EP4170829A1 - Electrical plug with facilitated insertion and extraction - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical socket comprising: a socket body (10) at the bottom of which are housed two female connection terminals (12); a well (20) housed in said grip body (10); a facade (30) movably mounted in longitudinal sliding in the well (20) between a high position and a low position; at least two grooves (24, 26) lateral longitudinal guide of the facade; at least two elastic pieces (40) each arranged in a guide groove (24, 26) and extending longitudinally between said facade (30) and the bottom of the well (20), each elastic piece (40) being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front (30) from said high position to the low position, until the insertion of a male plug into the female connection terminals, and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug by moving spontaneously said front (30) from the low position to the high position, by the relaxation of said elastic parts (40) as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from said female connection terminals.

Description

Technical field of the invention

The field of the invention is that of electrical sockets and more particularly sockets with easy insertion and extraction.

Technology background

Electrical sockets are generally formed of a socket body or base in which are arranged one or more concealed electrical circuits connected to an electrical power supply network. Male plugs can be inserted into the electrical outlet to provide electrical contact through insertion holes (also referred to throughout the text as "female connection terminals") electrically connected to the electrical circuits of the outlet.

Currently, there are many kinds of models, brands and functions of electrical outlets. During their use, the electrodes of a male plug are inserted into the insertion orifices of the socket, which makes it possible to electrically connect the electrodes of the male plug to the female connection terminals. In order to guarantee good contact with the electrical device as well as stable power, the electrodes of the male plugs are generally inserted by force into the female connection terminals. It follows that the extraction of the male plug from the outlet, when one wishes to disconnect the electrical appliance connected to the male plug, imposes to deploy a relatively large force. In daily life, users have to force to unplug the plug or they hold the plug with one hand and pull out the male plug with the other hand, which is not very convenient, especially for people elderly or children.

The documents KR1020130111113 , DE29918007 And CN111180936 each describe a socket equipped with means to facilitate the extraction of a male plug from the socket. These sockets comprise a plate configured to move up or down in a well, associated with a compression spring. With use, the patinas tend to rotate or turn over, which poses serious problems. safety and reliability.

Objectives of the invention

The invention aims to overcome this problem and to provide a socket from which the male plugs can be easily disconnected with little force.

The invention aims in particular to provide, in at least one embodiment, an electrical outlet which makes it possible to disconnect a male plug with one hand, without any particular effort.

The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment, a socket which is simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.

The invention also aims to provide, in at least one embodiment, a socket which makes it possible to avoid pivoting of the male plug when inserting or extracting the plug from the socket.

Disclosure of Invention

• un corps de prise au fond duquel sont logées deux bornes de connexion femelle,
• un puit logé dans ledit corps de prise et comprenant des ouvertures agencées en regard desdites bornes de connexion femelle,
• une façade montée mobile en coulissement longitudinal dans le puit entre une position haute et une position basse, ladite façade comprenant des ouvertures de passage d'une fiche électrique mâle destiné à venir s'enficher dans lesdites bornes de connexion femelle, lorsque la façade est dans la position basse,
• un limitateur s'étendant radialement de ladite façade et configuré pour venir en butée contre une arrête solidaire du puit de manière à limiter le déplacement vers le haut de ladite façade.

To do this, the invention relates to an electrical outlet comprising:

• a socket body at the bottom of which are housed two female connection terminals,
• a well housed in said socket body and comprising openings arranged facing said female connection terminals,
• a facade mounted to slide longitudinally in the well between a high position and a low position, said facade comprising passage openings for a male electrical plug intended to be plugged into said female connection terminals, when the facade is in the low position,
• a limiter extending radially from said facade and configured to come into abutment against a stop integral with the well so as to limit the upward movement of said facade.

• au moins deux rainures latérales de guidage longitudinal de la façade,
• au moins deux pièces élastiques agencées chacune dans une rainure de guidage et s'étendant longitudinalement entre ladite façade et le fond du puit, chaque pièce élastique étant configurée pour pouvoir être comprimée lors du déplacement de ladite façade de ladite position haute à la position basse, sous l'effet d'une force exercée par un opérateur enfichant la fiche mâle dans ladite façade, jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit en prise avec les bornes de connexion femelle, et pour pouvoir faciliter le retrait de la fiche mâle en déplaçant spontanément ladite façade de la position basse à la position haute, par la détente desdits pièces élastiques dès qu'un opérateur déloge la fiche mâle desdites bornes de connexion femelle.

The electrical outlet according to the invention is characterized in that it further comprises:

• at least two lateral longitudinal guide grooves of the facade,
• at least two elastic pieces each arranged in a groove guide and extending longitudinally between said facade and the bottom of the well, each elastic part being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said facade from said high position to the low position, under the effect of a force exerted by an operator inserting the male plug into said facade, until it engages with the female connection terminals, and in order to be able to facilitate removal of the male plug by spontaneously moving said facade from the low position to the high position , by the relaxation of said elastic parts as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from said female connection terminals.

