Electrical device

Abstract

To provide an electrical device capable of wiring a power supply power cable corresponding to both cases where an opening is formed on an installation surface of the electrical device and where it is not formed.SOLUTION: A storage recess 20 is formed on a bottom surface of a housing 10. A plug pin of an L-shaped plug 51 is inserted into a pin insertion part provided on a first side wall 21. A position-regulating protrusion 25 protruding from the first side wall 21 toward a second side wall 22 engages a cable 52 and regulates a vertical position of the cable 52. A position regulating recess 26 is formed so as to be connected to the storage recess 20 at the side end part intersecting with the first side wall 21 in the housing 10. The position-regulating recess 26 accommodates the cable 52, which is engaged by the position-regulating protrusion 25 and drawn out from the side edge to the exterior of the housing 10, thereby regulating the position of the cable 52.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to electrical equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] Typically, an electrical device has a power supply cable drawn out from the side of a housing in which an electrical circuit is built. The electrical device operates by supplying power to the electrical circuit through the power supply cable connected to an outlet (so-called a power socket) installed on a wall or the like. Examples of electrical devices include a charger for charging a battery and a power strip with multiple outlets for supplying power to multiple electrical devices. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-231812 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When an opening is formed on the installation surface of an electrical device, it may be desirable to wire the power supply cable downward through the opening. However, as described above, the power supply cable of an electrical device is typically pulled out from the side of the housing, so even if the power supply cable is wired downward through the opening, the end of the power supply cable on the housing side is visible. Moreover, the opening through which the power supply cable passes is also visible, which may spoil the aesthetic appearance.

[0005] If the power supply cable were pulled out from the back surface of the housing, the power supply cable and the opening could be hidden by wiring it downward through the opening, and the aesthetic appearance would not be marred. However, since an opening is not necessarily formed on the installation surface of the electrical device, it is not preferable to pull out the power supply cable fixedly from the back surface of the housing.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide an electrical device that allows for wiring of a power supply cable in a manner that is suitable for both cases where an opening is formed and where not formed on the installation surface of the electrical device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention relates to a power supply cable for power supply comprising a housing, an L-shaped plug formed on a bottom surface of the housing, the L-shaped plug including a plug pin, and a cable connected to the L-shaped plug, the L-shaped plug being of the power supply cable, and a storage recess for storing the L-shaped plug and an end of the cable on the L-shaped plug side, the storage recess including a pin insertion portion provided on a first side wall of the storage recess into which the plug pin is inserted, and a pin insertion portion protruding from the first side wall toward a second side wall of the storage recess opposed to the first side wall and having a tip portion opposed to the second side wall, the pin insertion portion of the cable being inserted into the pin insertion portion, the pin insertion portion protruding from the first side wall toward a second side wall of the storage recess opposed to the first side wall and having a tip portion opposed to the second side wall. The present invention provides an electrical device further comprising: a position regulating protrusion having an insertion opening for inserting an end portion, which engages the end portion inserted through the insertion opening and regulates the vertical position of the end portion which is the direction connecting the top surface and the bottom surface of the housing; and a position regulating recess formed to connect with the storage recess at a side end portion of the housing in a direction intersecting with the first side wall, and which engages the end portion of the cable by the position regulating protrusion and fits into the cable which has been pulled out from the side end portion to the outside of the housing, regulating the position of the cable in the intersecting direction. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the electrical device of the present invention, a power supply cable can be wired in accordance with both cases where an opening is formed on the installation surface of the electrical device and where no opening is formed on the installation surface. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical device according to one embodiment, seen from above with a power supply cable removed. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electric device according to the embodiment, seen from below with the power supply cable removed. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a power supply cable connected to an electric device according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the internal configuration of an electrical device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged view of a storage recess formed in the bottom surface of the electrical device according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view, seen from above, of an electric device according to one embodiment, in which a power supply cable is connected to the electric device and is drawn out in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a perspective view, seen from below, of an electric device according to one embodiment, in which a power supply cable is connected to the electric device and is drawn out in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a perspective view, seen from above, of an electric device according to one embodiment with a power supply cable connected thereto and pulled out from a side end portion. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a perspective view, seen from below, of an electric device according to one embodiment with a power supply cable connected thereto and pulled out from a side end portion. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a partial enlarged view of the storage recess in a state where a power cable for supplying power is connected to the electric device according to one embodiment. [Figure 11]FIG. 11 is a partial enlarged view of the periphery of a position restricting protrusion provided in the storage recess. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a partial enlarged view of the periphery of a position restriction recess provided at a side end of an electric device according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which a power supply cable connected to an electric device according to one embodiment is being removed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An electric device according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An electric device according to an embodiment described below will be exemplified as a charger capable of charging up to four batteries. The electric device may be a charger capable of charging one battery, or may be an electric device other than a charger, such as a power strip. The electric device may be any electric device. Note that the electric device includes electronic devices.

