US-12627096-B2 - Push-pull coaxial connector having a movable sleeve

US12627096B2US 12627096 B2US12627096 B2US 12627096B2US-12627096-B2

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a push-pull coaxial connector comprising: an external conductor, where the external conductor is configured to internally receive the matching external conductor of a mating connector, with concave parts or through holes on the inner surface of the side wall of the external conductor that house retainers and corresponding matching concave parts on the outer surface of the side wall of the mating external conductor, of which, there are one or more protrusions on the outer surface of the side wall of the external conductor; a sleeve surrounding the external conductor, where the sleeve is able to slide between the front position and rear position along the external conductor and is able to rotate around the circumference of the external conductor, of which, there are one or more corresponding notches to receive one or more protrusions on the rear surface of the sleeve; wherein, when the sleeve is at the front position, one or more protrusions are staggered away from one or more notches and abutted on the rear surface of the sleeve to prevent the sleeve from moving backward, and at this point, part of the retainer is in the concave part or through hole of the external conductor and part of it is in the mating concave part of the mating external conductor, thus maintaining the connection between the coaxial connector and mating connector; wherein, when the sleeve is at the rear position, one or more protrusions are received in one or more corresponding notches, and at this point, the retainer fully leaves the matching concave part of the mating external conductor, thus separating the coaxial connector and the mating connector. The push-pull coaxial connector uses a simple concave-convex structure, which locks the front and rear positions of the push-pull structure of the coaxial connector and it has a simple structure and is low-cost.

Inventors

Jin Liu
Hongjuan An
Jien Zheng
Yujun Zhang

Assignees

Outdoor Wireless Networks LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230808
Priority Date: 20200923

Claims (20)