The electrical outlet according to the invention therefore has the particularity of having two lateral grooves for the longitudinal guide of the facade in the well, each groove housing an elastic part intended to store energy during the movement of the movable facade from the position high to the low position, until the electrodes of the male plug are inserted into the female connection terminals of the plug, and to restore this energy stored when disconnecting the male plug, so as to facilitate the extraction of the male plug, by moving the front from the low position to the high position.

Each guide groove forms a unit with the elastic piece housed in the groove. The presence of the lateral grooves for the longitudinal guide of the facade makes it possible to prevent the facade from turning or overturning during the raising and lowering operations of the facade. In addition, the guide grooves are arranged laterally along the shaft of the socket, which allows the faceplate to be balanced in the shaft during raising and lowering operations.

In addition, the female connection terminals are arranged on the bottom of the well and are separated from the user by the presence of the mobile front, which secures the socket by avoiding any risk of contact between the user's hands and the female connection terminals of the socket.

Advantageously and according to the invention, each lateral longitudinal guide groove comprises an upper portion integral with said movable facade and a lower portion secured to the bottom of the well, arranged longitudinally opposite the upper portion, said elastic piece housed in this groove being secured respectively to the upper portion and to the lower portion and extending between the upper portion and the lower portion.

Thus and according to this advantageous variant, each guide groove is formed of two portions of grooves separate from each other and spaced apart from each other longitudinally. The elastic piece has two ends, each end being integral with one of the two groove portions. The part being elastic, when the facade moves from the high position to the low position, the upper portion of the groove approaches the lower portion of the groove, which causes the compression of the elastic part which stores energy . When the front is moved from the low position to the high position (resulting from a disconnection of the male plug), the elastic part restores the stored energy and moves the high groove towards the top of the socket.

This variant thus advantageously makes it possible to have portions of grooves secured respectively to the well and to the facade, which allows better retention of the elastic part, while allowing the movement of the facade relative to the bottom of the well. In other words, the elastic parts are not free in the well, but are partly housed in the grooves to prevent any untimely movement of the elastic parts, while allowing the movement of the facade with respect to the bottom of the well.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said grip body and said facade have at least one plane of symmetry and said lateral longitudinal guide grooves are arranged symmetrically with respect to this plane of symmetry.

According to this advantageous variant, the elastic parts are arranged symmetrically in the socket so that the front is subjected to the elastic force restored by the elastic parts in a homogeneous manner, which allows balanced sliding of the front upwards during operations. disconnecting the male plug.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one elastic part, preferably each elastic part, is a compression spring.

According to this advantageous variant, the elastic compression force of the spring is less than the friction between the electrodes of the male plug and the female connection terminals of the socket so that the male plug can remain plugged into the female connection terminals in l absence of a disconnection action performed by a user.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said movable facade comprises an upper plate and a lower plate secured to each other, and each comprising openings for passing the pins of a male plug arranged facing each other, said facade further comprising a shutter mounted so as to be able to pivot between said upper and lower plates between a position for closing said passage openings of the lower plate and a position for releasing the passage openings allowing the insertion of a male electrical plug into said take.

A socket according to this advantageous variant makes it possible to protect users by obstructing direct access to the connectors in the absence of a male plug. By default, the shutter is in the closed position and it is only when the male plug is inserted that the shutter can pivot into the open position to allow access to the electrical outlet connectors.

Advantageously and according to the invention, the socket further comprises a clip-on connection groove formed in the bottom of said well and a hook piece clipped into said clip-on connection groove, said hook piece further comprising a hook making it possible to fix said socket.

According to this advantageous variant, the socket can be fixed on a support by means of the hook clipped into the body of the socket. The user can thus and for example fix the socket at the desired height, at the top of a wall or suspended under a table.

According to a variant of the invention, the socket comprises three wells, each well being equipped with a front panel mounted to slide longitudinally in the well between a high position and a low position, said front panel comprising openings for the passage of a plug electrical male intended to be plugged into said female connection terminals housed at the bottom of the well, when the facade is in the low position. Each well is further equipped with a limiter which extends radially from said platen and configured to abut against the socket body so as to limit the upward movement of the platen. In addition, each well comprises two lateral longitudinal guide grooves of a facade, and two elastic parts each arranged in a guide groove and extending longitudinally between said facade and the bottom of the well, each elastic part being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front from said high position to the low position, under the effect of a force exerted by an operator inserting the male plug into said front, until it engages with the terminals of female connection, and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug by spontaneously moving said front from the low position to the high position, by the relaxation of said elastic parts as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from said female connection terminals.

