CN106450933A - Socket - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the embodiments of the invention, a socket is provided which comprises a socket body with at least one jack (21) for plug(s) to be inserted into. Each jack in the socket body is provided with two protection doors (3,4). The two protection doors (3,4) are configured in such a manner that when none of the jacks (21) is inserted, the two protection doors (3,4) are closely near each other and seal the corresponding jack (21). When plug(s) is/are inserted into at least one jack (21), the two protection doors (3,4) are separated from each other so that the plug(s) can be inserted into the jack(s). The socket of the invention is smooth, flat and good-looking in appearance. Further, it can be operated reliably and safely.

Description

Socket with improved structure

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a receptacle, and more particularly, to a receptacle with a protective door that protects a jack.

Background

A socket is a commonly used electrical connection device for electrically connecting an electrical/electronic device to a power source or a signal source/signal receiving terminal by inserting a plug of the electrical/electronic device into a jack in the socket.

The jacks on a conventional jack are exposed to the outside, which is potentially dangerous because a user may accidentally insert foreign objects into the exposed jacks without any obstruction, resulting in electrical shock, short circuits, and the like. Especially, the infant may stick his fingers into the exposed insertion holes for curiosity, which may cause accidents such as electric shock. The bare socket also makes it easy for dust or foreign matter to accumulate therein, resulting in blockage of the socket or poor conductive contact.

There is currently a socket with a shutter structure. A protective door is provided in the insertion hole of the socket. The protective door closes the jack when the socket is not in use, to avoid the above-mentioned danger; when the plug is inserted into the jack, the plug pushes the inclined surface of the protection door facing the plug, the inclined surface converts the insertion action of the plug, which is perpendicular to the socket panel, into the movement of the protection door, which is parallel to the direction of the socket panel, so that the protection door moves towards the side of the jack to open the jack, and the plug can be inserted into the deep part of the jack. However, such sockets still have disadvantages. Because the side of the protective door facing the plug is an inclined surface, the concave pit which is inwards concave is still formed when the jack is observed from the outside, and the appearance is not good enough. More seriously, the recess is prone to dust accumulation (especially in the large quantities that fall into it during fitting) and this dust is very difficult to clean out completely, making the recess more aesthetically unpleasing and potentially leading to difficulties in inserting the plug into the jack by pushing the protective door open.

It is therefore desirable to provide a socket which not only avoids the above-mentioned hazards, but also has a more aesthetically pleasing appearance and reliable performance.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket including: the socket body is provided with at least one jack for inserting a plug; two protective doors are arranged in the seat body for each jack, the two protective doors are configured to be adjacent to each other to close the corresponding jack when no plug is inserted into the at least one jack, and are separated from each other to enable the plug to extend into the jack when the plug is inserted into the at least one jack.

According to another aspect of the invention, protection door guide structures are respectively arranged on the sides of the two protection doors, which are opposite to the jack (21), and a seat body guide structure matched with the protection door guide structures is arranged in the seat body so as to guide the two protection doors to move towards the inside of the jack along the axial direction of the jack and separate from each other along the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the jack when the two protection doors are subjected to the acting force exerted on the protection doors along the axial direction of the jack by a plug.

According to one aspect of the invention, a return spring is connected between the protective door and the seat body, so that after the plug exits the jack, the two protective doors are forced to move towards the jack along the axial direction of the jack and simultaneously approach each other along the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the jack to close the corresponding jack again.

According to an aspect of the present invention, one of the protection door guide structure and the cage guide structure is a slanted groove having an inclined angle with an axial direction of the insertion hole, and the other of the protection door guide structure and the cage guide structure is a slanted rib having the same inclined angle as the slanted groove, and the slanted rib is slidably fitted with the slanted groove.

According to an aspect of the present invention, one of the protective door guide structure and the cage guide structure is a guide bar, and the other of the protective door guide structure and the cage guide structure is a slanted groove or an arc-shaped groove having an oblique angle with an axial direction of the insertion hole, and the guide bar is slidably fitted with the slanted groove or the arc-shaped groove.

