MXPA99000820A - Illuminated electrical receptacle employing electroluminescent lamp member - Google Patents

Abstract

An illuminated electrical receptacle which employs a lamp containing electroluminescent materials which are made to produce visible light upon the application of AC current to such materials. The lamp is flat with apertures which permit the blades of two electrical plugs to pass through from a face plate to a base containing electrical contacts. The face plate is formed of materials which permit the light produced to pass through all or selected parts of the face plate or outline the face plate or its apertures.

Description

ILLUMINATED ELECTRICAL RECEPTACLE USING A MEMBER OF ELECTROLUMINISCENT LAMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention is directed to illuminated electrical receptacles and more particularly to one that uses a lamp consisting of electroluminescent material.

Description of the Prior Art The prior art receptacles eliminate one of the possible structures of the duplex receptacles that can be housed in a standard outlet box and replace it with an incandescent bulb or a neon bulb. The neon bulb produces very little light and the light produced is red, resulting in very poor illumination of the adjacent structures. The incandescent lamp produces more light but also generates heat, which can cause the total structure to fail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the difficulties noted above with respect to the prior art devices by providing a duplex receptacle that is illuminated by a lamp employing electroluminescent materials that provide a good level of light and operate at a low thermal level. A base member contains the various female contacts to accept and establish electrical contact with the blades of two electric plugs inserted through the appropriate openings within the receptacle. The female contacts are connected to terminal screws that are connected to an AC power source and grounded. A thin, flat lamp having electroluminescent material is activated by conductors passing through a special opening in the base member to the AC power source. A series of apertures in the lamp, corresponding to the openings in the base member in number and placement, allow the sheets of two electric pins to pass through them. A flat surface is placed on the lamp and also contains openings in number and position that make them suitable for receiving the leaves of two electric plugs. The surface plate can be made of opaque material that results in illumination of the rim of the receptacle, or it can be made of translucent material to provide a subtle global illumination, or of a transparent material to provide a high level of illumination. The surface plate may also be provided with ribs, areas or windows selected to illuminate selected portions of the receptacle. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated electrical receptacle. An object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated receptacle employing a lamp that provides light by means of electroluminescence. Another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated receptacle employing a flat lamp that can be mounted between a surface plate and a base which provides openings therein to allow the sheets of electric plugs to pass through the lamp. Another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated receptacle employing a flat lamp that provides light by means of electroluminescence, which can be mounted between a surface plate and a base and which provides openings therein to allow the sheets of electric plugs pass through the lamp. Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which show, by way of example, the principles of the invention and the best mode currently contemplated for carrying it out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings in which the similar elements receive similar reference characters: Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an illuminated electrical receptacle constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention. Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the receptacle of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the portion of the receptacle member of Figure 1. Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view, from the front to the left of some components of the receptacle of Figure 1. Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view , from the back to the right of the components of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a front elevational view of a further embodiment of an illuminated receptacle constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODE Returning now to Figures 1 and 2, the external structure of the illuminated receptacle 10 is shown. A surface plate 12 is arranged to receive two electric plugs (not shown). The openings 14, 16 and 18 are arranged to receive the neutral, phase and ground sheets of a first plug, while the openings 20, 22 and 24 receive the neutral, phase and earth sheets of a second electric plug. Below the surface plate 12 is the lamp 38 which will be described in more detail below. A mounting strip 26 having slots 28 allows the illuminated receptacle 10 to be mounted in the mounting holes strung on the ears of a standard outlet box (not shown). The strung openings 30 allow another surface plate to be installed on the receptacle 10. Formed around the mounting strip 26 is the spacer 32 with a front face 34 containing openings to allow the pins of the plug to pass through. The base member 40 is positioned within the substantially open rear surface 36 of the separator 32 and seals the illuminated receptacle 10. A lamp 38 is positioned between the surface plate 12 and the front surface 34 of the separator 32. The base member 40 has a front contact section 42 containing a number of cameras defined by insulation barriers within which the electrical contacts connected to the alternating current source (not shown) are placed. As best seen in Figure 3, the insulation barriers 44, 46 form a chamber 48 for housing the electrical contact 50. Similarly, the insulation barriers 52 and 54 provide the chamber 56 in which