CN215343110U

CN215343110U - Socket with improved structure

Info

Publication number: CN215343110U
Application number: CN202121864899.3U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴冬虎
Original assignee: Schneider Electric Australia Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Schneider Electric Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-10
Filing date: 2021-08-10
Publication date: 2021-12-28
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-10

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a socket. The socket comprises a base, a cover plate, a protection door and a first elastic piece. One side of the cover plate facing the base is provided with a first notch and a second notch. The protective door is disposed between the base and the cover and is slidable relative to the base and includes a first portion and a second portion. The first section includes a live protection end and a neutral protection end adapted to block the live jack and the neutral jack, respectively. The second section comprises a ground protection terminal adapted to block the ground jack, the ground protection terminal being provided with a first inclined surface adapted to be driven by the ground pin. The first resilient member is supported by the base and abuts the first and second portions of the protective door and is configured to cause the live and neutral protection ends of the protective door to abut the first and second notches, respectively, when only the ground pin is inserted. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the safety of the socket can be greatly improved.

Description

Socket with improved structure

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the electrical field, and more particularly, to a socket capable of effectively blocking an entry of an external object.

Background

In the electrical field, along with the emphasis on safety of electricity utilization, sockets with protective doors are increasingly popular, wherein the protective doors can effectively reduce the risk of electric shock caused by the mistaken insertion of users (such as children). However, the existing protective door can only provide protection under certain conditions, and the protection effect is very limited. It is a challenge for designers to provide a socket that provides protection to the user in more situations.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a receptacle that is intended to at least overcome the above-mentioned and/or other potential problems with the prior art.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a socket. The socket includes: a base adapted to be coupled to a stationary surface; the cover plate comprises a live wire jack, a zero wire jack and a ground wire jack which are formed on the cover plate and are respectively suitable for the live wire pin, the zero wire pin and the ground wire pin to be inserted along the insertion direction, and a first notch and a second notch are arranged on one side of the cover plate facing the base; a protective door provided between the base and the cover and slidable with respect to the base, and including: a first section extending in a first direction perpendicular to the insertion direction and comprising a live protection end and a neutral protection end adapted to block the live jack and the neutral jack, respectively; and a second section extending in a second direction perpendicular to the insertion direction and the first direction and connected to a middle portion of the first section, the second section including a ground wire protecting end adapted to block the ground wire insertion hole, the ground wire protecting end being provided with a first inclined surface adapted to be driven by the ground wire pin; and a first resilient member supported by the base and abutting the first and second portions of the protective door and configured to cause the live and neutral protection ends of the protective door to abut the first and second notches, respectively, when only the ground pin is inserted.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, when a user inserts only the ground pin, the protection door is not pushed open completely, whereby the effect of protection can be enhanced.

In some embodiments, the base includes a rib extending in the second direction and abutting the second portion of the protective door such that the protective door rotates about the rib to cause the neutral protection end to abut the second notch when only the live pin is inserted or rotates about the rib to cause the live protection end to abut the first notch when only the neutral pin is inserted. With this arrangement, if the user inserts only the live pin or the neutral pin, the protection door is not pushed open, thereby functioning to protect the user and preventing the outlet from being damaged.

In some embodiments, a third notch is further disposed on a side of the cover plate facing the base; and a protrusion extending in the insertion direction is provided on the ground protection end such that when only the live pin and/or the neutral pin is inserted, the ground protection end moves in a direction opposite to the insertion direction to cause the protrusion to abut the third notch. With this arrangement, the protection door is not pushed open when the user inserts only the live pin and/or the neutral pin, thereby further promoting protection of the user.

In some embodiments, the live and neutral protection ends are provided with second and third inclined surfaces, respectively, such that when the ground, live and neutral pins are simultaneously inserted, the first, second and third inclined surfaces are pushed by the ground, live and neutral pins, respectively, to cause the protective door to be pushed open in the second direction. With this arrangement, the protective door will not interfere with the normal use of the receptacle.

In some embodiments, a side of the base facing the cover plate is provided with a fourth notch and a fifth notch, such that when only the live pin is inserted, the protective door rotates about the rib such that the live protection terminal abuts the fourth notch, or when only the neutral pin is inserted, the protective door rotates about the rib such that the neutral protection terminal abuts the fifth notch. With this arrangement, the protective effect of the protective door can be further enhanced.