According to one aspect of the present invention, guide posts are provided on sides of the two protective doors facing each other, the guide post of each of the two protective doors being slidably fitted with the guide hole in the other protective door.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in a state where the protective door closes the jack, there is a gap between the protective door guide structure and the housing guide structure in an axial direction of the jack, so that when a plug starts to press the protective door, the two protective doors first move only in the axial direction of the jack without being separated from each other until the protective door guide structure moves to a position of contact with the housing guide structure.

According to one aspect of the invention, the at least one jack includes two jacks, wherein one of the two protective doors of one jack forms an integral first protective door with one of the two protective doors of the other jack and shares the same protective door guide structure and seat guide structure, and wherein the other of the two protective doors of one jack forms an integral second protective door with the other of the two protective doors of the other jack and shares the same protective door guide structure and seat guide structure.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a line connecting respective centers of the two insertion holes is a first symmetry axis, and the first protection door and the second protection door are respectively located on both sides of the first symmetry axis.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a plane passing through a midpoint of a line connecting respective centers of the two insertion holes and perpendicular to the first axis of symmetry is taken as a plane of symmetry, the first and second protection doors are respectively symmetrical with respect to the plane of symmetry, and the protection door guide structure of each of the first and second protection doors is located at a position of the plane of symmetry.

According to an aspect of the present invention, locking protrusions are respectively provided on both sides of the first and second protection doors, which are respectively parallel to the symmetry plane, and when a plug is inserted into only one of the two insertion holes, the first and second protection doors are deflected about the symmetry plane toward a side into which the plug is inserted, so that the locking protrusions on the side of the first and second protection doors into which the plug is inserted are blocked by a stopper on the housing to prevent the first and second protection doors from moving apart relative to each other.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the first and second protection doors have a side facing the jack which is a flat surface.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a face cover is further provided on an outer surface of the housing, a face cover hole is provided in a position corresponding to the insertion hole on the face cover, and a plane of a side of the first and second protective doors facing the insertion hole is flush with the outer surface of the face cover in a state where the first and second protective doors are closely adjacent to each other to close the insertion hole.

The socket of the embodiment of the invention converts the axial movement of the plug along the jack into the separation movement of the protective door through the matching of the protective door guide structure arranged at the back side of the protective door and the seat body guide structure, so that the protective door of the socket can have the outer surface which is flush with the outer surface of the socket. This allows the socket of the embodiment of the present invention to have a flat and beautiful appearance and to be less prone to dust accumulation. The protective door of the socket according to the embodiment of the present invention has a stable and reliable movement mechanism, and further improves the safety of the socket by providing a mechanism for preventing the insertion of a single plug pin into a dual-hole jack.

Drawings

These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a protective door of a receptacle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows the protective door of FIG. 3 in a closed state;

FIG. 5 shows the arrangement of the protective door in a two-hole jack;

fig. 6 shows in cross-section a state in which a plug is just inserted into the jack of the socket of the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 shows a state in which the plug pushes open the protection door in the jack of the socket of the embodiment of the present invention in a sectional view;

fig. 8 shows a state in which the plug is fully inserted into the insertion hole of the socket of the embodiment of the present invention in a sectional view;

FIG. 9 illustrates the deflected state of the shutter when a single prong of a plug acts on the shutter of a receptacle having two jacks;

fig. 10 shows a state in which the shutter is locked when a single pin of the plug is applied to the shutter of the outlet having two insertion holes.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail by way of example only.

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of a socket according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the socket of the present invention is described by taking a wall socket as an example. As shown in fig. 1, the socket includes a housing composed of a base 1 and a cover 2. The base 1 is provided with a conductive connecting sheet 11, and the cover plate 2 is provided with a plurality of inserting holes 21. Each conductive connecting piece 11 corresponds to the position of the corresponding jack 21, so that when a plug is inserted from the jack 21, each pin of the plug can contact with the corresponding conductive connecting piece 11 to realize electrical connection.

