Adjustable right angle electrical plug with an interchangeable plug assembly

[0001] 1. Field of Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a right angle electrical plug, and more particularly to a right angle electrical plug that has an interchangeable plug assembly that can be easily removed and replaced to plug the right angle electrical plug into 50 Hz or 60 Hz outlets.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Electric products such as computers, household appliances, lamps, chargers and the like often use right angle electrical plugs. A right angle electrical plug is often a thin elongated box, a pair of prongs and an electric cord, and 50 Hz or 60 Hz power is provided from an electrical receptacle. The box has an internal cavity, a circuit and two sides. The circuit is mounted in the internal cavity. Each side has two short edges. The prongs are mounted on and protrude from one side near a short edge. The receptacle comprises multiple pairs of outlet holes.

[0005] However, the outlet holes in 50 Hz and 60 Hz receptacles are significantly different, and the prongs on a plug for a 50 Hz receptacle will not plug into a 60 Hz receptacle. At the very best, changing the prongs on a conventional right angle electrical plug is inconvenient and can easily damage the right angle electrical plug. Using 50 Hz/60 Hz or 60 Hz/50 Hz adapter causes the right angle electrical plug to be offset from the receptacle and defeats the ultimate purpose of the right angle electrical plug.

[0006] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an adjustable right angle electrical plug to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned.

[0007] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable right angle electrical plug that has an interchangeable plug assembly to allow the adjustable right angle electrical plug to be used with either a 50 Hz or 60 Hz receptacle by quickly and easily changing the interchangeable plug assembly.

[0008] To achieve the objective, the adjustable right angle electrical plug has a casing, an interchangeable plug assembly and an electric cord. The casing is hollow and comprises a base, a cover and two resilient contacts. The cover is mounted on the base and has a plug recess. The plug recess is symmetric. The resilient contacts protrude into the plug recess. The interchangeable plug assembly is mounted detachably in the plug recess has a body, two prongs and a bottom cover. The body is hollow, corresponds to the plug recess and has an open bottom. The prongs are mounted through and protrude from the body and may be flat blades for a 60 Hz receptacle or cylindrical prongs for a 50 Hz receptacle. The bottom cover is mounted in and closes the open bottom and has two curved contacts. Each curved contact extends through the bottom cover at two places separated by 90°, makes the contact with one of the resilient contacts and is connected to one of the prongs. The electrical cord is connected to the resilient contacts and an electrical device. Since the interchangeable plug assembly can be easily and quickly changed, the adjustable right angle electrical plug in accordance with the present invention can be used with either 50 Hz or 60 Hz receptacles without having to purchase the adjustable right angle electrical plugs.

[0009] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0017] With reference to FIG. 1, an adjustable right angle electrical plug with an interchangeable plug assembly in accordance with the present invention connects an electrical device to an electrical receptacle and has a casing (2), an interchangeable plug assembly (1) and an electric cord (3).

[0018] With further reference to FIG. 2, the casing (2) is hollow and comprises a base (21), a cover (22), a circuit (23), two resilient contacts (24) and two wires (25).

[0019] The base (21) is an open rectangular box and has an open top, a front end, a rear end, an inside bottom surface, a sidewall, an optional lip and an optional cord notch (211). The sidewall has a top edge. The lip is formed on the top edge of the sidewall. The cord notch (211) is formed in the top edge of the sidewall at the rear end of the base (21) and extends below the lip.

[0020] The cover (22) is rectangular, corresponds to the base (21), is mounted on the top edge of the sidewall of the base (21) on the lip, closes the open top of the base (21) and has a sidewall, an open bottom, a top, a front end, a rear end, a plug recess (222), two contact openings (223), two optional pairs of guide and limit protrusions (224), multiple optional alignment slots (226), multiple optional retainer recesses (227) and an optional plug lock (225).

[0021] The sidewall corresponds to and is mounted flush on the sidewall of the base (21).

[0022] The top has an inside surface and an outside surface (221).

[0023] The plug recess (222) is symmetrical, may be circular, is formed in the outside surface (221) of the top near the front end of the cover (22) and has a bottom and a sidewall.

[0024] The contact openings (223) are formed through the bottom of the plug recess (222) diametrically opposite to each other, and each contact opening (223) has two sides.

[0025] The pairs of guide and limit protrusions (224) are formed on and protrude up from the bottom of the plug recess (222) and respectively on opposite sides of the contact openings (223).

[0026] The alignment slots (226) are formed symmetrically in the sidewall of the plug recess (222) from the bottom of the plug recess (222) to the top of the cover (22).

[0027] The retainer recesses (227) are formed in the sidewall of the plug recess (222) at the bottom and communicate respectively with the alignment slots (226).

[0028] The plug lock (225) is formed in the plug recess (222) and the top of the cover (22) and has a resilient lever (2251) and a latch (2252). The resilient lever (2251) is formed in the bottom and sidewall of the plug recess (222) and the top of the cover (22) toward the rear end of the cover (22) between two alignment slots (226). The latch (2252) is formed on and protrudes up from the bottom of the plug recess (222) adjacent to the sidewall.

[0029] The circuit (23) is formed on the inside bottom surface of the base (21).

[0030] The resilient contacts (24) are attached to the inside surface of the top of the cover (22), protrude respectively through the contact openings (223) between the guide and limit protrusions (224) and extend above the guide and limit protrusions (224).

