Abstract:
An assembly for producing a socket for a vehicle passenger compartment comprises a metal socket body and contact element used to supply current to the metal socket body and includes fixing means and at least one electrical connection element. Each element is adapted to be fixed to the metal socket body so that only some of the fixing means of the socket body are used to fix it. With this structure, the same metal socket body may be used for differently formed connection elements.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to the French application 1550050 filed Jan. 6, 2015, which application is incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention concerns sockets for vehicle passenger compartments. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     These so-called “12 volt” sockets, although they also accommodate voltages of 24 V, enable connection of electrical devices such as GPS devices, baby bottle heaters, electrical converters or chargers, etc. 
     There is known for this purpose a product of the applicant. This socket, situated at the level of or under the dashboard of the vehicle, comprises four components: a cap, a holding body comprising a so-called “negative” electrical connection tongue, a ring with an integrated connection body and a so-called “positive” electrical connection tongue. On opening the cap, the user can plug in one of their electrical devices. 
     The disadvantage of this product is that it is compatible only with vehicles manufactured by a limited number of motor vehicle manufacturers. Thus the socket body of the product is designed to accept only the appropriate negative electrical connection tongue. 
     A parallel product intended for another motor vehicle manufacturer comprises nine components, but those of these components that are similar to those of the first socket have different dimensions. The product matches the dimensions of the dashboard, its interior layout and the manufacturer&#39;s design. At nine, the number of components is relatively high, which generates costs, notably for the manufacture and inventory management of all these parts. Likewise, the socket body for the vehicles of this manufacturer is designed to accept only the negative electrical connection tongue designed for those vehicles. The same disadvantage applies to other manufacturers supplied with vehicle passenger compartment sockets by the applicant. 
     The same situation may arise for other suppliers of sockets for vehicles, who must then produce a plurality of different products for the various manufacturers, although the components of those products are similar. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to propose a product that can be adapted to a plurality of types of manufacturers. 
     To this end there is provided an assembly for producing a socket for a vehicle passenger compartment, the assembly comprising:
         a socket body including fixing means; and   at least one electrical connection element adapted to be fixed to the body so that only some of the fixing means of the body are used to fix it.       

     The socket body is therefore compatible with a plurality of different electrical connection elements, for example so-called negative connection tongues, and it is no longer obligatory to design a socket body for each different socket type corresponding to a different motor vehicle manufacturer. This also enables the socket to be manufactured from a relatively small number of parts, for example five parts (see below). 
     The assembly advantageously comprises at least two different electrical connection elements, each element being adapted to be fixed to the body in at least one predetermined position on the body such that the other element(s) cannot then be fixed to the body in the corresponding predetermined position. 
     The body preferably includes at least one hole for fixing the element or each element to the body in the corresponding predetermined position. 
     The body advantageously includes at least two holes, and preferably four holes. 
     The element or each element is preferably adapted to be fixed to the body by means of at least two of the holes of the body. 
     To be more specific, after fixing the element or each element to the body in the predetermined position, at least one of the holes is disabled, and preferably two of the holes are disabled. 
     The socket body is therefore easy to manufacture because compatibility with the different electrical connection element or elements is linked to its number of holes and to their positions. Moreover, these holes provide for simple and rapid fixing. 
     The element or each element advantageously comprises a plane support, at least one finger projecting from the support and a tongue. 
     The element or each element preferably comprises two fingers. 
     The elements advantageously differ from one another by at least one position of the fingers on the support. 
     The elements advantageously differ from one another by at least one position of the tongue on the support. 
     The elements advantageously differ from one another by at least one dimension of the tongue. 
     The electrical connection element or elements are therefore different in terms of simple characteristics whilst having similar shapes. 
     The assembly advantageously further comprises at least one base adapted to be fixed in a predetermined position to the body. 
     The base or each base is preferably a ring. 
     There are advantageously at least two different bases, the bases having at least one identical part. 
     Each base is therefore adapted to retain the socket body whilst matching the particular characteristics of each socket type, for example the electrical connection elements of each socket type. 
     The base preferably includes a raised pattern projecting from a back of the base to form an abutment in the socket on receiving a connector. 
