EP0149030B1 - Socket strip - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Socket strip with various pocket depths (13, 14) for plugs with different cross sections (8, 9), for example, earthing-pin plug, Euro flat plug etc. The pockets of different depths (13, 14) with engagements orifices (131, 132, 141, 142) for the plug pins (S 1, S 2) are arranged adjacently in the flat wall area of the socket strip (1). The pockets (13, 14) are matched to pairs of contact orifices (K 1, K 2) for the plug pins (S 1, S 2). The contact orifices (K 1, K 2) are located on spring-action contact strips (2, 3) inside the socket strip (1). The contact orifices (K 1, K 2) in the contact strips (2, 3) have U-form openings (K 11, K 21) offset 180 degrees alternately to correspond to the engagement orifices (131, 132, 141, 142) in the socket strip (1) and may be identified by the arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) at the contact strips (2, 3) next to the adjacent or 180 degrees offset contact orifices (K 1, K 2). These arrestors prevent contact between neighbouring contact orifices (K 1, K 2) when the pins (S 1, S 2) of a plug (8, 9) ar inserted into the associated contact orifices (K 1, K 2).

Description

The invention relates to a power strip with differently designed recesses for different cross-section connector elements such as earthed plugs, European flat plug and the like. The differently designed recesses with their engagement openings for the plug pins of the plug are arranged opposite each other in flat wall areas of the power strip and the recesses in Distance between the engagement openings in the interior of the power strip resilient metal rails are assigned as contact strips with a plurality of contact openings for the plug pins of the plugs arranged in pairs one behind the other, the contact openings of the contact strips alternatingly corresponding with their recessed engagement areas corresponding to the engagement openings of the power strip offset by 180 °.

From DE-OS 3111660 a multiple socket strip has become known, which in a pair of contact strips inside the bar in opposite side receiving openings for different connector systems, eg. B. safety plug on the one hand and European flat plug on the other. Gated contact openings for the plug pins of the plugs are assigned to the receiving openings in the contact strips, the contact strips being held on the end side in the receiving space of the socket strip.

A disadvantage of the described prior art is the fact that when the plug pins of a plug are inserted into the gated contact openings of the contact strips, the adjacent contact openings spring open, since the contact openings must have a smaller clear width than the cross section of the plug pins to be inserted, so that their tight fit the contact openings is guaranteed. This springing open of the adjacent contact openings is detrimental in that plug pins of other plugs inserted from the opposite side are loosened in their clamp seat, and can even come loose from their original sitting position, since the clamping voltage due to the springing open of the contact strips when inserting new plugs is no longer sufficient.

Here, the US-PS 3354421 remedies to the extent that there the springing of the contact strips is prevented by spot welding between the contact openings. However, this is only possible through additional operations, which also applies to the solution described in US Pat. No. 3,268,847, in which the two partial lengths of the contact rails are to be prevented from springing open by foldable rags.

This is where the invention comes in, which has set itself the task of avoiding the difficulties described in the prior art and of specifying a power strip in which plugs can be inserted from both sides without the contact effect or the clamping voltage being adversely affected.

According to the invention, the solution is that locking tongues are provided on the contact strips in the area of the contact openings opposite or offset by 180 °, which prevent adjacent contact openings from springing open when the plug pins of a plug are inserted into the associated contact openings.

With the power strip according to the invention, which only has a single pair of contact strips in its interior, plug pins of differently designed plug elements can be used mutually offset by 180 °, which retain their press fit in the contact strip even if the plug pins of the individual plug elements have different thicknesses exhibit. The problem of the plug pins of one connector element falling out when the connector pins of an adjacent connector element are inserted, this insertion being offset by 180 °, is solved by the invention through the locking tongues in the area of the contact openings. These locking tongues prevent the contact strips from being pressed open, resulting in the enlargement of adjacent contact openings, so that the plug pins already seated there remain undisturbed in their clamp fit, although further plug pins are clamped in adjacent contact openings.

With the solution according to the invention of the arrangement of a pair of contact strips within the socket strip and the engagement recesses for the plug elements which are offset by 180 ° in the body of the socket strip, the disadvantage of the known prior art, in which only one plug element had to be removed before, can advantageously be solved Plug elements of a different design could be used in their place.

