FR2913820A1 - Male outlet for e.g. lighting equipment, has wings folded perpendicular to axes of pins in safety position to close cavity when male outlet is plugged-in or to avoid access to ground terminal when female outlet does not have cavity - Google Patents

Abstract

The outlet (10) has gripping wings (21, 22) tiltably mounted on an electrically insulating body between gripping and safety positions. The wings are extended parallel to axes of connection pins (15, 16) in the gripping position for being gripped between two fingers to permit plugging-in or removal of the outlet. The wings are folded perpendicular to the axes in the safety position to close a cavity of a female outlet (1) when the outlet (10) is plugged into the outlet (1), or to avoid access to a ground terminal of the outlet (1) when the outlet (1) does not have the cavity.

Description

The subject of the present invention is an ergonomic electrical socket

high level of security.

  It relates more particularly, but not exclusively, male plugs, of small dimensions, for the connection on the domestic electrical network, of low power devices whose insulation does not require a grounding.

  This type of plug with two branches, which is commonly used for lighting devices, has a volume as low as possible, especially for reasons of lightness, cost and size. Some of these jacks are designed to be able to engage in wall sockets arranged, for example behind a piece of furniture folded against the wall on which the socket is arranged.

  The disadvantage of these plugs is that because of their small size, they are not very ergonomic and are difficult to plug or extract from the socket.

  This is particularly the case when the connectors of the socket 30 open into the bottom of a cavity (usually cylindrical) of the body of the socket. It is particularly difficult to take the plug as well to make a connection that to ensure extraction, taking the fingertips.

  This operation is made even more difficult when the socket is provided with security means closing the ports for access to the connectors: these security means oppose the introduction of the pins of the plug, then exert on these pins shear forces requiring a relatively large extraction effort.

  Another significant disadvantage of these plugs is that to be able to sink into sockets equipped with ground connection pins, they must have a relatively small width. Indeed, to be plugged in, the male pin must allow the passage of the grounding pin of the socket (to the right or to the left of it).

  As a result, when plugging or removing the plug, the operator may come into electrical contact with the ground while holding firmly this plug. It is clear that this contact is not free of risk, especially in the case of a defect affecting the ground line and defective insulation between the ground wires and the electrical conductors of the sector, either at the level of the connections of the network, or devices connected to this network. This risk also exists for children who can access the grounding pin with their fingers when the plug is plugged in. It also affects other types of sockets such as, for example, outlets with ground connection at the periphery of the socket body.

  The object of the invention is therefore more particularly to eliminate these disadvantages. For this purpose, it proposes a plug comprising, in a conventional manner, a body of electrically insulating material having two opposite main faces, a lower face in which two connection pins engage, an upper face, two side faces and an electric cable connected to the upper part of one of the side faces whose two conductors are respectively connected to the two pins inside said body. This socket is dimensioned so that it can be plugged in particular, but not exclusively, into a receptacle having a body provided with a cavity having a bottom into which two female connection elements open and from which a spindle extends. ground connection. The two main faces of the body of the plug are separated from each other by a distance at most equal to twice the distance between the earth connection pin and the straight line connecting the female connection elements. In the plugged position of the plug, the upper face of its body protrudes slightly beyond the aforesaid cavity so that the electric cable does not bend.

  According to the invention, this plug is characterized in that it comprises two gripping wings which extend laterally, on either side of the longitudinal median plane 20 of said body, these two wings being pivotally mounted on said body between two positions, namely:

  a gripping position in which the two wings extend approximately parallel to the axes of said pins, so as to be able to be gripped between two fingers to allow plugging or extraction of said plug, and a safety position in which the two wings are folded approximately perpendicular to said axes, so as to at least partially close the cavity of the socket when the plug is plugged into the socket, make it difficult to access the grounding terminal and thus play the role of a security plug cache.

  Advantageously, the socket according to the invention may comprise temporary locking means such as, for example, latching means arranged between the body of the socket and the wings so as to ensure a temporary retention of the wings in the gripping position and / or in the safety position and / or possibly in folded position against the body, position in which the socket can be used as a conventional socket.

  Similarly, the two wings may be coupled to each other by a mechanism such as, for example, a pinion so that the tilting of one of the wings causes the tilting of the other wing.

