Electrical plug extraction device

An electrical plug extraction device 10 including an elongated handle member 20 having a curved lever portion 21 and having a first 30 and a second 40 plug gripping element formed on the opposite ends 22, 23 of the handle member 20. Each plug gripping element 30, 40 has an opening provided with a pair of ridged tooth inserts 31, 41 dimensioned to engage a portion of an electrical cord or plug 100 for the purpose of removing a plug 101 from an electrical socket 200.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to the field of electrical plug extraction 
devices in general, and in particular to a long handled extraction device 
having plug gripping elements provided on both ends. 
2. Description of Related Art 
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,377; 
4,307,924; 5,062,803; and 5,690,508, the prior art is replete with myriad 
and diverse devices to assist a user in removing an electrical plug from a 
socket. 
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than 
adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been 
specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their 
failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical device to allow a 
person to either extract or insert an electrical plug relative to an 
electrical socket. 
As most elderly and/or infirm people are all too well aware, the act of 
removing or installing an electrical plug relative to an electrical socket 
becomes a real chore due to the need for the user to either bend down or 
kneel to accomplish that task. 
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a 
longstanding need for a new and improved type of plug extraction device 
that will allow the user to install or remove an electrical plug relative 
to a socket while remaining standing, and the provision of such a 
construction is a stated objective of the present invention. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly stated, the electrical plug extraction device that forms the basis 
of the present invention comprises in general, a handle unit having a pair 
of extraction units formed on its opposite ends wherein each of the 
extraction units is adapted to engage an electrical plug to either extract 
or insert an electrical plug relative to an electrical socket. 
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the 
handle unit includes a generally rigid elongated handle member having a 
curved lever portion formed on one end to provide a rolling fulcrum point 
for the handle member. 
In addition, each of the extraction units comprise generally flat V-shaped 
plug gripping elements whose openings are provided with ridged teeth 
adapted to grasp a portion of an electrical plug and/or cord adjacent to 
the electrical outlet. 
Furthermore, the openings in each of the plug gripping elements are 
disposed generally perpendicular to one another both in their orientation 
to one another and the planes in which they are disposed. One of the plug 
gripping elements also functions as a hand grip element to facilitate the 
engagement of the other plug gripping element relative to the electrical 
outlet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particularly to FIG. 1, 
the electrical plug extraction device that forms the basis of the present 
invention is designated generally by the reference number 10. The device 
10 comprises in general, an elongated handle unit 11 having a pair of 
extraction units 12 and 13 formed on its opposite ends. These units will 
now be described in seriatim fashion. 
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the handle unit 11 comprises an elongated 
generally rigid handle member 20 having a curved lever portion 21 disposed 
proximate to a first end 22 of the handle member 20. The second end 23 of 
the handle member 20 is substantially straight. 
Turning now to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, it can be seen that one of the extraction 
units 12 is formed on the first end 22 of the handle member 20 and 
comprises a first generally flat V-shaped cord gripping element 30 wherein 
the interior of the plug gripping element 30 is provided with a pair of 
ridged rubberized tooth inserts 31 dimensioned to frictionally engage the 
periphery of an electrical cord 100 provided with an electrical plug 101. 
In addition, the first plug gripping element 30 is further dimensioned to 
slip between the face of the electrical plug 101 and a wall socket 200 to 
disengage the prongs 102 of the plug 101 from the electrical socket 
openings 201 in the wall socket. 
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening 31 in the first plug gripping 
element 30 is generally axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the 
substantially straight end 23 of the handle member 20 and the curved lever 
portion 21 of the handle member 20 is provided to form a lever surface to 
facilitate both the extraction and insertion of the electrical plug 101 
relative to the electrical socket 200 as depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that the other extraction unit 
13 is formed on the second end 23 of the handle member 20 and comprises a 
second generally flat V-shaped plug gripping element 40 having a pair of 
ridged tooth inserts 41. The overall construction of both the first 30 and 
second 40 plug gripping elements are virtually identical to one another, 
with the notable exception that the opening in the second plug gripping 
element 40 is aligned generally perpendicular to both the longitudinal 
axis of the generally straight second end 23 of the handle member 20 and 
the plane that the first plug gripping element 30 is disposed in for 
reasons that will be explained presently. 
As can be appreciated by reference to FIG. 1, the generally perpendicular 
orientation of the second plug gripping element 40 functions as a hand 
grip that allows the user to maneuver the first plug gripping element 30 
relative to the electrical plug 101 and/or cord 100. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 through 5, the different orientations of the two plug 
gripping elements 30 and 40 also allows the user to engage either the cord 
100 or the prongs 102 of the plug 101 in either a downward fashion as 
would be the case with the first plug gripping element 30 or from the side 
as would be required wit h the second plug gripping element 40. 
As can also be seen by reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the lever portion 21 of 
the handle member 20 provides a rotating fulcrum that permits the 
extraction of the plug 101 as shown in FIG.4 or the insertion of the plug 
101 as depicted in FIG. 5. 
In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ridged tooth inserts 31, 41 on 
both of the gripping elements 30 and 40 are also dimensioned to 
frictionally engage the prongs 102 on the plug 101 and to that end the 
device 10 is preferably fabricated from a non-conductive material such as 
hard plastic or the like. 
Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described 
in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that 
many modifications are possible without materially departing from the 
novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such 
modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this 
invention as defined in the following claims.