Power outlet with jack safety shield device

A power outlet includes a casing, a middle-layer support and at least one safety shield device. The middle-layer support includes at least one conductive plug bush and provides guiding jacks corresponding to the position of the conductive plug bush. The safety shield device has a left shield, a right shield and a spring. Each left and right shield extends a shield foot from the underside, respectively. The middle-layer support further includes sliding platforms for movement of the left shield and the right shield. The sliding platform has location holes for insertion of the shield feet. When the left shield and right shield lock, two shield feet respectively match against an opposite inner edge of two location holes on the sliding platform. When the left shield and right shield open, the guiding jack on the middle-layer support exposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to power outlets with protection functions. More specifically, the disclosure relates to power outlets with jack safety shields.

BACKGROUND

The existing technology contains two forms of power outlets. For one form, both the left and the right jacks are I-shaped. For the other form, the left jack is I-shaped and the right jack is T-shaped.

A power outlet with a jack shielding device may include an enclosure with a middle-layer support provided in it, conductive plug bushes located below the middle-layer support, and the safety shield device. Guiding jacks are provided on the middle-layer support, corresponding to the positions of the conductive plug bushes. The safety shield device is used to plug the guiding jacks on the middle-layer support and the conductive plug bushes below. The safety shield device for double I-shaped jacks, e.g. the shield device in the Chinese utility model patent No. 200920223089.2, includes left shield, right shield, spring, base connected with the middle-layer support, etc. The safety shield device for left I-shaped and right T-shaped jacks, e.g. the shield device publicized in Chinese utility model patent No. 200920167808.3, includes left shield, right shield, the first spring used for resetting of left and right shields, small shield used for plugging the T-shaped hole, the second spring used for resetting the small shield and its reset mechanism, base connected fixedly with the middle-layer support, etc. When a plug is inserted into the shields, the two shield units are staggered, exposing the conductive plug bush below them. When the plug is pulled out, the shield units, under the action of springs, close the conductive plug bush.

These two kinds of shield devices have the following problems: for safety shield devices for double I-shaped jacks, as there is no sliding platform, it is unsatisfactory to sustain force and therefore unstable. For safety shield devices for left I-shaped and right T-shaped jacks, owing to relatively numerous components, it results in uneven distribution of force, difficult assembly and complicated structure. For safety shield devices with small shields, since a small shield spring is provided with one end fixed and the other end moving together with the small shield, the center of gravity is not consistent, and thus there are problems such as complicated reset mechanism, unassured reliability of action and unsatisfactory flexibility.

SUMMARY

The inventor provides a power outlet with a safety shield device. Such safety shield device is simple in structure and has excellent action reliability.

A power outlet comprises a casing, a middle-layer support and at least one safety shield device. The middle-layer support includes at least one conductive plug bush and provides guiding jacks corresponding to the position of the conductive plug bush. The safety shield device has a left shield, a right shield and a spring. Each left and right shield extends a shield foot from the underside, respectively. The middle-layer support further includes a sliding platform for each shield device for movement of the left shield and the right shield. The sliding platform has location holes for insertion of the shield feet. When the left shield and right shield lock, two shield feet respectively rest against opposite inner edges of the two location holes on the sliding platform. When the left shield and right shield open, the guiding jack on the middle-layer support is exposed.

In an alternative embodiment, the middle-layer support according to the above description further includes a locating wedge and at least one T-shaped guiding jack. A small shield is configured underneath the right shield. The small shield includes a first guide groove to match a right shield guide rail underneath the right shield, a running slope above the small shield where the small shield retracts in a direction normal to an opening direction of the right shield under the effect of a T-shaped plug, a locking notch at a left side of the small shield configured to match a locking block configured at a front of the left shield, a lock-up surface configured to match a front end of the locating wedge, and a second guiding groove configured to match an inclined side face of the locating wedge.

The beneficial effect provided is that, as the left and right shields are positioned by the matching of their respective shield feet and the respective location holes on the sliding platform of the middle-layer support, the need for a shield base is eliminated and therefore the device achieves reduced cost, reliable movement and easy assembly.

Another benefit provided is that, as the small shield is returned by the locating wedge at the middle-layer support, the need for a returnable spring is eliminated and therefore costs are further reduced.

