Travel Plug Adapter Grounding Across Sliding Plug Positions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing travel plug adapters often lack reliable grounding in standby and transitional positions, posing electrical safety risks, especially during global travel where users encounter various plug standards.
Innovation Solution
The travel plug adapter features a compact design with a housing that can be shaped for easy transport, incorporating a movable contact bracket and contact rails for secure grounding, ensuring the earth contact is connected across user, transitional, and standby positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the travel plug adapter uses a compact design with movable plug sets, then portability and ease of transport are improved, but electrical safety and reliable grounding in standby and transitional positions deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The earth contact is preliminarily connected to the contact bracket in all possible positions (standby, transitional, and use positions) before the adapter is actually used. This preliminary grounding connection ensures that even when the adapter is moved or stored in non-operational positions, the grounding protection remains active, preventing electrical safety hazards that would otherwise occur in compact movable designs
2Adaptability or versatility
If the plug sets are moved between standby and use positions, then adaptability to different plug standards is improved, but the risk of harmful electrical contacts in transitional positions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact bracket serves as an intermediary element that maintains continuous electrical connection between the earth contact and the contact pins throughout all movement transitions. This intermediary grounding path ensures that even when current-carrying pins are in transitional positions during plug standard switching, the grounding protection is continuously maintained, preventing harmful electrical contacts
3Device complexity
If the adapter is designed to be grounded only in the use position, then device complexity is reduced, but electrical safety in standby and transitional positions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The contact bracket is designed with universal grounding functionality that serves multiple purposes: it connects earth contacts in standby positions, maintains grounding during transitional movements, and ensures grounding in use positions. This multi-functional design achieves comprehensive safety coverage without requiring separate grounding mechanisms for each position, thus avoiding excessive complexity while maintaining high reliability
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
This design enhances electrical safety by maintaining reliable grounding across all operational positions, reducing the risk of harmful electrical contacts and ensuring the adapter is both inexpensive and user-friendly.
Implementation Method 1
The earth contact (64) is connected to the contact rails (72, 74) via a movable contact bracket (76, 78)
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a travel plug adapter, which is also referred to here in short as a travel plug. By means of such an adapter, mains plugs of a certain (domestic) standard can be inserted into the receptacles present at the travel location. In particular, the invention relates to a travel plug adapter (10) that has a housing, a plug socket (16), which has a first ground contact receptacle (18D, 18E, 70), and at least one first plug (38) of a first standard, wherein an actuating element (26) is associated with the plug (38), which actuating element is designed to slide the plug (38) between a readiness position, in which the plug (38) is located substantially within the housing, and a usage position, in which the plug (38) is located outside of the housing for use, and a first ground contact (44) is associated with the plug (38), which first ground contact can be electrically connected to the ground contact receptacle (18D, 18E, 70), wherein the ground contact receptacle (18D, 18E, 70) is connected to the ground contact (44) both in the usage position and in transitional positions between the readiness position and the usage position.