In some embodiments, the socket further includes a second resilient member disposed along the second direction and having both ends abutting the cover plate and the second portion of the protective door, respectively, such that the protective door is reset by the second resilient member when the ground pin, the line pin, and the neutral pin are disengaged from the ground jack, the line jack, and the neutral jack. With this arrangement, the receptacle can be ensured to be reused.

In some embodiments, the first resilient member comprises: a base coupled to the susceptor; a first elastic arm extending from one side of the base and abutting against the ground wire protection end of the protection door; and a second elastic arm extending from the other side of the base and abutting against the first portion of the protective door. With this arrangement, reliable operation of the protection door can be ensured in an inexpensive and efficient manner.

In some embodiments, the socket further includes a panel coupled to the base and forming a space with the base to accommodate the cover plate, the protection door, and the first elastic member. With this arrangement, safe operation of the socket can be ensured.

In some embodiments, the receptacle comprises a three-jack receptacle.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more readily understood through the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is an exploded schematic view illustrating a socket according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a positional relationship between a protective door and a cover plate of the socket shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a socket in a use state in which only a ground pin is inserted according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a receptacle in another use state in which only one of the hot and neutral pins is inserted according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a receptacle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure in a use state in which only the hot and/or neutral pins are inserted and the ground pin is not inserted;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a receptacle in one use condition with a ground pin, a hot pin, and a neutral pin inserted simultaneously according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 7 is a perspective schematic view illustrating a first elastic member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to various exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. It should be understood that these examples are described merely to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and further implement the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. It should be noted that where feasible, similar or identical reference numerals may be used in the figures and that similar or identical reference numerals may indicate similar or identical functions. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

As used herein, the term "include" and its variants are to be read as open-ended terms meaning "including, but not limited to. The term "based on" will be read as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below. The definitions of the terms are consistent throughout the specification unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

As described above, the conventional triple-hole socket is provided with a protection door for protecting a user from abnormally inserting an external object. In the design of existing shutters, the neutral and live jacks are blocked by the shutter in the unused state of the socket. When a user attempts to insert an external object into the neutral and/or live jacks, the protective door prevents the external object from entering and thereby contacting the conductive members inside the socket, thereby avoiding the risk of the user getting an electric shock. In normal use of the plug by a user, since the ground pin on the plug is longer relative to the neutral pin and the live pin, the ground pin will first come into contact with the inclined surface provided on the protective door to exert a lateral pushing force on the inclined surface, thereby pushing the protective door to move laterally open. In this way, the protection door will no longer block the insertion of the neutral pin and the live pin, thereby ensuring the proper use of the socket.

However, the protective effect of such sockets is limited. If a user inserts an external object into the ground jack and thus contacts the inclined surface of the protective door, the protective door is pushed open completely as the external object is inserted. At this time, if the user separately inserts another external object into the neutral wire jack or the live wire jack, there is also a danger of electric shock. Therefore, there is a need for a simple and reliable way to eliminate this safety hazard, thereby further ensuring the safety of the user.

For convenience, an application scenario of the socket of the present disclosure will be described below with only a typical triple-jack socket as an example. It will be understood that the three-jack receptacles described below are merely examples, which do not constitute any limitation, and that the receptacles of the present disclosure may be other types of receptacles.

Some embodiments according to the present disclosure are described below with reference to fig. 1-7. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a socket 1. As shown in fig. 1, the socket 1 generally includes a base 10, a cover 20, and a protective door 30 disposed between the base 10 and the cover 20.

The base 10 may be coupled to a fixing surface. In some embodiments, the fixed surface may be a vertical surface such as a wall surface, or a horizontal surface such as a ceiling or floor. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard.

As shown in fig. 1, cover 20 includes a hot jack 21, a neutral jack 22, and a ground jack 23 formed thereon. Live, neutral and ground jacks 21, 22 and 23 extend through cover 20 in a plug-in direction Lc. Referring collectively to fig. 3-6, the hot pin 91, neutral pin 92 and ground pin 93 may each be inserted into a corresponding receptacle along an insertion direction Lc. As shown in fig. 2, a side of the cover plate 20 facing the base 10 is provided with a first notch 24 and a second notch 25, wherein the first notch 24 is close to the live jack 21, and the second notch 25 is close to the neutral jack 22.