Two protective doors 3 and 4 are also arranged inside the socket body, namely inside the space enclosed by the cover plate 2 and the base 1. The protective doors 3 and 4 may have a symmetrical structure. Bosses 34, 44 may be formed on the sides of the protection doors 3 and 4 facing the insertion holes. The bosses 34, 44 of the protection doors 3 and 4 together substantially match the shape of the receptacle, thereby facilitating location at the receptacle 21 to close the receptacle 21. A protective door guide structure (see fig. 3) is provided on the protective doors 3 and 4 on the side facing away from the insertion hole, and a seat body guide structure is provided in the seat body. The shutter guide structure cooperates with the holder guide structure to guide the two shutters 3,4 to move toward the inside of the jack in the axial direction of the jack 21 while being separated from each other in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the jack when subjected to a force applied to the shutter by a plug in the axial direction of the jack 21.

In the example shown in fig. 2 to 3, the protective door guide structure is inclined grooves 31,41 inclined at an angle to the axial direction of the insertion hole 21, and the holder body guide structure is an inclined rib 12 inclined at the same angle as the inclined grooves 31,41, and the inclined rib 12 is slidably fitted to the inclined grooves 31, 41. In order to allow the protection doors 3 and 4 to be separated from each other while sliding toward the inside of the housing along the inclined ribs 12, respectively, the inclined grooves 31 of the protection door 3 and the inclined grooves 41 of the protection door 4 are inclined toward opposite sides and simultaneously toward the inside of the housing from points where they contact each other while closing while abutting against each other, and the inclined ribs 12 for the inclined grooves 31 and the inclined ribs 12 for the inclined grooves 41 are inclined in the same direction as the inclined grooves 31 and the inclined grooves 41, respectively (see fig. 2). In the example shown in fig. 2, the diagonal rib 12 is a single triangular element to provide oppositely inclined ribs for the diagonal groove 31 and the diagonal groove 41, respectively, but this is not necessarily so. In this way, when the plug 10 simultaneously pushes the protection doors 3 and 4 to move in a direction perpendicular to the panel 2, the protection doors 3 and 4 can slide in opposite oblique directions on the oblique ribs 12, respectively, so that the protection doors 3 and 4 move apart from each other in opposite directions to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to the panel 2 while retracting inward of the housing.

In order to synchronize the movements of the protection doors 3 and 4, the inclined grooves 31 and 41 have the same inclination angle value with respect to the axis of the insertion hole 21, although the inclination angles thereof are different in direction. Therefore, the inclined surfaces on the inclined rib 12 for the diagonal groove 31 and the diagonal groove 41, respectively, also form a shape symmetrical with respect to the axis of the insertion hole 21.

Other shutter guide structures and housing guide structures may be provided to translate movement of the plug in the axial direction of the jack into horizontal movement of the shutter parallel to the panel direction. For example, the inclined grooves 31,41 may be formed on the seat body, and the inclined ribs 12 are formed on the protective doors 3, 4. Alternatively, in another embodiment, one of the protection door guide structure and the seat body guide structure is a guide rod, and the other of the protection door guide structure and the seat body guide structure is a slanted groove or an arc-shaped groove having an oblique angle with the axial direction of the insertion hole 21, and the guide rod is slidably fitted with the slanted groove or the arc-shaped groove (not shown). As long as the inclined or arc-shaped groove extends obliquely in both the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 and the direction of the face plate 2, the guide bar, which is in sliding fit or rolling fit therewith (by means of the roller), can be moved in a direction parallel to the face plate 2 while being forced to move axially along the insertion hole 21 to separate the protection doors 3,4 from each other.