Furthermore, with the lock-up steps provided at an inner edge of the hollow frame of the shield, the shield moves more stably.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIGS. 1-5, the example is directed at a power outlet with the jacks being I-shaped holes. The power outlet has two sets of jacks and provides two separate sets of safety shield devices. The power outlet with jack safety shield devices of this invention includes a casing with middle-layer support13inside (only an upper cover1with jacks is shown in the figure; a base is not shown), conductive plug bush14A below middle-layer support13(the conductive plug bush is on conductive metal piece14). The jack safety shield device is made up of left shield7, right shield8and spring9. Middle-layer support13has guiding jacks (13D,13E) corresponding to the position of conductive plug bush14A.

Left shield7and right shield8respectively include a hollow frame and a stop block (7A,8A) at the front of the hollow frame. There are matching step type dents (7C,8C) at the side of both hollow frames. The opening of step type dent7C at left shield7faces upward, the opening of step type dent8C at right shield8faces downward. The left and right shields may slide to match in a crossed way along the step type dents. The stop block may move along both sides of the inner edge of the opposite hollow frame. Stop block7A and stop block8A, at the rear side, have spring mounting positions7B and8B, respectively. Each end of spring9rests against respective spring mounting positions (7B,8B) of both stop blocks. The spring mounting positions of this example are convex pins. One convex pin is provided on each of the rear sides of the stop blocks of the left and right shields. The convex pins are preferred to be at the same level. Each end of spring9is mounted to the convex pin at both stop blocks. The spring mounting position may also be a groove on each rear side of the stop blocks of the left and right shields. Each side of the spring is then mounted into the grooves at both stop blocks.

Stop blocks (7A,8A) have guiding slopes at the front ends. The guiding slope of left stop block7A forms a hole lock-up together with the rear wall of the inner edge of the hollow frame of the right shield to block left guiding jack13E of the middle-layer support. The guiding slope of right stop block8A forms a hole lock-up together with the rear wall of the inner edge of the hollow frame of the left shield to block right guiding jack13D of the middle-layer support. That is, each stop block (7A,8A) cooperates with a step (7E,8E) of the opposite shield to prevent an object from entering the plug bush below. In this way, the upper cover jacks, guiding jacks (13D,13E), and plug bushes (14A) are locked-up until appropriate pins of a plug can press against the guiding slopes and slide the shields apart, thereby opening a space through which the plug pins can travel to the plug bushes below. If a foreign object, such as a hairpin or key, is pressed against a guiding slope, thereby moving the guiding slope away from the locked position, the step below will prevent the foreign object from reaching the plug bush below the step.

The hollow frame of left shield7has a left lock-up step7E at the inner edge for sliding under the right shield stop block. The hollow frame of right shield8has a left lock-up step8E at the inner edge for sliding under the left shield stop block. A plug is not allowed to be connected until the stop blocks of both shields move simultaneously and remove respective lock-up steps from the plug pin entry path. This configuration also ensures stable sliding of the shields and prevents relative vertical shaking of the left and right shields. Guiding slopes7A,8A are placed above lock-up step7E,8E, respectively. The guiding slopes7A,8A and lock-up steps7E,8E isolate plug bush14A below so that the power outlet will not be plugged into even when the shield is being pried with a metal bar.

Left shield7extends at least one shield foot7D from its underside. Right shield8extends at least one shield foot8D from its underside. Middle-layer support13provides sliding platform13A for movement of left shield7and right shield8. Sliding platform13A has location holes (13B,13C) for insertion of the shield feet (7D,8D). When the left and right shields close, two shield feet (7D,8D) respectively rest against the opposite inner edge of two location holes (13B,13C) at the middle-layer support, clamping against the inner edges of the two location holes by spring9. The shield device is located against middle-layer support13. Guiding jacks (13D,13E) are exposed when the left and right shields open. When the left and right shields are opened, the two shield feet (7D,8D) can rest against opposite outer edges of the two location holes (13B,13C). While two shield feet (7D,8D) are shown, more or fewer shield feet may be used.

