Cable having location-indicating function

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6710254
  • Patent Number
    6,710,254
  • Date Filed
    Monday, November 25, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 23, 2004
    21 years ago
Abstract
The present invention relates to a cable having location-indicating function, having a socket, a plug and a cable body for connecting the foregoing two, at least one illuminating device is disposed in parallel on the cable body, with the cable body providing the luminous body in the illuminating device with electricity needed for illuminating, so as to indicate passers-by with the location of the cable, thus achieving the location-indicating function.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a cable, more particularly, a cable having location-indicating function, at least one illuminating device is disposed on such cable body, whereby the location of the cable is explicitly indicated for passers-by, thus achieving the location-indicating function.




2. Description of Related Arts




Please refer to

FIG. 1

, wherein the conventional extension cable is shown. The object of such extension cable is to extend further the stationary power, thus a plug


11


and a socket


12


are respectively disposed on both ends of such conventional extension cable, so as to transmit electricity through the connection of the cable body


13


. However, the use of extension cables is not supposed to be permanent, sometimes it is only temporary; therefore, with the period of use being short, passers-by shall not be able to notice the existence of such extension cable. Furthermore, since the installation of extension cables is usually temporary, the location installed, not being stationary, is up to the convenience of users, with the location possibly being at hallways, on walls or suspending downwards from ceilings.




There is no apparent indication signs attached on the conventional extension cables, thus passers-by not knowing the location of such extension cables are apt to be tripped thereby, and such extension cables may subsequently be pulled and detached from the power connected therewith, thus causing short circuitry and therefore injuries to people, especially as such extension cables are installed at locations without enough illumination, such as construction sites, the foregoing situations are to occur frequently, causing users unable to prevent such dangerous episodes from recurring.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In view of the fact that there is no apparent indication signs attached on the conventional extension cables, so that danger may occur at locations without enough illumination or at night, the present invention then provides with a cable having location-indicating function, at least one illuminating device is disposed on the cable body, so as to explicitly indicate the location of the cable for passers-by.




For achieving the foregoing object, the present invention then provides with a cable having location-indicating function, comprising a plug, a socket and a cable body for connecting the foregoing two, an illuminating device is disposed on the cable body, including a luminous body disposed at the interior thereof as an illumination source and a transparent protection body covered at the exterior thereof.




At least one illuminating device is disposed on the cable.




Both ends of the transparent protection body of the illuminating device are disposed with stress elimination device.




The luminous body within the illuminating device is an LED or a neon lamp.




The luminous body within the illuminating device is disposed in parallel with the transmission circuit of the internal power.




The luminous body within the illuminating device receives power needed from the transmission circuit of the internal power in the cable body.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings that are provided only for further elaboration without limiting or restricting the present invention, where:





FIG. 1

shows a conventional extension cable;





FIG. 2

shows a structural view of the cable having location-indicating function of the present invention;





FIG. 3

shows a sectional view of the illuminating device of the cable having location-indicating function of the present invention; and





FIG. 4

shows another embodiment of the cable having location-indicating function of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




The following is a detailed description of the best presently known modes of carrying out the inventions. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the inventions.




Please refer to

FIG. 2

, wherein the cable


2


having location-indicating function of the present invention is shown. The cable


2


comprises a cable body


23


, a plug


11


, a socket


12


, a plurality of illuminating device


24


and a plurality of stress elimination device


25


. The plug


11


and the socket


12


are respectively disposed at both ends of the cable body


23


, which connects in tandem with a plurality of illuminating device


24


, with both ends of the illuminating device


24


being respectively disposed with a stress elimination device


25


.




Please refer to FIG.


2


and

FIG. 3

, wherein the cable body


23


can be for example a three-strand copper wire including a live wire


232


, an earth wire


233


and an earth connection wire for equipment


231


, corresponded by a live wire end


212


, an earth wire end


213


and an earth connection end for equipment


211


of the plug


11


, and a live wire socket


222


, an earth wire socket


223


and an earth connection socket for equipment


221


of the socket


12


. As the plug


11


engages with a stationary power, electricity is transmitted to the cable body


23


, so as to provide the illuminating device


24


with electricity needed. The socket


12


is utilized for a plurality of cables


2


to be connected in tandem, thus extending the length of the cable


2


.




As shown in

FIG. 3

, a protection layer


20


made of a transparent material (e.g., PVC) is applied on the outer layer of the illuminating device


24


, with the protection layer


20


having the luminous body, such as neon lamp


241


, and the resistor


242


disposed therein, and such resistor


242


is soldered between the live wire


232


and the earth wire


233


in tandem. Through the protection layer


20


protecting the neon lamp


241


, the resistor


242


and the junctures thereof, the object of both preventing moisture from infiltrating therein thus causing short circuitry and enabling the cable to sustain tramples from passers-by can thus be achieved. During usage and storage, the cable


2


may often be contorted, therefore the stress elimination device


25


extended further from both ends of the protection layer


20


are disposed so as to prevent the illuminating device


24


from being ruptured because of any contortion of the cable body


23


.




Since the neon lamp


241


may provide with illumination by utilizing the power of alternating current, no extra power conversion apparatus shall be needed, thus enabling convenient usage and lowering of cost for cables. At the same time, the illuminating device


24


are disposed on the live wire


232


and the earth wire


233


of the cable body


23


in parallel, thus preventing any dysfunctional individual illuminating device from adversely affecting the illuminating function of other illuminating device.




Please refer to

FIG. 4

, wherein another embodiment of the cable having location-indicating function of the present invention is shown. Since the specifications for plugs and sockets in countries all over the world might not be identical, the plug


11


and the socket


12


of the cable


2


can be converted according to various specifications. For example,

FIG. 4

shows that the plug


31


is a two-pole plug and the socket


32


is a two-hole socket., with other features identical to those shown in FIG.


3


.




Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art can easily understand that all kinds of alterations and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein.



Claims
  • 1. A cable having location-indicating function, comprising:a cable body, a plug disposed at one end of said cable body, a socket disposed at the other end of said cable body and at least one illuminating device disposed between said plug and said socket of said cable body, said illuminating device having a luminous body therein being covered with a protection layer which enabling light to go through, wherein both ends of said protection layer of said illuminating device are disposed with stress elimination device and said luminous body connected in parallel to the transmission circuit of the internal power in said cable.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
02 2 42748 U Aug 2002 CN
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4101190 Schoff Jul 1978 A
5207594 Olson May 1993 A
5780775 Yu Jul 1998 A
5929386 Hornick Jul 1999 A
6337444 Liao Jan 2002 B1
6349452 Cisneros Feb 2002 B1