EP0930673B1 - Transformer device and connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The transformer has a plug (3) and an output socket (4), both of which can pivot relative to the transformer housing, so that when the plug is inserted into an electrical outlet, the housing can be arranged to a convenient, space-saving position. A plug arrangement with a transformer device is also claimed.

Description

The present invention relates to a transformation device according to the preamble of claim 1 and a connector assembly according to claim 12.

For voltage supply of electrical or electronic small appliances, it is customary to use external transformers which transform the voltage provided at commercial sockets voltage to low voltage.

Transformation device according to the prior art are usually designed as a rigid body containing a plug for connection to standard sockets and a connection part for connecting the voltage to be supplied with electrical or electronic device.

If several devices of the type mentioned above are used in parallel (this is often the case especially in offices, in which telephone systems, answering machines, modems, etc. often have to be used simultaneously and in one place), however, a space problem often occurs. It is not possible with conventional multiple sockets to arrange the transformation facilities in the socket so that each outlet can be used, since the transformation facilities often interfere with each other. This can lead to high costs in the provision of additional sockets.

The generic DE 297 15 788 U1 discloses a plug adapter with multiple connectors. The plug adapter has a housing with an electrical converter circuit located therein, which is provided on the primary side with a plurality of terminals to be used alternatively as well as on the secondary side with a cable connection for supplying electrical appliances. The primary-side connections are designed as swiveling connectors for connection to different sockets standards. On the secondary side, a cable firmly connected to the housing is led out of the housing rigidly.

U.S. Patent 5,658,152 describes a pivotal plug. Here, a plug is shown, which is connected via a pivot axis with a connection socket.

The invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide a transformation device or a connector assembly that minimizes the space requirement of the transformation device and optimally exploits the given space even with multiple sockets.

This object is achieved with a transformation device according to the preamble of the main claim in conjunction with the characterizing features of claim 1 and a connector assembly according to claim 12.

By virtue of the fact that the plug and the connecting part can be pivoted relative to the housing, it is possible to always arrange the transformation device in such a way that the surroundings of the socket are as far as possible not hindered by the transformation device. It is thus possible, for example, to pivot the transformation device so that it terminates as flush as possible with a wall, for example. This also serves the safety of work, since the transformation device can be pivoted so that it leaves passers-by in the area of the socket as much space. In addition, it is possible with such a pivoting device to orient the transformation device so that the cable leading from the connection part to the electrical or electronic device to be supplied hinders passersby as little as possible. However, the inventive feature of the pivoting arrangement of the transformation device according to the invention in multiple plugs is particularly advantageous. It is always possible to move away the housing of a transformation device so that further transformation devices can be accommodated in adjacent sockets. In addition, such an arrangement meets significantly higher aesthetic requirements, since it becomes possible, for example, to pivot a plurality of juxtaposed transformation devices in the same way and thus to produce a harmonious overall picture.

Advantageous developments of the devices according to the invention are given in the dependent claims.

It is particularly advantageous to realize the pivoting of the plug or of the connection part via a rotation axis. This can for example be designed so that pins, between which a prestressed spring is located and which are guided together with the spring in a through hole of the plug or the connecting part, are inserted into corresponding openings of the housing. This spring arrangement according to the invention enables a very simple and cost-effective mountability of the transformation device.

A further advantageous embodiment provides that between plug and housing and / or connection part and housing a device for increasing the frictional resistance is provided. This makes it possible that the plug or the connecting part with respect to the housing in any angle can be locked. A once set position is thus held permanently. It is particularly simple and inexpensive to carry out the device for increasing the frictional resistance as a disk which radially surrounds the axis of rotation. It is particularly advantageous to slit this disc so that it only has to be plugged onto an already installed axle.

A particularly advantageous embodiment provides that the plug and / or the connector are made two or three poles. Thus, it is initially possible to consider different types of sockets or different connectors to be connected to the connector. Since the transformation device is not a rigid unit, it is also possible to provide different plugs or connecting parts while maintaining a housing of the transformation device depending on countries and equipment needs. This drastically reduces production and storage costs, especially in a large number of countries to be supplied, as well as a wide range of equipment to be supplied.

Further advantageous embodiments of the present invention are given in the remaining dependent claims.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be explained with reference to several figures.