the electrical contact 58 is located. electrical contact 66 is placed in the chamber 64 formed by the insulation barriers 60 and 62. The metal plates 68, 70 can be placed on the rear surface 71 of the base member 40 and connected to the contacts 50 and 58, respectively. The terminal screws 72 and 74 allow the individual conductors of the alternating current source to be connected to the contacts 50 and 58. A metal plate 76 placed within the base member 40 engages the contact 76 and the terminal screw 78. Arrangement contacts, contact plates and terminal screws allow each contact to be tied to one of the neutral, phase or ground conductors from the AC power source. Turning now to Figures 4 and 5, the surface plate 12, the lamp 38 and the spacer 32 are shown. The base member 40 was removed so that the details of the invention can be better appreciated. The surface plate 12 shown is arranged to receive two three-leaf electric plugs in an aligned, stacked relationship, called a duplex receptacle. Other configurations of surface plates can be used such as one with a single receptacle, with two receptacles side by side, for a 15 amp service, for a 20 amp service, power receptacles, and so on. The openings 14 and 20 are larger than the openings 16 and 22 to receive the blade of the plug connected to the white or neutral conductor. The openings 16 and 22 receive the blade of the plug connected to the phase line or black conductor. The openings 18 and 24 receive the blade of the plug connected to the ground conductor. The surface plate 12 can be molded of different materials that will allow various levels of light to pass through. If the surface plate 12 is made of opaque material, the light given by the lamp 38 will appear as a luminous edge for the surface plate 12. The use of translucent material will allow the light to pass through the surface plate 12 depending on the degree of translucency This will provide global illumination at a low level. The surface plate 12 can be formed of a transparent material to allow all the light produced by the lamp 38 to pass through. If desired, the surface plate can be made from different materials in different places such as in the surface plate 12 '., as shown in Figure 6. The main portion 80 of the surface plate 12 'is made of either opaque or translucent material and contains two windows 82, 84 of translucent or transparent material so that the areas around the openings 14 , 16 and 18 and 20, 22 and 24, respectively, are better illuminated than the main portion 80 of the surface plate 12 '. The surface plates 12 and 12 'may be colored or dyed, if desired. The bulb 38 is flat having a front surface 90, a rear surface 92 and two openings 94 and a single opening 96 for the leaves of an electric plug to pass through after the insertion in the openings 14, 16 and 18. The two 94 openings are the same size. Two openings 98, of the same size, allow the sheets inserted in the openings 20 and 22 of the surface plate 12 to pass through the lamp 38. An opening 100 with an open bottom allows the sheet inserted into the opening 24 in surface plate 12 pass through. Bulb 38 includes electroluminescent materials which, when subjected to alternating current, emit visible light or infrared light. These materials can be zinc sulphide and can be combined with copper and / or magnesium. One supplier of zinc sulphide electroluminescent materials is Osram Sylvania. These materials can emit colored light of red, green, yellow, blue or orange based on the particular material used. Two insulated electrical conductors 102 allow the bulb 38 to be connected to an AC power source. The translucent or transparent ribs 104, 106 and 108 are placed around the openings 14, 16 and 18 on the rear surface 13 of the surface plate 12. The ribs 104, 106 and 108 take the shape and size of the openings 94 and 96. When the front surface 90 in the bulb 38 is made to be in contact with the rear surface 13 of the surface plate 12, the ribs 104 and 106 enter the openings 94 and the rib 108 enters the opening 96 and provides illumination by the edge for the openings 14, 16 and 18 when there are no pins present. Similarly, rib 110, and another like this, but not visible in Figure 5 and rib 114 enter openings 98 and 100, respectively, to provide edge illumination for openings 20, 22 and 24 in the absence of a pin. . The spacer 32 has a front surface 34 on which are located two openings 120, 122 for receiving the leaves of a plug inserted through the openings 14 and 16, respectively, and an opening 124 for receiving the leaves of an inserted plug through the opening 18 of the surface plate 12. Two openings 126, 128 receive the leaves of a plug inserted through the openings 20 and 22 and the opening 130 receives the inserted sheet through the opening 24. An additional opening 132 allows the conductors 102 of the lamp 38 to pass into the spacer 32 and connect to a suitable terminal on the base member 40. It has been shown and described that an illuminated receptacle can be constructed to provide illumination of the receptacle without the loss of any of the functional parts. For example, lighting is added to a plex receptacle without the loss of one of the receptacle positions. The illumination is provided by a lamp containing electroluminescent material that is made to emit light in response to an alternating current current applied to the electroluminescent material. The lamp is flat and suitable to fit between a surface plate and a base member and contains a number of openings that allow the sheets of the inserted pins to pass through the bulb and contact the base member. The surface plate or ribs around the openings in the surface plate can be made of various materials to control the amount and location of the illumination. Although the novel and fundamental features of the invention have been shown and described and pointed out, apply to the preferred embodiments, as contemplated to carry them out, it will be understood that those skilled in the art can make various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details and devices illustrated and in their operation without departing from the spirit of the invention .

