Patent ID: 6080002
Filing Date: 2000-06-27
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
A method of securing the continuity of a power supply to an appliance having an electrical cord connected to a plug having at least a pair of electrically conducting pins and a passive pin which are simultaneously receivable in respective sockets of an existing electrical outlet comprising the steps of:inserting the conducting pins and the passive pin into their respective sockets to establish a power supply path along the cord to the appliance; anddisplacing a threaded screw lying in a threaded passage through the passive pin towards a transverse passage through the passive pin such that said threaded screw is interposed between a pair of formations located in a transverse passage through said passive pin,wherein said pair of formations are integrally connected to a resilient frictional element that is circumferentially held captive on the passive pin by a corresponding groove in the passive pin, such that the formations radially expand the resilient frictional element beyond an outer peripheral region of the passive pin and towards an adjacent portion of its associated socket in order to counteract extraction of the pins from their respective sockets.