Inductively Coupled Connector

Abstract

An inductively coupled connector is provided wherein a source of signals is coupled to a first potted toroid. The load for the source of signals is also coupled to a second potted toroid. The toroids are placed adjacent to each other and are interconnected using a single-turn loop. The single-turn loop has some sort of quick fastener so that the toroids may be easily connected or disconnected in an environment such as an underwater environment.

Description

The present invention is directed to an inductively coupled connector. It is desirable to provide an underwater make or break connector that may be easily assembled under water and which provides for a reliable connection under water. Normal connectors do not operate satisfactorily since the problems of corrosion and difficulty of assembly make ordinary connectors unreliable in an underwater situation. The present invention provides for an inductively coupled connector which is reliable in operation and simple in connection so that a diver may make a simple connection in an underwater position.

In the underwater connector of the present invention, an inductive coupling technique is used to provide for the make and break connector. The connector is designed to operate on a-c signals and uses potted toroids which are coupled respectively to the source of signals and to the load. The toroids are then interconnected using a single-turn loop. In addition, it is obvious that a plurality of loads may be connected to a single source or a plurality of signals may be coupled to a single load or to a plurality of loads if the signals are at different frequencies or if the signals are multiplexed in some other fashion. The signals at different frequencies may be separated using filter networks and the signals which are multiplexed may be separated using appropriate signal discriminating circuitry.

As a first example of the present invention, the source of signals is coupled to a potted toroid. The load is also coupled to a second potted toroid. The toroids are placed adjacent to each other and a single-turn loop passes through the first and second toroids. The loop is completed using a quick-connect structure, such as a plate with a wing nut, to provide for a good electrical connection.

The underwater inductively coupled connector of the present invention may also be used to couple three-phase signals or may be used to provide for a selective coupling between groups of signal sources and loads. A clearer understanding of the invention will be had with reference to the following description and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an inductively coupled connector of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates one method of connecting the toroid to the conductor cable;

FIG. 3 illustrates one method of intercoupling the toroids connected to the source of signals and to the load;

FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a three-phase system;

FIG. 5 illustrates an inductively coupled connector structure for coupling the three-phase system;

FIG. 6 illustrates a second method of interconnecting the toroids connected to the source of signals and to the load;

FIG. 7 illustrates a system for connecting a plurality of signals to a single load; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a structure for providing a junction box type of coupling wherein a plurality of sources and loads may be interconnected using the concept of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a source 10 is connected to a toroid 12 using windings 14 and 16. The conductors 14 and 16 are interconnected using the winding 18 wrapped around the toroid 12. A load 20 is connected to a toroid 22 using conductors 24 and 26. The conductors 24 and 26 are interconnected using a winding 28 wrapped around the toroid 22. The toroids 12 and 22 are interconnected using a single-turn loop 30.

In principle, the single-turn loop 30 is common to the two toroidal transformers 12 and 22. A voltage applied to the conductors 14 and 16 produces a current flow through the winding 18 which in turn induces a current to flow in the single-turn loop 30. The current flowing in the single-turn loop 30 produces a current flow in the winding 28 which in turn produces a current flow through the load 20 using the conductors 24 and 26. The signal source 10 may be any type of alternating current such as chopped d-c, sine wave, square wave, digital train or f-m. Also, the load 20 may have any commonly encountered load impedance. It is also obvious that an additional advantage of the inductively coupled connector of the present invention is that electrical step-up or step-down may be easily employed by varying the turns ratio of the windings 18 and 28.

As a particular example of a toroid structure that may be used in the inductively coupled connector of the present invention, a two-wire conductor 100 as shown in FIG. 2 is used and the two-wire conductor includes conductors 102 and 104. One of the conductors, such as conductor 102, is wrapped around a toroid 106 a desired number of turns 108 and is then spliced at position 110 to the second conductor 104. The entire assembly may then be placed in a mold and encapsulated with an appropriate potting compound 112. It is noted that an opening 114 is left through the potted toroid structure.

The potted toroid structure described above and shown in FIG. 2 may be used for coupling to either the source or the load and may be assembled to provide for the inductively coupled connector shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the inductively coupled connector includes a pair of potted toroids 150 and 152 which potted toroids may be constructed as shown in FIG. 2. The toroids 150 and 152 may be slipped over the center leg of a metallic loop 154. The loop 154 is constructed of a low d-c resistance metallic meterial which may, for example, be copper. The metallic loop may be protected from corrosion by the use of a coating of anticorrosive material. The loop 154 may be completed by using a top plate 156 which is bolted to the center leg of the loop using a wing nut 158. It is obvious that other types of quick fastening devices may be used other than the wing nut.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a three-phase system which uses a common return path marked N and three phases marked Q1, Q2 and Q3. A plurality of toroids 200, 202 and 204 are individually interconnected to the common line and to one of the three phases using windings 206, 208 and 210. The schematic of FIG. 4 is used for connection to the source of signals and to the load.