The protection door 30 is slidable with respect to the base 10, and includes a first portion 310 and a second portion 320. Referring to fig. 2, the first portion 310 extends in a first direction L1 perpendicular to the insertion direction Lc and comprises a live protection end 311 and a neutral protection end 312, wherein the live protection end 311 and the neutral protection end 312 are configured to block the live jack 21 and the neutral jack 22, respectively. The second part 320 extends in a second direction L2 perpendicular to the insertion direction Lc and the first direction L1, and is provided at one end thereof with a ground wire protecting end 323 blocking the ground wire insertion hole 23. As shown in fig. 2, the second portion 320 of the protective door 30 is connected to the middle of the first portion 310, thereby forming a T-shape with the first portion 310. Three ends of the protective door 30 having a T-shape are used to block different insertion holes, respectively. As shown in fig. 2, the ground wire protecting terminal 323 is provided with a first inclined surface 3230 which can be driven by the ground wire pin 93.

Referring back to fig. 1, the socket 1 further includes a first elastic member 40 disposed between the base 10 and the protection door 30. The first elastic member 40 is supported by the base 10 and abuts the first portion 310 and the second portion 320 of the protection door 30.

The relative arrangement between the first resilient member 40 and the other components of the socket 1 will be described herein with reference to fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the first elastic member 40 may leave a space between the protection door 30 and the base 10 of the socket 1, and the size of the space in the insertion direction Lc may be variable. When only the ground pin 93 is inserted, the first inclined surface 3230 on the ground protection end 323 of the protection door 30 may be pushed downward in the insertion direction Lc, and the first elastic member 40 abutting between the base 10 and the protection door 30 may function as a fulcrum at this time, so that the live protection end 311 and the neutral protection end 312 of the protection door 30 are tilted upward in a direction opposite to the insertion direction Lc and abut against the first notch 24 and the second notch 25 on the cover plate 20, respectively.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, when only the ground pin 93 is inserted, the protective door 30 will be blocked by the notch on the cover plate 20 and will not be pushed open completely, thereby improving the protective effect.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the base 10 further includes a rib 12, the rib 12 extending in the second direction L2 and abutting the second portion 320 of the protective door 30. The rib 12 is provided at a position corresponding to the middle of the second portion 320 of the protective door 30. Referring to fig. 4, when only the live pin 91 is inserted, since the rib 12 functions as a fulcrum, the protective door 30 is rotated about the rib 12 by the push of the live pin 91, so that the neutral protection terminal 312 is tilted upward in a direction opposite to the insertion direction Lc, thereby abutting the second notch 25 of the cover plate 20 near the neutral insertion hole 22. It will be appreciated that similarly, when only the neutral pin 92 is inserted (not shown in the figures), the protective door 30 is rotated about the rib 12 such that the live protection end 311 is tilted upwardly in a direction opposite the insertion direction Lc to abut the first notch 24 in the cover plate 20 adjacent the live insertion hole 21.

According to such an embodiment, when only one of the neutral pin 92 or the live pin 91 is inserted, the protective door 30 will be retained by the notch on the cover plate 20, thereby providing protection.

In some embodiments, with continued reference to fig. 4, the side of the base 10 facing the cover plate 20 is provided with a fourth indentation 14 and a fifth indentation 15. As shown in fig. 4, when only the live pin 91 is inserted, the protection door 30 is rotated about the rib 12 by the rib 12 so that the live protection terminal 311 abuts against the fourth notch 14. According to such an embodiment, when only the live pin 91 is inserted, the neutral protection end 312 abuts the second notch 25 on the cover 20, and the live protection end 311 abuts the fourth notch 14 on the base 10. This makes it possible to make the protective door 30 more firmly abut between the cover plate 20 and the base 10, thereby further enhancing the protective effect of the protective door 30.

Similarly, it will be appreciated that when only neutral pin 92 is inserted, protective door 30 is rotated about rib 12 such that neutral protective end 312 abuts fifth notch 15. Thus, when only neutral pin 92 is inserted, not only does live guard end 311 abut first notch 24 on cover 20, but also neutral guard end 312 abuts fifth notch 15 on base 10. This further enhances the safety of the protection door 30.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the side of the cover plate 20 facing the base 10 is further provided with a third notch 26 close to the ground jack 23. Accordingly, the ground wire protecting end 323 is also provided with a projection 3232 extending in the inserting direction Lc. When only the live pin 91 and/or the neutral pin 92 are inserted, the ground protection tip 323 tilts upward in a direction opposite to the insertion direction Lc so that the projection 3232 abuts the third notch 26.

