Power cord and home appliance provided with same

The present disclosure relates to the field of intelligent electrical appliances. Disclosed are a power cord (10) and a home appliance (20) provided with same. The power cord is used for supplying power to a home appliance, and is also used for mounting a communication module (300). The communication module is used for implementing wireless communication between the home appliance (20) and an external device. The power cord (10) comprises a line body (2), a plug (1) disposed at one end of the line body, a line body fixing portion (5) disposed on the part of the line body distant from the plug (1) and used for fixing the line body (2) on the home appliance, and an intelligent module mounting portion (S) disposed adjacent to the line body fixing portion (5) and disposed on the line body, wherein the intelligent module mounting portion (S) is provided with a base (100) having an accommodation cavity (B) and a cover (200) matching the base (100) so as to enclose the accommodation cavity (B). The communication module (300) is accommodated in the accommodation cavity (B). The present power cord can stably mount an intelligent module, is convenient to use, and implements easy mounting and removal.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application relates to the field of intelligent electrical appliances, particularly to a power cord and a home appliance provided with the power cord.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

With the development and the progress of science and technology, the application of intelligent products has become a trend. It is more and more common that a control system interacts with a home appliance by a wired or wireless means and thereby controls the operation of the home appliance. Presently, a home appliance is rendered with a wireless receiving and transmitting function by adding an intelligent module (or a communication module) in the main body of the home appliance. The intelligent module is usually mounted inside or outside the home appliance. Mounting the intelligent module outside the home appliance has an adverse effect to the appearance, while mounting the intelligent module inside the home appliance leads to electromagnetic interference of the electrical components inside the home appliance as the intelligent module receiving and transmitting signal and degrade reliability of the interactive communication.

In the prior art, an intelligent module mounting structure as shown inFIG. 1exists. Specifically, as shown inFIG. 1, a clearance boss5.1is arranged on the line body fixing portion5of a power cord, and a groove is arranged in the clearance boss5.1to accommodate an intelligent module3. In such a mounting structure, the intelligent module3is not mounted firmly and stably in the grooved if the size of the intelligent module3is too small; and it will be difficult to remove the intelligent module3after the intelligent module3is mounted if the size of the intelligent module3is too large. In another mounting structure, the intelligent module3is clamped between the power cord and the clearance boss5.1, and then is fixed by fitting a fixing sleeve from outside. However, the mounting and removing operations are complex in that mounting structure.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The object of the present disclosure is to provide a power cord on which a communication module can be mounted firmly and stably and can be removed simply. To solve, among others, the above-mentioned technical problem, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a power cord is provided. The power cord is used for supplying power to a home appliance, and is also used for mounting a communication module. The communication module is used for implementing wireless communication between the home appliance and an external device. The power cord comprises: a line body, a plug disposed at one end of the line body, a line body fixing portion disposed on a part of the line body distal from the plug and used for fixing the line body on the home appliance, and an intelligent module mounting portion disposed on the line body adjacent to the line body fixing portion; wherein the intelligent module mounting portion is provided with a base having an accommodation cavity and a cover fitted with the base so as to enclose the accommodation cavity, and the communication module is accommodated in the accommodation cavity.

Optionally, the base comprises a bottom wall and four side walls, and the accommodation cavity is enclosed by the bottom wall and the four side walls. Optionally, a wire notch for passing through a lead wire that connect the communication module to the home appliance is formed in the side wall of the base adjacent to the line body fixing portion.

Optionally, a restricting slot in which the lead wires can be embedded is formed in the part of the bottom wall adjacent to the wire notch.

Optionally, the restricting slot extends from the wire notch to the central area of the bottom wall. Optionally, the line body fixing portion comprises two end faces and a snap-fit groove formed between the two end faces, and the side wall of the base adjacent to the line body fixing portion and the end face of the line body fixing portion adjacent to the base are of the same structure.

Optionally a wire notch for passing through a lead wire that connect the communication module to the home appliance is formed in the other end face of the line body fixing portion distal from the base.

Optionally the cover is removably mounted on the base; or the cover is rotatably connected to the base.