[0011] The charger 100 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is used by being connected to a power supply cable 50 (hereinafter abbreviated as power cable 50) shown in Figure 3. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from above, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from below (rear side).

[0012] Power cable 50 has an L-shaped plug 51, a cable 52, an AC adapter 53, a cable 54, and a plug 55. L-shaped plug 51 includes a plug pin 51P that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which cable 52 extends. When power cable 50 is connected to charger 100 by L-shaped plug 51 and plug 55 is connected to an outlet (not shown), AC current supplied from a commercial power source is converted to DC current by AC adapter 53 and supplied to charger 100. Cable 52 is sometimes referred to as a DC cord, and cable 54 is sometimes referred to as an AC cord.

[0013] Returning to Figs. 1 and 2, the charger 100 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 10. The housing 10 is made up of an upper case 11 and a bottom cover 12. For example, four charging terminals 13 are provided on the top surface of the upper case 11. A battery 40 is attached to the charging terminal 13 and charged. As shown in Fig. 4, the housing 10 incorporates four sub-boards 14 for supplying a charging current to the four charging terminals 13, and a main board 15 for supplying a direct current supplied from a power cable 50 to each of the sub-boards 14 as a charging current. The internal configuration of the housing 10 in the charger 100 is not limited.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 2, a rectangular storage recess 20 is formed in the bottom cover 12. As shown in the enlarged view of Fig. 5, a pin insertion portion 24 into which a plug pin 51P is inserted is provided in a first side wall 21 of the storage recess 20. As shown in Fig. 4, the pin insertion portion 24 is provided on the main board 15, and a direct current supplied from the plug pin 51P is supplied to a circuit board (not shown) of the main board 15 through the pin insertion portion 24.

[0015] A position restricting protrusion 25 is integrally formed on the first side wall 21, protruding from the first side wall 21 toward the second side wall 22 of the storage recess 20 facing the first side wall 21. The lower end surface of the position restricting protrusion 25 is located at the same position as the surface of the bottom cover 12 (the bottom surface of the housing 10) or is located closer to the bottom 20B of the storage recess 20 than the surface. The upper end surface of the position restricting protrusion 25 is connected to the bottom 20B.

[0016] The position restricting protrusion 25 has an insertion opening 251 for inserting the end of the cable 52 on the L-shaped plug 51 side at a tip portion facing the second side wall 22. The position restricting protrusion 25 has a substantially circular notch 252 for holding the cable 52 inserted through the insertion opening 251. A position restricting recess 26 is formed at a side end portion in a direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the first side wall 21 of the housing 10 so as to be connected to the storage recess 20. The functions of the position restricting protrusion 25 and the position restricting recess 26 will be described later.

[0017] 6 and 7 show a state in which the plug pin 51P is inserted into the pin insertion portion 24 and the cable 52 is pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the housing 10. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from above, and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from below. With the plug pin 51P inserted into the pin insertion portion 24, the L-shaped plug 51 rotates, so that the cable 52 can be pulled out in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface of the housing 10. If an opening is formed in the installation surface of the charger 100, the cable 52 can be wired downward through the opening.

[0018] 6 and 7, this is equivalent to the power cable 50 being pulled out from the back surface of the housing 10, so by wiring the cable 52 downward through the opening, the power cable 50 and the opening can be made invisible. The charger 100 makes it possible to install the charger 100 without spoiling the aesthetic appearance. In addition, in Figs. 6 and 7, even if the power cable 50 is pulled, the direction in which the power cable 50 is pulled is perpendicular to the direction in which the plug pin 51P is pulled out of the pin insertion portion 24, so the plug pin 51P will hardly come out of the pin insertion portion 24.

[0019] If no opening is formed on the installation surface of the charger 100, as shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, the cable 52 with the plug pin 51P inserted into the pin insertion portion 24 may be rotated toward the side end of the housing 10, and the cable 52 may be pulled out from the side end. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from above, and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the charger 100 seen from below. As shown in the enlarged views of Fig. 9 and Fig. 10, the storage recess 20 stores the L-shaped plug 51 and the end of the cable 52 connected to the L-shaped plug 51 on the L-shaped plug 51 side. Since the L-shaped plug 51 is stored in the storage recess 20, the L-shaped plug 51 will not be damaged by force being applied thereto.