With such an embodiment, if a user inserts two external objects (such as two blades of scissors) into the live jack 21 and the neutral jack 22 of the outlet 1 at the same time, the protection door 30 will not be pushed open, thereby preventing the user from getting an electric shock.

It should be appreciated that if a user inserts an external object into only one of the hot and neutral jacks 21, 22 (e.g., hot jack 21), the protrusion 3232 will still abut the third notch 26. Furthermore, in this case, in connection with the embodiment of fig. 4, the corresponding other protection end (e.g. neutral protection end 312 in fig. 4) will be abutted by the corresponding notch (e.g. second notch 25 in fig. 4). With this arrangement, the protection door 30 can be more firmly abutted on the cover plate 20, thereby further enhancing the protection effect of the protection door 30.

In some embodiments, in conjunction with fig. 2 and 6, live and neutral protection ends 311 and 312 are provided with second and third

inclined surfaces

3110 and 3120, respectively, on a side proximate to ground protection end 323. Thus, when the ground pin 93, the hot pin 91, and the neutral pin 92 are simultaneously inserted (i.e., a user inserts a plug into a socket), the first inclined surface 3230, the second inclined surface 3110, and the third inclined surface 3120 are pushed by the ground pin 93, the hot pin 91, and the neutral pin 92, respectively, so that the protective door 30 is pushed open in the second direction L2 with respect to the base 10. With this arrangement, the ground pin 93, the hot pin 91 and the neutral pin 92 can be fully inserted into the socket 1 and coupled with the conductive members in the socket 1, thereby ensuring normal use of the socket 1.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the socket 1 further includes a second elastic member 50 disposed along the second direction L2. Both ends of the second elastic member 50 abut the cover plate 20 and the second portion 320 of the protection door 30, respectively. When the ground pin 93, the live pin 91 and the neutral pin 92 are inserted, the movement of the protective door 30 in the second direction L2 will cause the second resilient member 50 to be compressed. As the ground pin 93, the live pin 91 and the neutral pin 92 are disengaged from the ground jack 23, the live jack 21 and the neutral jack 22 (i.e., the user pulls the plug), the protective door 30 is reset by the second elastic member 50. With this arrangement, reuse of the socket 1 can be ensured.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7, the first elastic member 40 includes a base 400 coupled to the base 10. In some embodiments, a locating hole 401 is provided on the base 400. Accordingly, the base 10 may be provided with positioning posts passing through the positioning holes 401 to mount the first elastic member 40 on the base 10. In other embodiments, the first elastic element 400 may be coupled to the base 10 by other methods, which are not limited in this disclosure.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7, first resilient member 40 further comprises a first resilient arm 410 and a second resilient arm 420, wherein first resilient arm 410 extends from one side of base 400 and abuts ground wire protection end 323 of protection door 30, and second resilient arm 420 extends from the other side of base 400 and abuts first portion 310 of protection door 30. The first elastic arm 410 and the second elastic arm 420 can elastically support the protection door 30, and ensure that the protection door 30 works under different use states.

It should be understood that the specific configuration of the first elastic member 40 shown in fig. 7 is merely illustrative. In other embodiments, the first elastic member 40 may take other forms, such as a spring wire. The specific form is not limited by the embodiment of the present disclosure as long as the first elastic member 40 can hold the protection door 30 in an elastic form, thereby leaving a space in the insertion direction Lc between the protection door 30 and the base 10.

In some embodiments, referring back to fig. 1, the receptacle 1 further comprises a faceplate 60. The panel 60 may be coupled to the base 10 and form a space accommodating the cover plate 20, the protection door 30, and the first elastic member 40 with the base 10. With this arrangement, it is possible to prevent the internal components of the socket 1 from being exposed to the outside, not only ensuring safe use of the socket 1, but also improving the aesthetic appearance of the socket 1.

In contrast to the conventional socket, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, only when a user inserts a plug into the socket 1 in a satisfactory manner, the protective door 30 is not blocked by the notch on the base or the cover and is pushed open completely. In other cases, the protective door 30 will prevent external components from contacting the conductive elements inside the socket 1, thereby protecting the user and preventing the socket 1 from being damaged.