Optionally the cover is rotatably connected with respect to the base at the side wall distal from the wire notch, and the cover is hinged to the base at the side wall opposite to the side wall with the wire notch; snap-fit structures that can be snap-fitted to each other are provided on the cover and the side wall of the base adjacent to the wire notch.

Optionally a mounting hole through which the line body may pass is formed in the bottom of the base.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a home appliance is provided. The home appliance comprises a housing, a communication module, a back plate assembled with the housing, and the above-mentioned power cord; the line body fixing portion is fixed on the back plate, and the communication module is accommodated in the accommodation cavity and extends out of the housing. Optionally a mounting hole is formed on the back plate; the line body fixing portion comprises two end faces and a snap-fit groove formed between the two end faces; the power cord is snap-fitted in the mounting hole via the snap-fit groove.

With the technical scheme provided in the present disclosure, an intelligent module can be mounted firmly and stably, and is convenient to use and easy to mount and remove.

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be further detailed in the embodiments hereunder.

Reference Numbers:1 plug2 line body3 intelligent module5 line body fixing portion5.1 clearance boss10 power cord20 home applianceS intelligent module mounting portion21 housing22 back plate220 mounting holeB accommodation cavity100 base100′ bottom wall100a first side wall100b second side wall100c third side wall100d fourth side wall101 wire notch102 restricting slot101b wire notch103 mounting groove200 cover300 communication module302 lead wire501 a first end face501b second end face600 snap fit grove

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereunder some embodiments of the present disclosure will be detailed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodiments described here are only provided to describe and explain the present disclosure rather than constitute any limitation to the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the words that denote directions or orientations, such as “above”, “below”, “top”, and “bottom”, etc., are usually used to describe the relative position relations among the components with respect to the direction shown in the accompanying drawings or the vertical, plumb, or gravity direction; “vertical direction” refers to the up-down direction of the paper surface of the drawing; “inside” and “outside” usually refer to inside and outside of a cavity with respect to the cavity or inside and outside in the radial direction with respect to the center of a circle.

As shown inFIG. 2, the disclosure provides a power cord10, which is used for supplying power to a home appliance20and is also used for mounting a communication module300. The communication module300is used for implementing wireless communication between the home appliance20and an external device. The power cord10comprises: a line body2, a plug1disposed at one end of the line body2, a line body fixing portion5disposed on a part of the line body2distal from the plug1and used for fixing the line body2on the home appliance, and an intelligent module mounting portion S disposed adjacent to the line body fixing portion5on the line body2. The intelligent module mounting portion S is provided with a base100having an accommodation cavity B and a cover200fitted with the base100so as to enclose the accommodation cavity B, and the communication module300is accommodated in the accommodation cavity B. During assembling, the main part of the communication module300may be embedded in the accommodation cavity B of the base100, the cover200is fitted on the base100to encapsulate the main part of the communication module300, and lead wire302of the communication module300extend out of the base100.

Here, it should be noted that the communication module300comprises an antenna and a signal processing module that has a signal processing function. Optionally, the communication module300is a planar antenna, and the signal processing module is integrated in a control board for the home appliance.

Optionally, as shown inFIG. 2, the base100comprises a bottom wall100′ and four side walls100a,100b,100cand100d, and the accommodation cavity B is enclosed by the bottom wall100′ and the four side walls100a,100b,100cand100d. A wire notch101allowing the lead wire302that connect the communication module to the home appliance to pass through is formed in the side wall100aof the base100adjacent to the line body fixing portion5. A restricting slot102in which the lead wires302can be embedded is formed in the part of the bottom wall100′ adjacent to the wire notch101. In such a case, if the main part of the communication module300matches the accommodation cavity B of the base100in size, the lead wire302of the communication module may directly extend horizontally from the wire notch101to the outside of the base100. If the size of the main body part of the communication module300is smaller than the size of the base100, the lead wire302of the communication module300may firstly extend to the wire notch101restricted and guided by the restricting slot102and then extend out of the base100. Thus, regardless of the size of the communication module300, the cover200, the wire notch101and the restricting slot102can jointly restrict the lead wire302of the communication module within a certain movement space, so that the lead wire302of the communication module doesn't pull the main part of the communication module upward, and thereby the mounting stability and firmness of the communication module300on the power cord is improved.