     The electrical connection element or elements being one or more first elements, the assembly advantageously further comprises at least two different second electrical connection elements. 
     Each second element preferably includes a substantially hexagonal electrical connection hole. 
     Other types of tongues, for example positive tongues, can therefore form part of the assembly and be arranged in conjunction with the socket body, knowing that each positive tongue corresponds to a particular base. 
     This abutment therefore protects the back in the event of excessively brutal insertion of the connector into the housing. 
     The assembly advantageously further comprises at least two different caps for closing a housing of the socket. 
     The caps preferably differ from one another by color. 
     The caps advantageously differ from one another by material. 
     The caps preferably differ from one another by a shape and/or a size. 
     The cap is therefore also adaptable for forming different sockets from the same basic components as indicated. 
     There is also provided in accordance with the invention a method of manufacturing a socket for a vehicle passenger compartment, wherein an assembly as described above is procured and the element or one of the elements is fixed to the body. 
     The element or one of the elements is advantageously fixed to the body by crimping. 
     There is also provided in accordance with the invention a socket for a vehicle passenger compartment produced by the above method. 
     There is also provided in accordance with the invention a socket intended for a vehicle passenger compartment and comprising:
         a socket body including fixing means; and   an electrical connection element fixed to the body so that only some of the fixing means of the body are used to fix it.       

     There is finally provided in accordance with the invention a group of at least two sockets conforming to the preceding socket, the bodies of the two sockets being identical, the elements being different from one another and each being fixed to one of the socket bodies, the fixing of each element in its position making it impossible to fix the other element(s) to the same body at the corresponding position. 
     This provides at least two different sockets each produced with at least one identical element, namely the socket body. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the invention are described next by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the appended drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a socket produced using an assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the body and a first electrical connection element of the socket from  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows the two components from  FIG. 2  fixed to each other; 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  show the socket body from  FIG. 2  respectively from the side and from below; 
         FIGS. 6, 7 and 8  are perspective views of three first electrical connection elements of the assembly in accordance with this embodiment of the invention; 
         FIGS. 9 to 14  are views of different elements of the socket from  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 15 to 20 and 21 to 26  are analogous views showing two other sockets produced from this assembly; 
         FIG. 27  is a sectional view showing the arrangement of a second connection element (positive tongue) in one of the sockets; and 
         FIGS. 28 and 29  are top views of two caps of the aforementioned sockets. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows a 12 V socket outlet or power socket  10  for a vehicle passenger compartment produced using an assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
     There are seen an opening cap  1  and a socket body  2 , which is the only component of this assembly that is identical in all the sockets that are described. Also shown are a base or ring  3  adapted to receive the body  2 , a first electrical connection element  5  referred to hereinafter as the negative tongue, and a second electrical connection element  4  referred to hereinafter as the positive tongue. 
       FIG. 2  shows more clearly the socket body  2  and the negative tongue  5 . The socket body  2  is of tubular general shape in its main part  22 , here a circular cylinder with an axis  29 . One end  21  includes a circular rim or flange. The opposite end  23  has at the center a main hole  24  in the shape of a semicircle contiguous with a rectangle. 
     Around this main hole  24  there are arranged in a semicircle four smaller holes  25 ,  26 ,  27  and  28  that are identical to one another. These smaller holes  25 ,  36 ,  27  and  28  are rectangular in shape with rounded corners. 
     At the level of the walls of the main part  22 , the socket body  2  has two rectangular holes extending circumferentially and aligned vertically, one of which is slightly longer than the other. As will emerge hereinafter, the four smaller holes  25 ,  26 ,  27  and  28  enable fixing at will of one of the first electrical connection elements, referred to in the description as a “negative tongue”  5 , even though they differ from one another. The socket body  2  is therefore compatible with a plurality of negative tongues  5  but can receive only one of them at a time. 
       FIG. 3  shows, as seen from above, how the raised patterns on the negative tongue  5  fasten into the end  23  of the body  2 . 