Although claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof, whether or not it relates to the same aspect as presently claimed in any claim.

Claims

1. A socket, comprising:

a base (10) adapted to be coupled to a fixed surface;

the cover plate (20) comprises a live wire jack (21), a neutral wire jack (22) and a ground wire jack (23) which are formed on the cover plate, the cover plate is suitable for being inserted into a live wire pin (91), a neutral wire pin (92) and a ground wire pin (93) along an insertion direction (Lc), and a first notch (24) and a second notch (25) are formed in one side, facing the base (10), of the cover plate (20);

a protective door (30) provided between the base (10) and the cover plate (20) and slidable with respect to the base (10), and including:

a first portion (310) extending along a first direction (L1) perpendicular to said insertion direction (Lc) and comprising a live protection end (311) and a neutral protection end (312) adapted to block said live jack (21) and neutral jack (22), respectively; and

a second part (320) extending in a second direction (L2) perpendicular to said insertion direction (Lc) and said first direction (L1) and connected to a middle of said first part (310), said second part (320) comprising a ground protection end (323) adapted to block said ground jack (23), said ground protection end (323) being provided with a first inclined surface (3230) adapted to be driven by said ground pin (93); and

a first resilient member (40) supported by the base (10) and abutting the first and second portions (310, 320) of the protective door (30) and configured to cause the live and neutral protection ends (311, 312) of the protective door (30) to abut the first and second notches (24, 25), respectively, when only the ground pin (93) is inserted.

2. The socket of claim 1,

the base (10) comprises a rib (12), the rib (12) extending in the second direction (L2) and abutting the second portion (320) of the protective door (30), such that when only the live pin (91) is inserted, the protective door (30) rotates about the rib (12) such that the neutral protection end (312) abuts the second notch (25), or when only the neutral pin (92) is inserted, the protective door (30) rotates about the rib (12) such that the live protection end (311) abuts the first notch (24).

3. The socket of claim 1,

a third notch (26) is further formed in one side, facing the base (10), of the cover plate (20); and is

A protrusion (3232) extending in an insertion direction (Lc) is arranged on the ground protection end (323), so that when only the live pin (91) and/or the neutral pin (92) is inserted, the ground protection end (323) moves in a direction opposite to the insertion direction (Lc) to enable the protrusion (3232) to abut against the third notch (26).

4. The socket of claim 1,

the live wire protection end (311) and the neutral wire protection end (312) are provided with a second inclined surface (3110) and a third inclined surface (3120), respectively, such that when the ground pin (93), the live wire pin (91) and the neutral wire pin (92) are simultaneously inserted, the first inclined surface (3230), the second inclined surface (3110) and the third inclined surface (3120) are pushed by the ground pin (93), the live wire pin (91) and the neutral wire pin (92), respectively, to cause the protection door (30) to be pushed open in the second direction (L2).

5. The receptacle of claim 4, further comprising:

a second elastic member (50) disposed along the second direction (L2) and having both ends abutting against the cover plate (20) and the second portion (320) of the protective door (30), respectively, such that the protective door (30) is reset by the second elastic member (50) when the ground pin (93), the live pin (91), and the neutral pin (92) are disengaged from the ground jack (23), the live jack (21), and the neutral jack (22).

6. The socket of claim 2,

one side of the base (10) facing the cover plate (20) is provided with a fourth notch (14) and a fifth notch (15), so that when only the live pin (91) is inserted, the protective door (30) rotates around the rib (12) to make the live protection terminal (311) abut against the fourth notch (14), or when only the neutral pin (92) is inserted, the protective door (30) rotates around the rib (12) to make the neutral protection terminal (312) abut against the fifth notch (15).

7. The socket of claim 1,

the first elastic member (40) includes:

a base (400) coupled to the pedestal (10);

a first elastic arm (410) extending from one side of the base (400) and abutting against a ground wire protection terminal (323) of the protection door (30); and

a second resilient arm (420) extending from the other side of the base (400) and abutting against the first portion (310) of the protective door (30).

8. The receptacle of claim 1, further comprising:

a panel (60) coupled to the base (10) and forming a space accommodating the cover plate (20), the protection door (30) and the first elastic member (40) with the base (10).

9. The receptacle of claim 1, wherein the receptacle comprises a three-jack receptacle.