Referring toFIGS. 6-11, this example is directed at a power outlet with I-shaped jacks on the left and T-shaped jacks on the right. The differences between this example and example 1 are as follows:

The conductive plug bush (14A,15A) at conductive metal pieces (14,15) below the upper end face of middle-layer support13have different shapes. For example, conductive plug bush14A is I-shaped and conductive plug bush15A is T-shaped. Left guiding jack13D at middle-layer support13is an I-shaped hole while right guiding jack13E is a T-shaped hole. In addition, the middle-layer support provides location hole13B for insertion of left shield foot7D and location groove13C for right shield foot8D. Unlike the centered left shield foot7D, right shield foot8D can be closer to an edge to accommodate the T-shaped jack13E. And, the corresponding location groove13C can likewise be off-center to align with the right shield foot8D without interfering with the function of the T-shaped jack13E.

Small shield16is provided below right shield8and serves as a lock-up step. Guide rail8F is provided below right shield8and small shield16has guiding groove16A to match with right shield guide rail8F. Running slope16B, provided on an upper surface of small shield16, may drive small shield16to move along the direction normal to the opening direction of the right shield. A sliding platform is provided for sliding of the shields at middle-layer support13and small shield16is located between right shield8and the sliding platform of middle-layer support13. Locking block7F is provided at the front end of left shield7. Small shield16has a locking groove16C to match with left shield locking block7F. Middle-layer support13provides location wedge13F. Lock-up surface16E can press against the front end of location wedge13F. A second guiding groove16G to match with the inclined side face of the location wedge13F is provided below small shield16. The small shield16may automatically disengage and unlock when a plug is connected, and may engage and lock when a plug is removed.

The guiding slope at stop block of left shield7is steeper than that of the stop block of right shield8. The left shield stop block is shorter than the right shield stop block. The main parts of small shield16and running slope16B, for instance, are between the inner edge of the right shield hollow frame and the left shield stop block. The guiding slope of the stop block of left shield7does not cover the entire inner edge of the right shield hollow frame. Running slope16B is below the guiding slope of the left shield stop block. The bottom surface of small shield16is flush with the bottom face of right shield8. Right shield8also has a notch8W for lateral movement of small shield16at a side surface. Locking block7F of the left shield is in the middle of the lateral movement direction of the small shield. Locking groove16C of small shield16straddles on left shield locking block7F. When the front and rear inner walls of locking groove16C of small shield16contact the front and rear surfaces of locking block7F, they respectively correspond to the locking position and unlocking position of small shield16. Locking groove16C and guiding groove16G of the small shield both are located at the bottom surface of the small shield.

To facilitate the insertion of a T-shaped plug, the rear wall of the inner edge of the hollow frame of right shield8has a guiding notch to guide the cross metal piece of T-shaped pin of a plug.

The movements are described in the following process: After unlocking of the shield lock-up mechanism, a plug is connected. The I-shaped left pin of the plug moves downward along the guiding slope of the right shield stop block. The T-shaped right pin of the plug first moves along the left shield stop block to insert into a position so as to expose top running slope16B of small shield16, and then moves downward along running slope16B of small shield16. The left and right shields open to expose I-shaped guiding jack13D at the left side of the middle-layer support. Running slope16B of the small shield retracts upward in the direction normal to the opening direction of the right shield. The first guiding groove at the right side of the small shield slides along the guide rail. The locking groove in the front of the small shield slides and leaves the locking block at the front end of left shield. Second guiding groove16G below the small shield slides along the guiding slope of guiding wedge13F at the middle-layer support. That is, the entire small shield retracts by the effect of a T-shaped plug pin and reveals right guiding jack13E of the middle-layer support below it. When a plug is removed, the left and right shields clamp together by the effect of spring9, the small shield moves left, driven by the right shield guide rail, and at the same time, the small shield moves downward in the direction normal to the closing direction of the right shield by the effect of guiding wedge13F at the middle-layer support until locking groove16C is stopped and located by locking block7F at the front end of the left shield. Small shield16is locked by locking block7F and location wedge13F and thus blocks T-shaped guiding jack13E at the middle-layer support. The safety shield device returns to locked status, and the guiding jacks at the middle-layer support are blocked with the shield.