1 . A push-pull coaxial connector, wherein the coaxial connector comprises: an external conductor, where the external conductor is configured to internally receive the matching external conductor of a mating connector, with concave parts or through holes on the inner surface of the side wall of the external conductor that house retainers and corresponding matching concave parts on an outer surface of the side wall of the mating external conductor, of which, there are one or more protrusions on the outer surface of the side wall of the external conductor; a sleeve surrounding the external conductor, where the sleeve is able to slide between the front position and rear position along the external conductor and is able to rotate around the circumference of the external conductor, of which, there are one or more corresponding notches to receive one or more protrusions on the rear surface of the sleeve; wherein, when the sleeve is at the front position, one or more protrusions are staggered away from one or more notches and abutted on the rear surface of the sleeve to prevent the sleeve from moving backward, and at this point, part of the retainer is in the concave part or through hole of the external conductor and part of it is in the mating concave part of the mating external conductor, thus maintaining the connection between the coaxial connector and mating connector; wherein, when the sleeve is at the rear position, one or more protrusions are received in one or more corresponding notches, and at this point, the retainer fully leaves the matching concave part of the mating external conductor, thus separating the coaxial connector and the mating connector.
2 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the coaxial connector further comprises a central conductor and dielectric spacer, and the dielectric spacer secures the central conductor at the radial central position of the external conductor.
3 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 2 , wherein one or more protrusions correspond to one or more notches in terms of quantity, shape and/or the circumferential position around the coaxial connector.
4 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the external conductor comprises a front section, middle section and rear section, and the front section protrudes from the middle section, forming an inner shoulder and outer shoulder with the middle section.
5 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the retainer comprises a lock ball and the lock ball is positioned in the through hole of the front section.
6 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 5 , wherein an annular slider is installed in the inner surface of the front section, and is spaced apart from the inner shoulder.
7 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the inner spring is in an inner surface of the front section, and its two ends are respectively abutted on the inner shoulder and annular slider, thus exerting biasing force on the annular slider to move forwards.
8 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the annular slider has a supporting groove on its radial outer surface that supports the lock ball.
9 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the front end of the annular slider has an inclined front surface, and the front of the mating concave part of the mating external conductor of the mating connector has an inclined stepped surface to abut against the inclined front surface.
10 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the sleeve has a convex part on the inner surface between its front and rear ends that radially protrudes inwards, with the front side of the inner surface of the convex part having an inclined bearing surface that is partially abutted to the lock ball and the inner surface of the sleeve having a groove to receive the lock ball at the front of the adjacent convex part, and the inclined bearing surface and groove work together to control the protrusion and retraction of the lock ball in the through hole.
11 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the back end of the convex part of the sleeve is the shoulder, the outer spring goes around the outer surface of the front section, and its two ends are respectively abutted to the outer shoulder of the external conductor and the shoulder of the sleeve, thus exerting biasing force on the push-pull sleeve to move forward.
12 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the lock ball is received in the space formed by the groove, the through hole of the external conductor and the annular slider when the sleeve is at the rear position.
13 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the lock ball is received in the space formed by the convex part of the sleeve, the through hole of the external conductor and the mating concave part of the mating external conductor when the sleeve is at the front position.
14 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 4 , wherein one or more protrusions are installed on the front section, middle section or rear section of the external conductor.
15 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the rear section is configured to house and secure the dielectric spacer, and the middle section is configured to house and secure the contact reinforcement, which is used to reinforce the electrical contact between the external conductor and the mating external conductor.
16 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the external conductor comprises a front section, middle section and rear section, where the front section has a concave part that is recessed inward from its inner surface, the retainer comprises an elastic snap ring and the concave part is configured to receive the snap ring.
17 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the front end of the sleeve has a L-shaped hook-shaped part.
18 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 16 , wherein one or more protrusions are installed on the front section, middle section or rear section of the external conductor.
19 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 2 , wherein one or more protrusions and one or more notches are circumferentially and evenly spaced apart, or circumferentially and unevenly spaced apart.
20 . The push-pull coaxial connector as claimed in claim 2 , wherein one or more protrusions comprise pins and/or bolts.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION The present application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/466,021, filed Sep. 3, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,721,937, which claims priority from and the benefit of Chinese Utility Model Application No. 202022099357.3, filed Sep. 23, 2020, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in full. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates generally to the connector field. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a push-pull coaxial connector. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Coaxial cables are usually used in radiofrequency (RF) communication systems. Typical coaxial cables comprise a central conductor, external conductor, and a dielectric spacer separating the central conductor and external conductor. Coaxial connectors can be used to connect a coaxial cable in a RF communication system which requires high precision and reliability. Coaxial connectors comprise a pin structure of the central conductor connected to the coaxial cable, and a housing structure of the external conductor connected to the coaxial cable. Nuts are often used for electrical and mechanical connection between two matching coaxial connectors. However, nut connections require the nut to be rotated many times and it is relatively cumbersome to operate. Push-pull mated coaxial connectors use a push-pull structure that moves back and forth to complete electrical and mechanical interconnection between the two without requiring the above-mentioned nuts that need to be rotated many times. When the push-pull coaxial connector is used in outdoor scenarios, waterproof covers need to be put over the two mating coaxial connectors. However, the position of the waterproof covers needs to be adjusted before and after installing the waterproof covers. Adjustment of waterproof covers before and after installation can cause the originally secured push-pull structure to be displaced, thus loosening the two mating coaxial connectors. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure provides a coaxial connector which can overcome at least one of the above-mentioned defects in the prior products. An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a push-pull coaxial connector, wherein the coaxial connector comprises: an external conductor, where the external conductor is configured to internally receive the matching external conductor of a mating connector, with concave parts or through holes on the inner surface of the side wall of the external conductor that house retainers and corresponding matching concave parts on the outer surface of the side wall of the mating external conductor, of which, there are one or more protrusions on the outer surface of the side wall of the external conductor; and a sleeve surrounding the external conductor, where the sleeve is able to slide between the front position and rear position along the external conductor and is able to rotate around the circumference of the external conductor, of which, there are one or more corresponding notches to receive one or more protrusions on the rear surface of the sleeve. When the sleeve is at the front position, one or more protrusions are staggered away from one or more notches and abutted on the rear surface of the sleeve to prevent the sleeve from moving backward, and at this point, part of the retainer is in the concave part or through hole of the external conductor and part of it is in the mating concave part of the mating external conductor, thus maintaining the connection between the coaxial connector and mating connector. When the sleeve is at the rear position, one or more protrusions are received in one or more corresponding notches, and at this point, the retainer fully leaves the matching concave part of the mating external conductor, thus separating the coaxial connector and the mating connector. In some embodiments, the coaxial connector further comprises a central conductor and dielectric spacer, and the dielectric spacer secures the central conductor at the radial central position of the external conductor. In some embodiments, one or more protrusions correspond to one or more notches in terms of quantity, shape and/or the circumferential position around the coaxial connector. In some embodiments, one or more protrusions and one or more notches are circumferentially and evenly spaced apart, or circumferentially and unevenly spaced apart. In some embodiments, one or more protrusions comprise pins and/or bolts. In some embodiments, the external conductor comprises a front section, middle section and rear section, and the front section protrudes from the middle section, forming an inner shoulder and outer shoulder with the middle section. In some embodiments, the retainer comprises a lock ball and the lock ball is positioned in the through hole of the front section. In some embodiments, the annular slider is installed in the inner surface of the front section, and is spaced