Abstract:
An electrical adaptor providing access to an electrical receptacle with an object placed in close proximity directly in front of the receptacle. The electrical adaptor having a pair of male connectors with a center line; a pair of female connectors having a center line; the female connectors in electric conductive communication with the male connectors; a rigid single section body having a bend such that the center line of the female conductors is oriented and fixed at an angle of 90° relative to the center line of the male connectors and the center line of the female connectors is oriented and fixed at an angle of 30° to 60° from a plane formed by the male connectors; and the body extending from the male connectors to the female connectors.

Description:
REFERENCE TO PENDING APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation-in-part patent application claiming priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/474,657, filed on Jun. 26, 2006. 

   REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   This application is not referenced in any microfiche appendix. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is generally directed towards an improved electrical adaptor. More specifically, the present invention provides an adaptor which can be used to provide access to an electrical receptacle located behind a piece of furniture while allowing the furniture to sit tightly against the wall. Further the present invention provides the ability to use an appliance with a grounded plug in both sockets of an ungrounded receptacle while providing the ability to ground two of the adaptors the present invention to the grounding screw on the outlet. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Electricity is a modern day necessity. Any building or home built today in the United States is wired for electricity. In wiring these homes and buildings, electric receptacles are placed throughout the building and are typically located on the lower section of walls. Once these homes and buildings are occupied furniture often must be placed in front of a receptacle. The occupant is often faced with the dilemma of either placing the furniture several inches out from the wall so that the receptacle can be accessed for use or placing the furniture flush against the wall, thus leaving the receptacle inaccessible for use. 
   This problem is compounded when the occupant has an appliance which has a grounded plug and the receptacle is ungrounded. 
   One possible option in the past has been the use of an extension cord. However, extension cords can be a fire hazard and a trip hazard in certain applications. They also present unsightly clutter. 
   Other adaptors have been presented to solve this problem however they typically are rather complicated devices with moving parts which increase the likelihood of failure of the adaptor. 
   Addressing the issue of plugging the grounded plug into the ungrounded receptacle, the occupant has had one of three unsatisfactory options to solve this problem. The first option would be to cut off the grounding prong on the plug, however this leaves the appliance ungrounded and thus presents a danger of electrocuting the occupant. 
   The second option would be to employ an adaptor plug which has a ground wire extending from it. The grounded appliance plug is simply inserted into the female end of the adaptor. The adaptor is then plugged into the receptacle and the grounding wire is secured to the grounding screw on the face of the receptacle. While this does allow for grounding of the appliance, the extra step of having to unscrew and then reattach grounding screw with the grounding wire is inconvenient as many times the occupant does not have a screw driver handy. Also as the adaptor ages the coating on the grounding wire can become brittle and break and the wire can become frayed thus creating a danger of electrocution and/or fire. 
   The third option would be to use an adaptor plug having a metal grounding tab extending parallel with the male face of the adaptor. This operates in much the same way as the adaptor described above. The grounded appliance plug is inserted into the female end of the adaptor. The plug can then be inserted into the ungrounded receptacle. In order to provide grounding, the grounding screw on the receptacle must be removed and used to secure the grounding tab to the receptacle. In addition to having the same drawbacks as the adaptor with the grounding wire the adaptor with a grounding tab can only provide grounding when used in the top receptacle. If the adaptor is inserted in the bottom receptacle the grounding tab extends in the direction opposite the receptacle grounding screw. 
   The other draw back of using either one of these adaptors is that they cause the plug to stick out further from the wall, typically 1″ to 1½″ thus further complicating the location of furniture in front of the receptacle. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is an electrical adaptor which provides a solution to the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a small rigid single piece electrical adaptor which can be plugged into a receptacle to redirect the interface of the receptacle such that when a plug is connected to it the cord from the plug will hang at an angle parallel with the wall. 
   Another embodiment provides a hinged male grounding prong or third male connector. This hinged third male connector provides the ability to ground two grounded appliances to the grounding screw of the electrical outlet. 
   A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings and the attached claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a front view of one embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a front view of one embodiment of the adaptor of the present invention in use with a receptacle, a plug and a cord. 
