Power Cord Plug Segmented Core Design for Stress Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power cords with plugs break easily when subjected to strong tensile or bending stresses, such as when carried with the cord hanging on a shoulder, due to insufficient reinforcement of border parts and bridge limitations.
Innovation Solution
A power cord design featuring multiple cores made of hard synthetic resin for each blade, with an outer skin of softer synthetic resin providing additional protection and a thicker section to cover border parts, allowing for greater flexibility and stress absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the plug includes a core with a bridge for connecting covering and fixing sections, then the connection parts are protected from breakage under normal use, but the bridge may break when subjected to strong tensile force or bending stress during rough handling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the core into multiple separate covering and fixing sections instead of using a single unified structure with bridges. Each covering section and fixing section operates independently, eliminating the bridges that were prone to breaking under stress while maintaining protection of connection parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies different material properties to different parts of the core structure. The covering sections are designed to be more flexible to accommodate movement, while the fixing sections provide localized reinforcement at critical connection points, optimizing both protection and stress resistance.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the core is made of hard resin for structural support, then the plug maintains shape and protects internal components, but the border parts experience concentrated bending stress due to hardness difference with cords
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a transition zone at the border parts where the core structure gradually changes from hard resin to a more compliant interface with the cords. This localized modification reduces the abrupt hardness difference, preventing stress concentration while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention incorporates cushioning elements or compliant layers at the border parts between the hard resin core and the cords. This preemptive cushioning absorbs bending stresses before they can concentrate on the connection parts, protecting against damage during rough handling.
3Ease of operation
If the outer skin is made of soft resin for flexibility and comfort, then the plug is comfortable to hold and handle, but it provides insufficient reinforcement to the border parts under rough treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The invention modifies the outer skin structure at border parts to provide localized reinforcement while maintaining overall softness. The outer skin may include thicker sections, embedded reinforcement elements, or transition zones at border areas, allowing the plug to remain comfortable to hold while providing necessary strength where stress concentrates.
Data Source
AI summary
A power cord which prevents breakage of a plug or cord/conductors even when treated roughly, and thus has a longer life. The power cord includes a plurality of cores of a synthetic resin, each for covering a connection section of a single blade among a plurality of blades, and an outer skin of a synthetic resin, for covering the plurality of cores together such that the blades are held at a specified interval spacing so as to form a plug. The synthetic resin forming the outer skin is softer than the synthetic resin forming the cores. The outer skin includes a thicker part for covering a border part of each cord having an internal covering member between a part covered with the core and a part exposed from the core.