EP0615313A2 - Améliorations apportées aux prises de courant - Google Patents

Améliorations apportées aux prises de courant Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0615313A2
EP0615313A2 EP94301773A EP94301773A EP0615313A2 EP 0615313 A2 EP0615313 A2 EP 0615313A2 EP 94301773 A EP94301773 A EP 94301773A EP 94301773 A EP94301773 A EP 94301773A EP 0615313 A2 EP0615313 A2 EP 0615313A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
shutter
openings
wall
closed condition
socket according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP94301773A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0615313A3 (en
Inventor
José Comas Delgado
Jaime Comas Delgado
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Electrical Accessories & Components Ltd
Original Assignee
Electrical Accessories & Components Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Electrical Accessories & Components Ltd filed Critical Electrical Accessories & Components Ltd
Publication of EP0615313A2 publication Critical patent/EP0615313A2/fr
Publication of EP0615313A3 publication Critical patent/EP0615313A3/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/44—Means for preventing access to live contacts
    • H01R13/447—Shutter or cover plate
    • H01R13/453—Shutter or cover plate opened by engagement of counterpart
    • H01R13/4534—Laterally sliding shutter

Definitions

  • This invention relates to safety devices incorporated into electrical sockets.
  • the main object of the present invention is to increase the safety of electrical sockets.
  • an electrical socket comprising a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and linearly movable from said closed condition to an open condition by pushing action of said pins inserted through said openings, and biassing means urging said shutter into said closed condition, characterised by preventing means preventing said shutter from being opened by insertion of only one of said contact pins.
  • an electrical socket comprising a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, and a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and linearly movable by the pushing action of the pins, against the action of biassing means, from said closed condition to an open condition, which shutter is guided by guide means in the shutter and in the housing of the socket, which guide means is disposed after the openings in the direction of movement of the shutter from its closed condition to its open condition, characterized in that said guide means guides the shutter throughout its displacement from its closed condition to its open condition.
  • an electrical socket comprising a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and movable by the pushing action of the pins, against the action of biassing means, from said closed condition to an open condition, and an arrangement of stop means to restrict the displacement of the shutter from its closed condition to deter the shutter from leaving a protection active condition, so that a rearward displacement of the shutter is necessary, in order to enable the shutter to by-pass the stop means and move to its open condition, characterised in that the stop means comprising ramp means which facilitates return of the shutter from its open condition to its closed condition.
  • an electrical socket comprising a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, and a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and movable by the pushing action of the pins, against elastic action of internal contacting laminar means, from said closed condition to an open condition, characterised in that the laminar means continuously and elastically urges the shutter against the wall.
  • the shutter is held firmly against the wall, so that significant force is required to displace the shutter rearwards relative to the wall.
  • an electrical socket comprising a wall through which are formed two side-by-side openings for two side-by-side connecting pins of an electrical plug, and a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and movable by the pushing action of the pins, against elastic action of two side-by-side internal contacting laminar units extending towards the two openings, characterised in that the foremost edges of the laminar units and their respective directly facing surface portions of the shutter are so arranged relative to each other as to permit limited transverse rocking of the shutter.
  • a force applied to the shutter by an elongate member inserted through one of the openings tends to turn the shutter about the innermost end of the foremost edge of the associated laminar unit and thus urge an opposite end zone of the shutter firmly against the inside surface of the wall.
  • an electrical socket comprising a housing including a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, and a shutter having a closed condition behind said openings and movable by the pushing action of the pins, against elastic action of internal contacting laminar units, from said closed condition to an open condition, characterised in that one or more resiliently arranged projections which serve to urge the shutter resiliently against the wall are arranged between the shutter and the housing.
  • the shutter is urged more firmly against the inside surface of the wall.
  • an electrical socket comprising a housing including a wall through which are formed openings for receiving electrical contact pins of an electrical plug, a shutter having a closed position behind said openings and linearly movable from said closed condition to an open condition by pushing action of said pins inserted through said openings, biassing means urging said shutter into said closed condition, and guide means in said shutter and in said housing and whereby said shutter is linearly guided, said guide means being disposed after said openings in the direction of movement of said shutter from said closed condition to said open condition, characterised in that stop means on said guide means in said housing prevents said shutter from being opened by insertion of only one of said pins.
  • the provision of the stop means on the guide means is a very simple way of improving the electrical safety of the socket.
  • the present invention is applicable to a wide range of electrical sockets, for example to wall sockets and to electrical adaptors.
  • the construction of the safety device is such that, in order to open the shutter it is necessary not only to displace the shutter linearly parallelly to a front wall of a housing of the socket, but first a rearward displacement is necessary, without which the shutter cannot be opened.
