WO1996013081A1

WO1996013081A1 - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: WO1996013081A1
Application number: PCT/KR1994/000145
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ki Chun Kim
Original assignee: Ki Chun Kim
Priority date: 1994-10-24
Filing date: 1994-10-24
Publication date: 1996-05-02

Abstract

An electrical connector is provided which includes a plug (1) including a plug housing (4) and a pair of prongs (6) protruding in parallel from a face on the plug housing (4) and being electrically connected to an electric cord (3) in the plug housing (4), a socket (10) including a socket housing (14) having at least one opening (12) for introducing the prongs (6) therethrough, an elastic ejector provided in the socket housing for elastically ejecting the prongs (6) introduced in the socket housing (14), a holding unit provided in the socket housing for capturing and holding the prongs (6) against the ejecting force of the elastic ejector in such a manner that the introduced prongs (6) are not detached from the holding unit, and for releasing the prongs (6) from the holding unit by a manual manipulation, and contact terminal members which are electrically connected to the prongs (6) at the capturing and holding state of the holding unit and are electrically disconnected from the prongs (6) at the releasing state of the holding unit. Accordingly, a mechanical and electrical connection between the plug (1) and the socket (10) is assured. Also, a disconnection between the plug and the socket is facilitated. Further, a foreign matter is effectively prevented from being introduced into the openings (12) of the socket (10).

Description

E L E C T Ft l C ^ L C O N N E C T O R

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector for connecting a power consumer such as a home appliance to a general power supply line.

BAC KGROUND ART This kind of an electrical connector includes, in general, a plug having a pair of prongs, and a socket having openings through which the prongs can be introduced and a pair of contact terminals corresponding to the respective prongs. When the plug is connected to the socket, the prongs of the plug is elastically inserted into the socket and attached to d e contact terminals in the socket, to thereby enable the plug and the socket to be temporarily maintained in an integrally combined state.

In such a conventional electrical connector, since the prongs of the plug are engaged with the the contact terminals of the socket by an elastic friction force, a relatively big force is required when connecting the plug and the socket to each other and disconnecting them from each other. Thus, both hands are used for disconnecting the plug from the socket. On the contrary, when an engagement of the prongs with the contact terminals is loose, a proper connection state cannot be maintained between the plug and the socket. Also, when the prongs are partially and externally exposed due to the insufficient engagement with the contact terminals, it can give the user an electrical shock.

M oreover, in the conventional electrical connector, since the openings of the socket for introducing the prongs are externally exposed, a kid who has no danger recognition capability may happen to put an elongate conductive material such as a nail of steel into the socket via the openings, which can give it an electrical shock or a fire. Also, in the conventional electrical connector, since an electrical contact between the prongs of the plug and the contact terminals of the socket is closer to a substantial point contact or a substantial line contact than to a substantial surface contact. Accordingly, an efficiency of the contact thereof is lowered, and the contact portion may spark.

DISC LOSURE O F INVENTION

Therefore, to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector in which a mechanical and electrical connection between a plug and a socket can be assured and a disconnection therebetween is facilitated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which can effectively prevent a foreign matter from being introduced into the openings in a socket. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector which enhances an efficiency of an electrical contact by making the prongs of the plug surface-contact the contact terminals of the socket.

To accomplish the above object of the present invention, there is provided an electrical connector comprising: a plug including a plug housing and a pair of prongs protruding in parallel from a face on the plug housing and being electrically connected to an electric cord in the plug housing; a socket including a socket housing having at least one opening for introducing the prongs^' therethrough; first means provided in the socket housing for elastically ejecting the prongs introduced in the socket housing; second means provided in the socket housing for capturing and holding the prongs against the ejecting force of the first means in such a manner that the introduced prongs are not detached from the second means, and for releasing the prongs from the second means by a manual manipulation; and contact terminal means which is electrically connected to the prongs at the capturing and holding state of the second means and is electrically disconnected from the prongs at the releasing state of the second means.

Advantageously, the first means comprises a support member for supporting the front end of the prongs and which moves forward and backward at the direction of the introduction of the prongs, and a spring for outwardly and elastically supporting the support member.

Advantageously, the second means comprises a pair of holding members which are opposed to each other at either side of the introduced prongs and are elastically energized toward the prongs, for cooperatively capturing the prongs, and a pair of release knobs which are protruded outwardly from the socket housing for spacing the holding members apart from the prongs, so as to assure the tight engagement and elastical disengagement between the plug and the socket. A simple structure of the second means is formed of sliders in which the holding members are transversely movable with respect to the introduction direction of the prongs. The respective sliders are elastically deenergized by the spring toward the prongs and the release knob of each slider depresses a corresponding slider outwardly against the elastical deenergized force of a corresponding spring to perform a release operation.

