Adapter for suspending from strings of christmas lights

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6537102
  • Patent Number
    6,537,102
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, January 16, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 25, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Paumen; Gary
    Agents
    • Lin; Mei-Lu
Abstract
An adapter for suspending from the strings of Christmas lights includes an adapter having a longitudinal groove in cooperation with a pair of arcuate slots for disposing an electric power wire and a pair of transverse flanges for coupling a pair of coupling plates on a press box in a snap fitting. The press box has a pair of contact plates connected to one end of a pair of subordinate electric wires which has other ends extending downward from the bottom of the press box to further connect the strings of Christmas lights in a pattern plate. The contact plates each has a pair of tip points on the top to respectively pierce into the electric power wire to obtain the electricity in order to light the strings of the Christmas lights.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to Christmas lights and more particularly to an adapter for suspending from the strings of Christmas lights.




It is known that the strings of Christmas lights are usually attached to a pine tree or other objects in order to make them more beautiful and brilliant. Since the strings of Christmas lights can not make a shape itselves, some of the producers use a plate to which the strings of Christmas lights are attached to make different shapes of patterns or that the strings of Christmas lights dispose in a lantern and/or onto a variety of shaped objects. Because several strings of Christmas lights need several pieces of electric wires and plugs, it becomes very complicated to arrange the supply of the power sources. Besides, it is impossible to hang the plate with the strings of Christmas lights from a thingwithout supplying the electricity.




SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




The present invention has a main object to provide a adapter for suspending from the strings of Christmas lights which the adapter depend on an electric power wire and the pattern of Christmas lights suspends from the adapter through a pair of subordinate electric wires to obtain the electricity from the electric power wire to lighten the strings of Christmas lights on a plate of pattern.




Accordingly, the adapter for suspending from the strings of Christmas lights of the present invention comprises generally an adapter or several adapters depend on an electric power wire, a press box having a pair of contact plates therein and each of the contact plates connects a subordinate electric wire from which the pattern of strings of Christmas lights is suspended. When the press box couples with the adapter, the tips of the contact plates pierce into the electric power wire to obtain the electric power to lighten the strings of Christmas lights on the plate of pattern.




The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded perspective view to show the preferred embodiment of the present invention,





FIG. 2

is a perspective view to show the assembly of

FIG. 1

,





FIG. 3

is a longitudinal sectional view of

FIG. 2

,





FIG. 4

is a cross sectional view of

FIG. 2

,





FIG. 5

is a top view to show the press box, and





FIG. 6

is an elevational view to show a pattern of the strings of Christmas lights suspending from the adapter.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




With reference to

FIGS. 1

to


5


of the drawings, the adapter for suspending from the strings of Christmas lights of the present invention comprises an adapter


10


, a press box


20


and an electric power wire


30


.




The adapter


10


has an arcuate top


12


, a flat bottom


13


, a pair of arcuate slots


11


symmetrically formed in two ends, a pair of through holes


14


spacedly formed in the curved corners of the arcuate slots


11


, a through hole


15


in a center of the adapter


10


reinforced by ribs


18


, a pair of transverse flanges


16


having beveled underside on an outer surface of a pair of vertical walls adjacent two ends abutting the arcuate slots


11


and a longitudinal groove


17


centrally formed under the flat bottom


13


along the length thereof (as shown in FIG.


4


).




The electric power wire


30


includes a first and a second wires


31


and


32


juxtaposedly disposed into the longitudinal groove


17


of the adapter


10


having their two ends respectively passing through the arcuate slots


11


of the adapter


10


. The electric power wire


30


has predetermined length and having one end connected to an external power source.




The press box


20


has a hollow rectangular body, an opening


26


in the top, a pair of vertical slits


212


in each of the lateral walls, a pair of coupling plates


211


having beveled top symmetrically formed on the upper inner side of the lateral walls


21


engageable with the transverse flanges


16


of the adapter


10


, a projection plate


22


centrally projected upward from the inner surface of the bottom including a pair of L-shaped check blocks


221


symmetrically formed at two ends to define a pair of guide slits


222


therebetween, a pair of extensions


23


symmetrically extending inward from a central inner sides of the front and back walls to define a pair of positioning gaps between with the projection plate


22


and themselves (as shown in

FIG. 5

) and a pair of circular through holes


241


and


251


spacedly formed in the bottom of the press box


20


abutting the lateral walls


21


thereof.