Spring holding portions 32, 42 are also provided on the protective doors 3,4 to connect the return springs 5 between the protective doors 3,4 and the seat body, respectively. When the plug 10 pushes the protective doors 3,4 apart from each other, the protective doors 3,4 move against the spring force of the return spring 5. And when the plug is withdrawn from the insertion hole 21, the restoring force of the return spring 5 forces the two protection doors 3,4 to move in opposite directions to each other when being separated along the trajectory defined by the protection door guide structure and the housing guide structure, thereby moving toward the insertion hole in the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 while approaching each other in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 to close the corresponding insertion hole 21 again. Preferably, the return springs 5 are disposed in the direction of the inclined grooves 31,41, respectively, so as to provide restoring forces in the direction of the inclined grooves 31, 41. The intermediate portion between the bosses 34, 44 of the protection doors 3,4 and the inclined grooves 31,41 has a size larger than that of the insertion hole 21, so that when the return spring 5 forces the protection doors 3,4 to move to the intermediate portion thereof against the inner wall of the panel 2, the protection doors 3,4 will be held in this position with the bosses 34, 44 just in the insertion hole 21 to close the insertion hole 21.

As shown in fig. 3, guide posts 33 and 43 are provided on the sides of the two protective doors 3,4 facing each other. The guide posts 33 and 43 extend toward each other and the guide post 33 on the shutter 3 extends into and is in sliding engagement with a guide hole 45 on the shutter 4 and the guide post 43 on the shutter 4 extends into and is in sliding engagement with a guide hole 35 on the shutter 3. The guide posts 33 and 34 guide the protective doors 4 and 3 to horizontally move along the guide posts 33 and 34, respectively, when the protective doors 3 and 4 move, so that the two are kept smooth without twisting relative to each other in the horizontal movement of approaching and departing from each other, and the synchronization of the movement of the two in the axial direction of the insertion hole is ensured. This makes it possible to reliably drive the shutter to move horizontally to open the jack when the plug is inserted into the jack, and to smoothly return the shutters to a position abutting against each other to close the jack when the plug is removed from the jack. In order to enable the guide posts 33 and 34 to guide the protective doors 3 and 4 to move a sufficient distance to fully open the insertion holes, the guide holes 35, 45 on the protective doors 3,4 may be through holes penetrating the protective doors 3,4 so that the guide posts on the other protective door can move to protrude through the guide holes on the present protective door (see fig. 4), and thus the stroke of the protective door guided by the guide posts may be greater than the width of each protective door.

As shown in fig. 6, since at least a part of the bosses 34, 44 of the protective doors 3,4 is still located in the insertion hole 21 on the panel 2 when the plug 10 is just inserted into the insertion hole 21 to press the protective doors 3,4, the bosses 34, 44 at this time are constrained by the shape of the insertion hole 21 and cannot move away from each other yet and the protective doors 3,4 cannot move away from each other yet. Therefore, it is advantageous that, in a state where the protective doors 3,4 close the insertion holes, there is a proper clearance between the protective door guide structure and the housing guide structure in the axial direction of the insertion holes 21 (at least not less than the depth of the bosses 34, 44 into the insertion holes 21), for example, there is a proper clearance between the inclined grooves 31,41 and the inclined ribs 12 in the axial direction of the insertion holes 21 without contacting each other. In this way, when the plug 10 starts to press the shutter 3,4, the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure are not yet engaged, and therefore the shutters are not yet moved apart from each other along the path defined by the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure, but are moved only in the axial direction of the insertion hole 21. Until the shutter 3,4 moves through the gap in the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 so that the shutter guide structure moves to a position of contact with the housing guide structure, the bosses 34, 44 on the shutter have already exited the insertion hole 21 on the panel 2, so that the shutter 3,4 can move apart from each other along the path defined by the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure without being restricted by the insertion hole 21.