Claims (20)

1. An illuminated electrical receptacle comprising: a) a surface plate member having a front surface and a back surface with at least two openings therein extending from the front surface to the back surface, each of at least two openings arranged to receive through them a sheet of an electric plug; b) a base member having a front surface and a rear surface, with at least two openings in the front surface, each of the at least two openings in the front surface of the base member aligned and in communication with the corresponding one of the two openings of the surface plate; c) the base member having at least two electrical contact members, each aligned and in communication with the corresponding one of the at least two openings in the front surface; and d) a lamp panel having a front surface and a rear surface positioned between the surface plate member and the base member to illuminate the electrical receptacle.

2. An illuminated receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein the lamp panel has at least two openings extending through the lamp panel from the front surface to the rear surface and aligning and communicating with the corresponding one. of the at least two openings in the surface plate.

3. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein the lamp panel is flat and the front surface of the lamp panel is positioned adjacent to the rear surface of the surface plate member and the rear surface of the panel of the lamp is positioned adjacent to the front surface of the base member; and the lamp panel has at least two openings extending through the lamp panel from the front surface to the rear surface and aligning with and communicating with the corresponding one of at least one of two openings in the surface plate whereby each of at least two sheets of an electrical plug can pass through the aligned openings and in communication in the surface plate member, the lamp panel and the base member.

4. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein the lamp panel has two electrical conductors extending from the rear surface; and an additional opening in the front surface of the base member to allow the two conductors to enter the base member for connection to an alternating current source to illuminate the lamp panel. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein the lamp panel contains a filament that emits light when it is connected to an AC power source. 6. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 4, wherein the lamp panel contains a filament that emits light when connected to an AC power source. 7. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 1, wherein the lamp panel contains electroluminescent material that emits visible light when connected to an AC power source. 8. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 4, wherein the lamp panel contains a filament that emits light when connected to an AC power source. 9. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the electroluminescent material is zinc sulfide. 10. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the electroluminescent material is zinc sulfide. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the surface plate member is made of a transparent material. 12. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the surface plate member is made of a transparent material. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the surface plate member is made of a translucent material. 14. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the surface plate member is made of a translucent material. 1

5. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the surface plate member is made of an opaque material. 1

6. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the surface plate member is made of an opaque material. 1

7. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the surface plate member has transparent windows adjacent to at least two openings. 1

8. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the surface plate member has transparent windows adjacent to at least two openings. 1

9. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 7, wherein the surface plate member has translucent windows adjacent to at least two openings. An illuminated electrical receptacle as defined in claim 8, wherein the surface plate member has translucent windows adjacent to at least two openings.