GB2372381A

GB2372381A - An extension socket assembly for improved accessibility

Info

Publication number: GB2372381A
Application number: GB0202878A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Howard Simpson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-02-07
Filing date: 2002-02-07
Publication date: 2002-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2022-02-07
Also published as: GB2372381B; GB0202878D0; GB0103029D0

Abstract

A mains electrical socket assembly 10 includes a socket portion 20, a conduit 30 and a mains electrical plug 40. Electrical cable 50 runs from the socket portion 20, through the conduit 30 to emerge from the other end thereof. The end of the cable 50 adjacent the other end of the conduit 30 is connected to the plug 40. The plug 40 is inserted into a conventional mains supply. The assembly is arranged to be mounted on a wall for convenient access for persons wishing to insert a plug (not shown) e.g. the elderly or disabled.

Description

"A Mains Electrical Socket Assembly"

This invention relates to a mains electrical plug-and-socket assembly.

Conventional mains electrical sockets are often located at floor level. This can be inconvenient in that it requires a person wishing to insert a plug into such a socket, or wishing to remove a plug from such a socket, to bend down. If the person is elderly or injured this requirement for bending may be particularly inconvenient. Access to the socket may be further impeded by furniture.

It is an object of this invention to address this problem.

According to this invention there is provided a mains electrical socket assembly that includes a socket portion and a conduit, the socket portion including a socket portion casing with electrical terminals therein, and the conduit having one end extending from the socket portion and having another end remote from the socket portion whereby electrical cables can be joined to the terminals in the socket portion casing and lead through the conduit to the other end thereof from which they emerge for connection to an electrical plug, the assembly being arranged to be mounted on an upstanding member with the socket portion at the top of the conduit which is upstanding with its other end adjacent

to a wall-mounted mains electrical socket.

Such an electrical socket assembly is advantageous in providing a live electrical socket in a location more convenient than floor level. The conduit is advantageous in giving the assembly a tidy appearance, in further insulating the electrical cables and in preventing damage thereto.

The assembly may include electrical cables joined to the terminals in the socket portion casing and that run through the conduit to the other end thereof from which they emerge and are connected to an electrical plug.

The provision of an electrical plug is advantageous in providing a more simple parallel connection to an existing wall-mounted electrical socket than attaching ends of the electrical cable of the assembly to terminals inside an existing wallmounted electrical socket, as would tend to be the case when conventionally installing an additional mains electrical socket.

Preferably, the electrical plug is moveable relative to the other end of the conduit and the electrical cables are of such length that insertion of the plug into a wall-mounted electrical socket that is not flush with the upstanding member is facilitated thereby.

Preferably, the one end of the conduit opens into the inside of the socket portion casing for receiving the electrical cables therefrom.

The assembly may include a backplate, the socket portion casing and the conduit being attachable to the backplate. The backplate conveniently secures the location of the socket portion relative to the conduit and thereby prevents movement of conduit relative to socket portion casing. The backplate is also advantageous in allowing the use of a standard electrical socket box for the socket portion casing.

At least one of the socket portion casing and the conduit may be attached to the backplate by an adhesive, such as glue. The backplate may be arranged for attaching to the upstanding member and thereby for fixing the socket portion casing and the conduit relative to the upstanding member. The backplate may have an adhesive on an outward-facing surface thereof, that surface being for placing in face-to-face contact with the upstanding member. The adhesive may be exposed by way of a peel-off strip of material. The backplate may be integrally formed with at least a part of the socket portion casing. The backplate may be integrally formed with at least a part of the conduit.

Preferably, the socket portion is arranged to receive at least one screw

therethrough, for screwing the assembly to the upstanding member. The at least one screw may pass through a font cover and a back cover of the socket portion casing and into the upstanding member. This is advantageous in that the at least one screw may be used to hold to front and back cover together.

The socket portion casing may be a substantially sealed unit and may be arranged such that the at least one screw can be placed therethrough and screwed to the upstanding member without opening the socket portion casing.

The conduit may be arranged to receive at least one screw therethrough for screwing the assembly to the upstanding member. The is advantageous is preventing movement of the conduit relative to the socket portion.

At least part of the conduit may be integrally formed with at least part of the socket portion casing.

The socket portion casing may include a telephone socket with telephone socket terminals therein from which telephone cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a telephone plug.