Each prong is provided with a protruding portion which is engaged with the slider so as not to move to the reverse introduction direction at the introduced state. The contact terminal means is attached to the front end of the slider to assure the secure electrical connection and disconnection between the socket and the plug.

The socket housing comprises a pair of prongs which are connected to an existing different socket, and which are electrically connected to the corresponding contact terminals so as to be additionally connected to the existing socket.

The support member can be inclined in a plane including the axis lines of the prongs when there is a difference of the pressure between two support points where the prongs contact. When an inclined angle of the support member is not less than a predetermined angle, the support member further comprises a false introduction prevention means for preventing the movement of the introduction direction of the support member, thereby preventing the introduction of the foreign matter and an electrical shock or a fire. The false introduction prevention means comprises, in a preferred embodiment, at least one pair of outwardly toothed sides which are opposed to each other so as to be extended to the introduction direction in the support member, and at least one pair of inwardly toothed sides which are opposed to the respective outwardly toothed sides in a predetermined gap and which are fixedly formed on the socket housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAW INGS FIG. l is a perspective view of an electrical connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.2 is an exploded perspective view of the FIG. l electrical connector.

FIG.3 is a vertically cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG.l .

FIG.4 is a horizontally cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.3 which passes through a slider.

FIG.5 is a vertically cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. l which passes through a guide column. FIG.6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG.3 which shows a combined state of a plug and a socket.

FIGs. 7A to 7C are views for explaining the operations of the sockets having the different contact terminals.

FIG.8 is a horizontally cross-sectional view of a socket having a different slider.

FIG.9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the socket.

M ODES FOR C ARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. l showing a perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present invention, the electrical connector has a plug 1 which is connected to an electric cord 3 and a socket 10 which is connected to a power cable (not shown), as in a conventional electrical connector. Plug 1 includes a plug housing 4, and a pair of prongs 6 which are protruded from a face on plug housing 4 and which are electrically connected to electric cord 3 in plug housing 4. Socket 10 has a substantial box-shaped socket housing 14. A pair of introduction openings 12 through which prongs 6 of plug

1 can be introduced are provided on cover plate 1 1 which is located in the upper surface of socket housing 14. FIG.2 is an exploded perspective view showing an internal structure of socket 10 in detail. A socket housing 14 internally comprises, in general, a first means having elastically ejecting mechanism members 18 and 16 for elastically ejecting prongs 6 introduced through introduction openings 12 in the reverse direction of the introduction direction, and a second means having holding mechanism members 21 and 22 for capturing and holding introduced prongs 6 in such a manner that introduced prongs 6 are not detached from the second means against an ejecting force of the elastic ejecting mechanism members.

FIG.3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. l .

FIG.4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.3.

Hereinafter, the elastically ejecting mechanism and the holding mechanism of prongs 6 will be described in more detail with rederence to FIGs.3 and 4 together with FIG.2.

The elastically ejecting mechanism constituted by the first means comprises a support member 18 for supporting the front end of the prongs 6 which are introduced into socket housing 14 through openings 12 and which moves forward and backward with respect to the direction of the introduction of the prongs 6, and a spring 16 for elastically energizing the support member 18 in the reverse direction w ith respect to the introduction direction of prongs 6. Support member 18 has support surfaces 19 which are exposed outwardly through openings 12 and contact the front ends of prongs 6, and moves inwardly against the elastic force of spring 16 due to the introduction force of prongs 6. In the meantime, support member 18 is ejected in the direction reverse to the introduction direction of prongs 6 if the introduction force of prongs 6 is released. The holding mechanism constituted by the second means comprises a pair of holding sliders 22 which are opposed to each other at either side of the introduced prongs 6 and are elastically energized toward the prongs 6, for cooperatively capturing prongs 6. The holding sliders 22 are transversely and slidably installed with respect to the movement direction of the prongs 6, so as to oppose to each other and interpose support member 18 on table 15 provided in socket housing 14. The respective sliders 22 are elastically deenergized by spring 21 toward support member 18, that is, prongs 6. Accordingly, holding sliders 22 contact the side surfaces of support member 18 before prongs 6 are introduced into socket housing 14, and elastically contact the side surfaces of prongs 6 if support member 18 moves downward after prongs 6 are introduced into socket housing 14. By this contacts, prongs 6 are maintained in socket housing 14 against the ejecting force of support member 18 due to spring 16. To assure the capturing and holding of prongs 6, protruding portions 8 are provided in the respective front ends of prongs 6, so that holding sliders 22 are engaged therewith.