[0020] 10, when cable 52 is stored in notch 252 through insertion port 251, position restricting projection 25 locks the end of cable 52 on the L-shaped plug 51 side. Position restricting projection 25 restricts the position of cable 52 in the up-down direction, which is the direction connecting the top surface of housing 10 (top surface of upper case 11) and the bottom surface of housing 10 (surface of bottom cover 12).

[0021] When a force is applied to cable 52 from the second side wall 22 side toward the first side wall 21 side, position restricting projection 25 restricts the position of cable 52 toward first side wall 21. When the vertical distance of insertion opening 251 is set smaller than the diameter of cable 52, position restricting projection 25 restricts the position of cable 52 toward second side wall 22 if only a slight force is applied to cable 52 from the first side wall 21 side toward the second side wall 22 side.

[0022] The vertical distance of insertion opening 251 may be larger or slightly smaller than the diameter of cable 52. Even if the vertical distance of insertion opening 251 is smaller than the diameter of cable 52, position restricting piece 25 has flexibility, so that when cable 52 is inserted into notch 252 through insertion opening 251, cable 52 moves into notch 252 while widening insertion opening 251.

[0023] When the end of cable 52 is engaged by position control protrusion 25 and cable 52 is pulled out from the side end of housing 10 to the outside of housing 10, cable 52 fits into position control recess 26 to control the position of cable 52 in the above-mentioned intersecting direction.

[0024] Position restricting protrusion 25 is located closer to third side wall 23 than the center of the distance from pin insertion portion 24 to third side wall 23 of storage recess 20 that intersects (orthogonally) with first side wall 21. That is, position restricting protrusion 25 is located near the side end of housing 10. Position restricting protrusion 25 restricts the vertical position of cable 52 near storage recess 20, so that cable 52 will not hang down to the installation surface near storage recess 20 even if charger 100 is installed with bottom cover 12 facing downward as shown in FIG.

[0025] 8 is moved on the installation surface, cable 52 does not rub against the installation surface. Even in Figures 8 and 9, even if power cable 50 is pulled, the direction in which power cable 50 is pulled is perpendicular to the direction in which plug pin 51P is removed from pin insertion portion 24, so plug pin 51P will hardly come out of pin insertion portion 24.

[0026] 11, the circle formed by the cross section of cable 52 is referred to as the first circle, and the circle for forming the arc of notch 252 in position restricting projection 25 is referred to as the second circle. As shown in FIG. 11, it is preferable to form notch 252 formed by the arc of the second circle having a diameter larger than the diameter of the first circle in position restricting projection 25. That is, it is preferable that notch 252 is in a state where cable 52 passes through with some play, rather than tightly fitting cable 52. In this way, it becomes easier to insert cable 52 into notch 252 and to remove cable 52 from notch 252.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 12, the end of the position regulating recess 26 on the upper surface side of the housing 10 may be formed as a semicircular arc. The circle forming the semicircle is defined as a third circle. The diameter of the third circle is preferably slightly larger than the diameter of the first circle. That is, the position regulating recess 26 may hold the cable 52 in an engaged state. When the position regulating recess 26 holds the cable 52 in an engaged state, the position regulating recess 26 can effectively regulate the position of the cable 52 in the intersecting direction. If the position regulating recess 26 firmly engages the cable 52, the position regulating recess 26 can also position the cable 52 at the upper end of the position regulating recess 26.

[0028] With the plug pin 51P inserted into the pin insertion portion 24, the cable 52 positioned in the notch 252, and the cable 52 fitted into the position restriction recess 26, it is preferable that the position restriction protrusion 25 and the position restriction recess 26 are positioned relative to the storage recess 20 as follows. As shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, it is preferable that the position restriction protrusion 25 and the position restriction recess 26 are positioned relative to the storage recess 20 so that the center C1 of the first circle and the center C2 of the second circle coincide with each other, and the center C1 of the first circle and the center C3 of the third circle coincide with each other. Of course, it is not necessary that the center C1 of the first circle and the center C2 of the second circle coincide with each other, and it is not necessary that the center C1 of the first circle and the center C3 of the third circle coincide with each other.

[0029] Since the cross section of cable 52 is a circle, it is preferable that notch 252 in position regulating piece 25 is an arc of the second circle. However, as described above, it is sufficient that cable 52 is passed through notch 252 with some play, so notch 252 may be a partial shape of any shape such as an n-gon, a rounded n-gon, an ellipse, etc. Here, n is any integer equal to or greater than 3, and the larger the number, the better. Even when notch 252 is a partial shape of any shape, it is preferable that center C1 of the first circle and the center of the arbitrary shape coincide with each other, but they do not necessarily have to coincide with each other.

