US2609414A - Extension cord tap - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 2, 1952 s. M. WEISBERG 2,609

I EXTENSION CORD TAP Filed April 14. 1950 d g I \HW/ lllmlll ,9;

1 N VEN TOR.

Patented Sept. 2, 1 952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXTENSION CORD TAP fiidney M. Weisberg, Newark, N. J., assignor to- Allied Electric Products, Inc.,.Irvington, N. J., a. corporation of New Jersey, n pii anene ru 14, 1950, Serial No. 155,799

v 1 Claim.

The invention disclosed in this patent relates to cord taps for extending electrical circuits, and important objects of the invention are to provide a multiple outlet tap of a self-supporting character which will lay fiat and stay in place on a floor, table, bench or other such support.

Further special objects of the invention are to provide a tap of this character which will be self-protective in the sense that it may bedropped or even stepped upon Without injury.

Other important objects of the invention are to provide a tap having all these characteristics, in a form which can be quickly and easily assembled and which with all advantages may be produced at low cost.

Other desirable objects and the novel features of construction, combination and relation of parts through which the purposes of the invention are attained are set. forth or will appear in the course of the following specification.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification illustrates a present commercial embodiment of the invention. Structure, however, may be modified and changed as regards the immediate illustration, all within the true intent and broad scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawing is a top plan view of the tap with the service cord shown broken away;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the tap taken on approximately the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on substantially the plane of line 33 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on substantially the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical cross sectional views on substantially the planes of lines 55 and 6-45, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the tap with the cord appearing in section;

Fig. '8 is a side elevation of one of the contact and wire terminal forming bars, before closing the terminal jaws over the wire end;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the contact-terminal bar;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the same showing the wire gripping fingers closed about the wire end;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged broken plan view showing the wire ends secured to the two contact forming terminal bars used in the tap.

The body or base of the device is shown in Fig. 1 as elongated, generally elliptical in shape and comprising a flat, elongated and laterally extended flange portion l5 carrying a parallel sided, flat top block formation [6.

The latter has attachment blade receiving openings H in the top of the same, in this case three pairs of such openings for three different attachment plugs.

One end of the block is extended and tapered down at I8 to form a reinforcing neckportion for the cord l9. v

The cord receiving opening 20 in this extended neck portion of the block opens out and forks at 2|, Fig. 4, into two longitudinally extending parallel channels 22 beneath the attachment blade openings I1 and in communication therewith by'upwardly extending parallel branches 25.

The latter, as indicated particularly in Fig. 5, are inwardly indented at-their inner sides, at 2G, to receive correspondingly inclined portions of the contact strips.

The longitudinally extending channels 22 are shown in Figs. 5 and 6 as connected together across the top by a continuous transverse passage 25 which allows for expansion and stretching necessary to get the contact bars or strips in place.

The one-piece base construction described is made of soft rubber, plastic or other suitable elastic insulating material.

The contact bars or strips are designated 25 and these are shown as of a size to closely fit in the side channels 22 and as having upwardly extending prongs 21 inclined toward the center of the block to match the inner inclined sides 24 of the vertical passages 23.

The inclined contact prongs 21 are shown in Figs. 3, 8 and 10 as having slanting or inclined forward edges 28 to facilitate the forcing of the strips into place and to act more or less as ratchet teeth as the prongs slip into position in the attachment blade sockets, as shown in Fig. 3.

Embossments 29 on the sides of the strips at the base of the contact spurs or prongs 2! are positioned for engagement by the perforations usually provided in the ends of the attachment plug blades.

The outer ends of the strips are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 as formed at the upper edge with a loop 30 to receive the insulated portion 3| of the wire and with a lug 32 to wrap about this portion of the Wire and below this, with companion lugs 33 to close about the core of the wire.

Fig. 11 shows how the two conductors of the cord l9 are secured mechanically and electrically to the ends of the conductor strips, and Figs. 3 and 4 show how the strips and connected 3 wires will be interlocked and firmly held in the block.

After connection of the wires with the contact strips, the cord passage in the tapered end portion of the elastic block may be opened by an expanding tool sufliciently to admit the strips, and the strips then be forced in by an appropriate tool to the fully seated position shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The strips then become interlocked in the block through the entry of the contact prongs 21 in the upright blade receiving passages 23. This interlocked engagement is so complete that the contact strips cannot thereafter be removed. Also, these metal parts are so deeply buried in the elastic material that they will not be injured or bent out of shape even under rough treatment or dropping of heavy objects thereon. Also, the inherent flexibility permits the base to be twisted and bent in various ways without injuring the tap.

The securing of both the core and the insulated portion of the wires, and the bending of these wires at right angles as shown in Fig. 3, provides desirable strain relief, so that it is practically impossible to pull the cord out of the tap.

The elastic plug base and the two contact strips can be produced and, with the wires connected, be quickly and easily assembled in final form, all at relatively low cost.

The tapered neck portion of the base reinforces and braces the cord where it issues from the base.

The extended flange portions at the sides give the base desired stability, preventing it from tipping one way or the other. These flanges are shown as having holes '34 part way through the same from the back, which may be used for nails, screws or other fastenings if it is desired to secure the tap in fast position, for example on a wall or other support. 7

4 What is claimed is: A cord tap comprising an elongated, one-piece, elastic base having a, cord inlet in one end, spaced,

' parallel, longitudinally extending channels, fork passages extending from said cord inlet into said spaced, parallel channels, a longitudinally extending passage connecting said parallel channels and contact blade receiving branches extending from said channels up through the top of the base at opposite sides of said longitudinally extending passage, elongated contact bars seated in said parallel channels and having upstanding contact prongs extending up into said branches and wire terminals on the ends of the contact bars nearest the cord inlet for securing and holding the wires of an electric cord in said forked portion of the cord inlet, the inner edges of said upstanding prongs being inclined to facilitate the forcing of the contact bars through the cord inlet into the channels and the interlocking engagement of the prongs in the branches, the inner walls of said branches being inwardly indented and the upper ends of said contact prongs being inclined inwardly to enter and interlock in said inwardly indented walls.

SIDNEY MJWEISBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

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