The socket portion casing may include a television aerial socket with television

aerial socket terminals therein from which television aerial cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a television aerial plug.

The socket portion casing may include two sets of mains electrical terminals therein and be arranged to receive two mains electrical plugs such that each of said two mains electrical plugs is, in use, connected in parallel with the plug to which the electrical cable of the assembly is attached and which is for insertion into an existing wall-mounted mains electrical socket.

At least one of the plug portion casing, the conduit and the backplate may be at least part of a one-piece plastic moulding.

A specific mains electrical socket assembly in which the invention is embodied will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective, assembly view of the mains electrical socket assembly; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the assembly; Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the assembly; and

Figure 4 is front elevation of an alternative mains electrical socket assembly.

Figure 1 shows a mains electrical socket assembly 10. The assembly 10 includes a socket portion 20, a conduit 30, a backplate 26 and a plug (omitted from Figure 1 for simplicity).

The socket portion 20 includes a plastic socket casing 22. The socket casing 22 is similar to a conventional mains electrical socket box, being comprised of two mating portions: a front cover 22a and a back cover 22b. The socket casing 22 includes two screw holes 23 passing through the socket casing 22, from the front cover 22a to the back cover 22b. The screw holes 23 are positioned in the front cover 22a as would screw holes of a conventional mains electrical socket box.

The front cover 22a of the socket casing 22 includes three further holes 24.

These further holes 24 are positioned so as to receive a conventional mains electrical plug. The socket portion 20 contains the internal components of a conventional mains electrical socket and therefore includes terminals (not shown), each terminal being aligned with a respective further hole 24. The front cover 22a of the socket casing 22 also includes a socket switch 25. The skilled addressee is familiar with such components, which therefore need not be

described any further.

The conduit 30 is a plastic tube of square cross-section, having two ends. The conduit 30 extends from the socket portion 20. A cut-out is provided in the socket casing 22. The cut-out is sized such that one end of the conduit 30 is a sliding fit therein. That end of the conduit 30 is placed in the cut-out so as to be surrounded by the socket casing 22. The conduit 30 therefore provides a passageway from the inside of the socket portion 20 that is substantially separated from the surrounding environment.

The backplate 26 is a piece of sheet plastic. The backplate 26 is shaped such that its plan form is the same as the profile form of the socket portion 20, with the conduit 30 fitted thereto, when viewed from the front of the socket portion 20. The backplate 26 is fitted to the back of the socket portion 20 and the conduit 30 such that a periphery of the backplate 26 is flush with edges of the socket portion 20 and the conduit 30. The backplate 26 includes backplate screw holes 27 therein. The backplate screw holes 27 are positioned in the backplate 26 such that they are aligned with the screw holes 23 through the socket portion 20 when the backplate 26 is fitted to the socket portion 20. The backplate 26 is attached to the back of the socket portion 20 and the conduit 30 by an adhesive such as glue.

With reference to Figure 2, the conduit 30 contains electrical leads (only a portion 50 of which is shown), which are connected to the terminals of the socket portion 20. The leads pass through the conduit 30 and emerge from its other end. The ends of the leads that are remote from the socket portion 20 are connected to terminals (shown only in Figure 3 at 44) of a plug 40. The connection is such that the terminals of the socket portion 20 and the terminals 44 of the plug 40 are connected in parallel. The length of the leads is such that the portion 50 of the leads extends between the other end of the conduit 30 and the plug 40. The length of the portion 50 is of the order of centimetres. This allows for movement of the plug 40 relative to the conduit 30.

For use, and with reference to Figure 1, the assembly 10 is fitted to a wall (not shown) by inserting a respective screw 28 through each of the screw holes 23 in the socket portion 20 and into a respective plugged hole in the wall. In inserting the screws 28 in the manner, each screw 28 passes through a respective backplate screw hole 27 in the backplate 28. Tightening the screws 28 holds the front cover 22a and the back cover 22b together, and holds the socket portion 20 against the wall, with the backplate 26 clamped therebetween.

In use, the terminals 44 of the plug 40 are inserted into a conventional mains

electrical socket that is situated at floor-level. The terminals of the socket portion 20 are therefore in parallel connection with the conventional electrical socket. The socket portion 22 is situated above the conventional mains electrical socket and may be used as a more convenient mains electrical socket by persons who are reluctant to, or who experience difficulty in, bending down.