[0030] Furthermore, it is preferable that the position restricting protrusion 25 and the position restricting recess 26 are positioned relative to the storage recess 20 so that the cable 52 is in a straight line from the position where the cable 52 is connected to the L-shaped plug 51 to the outside of the side end of the housing 10. If the cable 52 is in a straight line from the position where the cable 52 is connected to the L-shaped plug 51 to the outside of the side end of the housing 10, a load is less likely to be applied to the cable 52.

[0031] 13 shows a state in which the plug pin 51P inserted in the pin insertion portion 24 is removed from the pin insertion portion 24. By applying a force to rotate the L-shaped plug 51 toward the second side wall 22 around a portion (position restriction portion) of the cable 52 whose position is restricted by the position restriction piece 25, the plug pin 51P can be easily removed from the pin insertion portion 24. As shown in FIG. 13, it is preferable that the distance from the first side wall 21 to the second side wall 22 is a distance that allows the L-shaped plug 51 to be rotated toward the second side wall 22 by a predetermined angle around the position restriction portion.

[0032] If the storage recess 20 is configured in this manner, the plug pin 51P inserted into the pin insertion portion 24 can be easily removed from the pin insertion portion 24, and further, the cable 52 can be removed from the position regulating piece 25 with a force in the same direction as the direction in which the plug pin 51P is removed from the pin insertion portion 24.

[0033] As described above, according to the charger 100 as an electrical device according to one embodiment, when an opening is formed on the installation surface of the charger 100, the charger 100 can be placed in the state shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and the power cable 50 can be wired downward from the opening. When no opening is formed on the installation surface of the charger 100, the charger 100 can be placed in the state shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and the power cable 50 can be wired laterally from the side end of the charger 100. According to the charger 100, it is possible to wire the power cable 50 in response to both cases where an opening is formed and where no opening is formed on the installation surface of the charger 100.

[0034] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 10. Chassis 11 Upper Case 12 Bottom cover 13 Charging terminal 14 Sub-board 15 Main Board 20 Storage recess 21 First side wall 22 Second side wall 23 Third Side Wall 24 Pin insertion part 25 Position control piece 26 Position control recess 40 Battery 50 Power supply cable 51 L-shaped plug 51P plug pin 52,54 Cable 53 AC adapter 55 Plug 100 Chargers (electrical equipment) 251 Insertion port 252 Notch

Claims

1. A housing and a storage recess formed on a bottom surface of the housing, the storage recess storing an L-shaped plug of a power supply cable having an L-shaped plug including a plug pin and a cable connected to the L-shaped plug and an end of the cable on the L-shaped plug side; Equipped with a pin insertion portion, into which the plug pin is inserted, the pin insertion portion being provided on a first side wall of the storage recess; a position restricting protrusion that protrudes from the first side wall toward a second side wall of the storage recess that faces the first side wall, has an insertion opening at a tip portion facing the second side wall for inserting the end of the cable, and engages the end inserted through the insertion opening to restrict a vertical position of the end, which is a direction connecting the top surface and the bottom surface of the housing; a position restriction recess formed at a side end of the housing in a direction intersecting with the first side wall so as to be connected to the storage recess, the position restriction protrusion being used to lock the end of the cable and pull the cable out from the side end to the outside of the housing, and restricting the position of the cable in the intersecting direction; The electrical device further comprises:

2. 2. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the position restricting projection has a notch formed by an arc of a second circle having a diameter larger than a diameter of a first circle formed by a cross section of the cable.

3. an end portion of the position restriction recess on the upper surface side is formed by an arc of a semicircle of a third circle, The position regulating projection and the position regulating recess are positioned relative to the storage recess such that, when the plug pin is inserted into the pin insertion portion, the end portion is located within the notch, and the cable is fitted into the position regulating recess, the center of the first circle coincides with the center of the second circle, and the center of the first circle coincides with the center of the third circle.

3. The electrical device according to claim 2.

4. The electrical device described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the position control protrusion is located closer to the third side wall than the center of the distance from the pin insertion portion to a third side wall that intersects with the first side wall on the side end side of the storage recess.

5. The electrical device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a distance from the first side wall to the second side wall is a distance that enables the plug pin inserted into the pin insertion portion to be removed from the pin insertion portion and the L-shaped plug to be rotated toward the second side wall by a predetermined angle around a point at which the position is regulated by the position regulating piece at the end portion.

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