  Embodiments of the invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGS. 1 and 2 are two schematic perspective views of a plug of which both are gripping wings are secured to one another, Figure 1 showing the taken in the extracted position and Figure 2 showing the same plug in position plugged into a socket; Figures 3 and 4 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2 of a plug having two independent wings hinged about two respective transverse axes;

  Figures 5 and 6 are two views similar to Figures 3 and 4 of a plug having two independent wings hinged about two respective longitudinal axes;

  Figures 7 and 8 are two perspective views of an alternative embodiment of the socket shown in Figures 5 and 6; Figures 9 and 10 show an alternative embodiment of the socket shown in Figures 5 and 6, wherein the two wings are hinged about a common longitudinal axis; Figures 11 and 12 are perspective views of an alternative embodiment of the socket shown in Figures 9 and 10;

  Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a conventional type socket including a ground connection pin.

  The plugs shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 are low-power outlets mounted on two-wire wireless cables. These jacks are designed and dimensioned so that they can be plugged into sockets with a grounding pin such as, for example, those partially shown in Figures 1 to 6, and whose upper part is visible on the figure 13.

  This socket 1 comprises a cylindrical body 2 open on one side and closed on the other side by a bottom 3.

  At its orifice, the body 2 is extended by a radial collar 4 whose outer edge has a square shape. This border is itself extended by an axial flange 5 coming back (at right angles) towards the bottom.

  The bottom 3 comprises two orifices 6, 7 symmetrical with respect to the axis of the body 2 and a third orifice through which a ground connection pin 8 extends axially over part of the height of the body 2.

  This socket 1 is normally designed for male plugs with a cylindrical body adapted to engage the body cavity of the socket and which comprises two male pins capable of engaging with the ports 6, 7 of the socket. female and a female connector in which engages the ground connection pin 8. Of course, in this case the aforementioned security problems do not arise. Similarly, the ergonomics problems are less acute because the plug is relatively bulky and protrudes outside the socket cavity when plugged into it, the protruding portion then serving as a grasping organ. As previously mentioned, the invention relates to a plug of dimensions as small as possible, this plug does not include a connection to the ground but is designed so as to be connected to a socket equipped with a connection pin to earth, such as that shown in Figure 13.

  For this purpose, this plug 10 has a flat shape whose thickness is at most equal to twice the distance between the male pin 8 and the straight line connecting the axes of the two orifices 6, 7 of the socket 1. The length of this plug is, in turn, smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical cavity of the body 2 of the socket 1. Its height may be slightly greater than the depth of the cavity, so as to allow a radial departure of the electric cable 1 connected to the plug 10. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 12, the plug 10 has a flat, substantially parallelepipedal shape, comprising two planar, main parallel faces 12, 13, a flat lower face 14 carrying the two pins 15, 16 of the socket and two curved lateral faces 17, 18 whose radius of curvature is slightly less than that of the cavity of the body 2 of the socket 1. The cable connection is 11 at the plug 10 20 is performed at the side face 18 at a height slightly greater than the depth of the body cavity 2 of the socket 1.

  In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2, the upper face 19 of the socket 10 is flat, or slightly curved.

  The gripping and safety functions of the socket are provided by a slightly curved plate having a U-shape comprising two relatively wide wings 21, 22 connected to one another at one of their ends by a web 23. The distance separating the two wings 21, 22 is substantially equal to the thickness of the grip 10.

  This plate 20 is arranged so as to overlap the socket 10. The two wings 21, 22 which extend against the main faces 12, 13 over their entire length are hinged to the socket 10 about an axis perpendicular to the main faces, thanks to two journals 23 provided on the wings 21, 22 which engage in two respective holes made in the upper part of the median region of the lateral faces 12, 13.

  With this arrangement, the wings 21, 22 can tilt simultaneously to pass from an extraction and / or gripping position shown in FIG. 1, in which they extend obliquely or perpendicularly to the upper 19 and lower 14 faces, at a safety position where it extends parallel to said faces 19, 14 (Figure 2).

  In the safety position, the wings 21, 22 at least partially cover the upper face of the socket 1, by closing the cavity. Access to the grounding pin 8 is then prohibited.

  An advantage of the solution described above is that, from the safety position, during the tilting of the wings 21, 22 to the extraction position (or gripping), under the effect of a traction performed at the level of the core 23, the free edges of the wings 21, 22 bear on the upper face of the socket 1 by exerting a pulling force facilitating the extraction of the plug 10. In the example illustrated on the FIGS. 3 and 4, the plug 30 is provided with two U-shaped plates 31, 32, similar to the previously described plate, but in which the flanges 33, 34 to 35, 36 have a length approximately equal to half that of These two plates 31, 32 overlap the plug 30 and are hinged thereto, at the end of the flanges 33, 34, 35, 36 around two respective parallel axes 37, 38 perpendicular to the faces. main 39, 40 and located in the pa higher median of these. In the gripping position, the two plates 31, 32 are folded against each other above the upper face 41.

