FR2699745A1 - Power supply socket with integrated protection from live contacts - Google Patents

Abstract

The front compartment (2) for insertion of a plug is sepd. from a rectangular rear compartment (3) by a wall (4) through which three circular openings (10) give access to spaces (8, 9) around the ends (12) of the two phase contacts and a shutter (20).The latter is a V-shaped element with elastic branches (21, 22) joined together at one side to form a terminal head (23) for suspension from the cover (5). The ends (27, 28) of the branches are pushed away from the openings by the pins of the incoming plug.

Description

Female socket outlet, with integrated protection.

 The present invention relates to a female socket outlet with integrated protection.

 This type of socket is as such known.

The integrated protection consists of a shutter, which obscures access to the two phase sockets of the female socket, when the male socket is not connected.

 Document FR-A-2 674 993 describes such a female socket. This socket is a wall socket. It comprises a base and a shutter constituted by a plate mounted to slide between a rest position, for which the shutter obscures the accesses to the phase cells, and a release position, for which it releases the accesses to these phase cells. This shutter is biased in the rest position by a spring. I1 goes into the release position with the forceful insertion of the pins of the male plug into two access holes to the phase cells. This plate defines two flaps, which are associated with the two accesses to these two phase cells and are connected by the middle part of the plate, biased by the spring. For its suitable elastic mounting, it is necessary to provide, on the base, a housing for the spring and stops for the flaps, the latter themselves being provided with a catch notch on their stop. These provisions allow the two flaps to escape the stops, when they are both biased by the two pins of the male plug. It also allows, when only one of the flaps is biased by a single pin, that this flap does not escape its abutment and does not release access to the corresponding phase cell.

 These provisions make the shutter relatively fragile and the effectiveness of the protection relatively uncertain over time. In addition, this shutter integrated in a wall socket is too large in size for its integrated mounting in a female plug, also called female socket, of an extension.

 The object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of the protections integrated in these female sockets and to make them of suitable dimensions for their possible mounting both in the wall female sockets and in the female extension sockets, without modifying the dimensions. exterior of the latter sockets.

 It relates to a socket outlet with integrated protection, comprising - a support body having a rear compartment and a front plug-in compartment, separated by a common bottom defined by said support body, - a cover closing said rear compartment and partitioning it into two lateral cells separated by a middle cell, - two phase connections retained in said phase cells and accessible from said front compartment, through two holes in said common bottom, and - a shutter provided with two flaps associated with said holes , mounted for actuation in said rear compartment between a rest position for which said flaps are interposed between the holes and the phase cells and a release position for which the flaps are erased and free access to said phase cells, characterized in that said shutter is a piece called Vee, having two elastic branches on the one hand connected to one another and to a terminal suspension head and on the other hand bent towards the outside of the V, to the terminal part of each of them opposite to said head, the terminal parts of said branches constituting said flaps, and in that said cover comprises retaining means, projecting from the cover in said central cell, retaining said suspension head of said shutter.

 This outlet can also have at least one of the following additional characteristics - said branches include at least one hollowed out part and at least one solid part, complementary from one of the branches to the other.

- Said flaps are projecting on the bent branches on one side located opposite said common bottom, and each comprise a so-called guide face, pressing against said common bottom for said rest position of the shutter, and an inclined ramp located substantially opposite the corresponding hole for said rest position.

- Each flap further comprises means for locking the shutter substantially in said rest position, preferably constituted by a notch in the guide face of one of the flaps and by at least one corresponding tab projecting from the other flap next to each notch of the first flap.

The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description given below of an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the attached drawings. In these drawings
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a female socket outlet with integrated protection, according to the invention,
FIG. 2 is a view from a so-called rear face of said socket which is not fully equipped,
- Figures 3 and 4 are two sectional views corresponding to Figure 1, and illustrating with this Figure 1 the operation of the shutter.

 The socket illustrated in these figures is an extension socket. It comprises a body 1 in which a front compartment 2 for plugging in a male plug and a rear compartment 3 are defined, on either side of a common separation bottom 4.

 As a variant, the female socket concerned by the invention may be a wall socket then comprising a base on which a rear compartment and a front compartment are defined, also with a common separation bottom defined by a central part of the base.