A socket according to this variant therefore forms a multiple socket and therefore comprises three sockets with easy insertion and extraction, allowing the connection of three male plugs.

The invention also relates to a socket characterized in combination by all or some of the characteristics mentioned above or below.

List of Figures

• [Fig. 1] est une vue schématique en perspective éclatée d'une prise selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• [Fig. 2] est une vue schématique en perspective assemblée de la prise de la figure 1, sur laquelle une découpe partielle a été réalisée pour représenter les éléments internes à la prise,
• [Fig. 3] est une vue schématique en perspective éclatée d'une prise selon un autre mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• [Fig. 4] est une vue schématique en perspective des différentes étapes d'insertion et d'extraction d'une fiche mâle dans une prise selon le mode de réalisation des figures 1 et 2,
• [Fig. 5] est une vue schématique en perspective d'une multiprise selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• [Fig. 6] est une vue schématique en perspective d'une multiprise selon un autre mode de réalisation de l'invention,

Other aims, characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description given solely by way of non-limiting and which refers to the appended figures in which:

• [ Fig. 1 ] is a schematic exploded perspective view of a socket according to one embodiment of the invention,
• [ Fig. 2 ] is a schematic assembled perspective view of the grip of the figure 1 , on which a partial cutout has been made to represent the internal elements of the socket,
• [ Fig. 3 ] is a schematic exploded perspective view of a socket according to another embodiment of the invention,
• [ Fig. 4 ] is a schematic perspective view of the various stages of insertion and extraction of a male plug into a socket according to the embodiment of the figure 1 And 2 ,
• [ Fig. 5 ] is a schematic perspective view of a power strip according to one embodiment of the invention,
• [ Fig. 6 ] is a schematic perspective view of a power strip according to another embodiment of the invention,

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

In the figures, scales and proportions are not strictly adhered to, for purposes of illustration and clarity. Throughout the following detailed description with reference to the figures, unless otherwise indicated, each element of the socket is described as it is arranged when the socket is mounted and arranged on a flat support. This configuration is represented in particular on the figure 4 .

In addition, identical, similar or analogous elements are designated by the same references in all the figures.

The longitudinal direction corresponding to the direction of movement of the mobile facade between the high position, represented on the left of the figure 4 , and the low position, represented on the third view of the figure 4 .

THE figure 1 And 2 illustrate a socket according to one embodiment of the invention.

The plug comprises a plug body 10 housing a well 20 which extends along a longitudinal direction. Female connection terminals 12 are arranged at the bottom of socket body 10. These female connection terminals 12 are intended to receive electrodes 52 of a male plug 50, when the latter is inserted into the socket according to the invention. The well 20 comprises openings 22 for passage of the electrodes 52 of the male plug 50 arranged longitudinally opposite the female connection terminals 12.

The socket further comprises a front 30 mounted so as to slide longitudinally in the well 20 between a high position and a low position. The facade 30 and the well 20 each have a symmetry of revolution.

The facade 30 comprising openings 32 for the passage of the electrodes 21 of the male plug 20, arranged opposite the openings 22 for the passage of the well and the female connection terminals 12 to allow the male plug to be inserted into the connection terminals females 12, arranged opposite, when the facade is in the low position. In other words, the electrodes 52 of the male plug 50 pass through the openings 32 of the facade, the openings 22 of the well 20 and come to be lodged in force in the female connection terminals 12.

The grip also includes a limiter 38 which extends radially from the faceplate 30 and which is configured to abut against an edge 28 of the well 20 so as to limit the upward movement of said faceplate 30.

The socket according to the invention also comprises two lateral grooves 24, 26 for the longitudinal guide of the facade 30, each groove housing a spring 40 forming the elastic part which extends between the facade 30 and the bottom of the well 20. The grooves 24 , 26 side are arranged diametrically opposite along the walls of the well 20.

The springs 40 are configured to be able to be compressed during the displacement of the front 30 from the high position to the low position, under the effect of a force exerted by an operator inserting the male plug 50 into the front 30, until that it engages with the female connection terminals 12.

In addition, the springs 40 facilitate the removal of the male plug by exerting a detent force which pushes the facade 30 upwards from the socket as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from the female connection terminals. The upward movement of the facade 30 is hindered by the limiter 38. This limiter 38 is for example formed by lugs which extend radially from a lower surface of the facade 30 to come into abutment against a crown formed in the well 20.

As shown on the picture 2 , each lateral longitudinal guide groove preferably comprises an upper portion 26 secured to the movable facade 30 and a lower portion 24 secured to the bottom of the well 20, arranged longitudinally opposite the upper portion 26. The spring 40 extends between the upper portion of the groove 26 and the lower portion 24 of the groove.

