Plug socket

Details Plug socket Plug socket

2002-05-03

2003-09-23

Paumen, Gary (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Supporting means comprising face plate or closure member for...

C439S536000, C439S535000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06623296

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plug socket installed on a wall surface of buildings or the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 8
shows an exploded perspective view showing an exemplary, conventional plug socket structure. As shown in
FIG. 8
, a main case includes a case part
120
and a mounting element
130
. The socket is formed of this main body case and a front cover
150
. Case part
120
contains a terminal blade-receiving element
122
(see
FIG. 10B
) and a connection electrode portion (not shown) electrically connected to terminal blade-receiving element
122
to connect with an interior wiring for power supply. On the front face of case part
120
, main slit
126
leading to terminal blade-receiving element
122
is provided.
Case part
120
is mounted onto a wall surface
10
of a building through mounting element
130
by means of a screw
162
. Here, case part
120
is introduced into a socket-mounted hole
11
provided on wall surface
10
in advance and is then housed in wall surface
10
. On the top, front cover
150
is mounted onto wall surface
10
by means of a screw
163
in order to avoid exposure of mounting element
130
on wall surface
10
. Front cover
150
is provided with a plug-inserted opening
152
for exposing main slit
126
provided on the front surface of case part
120
.
A terminal blade
71
of an insertion plug
70
of a power-supplied body, typically an electric appliance or the like is inserted into main slit
126
of the thus installed socket, so that the power-supplied body is powered through the plug socket.
The structure of the conventional socket will now be described.
FIG. 9
is a perspective view showing the structure of case part
120
and mounting element
130
together forming the main body case. Here, case part
120
is shown mounted onto mounting element
130
.
Case part
120
is formed of a rectangular parallelepiped shaped case
121
having a terminal blade-receiving face
125
on its front face, into which terminal blade
71
of insertion plug
70
is inserted. The side face of case
121
is provided with a protruding portion
124
for securing case part
120
to mounting element
130
. Furthermore, plug-receiving face
125
described above is shaped such that it protrudes from the front face of case
121
by the thickness of a front cover plate
151
in order to be flush with front cover
150
. In addition, at a prescribed location of plug-receiving face
125
, there is formed main slit
126
into which the aforementioned terminal blade
71
of insertion plug
70
is inserted. Inside case part
120
, there is arranged a leaf spring-shaped, main terminal blade-receiving element
122
electrically connected to terminal blade
71
of insertion plug
70
and rendered conductive. A main terminal blade-receiving portion
123
which is a receiving portion of main terminal blade-receiving element
122
is arranged to face the aforementioned main slit
126
(see FIG.
10
B).
Now, mounting element
130
is formed of a plate
131
formed by press working and is provided at prescribed locations respectively with a latch portion
135
formed by folding back the plate and a threaded hole
136
for securing onto wall surface
10
. Latch portion
135
is engaged with protruding portion
124
of case part
120
so that case part
120
is secured to mounting element
130
.
A structure of a conductive portion in the conventional socket described above will now be described in detail.
FIG. 10A
is a front elevation showing the conventional socket attached onto the wall surface and
FIG. 10B
is a cross sectional view thereof taken along XB—XB.
As shown in
FIG. 10A
, at a prescribed location of front cover plate
151
of front cover
150
, there is provided plug-inserted opening
152
for letting through plug-inserted face
125
formed on the front surface of case part
120
. Therefore, plug-inserted face
125
is exposed to be flush with front cover plate
151
. Furthermore, main terminal blade-receiving element
122
provided inside case part
120
is electrically connected with the interior wiring to enable power supply (see FIG.
10
B). Main terminal blade-receiving portion
123
of main terminal blade-receiving element
122
is positioned to face toward main slit
126
so that terminal blade
71
of insertion plug
70
is brought into contact therewith and rendered conductive when inserted, thereby enabling power supply.
In the conventional socket, unfortunately, frequent insertion of the insertion plug by the user degrades and breaks the main terminal blade-receiving element for power supply. Using such a degraded or broken main terminal blade-receiving element without repair is very dangerous, may lead to an electric shock, and in addition may allegedly cause a fire resulting from abnormal heating by contact failures.
It is, however, not an easy task to determine externally whether the main terminal blade-receiving element is degraded since it is contained in the case part. Moreover, even if degradation is known, replacement is extremely dangerous for non-skilled people and therefore requires skilled experts. In addition, the structure of the conventional socket does not allow for replacement of only the main terminal blade-receiving element and thus requires replacement of the entire case part or the entire socket, which is costly. Furthermore, in the replacement work, a circuit breaker needs to be closed for safety of the workers, which is troublesome and time consuming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a plug socket free from breakage of a main terminal blade-receiving element even with frequent insertion/removal of a plug, more particularly to provide a plug socket allowing for easy repair by ordinary people without special knowledge or technique.
The present invention provides a plug socket into which a terminal blade of an insertion plug is inserted frontward. The plug socket includes: an intermediate plug having an intermediate terminal blade-receiving element into which the terminal blade of the insertion plug is inserted and an intermediate terminal blade electrically connected to the intermediate terminal blade-receiving element; and a main case containing a main terminal blade-receiving element into which the intermediate terminal blade is inserted. The intermediate plug has an intermediate slit leading the intermediate terminal blade-receiving element at a front face. The main case includes a housing space having a front opening, formed with a front face and a recessed bottom face positioned to retreat backward from the front face and having a main slit leading to the main terminal blade-receiving element. The intermediate plug arranged in the housing space is interposed to connect the insertion plug with the main terminal blade-receiving element.
In this configuration, the terminal blade of the insertion plug is inserted into the intermediate terminal blade-receiving element of the intermediate plug, so that direction insertion/removal of the insertion plug into/from the main terminal blade-receiving element is eliminated, thereby preventing degradation or breakage of the main terminal blade-receiving element due to frequent insertion/removal of the terminal blade. In addition, a space for housing the intermediate plug is saved by arranging the main terminal blade-receiving element at a position recessed from the front face of the main case, so that the intermediate plug cannot be protruded from a wall surface.
Even when the terminal blade-receiving portion of the intermediate plug is broken by frequent insertion/removal of the terminal blade of the insertion plug, the entire socket needs not be replaced and only to be replaced is an intermediate plug. Furthermore, easy replacement of the intermediate plug eliminates the troublesome works conventionally required and also allows for repairs by ordinary people without special knowledge and technique. Moreover, a simple structure of the intermediate

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