The power strip according to the invention can be designed as an infinitely long bar with an infinite number of opposing pairs of engagement recesses from a pair of opposite engagement recesses. In one example case, three engagement recesses for protective contact plugs are opposite six engagement recesses for European flat plugs. The pair of protective contact strips in the interior of the socket strip according to the invention is adapted with its contact openings to this different number of opposing engagement recesses for the different types of plug elements. Thus, the through openings for the connector pins of the individual connector elements are always opposite the gated areas for the engagement of the connector pins in the contact openings of the contact strips.

Any plug element on the market can be inserted into the socket strip according to the invention on plug elements with appropriate adaptation. In various countries, for example, the outward-reaching protective contact that is common for protective contact plugs is no longer required.

In contrast, a third connector pin is connected to a protective contact rail additionally arranged in the interior of the power strip. In this case, only a third opening for the penetration of the protective contact plug pin has to be made in the bottom of the recess of the power strip according to the invention and a contact strip for grounding must also be arranged within the power strip. Depending on the country of use, round, flat, rectangular, etc. earthing contact plug pins can be used. The additional opening in the recess of the power strip can be adapted to these figurations. In addition, the usual child safety devices can be attached to all recesses for the connector elements.

The locking tongues advantageously protrude from the base of the power strip, while the contact strips with the contact openings are held by the locking tongues in the interior of the power strip. The locking tongues according to the invention expediently engage the outer areas of adjacent contact openings. In addition, there is the possibility that the locking tongues each engage from the outside on the connection areas of the contact rails between two adjacent contact openings. The contact rails themselves can be bent by 90 ° in the connection areas between two adjacent contact openings. This further reduces the tendency of the contact rails to spring open when inserting plug pins to the disadvantage of adjacent contact openings.

With the power strip according to the invention, the use of only a single pair of contact rails in the interior of this strip with simultaneous possibilities for engagement of different plug elements from two sides u. a. solved the problem that a power strip of known thickness is available from two sides for the use of different plug elements without further thickening. Furthermore, the recesses of the power strip according to the invention can be occupied all the time without the risk that when a plug element with thicker plug pins is inserted, adjacent plug elements with, for example, thinner plug pins inserted with a 180 ° offset drop out of their clamp holder in the contact openings of the contact strip by springs.

• Fig. einen Teilschnitt durch die Steckdosenleiste in isometrischer Darstellung;
• Fig.2a bis 2c verschiedene Ausführungsformen der paarig in der Steckdosenleiste angeordneten Kontaktleisten;
• Fig.3 eine schematische Seitenansicht der Steckdosenleiste mit eingesetzten Steckerelementen.

In the drawing, exemplary embodiments of the power strip according to the invention including the contact strips according to the invention are shown schematically; show it:

• Figure is a partial section through the power strip in an isometric view.
• 2a to 2c show different embodiments of the contact strips arranged in pairs in the socket strip;
• 3 shows a schematic side view of the power strip with inserted plug elements.

The socket strip 1 shown in Fig. 1 consists of the two molded parts 11, 12. The molded parts 11, 12 can be designed as desired in their outer contours. The molded parts 11, 12 are non-releasably latched to one another by means of locking clips 17 on the molded part 11 and locking hooks 18 on the molded part 12. This has the advantage that the power strip 1 according to the invention can no longer be opened without being destroyed.

Inside the socket strip 1, the contact strips 2 are arranged with their contact openings K 1, K 2. The contact openings K 1 are directed with their convolutions K 11 to the through openings 131, 132 for the plug pins, not shown, of the plug elements used in the recess 13. The contact openings K 1 rest on the locking tongues 5, 6, which are directed to spring open when the plug elements are inserted. The contact openings K 1 rest on the locking tongues 5, 6, which prevent springing open when the plug elements are inserted in the direction of the locking tongues 5, 6.

The adjacent contact opening K 2 of the contact rails 2, 3 is with its opening, d. H. with the gated area K 21, offset by 180 ° to the cone K 11 of the contact opening K 1. The cone-out K 21 lies opposite the through openings 141, 142 of the engagement recess 14 for the associated plug element. This plug element, not shown, is a safety plug, the safety contact protruding through the slot 15 in the wall of the recess 14 from the interior of the power strip. The recess 14 still carries on its wall the guide 16 for the guide springs on the safety plug.

The locking tongues 4, 7 act on the contact openings K 2, these locking tongues 4, 7 being arranged offset by 180 ° to the locking tongues 5. This displacement of the locking tongues 4, 7 to the locking tongues 5, 6 has the effect that the spring-loaded contact rails 2, 3 are held in their clamping fit, in particular in the area of the contact openings, for the inserted plug pins of a plug element, even if a further plug element is inserted into adjacent contact openings from the opposite side is introduced with its connector pins.