Fig. 1

die Seitenansicht einer erfindungsgemäßen Transformationseinrichtung, wobei mehrere Schwenkstellungen des Steckers sowie des Anschlußteils dargestellt sind,

Fig. 2

eine Draufsicht der erfindungsgemäßen Transformationseinrichtung,

Fig. 3

eine weitere Ansicht der erfindungsgemäßen Transformationseinrichtung,

Fign. 4a Bis 4c

Teilansichten einer erfindungsgemäßen Transformationseinrichtung im nicht montierten Zustand,

Fig. 5a

eine Steckerbasis zum Anschluß von Transformationseinrichtungen nach der Erfindung,

Fig. 5b

eine erfindungsgemäße Steckanordnung.

Show it:

Fig. 1

the side view of a transformation device according to the invention, wherein a plurality of pivot positions of the plug and the connecting part are shown,

Fig. 2

a top view of the transformation device according to the invention,

Fig. 3

a further view of the transformation device according to the invention,

FIGS. 4a to 4c

Partial views of a transformation device according to the invention in the unassembled state,

Fig. 5a

a connector base for connecting transformation devices according to the invention,

Fig. 5b

a plug-in arrangement according to the invention.

In Fig. 1, a transformation device 1 according to the invention is shown, which has a housing 2, a relative to the housing 2 pivotable connector 3 and a relative to the housing 2 pivotable connector part 4. Both the plug 3 and the connection part 4 can be pivoted within a predetermined angular range of 90 ° (but it is also possible to realize angular ranges over 180 ° structurally problem-free). By way of example, the three positions A, B and C of the plug 3 are shown here. For the present embodiments of the transformation device 1, the positions A and C represent extreme positions, while B indicates any intermediate position. The same applies to the three positions D, E and F of the connection part 4 with respect to the housing second

The plug 3 is located with respect to the housing 2 in the above-described position A. Between the plug 3 and the housing 2, a disc 7 is also provided which the frictional resistance between the housing 2 and increases with respect to the housing 2 to be pivoted connector 3. Of course, such an increase in the frictional resistance, which is realized in the present case by a slotted plastic disc which is pressed between the plug 3 and the housing 2, also possible by other means. For example, it is even possible to provide a detent mechanism that provides complementary toothing of housing 2 and plug 3 or housing 2 and connection part 4. A corresponding disk 7 also serves to increase the frictional resistance between the housing 2 and the connection part 4.

It is of course also possible to provide a transformation device with only one pivoting mechanism (either for the plug 3 or for the connection part 4).

The transformation device 1 also shows nubs 5 on the housing 2 or on the plug 3 and the connecting part 4. Hereby, the frictional resistance of the respective parts is significantly increased. Slipping of the operator's hand on the smooth surfaces is thus largely prevented and allows easy positioning of the transformation device 1 in the desired position.

The housing 2 and the plug 3 and the connection part 4 are mainly made of an impact-resistant plastic. In addition to the electrically insulating properties of a suitable plastic so that a cost-effective production by injection molding is possible. In addition, the setting of any colors by adding color additives to the plastic raw material is possible.

FIG. 3 shows a further view of the transformation device 1. It can be seen here that the connection part 4 located in position D has two poles 14. These poles 14 may be designed either as located within the connector 4 located, raised pins or as mere openings that make electrical insertion when inserting a corresponding connector. Of course, it is also possible to fix a cable directly to the connector 4 (i.e., without the provision of a pluggable interface).

In the Fign. 4a to 4c are partial views of the housing 2, the plug 3 and the connection part 4 given. The housing 2 has, as indicated in Fig. 4a, two openings 11 and 12, which serve to support the axis of rotation of the plug 3 and the electrical contact. It is of course possible to supply both electrical poles 15 via a single opening (ie 11 or 12). In the present embodiment, however, one of the poles 15 is supplied via the opening 11, the other via the opening 12 (of course, the same applies analogously to the interface between terminal 4 and housing 2, so that it will not be discussed further).

Fig. 4b shows a section of the plug 3, which discloses the axis of rotation, which is formed of two pins 8 and 9 and an intermediate, prestressed spring 10. The pins 8 and 9 and the spring 10 are guided in a through hole 13. The spring 10 ensures that the pins 8 and 9 are pressed into the sized in size openings 11 and 12. The pins 8 and 0 have in the present embodiment, a constant cylinder cross-section, but it is also possible to provide pins with heels or constrictions to improve the cohesion of the pins with the spring 10 and a stop in the region of the openings 11 and 12 to realize. The electrical connection between the housing and the poles 15 takes place via the electrical lines 16 and 17, respectively. The electrical connection to the housing 2 can in this case be produced in various ways. Either it is possible, the pins 8 and 9 made of an electrically conductive material (it is important to ensure that the spring 10 is non-conductive or that the pins 8 and 9 have corresponding electrically insulating portions to prevent short circuits), or the electrical lines are simply by appropriate cavities in the pins 8 and 9 to the housing 2 and the low-voltage transformer therein (this can be arbitrarily designed, with particularly space-saving designs are advantageous) passed.