  • This characteristic may be complemented by another safety feature consisting of the fact that, when the shutter is pushed by some object which is inserted into only one of the openings, not only can the shutter not be opened, but rather its blocking action is increased to some extent by the incorrect pushing action.
  • the housing and the shutter are provided with a system of stops and counter-stops, so that, in order to be able to displace the shutter parallelly to the wall to free the openings for the pins of a plug, a rearward, pushing action is required, which causes the counter-stops to move rearward with respect to the stops, allowing the subsequent linear opening displacement.
  • the counter-stops are formed by the free end faces of tongues which are formed by sets of straight slots in the shutter.
  • the shutter may be mounted between the front wall and the ends of contact strips of the socket in such manner as to allow for limited transverse rocking in the event of a push in only one of the openings. In this respect, the foremost edges of the contact strips and the shutter surface portions directly facing them may diverge progressing laterally outwards.
  • the shutter may have recesses to accommodate the foremost ends of the contact strips and these recesses may have their bases obliquely inclined so as to diverge progressing towards the wall, allowing limited transverse rocking of the shutter.
  • the foremost edges of the contact strips may diverge progressing away from the wall, in order to allow the shutter to rock transversely.
  • the slots in the shutter facilitate the fitting of the shutter and provide for guiding of the shutter by co-operating with fins attached to the housing, the guidance of the shutter being effected for the whole of its displacement from its closed position to its open position.
  • the stops and counter-stops may have associated therewith ramps and counter-ramps to facilitate the return of the shutter from its open position to its closed position.
  • the guide fins may provide stops, in the form of end faces thereof or lateral protrusions therefrom, to cooperate with counter-stops, in the form of end faces of the tongues of the shutter, to prevent opening of the shutter in the event of lateral tilting of the shutter such as would tend to occur in the event of insertion of an elongate member into only one of the openings.
  • an adaptor 1 is shown in Figures 1 and 3 to 21, whilst a wall socket 2 is shown in Figure 2.
  • Each has openings for the introduction of rectangular-section pins of a three-pin plug and of round-section pins of a two-pin plug. These openings are referenced 3, 4 and 5 for the adaptor 1, and 6, 7 and 8 for the wall socket 2.
  • the adaptor has pins 10 on the face opposite to that of the openings 3 to 5. Inside the adaptor there are arranged U-shaped, resilient, electrical contact strips 12, connected by means of screws 14 or other appropriate fixings to the housing of the adaptor.
  • the strips 12 include two lateral strips 13 and 13' which have their lower limbs inserted into horizontal recesses 38 and 37 in the linearly displaceable safety shutter 15.
  • the lower limbs of the strips 13 and 13' act on the shutter 15 in such manner that they tend to return the shutter to its closed position. This action may be supplemented by internal helical compression springs 17 and 19.
  • Figure 5 the complete arrangement of the springs can be seen. It shows the three helical compression springs 17, 19 and 16, which act respectively on the strips 13 and 13', which correspond to the socket openings 4 and 5 (or 7 and 8), and on another similar strip 20 corresponding to the opening 3 (or 6) for an earth pin.
  • the linearly displaceable shutter 15 of Figures 3 to 17 requires a rearward displacement in order for the linear displacement of that part to be possible to allow access of the plug pins to the contact strips 13 and 13'.
  • the shutter 15 has upwardly extending tongues 21 whose upper end faces abut fully against horizontal shoulders 22 of stops 23 formed on the internal face of the front wall of the housing.
  • the shutter 15 has the shape of a flat central nucleus with two identical lateral arms 27 and 28 providing ample areas for cams 25 and 26 for receiving plug pins 24 to cause rearward and then upward displacement of the shutter 15.
  • the top of the shutter 15 is formed with wider vertical slots 31, 32 and 58 and narrower vertical slots 33 to 36.
  • the shutter 15 has the recesses 37 and 38, from the lower edges of which project small ribs 39 and 40 to give better support to the lower limbs of the strips 13' and 13.
  • the straight bases 45 and 46 of the recesses 37 and 38 are complemented by the oblique orientations of the foremost edges 47 and 48 of the lower limbs of the strips 13 and 13' to permit the shutter 15 to rock transversely about the innermost end of the relevant edge 47 or 48 in the event that a pin 24 is inserted into only one of the relevant openings 4 and 5.
  • the bases of the recesses 37 and 38 can be slightly inclined obliquely, as indicated at 43 and 44, which will permit the shutter 15 to rock on the inner ends of the perpendicular foremost edges of the lower limbs of the strips 13 and 13'.
  • the socket includes a system of longitudinal guidance for the shutter 15 which comprises several fins which are straight and parallel to each other, such as those indicated at 53, 54 and 55 in Figure 4. These fit into the longitudinal slots 32, 58 and 31, respectively, for the purpose of guiding the shutter 15 during its linear displacement.
  • the shutter 15 includes a downwardly projecting central tongue 63 closely guided between two horizontal platforms 64 which support the shutter in its closed position. The shutter 15 is guided by at least the tongues 54 and 63 throughout its movement between its open and closed positions.
  • FIGs 18 to 21 illustrate an adaptor embodiment which is considerably simpler than that of Figures 1 and 3 to 17.
  • the shutter 15 is formed with the slots 32, 58 and 31 only, forming flat tongues 66 to 69, whilst the fins 53, 54 and 55 terminate just short of their slots 32, 58 and 31, respectively, in the closed position of the shutter. Part-way up the fins 53 and 55, they are formed with laterally inward protrusions 64 and 65, respectively.
  • substantially equal upward forces F are exerted symmetrically on the shutter 15 and it is thereby displaced upwardly into the open position shown in Figure 19 against the action of the springs 13, 13', 17 and 19, the fins 53, 54 and 55 simply being received in the slots 32, 58 and 31.