 The rear compartment 3 is of substantially rectangular section. It is closed, opposite the common bottom 4, by a cover 5. This cover has a peripheral rim, not referenced, fitting into the rear compartment, against its peripheral wall. It also has two transverse ribs 6 and 7, which are very projecting in the rear compartment, thus divided into three cells side by side and almost identical, called phase cells 8 for the two lateral and middle cell 9 for the third. The two phase cells 8 are open opposite the common bottom 4, in which two circular holes 10 are provided, each centered on the axis of the phase cell concerned.

 The two phase cells 8 are assigned to two phase contacts 11 of the socket. Each receives and retains a terminal connection 12, illustrated semi-circular, of the corresponding phase contact 11, this contact having an opposite terminal terminal 13 for connection on the rear of the socket to a conductor not shown. The phase connections 12 are thus accessible from the front compartment 2, through the holes 10, for their connection to the two pins 15 (FIG. 3) of a male connector, not shown, which is plugged into this female connector.

 This socket also comprises a shutter 20. This is described with particular reference to FIG. 1, in which it is shown in the rest position, and / or FIG. 2 in which the socket is shown without its cover. and its aforementioned phase connections.

 The shutter 20 is mounted in the middle cell 9, on the cover 5. It extends in this middle cell and on one side and the other thereof, between the common bottom 4 and the two cells side 8, to interpose on the accesses to the phase connections 12, when it is in the rest position.

 It consists of a single piece having an overall V-shape, with two elastic branches 21 and 22. I1 has a terminal cylindrical head 23, for hanging on the cover, formed just on the outside of the branch. of Vé. Each of the two branches has its end part, opposite the suspension head, which forms a transition elbow 25 or 26, at the end of the corresponding rib 6 or 7 to circumvent it, and a shutter 27 or 28 associated with one, respectively the other, of the two holes 10.

 This shutter is made integral with the cover 5, by engagement of the suspension head 23 between a pair of retaining hooks 29, arched opposite, which are provided for this purpose on the middle part of the cover 5, between its two ribs 6 and 7. By this assembly, it constitutes a balanced pendulum, carried by the cover, extending in the rear compartment 3 of the socket.

 Its two branches 21 and 22 are said to be complementary to each other, for their embedding one through the other in the middle cell. Thus with regard to the illustrated embodiment, the branch 21 has its only solid middle part, denoted 21C, over the length of this branch including the branch on one side and the transition elbow 25 but not its end flap 27, and a its two side parts individually marked 21A and 21B, which are hollowed out. The branch 22 has in correspondence its recessed middle part 22C and its two full lateral parts, denoted 22A and 22B.

 The shutter flaps 27 and 28 are of substantially trapezoidal cross section. They are of a thickness much greater than that of the branches at least at their departure from the elbow of the branch concerned, but are protruding on the elbow only on the side of the common bottom 4. Their face extending the elbow and not protruding on it is said rear face of the flap.

 The shutter 27 has two lateral notches 27A and 27B in its rear face, which extend the two hollowed-out parts of the branch 21. The shutter 28 has a middle notch 28A in the extension of the hollowed-out middle part of the branch 22. These indentations extend only over part of the length of each flap.

 Each of the flaps defines a stepped heel 27E, 28E on the elbow of each branch. It forms, from this stepped heel, a guide face 27G or 28G, which is in abutment against the common bottom 4 for the rest position of the shutter, and an inclined ramp 27R or 28R, located mainly opposite each of the holes 10, for this same rest position.

 The flaps 27 and 28 also have means for locking the shutter, when the latter must not be actuated in the release position. To this end, the flap 27 has two lateral notches 27V along the length of its guide face 27R. In correspondence, the flap 28 has two lateral tabs 28 V, which project from its stepped heel 28E, and extend practically to the stepped heel 27E of the other flap. These two tabs 28V are slightly inclined relative to the guide face 28G or to the common bottom 4, the angle of inclination with the common bottom being of the order of 5 e when the shutter is in the rest position.

 Of course, additional provisions, different from those described above, can be provided in said branches and their terminal flaps.

 The socket thus protected is preferably a socket fitted with a ground pin 30. This pin 30 projects into the front compartment 2 and is retained in the common bottom 4, just on the outside of the central cell. The plug can alternatively be without such a ground pin.

 FIG. 3 illustrates the shutter 20 placed in the release position, with the connection of the two pins 15 to the phase connections 12. FIG. 4 illustrates this same shutter 20 locked, almost in the rest position, during an attempt to insertion of a single pin denoted 31 or a tool rod in one of the phase connections through one of the holes 10.