     This negative tongue  5  is also shown in detail in  FIG. 6 . It comprises a plane support  51  that is substantially semicircular in shape, two fingers  52  and  53  projecting from the plane support  51  and a projecting plane part  54  that forms the connection tongue as such. The fingers  52  and  53  and the tongue or projecting plane part  54  are oriented perpendicularly to the plane support  51 , the fingers  52  and  53  being oriented in the opposite direction to the projecting plane part  54 . The fingers  52  and  53  lie against the plane support  51 , inside the semicircle that the latter forms, and have a narrower end  55 . These fingers  52  and  53  are identical to one another. They could be different, however. The tongue or projecting plane part  54  is situated in line with the semicircle formed by the plane support  51 . Where the manufacture of this first electrical connection element or negative tongue  5  is concerned, it is initially manufactured flat. The dashed lines moreover show the positions of the fingers  52 ,  53  and the or projecting plane part tongue  54  when the first electrical connection element or negative tongue  5  is flat. These connection elements or tongues  5  are produced by cutting a flat sheet, after which the fingers  52  and  53  and the tongue or projecting plane part  54  as such are bent so as to be oriented perpendicularly to the plane support  51 . The fingers  52  and  53  extend in substantially the opposite direction to the tongue or projecting plane part  54 . 
     The negative connection elements  6 ,  7  from  FIGS. 7 and 8  include the same elements but they have different dimensions and/or positions. 
     Accordingly, in the negative tongue  6  shown in  FIG. 7 , the plane part  64  forming the negative tongue  6  as such is situated between the two fingers  62  and  63 , which are substantially diametrically opposite each other on the support  61 . Moreover, the plane part  64  has a base  65  narrower than a main part  66  that is wider than the tongue  54  of the first electrical connection element or negative tongue  5 . 
     In  FIG. 7 , the tongue  74  as such is situated at the same location as the first electrical connection element or negative tongue  5 , i.e. in line with the semicircular support  71 . The finger  73  is situated at a location similar to that of the finger  53  from  FIG. 6 , while the finger  72  is situated at a new position relative to the other two elements. The tongue as such, i.e. the plane part  74 , has larger dimensions in length and in width than the tongues  54  and  64  of the first two connection elements described above. 
       FIG. 9  shows a socket  10  produced with the elements from  FIG. 1 . 
     There are seen the cap  1  that enables the socket  10  to be opened to plug a connector into it and the socket body  2  that is received and retained in the base  3 . The latter base  3  comprises a circular part  31 , notably identified in  FIG. 11 , that is identical for the three sockets described here, although these bases are different so as to match the corresponding three negative tongues and the corresponding three positive tongues. 
       FIG. 12  is a view of the assembly in which can be seen the socket body  2  retained in the base  3 , the fingers  52  and  53  of the negative tongue  5  that are fixed by crimping them in the socket body  2  and, in the middle of the base  3 , a second electrical connection element  4  having a positive tongue. The socket body  2  and the base  3  sandwich the negative tongue  5  between their backs. 
     The arrangement of the second electrical connection element  4  with the positive tongue can also be seen in  FIG. 27 . It has a plane part  41  as well as the tongue  42  as such, which extends in a direction perpendicular to the plane part  41 . The positive tongue  4  has at its center a hexagonal hole  43  identified in  FIG. 12 . 
     Moreover, the base  3 , disposed between the socket body  2  and the positive electrical element  4 , electrically insulates that positive element  14  relative to the socket body  2 . 
     A raised pattern  32  on the back of the base  3 , seen in  FIG. 27 , projects through the hole in the back of the body  2  and serves as an abutment when connecting a connector to this socket  10 . This circular raised pattern  32  surrounds the positive tongue  42  and also separates it from the fingers of the negative tongues, for example from fingers  82  that can be seen in  FIG. 27 . 
     As indicated above, one of the particular features of this socket  10  is that the fingers  52  and  53  of the negative tongue  5  are fixed to the smaller holes  27  and  26 , respectively, of the socket body  2 . The fingers  52  and  53  are fixed by crushing them until they are forced into the smaller holes  27  and  26 , and so the negative tongue  5  cannot be withdrawn from the socket body  2  without damaging the socket body  2  or the negative tongue  5 . This type of fixing corresponds to crimping. 
     In  FIG. 14  it is also seen that the smaller holes  28  and  25  are not used for fixing the negative tongue  5 . 
