Electrical power supply distribution system e.g. for vehicle

摘要

The electrical system comprises a power supply system (1) having a power source (2), a power supply line (3) and a return line (4) connected to the source. The electrically-conductive lines run along the system to form a power bus, and, running alongside this is a conductive power control interface bus (5). The interface bus is connected to a common control unit (6). Several items (10,20,30) of electrical equipment are connected to the power bus and interface bus. In an aircraft, for example, one equipment (10) might be a galley equipment, another equipment (20) might be for cabin lighting and the last equipment (30) might be a flight control computer. The equipments are connected to the power and interface buses by respective connector assemblies (11,21,31). Each connector assembly comprises a cable (40) and a connector (41,42) at opposite ends of the cable. One connector (42), at the equipment end of the assemblies, is a female connector with an outer metal shell or housing (46) having three sockets (47,48,49) at one end. The sockets are arranged to receive corresponding pins (50,52) in a male connector (54) on the equipment. The housing of the female connector is provided with a lock such as a locking ring, for retaining it on the male connector. The socket is connected to the power supply line via a power switch (60) within the housing. The power switch is an electromagnetic relay or a semiconductor switching device or circuit that can be externally controlled to prevent or enable supply of power to the socket. A monitor unit (64) within the housing is connected to receive an output from the power switch. The output is indicative both of the state of the power switch, ON or OFF, and of the power drawn by the associated equipment, such as derived from a current sensor in the power switch. The output to the monitor also includes a signal representative of the temperature in the region of the power switch so that the monitor is responsive to any overheating of the switch. The output of the monitor unit (64) is connected via a line (65) to the interface unit (62). The interface unit is also connected to a third socket (49) of the connector.