In order to enable a locking of the plug 3 with respect to the housing 2 in any position, a disc 7 is provided which increases the frictional resistance between the housing 2 and the plug 3.

Such a disk can be easily placed on the pins formed by the pins 8 and 9 before turning clipping in of the plug 3 (one-sided or two-sided). However, it is also possible to clip the plug 3 into the housing 2 and then slit a slotted disk 7 laterally onto the axis of rotation (i.e., the pins 8 and 9, respectively). Of course, other devices for increasing the frictional resistance are conceivable, e.g. closed rings, locking elements with complementary teeth etc.

Fig. 4 shows a connection part 4, wherein the internal structure is analogous to the above-described connector 3. In the embodiment shown, this rounding 18 ensures that the connecting part 4 is pivotable in one direction only, so that the pivoting of the connecting part on the in Fig. 2, in the installed state to the housing 2 part of the connecting part 4. 1 shown extreme positions D and F and any intermediate positions E is reduced.

In addition to the embodiments shown in the figures of the poles of the plug 3 and the connecting part 4 (for usual in the Federal Republic of Germany equipment or sockets) are of course other embodiments possible. Since the assembly of the plug 3 and the connecting part 4 is very simple, it is also possible that the end user (such as a frequent traveler) for different countries einclipst different plugs and connectors. In this case, an electrical contact is provided on each of the openings 11 and 12 facing sides of the pins 8 and 9, which in the above-described clipping the electrical contact with corresponding contacts in the region of the openings 11 and 12 of the housing 2 produces. In this case, it is of course provided to ensure slipping out of the pins 8 and 9 with disassembled plug 3 by means of a suitable slip-out protection.

The various connectors 3 can be designed in many ways, in addition to the two-pole versions shown here are also three-pole versions or versions with even more poles possible. The same applies, of course, for the connection part. 4

Fig. 5a shows a connector base 20 in plan view. The plug base 20 consists of three substantially aligned sockets 21. The sockets 21 are executed substantially round. Within the sockets 21 recessed sockets 22 for receiving the corresponding poles 15 (Fig. 2) are arranged recessed. The sockets 22 are arranged at approximately the same distance from the center of the circular socket 21. Connecting lines, which each connect the two sockets 22 one of the three sockets 21, are arranged parallel to each other at a distance a. The connecting lines between the two sockets 22 of a socket 21 thus extend perpendicular to the escape direction 19 of the three sockets.

Fig. 5b shows a cross-section of the connector base 20 in the side view with two inserted transformation means 1. From Fig. 5b it is immediately apparent that the pivoting of the transformation means 1 of the space-saving arrangement of the transformation means or enabling the placement of several transformation facilities side by side in the socket inserted state is used. The transformation device 1a (further left) and 1b (center) are inserted by guiding in the insertion direction 27 with the poles 15 in the complementary sockets 22.

In the case of the solid black lines, the housings 2 of the transformation devices 1a and 1b are each arranged in position B with respect to the plugs 3 (see also FIG. 1). The terminals 4 are located opposite the housings 2 in the position E. The housing 2 of the transformation means 1a and 1b (solid lines) are therefore arranged parallel to each other, the same applies to the connecting parts 4. The parallel arrangement results in an appealing aesthetic effect of the transformation means 1a and 1b and the connector base 20 formed plug assembly.