 This FIG. 4 shows that the pressure pressing of the spindle 31 on the inclined ramp 27R of the single flap 27 causes a slight displacement of this flap thus applied against the opening of the corresponding phase socket 8.

The non-requested flap 28 remains in its initial position with the shutter at rest. Under these conditions, the front notches 27V of the flap 27 are parallel to the common bottom 4 while the tabs 28V of the flap 28 are inclined relative to the bottom and offset linearly with respect to the notches 27V.

 Consequently, any pressure exerted on the inclined ramp 27R has no effect on the flap 27 in order to allow its erasure from access to the corresponding phase connection, due to the abutment of the tabs 28V against the stepped heel 27E of the flap 27.

 In the same FIG. 4, the position 28 ′ of the flap 28 is shown in dotted lines, after its slight displacement identical to that of the flap 27, and the position 28 ′ V of its tabs 28 V, which are obtained when pressure is also exerted on the flap 28. For these latter conditions, we see that the tabs 28'V are aligned with the two notches 27V of the flap 27 and can be inserted therein to slide one on or in the other.

Consequently, the accesses to the phase connections can thus gradually be cleared, for the connection of the two pins 15 to the phase connections, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

 Figures 3 and 4 also show that as the two flaps are gradually released by the two pins such as 15, their two ramps 27R and 28R slide on these two pins while the two branches 21 and 22 are deformed elastically and intersect with one another. The solid and hollowed-out parts of the branches are received mutually, the first in seconds until the access flaps are completely erased and pins 15 are fully inserted into the phase connections 12.

 The withdrawal of the pins 15 causes the shutter to return elastic to its rest position, shown in FIG. 1.

 The shape of the pendulum and the dimensions of this shutter are suitable for its quick and easy mounting in a wall socket or in an extension socket. In particular, they are such that they do not modify the external dimensions of the socket thus equipped with an extension. This shutter and its mounting method also give rise to only a negligible additional cost for the female sockets thus equipped, relative to the initial unprotected sockets.

Claims (8)

1) Female socket outlet with integrated protection, comprising - a support body having a rear compartment and a front plug-in compartment, separated by a common bottom defined by said support body, - a cover closing said rear compartment and partitioning it off in two lateral cells separated by a middle cell, - two phase connections retained in said phase cells and accessible from said front compartment, through two holes in said common bottom, and - a shutter provided with two flaps associated with said holes, mounted actuatable in said rear compartment between a rest position for which said flaps are interposed between the holes and the phase cells and a release position for which the flaps are cleared and free access to said phase cells, characterized in that said shutter ( 20) is a so-called V-shaped part, having two elastic branches (21, 22) of a on the one hand connected to the other and to a terminal suspension head (23) and on the other hand bent towards the outside of the Vee, to the terminal part of each of them opposite to said head, the terminal parts said branches constituting said flaps (27, 28), and in that said cover (5) comprises retaining means (29) projecting from the cover in said central cell (8), retaining said suspension head of said shutter. 2. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that said branches (21, 22) comprise at least one recessed part (21A, 21B, 22C) and at least one solid part (21C, 22A, 22B), complementary to one branch to another. 3. Socket according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said flaps (27, 28) are projecting on the bent branches (22, 23), on one side located opposite said common bottom ( 4). 4. Socket according to claim 3, characterized in that each flap (27, 28) has a so-called guide face (27G, 28G), bearing against said common bottom (4) for said rest position of the shutter, and an inclined ramp (27R, 28B) located substantially opposite the corresponding hole (10) for said rest position. 5. Power outlet according to claim 4, characterized in that each flap (27, 28) further comprises locking means (27V, 28V) of the shutter substantially in said rest position. 6. Socket according to claim 5, characterized in that said locking means (27V, 28V) consist of at least one notch in the guide face (27G) of one of the flaps and by at least one tab corresponding (28V) projecting from the other flap (28) opposite each notch of the first flap. 7. Power outlet according to claim 6, characterized in that each tab (28V), is inclined by a few degrees relative to said common bottom (4), for the rest position of the shutter, and is parallel to it when the flap bears against the end of the corresponding phase cell, for its possible insertion into the notch (27V) of the guide face of the other flap (27). 8. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said retaining means (29) on said cover (5) are constituted by a pair of hooks (23) arcuate opposite opposite receiving between them said suspension head (23) by securing said shutter to said cover (5).