A pair of contact plates


33


and


34


dispose into the positioning gaps of the press box


20


respectively with their front ends respectively engaged into the guide slits


222


. The contact plates


33


and


34


each has a pair of tip points


331


and


341


spacedly formed on the top and a rear end connected a subordinate electric wire


311


and


321


respectively. The subordinate electric wires


311


and


321


extend downward through the circular through holes


241


and


251


of the box


20


and then connect to the strings of Christmas lights


41


in a hexagon pattern plate


40


.




When pressedly couple the press box


20


with the bottom


13


of the adapter


10


, the coupling plates


211


of the press box


20


will be engaged with the transverse flanges


16


of the adapter


10


in a snap fitting and the tip points


331


and


341


of the contact plates


33


and


34


will be pierced into the wires


31


and


32


respectively to obtain electricity to lighten the strings of Christmas lights


41


in the pattern


40


(as shown in

FIGS. 3

,


4


and


6


). Therefore, the pattern


40


with the glittering Christmas lights


41


is suspended from the adapter


10


. If the pattern


40


is too heavy to get the adapter


10


to fall down, a rope can be used to bind the through holes


14


or


15


to hang the adapter


10


from a higher place. Further the lateral walls


21


of the press box


20


is elastic so that the assembly or disassembly of the press box


20


to the adapter


10


is very convenient.




Actually the electric power wire


30


may be longer and the pattern


40


may be plural to include different shapes in order to make it more beautiful and brilliant.




Note that the specification relating to the above embodiment should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by aperson of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.



Claims
  • 1. An adapter for suspending from strings of Christmas lights comprising:an adapter having an arcuate top, a flat bottom, a pair of arcuate slots symmetrically formed in two ends thereof, a pair of first through holes spacedly formed in curved corners of the arcuate slots, a second through hole in a center of the adapter reinforced by a plurality of ribs, a pair of transverse flanges having beveled underside on an outer surface of a pair of vertical walls adjacent two end thereof abutting the arcuate slots and a longitudinal groove centrally formed under the bottom along the length thereof; an electric power wire which is combined by a first and a second wires juxtaposedly disposed into the longitudinal groove of said adapter having their two ends passing through the arcuate slots of the adapter respectively, said electric power wire having predetermined length with one end connected to an external power source; a press box pressedly coupled with the bottom of said adapter in a snap fitting, said press box having a hollow rectangular body, an opening in top, a pair of vertical slits in each of lateral walls of said press box, a pair of coupling plates having beveled top symmetrically formed on an upper inner side of each of the lateral walls engageable with the transverse flanges of said adapter, a projection plate centrally projected upward from an inner side of bottom of said press box including a pair L-shaped check blocks symmetrically formed at two ends to define a pair of guide slits therebetween, a pair of extensions symmetrically extended inward from a central inner side of front and back walls of said press box to form a pair of positioning gaps between the projection plate and themselves and a pair of circular through holes spacedly formed in the bottom of said press box abutting the lateral walls thereof; a pair of contact plates respectively disposed into the pair of positioning gaps in said press box having their front ends engaged into the guide slits and their rear ends respectively connected to a pair subordinate electric wires which extend downward through the pair of circular through holes in the bottom of said press box respectively and then connected to strings of Christmas lights in a hexagon pattern plate, said contact plates each further having a pair of tip points on top to respectively pierce into the first and second power wires of said electric power wire in the adapter to obtain electricity to lighten the strings of Christmas lights in the hexagon pattern plate.
  • 2. The adapter as recited in claim 1 wherein said adapter may be plural.
  • 3. The adapter as recited in claim 1 wherein said lateral walls of said press box is elastic to facilitate the press box to couple with the adapter in a snap fitting.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
5366386 Liao Nov 1994 A
5964613 Huang Oct 1999 A
6086410 Lin Jul 2000 A