In Fig. 5b shows a outline of the transformation means la suggestive dashed line the aligned arrangement of plug 3 and connector 4 with respect to the housing 2 (this corresponds to the positions A and D in Fig. 1). In the inserted state, pivoting of the transformation device 1 a by the angle α (α is between 0 and 90 °) is possible, provided that the two remaining sockets 21 of the connector base 20 are unoccupied. If these sockets are placed, this angle α can be reduced accordingly. By rotation of the transformation means 1a by 180 ° about the insertion direction 27 (ie the vertical axis) is made possible that the housing 2 with respect to the plug 3 can also be pivoted to the left (this would correspond to a negative α in Fig. 5b). It is of course also possible to perform the rotation axis 26 so that α between -90 ° and + 90 ° is adjustable. The largest extension of the housing 2 in the inserted state, as shown in Fig. 5b, in the direction of escape is in the position A (see dashed line) less than half the socket distance a (see Fig. 5a). As a result, a particularly space-saving pivoting is possible. The socket distance a is preferably between 2 and 8 cm, more preferably a distance between 4 and 7 cm. As a reference, the distance between the poles 15 can be selected (this is usually 2 cm in the Federal Republic, for example). Here, the extent of the housing 2 in position A in the escape direction 19, for example, be between the one and 1.8 times the pole spacing.

The oriented to the upper edge 25 of the connector base 20 toward end 2a of the housing 2 is rounded so that a pivoting of the housing 2 in the inserted state by an α between -90 ° and + 90 ° would be possible. The axis of rotation 26 is above the upper edge of the plug base 20 and the recesses for the sockets 21. In the inserted state of the transformation device 1 a, the entire housing 2 is always above the upper edge 25 in each pivot position.

A particularly flexible guidance of the cable 23 is made possible by the fact that plug 3 and connection part 4 are located at opposite ends of the housing 2 and the axes of rotation of the plug and of the connection part are arranged substantially parallel to one another. In Fig. 5b, the transformation means 1a and 1b are shown plugged into the connecting parts 4 plugs 24. To the plug 24 close cable 23. The pluggability of the cable 23 on the connector 4 has the advantage that in a cable defect not the entire transformation device must be replaced. The risk of damage to the cable 23 is anyway low in the present embodiment, as allowed by the pivoting connector "self-alignment" of the cable and thus the risk of kinking of the cable 23 is substantially reduced.

It is therefore the main object of the present invention to prevent space impairments by transformation facilities. When using the above-described connector assembly, each Stekker can always be equipped by a single transformation device. Should transformation devices according to the prior art or particularly bulky plugs be accommodated in a plug base 20, then it is always possible with a present transformation device 1 to optimally use the remaining space and thus avoid costs for the installation of additional, more distant sockets.

Claims (12)

1. Transformer device (1) including a transformer, which is surrounded by a housing (2), with a primary and a secondary side, and the transformer is at the primary side electrically linked to a plug (3) for connection to sockets, and at the secondary side linked to a connecting element (4) for connection of electrical appliances, characterised in that the plug (3) and the connecting element (4) are pivotal relative to housing (2) when inserted into the socket in order to realise a space-saving arrangement of the transformer device.
2. Transformer device according to Claim 1, characterised in that the plug (3) and/or connecting element (4) are linked via a rotary axis (8, 9) to the housing (2).
3. Transformer device according to Claim 2, characterised in that the rotary axis is designed as pins (8, 9) with a pretensioned spring (10) thereinbetween, and the pins (8, 9) and the spring (10) are guided in a throughbore (13) of the plug (3) or the connecting element (4) respectively.
4. Transformer device according to Claim 3, characterised in that the pins (8, 9) are at least partially made of an electrically ducting material or have cavities for passing through an electrical conductor.
5. Transformer device according to at least one of Claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the rotary axis is mounted in openings (11, 12) of the housing.
6. Transformer device according to at least one of the above claims, characterised in that between plug (3) and housing (2) and/or connecting element (4) and housing (2) is provided a device for increasing the frictional resistance.
7. Transformer device according to Claim 6, characterised in that the device is designed for increasing the frictional resistance as at least one plate (7) which radially encases the rotary axis (8, 9).
8. Transformer device according to Claim 7, characterised in that the plate (7) is slotted.
9. Transformer device according to at least one of the above claims, characterised in that the housing (2) and/or the plug (3) and/or the connecting element (4) includes burls (5) for increasing the frictional resistance of the exterior of the housing (2) and/or the plug (3) and/or the connecting element (4).
10. Transformer device according to at least one of the above claims, characterised in that the plug (3) and/or the connecting element (4) are pivotal in an angular range of 90°.
11. Transformer device according to at least one of the above claims, characterised in that the plug (3) and/or the connecting element (4) are made as two- or three-pole items.
12. Plug arrangement with transformer device according to at least one of Claims 1 to 11 as well as a plug base (20), and the plug base (2) is composed of a plurality of adjacent sockets (21) for accommodation of transformer devices.

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