       FIG. 4  shows a side view of the adaptor, plug and cord in use with a receptacle shown in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a front view of second embodiment of the present invention in use with a receptacle, a plug and a cord. 
       FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  shows the detail of the hinged third male connector. 
       FIG. 8  shows two adapters of the third embodiment in use with an ungrounded outlet. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   It is to be understood that the invention that is now to be described is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of the parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. The phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and not limitation. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2  which show the electrical adaptor  20  of the present invention. The adaptor  20  has a male face  22  and a female face  24  located on opposite ends of a body  26 . The male face  22  has a pair of male connectors  28 . The connectors  28  have a center line  30 . The male connectors  28  also define a plane  32 . A third male connector  34  can be located on the male face  22  parallel with the pair of male connectors. In typical applications of the adaptor  20  in a 120V system one of the pair of male connectors  28  will be the hot or electrified wire while the second electrical connector in the pair of male connectors is for the neutral side of the circuit. The third male connector  34  is typically the ground. 
   The female face  24  of the adaptor  20  has a pair of female connectors  36  with a center line  38 . The pair of female connectors  36  also define a plane  40 . The female face  24  can also have a third female connector  42  parallel with the pair of female connectors  36 . 
   When the adapter  20  has been used with a typical 120V system, one of the female connectors of the pair of female connectors  36  is the hot wire with the other connector of the pair of female connectors  36  being the neutral wire. The third female connector  42  is typically the ground. 
   The hot connector of the pair of male connectors  28  is in electric conductive communication with the hot connector of the pair of female connectors  36 . Likewise the neutral connector of the pair of male connectors  28  is in electric conductive communication with the neutral female connector of the pair of female connectors  36 . The third male connector  34  is also in electric conductive communication with the third female connector  42 . The male face  22  is typically disposed on the opposite end of the body  26  from the female face  24 . 
   In the first embodiment the body is configured such that the center line  30  of the pair of male connectors  28  is perpendicular to the center line  38  of the pair of female connectors  36 . This angle is indicated by element  44  in  FIG. 2 . The center line  38  of the pair of female connectors  36  is also at an angle  46  relative to the plane  32  of the pair of male connectors  28 . This angle  46  can range from 30-60° with the preferred embodiment being 45°. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4  show the adaptor  20  of the present invention in use with a typical 120V receptacle R and an electrical plug P. When in use the pair of male connectors  28  and third male connector  34  are inserted into the female receptacle R. An electrical plug P can then be attached to the pair of female connectors  36  and third female connector  42 . This allows the plug P and its cord C to lie flush with the wall W. This in turn allows for any furniture standing in front of the receptacle R to be pushed close to the wall W while still allowing the plug P to be connected and disconnected from the adapter  20  and in turn the receptacle R. 
     FIG. 5  shows a second embodiment of the adaptor  20  of the present invention in use with a typical 120V receptacle R and an electrical plug P.  FIG. 5  is included to illustrate the adaptor of the present invention can angle to the left (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) in addition to angling to the right (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). Other than the difference in the direction of angle, the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is structurally the same as the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 through 4 . The two embodiments also operate in the same manner. 
   While the example shown in the figures is a three prong outlet with a ground or third connector  34  and  42 , the invention can also be implemented using just the male and female pair of connectors  28  and  36 . Likewise the invention can also be used on circuits with electrical voltages other than 120V. 
   Turning now to  FIG. 6 , the third embodiment of the electrical adaptor  120  of the present invention has a male face  122  and a female face  124  on either end of the body  126 . A pair of male connectors  128  extend from the male face  122  as does a hinged third male connector  134 . A pair of female connectors  136  and a third female connector  142  extend into the body  126  of the adaptor  120  from the female face  124 . Each of the male connectors  128  are in electric conductive communication with one of the female connectors  136 . The third male connector  134  is in electric conductive communication with the third female connector  142 . 
