3D Offset Right-Angle Audio Plug for Recessed Guitar Jacks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Strat-style electric guitars with recessed output jacks cannot accommodate standard or right-angle plugs that allow cables to lay fully flat against the instrument, as the recessed design restricts the plug's rotation, leading to cable protrusion and interference with the tremolo arm, and existing solutions that modify the jack plate are aesthetically and practically undesirable.
Innovation Solution
A right-angle audio plug with an additional angle in its body, allowing it to rotate and position the cable parallel to the guitar surface, even when inserted into a recessed jack, by dividing the plug body into segments with a new angle that extends into a third dimension, enabling the cable to lay flat and reducing obstruction for the tremolo arm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a right-angle plug is used in a standard jack, then cable protrusion is reduced and cable lays flat against the device surface, but cable cannot lay flat when used in a recessed jack on Strat-style guitars
Solution Approach 1:
The plug body is divided into multiple segments with different orientations: a first body segment perpendicular to the shaft axis, a second body segment at an obtuse angle to the first segment, and a third body segment at an acute angle to the second segment. This segmentation allows each segment to serve different spatial requirements, enabling the cable to lay flat against the guitar surface while accommodating the recessed jack geometry
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional right-angle plug (shaft perpendicular to cable in a single plane) to a three-dimensional configuration by introducing obtuse and acute angles that extend the plug body into a third dimension. This allows the cable to exit the plug at an angle that enables it to lay flat against the guitar surface while the plug itself accommodates the recessed jack orientation
2Ease of operation
If a straight plug is used, then cable can be routed through strap gap, but cable creates large arc and protrudes from device
Solution Approach 1:
The plug design provides dynamic adaptability by allowing the cable to be routed in different configurations. The multi-segmented body structure enables the cable to exit at angles that facilitate routing through the strap gap while simultaneously minimizing the cable arc, offering operational flexibility that accommodates both cable management requirements
3Shape
If jack plate is modified to accommodate right-angle plug, then cable can lay flat, but guitar appearance and original configuration are changed
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modifying the guitar jack plate to accommodate a standard right-angle plug (which would change the guitar's appearance and require additional work), the invention inverts the approach by modifying the plug itself to accommodate the existing recessed jack. The multi-segmented plug body is designed to work with the guitar's original configuration, eliminating the need for any modifications to the instrument while still achieving the desired cable layout
Data Source
AI summary
Common ¼-inch audio plugs include straight and right-angle orientations. Neither type is best suited for use with Fender Stratocaster-style guitars, whose output jacks are not surface-mounted but recessed into the body of the instrument. This invention modifies the design of the right-angle plug such that its shape reconciles the contours of Stratocaster-style jack plates with the aesthetic and practical needs of Stratocaster players. This modification occurs by introducing a new angle into the body segment of a right-angle plug, thereby creating two body segments. The proximal body segment (the one closer to the plug's shaft) serves to extend the plug from the recessed jack to the surface of the instrument. The new angle serves to orient the distal body segment (the one closer to the plug's cable) such that it, and the cable protruding therefrom, run exactly or approximately parallel to the surface of the instrument.