Landscapes

  • Connector Housings Or Holding Contact Members (AREA)
EP94301773A 1993-03-11 1994-03-11 Improvements in or relating to electrical sockets. Withdrawn EP0615313A3 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ES9300503 1993-03-11
ES9300503 1993-03-11

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0615313A2 true EP0615313A2 (fr) 1994-09-14
EP0615313A3 EP0615313A3 (en) 1996-01-10

Family

ID=8281082

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94301773A Withdrawn EP0615313A3 (en) 1993-03-11 1994-03-11 Improvements in or relating to electrical sockets.

Country Status (1)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0615313A3 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1168520A1 (fr) * 2000-06-26 2002-01-02 D. José Comas Delgado Socle à embase avec dispositif de sécurité
US9570834B2 (en) 2011-09-09 2017-02-14 Wunelli Limited Electrical socket with shutter and retainer arrangement

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1490638A1 (de) * 1964-08-29 1969-09-04 Siemens Ag Sicherheitssteckvorrichtung
DE2753221A1 (de) * 1976-12-07 1978-06-08 Knudsen Nordisk Elect Beruehrungsschutzsicherung fuer elektrische steckdosen
GB1534602A (en) * 1977-07-01 1978-12-06 Midland Electric Mfg Co Ltd Electrical sockets
GB2068651A (en) * 1980-01-19 1981-08-12 Mk Electric Ltd Improvements relating to electrical socket outlets
US4681384A (en) * 1985-05-07 1987-07-21 Rotaflex Plc Electric sockets
GB2234865A (en) * 1989-07-04 1991-02-13 Travel Accessories Shutter arrangement for an electrical socket outlet

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1490638A1 (de) * 1964-08-29 1969-09-04 Siemens Ag Sicherheitssteckvorrichtung
DE2753221A1 (de) * 1976-12-07 1978-06-08 Knudsen Nordisk Elect Beruehrungsschutzsicherung fuer elektrische steckdosen
GB1534602A (en) * 1977-07-01 1978-12-06 Midland Electric Mfg Co Ltd Electrical sockets
GB2068651A (en) * 1980-01-19 1981-08-12 Mk Electric Ltd Improvements relating to electrical socket outlets
US4681384A (en) * 1985-05-07 1987-07-21 Rotaflex Plc Electric sockets
GB2234865A (en) * 1989-07-04 1991-02-13 Travel Accessories Shutter arrangement for an electrical socket outlet

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1168520A1 (fr) * 2000-06-26 2002-01-02 D. José Comas Delgado Socle à embase avec dispositif de sécurité
US9570834B2 (en) 2011-09-09 2017-02-14 Wunelli Limited Electrical socket with shutter and retainer arrangement
EP2754208B1 (fr) * 2011-09-09 2018-01-17 IFPL Group Limited Support électrique

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0615313A3 (en) 1996-01-10

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