  In this position, the two plates 31, 32 can be easily grasped between the fingers.

  In the safety position, the two plates 31, 32 are folded in a plane parallel to the upper 41 and lower 42 faces, so as to cover at least partially the upper face of the socket 1 by closing its cylindrical cavity.

  The position of the axes 37, 38 relative to the end of the flanges 33, 34 to 35, 36 and / or the conformation of said ends are designed so that during the tilting of the plates 31, 32, the flanges 33 , 34 to 35, 36 exert on the female socket 1 a force generating by reaction a pulling force of the plug 30. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper face of the socket body 50 comprises in its central part, two parallelepipedal lateral recesses 51, 52 separated from each other by a longitudinal central partition 53, so that this upper face has substantially the shape of an H. In this example, taking 50 comprises two lateral wings 54, 55 of substantially rectangular shape, slightly convex adapted to improve the grip.

  One of the longitudinal edges of these wings comprises two protuberances 56, 57 to 58, 59 terminated by journals which engage in bores made in opposite transverse faces of a recess 51, 52 corresponding, so as to be able to rotate around an axis parallel to the longitudinal median plane of symmetry of the plug 50. Thanks to these arrangements, the wings 54, 55 can pass from a gripping position, in which they extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal median plane of symmetry (Figure 5) to a safety position in which they extend substantially in the same plane parallel to the plane of the upper faces 53 and lower 60 of the socket 51: according to this embodiment, the wings 54, 55 are provided with notches between the protuberances 56, 57 to 58, 59.

  Optionally, the wings 54, 55 (and / or the body) may be shaped so that they can occupy a folded position against the body, so as to use the plug as a standard socket.

  The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 differs from that of FIGS. 5 and 6 in that the upper face 61 of the receptacle 62 is provided with two pairs of opposite parallelepiped cavities 63, 64, 65, 66 defining a central partition 67 provided with two opposite central shoulder members 68, 69, this assembly constituting substantially a spider. The two wings 70, 71, of substantially rectangular shape, each have, at the ends of one of their longitudinal edges, two protuberances 72, 73 - 72 ', 73' intended to engage in two cavities parallelepipedic 63, 64 - 65, 66 located on the same side. These two protuberances 72, 73-72 ', 73' are articulated on the central shoulder 68, 69 which separates the two cavities, about a longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the socket 62. The operation of these wings is substantially the same as that of the wings 54, 55 of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6. In the example illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper face 80 of the receptacle 81 comprises a transverse central cavity 82 which extends from one main face to the other between two end portions 85, 86.

  This plug 81 comprises two wings 87, 88 of substantially rectangular shape, one of the longitudinal edges is provided with a protuberance 89 constituting a half-hinge. The two wings 87, 88 are articulated by these half-hinges around a common longitudinal axis carried by the two end portions 85, 86. In the gripping position, the two wings 87, 88 extend above the upper face 80 on either side of the longitudinal median plane of symmetry of the socket 80 forming a dihedron.

  In the safety position, they extend in the same plane perpendicular to said plane of symmetry. The embodiment illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 differs from that of Figures 9 and 10 in that the two wings 90, 91 are articulated about two longitudinal axes 92, 93 parallel to the longitudinal median plane of the socket 94 , the protuberances 95, 96 then forming hinges which extend along the entire length of the cavity 97. This solution makes it possible in particular to obtain a firmer gripping position in which the two wings 90, 91 are applied. against each other in said plane of symmetry.

  Thanks to the previously described arrangements, plugged position of the plug, access to the electrical organs of the socket and also to the pins of the plug is made difficult even in the case where the plug is not only partially engaged in the socket. The wings in the folded position further provide protection of the socket against external elements such as, for example, splashing.

  This is as valid in the case of a socket with a cavity as in the case of a socket without cavity.