Typically, the socket also has a face cover 6 (see fig. 1) that covers the faceplate 2 to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the socket. A face cover hole 61 is arranged on the face cover 6 at a position corresponding to the jack 21 so that the plug 10 can pass through the face cover hole 61 and the jack 21 and enter the base body to be contacted with the conductive connecting sheet 11 therein. In a state where the protective doors 3,4 are in close proximity to each other to close the insertion hole 21, the bosses 34, 44 on the protective doors may extend through the insertion hole 21 on the panel 2 and into the face cover holes 61 on the face cover 6, and may be substantially flush with the outer surface of the face cover 6 to provide a substantially flush socket outer surface. This allows the receptacle to be substantially hidden from view on the face cover 6 when not in use, providing a more aesthetically pleasing appearance, and also does not accumulate dust on the face cover, which further aesthetically pleasing the receptacle and prevents the accumulated dust from interfering with the movement of the protective door. It will be appreciated that in this case the clearance between the protective door guide structure and the housing guide structure in the axial direction of the receptacle 21 should be greater than or equal to the total depth of the bosses 34, 44 into the receptacle 21 and the cover aperture 61.

In order to make the outer surface of the socket flat and beautiful as a whole, the side of the protection doors 3,4 facing the jack (i.e., the top surface of the bosses 34, 44) may be flat. Thus, when the bosses 34, 44 extend into the receptacle such that the top surfaces of the bosses are flush with the outer surface of the face cover 6, the top planar surfaces of the bosses will be coplanar with the planar outer surface of the face cover 6 so that one will not notice substantially the presence of the receptacle when viewed roughly from the exterior of the receptacle. The appearance of the socket is more concise and beautiful. It will be appreciated that the sides of the protective doors 3,4 facing the jacks (i.e. the top surfaces of the bosses 34, 44) may also have a slight curvature to guide the pins of the plug into the centre of the protective doors when the plug is acting on the protective doors.

Although the sockets shown in fig. 1-3 have two-hole jacks (i.e., jacks for plugs having two pins) and three-hole jacks (i.e., jacks for plugs having three pins), it should be understood that any number of jacks (including only one jack or more than three jacks) may be provided with the protective door structure described above, respectively. That is, a separate shutter 3,4, shutter guide structure and housing guide structure, and return spring 5 may be provided for each jack in the jack to protect each jack.

Advantageously, a common protective door structure may be provided for both of the two-hole jacks. Specifically, one of the two protection doors of one jack and one of the two protection doors of the other jack form an integrated first protection door 3, that is, bosses 34 and 34 'matched with the two jacks can be formed on the same protection door 3 and share the same protection door guide structure and seat body guide structure, and the other of the two protection doors of one jack and the other of the two protection doors of the other jack form an integrated second protection door 4, that is, bosses 44 and 44' matched with the two jacks can be formed on the same protection door 4 and share the same protection door guide structure and seat body guide structure. In this case, the protection doors 3 and 4 should be disposed in such an orientation as to simultaneously open and close the two insertion holes, with the line connecting the respective centers of the two insertion holes as the first axis of symmetry a1, and the first protection door 3 and the second protection door 4 on both sides of the first axis of symmetry a1, respectively, as shown in fig. 5. Thus, when the plug 10 is inserted into two jacks, the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4 in each jack will be pushed by the pins of the plug, so that the common protective door guide structure on the first protective door 3 will move along the corresponding seat guide structure while driving the two bosses 34 and 34 'thereon, and the common protective door guide structure on the second protective door 4 will move along the corresponding seat guide structure while driving the two bosses 44 and 44' thereon, so that the protective doors in the two jacks 21 will be opened or closed synchronously. This structure allows the structure of the protective door to be simplified, while the simultaneous opening or closing of the two jacks facilitates the smooth insertion of the plug into the jack and prevents the danger of one of the plug pins exiting the jack and the other plug pin remaining in the other jack.

The operation of the protection door of the outlet according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 6 to 8. Referring to fig. 6, when the plug 10 just extends into the insertion hole 21 to start pushing the bosses of the protective doors 3 and 4, because the protective door guide structure on the protective door and the seat guide structure have a gap and are not yet engaged, the protective doors 3 and 4 do not move along the path defined by the protective door guide structure and the seat guide structure, but move toward the inside of the seat along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 only against the resistance of the return spring 5, and at this time, the two protective doors 3 and 4 still close against each other.

