ES2991671T3 - Easy-to-insert and remove electrical outlet - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical socket comprising: a socket body (10) at the bottom of which two female connection terminals (12) are housed; a recess (20) housed in said socket body (10); a front panel (30) mounted in a longitudinally sliding manner in the recess (20) between a high position and a low position; at least two lateral slots (24, 26) for longitudinally guiding the front panel; at least two elastic pieces (40) each arranged in a guide groove (24, 26) and extending longitudinally between said front (30) and the bottom of the well (20), each elastic piece (40) being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front (30) from said high position to the low position, until the insertion of a male plug into the female connection terminals, and to be able to facilitate the extraction of the male plug by spontaneously moving said front (30) from the low position to the high position, by the relaxation of said elastic pieces (40) as soon as an operator dislodges the male plug from said female connection terminals. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Easy-to-insert and remove electrical outlet

Technical field of the invention

The field of the invention is electrical sockets and, more particularly, sockets that are easy to insert and remove.

Background of the technique

Electrical sockets are generally made up of a socket body or base in which one or more hidden electrical circuits connected to an electrical power supply network are arranged. Male plugs can be inserted into the electrical socket

(also referred to throughout the text as "female connection terminals") that are electrically connected to the electrical circuits of the outlet.

Currently, there are many types of models, brands and functions of electrical outlets. During use, the electrodes of a male plug are inserted into the insertion holes of the outlet, which enables the electrodes of the plug to be electrically connected to the female connection terminals. In order to ensure good contact with the electrical appliance as well as stable power, the electrodes of the male plugs are usually forcibly inserted into the female connection terminals. As a result, removing the male plug from the outlet when disconnecting the electrical appliance connected to the male plug requires the deployment of relatively large force. In daily life, users are forced to use force to disconnect the outlet, or hold the outlet with one hand and remove the male plug with the other hand, which is not very convenient, especially for the elderly and children.

KR1020130111113, DE29918007 and CN111180936 each describe a socket-outlet equipped with means for facilitating the removal of a male plug from the socket-outlet. These socket-outlets comprise a plate configured to rise or lower in a cavity, associated with a compression spring. In use, the plates have a tendency to pivot or tip over, which raises serious safety and reliability concerns. EP 2 146399 B1 discloses an electrical socket-outlet according to the preamble of claim 1. Other relevant electrical socket-outlets are known from EP 2555336 B1, EP 3651 277 A1, CN 111 180936 B and KR 20130111113 A.

Objectives of the invention

The invention seeks to alleviate this problem and proposes a socket from which male plugs can be easily disconnected using little force.

The invention seeks in particular to provide, in at least one embodiment, an electrical socket that allows a male plug to be disconnected with one hand, without any particular effort.

The invention also seeks to provide, in at least one embodiment, a socket that is simple to design and economical to manufacture.

The invention also seeks to provide, in at least one embodiment, a socket that allows pivoting of the male plug to be prevented during insertion or removal of the plug from the socket.

Presentation of the invention

For this purpose, the invention relates to an electrical outlet comprising:

- a socket body at the bottom of which two female connection terminals are housed,

- a cavity housed in said socket body and comprising openings arranged opposite said female connection terminals,

- a front part mounted movable to slide longitudinally through the cavity between a high position and a low position, said front part comprising openings for the passage of a male electrical plug designed to be inserted into said female connection terminals, when the front part is in the low position,

- a limiter extending radially from said front portion and configured to abut against a lip integrated in the cavity to limit upward movement of said front portion.

The electrical outlet according to the invention is characterized in that it also comprises:

- at least two lateral slots for longitudinal guidance of the front part,

- at least two elastic pieces, each arranged in a guide groove and extending longitudinally between said front part and the bottom of the cavity, each elastic piece being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front part from said high position to the low position, by the effect of a force exerted by an operator when inserting the male plug into said front part, until it engages with the female connection terminals and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug by spontaneously moving said front part from the low position to the high position, by means of the release of said elastic pieces as soon as an operator removes the male plug from said female connection terminals.

The electrical socket according to the invention therefore has the particularity of having two lateral slots for longitudinally guiding the front part through the cavity, each slot housing an elastic piece designed to store energy during the movement of the mobile front part from the high position to the low position, until the electrodes of the male plug are inserted into the female connection terminals of the socket and to restore this stored energy when the male plug is disconnected, to facilitate the extraction of the male plug, moving the front part from the low position to the high position.

