Retractable Pin Power Adapter With Synchronized Safety Covers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power adapters face challenges in achieving a lightweight and thin design while meeting electrical safety clearance requirements, which restricts their portability and miniaturization due to fixed thickness necessitated by safety distance standards.
Innovation Solution
A power adapter design featuring a synchronization mechanism that allows a first cover body and a second cover body to move synchronously, exposing the pin in one position and retracting it in another, thereby reducing the adapter's thickness by ensuring electrical clearance without compromising safety, utilizing a slider, swing rods, and stabilizer rods for stable movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the power adapter is designed to be lightweight and thin, then portability is improved, but electrical safety clearance requirements cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The pin is designed to be movable between an exposed position (for charging) and a retracted position (for safety). The cover body moves synchronously with the pin, covering it when retracted. This dynamic configuration allows the adapter thickness to be reduced while maintaining electrical safety clearance when the pin is not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The pin is nested within the housing when retracted, and the cover body nests over the pin to provide additional coverage. This nested structure allows the pin to be housed within the adapter body rather than requiring constant external clearance, enabling thinner adapter design while maintaining safety requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the pin is always exposed for charging functionality, then ease of operation is improved, but electrical safety is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The pin and cover body move dynamically between exposed and covered states. When charging is needed, the pin is exposed and the cover is open. When not in use, the pin is retracted and covered, eliminating electrical shock risk. This dynamic state change allows the system to switch between accessibility and safety as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The synchronization mechanism automatically moves the cover body to cover the pin when the pin is retracted, and opens when the pin is extended. This self-service mechanism ensures safety without requiring user intervention to manually cover the pin, reducing the risk of electrical shock while maintaining ease of charging operation.
3Reliability
If a cover body is added to protect the pin, then electrical safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cover body is merged with the synchronization mechanism that also controls the pin movement. A single synchronized motion system controls both the pin extension/retraction and the cover opening/closing, rather than having separate mechanisms. This merging reduces overall structural complexity while providing the safety function.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover body serves multiple functions: it protects the pin from damage, provides electrical insulation, and acts as part of the synchronization mechanism structure. The synchronization mechanism itself controls both pin position and cover position. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, minimizing complexity increase.
Data Source
AI summary
A power adapter, including a main body having a housing and pins connected to the housing, a synchronization mechanism connected to the housing, a first cover body, connected to the synchronization mechanism and moving relative to the housing to a first position and a second position, and a second cover body connected to the synchronization mechanism and driven by the synchronization mechanism during the movement of the first cover body relative to the housing to achieve the synchronous movement of the second cover body and the first cover body.