The three-phase system shown in FIG. 4 may be included in an inductively coupled structure as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the four connectors representing the common line and the three phases Q1, Q2 and Q3 are contained in cables 250 and 252. The toroids shown in FIG. 4 are encapsulated in a straight configuration within potted assemblies 254 and 256. The potted assemblies 254 and 256 are placed adjacent to each other and loops 258, 260 and 262 are passed through the separate toroids within the potted assemblies 254 and 256 to provide for the inductively coupled connections. The loops 258, 260 and 262 may be clamped together using any type of quick-disconnect means such as a wing nut structure shown in FIG. 3 or may be clamped together using a structure such as shown in FIG. 6 now to be described.

In FIG. 6, a pair of toroids constructed as shown in FIG. 2 are designated 300 and 302. The toroids 300 and 302 are placed adjacent to each other in a side-by-side relationship as opposed to the positioning shown in FIG. 3 where the toroids are placed one on top of the other. The toroids are interconnected using a single-turn loop 304. The loop is completed using a top plate 306 and a pair of wing nuts 308 and 310. Again, it is to be appreciated that other types of fastening devices may be used other than the wing nuts.

The structure shown in FIG. 6 also lends itself to an arrangement where a plurality of sources may be coupled to a single load or wherein a plurality of loads may be coupled to a single source. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 7 where a load is connected to a toroid 350 and a plurality of sources are connected to a plurality of toroids 352, 354 and 356. The toroids 352 through 356 are coupled to the single toroid 350 using a single-turn loop 358. The loop is completed using the top plate 360 and the pair of fastening devices such as wing nuts 362 and 364. The sources may all have different frequencies and the load may have filter networks to distinguish between the different frequency sources. It is also to be appreciated that the structure of FIG. 7 may be reversed using a single signal source coupled to a plurality of loads.

The structure shown in FIG. 7 could be used in place of the typical multipin connector replacement since a plurality of signals could be coupled to a load and could then be filtered out by appropriate circuitry. In addition, it is appreciated that the structure shown in FIG. 6 may also carry a plurality of signals since the multiplexing of the signals may be accomplished electronically prior to the coupling of the plurality of signals to the single toroid. The structure of FIG. 7 in a sense multiplexes the plurality of signals together using the connector structure itself to provide for the multiplexing. The multipin connector replacement of course may also be accomplished using the type of structure shown above with reference to FIG. 5 wherein separate signals may be coupled using a plurality of toroids.

FIG. 8 shows another type of inductively coupled connector structure which is similar to a junction box. In FIG. 8, a cable 400 may contain a plurality of conductors which are connected to a plurality of sources. Also, a cable 402 may contain a plurality of connectors which are coupled to a plurality of loads. A junction box structure includes potted assemblies 404 and 406. Each assembly may include a plurality of toroids. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, each assembly may include ten toroids. The conductors in the cables 400 and 402 are individually coupled to the various ones of the toroids. Interconnection between selected ones of the toroids may be accomplished using single-turn loops such as loops 408, 410, 412 and 414. It is to be appreciated that any one of the toroids in the assembly of 404 may be coupled to any one of the toroids in the assembly of 406 thereby providing for great flexibility in the coupling between the various sources and loads.

The present invention, therefore, provides for a very simple type of connector which may be used in underwater situation. The problems inherent in normal connectors are eliminated since the connection may be made simply and with great reliability. The invention has been described with reference to various embodiments but the invention is only to be limited by the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. An inductively coupled connector for connecting and disconnecting a plurality of sources of a-c signals to a plurality of loads, including

a plurality of toroids each including a winding and with each winding coupled to one of the plurality of sources of alternating current for receiving signals in the winding in accordance with the alternating current,

a plurality of toroids each including a winding and with each winding coupled to one of the loads for transmitting currents in the windings to the loads,

first means for encapsulating the plurality of second toroids in a second toroidal assembly,

the first and second toroidal assemblies disposed adjacent to each other, and

a plurality of detachable single-turn loops for passing through individual ones of the plurality of toroids in the first and second toroidal means for selectively coupling individual ones of the sources of alternating current to the loads and with each of the single-turn loop split into at least two members and including quick fastener means for providing connection and disconnection between individual ones of the plurality of toroids in the first and second toroidal means.

2. The inductively coupled connector of claim 1 wherein one of the toroidal assemblies is located on top of the other of the toroidal assemblies and wherein the single-turn loops couple predetermined ones of the signal source to predetermined ones of the loads.

3. The inductively coupled connector of claim 1 wherein the first and second toroidal assemblies are located side by side and wherein the single-turn loops are used to couple any one of the toroids in the first toroidal assembly to any one of the toroids in the second toroidal assembly.