The Non-Metallic Electrical Connector: A New Connector Technology Based on Wireless Power Transfer

Wireless power transfer (WPT) is now ubiquitous, having penetrated almost every industry within the last 20 years, due to certain desirable attributes explained in this paper. Furthermore, WPT is now in an advanced state whereby it is now technically feasible to apply the methods of WPT to the connector industry and surmount commonplace problems that have plagued the electrical connector industry since the invention of the first electrical connector in 1885. Whereas other common technologies have evolved greatly over the last two centuries with the emergence and development of new primary mechanisms, the primary mechanism used in electrical connectors-the electrical contact-has not changed. The electrical contact is the source of many failure modes, several of which can be eliminated by applying the WPT methodology through a new type of connector called the Non-Metallic Connector (NMC). As a result, connectors can now be made entirely contactless, possessing a hermetically sealed interface that is also shockproof. The NMC concept is applicable to both signal transfer and power transfer. NMCs fall into the categories of both near-zone and far-zone technologies, necessitating thereby the introduction of the μ WPT in the commonly accepted WPT hierarchy. Appropriate circuit topologies as well as major design challenges are identified for power-transfer NMCs with appropriate methods to overcome those challenges, based on the electrical power handling requirement.