Power Socket Shutter Mechanism for Safety Without Complexity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power sockets lack a simple and cost-effective solution for enhancing electrical safety by preventing accidental contact with live terminals, as current solutions are either cumbersome, complex, or do not provide adequate protection when the aesthetic cover is removed.
Innovation Solution
A power socket assembly with a base part featuring shutter means and a drive member that operates a movable cover within the insertion well, allowing for easy attachment of various aesthetic covers, including those with or without a movable cover, ensuring the cover remains functional and secure even without the aesthetic cover.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a movable cover member is integrated with shutter means, then electrical safety is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the movable cover member from the shutter means. The base part contains the shutter means that can independently cover the electrical terminals, while the aesthetic cover contains a separate movable cover member that provides aesthetic coverage. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without requiring complex integration, thereby maintaining electrical safety while reducing device complexity and manufacturing cost.
2Reliability
If a movable cover member is integrated with shutter means, then electrical safety is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the system into a base part with shutter means and an aesthetic cover with a separate movable cover member, the invention enables independent manufacturing of each component using simpler processes. This segmentation reduces tooling requirements and assembly complexity, thereby lowering manufacturing costs while maintaining the electrical safety function through the base part's shutter means.
3Ease of operation
If the aesthetic cover is removed, then maintenance access is improved, but electrical safety protection is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention ensures that the base part contains functional shutter means that are independent of the aesthetic cover. When the aesthetic cover is removed for maintenance, the shutter means in the base part remain in place and continue to provide electrical safety protection by covering the electrical terminals. This segmentation allows maintenance access while preserving safety functionality.
4Reliability
If shutter means are made movable to follow the cover, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the shutter means movable to follow the cover, the invention inverts the approach by making the shutter means stationary in the base part. The aesthetic cover with its movable cover member can be removed or adjusted independently, while the shutter means remain fixed in the base part, continuously providing safety protection without requiring complex movable mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides enhanced electrical safety and ease of maintenance by ensuring the movable cover remains operational and secure, preventing accidental contact with electrical terminals, even when the aesthetic cover is removed, while allowing for flexibility in cover types and designs.
Implementation Method 1
The drive member (112) is adapted to exert a force essentially perpendicular to a plane covering the bottom end of the base part and directed towards the insertion end
Data Source
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AI summary
A power socket arrangement (100) comprises a base part (102) and an aesthetic cover (150). The base part (102) has a receiving section at or near one side and/or at the bottom end (108) of the base part (102), adapted to receive and/or fix a first end (112a) of a drive member (112). The drive member (112) has a second end (112b) pivotable between a first position near a bottom end (108) and a second position near the insertion end (106) of the base part (102), the second end (112b) exerting a force directed towards the insertion end (106), essentially perpendicular to a plane covering the bottom end (108), for resiliently moving a linearly slidable cover (156) inside an insertion well (154) of the aesthetic cover (150).