Claims (13)

claims   An ergonomic electrical socket with a high level of safety, this plug (10) of the male type comprising, in a conventional manner, a body of electrically insulating material having two opposite main faces (12, 13), a lower face (14) in which two connecting pins (15, 16) are engaged, an upper face (19), two lateral faces (17, 18) and an electric cable (11) connected to the upper part of one of the lateral faces (18). ) whose two conductors are respectively connected to the two pins (15, 16) inside said body, characterized in that it comprises two gripping wings (21, 22) which extend laterally, on both sides other of the longitudinal median plane of said body, these two wings (21, 22) being pivotally mounted on said body between two positions, namely: a gripping position in which the two wings (21, 22) extend approximately parallel to the axes said pins (15 , 16), so that it can be gripped between two fingers to enable the plugging or extraction of said plug, and a safety position in which the two wings (21, 22) are folded approximately perpendicular to said axes, so at least partially closing the cavity of a socket (1) when the plug (10) is plugged into the socket (1), and / or making it more difficult to access the grounding terminal ( 8) possibly present in said socket, even in the case where the socket has no cavity.   2. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that it is dimensioned so as to come plug in a socket (1) having a body (2) provided with a cavity having a bottom (3) in which open two female connection elements and from which extends a ground connection pin (8), in that the two main faces (12, 13) of the body of the plug (10) are spaced apart each other by a distance at most equal to the distance between the grounding pin (8) and the straight line connecting the female connection elements (6, 7), and that, in the plugged position of the plug (10), the upper face (19) of its body protrudes slightly beyond the said cavity so that the electric cable (11) does not bend.   3. Socket according to claim 2, characterized in that it has a flat shape, substantially parallelepiped, having two flat faces, main (12, 13) parallel, a flat lower face carrying the two pins (15, 16) of the socket and two curved lateral faces (17, 18) whose radius of curvature is slightly smaller than that of the body cavity of the socket (1). 15   4. Socket according to claim 3, characterized in that the connection of the electrical cable to the tap is performed at the side face (18) at a height slightly greater than the depth of the cavity. 20   5. Socket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the functions of gripping and safety of the socket are provided by a slightly curved plate (20), having a U-shape comprising two relatively wide wings (21, 22 ) connected to one another by one of their ends by a transverse web (23), this plate (20) being arranged to overlap the plug (10) while the two wings (21, 22) ) which extend against the main faces (12, 13) over their entire length are articulated to the grip about an axis perpendicular to the main faces (12, 13). 30 2913820 - 14 -   6. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises two U-shaped plates (31, 32) straddling the socket (30) and articulated thereto at the ends of their wings (33, 34 û). 35, 36) around two respective parallel axes 5 perpendicular to the main faces (39, 40) of the socket (30) and located in the middle portion thereof.   7. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that its upper face (53) comprises in its central portion, two lateral recesses (51, 52) parallelepiped separated from each other by a longitudinal central partition (53) , so that this upper face has substantially the shape of an H, and in that it comprises two lateral wings (54, 55) each having two protuberances (56, 57 - 58, 59) terminated by trunnions which engaged in bores made in the opposite transverse faces of a corresponding recess (51, 52), so as to be pivotable about an axis parallel to the longitudinal median plane of symmetry of the socket (50).   8. Socket according to claim 7, characterized in that the wings have indentations located between the aforesaid protuberances (56, 57 - 58, 59).   9. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper face (61) of the socket is provided with two pairs of opposite parallelepiped cavities (63, 64 - 65, 66) delimiting a central partition (67) provided with two opposite central shoulders (68, 69), and in that it comprises two wings (70, 71) each having, at the ends of one of their longitudinal edges, two protuberances (72, 73 - 72 ', 73') intended to engage and articulate in two parallelepiped cavities (64, 65 - 63, 66) located on the same side. 2913820 -15-   10. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that its upper face comprises a transverse central cavity (82) which extends from one main face (83) to the other (84) between two end portions (85). 86), and in that it comprises two wings (87, 88) of substantially rectangular shape, one of whose longitudinal edges is provided with a protuberance (89) constituting a half-hinge, said wings (87 88) being articulated by these half-hinges around a common longitudinal axis carried by the two end portions (85, 86). 10   11. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a transverse central cavity (97) which extends from one main face to the other, between two end portions and in that it comprises two wings (90, 91) hinged about two longitudinal axes (92, 93) parallel to the longitudinal median plane of the socket, the protuberances (95) then forming hinges which extend over the entire length of the cavity (97) .   12. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforesaid wings have a convex shape adapted to improve the grip.   13. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises temporary locking means 25 such as, for example, latching means disposed between the body of the socket and the wings so as to ensure a temporary retention of wings in the gripping position and / or in the safety position and / or possibly in the folded position against the body.