Referring to fig. 7, as the plug 10 continues to penetrate axially of the socket 21, the shutter 3,4 will move to a position where the shutter guide structure engages the housing guide structure. At this point, the bosses 34, 34 ', 44' on the protective door have moved to the face cover holes 61 on the escape face cover 6 and the insertion holes 21 on the panel 2. Thus, the protective doors 3,4 will move along the specific movement path defined by the protective door guide structure and the seat guide structure against the resistance of the return spring 5 without being constrained by the insertion hole 21 in the direction parallel to the panel 2. Since the movement path (e.g., diagonal path or curved path) defined by the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure has a horizontal component, the shutters 3,4 will move horizontally away from each other while continuing to move in the axial direction of the receptacle 21 to be separated from each other, so that the plug 10 can gradually enter the space between the shutters 3,4 and continue to protrude into the housing interior.

Referring to fig. 8, as the protective doors 3,4 continue to move away from each other so that the prongs of the plug 10 fully extend into between the protective doors 3,4, the prongs of the plug will no longer contact and exert force on the bosses on the protective doors 3, 4. The protective doors 3,4 will be held in this open position without further movement due to the loss of further pushing of the plug 10. At this time, the pins of the plug 10 can continue to extend into the housing along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 until they are fully inserted, so that the pins can contact the conductive connecting pieces 11 in the housing to realize electrical connection.

When the plug 10 is gradually pulled out of the insertion hole 21, the compressed return spring 5 will force the shutter 3,4 to move in opposite directions first along the movement path defined by the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure to come close to each other and at the same time move toward the insertion hole 21 in the axial direction of the insertion hole 21. When the protective doors 3,4 are closed next to each other, the return spring 5 will continue to push the protective doors 3,4 to move towards the insertion hole 21 along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 until the middle portions of the protective doors 3,4 abut against the inner side surface of the panel 2, at which time the bosses 34, 34 ', 44' of the protective doors 3,4 again project into the insertion hole 21 of the panel 2 and the panel cover hole 61 of the panel cover 6 to close the insertion hole 21 again.

To further enhance the safety of use of the receptacle, for two-hole jacks, a mechanism may be provided that prevents one pin of a plug from being inserted into one of the jacks while the other pin is not inserted into the other jack. For this purpose, a deflection mechanism can be provided for the protective doors 3, 4. The deflection mechanism is realized by: taking a plane passing through a midpoint of a line connecting the respective centers of the two insertion holes and perpendicular to the first symmetry axis a1 as a symmetry plane S1, the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4 are respectively disposed symmetrically with respect to the symmetry plane S1, and the protective door guide structure of each of the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4 is located at a position of the symmetry plane S1, as shown in fig. 9. The protection door guide structure (e.g., the inclined grooves 31,41 or the inclined ribs 12) and the holder body guide structure have a narrow width. Thus, when the shutter guide structure is engaged with the housing guide structure, the shutter 3,4 is supported to be deflectable like a seesaw, and both ends of the "seesaw" correspond to the bosses 34, 44 and 34 ', 44' of the shutter 3,4 corresponding to the two insertion holes, respectively. As shown in fig. 3 and 9-10, locking projections 36, 36 ', 46' are provided on both sides of the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4, respectively, parallel to the symmetry plane S1, and stoppers 13, 13 ', 14' corresponding to the respective locking projections 36, 36 ', 46' are provided in the seat.

