Abstract:
A power adapter between an alternating current (AC) source and an external direct current (DC) consumer device consumes no electrical power until the DC device is connected to the power adapter. The power adapter includes a first magnet, a second magnet which is repelled by the first magnet, and a movable conductive member arranged on the second magnet. The insertion of the external DC device pushes the second magnet towards the first magnet and establishes a connection between the AC power source and the power adaptor. When the external device is removed, the movable conductive member is driven away by a repulsive force between the magnets to disconnect the external AC power source from the power adapter.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 101130908, filed on Aug. 24, 2012, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to power apparatuses, and particularly to a power adapter and a power connector. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Power connectors (e.g., power adapters) connect electronic devices to a power supply, to supply power to the electronic devices. Most of the power connectors consume a small amount of electricity even if no electronic device is connected to the power connectors, which wastes energy. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a better understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of one embodiment of a power connector connecting an electronic device and a power supply. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of a power adapter according to an exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the power adapter along II-II line of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the power adapter along III-III line of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Examples of the present embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same or similar reference numbers are used, in the drawings and the description, to refer to the same or like parts. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a power connector  900  is configured to electrically connect a first device  51  and a second device  52 , to transmit electrical power therebetween. In the embodiment, the first device  51  may be a power source (e.g., a movable power supply device). The second device  52  may be an electronic device (e.g., a mobile phone or other device). In the embodiment, the power connector  900  includes a connection port  910 , a main portion  920 , and an electrical wire  930  connected between the connection port  910  and the main portion  920 . The connection port  910  is configured to connect to the first device  51 . The main portion  920  is configured to connect to the second device  52 . The electrical wire  930  includes a connection terminal  931  and a movable conductive member  980 . 
     The main portion  920  includes an insulating holding body  921  having a switch  970  within an inner space of the insulating holding body  921 . The insulating holding body  921  defines a receiving space  924  for receiving the switch  970 . The receiving space  924  has an opening  925 . The second device  52  is electrically connected to the power connector  900  by insertion partial of the second device  52  in the opening  925 . The insulating holding body  921  defines two protrusions  926  protruding from opposite inner sidewalls of the insulating holding body  921 , respectively, and the two protrusions  926  protruding from the insulating holding body  921  forms an open end of the receiving space  924 . The connection terminal  931  of the electrical wire  930  is fixed on an inner sidewall of the insulating holding body  921  and spaced a certain distance from one of the protrusions  926 . The switch  970  includes a first magnet  971  and a second magnet  972 . The first magnet  971  and the second magnet  972  are arranged to repel each other. The second magnet  972  is arranged at a side of the first magnet  971  adjacent to the opening  925 . The protrusions  926  prevent the second magnet  972  from moving out of the receiving space  924 . The connection terminal  931  is arranged adjacent to the first magnet  971 , and the movable conductive member  980  is located above the second magnet  972 . At rest, the movable conductive member  980  is disconnected and distanced from the connection terminal  931  due to repulsion between the first magnet  971  and the second magnet  972 . When a portion of the second device  52  is inserted into the insulating holding body  921  through the open end of the receiving space  924  and inserted into the inner space of the insulating holding body  921 , the second magnet  972  is pushed to drive the movable conductive member  980  to connect with the connection terminal  931 . Then, the main portion  920  receives power from the first device  51  and the main portion  920  starts working, and power is transmitted from the first device  51  to the second device  52 . When the second device  52  is moved out of the receiving space  924 , the repulsion between the first magnet  971  and the second magnet  972  drives the movable conductive member  980  away, to disconnect the movable conductive member  980  from the connection terminal  931 . Thereupon, the main portion  920  stops working because of the lack of power. 
     The main portion  920  of the power connector  900  is thus activated only when the second device  52  is inserted into the inner space of the main portion  920 , and energy waste is avoided. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 4 , a power adapter  100  according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. The power adapter  100  is configured to convert alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) to power other electronic devices (not shown). The power adapter  100  includes a plug  110 , an AC to DC converter  120 , a switch  130 , a DC output member  150 , a first electrical wire  181 , and a second electrical wire  182 . The first electrical wire  181  is electrically connected between the AC to DC converter  120  and the plug  110 . The second electrical wire  182  is electrically connected between the AC to DC converter  120  and the DC output member  150 . In the embodiment, the AC to DC converter  120  converts external AC input from the plug  110  into DC, and outputs the DC via the DC output member  150  to other electronic devices. 
     In the embodiment, the power adapter  100  further includes a third electrical wire  183  and a fourth electrical wire  184 . The third electrical wire  183  is also electrically connected between the plug  110  and the AC to DC converter  120 . The first and third electrical wires  181 ,  183  carry live and neutral supplies. Particularly, the first electrical wire  181  is a live wire and the third electrical wire  183  is a neutral wire. The fourth electrical wire  184  is a ground line. The first electrical wire  181  includes a first terminal  186  and a second terminal  187  which are normally connected with each other when an external device is connected to the DC output member  150 . When no external device is connected to the DC output member, the first terminal  186  and the second terminal  187  are disconnected and spaced from each other. The first electrical wire  181  is divided into two disconnected portions by the first and second terminals  186 ,  187 . The switch  130  controls the connection and disconnection between the first terminal  186  and second terminal  187 . 
