Electrical Receptacle Contact With Segmented Wipes for Dual Plug Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrical receptacles face challenges in designing stable and efficient contacts that can accommodate both 15 amp and 20 amp plug orientations, often requiring complex shapes and increased material usage, while also needing to minimize electromagnetic interference and noise immunity.
Innovation Solution
The electrical contact design features a main body with bifurcated segments and wipes that accommodate blades in either orientation, reducing material requirements and simplifying manufacturing, along with a ground contact system that can be isolated from the mounting strap for noise immunity, using a conductive strap and non-conductive base with compartments for easy assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the phase contact is designed to accept both parallel and perpendicular blade orientations, then the receptacle can accommodate both 15 amp and 20 amp plugs, but the contact shape becomes complicated and requires more material
Solution Approach 1:
The phase contact is divided into multiple segments (first segment extending parallel to main body, second segment extending perpendicular, third segment extending parallel) with wipes at each segment. This segmentation allows each segment to independently accommodate different blade orientations without requiring a single complex shape, thereby reducing overall complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The phase contact structure with multiple segments and wipes serves multiple functions: it can accept both parallel-oriented blades (15 amp) and perpendicular-oriented blades (20 amp) through the same contact structure. The first, second, and third segments with their respective wipes collectively provide universal compatibility without requiring separate contacts for different plug types.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the phase contact is designed to accept both parallel and perpendicular blade orientations, then the receptacle can accommodate both 15 amp and 20 amp plugs, but the manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the phase contact into distinct sections (first segment with first wipe, second segment with second wipe, third segment with third wipe), each segment can be manufactured using standard forming processes. The segmentation allows for simpler tooling and manufacturing steps compared to creating a single complex integrated shape, thereby improving ease of manufacture while maintaining multi-orientation compatibility.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the ground contact is electrically isolated from the mounting strap, then noise immunity is improved for sensitive electronic equipment, but the grounding configuration becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The ground contact is extracted from the common grounding path and isolated from the mounting strap through electrical insulation. This separation removes the ground contact from the potential source of electromagnetic interference and electrical noise present in the metal box grounding system, thereby improving noise immunity for sensitive electronic equipment while maintaining a relatively simple grounding configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical contact is provided for an electrical receptacle. The contact includes a main body, a first segment that is an extension of the main body and substantially parallel to the main body, a second segment substantially perpendicular to the main body and the first segment, a third segment substantially perpendicular to the second segment and substantially parallel to the main body and the first segment, a first wipe that extends from the first segment, a second wipe that extends from the second segment, and a third wipe that extends from the third segment.