Inside the power strip, brackets, not shown in the drawing, z. B. notches for the contact strips, which prevent movement of the contact strips when inserting or removing plug pins into or out of the contact openings.

In FIG. 2, embodiments of the contact strips 2, 3 according to the invention are shown schematically.

2a shows the contact strips 2, 3, contact openings K 1 alternating with contact openings K 2. In the illustration shown, the structure is such that a pair of contact openings K 2 are separated from two pairs of contact openings K 1. At the beginning and at the end of the contact strips 2, 3, a pair of contact openings K 1 is arranged. In the contact openings K 1, the connector pins S 1 are shown in schematic use. The contact openings K 2 are occupied by the connector pins S 2. The top view of the contact strips 2 shows the notches for the area of the contact openings K 1. The notches for the contact openings K 2 are offset by 180 ° on the opposite side.

In the illustration shown, the locking tongues 5, 6 are assigned to the inside of the first pair of contact openings K 1, while the locking tongues 4, 7 acting in the outer region are assigned to the next pair of contact openings K 2. The subsequent double pair of contact openings K 1 are in turn assigned the internal locking tongues 5, 6, while the then subsequent pair of contact openings K 2 in turn has the external locking tongues 4, 7 etc.

2b shows a special feature in the design of the contact rails 2, 3 insofar as the connecting regions 21, 31 between two pairs of contact openings K 1, K 2 are bent there by 90 °. In this way the resilience of the contact rails 2, 3 is further restricted. The locking tongues 4, 5, 6, 7 are assigned in the same way as described for FIG. 2a.

A further special feature is shown in FIG. 2c, the locking tongues 4, 5, 6, 7 being laid in the connecting regions 21, 31 between two adjacent contact openings K 1, K 2.

In Fig. The schematic side view of a power strip 1 according to the invention with inserted plug elements 8, 9 is shown. In the example, the plug elements 9 mean earthing contact plugs, while the plug elements 8 are designed as European flat plugs. The current-carrying leads 81, 91 are assigned to the plug elements 8, 9. The plug elements 8, 9 are shown with their plug pins S 1, S 2 in a clamp fit within the contact openings K 1, K2 in the contact rails 2, 3. The recesses K 11, K 21 of the associated contact openings K 1, K 2 are clearly recognizable in their arrangement offset by 180 °.

Instead of the shown protective contact plugs and European flat plugs, any other plug shapes can be introduced into the power strip according to the invention. For this purpose, an additional protective contact strip (not shown in the drawing) must then be arranged inside the socket strip 1 according to the invention.

Claims (5)

1. Socket strip with various pocket depths (13, 14) for plugs with different cross sections (8, 9), for example, earthing-pin plug, Euro flat plug etc. The pockets of different depths (13, 14) with engagements orifices (131, 132, 141, 142) for the plug pins (S 1, S 2) are arranged adjacently in the flat wall area of the socket strip (1). The pockets (13,14) are matched to pairs of contact orifices (K 1, K 2) for the plug pins (S 1, S 2). The contact orifices (K 1, K2) are located on spring-action contact strips (2, 3) inside the socket strip (1). The contact orifices (K 1, K 2) in the contact strips (2, 3) have U-form openings (K 11, K 21) offset 180° alternately to correspond to the engagement orifices (131, 132, 141, 142) in the socket strip (1) and may be identified by the arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) at the contact strips (2, 3) next to the adjacent or 180° offset contact orifices (K 1, K 2). These arrestors prevent contact between neighbouring contact orifices (K 1, K 2) when the pins (S 1, S 2) of a plug (8, 9) ar inserted into the associated contact orifices (K 1, K2).

2. Socket strips satisfying requirement 1 are characterized by projection of the arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) out from the base (111) of the moulded part (11) of the socket (1) and by the firm hold provided by the arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) for the contact strips (2, 3) with contact orifices (K 1, K 2).

3. Socket strips satisfying requirement 2 are characterized by arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) which are employed at the outer regions of neighbouring contact orifices.

4. Socket strips satisfying requirement 2 are characterized by arrestors (4, 5, 6, 7) which are employed at the areas of interconnection (21,31) of the contact strips (2,3) between two neighbouring contact orifices (K 1, K 2).

5. Socket strips satisfying requirement 4 are characterized by contact strips (2, 3) which are offset 90° at the areas of interconnection (21, 31) between two neighbouring contact orifices (K 1, K 2).

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