Electrical plug blades

Details Electrical plug blades Electrical plug blades

1999-02-16

2001-03-06

Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Metallic connector or contact also having securing part...

Wire conductor secured transverse to contact portion

C439S883000, C439S884000, C439S885000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06196885

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical plug blades and, more particularly, to electrical plug blades of a padded and/or a non-padded type.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The type of electrical plug blade wire crimp known in the art (as shown in
FIG. 1
) has a wire cradle with two outwardly extending crimp ears and a flat bottom surface on which a stranded wire lies. The stranded wire is often not centered between the crimp ears prior to crimping, leading to finished crimps that are either lop-sided or that have not captured all of the wire strands. Either of these imperfect crimps could lead to contact failure between the stranded wire and the plug blade and a potential failure of the Underwriters' Laboratories standard pull test, leading to overall plug failure and to a potentially hazardous electrical condition for the user.
There is presently a need for a wire crimp design that provides for improved wire termination and crimping, so as to avoid the problems of the prior art. There is also a need for a padded range-style electrical plug blade for use in 30 to 60 ampere applications, as the prior art is limited to padded electrical plug blades for use in 15 ampere applications. The embodiments of the present invention satisfy those needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One embodiment of the electrical plug blades of the present invention has a wire cradle with a base and two outwardly extending crimp ears, the improvement over the prior art being that there is a depression in the base of the wire cradle, which allows for easy and automatic self-centering of a wire within the wire cradle before crimping. The depression is created by a punch in the production die, which deforms the base of the wire cradle, creating two centering nubs, each of which is located adjacent to one of the crimp ears.
When a wire is laid in the wire cradle, it is automatically self-centered therein by the shape of the centering nubs, which slope downward toward the base of the wire cradle. The crimp ears can then be rolled around the wire, finishing the crimp and thereby firmly attaching the wire to the electrical plug blade.
In an another embodiment of the present invention, the electrical plug blade is of the padded range-style type, and is designed for use in applications from 30 to 60 amperes. This padded range-style electrical plug blade can be constructed either with or without the self-centering wire cradle described above.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3355698 (1967-11-01), Keller
patent: 3470529 (1969-09-01), Klumpp, Jr.
patent: 3670298 (1972-06-01), Klumpp, Jr.
patent: 3861779 (1975-01-01), Pfeifer
patent: 3915543 (1975-10-01), Pfeifer
patent: 5176545 (1993-01-01), Brown
patent: 5217388 (1993-06-01), Brown
patent: 5556308 (1996-09-01), Brown et al.
patent: 5662484 (1997-09-01), Blanche
patent: 5823834 (1998-10-01), Straeb et al.

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