Each guide slot forms an assembly with the elastic part housed in the slot. The presence of the longitudinal lateral guide slots of the front part makes it possible to prevent the front part from turning or tipping over during the raising and lowering operations of the front part. In addition, the guide slots are arranged laterally along the socket cavity, which makes it possible to balance the front part in the cavity during the raising and lowering operations.

Furthermore, the female connection terminals are arranged at the bottom of the cavity and are separated from the user by the presence of the movable front part, which secures the socket avoiding any risk of contact between the user's hands and the female connection terminals of the socket.

According to the invention, each lateral longitudinal guiding slot comprises a high portion integrated in said movable front part and a low portion integrated in the bottom of the cavity, arranged longitudinally opposite the high portion, said elastic piece housed in this slot is integrated in the high portion and the low portion, respectively, and extends between the high portion and the low portion.

Thus, each guide slot is formed by two slot portions separated from each other and spaced apart longitudinally. The elastic piece has two ends, each end being integrated into one of the two slot portions. Being the elastic piece, when the front part moves from the high position to the low position, the high portion of the slot approaches the low portion of the slot, which causes compression of the energy-storing elastic piece. When the front part moves from the low position to the high position (as a result of disconnecting the male plug), the elastic piece restores the stored energy and moves the high slot towards the top of the socket.

This socket advantageously makes it possible to arrange portions of the integrated slots respectively in the cavity and in the front part, thus allowing a better hold of the elastic part, while allowing the front part to move relative to the bottom of the cavity. In other words, the elastic parts are not free in the cavity, but are partly housed in the slots to prevent any unwanted movement of the elastic parts, while allowing the front part to move relative to the bottom of the cavity.

Advantageously, said socket body and said front part have at least one plane of symmetry and said lateral longitudinal guide slots are arranged symmetrically with respect to this plane of symmetry.

According to this advantageous variant, the elastic parts are arranged symmetrically in the socket, such that the front part is subjected to the elastic force returned by the elastic parts in a homogeneous manner, which allows a balanced sliding of the front part upwards during disconnection operations of the male plug.

Advantageously, at least one elastic part, preferably each elastic part, is a compression spring.

According to this advantageous variant, the elastic compression force of the spring is lower than the friction between the electrodes of the male plug and the female connection terminals of the socket, so that the male plug can remain inserted in the female connection terminals in the absence of a disconnection action carried out by a user.

Advantageously, said movable front part comprises an upper plate and a lower plate joined together, and each one comprises openings for the passage of the pins of a male plug arranged opposite each other, said front part further comprising a shutter mounted movably in pivoting motion between said upper and lower plates between a position of closing said passage openings of the lower plate and a position of releasing the passage openings that allows the insertion of a male electrical plug into said socket.

A socket according to this advantageous variant makes it possible to protect users by obstructing direct access to the connectors in the absence of a male plug. By default, the shutter is in the shutter position and it is only during the insertion of the plug that the shutter can pivot into an open position to allow access to the connectors of the electrical socket.

Advantageously, the socket further comprises a snap-in connection slot formed in the bottom of said cavity and a hook piece fitted into said snap-in connection slot, said hook piece further comprising a hook allowing said socket to be fixed.

In this advantageous variant, the socket can be fixed to a support by means of the hook embedded in the socket body. The user can thus, for example, fix the socket at the desired height, high on a wall or hanging under a table.

According to a variant of the invention, the socket comprises three cavities, each cavity being equipped with a front part mounted movable to slide longitudinally through the cavity between a high position and a low position, said front part comprising openings for the passage of a male electrical plug designed to be inserted into said female connection terminals housed at the bottom of the cavity, when the front part is in the low position. Each cavity is further equipped with a limiter extending radially from said plate and configured to abut against the body of the socket to limit the upward movement of the plate. Furthermore, each cavity comprises two lateral longitudinal guide slots, a front part and two elastic pieces each arranged in a guide slot and extending longitudinally between said front part and the bottom of the cavity, each elastic piece being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front part from said high position to the low position, by the effect of a force exerted by an operator when inserting the male plug into said front part, until it engages with the female connection terminals and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug by spontaneously moving said front part from the low position to the high position, by means of the release of said elastic pieces as soon as an operator removes the male plug from said female connection terminals.

A socket outlet according to this variant therefore forms a power strip and thus comprises three sockets that can be easily inserted and removed, allowing the connection of three male plugs.

