GB2443222A - Electrical switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical switch device comprises a connector body 10 having power supply terminals provided therein and arranged to permit the electrical connection of an appliance plug thereto, in use, at least one of the power supply terminals being connected to a length of flexible electrical cable 18 having connected thereto, at its free end, an electrical switch device 20 operable to control the electrical power supply through that terminal.

Description

Electrical Switch Device This invention relates to an electrical switch

device, and in particular to a device operable to allow one or more electrically powered appliances to be switched off.

A number of electrical appliances are well known which have a so-called stand-by mode of operation. In this operating mode, the appliances consume relatively little electrical power compared to their normal operating mode. Such appliances include, for example, televisions, video recorders/players, audio equipment and a number of other household appliances.

Although such devices may be capable of operating in a stand-by mode, they still consume sufficient power that significant savings can be made by physically switching off the appliances when they are not in use. The savings are both economic cost savings and in the reduction of power supply requirements and thus pollution caused by the generation of electricity.

Often, such appliances are located in front of the electrical supply sockets from which they draw power, thus switching off such appliances at the mains is inconvenient.

Further, where the appliances are located close to one another, it may be convenient to be able to switch all of the appliances off in a single operation.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device whereby these disadvantages are mitigated.

According to the present invention there is provided an electrical switch device comprising a connector body having power supply terminals provided therein and arranged to permit the electrical connection of an appliance plug thereto, in use, at least one of the power supply terminals being connected to a length of flexible electrical cable having connected thereto, at its free end, an electrical switch device operable to control the electrical power supply through that terminal.

The provision of a switch device connected by a length of flexible cable in this manner permits an appliance connected to the device to be switched on or off from a convenient location.

Conveniently, the connector body is provided with pins to be received in the openings of a mains electrical socket. This is advantageous in that it allows the device to be fitted in a simple and convenient manner.

The connector body may be adapted to allow several appliances to be connected thereto, all or several of which can be switched on or off using the switch device in a single operation.

The switch device may be arranged to control, for example, just the live connection to the appliance, or alternatively could be operable to switch both the live and neutral connections.

An earth connection is preferably provided which is not switched.

The invention will further be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing (Figure 1) which is a diagrammatic illustration of one embodiment of the invention.

The electrical switch device illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a connector body from which electrical pins 12 extend. The pins 12 are shaped and positioned so as to be receivable within the openings of a conventional electrical supply socket 14, to supply electrical power to the switch device.

The connector body 10 is itself provided with openings 16 shaped and positioned to receive the pins of a standard electrical plug of an electrical appliance.

Associated with each of the openings 16 is an associated terminal (not shown) the terminal associated with two of the openings 16 are connected, directly, to the corresponding ones of the pins 12 such that an earth pin of an appliance plug secured to the electrical switch device is electrically connected, in use, to the earth terminal of the socket 14. Similarly, the neutral pin of the appliance plug is electrically connected through the electrical switch device to the neutral pin of the socket 14. Unlike the earth and neutral connections, the terminal which, in use, connects to the live pin of the appliance plug, instead of being directly connected to the pin 12 to be received within the live terminal of the socket 14 is instead connected through a length of two-core electrical cable 18 to an electrical switch 20. The switch 20 controls whether or not the live pin of the plug is connected to the pin 12 corresponding to the live terminal of the wall socket 14 and thus controls whether or not electrical power is supplied to the electrical appliance.

In use, the connector body 10 is connected to the wall socket 14 with the pins 12 located in the openings of the socket 14. The appliance pins of the plug are inserted into the openings 16 of the connector body 10 and so are electrically connected to the terminals located within the connector body 10 in the usual manner. The flexible cable 18 allows the switch 20 to be located at any suitable position, for example adjacent the appliance. Conveniently, the flexible cable 18 is at least one metre in length in order to permit such location of the switch 20. It will be appreciated that with such an arrangement, when it is desired to switch off the electrical appliance, rather than simply placing the appliance into a stand-by mode, the electrical switch 20 can be operated to physically disconnect the electrical supply to the appliance. Clearly, this can result in savings in that power is no longer consumed by the appliance.

The electrical switch device is conveniently designed in such a manner that it does not, itself, consume electrical power thus when the switch 20 is used to break the power supply to the appliance, no electrical power is being consumed. In this regard, the switch 20 is conveniently in the form of a mechanical switch having a movable contact which is movable between an operating position in which electrical contact is made, and thus power is supplied to the appliance, and a position in which the power supply is interrupted. The electrical contact is conveniently moved, by for example, a rocker-type actuator pmvided on the switch 20. The actuator may be designed to be of relatively large dimensions, thus not only may the switch 20 be mounted in a position which is convenient to the user, but also the switch 20 may be designed so as to permit simple operation thereof, thus assisting operation by, for example, the visually impaired.

Although in the embodiment described hereinbefore, the connector body 10 is designed so as to permit only a single plug to be connected thereto, the device could be modified to enable a plurality of plugs to be accommodated thereby, a single switch 20 being operable to switch on and off the electrical supply to some or all of the appliances connected to the connector body 10. This has the advantage that a number of appliance may be switched on or off in a single operation.

Although the embodiment described hereinbefore is adapted to be introduced between a conventional supply socket 14 and appliance plug, it will be appreciated that, if desired, the invention could be incorporated directly into an electrical supply socket.

Further, it could be incorporated into, for example, a multi-gang extension lead or adaptor.

In the arrangement described hereinbefore, the flexible electrical cable 18 is of two-core form, the switch 20 being operable to control the electrical connection between the live pin of the appliance plug and the live terminal of the electrical socket 14. It will be appreciated that other arrangements are possible in which, in addition to switching the live connection in this manner, the switch 20 further switches the neutral connection. Such an arrangement would typically require the provision of a four-core electrical cable and a dual pole switching device. Conveniently, however, the earth connection is not switched, thus the safety of the appliance with which the electrical switch device is used is not impaired by the use of the electrical switch device.

It will be appreciated that a wide range of other modifications and alterations may be made to the arrangement described herembefore without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

1. An electrical switch device comprising a connector body having power supply terminals provided therein and arranged to permit the electrical connection of an appliance plug thereto, in use, at least one of the power supply terminals being connected to a length of flexible electrical cable having connected thereto, at its free end, an electrical switch device operable to control the electrical power supply through that terminal.

2. A device according to Claim 1, wherein the connector body is provided with pins to be received in the openings of a mains electrical socket.

3.3A device according to Claim I or Claim 2, wherein the connector body is adapted to allow several appliances to be connected thereto.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of appliances can be switched on or off using the switch device in a single operation.

5. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the switch device is arranged to control just the live connection to the appliance.

6. A device according to Claim 5, wherein the flexible electrical cable is a two-core cable.

7. A device according to any of Claims I to 4, wherein the switch device is arranged to switch both the live and neutral connections.

8. A device according to Claim 7, wherein the cable is a four-core cable.

9. A device according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising an earth connection which is not switched.

10. An electrical switch device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.