Patent Application
20160006193
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a car charger adapter, and more particularly to a car charger adapter having two negative electrodes and large-area contact with an internal wall of a cigarette lighter socket after being inserted into the lighter socket.
2. Description of the Related Art
People get more attached to the use of power due to rising prevalence of digital electronic products. To meet the need of charging digital electronic products in long-distance driving, car charger adapters have been developed to be plugged in original cigarette lighter sockets of vehicles. With reference to
However, when the conventional car charger adapter is inserted into the cigarette lighter socket, plane curvatures of the bulged portions of the negative-electrode spring plates 81 and an inner wall of the cigarette light socket 90 may not fully match and point contact between the negative-electrode spring plates 81 and the inner wall of the cigarette light socket 90 is formed. As the contact area between the negative-electrode spring plates 81 and the cigarette light socket 90 becomes smaller, greater resistance of the electrical contact arises from the smaller electrical contact area and results in temperature rise of the car charger adapter and unnecessary power loss.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a car charge adapter ensuring enhanced power utilization.
To achieve the foregoing objective, the car charger adapter has a body, an electrode seat, at least one negative-electrode plate, a circuit assembly and a positive-electrode tip.
The body has a front case and a rear case.
The front case has a through hole and an opening.
The through hole is formed through a front end of the front case.
The opening is formed through a rear end of the front case.
The rear case is connected with the front case and has two openings and multiple engagement walls.
The two openings are respectively formed through a front end and a rear end of the rear case.
The engagement walls are formed on, protrude frontwards from a front portion of the rear case, and are spaced apart from each other.
The electrode seat is mounted inside the body and has a ring and at least one resilient portion.
The at least one resilient portion is formed on an edge of the ring and is bent rearwards. Each one of the at least one resilient portion is located to correspond to a gap between adjacent two of the engagement walls and has an engagement hole formed through the resilient portion.
The at least one negative-electrode plate is mounted between the front case and the rear case. Each negative-electrode plate corresponds to the gap between the two corresponding arc-shaped engagement walls, has a plane curvature matching a plane curvature of a periphery of the rear case, is electrically connected to the electrode seat, and has a limiting block formed on an inner wall of the negative-electrode plate.
The circuit assembly is mounted inside the rear case and is electrically connected to the electrode seat.
The positive-electrode tip is mounted through the through hole of the front case and is electrically connected to the circuit assembly.
The advantage of the present invention resides in that when the car charger adapter is inserted into a cigarette lighter socket, the at least one negative-electrode plate mounted on the rear case has a plane curvature matching that of an outer periphery of the rear case and an inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket also has a plane curvature matching that of an outer periphery of the body such that a surface contact formed between the at least one negative-electrode plate and the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket. Additionally, the at least one negative-electrode plate tightly contacts with the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket as subjected to the elastic force of the at least one resilient portion of the electrode seat. Accordingly, the surface contact leads to larger contact area, a smaller resistance for electrical contact and a higher power utilization efficiency.
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.
With reference to
The body 10 is hollow and has a front case 11 and a rear case 12. The front case 11 has a through hole 110, an opening 110′ and multiple engagement recesses 111. The through hole 110 is formed through a front end of the front case 11. The opening 110′ is formed through a rear end of the front case 11. The engagement recesses 111 are radially formed in a portion of an inner wall of the front case 11 adjacent to the opening 110′ and are spaced apart. In the present embodiment, the front case 11 has four engagement recesses 111 spaced apart from each other by a gap. The rear case 12 has two openings and multiple engagement walls 120. The two openings are respectively formed through a front end and a rear end of the rear case 12. The engagement walls 120 are formed on and protrude frontwards from a perimeter of a front portion of the rear case 12, and are spaced apart from each other. In the present embodiment, the rear case 12 has two engagement walls 120 being arc-shaped, and each arc-shaped engagement wall 120 has two engagement blocks 121 formed on an outer periphery of the engagement wall 120 and respectively engaging the engagement recesses 111 of the front case 11. Each engagement wall further has multiple engagement slots 122 formed in an inner wall thereof In the present embodiment, each engagement wall 120 has two engagement slots 122. With reference to
With reference to
With further reference to
The circuit assembly 40 is mounted inside the rear case 12 and is electrically connected to the electrode seat 20. The circuit assembly 40 may be a circuit board providing functions of regulating voltage and stabilizing current for converting power from the cigarette lighter socket into power suitable for charging any compatible digital electronic product.
The positive-electrode tip 50 is mounted through the through hole 110 of the front case 11, is electrically connected to the circuit assembly 40, and has a brim portion 51 and a cap portion 52. The brim portion 51 has an opening formed through the brim portion 51. The cap portion 52 is formed on and protrudes frontwards from a front side of the brim portion 51. An outer diameter of the cap portion 52 is smaller than a diameter of the through hole 110 of the front case 11 such that the cap portion 52 can be mounted through the through hole 110 in a rear-to-front direction. An outer diameter of the brim portion 51 is larger than the diameter of the through hole 110 such that the brim portion 51 is blocked and mounted inside the front case 11 without coming off the through hole 110.
The output cord 60 is securely connected to a rear end of the rear case 12 and is electrically connected to the circuit assembly 40.
With reference to
In sum, the car charger adapter is advantageous in that the two negative-electrode plates 30 have a plane curvature matching with that of the outer periphery of rear case 12 when the front portion of the body 10 of the car charger adapter is inserted into the cigarette lighter socket 70. As the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket 70 also has a plane curvature matching with that of the outer periphery of the body 10, the plane curvature of the negative-electrode plates 30 therefore matches that of the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket 70 and the negative-electrode plates 30 form a surface contact with the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket 70. The resilient portions 23 of the electrode seat 20 further push the respective negative-electrode plates 30 to abut against and closely contact with the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket 70 for the negative-electrode plates 30 and the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket 70 to form a surface contact, thereby significantly increasing the contact area, lowering the resistance of electrical contact, and enhancing power utilization.
Additionally, the number of the two negative-electrode plates 30 can be increased from two to four to provide more area in contact with the inner wall of the cigarette lighter socket and even better power utilization.
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.