When the plug 10 is inserted into only one of the two jacks, the plug acts on only one boss (e.g., bosses 34 'and 44' in fig. 9-10) on the first and second protection doors 3 and 4. Since the force of the plug acts only on one end of the above-mentioned "seesaw", when the first and second protection doors 3 and 4 have not yet started or have just started to move in the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 against the resistance of the return spring 5, the first and second protection doors 3 and 4 will deflect toward the side inserted by the plug with respect to the symmetry plane S1, so that the side inserted by the plug of the first and second protection doors 3 and 4 sinks toward the inside of the housing. At this time, since the first and second protection doors 3 and 4 have not yet started to be separated from each other, the locking protrusions 36 ', 46' on the lowered side of the first and second protection doors 3 and 4 protrude between the stoppers 13 ', 14' on the same side, as shown in fig. 10. After the plug 10 continues to press the deflected protective doors 3,4 to engage the protective door guide structure with the seat guide structure, since the locking protrusions 36 ', 46' are blocked by the stoppers 13 ', 14' therebetween and cannot be separated from each other, the movement of the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4 to be separated from each other is restricted, so that the first protective door 3 and the second protective door 4 cannot continue to move along the movement path defined by the protective door guide structure and the seat guide structure to open the protective doors. Therefore, the single pin of the plug cannot push the protection door to be continuously inserted into the base body.

When the two prongs of the plug 10 are inserted into the two sockets respectively, the protective doors 3 and 4 do not deflect significantly as the forces acting on the bosses in the two sockets are substantially equal. Thus, the protective doors 3,4 will move vertically along the axial direction of the jack into the housing. When the protective doors 3,4 are moved to a position where the protective door guide structure is engaged with the seat guide structure, the locking projections 36, 36 ', 46' of each side of the protective doors 3,4 do not yet extend between the stopper pair 13, 14 (or 13 ', 14') of the corresponding side because the protective doors 3,4 are not deflected or deflected by a small amount. Therefore, the stopper also does not block the movement of the respective locking projections 36, 36 ', 46' in all directions (particularly, in the direction of moving the protective doors 3,4 away from each other). Therefore, the protective doors 3,4 can move along the moving paths defined by the protective door guide structure and the seat body guide structure respectively to separate from each other and continue to move along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 toward the inside of the seat body. When the protective doors 3,4 have been moved inwardly along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 to a height at which the distal ends of the locking projections 36, 36 ', 46' overlap the distal ends of the stoppers 13, 13 ', 14', the stopper pairs 13, 14 (or 13 ', 14') on the respective sides still do not form a barrier against the continued movement of the locking projection pairs 36, 46 (or 36 ', 46'), since the protective doors 3,4 have been separated by a sufficient distance at this time so that the locking projection pairs 36, 46 (or 36 ', 46') on the respective sides have also been separated by a sufficient distance to be located outside of and not between the respective stopper pairs 13, 14 (or 13 ', 14') on the respective sides. The protective doors 3,4 can continue to move along the movement path defined by the protective door guide structure and the base body guide structure to separate from each other and continue to move along the axial direction of the insertion hole 21 toward the inside of the base body until the pins of the plug are completely inserted into the base body and electrically connected with the conductive connecting pieces 11. Thus, the deflection mechanism does not affect the normal insertion of the plug into the jack.

Although the socket of the present invention has been described in the context of a wall socket, it should be understood that the socket of the present invention may be in other forms, such as a conventional patch panel (i.e., a strip) or even various interface slots on an electrical device. Moreover, the socket in the present invention may be not only a power socket, but also various signal line sockets, such as a network cable, a limited television line, a telephone line socket, or a combination of a power socket and a signal line socket.

The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will occur to those skilled in the art.

Therefore, the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various modifications and alternative embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (13)

1. A socket, comprising:

a housing having at least one receptacle (21) therein for insertion of a plug; wherein,

two protective doors (3,4) are provided in the housing for each of the jacks, the two protective doors (3,4) being configured such that when no plug is inserted into the at least one jack (21), the two protective doors (3,4) are in close proximity to each other to close the corresponding jack (21), and when a plug is inserted into the at least one jack (21), the two protective doors (3,4) are separated from each other such that the plug can protrude into the jack (21).