     The power adapter  100  further includes a first shell  170  made of plastic, which is configured to house the DC output member  150  and electrical wires connected to the DC output member  150 . A portion of the DC output member  150  extends out of the first shell  170  to connect to external devices (not shown), thus supplying power for the external devices. In the embodiment, the switch  130  is accommodated within an inner space of the DC output member  150 . 
     The DC output member  150  includes a second shell  190 , a holding structure  160 , and a conductive element  140 . The holding structure  160  accommodates the conductive element  140 , and a portion of the holding structure  160  is accommodated in the second shell  190 . The second shell  190  is made of electrically conductive materials, and a portion of the second shell  190  is accommodated within the first shell  170 . The second shell  190  defines a first opening  191  away from the first shell  170 . The second shell  190  is electrically connected to the fourth electrical wire  184 , and is connected to the ground via the fourth electrical wire  184 . In the embodiment, the second shell  190  is columnar and has a column shaped receiving space. Most of the holding structure  160  is accommodated in the receiving space of the second shell  190 . 
     The holding structure  160 , including a sidewall  161  and a bottom wall  162 , is made of insulating materials. The sidewall  161  and the sidewall  162  corporately form a first receiving space  164  to receive the switch  130 . The bottom wall  162  is located at an inner side of the second shell  190  away from the first opening  191 . In the embodiment, the sidewall  161  and the bottom wall  162  corporately form a column shaped structure. A resisting wall  166  extending towards the DC output member  150  is defined on the sidewall  161 , to resist a side of the second shell  190  where the first opening  191  is formed. The first receiving space  164  defines a second opening  165  at a side away from the bottom wall  162 . The holding structure  160  further includes a second receiving space  169  which is formed in the sidewall  161  and the bottom wall  162  and partially surrounds the first receiving space  164 . The second receiving space  169  accommodates the conductive element  140 . A through hole  168  is formed adjacent to the second opening  165  to communicate between the first receiving space  164  and the second receiving space  169 . The sidewall  161  defines at least one protrusion  167  to fix the switch  130  within the first receiving space  164 . The through hole  168  is defined at a side of the at least one protrusion  167  adjacent to the second opening  165 , and the protrusion  167  protruding from the holding structure  160  forms an open end. An end  186 ′ of the first terminal  186  and an end  187 ′ of the second terminal  187  extend into the first receiving space  164  through the sidewall  161 . The ends  186 ′ and  187 ′ are positioned between the bottom wall  162  and the at least one protrusion  167 . 
     The conductive element  140  includes a body (not labeled), and a first contact end  142  and a second contact end  143  located at opposite ends of the body. The first contact end  142  extends into the first receiving space  164  through the through hole  168 . The second contact end  143  passes through the bottom wall  162  and extends out of the holding structure  160 , to be electrically connected to the AC to DC converter. In the embodiment, the conductive element  140  may be integrated with the holding structure  160 , and exposed at the through hole  168 . The conductive element  140  is electrically insulated from the second shell  190 . 
     The switch  130  includes a first magnet  131  and a second magnet  132 , which are arranged to repel each other. A movable conductive member  133  is arranged on the second magnet  131 . In the embodiment, the movable conductive member  133  is a made of conductive materials. The first magnet  131  is fixed on the bottom wall  162 . The at least one protrusion  167  prevents the second magnet  132  from moving out of the first receiving space  164 . 
     In use, the plug  110  is connected to an external power source (e.g., a 110V AC source) and an external device is inserted into the first receiving space  164  through the second opening  165 , thus the first contact end  142  is electrically connected to the external device. Then, the external device is inserted into the inner space through the open end and forces the second magnet  132  to move until the movable conductive member  133  on the second magnet  132  is electrically connected between the first end  186 ′ of the first terminal  186  and the second end  187 ′ of the second terminal  187 . Thereby, power from the external power source is transmitted to AC to DC converter  120  through the first electrical wire  181 , because the first terminal  186  and the second terminal  187  of the first electrical wire  181  are electrically connected to each other through the movable conductive member  133 . 
     When the external device is moved out of the first receiving space  164 , the movable conductive member  133  is driven away by the repulsion between the first magnet  131  and the second magnet  132  and so disconnects from the first end  186 ′ and the second end  187 ′. Thereupon, the external power source cannot pass power to the AC to DC converter  120 , and the AC to DC converter  120  stops working. Therefore, the AC to DC converter  120  of the power adapter  100  works only when the external device is inserted into the inner space of the DC output member  150 , and energy waste is avoided. 
     Although numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set out in the foregoing description, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only; and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.