   When the adaptor  120  is used with a 120V AC system one of the connectors of the pair of male connectors  128  will be the hot or electrified wire. The second male electrical connector in the pair  128  is the neutral side of the circuit. The third male connector  134  is the ground. Likewise one of the female connectors of the pair of female connectors  136  is the hot or electrified wire with the other connector being the neutral wire. The third female connector  142  is the ground. The hot connector of the pair of male connectors  128  is in electric conductive communication with the hot connector of the pair of female connectors  136 . Likewise the neutral connector of the pair of male connectors  128  is in electric conductive communication with the neutral female connector. The third male connector  134  is also in electric connective communication with the third female connector  142 . 
   Turning to  FIG. 7  the third male connector  134  is hinged such that it can rotate approximately 180° and/or to at least 3 positions. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 7  uses a pin  150  to pivotally secure the third male connector  134  to the adaptor  120 . While  FIG. 7  shows use of a pin  150  it is understood that there are other ways to hingedly attach a member. Use of these other methods of hingedly attaching a member would still fall within the scope of the present invention. 
   Looking at  FIG. 6 , the male face  122  of the adaptor  120  has a first and second trench  152  and  154  which extend across the male face  122  away from the hinged third male connector  134 . The trenches  152  and  154  are located and sized such that when the third male connector  134  is in the first position indicated by element  156 , the cross-section of the third male connector  134  is contained inside the first trench  152 . Likewise when the third male connector  134  is in the second position, indicated by element  158 , the cross-section of the third male connector  134  is contained in the second trench  154 . The first and second position  156  and  158  are perpendicular to the pair of male connectors  128  and/or the plane defined by the male connectors. The third male connector  134  has a length such that when it is in the first or second position  156  or  158  it extends beyond the male face  122  of the adaptor  120 . There is an aperture  160  which, passes through the third male connector  134 . The aperture  160  is located and sized such that when the third male connector  134  is in the first or second position  156  or  158  the hole will align with the grounding screw of an electrical plug P. 
   When the third embodiment of the invention is used with a grounded receptacle the third male connector  134  can be set in a third position such that it is parallel with the pair of male connectors  128 . If the adaptor  120  is used with an appliance having a grounded plug in an ungrounded electrical outlet. The grounded plug is inserted into the female connectors  136  and  142 . If the adaptor is inserted in the lower receptacle R 1  as shown in  FIG. 8 , the third male connector  134  would be placed in the first position  156 , such that it is perpendicular with the pair of male connectors  128 . The grounding screw G of the receptacle would be removed. The male connectors  128  of the adaptor  120  would be inserted into the lower receptacle R 1  and the grounding screw G would be inserted through the aperture  160  of the third male connector  134  and screwed back into the electrical plug P. 
   If it is necessary to use both the bottom and top receptacle R 1  and R 2  of an ungrounded electrical plug P as shown in  FIG. 8  the grounded plug P of the appliance would be inserted into the female connectors  136  and  142  of the adaptor  120 . The third male connector  134  would be placed in the second position  158 , such that it is perpendicular to the pair of male connectors  128 . The grounding screw G would be removed from the electrical plug P. The third male connector  134  can then be placed in the second position  158 . The pair of male connectors  128  could then be inserted into the top receptacle R 2 . The grounding screw G would then be passed through the aperture  160  of both the adaptor  120  and the lower receptacle R 1  and the aperture  160  of the adaptor  120  located in the top receptacle R 2 . The grounding screw would then be screwed into the electrical plug P. This would allow two appliances with grounded plugs P to simultaneously be plugged into the same ungrounded electrical plug P while providing a ground connection. 
   In addition to using the hinged third male connector  134  with an angled adaptor  20  and  120  such as shown in  FIGS. 1-6  and  8 , the hingedly attached third male connector  134  could also be used in an adaptor wherein the pair of male connectors  28  and  128  are in a straight or paralleled alignment with a pair of female connectors  36  and  136 . 
   The adaptors  20  and  120  of the present invention can be constructed out of any materials commonly known in the art. This includes but is not limited to using polymers, resins and other electrically nonconductive, materials for the body  26  and  126 . The connectors  28 ,  34 ,  36 ,  42 ,  128 ,  134 ,  136  and  142  can be fabricated out of any electrically conductive materials known in the art, typically various metals and alloys. 
   While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of constriction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.