Preferably and as shown in the figures, the mobile facade 30 comprises an upper plate 31 and a lower plate 34 secured to each other. In addition, the front 30 comprises a shutter 36 mounted to pivot between the upper 31 and lower 34 plates. This shutter makes it possible to close the passage openings 33 of the front in the absence of the male plug 50. During the insertion of the male plug 50, the electrodes 52 of the plug 50 rotate the shutter 36 to release the passage 33 and allow the insertion of the electrodes to the female connection terminals 12. The shutter 36 is maintained by default in the closed position by the presence of a spring which extends between the shutter and the lower plate 34 of the front 30.

There figure 1 illustrates an embodiment further comprising a pin 14 mounted on the socket body and extending through the well 20 and the movable front 30. This pin 14 is intended to ensure the grounding of the electrical device connected on this take.

There picture 3 illustrates a socket according to another embodiment of the invention. The main difference with taking the figure 1 is the presence of an earth connection 16 which extends over the side walls of the well 20. This earth connection 16 is intended to ensure the earthing of the electrical device connected to this outlet.

There figure 4 illustrates the principle of use of a socket according to the invention. Starting from the left view towards the right view, the figure illustrates a male plug 50 intended to be inserted into the socket according to the invention. The following view illustrates the male plug inserted into the front 30 of the socket, the latter still being in the high position. The following view illustrates the male plug inserted into the socket, the front being in the low position in which the electrodes of the male plug (not visible on the figure 4 ) are inserted into the female connection terminals 12. The following view illustrates the male plug disconnected from the socket, the front panel being raised in the high position by the action of springs 40 (not shown on the figure 4 ).

THE figure 5 And 6 schematically illustrate power strips comprising each several sockets according to the invention, respectively according to the figure 1 and the picture 3 +. They each comprise a socket body equipped with three wells, each well being similar to those described in connection with the preceding figures. Each well further comprises a facade and springs similar to those described in connection with the preceding figures.

The particularity of the power strip of the figure 6 is to further comprise a clip-on connection groove 62 formed in the bottom of the well 20 and a hook part 64 clipped into the clip-on connection groove 62. This hook part 64 further comprises a hook 66 intended to allow the power strip to be fixed to a wall or under a table for example.

Claims (7)

Electrical outlet including: - a socket body (10) at the bottom of which are housed two female connection terminals (12), - a well (20) housed in said socket body (10) and comprising openings arranged (22) facing said female connection terminals (12), - a facade (30) mounted movably in longitudinal sliding in the well (20) between a high position and a low position, said facade (30) comprising openings (32) for the passage of a male electrical plug (50) intended to come to be plugged into said female connection terminals (12), when the front (30) is in the low position, - a limiter (38) extending radially from said facade (30) and configured to come into abutment against an edge (28) integral with the well (20) so as to limit the upward displacement of said facade (30), characterized in that the socket further comprises: - at least two lateral grooves (24, 26) for the longitudinal guide of the facade, - at least two elastic pieces (40) each arranged in a guide groove (24, 26) and extending longitudinally between said facade (30) and the bottom of the well (20), each elastic piece (40) being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front (30) from said high position to the low position, under the effect of a force exerted by an operator inserting the male plug (50) into said front, until it is in engagement with the female connection terminals (12), and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug (50) by spontaneously moving the said front (30) from the low position to the high position, by the relaxation of the said elastic parts (40) as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from said female connection terminals. Electrical socket according to Claim 1, characterized in that each lateral longitudinal guide groove comprises an upper portion (26) secured to the said movable front (30) and a lower portion (24) secured to the bottom of the well (20), arranged longitudinally facing the upper portion, said elastic piece (40) housed in this groove being integral respectively with the upper portion (26) and the lower portion (24) and extending between the upper portion and the lower portion. Socket according to one of Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the said socket body (10) and the said front (30) have at least one plane of symmetry and in that the said lateral longitudinal guide grooves (24, 26) are arranged symmetrically with respect to this plane of symmetry. Socket according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that at least one elastic part (40), preferably each elastic part, is a compression spring. Socket according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the said movable front (30) comprises an upper plate (35) and a lower plate (34) secured to each other, and each comprising openings ( 32) for passage of the pins (52) of a male plug (50) arranged facing each other, said facade (30) further comprising a shutter (36) mounted so as to pivot between said upper plates (31) and bottom (34) between a closed position of said passage openings of the lower plate and a release position of the passage openings allowing the insertion of a male electrical plug into said socket. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it further comprises a clip-on connection groove (62) made in the bottom of said well and a hook part (64) clipped in said clip-on connection groove (62 ), said hook piece further comprising a hook (66) for securing said grip. Socket according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises two guide grooves and two elastic parts each housed in a guide groove.

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