US2007178767A1PendingUtilityA1

Electrical connector

Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Jan 30, 2006Filed: Jan 30, 2006Published: Aug 2, 2007

Est. expiryJan 30, 2026(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority

Inventors:E. Scott Harshman Donald Masters

H01R 13/5224H01R 39/00A61B 8/445

PatentIndex Score

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References

Claims

Abstract

An electrical connector is described. In one implementation, the connector includes a female portion including one or more electrical contacts and a male portion including one or more electrical contacts. The female portion and the male portion each have a self-orientating geometry that allows the male portion to be mated with the female portion in any rotational position along 360 degrees of rotation. When mated, the electrical contacts of the female portion mate with corresponding one or more electrical contacts of the male portion to form one or more electrical connections between two electronic components.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified

1 . An apparatus comprising:
a connector that electrically connects an electronic component with an imaging catheter, the connector including: a female portion including one or more electrical contacts; and a male portion including one or more electrical contacts, where the female portion and the male portion each has a self-orientating geometry that allows the male portion to be mated with the female portion in any rotational position along 360 degrees of rotation and when mated, the electrical contacts of the female portion mate with corresponding one or more electrical contacts of the male portion to form one or more electrical connections between the electronic component and the imaging catheter.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , where the electronic component comprises a motor drive unit for driving an ultrasound transducer included in the imaging catheter.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , where:
the electrical contacts on the male portion are shaped as a series of axially stacked rings; the electrical contacts on the female portion are shaped as fingers spaced around a circumference of the female portion and axially offset from one another; and where the male and female portions are configured to mate such that each finger is in contact with a corresponding one of the rings.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , where the fingers include a spring force that urges the fingers to press against the rings when the male and female portions are mated.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , where each finger has a ridged portion along the length of the finger and the ridged portion of the finger comes into contact with the corresponding ring.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , where the female portion includes an outer shield configured to shield the electrical contacts from radio frequency signals.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , where the connector conforms to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) electrical specification and protocol.

8 . An imaging system, comprising:
an imaging catheter comprising a rotator core, a drive shaft, and an imaging core, and configured to electrically connect to a motor drive unit by a connector, where a female or male portion of the connector is included within the rotator core; a motor drive unit configured to electrically connect to the imaging catheter by the connector and to provide rotational movement to the imaging core, where a female or male portion of the connector is included at a distal end of the motor drive unit; and a connector configured to electrically connect the imaging catheter to a motor drive unit, and comprising:
a female portion including one or more electrical contacts; and
a male portion including one or more electrical contacts;
where the connector is rotatable and the male portion and the female portion each have a corresponding locking geometry that allows for transfer of rotational movement between the male and female portions when mated and where one of either the male or female portion of the connector is included at the distal end of the motor drive unit and the corresponding portion is included within the rotator core of the imaging catheter.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , where the locking geometry includes one or more keys included in one of the male or female portions and one or more corresponding grooves included in the other of the male or female portions.

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , where:
the electrical contacts on the male portion are shaped as a series of axially stacked rings; the electrical contacts on the female portion are shaped as fingers spaced around a circumference of the female portion and axially offset from one another; and where the male and female portions are configured to mate such that each finger is in contact with a corresponding one of the rings.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , where the fingers include a spring force that urges the fingers to press against the rings when the male and female portions are mated.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , where each finger has a ridged portion along the length of the finger and the ridged portion of the finger comes into contact with the corresponding ring.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 , where the connector conforms to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) electrical specification and protocol.

14 . An apparatus comprising:
a connector including:
a female portion including one or more electrical contacts; and
a male portion including one or more electrical contacts,
where the female portion and the male portion each has a self-orientating geometry that allows the male portion to be mated with the female portion in any rotational position along 360 degrees of rotation and when mated, the electrical contacts of the female portion mate with corresponding one or more electrical contacts of the male portion to form one or more electrical connections.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , where the electrical contacts on the male portion are shaped as a series of axially stacked rings, the electrical contacts on the female portion are shaped as fingers spaced around a circumference of the female portion and axially offset from one another, and when the male and female portions are mated, each finger is in contact with a corresponding one of the rings.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , where the fingers include a spring force that urges the fingers to press against the rings when the male and female portions are mated.

17 . The apparatus of claim 15 , where each finger has a ridged portion along the length of the finger and the ridged portion of the finger comes into contact with a corresponding ring.

18 . The apparatus of claim 14 , where the female portion includes an outer shield that shields the electrical contacts from radio frequency signals.

19 . The apparatus of claim 14 , where the connector conforms to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) electrical specification and protocol.

20 . An apparatus comprising:
a connector that is configured to connect a motor drive unit to a catheter, the catheter being a tubular instrument that can be inserted into a body cavity or blood vessel, the connector including:
a female portion, including one or more electrical contacts and a locking geometry, where the one or more electrical contacts are configured to mate to one or more electrical contacts of a male portion and the locking geometry is configured to mate to a corresponding locking geometry of the male portion; and
a male portion, including one or more electrical contacts and a locking geometry, where the one or more electrical contacts are configured to mate to one or more electrical contacts of the female portion and the locking geometry is configured to mate to a corresponding locking geometry of the female portion,
where the connector is configure to rotate such that when the female and male portions are mated, rotational movement from the motor drive unit is transferred to the catheter and an electrical connection is made between the motor drive unit and the catheter.

21 . The apparatus of claim 20 , where the locking geometry includes one or more keys in either the female or male portion and one or more corresponding grooves in the other portion.

22 . The apparatus of claim 20 , where:
the catheter includes a rotator core, a drive shaft, and an imaging core; and the connector is positioned within the rotator core.

23 . The apparatus of claim 22 , where the electrical contacts on the male portion are shaped as a series of axially stacked rings, the electrical contacts on the female portion are shaped as fingers spaced around a circumference of the female portion and axially offset from one another, and when the male and female portions are mated, each finger is in contact with a corresponding one of the rings.

24 . The apparatus of claim 22 , where the fingers include a spring force that urges the fingers to press against the rings when the male and female portions are mated.

25 . The apparatus of claim 22 , where each finger has a ridged portion along the length of the finger and the ridged portion of the finger comes into contact with a corresponding ring.

26 . The apparatus of claim 20 , where the connector conforms to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) electrical specification and protocol.

27 . The apparatus of claim 20 , where the connector is a multi-pin connector and the male portion includes a plurality of pins and the female portion includes a plurality of corresponding apertures configured to receive the plurality of pins.

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