The invention also relates to a socket-outlet characterized in combination by all or part of the features mentioned above or below.

List of figures

Other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description provided for non-limiting purposes only and which refers to the attached figures, in which:

[Fig. 1] is a schematic exploded perspective view of an electrical outlet according to an embodiment of the invention,

[Fig. 2] is a schematic assembled perspective view of the socket outlet of Figure 1, in which a partial cutout has been made to represent the internal elements of the socket outlet,

[Fig. 3] is a schematic exploded perspective view of an electrical outlet according to another embodiment of the invention,

[Fig. 4] is a schematic perspective view of the different stages of insertion and extraction of a male plug into a socket, according to the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2,

[Fig. 5] is a schematic perspective view of a terminal block according to one embodiment of the invention, [Fig. 6] is a schematic perspective view of a terminal block according to another embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

In the figures, the scales and proportions have not been strictly observed, for the sake of illustration and clarity. In all the detailed description that follows with reference to the figures, unless otherwise indicated, each element of the socket-outlet is described as it is arranged when the socket-outlet is mounted and placed on a flat support. This configuration is shown in particular in figure 4.

Furthermore, identical, similar or analogous elements are designated with the same references in all figures.

The longitudinal direction corresponds to the direction of movement of the movable front part between the high position, shown on the left of Figure 4, and the low position, shown in the third view of Figure 4.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a socket outlet according to an embodiment of the invention.

The socket comprises a socket body 10 housing a cavity 20 extending along a longitudinal direction. Female connection terminals 12 are arranged at the bottom of the socket body 10. These female connection terminals 12 are designed to receive the electrodes 52 of a male plug 50, when the latter is inserted into the socket according to the invention. The cavity 20 comprises openings 22 for the passage of the electrodes 52 of the male plug 50 arranged longitudinally opposite the female connection terminals 12.

The receptacle further comprises a front portion 30 mounted movable to slide longitudinally through the cavity 20 between a high position and a low position. The front panel 30 and the cavity 20 each exhibit revolution symmetry.

The front panel 30 comprises openings 32 for the passage of the electrodes 21 of the male plug 20, arranged opposite the passage openings 22 of the cavity and the female connection terminals 12 to allow the insertion of the male plug into the female connection terminals 12, which are arranged facing each other, when the front part is in the lowered position. In other words, the electrodes 52 of the male plug 50 pass through the openings 32 of the front part, the openings 22 of the cavity 20 and are forcibly accommodated in the female connection terminals 12.

The receptacle also comprises a limiter 38 extending radially from the front portion 30 and configured to abut against a rim 28 of the cavity 20 to limit upward movement of the front portion 30.

The socket according to the invention also comprises two lateral slots 24, 26 for longitudinally guiding the front part 30, each slot housing a spring 40 forming the elastic piece extending between the front part 30 and the bottom of the cavity 20. The lateral slots 24, 26 are arranged diametrically opposite along the walls of the cavity 20.

The springs 40 are configured so that they can be compressed during the movement of the front part 30 from the high position to the low position, by the effect of a force exerted by an operator when inserting the male plug 50 into the front part 30, until it engages with the female connection terminals 12.

In addition, the springs 40 facilitate removal of the plug by exerting a release force which pushes the front portion 30 upwardly from the receptacle as soon as an operator pulls the plug from the female connection terminals. The upward movement of the front portion 30 is impeded by the limiter 38. This limiter 38 is formed, for example, by lugs which extend radially from a lower surface of the front portion 30 to abut against a crown formed in the cavity 20.

As shown in Figure 2, each lateral longitudinal guiding slot preferably comprises a high portion 26 integrated into the movable front panel 30 and a low portion 24 integrated into the bottom of the cavity 20, arranged longitudinally opposite the high portion 26. The spring 40 extends between the high portion of the slot 26 and the low portion 24 of the slot.

Preferably, and as shown in the figures, the movable front part 30 comprises an upper plate 31 and a lower plate 34 which are connected to each other. Furthermore, the front part 30 comprises a shutter 36 movably mounted in a pivoting manner between the upper plate 31 and the lower plate 34. This shutter makes it possible to close the passage openings 33 of the front part in the absence of the male plug 50. When the male plug 50 is inserted, the electrodes 52 of the plug 50 cause the shutter 36 to pivot so as to release the passage 33 and allow the introduction of the electrodes up to the female connection terminals 12. By default, the shutter 36 is held in the closing position by the presence of a spring extending between the shutter and the lower plate 34 of the front part 30.

Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment further comprising a pin 14 mounted on the body of the socket outlet and extending through the cavity 20 and the movable front part 30. This pin 14 is designed to ensure the grounding of the electrical appliance connected to this socket outlet.

Figure 3 illustrates a socket-outlet according to another embodiment of the invention. The main difference with the socket-outlet shown in Figure 1 is the presence of a grounding pin 16 extending along the side walls of the cavity 20. This grounding pin 16 is designed to ensure the grounding of the electrical appliance connected to this socket-outlet.

Figure 4 illustrates the principle of use of a socket-outlet according to the invention. Proceeding from the left-hand view to the right-hand view, the figure illustrates a male plug 50 designed to be inserted into the socket-outlet according to the invention. The next view shows the male plug inserted into the front part 30 of the socket-outlet, the latter always being in the up position. The next view illustrates the male plug inserted into the socket-outlet, the front part being in the down position in which the electrodes of the male plug (not visible in Figure 4) are inserted into the female connection terminals 12. The next view illustrates the male plug disconnected from the socket-outlet, the front part having been raised back to the up position by the action of the springs 40 (not shown in Figure 4).

Figures 5 and 6 schematically illustrate power strips each comprising several sockets according to the invention, respectively, according to Figure 1 and Figure 3+. Each comprises a socket body equipped with three cavities, each cavity being similar to those described in relation to the previous figures. Each cavity further comprises a front part and springs similar to those described in relation to the previous figures.

The particularity of the power strip of figure 6 is that it also comprises a snap-in connection slot 62 formed in the bottom of the cavity 20 and a hook piece 64 snapped into the snap-in connection slot 62. This hook piece 64 also comprises a hook 66 designed to be able to fix the power strip to a wall or under a table, for example.

Claims (6)

1. Electrical outlet comprising: - a socket body (10) at the bottom of which two female connection terminals (12) are housed, - a cavity (20) housed in said socket body (10) and comprising openings (22) arranged opposite said female connection terminals (12), - a front part (30) mounted movable to slide longitudinally through the cavity (20) between a high position and a low position, said front part (30) comprising openings (32) for the passage of a male electrical plug (50) intended to be inserted into said female connection terminals (12), when the front part (30) is in the low position, - a limiter (38) extending radially from said front portion (30) and configured to abut against a flange (28) integrated in the cavity (20) to limit the upward movement of said front portion (30), - at least two elastic pieces (40), each elastic piece (40) being configured to be able to be compressed during the movement of said front part (30) from said high position to the low position, by the effect of a force exerted by an operator when inserting the male plug (50) into said front part, until it engages with the female connection terminals (12) and to be able to facilitate the removal of the male plug (50) by spontaneously moving said front part (30) from the low position to the high position, by releasing said elastic pieces (40) as soon as an operator removes the male plug from said female connection terminals, characterized in that the socket also includes: - at least two lateral slots (24, 26) for longitudinal guidance of the front part, each lateral longitudinal guidance slot comprising a high portion (26) integrated in said movable front part (30) and a low portion (24) integrated in the bottom of the cavity (20), arranged longitudinally opposite the high portion, - said elastic pieces (40) are each arranged in a guide groove (24, 26) and are integrated, respectively, in the upper portion (26) and in the lower portion (24), extending between the upper portion and the lower portion and extending longitudinally between said front part (30) and the bottom of the cavity (20). 2. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that said socket body (10) and said front part (30) have at least one plane of symmetry and in that said lateral longitudinal guide slots (24, 26) are arranged symmetrically with respect to this plane of symmetry. 3. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that at least one elastic part (40), preferably each elastic part, is a compression spring. 4. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said movable front part (30) comprises an upper plate (35) and a lower plate (34) joined together, and each comprises openings (32) for the passage of the pins (52) of a male plug (50) arranged opposite each other, said front part (30) further comprising a shutter (36) mounted movably in pivoting motion between said upper (31) and lower (34) plates between a closing position of said passage openings of the lower plate and a release position of the passage openings allowing the insertion of a male electrical plug into said socket. 5. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it further comprises a snap-in connection slot (62) formed in the bottom of said cavity and a hook piece (64) fitted into said snap-in connection slot (62), said hook piece further comprising a hook (66) allowing said socket to be fixed. 6. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises two guide slots and two elastic parts each housed in a guide slot.