On the other hand, each holding slider 22 comprises a release knob 37 which is protruded outwardly from the socket housing 14 through a connection rod 23. As shown in FIGs. 3 and 4, each holding slider 22 is connected to release knob 37 which is located in an opposing side with respect to the holding slider 22. That is, right holding slider 22 is connected to left release knob 37 and left holding ^" slider 22 is connected to right release knob 37. Here, if both release knobs 37 are simultaneously depressed by an external force, each holding slider 22 is detached from support member 18 or prongs 6 which contacts holding slider 22, and thereby release an elastical contact state.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention further comprises a false introduction prevention mechanism members 26 and 28 for preventing an electrical shock which may occur when prongs 6 are not simultaneously introduced through both openings 12 in socket housing 14, that is, when a kid puts a conductive rod into either one of openings 12. The false introduction prevention mechanism can be inclined in the plane including axis lines of prongs 6 when there is a difference of the pressure between two support surfaces 19 on support member 18, and can prevent a movement in the introduction direction of support member 18 when an inclined angle of support member 18 is not less than a predetermined angle.

Referring to FIG.5 which is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. l , and FIG.2 which is an exploded perspective view, a pair of guide columns 26 which are provided in both sides of support member 18 are provided with a pair of outwardly toothed sides 27 which are opposedly formed in the plane which can be inclined in support plane 18. Also, inwardly toothed sides 29 which are opposedly formed in guide walls 28 which are extended in the introduction direction of prongs 6 with a predetermined gap from respective outwardly toothed sides 27, are formed on cover plate 1 1 of socket housing 14. These toothed sides 27 and 29 have teeth having a one-direction inclined angle only, so as to prevent only the movement in the introduction direction of support member 18 when these toothed sides 27 and 29 are engaged with each other. Thus, both support surfaces 19 of support member 18 are uniformly loaded, the respective gaps between the opposing toothed sides are uniformly maintained, to thereby enable support member 18 to move freely in the introduction direction of prongs 6. H owever, when support member 18 becomes inclined not less than a predetemrined angle due to a partial loading, support member 18 cannot move in the introduction direction of prongs 6 due to a mutual cooperation of toothed sides 27 and 29.

By the constitution as described above, as shown in FIG .3 , before inserting prongs 6 into socket housing 14, holding sliders 22 which are located in both sides of support member 18 are elastically energized, thereby contacting the side surfaces of support member 18. In such a state, if plug 1 is depressed into openings 12 of socket housing 14, support member 18 moves in the introduction direction of plug 1 against an elastic force of spring 16. Then, when prongs 6 are introduced not less than a predetermined distance, both holding sliders 22 come into contact with the side surfaces of prongs 6. Here, since protruding portions 8 of prongs 6 are engaged with holding sliders 22, the detachment of prongs 6 can be assuredly prevented. Here, even if prongs 6 do not have protruding portions 8, if an elastical energization force of holding sliders 22 can sufficiently overcome the ejecting force of spring 16, prongs 6 will not be detached from holding sliders 22.

When prongs 6 are captured by holding sliders 22 and are maintained in an inserted state, if release knobs 37 which are protruded from both sides of socket housing 14 in holding sliders 22 are simultaneously depressed,^" holding sliders 22 are spaced apart from prongs 6, and thereby releae prongs 6. As a result, prongs 6 are elastically and outwardly ejected by the ejection operations of support member 18 and spring 16.

On the other hand, when a foreign matter except prongs 6 is introduced into socket housing 14 through openings 12, an unbalanced force is generally applied in both support surfaces 19 of support member 18. Then, support member 18 becomes inclined in the plane including the axis lines of both prongs 6. Thus, since guide columns 26 provided in support member 18 are inclined, outwardly toothed sides 27 of guide columns 26 come into contact with inwardly toothed sides 29 of fixed guide walls 28. Accordingly, support member 18 does not move any more, and thereby prevents the insertion of the foreign matter. In the above descriptions referring to FIGs. l through 6, contact terminals in socket housing 14 are not referred to, but the contact terminals can be made in various structures. For example, as shown in FIGs. l to 6, movable contact terminals 24 contact the contact surfaces of sliders 22. Fixed contact terminals 25 are provided on a proper fixed portion in socket housing 14, for example, on a tables 15, so as to be electrically connected to movable contact terminals 24. Fixed contact terminals 25 are connected to an electric cable (not shown) to electrically communicate with an external portion of socket housing 14. By the above constitution, movable contact terminals 24 contact to or detached from prongs 6 according to the movement of sliders 22, which performs an electrical connection between prongs 6 and fixed contact terminals 25.

