BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shell in accordance with the present invention along with a plug and an electrical wire of an electrical appliance;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a shell in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is another exploded perspective view of a shell in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a shell in FIG. 1 along with the plug and the electrical wire of the electrical appliance mounted in a plug-receiving assembly of the shell;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the shell in FIG. 4 along the line 5-5; and
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the shell in FIG. 4 along the line 6-6, in which the plug is partially in the plug-receiving assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a shell 100, in accordance with the present invention, along with an electrical wire 160 and a plug 180 of an electrical appliance. The shell 100 surrounds the electrical appliance and the electrical wire 160 passes through an opening of the shell 100. The plug 180 is attached to the electrical wire 160 and includes a portion 170 between a narrow portion 165 and a connector 175. The narrow portion 165 is adjacent to the electrical wire 160. The connector 175 is electrically connected to the electrical wire 160 through the plug 180. The connector 175 can be any type of connector for electrically connecting the electrical appliance to an electrical device or circuit. For example, the connector 175 may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.
The shell 100 further includes a cover 155, a base 105 and a plug-receiving assembly 115. The cover 155 is mounted with the base 105 and the plug-receiving assembly 115 is attached to the cover 155. The plug-receiving assembly 115 includes a recess 122 configured to receive the plug 180. The recess 122 may be substantially shaped like the plug 180 and the recess 122 may be substantially rectangular-shaped. The recess 122 includes a first end 130, a second end 145, a bottom 140, a first side 110 and a second side 135 opposing the first side 110. The first side 110 and the second side 135 are each attached to the bottom 140, the first end 130, the second end 145 and the cover 155. The bottom 140 supports the plug 180 when the plug 180 is in the recess 122. The sides 110 and 135 each extend longitudinally between the ends 130 and 145. The recess may be formed in an outer surface 150 of the cover 155.
The plug-receiving assembly 115 further includes a slanted guide 125 formed on the bottom 140 of the recess 122. The slanted guide 125 includes at least one edge 112 that extends from the outer surface 150 of the cover 155 at the end 130 of the recess 122 downwardly to the bottom 140 of the recess 122 in a direction toward the second end 145 of the recess 122. The slanted guide 125 guides the plug 180 away from the second end 145 of the recess 122 and out of the recess 122 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122. With reference to FIG. 6, the outer surface 150 extends from the second end 145 towards the first end 130 for a first distance 123 and spaced from the first end 130. The bottom 140 extends from the first end 130 towards the second end 145 and is spaced from the second end 145 for a spacing 124.
The plug-receiving assembly 115 may also include a mounting groove 120 formed on the outer surface 150 of the cover 155. The mounting groove 120 is adjacent to the slanted groove 125 and extends from the end 130 of the recess 122 away from the recess 122. The mounting groove 120 is configured to retain the electrical wire 160. For example, the electrical wire 160 can be tightly mounted in the mounting groove 120 by inserting the electrical wire 160 into the mounting groove 120.
With reference to FIG. 2, the cover 155 and the base 105 together surround an interior 220 of the shell 100 when the cover 155 is mounted with the base 105. Moreover, the recess 122 protrudes into the interior 220 of the shell 100. The base 105 includes a guiding device 210 formed on an inner surface 215 of the base 105. The guiding device 210 protrudes into the interior 220 of the shell 100 when the cover 155 is mounted with the base 105 and guides the connector 175 (FIG. 1) in the recess 122 when the plug 180 (FIG. 1) is inserted into the recess 122.
In one embodiment, the guiding device 210 includes one or more tabs 205 extending from the inner surface 215 of the base 105. The tab 205 of the guiding device 210 includes a curved edge 200 for contacting the connector 175 (FIG. 1) of the plug 180 (FIG. 1) and guiding the connector 175 toward the second end 145 of the recess 122 when the plug 180 is inserted into the recess 122. Additionally, the curved edge 200 of the tab 205 is used to guide the connector 175 away from the second end 145 of the recess 122 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122. The tabs 205 may be a pair of substantially parallel tabs. The guiding device 210 may include more or fewer tabs 205.
With reference to FIG. 3, the recess 122 includes an opening 305 in the bottom 140 at the second end 145. The opening 305 allows the guiding device 210 (FIG. 2) to protrude into the recess 122 when the cover 155 is mounted with the base 105. Additionally, the side 135 of the recess 122 includes protrusions 300 for engaging the connector 175 (FIG. 1) in the recess 122. The protrusions 300 may be elongated parallel strips that extend laterally along the side 135. Although two protrusions 300 are shown in FIG. 3, the side 135 may have more or fewer protrusions 300.
As may be envisioned from FIG. 3, the side 110 (FIG. 1) also has one or more protrusions 300 for engaging the connector 175 (FIG. 1). The protrusions 300 on the sides 110 and 135 are configured to retain the plug 180 (FIG. 1) in the recess 122 by engaging the connector 175 in the recess 122. For example, protrusions 300 on the opposing sides 110 and 135 can be configured to increase friction between the connector 175 and the protrusions 300 when the connector 175 is between the protrusions 300.
With reference to FIG. 4, the plug 180 is mounted in the recess 122 and the electrical wire 160 is mounted in the mounting groove 120. In this way, the plug 180 and the electrical wire 160 are mounted in the plug-receiving assembly 115 (FIG. 1). Moreover, the plug-receiving assembly 115 retains the plug 180 and the electrical wire 160. The slanted guide 125 may include a pair of parallel tabs 400 configured to receive the narrow portion 165 of the plug 180 between the tabs 400. The parallel tabs 400 guide the portion 170 of the plug 180 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122.
With reference to FIG. 5, the plug 180 is mounted in the recess 122 and the electrical wire 160 is mounted in the mounting groove 120. The plug 180 is juxtaposed with the bottom 140 of the recess 122. The connector 175 is in contact with the protrusion 300 and the guiding device 210 at the second end 145 of the recess 122. The recess 122 may include a flange 500 extending outward from the bottom 140 of the recess 122 at the end 130. As illustrated, the narrow portion 165 of the plug 180 abuts the flange 500 when the plug 180 is mounted in the recess 122. The flange 500 has a curved surface to guide the plug 180 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122.
With reference to FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-section view of the shell 100 taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 showing the plug 180 partially in the recess 122. As may be envisioned from FIGS. 5 and 6, a user can pull the electrical wire 160 to disengage the connector 175 from the protrusions 300 and to move the plug 180 away from the second end 145 of the recess 122. As the electrical wire 160 is pulled, the portion 170 of the plug 180 contacts the slanted guide 125 and the slanted guide 125 guides the plug 180 out from the recess 122. In this way, the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122 by pulling the electrical wire 160. Moreover, the guiding device 210 may guide the connector 175 away from the second end 145 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122. In some embodiments, the plug 180 does not have the narrow portion 165. Moreover, the portion 170 is adjacent to the electrical wire 160 and the slanted guide 125 guides the portion 170 of the plug 180 when the plug 180 is removed from the recess 122.
The shell includes the plug-receiving assembly for mounting the electrical wire and the plug of the electrical appliance. The plug-receiving assembly includes the recess that protrudes into the interior of the shell to retain the plug. The recess includes the slanted guide for guiding the plug in the recess. Additionally the plug-receiving assembly includes a mounting groove to retain the electrical wire. A user can remove the plug from the plug-receiving assembly by pulling the electrical wire to remove the electrical wire from the mounting groove and to move the plug along the slanted guide and out of the recess.
Although the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed description.
Patent Application
20070287321