In the above embodiment, a mounting hole103allowing the line body2to pass through is formed in the bottom of the mounting base100.

In order to ensure certain movement allowance for the lead wire302of the communication module, the restricting slot102extends from the wire notch101to the central area of the bottom wall100′. In such a case, the lead wire302of the communication module may be flexed downward along the restricting slot102to a certain angle. Besides, the downward flexing of the lead wire302of the communication module has no impact on the mounting firmness and stability of the entire communication module300in the base100. Optionally, the communication module300comprises a wireless communication element. More optionally, the wireless communication element is a WIFI antenna.

In addition, in order to facilitate the mounting of the communication module300on other electrical appliances, as shown inFIG. 3andFIG. 4, the line body fixing portion5comprises two end faces501aand501band a snap-fit groove600formed between the two end faces501aand501b. The side wall100aof the base100adjacent to the line body fixing portion5and the end face501aof the line body fixing portion5adjacent to the base100are of the same structure. Optionally, a wire notch101bfor passing through the lead wire302that connect the communication module300to the home appliance is formed in the other end face501bof the line body fixing portion5distal from the base100. In such a case, the communication module300may be fixed together with the line body fixing portion5of the power cord to the casing of the electrical appliance by means of the snap-fit groove600.

The wire notch101bis formed in the side wall of the base100that defines the snap-fit groove600. In such a case, the lead wire302of the communication module is in the same extension direction as the line body2of the power cord, i.e., the lead wire302of the communication module runs parallel to the line body2. Thus, crossing or intertwining and interference between the power cord and the lead wire302of the communication module can be prevented, and the power cord and the lead wire302of the communication module can be respectively connected conveniently.

As shown inFIG. 2andFIG. 4, the cover200may be removably mounted on the base100or rotatably connected to the base100. Specifically, in a case that the cover200is rotatably connected to the base100, snap-fit structures105,205that can be snap-fitted together are provided on the cover200and the side wall100aof the base100adjacent to the wire notch101. In such a case, after the communication module300is mounted, the cover200may be placed over the communication module300and further clamp the lead wire302of the communication module.

The present disclosure further provides a home appliance. As shown inFIG. 5andFIG. 6, the home appliance comprises a housing21, a communication module300, a back plate22assembled with the housing21, and the above-mentioned power cord10. The line body fixing portion5is fixed on the back plate22, and the communication module300is accommodated in the accommodation cavity B of the base100and extends out of the housing21. Optionally, a mounting hole220is formed in the back plate22, and the line body fixing portion5comprises two end faces501a,501band a snap-fit groove600formed between the two end faces501a,501b. The power cord10is snap-fitted in the mounting hole220via the snap-fit groove600. In such a case, by disposing the communication module300at the line body fixing portion5of the power cord10skillfully, the communication module300may be directly disposed on the back plate22of the home appliance20, rather than being disposed inside or outside the home appliance20. In that way, the home appliance20can communicate with other electrical appliances, the communication module300has no adverse effect to the esthetic appearance of the home appliance20, and the signals of the communication module300are not subject to electromagnetic interference of the electronic elements in the home appliance20.

Furthermore, as shown inFIG. 6, a mounting hole220is formed in the top area of the back plate22. When the communication module300is to be replaced, the housing21may be removed from the back plate22first, and then the line body fixing portion5of the power cord may be taken out from the mounting hole220, and the cover200may be opened, so that the communication module300in the base100may be replaced. It should be noted that the home appliance20in the present disclosure may be any kind of intelligent home appliance that needs the power cord10, such as refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, etc. Optionally, the home appliance20in the present disclosure is a microwave oven or baking oven.

While the present disclosure is described above in detail in some preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present disclosure is not limited to those embodiments. Various simple variations may be made to the technical scheme in the present disclosure, including combinations of the specific technical features in any appropriate form, within the scope of the technical ideal of the present disclosure. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the possible combinations are not described specifically in the present disclosure. However, such simple variations and combinations shall also be deemed as having been disclosed and falling in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.