JP3284171B2 - Thermal safety outlet - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a safety outlet for detecting an abnormally high temperature at a connection between an outlet and a plug used for indoor wiring and shutting off supply of electricity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, electricity is an indispensable requirement for a comfortable home life, and its use as a power source for information and communication equipment such as lighting, air conditioning, televisions, word processors, and personal computers is increasing year by year. It is in. As a result, the number of electric fires has increased, and countermeasures have been desired.

[0003] Short-circuit fires caused by electric wires and the like and short-circuit fires caused by overload and the like, which occupy the majority of electric fires, are classified into a cut-off method by controlling an indoor switchboard, a cut-off method mainly using a breaker, and a cut-off method using a safety outlet. The present invention relates to a shut-off method using a safety outlet. As a prior art about this, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-78
No. 580 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-67474.

Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 58-78580, an outlet with a safety device (applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) has a structure as shown in FIG. The retractable knob 52 is an electrical appliance plug. The safety operation includes a circuit breaker (not shown) for breaking the electric circuit and a knob that pushes the plug of the device in the release direction in conjunction with the operation of the breaker. It is detached from the surface. When the protruding knob is pressed, the breaker returns to its original state, the electric circuit is connected, and the outlet returns to a normal state.

Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. Sho 62-67474, an outlet (applicant: Yazaki Corporation) has a structure as shown in FIG. 5, 53 is a case, 54 is a plug receiving part, 55 and 55a. Is an electric conductor, 56 is a current supply portion (terminal), 57 is a cord, 58 is a pin receiving portion, 59 is an electric conductor pin, 60 is a nonconductive protruding guide, 61 is a shape memory alloy spring, 62 is an upper end 60 of the protruding guide 60
a is a protruding hole. The operation is such that when the conductor 55 inside the outlet becomes abnormally high in temperature, the spring 61 made of a shape memory alloy becomes high in temperature through the pin 59 and the protruding guide 60 made of a conductor in contact with the conductor 55, and the shape memory at high temperature is used. Then, the protruding guide 60 is pressed to protrude the protruding guide. As a result, the pin 59 is detached from the conductor 55, and the current circuit is interrupted. By pressing the protruding pin 59, electrical conduction is made between the conductors 55 and 55a, an electric path is connected, and the outlet returns to a normal state.

[0006]

However, the conventional safety outlet has the following problems.
As is apparent from FIG. 5, both the abnormally high temperature detecting section and the section for interrupting the supply of electricity are performed by using the same mechanism, so that electrical contact failure is likely to occur. For example, this is shown in FIG.
The contact surface between the conductor 55 and the pin 59.

The mechanical force of the abnormally high temperature (temperature rise) detecting portion is a weak force because the mechanical force itself is used, for example, from a shape memory alloy spring or bimetal.
The power for pulling out the power plug from the plug receiving portion was insufficient.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat-sensitive safety outlet comprising a plug receiving portion, a conductor,
Built-in current supply unit and heat-sensitive detection mechanism, lock pin and spring for flipping up the outer lid that operate in conjunction with the heat-sensitive detection mechanism. The pin comes off, the initial force of the thermal detection mechanism is amplified by the force of the spring, the outer lid is flipped up, the power plug is detached from the plug receiving part, and the current supply is cut off. It is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat-sensitive safety outlet characterized in that the mechanism for detecting a temperature rise and a current supply section are separated from each other.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heat-sensitive safety outlet, the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise comprises a spring made of a shape memory alloy.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat-sensitive safety outlet, wherein the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise is made of a bimetal.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a heat-sensitive safety outlet according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 (a) shows a normal use state, and FIG. 3 (b) shows that a safety mechanism is activated by detecting an abnormally high temperature. Show the case. In FIG. 3A, an outer lid 3 that operates as a safety mechanism is fixed to a top surface of an outer case 2 of a main body 1 of a thermal safety outlet according to the present invention by a lock pin 4. A spring 5 for flipping up is attached to the outer lid 3, and a power plug 6 is inserted into the main body 1 of the thermal safety outlet.

FIG. 3B is a view showing a case where the safety mechanism is activated by detecting an abnormally high temperature and the lock pin 4 comes off upon detecting the abnormally high temperature. The lock pin 4 is inserted by the force of a spring 5 for flipping up. This shows a state in which the power plug 6 is removed from the main body 1 of the thermal safety outlet. 7 is the external case 2
(The surface in contact with the outer lid 3).

FIG. 1 shows a heat-sensitive safety outlet according to an embodiment of the present invention. The main body 1 of the heat-sensitive safety outlet of the present invention has an outer lid 3 operating as a safety mechanism locked on an upper surface of an outer case 2. It is fixed by pins 4.
A spring 5 for flipping up is attached to the outer lid 3, and a power plug 6 is inserted into a plug insertion fitting receiving portion 8 of the main body 1 of the thermal safety outlet. 9 is a current supply part (terminal), 10 is a cord, 11 is an electric conductor, 12 is a pin receiving part, and 13 is a pin made of a thermal conductor. positioned. 14
Is a spring made of a shape memory alloy, and 15 is a guide pin.