[0031] The wires (25) connect the circuit (23) to the resilient contacts (24).

[0032] The interchangeable plug assembly (1) is mounted in and protrudes from the plug recess (222) and has a body (11), two prongs (12) and a bottom cover (13).

[0033] With further reference to FIG. 3, the body (11) is symmetric and hollow, corresponds to the plug recess (222), may be circular and has a closed top, an open bottom, a sidewall, an inner cavity, a bottom edge, multiple connectors, four optional locking notches (113) and multiple mounting notches (115).

[0034] The closed top has an outer surface and an inner surface.

[0035] The sidewall has an outer surface.

[0036] The connectors are formed on the outer surface of the sidewall of the body (11) and hold the interchangeable plug assembly (1) in the plug recess (222) in the casing (2) and may be multiple blades (114). When the body (11) is circular, the blades (114) are formed on and protrude radially out from the bottom edge of the body (11), correspond respectively to the alignment slots (226) and move respectively into the retainer recesses (227) when the interchangeable plug assembly (1) is rotated in the plug recess (222) to hold the interchangeable plug assembly (1) securely in the plug recess (222).

[0037] The locking notches (113) are formed in the bottom edge of the body (11) and correspond to and are held by the latch (2252) of the plug lock (225) to hold the interchangeable plug assembly (1) in place.

[0038] The mounting notches (115) are formed in the bottom edge of the body (11).

[0039] With further reference to FIG. 6, the prongs (12) are mounted through the closed top of the body (11), and each prong (12) has an outer end, an inner end and an optional through hole (121). The outer ends of the prongs (12) protrude from the outer surface of the closed top of the body (11) parallel to each other and may be oriented transversely or longitudinally relative to the casing (2) based on the orientation of the interchangeable plug assembly (1) in the plug recess (222). The inner ends of the prongs (12) protrude from the inner surface of the closed top of the body (11) and extend into the inner cavity of the body (11). The through holes (121) are formed respectively through the prongs (12) near the inner ends.

[0040] With further reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the bottom cover (13) attaches to, closes and corresponds to the open bottom of the body (11), is mounted on the guide and limit protrusions (224), abuts the bottom of the plug recess (222) and has a base layer (131), two curved contacts (133), a contact layer (132) and two wires (134).

[0041] The base layer (131) attaches to the open bottom of the body (11) and has a center, a top surface, a bottom surface, an outer edge two contact recesses, four contact openings (1311) and multiple optional mounting tabs (1312). The contact recesses are curved and are formed in the top surface of the base layer (131), and each contact recess has two ends. The contact openings (1311) are formed through the base layer (131) at 90° intervals and respectively at ends of the contact recesses. The mounting tabs (1312) are formed on and protrude out from the outer edge and correspond to and are mounted in the mounting notches (115) in the body (11) to connect the bottom cover (13) to the body (11) and maintain the orientation of the contact openings (1311) and the prongs (12).

[0042] The curved contacts (133) are mounted respectively in the contact recesses and are exposed through the contact openings (1311), and each curved contact (133) has a central connecting strip (1331), two contacts (1332), a connecting tab (1333) and an optional through hole (1334).

[0043] The connecting strips (1331) are curved and are mounted respectively in the contact recesses in the base layer (131), and each connecting strip (1331) has two ends.

[0044] The contacts (1332) are formed respectively on and extend longitudinally from the ends of the connecting strip (1331), are offset down slightly from the connecting strip (1331), are separated by 90° and are mounted respectively in and are exposed through adjacent contact openings (1311) in the base layer (131). With further reference to FIG. 7, one of the contacts (1332) on each curved contact (133) is always in contact with one of the resilient contacts (24) protruding into the plug recess (222) when the interchangeable plug assembly (1) is mounted in the plug recess (222).

[0045] The connecting tab (1333) is formed on and protrudes perpendicularly up from one of the contacts (1332).

[0046] The through hole (1334) is formed through the connecting tab (1333).

[0047] The contact layer (132) is attached to the top surface of the base layer (131), holds the curved contacts (133) respectively in the contact recesses and the contact openings (1311) of the base layer (131) and has at least two through slots (1321). The through slots (1321) correspond to and are mounted respectively on the connecting tabs (1333) of the curved contacts (133).

[0048] The wires (134) electrically connect the curved contacts (133) respectively to the prongs (12) and may attach between the through holes (1334) in the connecting tabs (1333) and the through holes (121) in the prongs (12).

[0049] The electric cord (3) electrically connects the casing (2) to an electrical device, passes through the cord notch (211) in the base (21) of the casing (2) and has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is connected electrically to the circuit (23) in the base (21). The distal end is connected to an electrical device.

[0050] The adjustable right angle electrical plug as describe has numerous advantages. The curved contacts (133) connect respectively to the prongs (112) and have four contacts (1332) at 90° intervals. When the interchangeable plug assembly (1) rotated 90°, two of the contacts (1332) on opposite curved contacts (133) contact the resilient contacts in the casing (2). Consequently, the prongs (12) can change orientation to be aligned longitudinally or transversely with the casing (2) and the casing (2) will not cover or obstruct other holes in a receptacle so the receptacle can be fully utilized.

[0051] Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.