It will be appreciated that the portion 50 of the leads allows for a situation where the plug portion is to be inserted into an existing electrical socket that is not in the same plane as (ie not"flush"with) the wall to which the socket backplate 26 is to be attached. An example of such a situation would be if the existing electrical socket were mounted on a skirting board.

Although the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings are directed towards an assembly for use with the British mains electrical system, it is also envisaged that a similar assembly may be used with the mains electrical systems of other countries, for example continental Europe, the USA, or Japan. It will be appreciated that modifications to the shape and configuration of the holes 24 and the terminals of the socket portion, and to the shape and configuration of the plug 40, would have to be made.

In alternative embodiments, it is envisaged that the socket casing 22 may be sealed to a user such that the user is not exposed to terminals or leads inside

the socket casing 22 in fitting the assembly 10 to a wall. It is also envisaged that a screw hole may be provided in the other end of the conduit 30 and that this hole may be arranged for receiving a further screw for screwing into the wall. A corresponding screw hole would also be provided in the backplate 26.

This would further secure the conduit 30 relative to the backplate 26 and relative to the socket portion 20.

In further alternative embodiments, it is envisaged that the socket portion may include a telephone socket with telephone socket terminals therein from which telephone cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a telephone plug. It is also envisaged that the socket portion may include a television aerial socket with television aerial socket terminals therein from which television aerial cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a television aerial plug. It will be appreciated that the shape of the socket portion casing may have to be modified to accommodate the telephone socket and/or the television aerial socket. Such a further alternative embodiment is shown in Figure 4.

Claims

1. A mains electrical socket assembly that includes a socket portion and a conduit, the socket portion including a socket portion casing with electrical terminals therein, and the conduit having one end extending from the socket portion and having another end remote from the socket portion whereby electrical cables can be joined to the terminals in the socket portion casing and lead through the conduit to the other end thereof from which they emerge for connection to an electrical plug, the assembly being arranged to be mounted on an upstanding member with the socket portion at the top of the conduit which is upstanding with its other end adjacent to a wall-mounted mains electrical socket.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 including electrical cables joined to the terminals in the socket portion casing and that lead through the conduit to the other end thereof from which they emerge and are connected to an electrical plug.

3. An assembly according to claim 2, wherein the electrical plug is moveable relative to the other end of the conduit and the electrical cables are of such length that insertion of the plug into a wall-mounted electrical socket that is not

flush with the upstanding member is facilitated thereby.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the one end of the conduit opens into the inside of the socket portion casing for receiving the electrical cables therefrom.

4. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, including a backplate and wherein the socket portion casing and the conduit are attachable to the backplate.

5. An assembly according to claim 4, wherein the at least one of the socket portion casing and the conduit are attached to the backplate by an adhesive.

6. An assembly according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the backplate is for attaching to the upstanding member and thereby for fixing the socket portion casing and the conduit relative to the upstanding member.

7. An assembly according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the backplate has an adhesive on an outward-facing surface thereof, that surface being for placing in face-to-face contact with the upstanding member.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 wherein the adhesive is exposed by way of a peel-off strip of material.

9. An assembly according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the backplate is integrally formed with at least a part of the socket portion casing.

10. An assembly substantially as described hereinbefore with reference to the accompanying drawings and as shown in those drawings.

10. An assembly according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein the backplate is integrally formed with at least a part of the conduit.

11. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the socket portion casing is arranged to receive at least one screw therethrough, for screwing the assembly to the upstanding member.

12. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein the at least one screw passes through a font cover and a back cover of the socket portion casing and into the upstanding member.

13. An assembly according to claim 11 or 12 wherein the socket portion casing is a substantially sealed unit and is arranged such that the at least one screw can be placed therethrough and screwed to the upstanding member without opening the socket portion casing.

14. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conduit is arranged to receive at least one screw therethrough for screwing the assembly to the upstanding member.

15. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the conduit is integrally formed with at least part of the socket portion casing.

16. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the socket portion casing includes a telephone socket with telephone socket terminals therein from which telephone cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a telephone plug.

17. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the socket portion casing includes a television aerial socket with television aerial socket terminals therein from which television aerial cable runs through the conduit to emerge at the other end thereof for connection to a television aerial plug.

18. An assembly according to any one of claims 4 to 17 wherein at least one of the plug portion casing, the conduit and the backplate are at least part of a one piece plastic moulding.