Patent Publication Number: US-7211729-B1

Title: Jack structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an improved jack structure, and more particularly to an improved jack structure in which a lock piece and protective covers are disposed for sealing jack holes when an acute metal material is inserted, thus preventing electric shock from occurring accidentally. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   In household environment, there are many electrical sockets or jacks for connecting the appliances to power. For a home with a child, the jacks are likely exposed to danger since the child may curiously insert some conductive material into the jack holes. This is a great concern to the parents. When this occurs, electric shock would be caused. 
   To solve this problem, a plastic jack cover has been in common use. On the plastic jack cover, two columns are provided which can be inserted into the jack holes. As such, the jack holes cannot be inserted with anything else. However, the child might possibly detach the jack cover, stultifying the safety design of the plastic jack cover and still causing the safety issue to be concerned. 
   In view of the above discussion, the conventional jack structure still has some shortcomings to be addressed and thus has to be improved. Accordingly, the inventors have made an effort in the related field and finally developed successfully an improved jack structure of the present invention. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved jack structure in which a lock piece and protective covers are disposed against each other so that the jack holes thereof can be prevented from being inserted with an acute object and thus from occurrence of electric shock. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved jack structure which is simple in structure, guaranteed with safety and low in cost. 
   The improved jack structure according to the present invention comprises a main body having a fillister formed at a center portion thereof, two jack holes formed at an upper portion thereof and two insertion holes formed at a lower portion thereof, the fillister having two connection axis holes formed therein and an insertion slot formed at a lower portion thereof, the two jack holes, the two insertion holes and the fillister being open to one another; a cover plate having two connection holes formed at an upper portion thereof and disposed within the fillister of the main body in such a manner that the connection holes are aligned to the connection axis holes; two protective covers each having a rotation axis disposed at a corresponding one of two sides thereof, each having a protruding post at one of the two sides, each having an urging portion at a front side thereof, each having a protrusion at a lower portion thereof, each connected pivotally at a first position to a second position where the connection axis holes of the main body and the connection holes of the cover plate through the respective rotation axis and having a spring disposed at the first position, the spring having an end sleeving on the respective protruding post of the protective post; a lock piece having two urging bumps extending horizontally thereon and inserting the insertion slot of the main body at a lower end; and two conductive pieces each having a mating bump disposed thereon through which each conductive piece is fixed within the main body when inserted into the main body. 
   These features and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded diagram of an improved jack structure according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective diagram of the improved jack structure according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the improved jack structure according to the present invention with a jack hole thereof being inserted with an object; and 
       FIGS. 4A through 4C  are schematic diagrams showing the improved jack structure according to the present invention with two jack holes thereof being inserted with two conductive prongs of a plug, respectively. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to  FIG. 1  through  FIGS. 4A–4C , an improved jack structure according to the present invention is shown therein. 
   The jack structure comprises a main body  1 , a cover plate  2 , two protective covers  3 ,  4 , a lock piece  6  and conductive pieces  7 . The main body  1  has a fillister  11  disposed at a center region. Within the fillister  11 , two connection axis holes  12  and an insertion slot  13  are disposed. On the main body  1 , two jack holes  14  are provided at an upper portion thereof and two insertion holes  15  are provided at a lower portion thereof. The jack holes  14 , insertion holes  15  and fillister  111  are open to one another. 
   The cover plate  2  has two connection holes  21  disposed at an upper region thereof and is received within the fillister  11  of the main body  1  in such a manner that the connection holes  21  and the connection axis holes  12  are aligned to each other. 
   At one of two sides of the protective cover  3 , there is a respective rotation axis  31 . At one of two sides of the protective cover  4 , there is a respective rotation axis  41 . At a front end of each of the protective covers  3  and  4 , there is a respective urging portion  33 , 43  protruding therefrom. At a lower end of each of the protective covers  3  and  4 , there is a respective protrusion  34 ,  44 . The two protective covers  3 ,  4  are pivotally connected to the connection axis holes  12  of the main body  1  and the connection holes  21  of the cover plate  2 . At a side of each of the protective cover  3 ,  4 , a respective spring  5  is provided to sleeve on a respective post  32 ,  42  of each of the protective covers  3 , 4  so that the protective covers  3 , 4  each receive a restoring force provided by the respective spring  5 . 
   The lock piece  6  has two urging bumps  61 ,  62  extend horizontally on an upper region thereof and a lower region thereof is inserted into an insertion slot  13  of the main body  1 . 
   On each of the conductive pieces  7 , a respective mating bump  71  is formed. Each of the conductive pieces  7  is inserted into a corresponding one of the insertion holes  15  of the main body  1  and fixed on the main body  1  by means of the mating bump  71 . 
   When one of the jack holes  14  is inserted with an acute object  8  and the corresponding protective cover  3  is pushed to move (referring to  FIG. 3 ), the protrusion  34  of the protective cover  3  pushes the urging bump  61  of the lock piece  6 . At this time, the urging bump  61  is urged by the urging portion  43  of the other protective cover  4  and thus the acute object  8  can not be inserted into the single protective cover  3 . As such, electric shock caused from the acute object  8  may be prevented. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4A through 4C , schematic diagrams showing the improved jack structure with the two jack holes being inserted with an object, respectively, according to the present invention are shown therein. When two conductive prongs  9  of a plug are inserted into a corresponding one of the two jack holes  14  respectively, the two protective covers  3 ,  4  are pushed downwards together. At this time, the two urging portions  33 , 43  jointly urge the two urging bumps  61 , 62  of the lock piece  6  and thus leave away from the urging positions (referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B ). Meanwhile, each of the protrusions  34 , 44  of the protective covers  3 ,  4  pushes a corresponding one of the two urging bumps  61 ,  62  to move concurrently horizontally as illustrated in the drawing. As such, the protective covers  3 ,  4  do not urge each other and thus the conductive prongs  9  may be inserted smoothly into the jack holes (shown in  FIG. 4C ). Therefore, the improved jack structure may prevent electric shock caused by the insertion of an acute object. 
   As compared to the prior art, the improved jack structure has the following merits: 1. the lock piece and the protective cover in the improved jack structure urge each other and thus close the jack holes when an acute object is inserted into the jack hole. 2. The improved jack structure is simple in structure, guaranteed with safety and low in cost. 
   Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.