to receive the head of the button terminal of
such an electrode with such members being pivotal from a position
in which such openings are in alignment to a position in which such
openings are out of alignment, spring means being provided to
resiliently urge the members in nonaligning positions. Thus by
manually effecting relative movement of the members in opposition
to such resilient means the members may be moved to a position
bringing the openings into sufficient alignment that the terminal
of the electrode may be received therein whereby upon release of
the members the resilient means will urge the members into a
position in which the button terminal of the electrode structure is
firmly clamped between oppositely disposed portions of the two
members.
The electrical conductor may be either directly connected to the
terminal clip by soldering or otherwise, or the clip may be
provided at a suitable location with an auxiliary button terminal
corresponding to that of the electrode, which auxiliary terminal
thus may be engaged with a cooperable terminal on the electrical
conductor, normally directly engageable with the electrode
terminal. In use of such structure the terminal of the conductor is
engaged with the terminal of the clip to securely fasten the two
together and the clip then utilized to make the final connection to
the electrode structure. As the force required to move the two
members into a position, for operative engagement with the terminal
of the electrode, is exerted in a direction parallel to the skin
surface and not transverse thereto engagement with the terminal of
the electrode may be readily effected with substantially no
pressure being applied on the electrode structure in a direction
towards the patient's skin, thus substantially eliminating any
tendency to spread conductive gel disposed between the electrode
structure and the skin surface.
The present invention thus not only provides a novel terminal which
may be substituted for terminals normally mounted on electrical
conductors of the type herein referred to, but also enables the
utilization of the present invention with existing terminal
structures both on the electrode and on the cooperable conductors,
merely by interposing the terminal clip of the invention between
the respective terminals now employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
In the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like or
corresponding parts:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an electrode structure illustrating
the mounting thereon of a terminal clip constructed in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, similar to FIG. 1 of merely the
terminal clip, illustrating positions of the parts thereof when
detached;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken approximately on the lines
III--III of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken approximately on the lines IV--IV
of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a terminal clip constructed in
accordance with the present invention illustrating a direct
connection of a conductor thereto.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, the reference numeral 1 indicates
generally an electrode structure of the type to which the present
invention is especially applicable, such electrode structure
comprising, for example, a disc shaped base member 2 of suitable
sheet material having an adhesive coating 3 on the bottom face
thereof as viewed in FIG. 4 which is shown as being covered by a
protective cover sheet 4 adapted to be stripped off prior to usage
to expose the adhesive coating 3. The disc 2 is provided with a
central opening 5 therein which is covered by a smaller disc 6,
likewise of suitable sheet material which is suitably secured
thereto by means of an adhesive or the like. Secured to the disc 6
is an electrical terminal structure indicated generally by the
numeral 7 which, for example, may be constructed in two pieces 8
and 9, the piece 8, for example, having a disc like base portion 10
from which extends a hollow button terminal 11 the outer end of
which has an enlarged head portion 12. The piece 9 likewise may be
of disc like configuration and provided with a suitable projection
or shank 13 which extends through the sheet 6 into the terminal 11
and rigidly secured thereto, thereby clamping the sheet 6 firmly
between the pieces 8 and 9. The terminal 7 is of commonly used
construction and many units of electrical or electronic medical
equipment utilize conductor leads, or the like, having terminals
adapted to be snapped on the on the terminal structure 7. As the
details of construction of such a conductor terminal form no part
of the present invention such a terminal, it is illustrated in FIG.
3, merely in elevation and designated by the reference numeral 14
from which an electrical conductor 15 extends.
As illustrated in FIG. 4 the electrode 1 is provided at the
terminal piece 9 with a circular pad 16 adapted to hold a quantity
of conductive gel, either applied to the pad immediately prior to
usage to prepackaged with the electrode with the gel thus adapted
to make conductive connection between the terminal member 9 and the
skin surface of a patient to which the electrode structure 1 is
applied. It will be appreciated that if the electrode structure of
FIG. 4 were to be connected to the conductor 15 in the usual manner
by a cooperable terminal member 14 such connection would have to be
effected by disposing the terminal member 14 directly above the
terminal 7 and sufficient downward pressure applied to the terminal
14 to snap it on the terminal 7.
The reference numeral 17 indicates generally a terminal clip
constructed in accordance with the invention, the clip being
illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 as applied to an electrode
structure 1, no connecting conductor or terminal, however, being
illustrated in FIG. 1. The terminal clip 17 comprises a pair of
members 18 and 19 illustrated as being formed from suitable sheet
metal stock and formed to provide respective base plates or
portions 20 and 21, pivoted together by a stud member 22,
illustrated as having a shank 23 extending outwardly from the two
base plates. Extending along an outer edge of the plate 20 is an
outwardly or upwardly extending sidewall or flange 24, and in like
manner extending along an edge of the plate 21 is a similarly
extending flange or sidewall 25.