2. The socket according to claim 1, wherein a shutter guide structure is provided on each of the two shutters (3,4) on a side facing away from a jack (21), and a housing guide structure cooperating with the shutter guide structure is provided in the housing to guide the two shutters to move toward an inside of the jack in an axial direction of the jack while being separated from each other in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the jack when the shutters are subjected to a force applied by a plug to the shutters in the axial direction of the jack.

3. The socket according to claim 2, wherein a return spring (5) is connected between the shutter and the housing to force the two shutters (3,4) to move toward the receptacle (21) in the axial direction of the receptacle (21) while approaching each other in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the receptacle (21) to close the corresponding receptacle (21) again after the plug is withdrawn from the receptacle (21).

4. The receptacle according to claim 3, wherein one of the shutter guide structure and the holder guide structure is a slanted groove (31, 41) having an inclined angle with an axial direction of the insertion hole (21), and the other of the shutter guide structure and the holder guide structure is a slanted rib (12) having the same inclined angle as the slanted groove, and the slanted rib (12) is slidably fitted with the slanted groove (31, 41).

5. The receptacle according to claim 3, wherein one of the shutter guide structure and the holder body guide structure is a guide bar, and the other of the shutter guide structure and the holder body guide structure is a slanted groove or an arc-shaped groove inclined at an angle to an axial direction of the insertion hole (21), and the guide bar is slidably fitted with the slanted groove or the arc-shaped groove.

6. A socket according to claim 2, wherein guide posts (33, 43) are provided on the sides of the two protective doors (3,4) facing each other, the guide posts (33, 43) of each of the two protective doors (3,4) being a sliding fit with guide holes (35, 45) in the other protective door.

7. The socket according to claim 2, wherein in a state where the shutter (3,4) closes a jack (21), there is a gap between the shutter guide structure and the housing guide structure in an axial direction of the jack, so that when a plug starts to press the shutter, the two shutters first move only in the axial direction of the jack without being separated from each other until the shutter guide structure moves to a position of contact with the housing guide structure.

8. A socket according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the at least one jack (21) comprises two jacks, wherein one of the two shutters of one jack forms an integral first shutter (3) with one of the two shutters of the other jack and shares the same shutter guide structure and seat guide structure, and wherein the other of the two shutters of one jack forms an integral second shutter (4) with the other of the two shutters of the other jack and shares the same shutter guide structure and seat guide structure.

9. The socket according to claim 8, wherein a line connecting respective centers of the two insertion holes is a first axis of symmetry (A1), and the first protection door (3) and the second protection door (4) are respectively located on both sides of the first axis of symmetry (A1).

10. The socket of claim 9, wherein a plane passing through a midpoint of a line connecting respective centers of the two insertion holes and perpendicular to a first symmetry axis (a1) is a symmetry plane (S1), the first protection door (3) and the second protection door (4) are respectively symmetrical with respect to the symmetry plane (S1), and the protection door guide structure of each of the first protection door (3) and the second protection door (4) is located at a position of the symmetry plane (S1).

11. The socket of claim 10, wherein locking projections (36, 36 ', 46, 46') are provided on both sides of the first and second protection doors (3,4), respectively, parallel to the symmetry plane (S1), respectively, and when a plug is inserted into only one of the two receptacles, the first and second protection doors (3,4) are deflected about the symmetry plane (S1) toward a side into which the plug is inserted, such that the locking projections (36, 36 ', 46, 46') on the side of the first and second protection doors (3,4) into which the plug is inserted are blocked by the stoppers (13, 13 ', 14, 14') on the holder body to prevent the first and second protection doors (3,4) from moving apart relative to each other.

12. A socket according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the sides of the first and second protective doors (3,4) facing the jacks are planar.

13. The socket according to claim 12, wherein a face cover (6) is further provided on an outer surface of the housing, a face cover hole (61) is provided on the face cover (6) at a position corresponding to the insertion hole (21), and a plane of a side of the first and second protection doors (3,4) facing the insertion hole is flush with the outer surface of the face cover (6) in a state where the first and second protection doors (3,4) are closely adjacent to each other to close the insertion hole.