Retractable Power Adapter Prong With Button-Controlled Flipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power adapters require users to manually extend or retract prongs, which is inconvenient and may pose hygiene concerns due to direct contact.
Innovation Solution
A power adapter design featuring a holder, moving part, and prong that allows the prong to be flippable relative to a receiving groove, with a button mechanism to control extension and retraction without direct user contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the power adapter is provided with prongs that can be received in a receiving groove for convenient carrying, then the portability is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates because users must manually touch and manipulate the prongs to extend or retract them
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the prong movable between extended and retracted positions through a button-controlled mechanism. The prong can dynamically change its position from inside the receiving groove to outside, allowing the power adapter to transition between compact carrying mode and operational mode. This resolves the contradiction by enabling the prong to adapt its state based on usage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the prong to extend and retract automatically through a button mechanism without requiring direct manual manipulation of the prong itself. The button controls the prong's movement, allowing users to operate the extension/retraction function indirectly, which improves hygiene and ease of operation while maintaining compact portability.
2Ease of operation
If users must touch the prongs to extend or retract them, then the ease of operation deteriorates, but the device complexity remains simple
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the button as an intermediary element between the user and the prong. Instead of directly manipulating the prong, users press the button which then controls the prong's extension and retraction. This intermediary mechanism improves hygiene by eliminating direct contact with the prong while the added complexity is minimal and justified by the operational benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
A power adapter includes a housing, a holder, a moving part, and a prong. The housing defines an inner cavity and a through groove communicating with the inner cavity, and the holder is received in the inner cavity and provided with a boss fitting the through groove. The boss defines a receiving groove at a side away from the inner cavity. The moving part is movably connected to the holder and partially exposed to an outside of the housing. The prong is rotationally connected to the boss, and the prong is movable relative to the holder along with the moving part, so that the prong is flippable to extend out from or retract to the receiving groove.