Extending around the shank 23 of the stud 22 is the central portion
26' of a torsion spring indicated generally by the numeral 26
having like oppositely disposed portions 27 and 28 adapted to bear
respectively on the flanges 24 and 25 of the respective plates
thereby tending to urge the plate 18 in a clockwise direction and
the plate 19 in counter clockwise direction with respect to the
axis of the stud 22, producing corresponding separating movement of
the walls 24 and 25. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the base plate 20 is
provided with a circular opening 29 therein and the base plate 21
with a similarly shaped opening 30 therein, the opening 30 being
slightly smaller than the opening 20 but of a size to permit
passage therethrough of the head 12 of the terminal 7. As
particularly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, a portion of the base
plate 21 defining the periphery of the opening 30 is deformed
downwardly into the opening 29, forming a projection 31, the lower
edge of which is defined by the adjacent peripheral edge of the
opening 30 as illustrated in FIG. 2. When the clip is unconnected,
the legs 27 and 28 of the torsion spring tend to effect relative
rotation between the two base plates 20 and 21, in a direction to
move the respective elements to positions such as that illustrated
in FIG. 2 with the pivotal movement under the action of the torsion
spring continuing until the members reach relative positions such
as illustrated in FIG. 2, in which the outermost end edge 32 of the
projection 31 forms an abutment engageable with the adjacent
peripheral edge of the opening 29, thus functioning as a stop to
control the separating movement of the respective members.
The construction illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is adapted to be
used as a transition clip for use with existing electrodes
employing a button terminal of the type illustrated to which a
terminal 14 of a lead conductor 15 is adapted to be connected, in
the manner previously described, by exerting downward forces on the
terminal 14 to snap it into locking engagement on the button
terminal 7 of the electrode. To this end, one of the members 18 or
19, in the embodiment illustrated the member 18, is provided with a
mounting or connecting lug 33, illustrated as an extension of the
base plate 21, which is provided at the same side thereof as the
shank 22 with a button terminal 7' substantially identical to the
button terminal 7 of the electrode 1.
Thus, in use, the electrode structure 1, with the pad 16 containing
an appropriate quantity of conductive gel, may be suitably mounted
on the skin surface of the user, without applying downward pressure
upon the central portion of the structure containing the terminal 7
and pad 16, where the mounting operation will not tend to unduly
spread the conductive gel along the skin surface of the user
beneath the sheet 2. The terminal 14 of the lead conductor 15 may
then be snapped upon the corresponding button terminal 7',
substantially as illustrated in FIG. 3, to effectively conductively
connect the terminal clip 17 with the electrical conductor 15.
The clip may then be taken between the thumb and forefinger
grasping the same by the upwardly extending wall portions 24 and 25
and by this application of a squeezing pressure thereto, the
members 18 and 19 may be pivoted in opposition to the action of the
torsion spring, into a position in which the opening 30 is
sufficiently aligned with the opening 29 to permit reception of the
button terminal 7 through both openings to a position substantially
as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As clearly illustrated in FIG. 4,
one peripheral edge defining the opening 20 is engaged with the
neck portion of the button terminal disposed below the head 12
while the arcuate peripheral edge of the projection 31 engages such
neck portion of the button 7 substantially diametrically opposite
to the engagement of the peripheral edge of the opening 29 with the
button terminal, whereby clamping forces are exerted by the
respective members of the clip upon such button terminal. An
effective conductive connection connection therebetween is thereby
provided firmly mounting the clip upon the button terminal.
Withdrawal movement of the clip from the button terminal is
prevented by the enlarged head 12, in the absence of the
application of sufficient squeezing forces on the two wall portions
24 and 25. It will be particularly noted that in attaching the clip
to the button electrode 7, interlocking engagement therebetween
maybe readily effected without applying any downward force to the
button 7, all forces attendant to mounting and securement of the
clip to the button terminal taking place transversely to the axis
of the button terminal. Consequently, the conductive gel remains in
its most effective position and at the same time the largest
possible area of the adhesive of the sheet 2 is maintained in
contact with the skin surface of the user to insure a very
efficient connection between the electrode and the skin
surface.
Where the clip is to be supplied as original equipment on lead
conductors, such as the conductor 15, the lug 33 merely may be
provided with an opening 34 therein through which the extreme end
of the lead conductor 15 may be threaded and attached thereto by
solder or other suitable means, as for example a swedged connection
or the like as commonly employed in the electrical field. The
entire portion of the lug 33 associated with the conductor 15 may
be suitably protected by an insulating tube or shell 35, for
example, of heat reactive type which may be shrunk down upon the
structure to provide a very efficient protective and insulating
sleeve.
In all other respects, the clip illustrated in FIG. 5 may
correspond to that heretofor described.
It will be appreciated from the above description that I have
provided a terminal clip which may be readily employed with present
equipment now in use, without change, to eliminate the
disadvantages of the previously employed snap-type terminals,
whereby substantially no disturbance of the electrode structure,
subsequent to mounting on the skin surface, will take place when
the lead conductor is attached to the electrode.
At the same time the present terminal clip is exceedingly simple in
construction, employing only three movable pieces, including the
torsion spring, enabling its manufacture at a minimum of
expense.
Having thus described my invention it will be obvious that various
immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing
from the spirit of my invention.
* * * * *