In FIG. 1, the dotted line shows the case where the safety mechanism is activated by the detection of an abnormally high temperature, and the lock pin 4 comes off by detecting the abnormally high temperature.
4a, the outer lid 3 is released by the force of the spring 5 for lifting, and is in the 3a state, and the inserted power plug 6 is removed from the main body 1 of the thermal safety outlet. ing.

Next, detection of an abnormally high temperature will be described. The current is supplied to a current supply unit (terminal) 9 via a cord 10.
Power is supplied to the plug insertion fitting receiving portion 8 through the electric conductor 11. The electrical conductor 11 is, of course, a thermal conductor, such as copper or brass. When the electric conductor 11 is at an abnormally high temperature, the pin receiving portion 12 formed integrally with the electric conductor 11 is also at an abnormally high temperature. Then, the abnormally high temperature is transmitted to the spring 14 made of a shape memory alloy via the pin 13 made of a thermal conductor, and the abnormally high temperature is detected. The spring 14 made of shape memory alloy explodes, pushing up the lock pin 4 and coming off to be in the state of 4a.

As described above, the pin 13 made of thermal conductor is not involved in the current path, and the pin receiving portion 12 and the pin 1 made of thermal conductor are not involved.
3 does not matter. Power supply is 1
This is performed on the route 0-9-11-8-6.

FIG. 2 shows another example of one embodiment, in which a bimetal is used for detecting an abnormally high temperature. A bimetal 16 is used in place of the spring 14 made of the shape memory alloy shown in FIG. 1, and a state 16a is a state where an abnormally high temperature is detected and the bimetal is exploded. As a result, the lock pin 4
Is pushed up to come off to the state of 4a, the outer lid becomes 3a, the outlet 6 comes off, and the power supply is cut off.

In FIG. 2, 1 is the main body of the thermal safety outlet of the present invention, 2 is an outer case, 3 is an outer lid, 4 is a lock pin, 5 is a spring for flipping up, 6 is a power plug, and 7 is an outer shape. The upper surface of the case 2 (the surface in contact with the outer lid 3), 8 is a plug insertion fitting receiving portion, 9 is a current supply portion (terminal), 10 is a cord, and 11 is an electric conductor.

[0021]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the plug insertion fitting receiving portion, the conductor, the current supply portion, and the heat-sensitive detection mechanism are built in, and are interlocked with the heat-sensitive detection mechanism. The lock mechanism is activated by displacing the lock pin and the spring for lifting the outer lid, and the safety mechanism is activated by the detection of abnormally high temperature to release the lock pin. The force of the spring amplifies the initial force of the thermal detection mechanism and removes it. The power supply is cut off by flipping up the lid and detaching the power plug from the plug receiving portion, so that a reliable and inexpensive heat-sensitive safety outlet with a simple configuration can be provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise and the current supply unit are configured to be separated from each other. Can be eliminated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise comprises a spring made of a shape memory alloy, and the temperature rise can be reliably detected with a simple configuration. can do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise is made of a bimetal, and the temperature rise can be reliably detected with a simple configuration. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of a heat-sensitive safety outlet according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram of a heat-sensitive detection mechanism made of a shape memory alloy spring.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the thermal safety outlet according to one embodiment of the present invention, and is a view of a bimetal as a thermal sensing mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view for explaining the operation of the thermal safety outlet according to the embodiment of the present invention;
(A) shows a normal use state, and (b) is a diagram when the safety mechanism is activated by detection of an abnormally high temperature, and the lock pin 4 detects the abnormally high temperature (temperature rise) and comes off.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional outlet with a safety device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of a conventional outlet.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 The main body of the heat-sensitive safety outlet of this invention 2 External case 3 The state in which the outer lid is normal 3a The state in which the outer lid has been removed 4 Lock pin 4a The state in which the lock pin is projected 5 Spring for spring 6 Power plug 7 Top surface of outer case (surface in contact with outer lid) 8 Plug insertion bracket receiving portion 9 Current supply portion (terminal) 10 Cord 11 Electrical conductor 12 Pin receiving portion 13 Pin made of thermal conductor 14 Made of shape memory alloy Spring 15 Guide pin 16 Bimetal 16a Detected abnormally high temperature (temperature rise) and exploded bimetal

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/70 H01R 13/713

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A thermal safety outlet including a plug insertion bracket receiving portion, a conductor, a current supply portion, and a thermal detection mechanism, wherein a lock pin and an outer lid are operated in conjunction with the thermal detection mechanism. A lifting spring is arranged, the safety mechanism is activated by detection of abnormally high temperature, the lock pin comes off, the initial force of the thermal detection mechanism is amplified by the force of the spring, the outer lid is flipped up, and the power plug is plugged in. A heat-sensitive safety outlet characterized by being detached from the bracket receiving part and interrupting the current supply. 2. The heat-sensitive safety outlet according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise and a current supply unit are separated from each other. 3. The thermal safety outlet according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise comprises a spring made of a shape memory alloy. 4. The heat-sensitive safety outlet according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism for detecting the temperature rise is made of a bimetal.