FIGs. 7A to 7C are views showing another embodiment of the contact terminals. Here, contact terminals 41 have a U-shaped structure which is made of a material of a plate, and which are fixed on the lower portion of socket housing 14 and are separated from holding sliders 22. As shown in FIG.7A, contact terminals 41 contact the side surfaces of support member 18 by the pressure of holding sliders 22 before prongs 6 are not introduced. When prongs 6 are introduced into socket housing 14, contact terminals 41 contact the side surfaces of prongs 6 by the pressure of the holding sliders 22 to perform an electrical connection, as shown in FIG.7B . Also, if both release knobs 37 are simultaneously depressed to release prongs 6, both holding sliders 22 are detached from the side surfaces of prongs 6 as shown in FIG.7C. Accordingly, contact terminals 41 are detached from prongs 6 by the elasticity itself, and then released support member 18 is bound by the function of spring 16 to release prongs 6 outwardly. FIG.8 shows another embodiment of a holding slider 22. The contact surfaces of holding sliders 22 have substantially semicircular grooves 42 for capturing the prongs 6. Accordingly, the existing cylindrical prongs can be easily captured and held. FIG. shows another embodiment of die socket housing 14. Here, socket housing 14 further comprises a pair of prongs 43. Accordingly, socket housing 14 according to the present invention can be connected to the existing socket.

As described above, according to the present invention, a mechanical and electrical connection between a plug and a socket can be assured. Also, a disconnection between the plug and the socket is facilitated. Further, a foreign matter is effectively prevented from being introduced into the openings of the socket. Also, the present invention can provide an electrical connector which enhances an efficiency of an electrical contact between the prongs of the plug and the contact terminals of the socket.

Claims

1. An electrical connector comprising: a plug including a plug housing and a pair of prongs protruding in parallel from a face on said plug housing and being electrically connected to an electric cord in said plug housing; a socket including a socket housing having at least one opening for introducing said prongs therethrough; first means provided in said socket housing for elastically ejecting said prongs introduced in said socket housing; second means provided in said socket housing for capturing and holding said prongs against the ejecting force of said first means in such a manner that the introduced prongs are not detached from said second means, and for releasing said prongs from said second means by a manual manipulation; and contact terminal means which is electrically connected to said prongs at the capturing and holding state of said second means and is electrically disconnected from said prongs at the releasing state of said second means.

2. An electrical connector according to claim 1 , wherein said first means comprises a support member for supporting the front end of said prongs and which moves forward and backward at the direction of the introduction of said prongs, and a spring for outwardly and elastically supporting said support member.

3. An electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein said second means comprises a pair of holding members which are opposed to each other at either side of the introduced prongs and are elastically energized toward said prongs, for cooperatively capturing said prongs, and a pair of release knobs which are protruded outwardly from said socket housing for spacing said holding members apart from said prongs.

4. An electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein said holding members are sliders which are transversely movable with respect to the introduction direction of said prongs, said respective sliders being elatically deenergized by said spring toward said prongs and said release knob of each slider depresses a corresponding slider outwardly against the elastical deenergized force of a corresponding spring to perform a release operation.

5. An electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein said prongs each is provided with a protruding portion which is engaged with said slider so as not to move to the reverse introduction direction at the introduced atate, respectively.

6. An electrical connector according to claim 4, wherein said contact terminal means is attached to the front end of said slider.

7. An electrical connector according to any one of claims

1 through 6, wherein said socket housing comprises a pair of prongs which are connected to an existing different socket, and which are electrically connected to the corresponding contact terminals.

8. An electrical connector according to any one of claims

2 through 6, wherein said support member can be inclined in a plane including the axis lines of said prongs when there is a difference of the pressure between two support points where said prongs contact, and when an inclined angle of said support member is not less than a predetermined angle, said support member further comprises a false introduction prevention means for preventing the movement of the introduction direction of said support member.

9. An electrical connector^" according to claim 8 , wherein said false introduction prevention means comprises, at least one pair of outwardly toothed sides which are opposed to each other so as to be extended to the introduction direction in said support member, and at least one pair of inwardly toothed sides which are opposed to the respective outwardly toothed sides in a predetermined gap and which are fixedly formed on said socket housing.