Electrical connectors – Interrelated connectors relatively movable during use – Linear movement
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-15
2003-11-04
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Interrelated connectors relatively movable during use
Linear movement
C439S348000, C439S668000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06641405
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicular power plug, and more particularly to a vehicular power plug with adjustable length to meet the allocation requirements in various kinds of vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Due to the compact size and versatility of the modern electrical appliances, many of them are developed to be suitably used in a vehicle and operatable with the vehicular direct-current power, generally
12
volts.
FIG. 1
schematically shows the structure of a conventional vehicular power plug. The vehicular power plug includes a plug portion
11
to be inserted into the cigarette lighter adapter (not shown) of a vehicle, and a connector portion
12
to be connected to an electrical appliance
13
. The plug portion
11
and the connector portion
12
have respectively specific configurations for different functions. The connector portion
12
, for example, can be a cell phone handsfree car kit, a cell phone charger, a vehicular lamp, a fan, a speaker or a liquid crystal display. In order to be in tune with the position of the cigarette lighter adapter and meet the allocation requirements in various kinds of vehicles, the vehicular power plug is preferably length-adjustable.
Unfortunately, conventional vehicular power plugs have fixed length. If a longer power plug is required, an additional adapter will be required between the plug portion and the cigarette lighter adapter, as shown in
FIG. 2A
, or between the connector portion and the electrical appliance, as shown in FIG.
2
B.
Please refer to FIG.
2
A. The additional adapter
20
is mounted to the plug end
211
of the vehicle power plug
21
, so the adapter
20
is required to have a plug end
201
with a configuration identical to that of the plug end
211
in order to be inserted into the cigarette lighter adapter in lieu of the plug end
211
. The other end
202
of the adapter
20
is designed to match the plug end
211
so that the connection of the ends
211
and
202
prolongs the entire vehicle power plug
20
and
21
. Further, the other end
212
of the original vehicle power plug
21
is still for connecting with the electrical appliance.
Now refer to FIG.
2
B. The additional adapter
30
is mounted to the connector end
311
of the vehicle power plug
31
, so the adapter
30
is required to have a connector end
301
with a configuration identical to that of the connector end
311
in order to be connected with the electrical appliance in lieu of the connector end
311
. The other end
302
of the adapter
30
is designed to match the connector end
311
so that the connection of the ends
311
and
302
prolongs the entire vehicle power plug
30
and
31
. Further, the other end
312
of the original vehicle power plug
21
is still for inserting into the cigarette lighter adapter.
The above-mentioned adapters
20
and
30
are designed for specifically prolonging the vehicular power plug. In other words, there is no further function associated with the complicated structure of the adapter. The use of such adapters
20
and
30
to just prolong the vehicular power plug is apparently inefficient in manufacturing time and cost. The assembling process is also bothersome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular power plug that is extendable without any additional adapter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular power plug with simple length-adjusting mechanism.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a vehicular power plug with adjustable length for use with a vehicular electrical appliance includes a plug end electrically connected to a vehicular power source for getting a power needed for the vehicular electrical appliance; a connector end electrically connected to the vehicular electrical appliance for transmitting the power to the vehicular electrical appliance; a first sleeve body connected to the plug end for supporting the plug end; a second sleeve body connected to the connector end for supporting the connector end, and slipable relative to the first sleeve body; and a positioning member for changing the relative position between the first sleeve body and the second sleeve body from a first position to a second position in response to an external force applied on the first and second sleeve bodies, and securing the first and second sleeve bodies at the second position when the external force is removed, thereby adjusting the length of the vehicular power plug.
In an embodiment, the positioning member includes a resilent sustaining unit mounted on one of the first sleeve body and the second sleeve body; and a receiving unit mounted on the other one of the first sleeve body and the second sleeve body, and matching the resilent sustaining unit for engaging with the resilent sustaining unit to fix the first and second sleeve bodies at the second position.
In another embodiment, the second sleeve body sleeves around the first sleeve body, and has an inner surface faces an outer surface of the first sleeve body. Meanwhile, the positioning member includes an elastic unit passing through the first sleeve object radially; a first locking-unit attached to the elastic unit and protruding from the outer surface of the first sleeve object; and a second locking unit mounted on the inner surface of the second sleeve body and cooperating the first locking unit to lock the first locking unit in the second locking unit at the second position.
For example, the elastic unit can be a spring passing through a penetrating aperature formed on the first sleeve body in the radial direction. The first locking unit includes two balls respectively attached to two ends of the spring and partially protruding from opposite openings of the penetrating aperature. The second locking unit comprises plural pairs of holes in which each pair of the holes are arranged in opposition on the inner surface of the second sleeve body so as to form two rows of holes. The balls slip against the two rows of holes, respectively, from the first position to the second position in response to the external force, and the two rows of holes match the two balls in size so that the balls are trapped in a pair of the holes when the external force is removed to fix the first and second sleeve bodies at the second position.
Alternatively, the positioning member includes a first locking unit protrudently mounted on the outer surface of the first sleeve body; and a second locking unit mounted on the inner surface of the second sleeve body and cooperating with the first locking unit for locking the first and second sleeve bodies at the second position.
For example, the first locking unit includes a resilent piece with one end fixed on the outer surface of the first sleeve body and the other end as a protrudent free end. The second locking unit includes a series of notches arranged axially on the inner surface of the second sleeve body. The notches matches the protrudent free end for locking the protrudent free end therein.
For another example, the first locking unit includes a resilent arc slice mounted on the outer surface of the first sleeve body, and the second locking unit includes a trench mounted on the inner surface of the second sleeve body. The resilent arc slice slides in the trench in response to the external force.
In a further embodiment, the positioning member includes a first locking unit protrudently mounted on the inner surface of the second sleeve body; and a second locking unit mounted on the outer surface of the first sleeve body and cooperating with the first locking unit for locking the first and second sleeve bodies at the second position.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a vehicular power plug with adjustable length for use with a vehicular electrical appliance includes a plug end electrically connected to a vehicular power source for getting a power needed for the vehicular electrical appliance; a connector end electrically connected to the vehicular electrical appliance for transm
Madson & Metcalf
Nguyen Khiem
Primax Electronics Ltd.
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