       FIG. 13  is an end view similar to that of  FIG. 12 , but without the socket body  2  or the positive and negative tongues  4 ,  5 . Thus a central location  37  is intended to receive the plane support  41  of the positive tongue  4  while the contours  38  of the base  3  are adapted to retain the socket body  2  in a fixed position. The base  3  also includes two rectangular openings  34  and  35  and a central hole  36 . 
       FIGS. 15 to 20  show a second socket  110  in which the socket body  2  is identical to that of the first embodiment. Likewise, the base  103  comprises a portion  31  identical to that of the first embodiment. 
     The main particular feature of this socket  110  is that it is the negative tongue  6  that is fixed to the socket body  2  instead of the negative tongue  5 . As  FIG. 20  shows, the fingers  62  and  63  of the negative tongue  6  are fixed to the holes  28  and  25 , respectively, i.e. the holes that are at the greatest distance from one another on the semicircle of the socket body  2  at its end  23 . 
     Here the holes  26  and  27  of the socket body  2  are not used to fix the negative tongue  6 . 
       FIG. 18  is a top view of the assembly of this second socket  110 , again without the cap, which comprises a positive tongue  104  different from the tongue  4  in terms of the shape of its support  141 , and there are seen the fingers  62  and  63  of the negative tongue  6  fixed to the socket body  2 . 
       FIGS. 16, 17 and 19  are views of the base  103 , which differs from the previous base  3 . In particular, there is no round central hole. However, the base  103  includes two rectangular openings  135  and  136  that can be seen in  FIG. 19 , which this time are parallel to each other. 
       FIG. 21  shows a third socket  210 . The socket body  2  is again identical, and this socket  210  has the main particular feature of including the negative tongue  7  that is fixed into the smaller holes  27  and  26  in the socket body  2  by its fingers  72  and  73 , respectively, as can be seen in  FIGS. 24 and 26 . Thus the smaller holes  25  and  28  are not used to fix the negative tongue  7  to the socket body  2 . The base  203  includes the identical portion  31 , but matches the negative tongue  7  and the positive tongue that is specific to its and its support  241 , seen in  FIG. 24 . In particular, the rectangular openings  234  and  235  are perpendicular, like those of the first socket  10 , but are longer, as shown in  FIG. 25 , while there is a round central hole  236 , unlike the support of the second socket  210 . 
     The socket body  2  is therefore adapted to receive the three types of negative tongue elements, but only one at a time. 
     Finally,  FIGS. 28 and 29  show two possible types of opening cap for the various sockets. The cap  1  from  FIG. 28  is conventional while the cap  1  from  FIG. 29  is chromium-plated and carries markings (for example “12 V”). 
     These sockets can therefore be manufactured from an assembly comprising:
         identical sockets bodies  2 , and   first negative electrical connection elements  5 , here of three types. The elements of each type are identical to one another and different from those of the other types. They correspond to the aforementioned sockets. Each element is adapted to be fixed to one of the bodies in a predetermined position on the body such that another element can then no longer be fixed to the body. Moreover, for each element fixed to a body in a predetermined position via the holes of that body, only some of those holes are used to fix it. In other words, some of the fixing holes of the body are left free when an element is fixed to the body. Depending on the type of element fixed to the body, different holes are used. Likewise, different holes are left free.       

     The assembly also comprises bases  3  adapted to be fixed to the body  2 . Here the bases are also of three types that differ from one another but include an identical portion  31 . 
     The assembly further comprises three different types of second positive electrical connection elements  4 . 
     It finally comprises two different types of caps for closing a housing of the socket, for example. 
     For the manufacture of a socket, such an assembly is procured and one of the negative elements  5 ,  6  or  7  is fixed to the body  2 . One of the positive elements is also added, plus a base and a cap. 
     This assembly therefore makes it possible to manufacture three different types of sockets and therefore to obtain an assembly that here comprises three different socket types. Here each socket comprises five components in total. 
     Of course, numerous modifications could be made to the invention without departing from the scope thereof. 
     The number of positive or negative connection elements that are different, the number of bases and the number of caps in the assembly could be modified. 
     While the system, apparatus, process and method herein described constitute preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise system, apparatus, process and method, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.