Aspects described herein generally relate to a travel adapter that may be implemented as a power strip and, more particularly, to a compact travel adapter arrangement with a mating extension cord.
Increasing airline restrictions on luggage weight, as well as the general convenience of traveling with less bulk, has resulted in passengers seeking out ways to lighten their packing load while traveling. At the same time, international airline travel continues to increase, particularly among younger generations. Recent advances in international mobile phone connectivity also allows travelers to use their mobile phones in addition to other portable electronic devices in other countries. Many travelers therefore travel with a travel adapter and/or voltage converter.
But because different countries use different shapes of receptacles, prongs, and mating plugs, travel adapters typically provide a physical conversion between a standard type of plug for the electronic device and a plug type for a different country. Moreover, because other countries utilize different alternating current (AC) voltages, voltage converters may also be used by travelers to convert the AC voltage of one country to one that is ordinarily used by the electronic device. Some AC adapters incorporate voltage converters, whereas other adapters rely on the ability of modern electronic devices to operate over a range of AC voltages. Conventional travel adapters and voltage converters, however, are typically large and heavy, and do not supply adequate access to power outlets or other charging means despite their considerable bulk.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the aspects of the present disclosure and, together with the description, and further serve to explain the principles of the aspects and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the aspects.
The exemplary aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the aspects of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the aspects, including structures, systems, and methods, may be practiced without these specific details. The description and representation herein are the common means used by those experienced or skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the disclosure.
As mentioned above, conventional travel adapters are typically large and heavy, and do not supply adequate access to power outlets or other charging means despite their considerable bulk. Therefore, to address these issues, the aspects described herein implement a compact travel adapter design that may work in conjunction with an optional extension cord.
The travel adapter 100 includes, as part of the main housing 106, two receptacles 108A, 108B, which may be referred to herein as “standard,” “home,” or “default” receptacles. For example, the receptacles 108A, 108B may mate with an accompanying plug associated with a user's electronic devices, allowing the user to plug an electronic device power supply into each of the receptacles 108A, 108B. In the example embodiment shown in
As shown in
The closed position or state of the travel adapter 100 as shown in
With regards to the overall operation of the travel adapter 100, the power cord 104 is coupled to the plug adapter assembly 102 and the main housing 106 via respective strain reliefs 110A, 110B. The power cord 104 may be constructed of any suitable material to appropriately insulate the conductive wires included in the power cord 104 such as rubber compounds, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), etc. Moreover, the plug adapter assembly 102, the main housing 106, and the extension plug module 206 of the extension assembly 200 as noted herein may be formed of any suitable materials such as suitable polymers and/or plastic. Likewise, the strain reliefs 110A, 110B may be implemented with any suitable type of material to ensure that the power cord 104 is securely fixed to the plug adapter assembly 102 and the main housing 106. The strain reliefs 110A, 110B may be constructed from the same material, molded as part of the power cord 104, or be separate components made of materials independent of the material used for the power cord 104, in various embodiments.
The power cord 104 may include any suitable number of conductors (e.g. two, three, etc.) depending upon the particular implementation of the travel adapter 100. For instance, for compatibility with mating type B plugs, the receptacles 108A, 108B may require a live (L), neutral (N), and ground (G) connection. The power cord 104 may thus include three conductors in this example, which are not shown in the Figures for purposes of brevity. Continuing this example, the three conductors included in the extension cord 104 may be coupled to, respectively, each of L, N, and G power connections associated with a separate terminal of each of the receptacles 108A, 108B. The connections between the conductors included in the power cord 104 and the electronics included in the main housing 106 (not shown) may be made in accordance with any suitable or known techniques, and thus these connections are not further discussed herein.
The conductors included in the power cord 104 may further be coupled to terminals 126.1, 126.2, 126.3, which are included as part of the plug adapter assembly 102, and which are shown in further detail in
As shown in further detail in
Thus, the terminals included in the plug portion of each mating adapter plug type may be configured to align with and electrically couple to the each one of the terminals 126.1, 126.2, 126.3, respectively, when each mating adapter plug is inserted into the cavity 124 of the plug adapter assembly 102. For example, as shown in
In an embodiment, the terminals of each one of the mating adapter plugs, which are inserted into the cavity 124 of the plug adapter assembly 102 (of either the travel adapter 100 or the extension assembly 200), may be implemented as any suitable type of electrically conductive material designed to engage with and to electrically connect with the terminals 126.1, 126.2, 126.3 of the plug adapter assembly 102. To do so, each swappable mating adapter plug may have a common mating portion that is identical or substantially similar to that of the extension plug module 206, which is shown in
Thus, the cavity 124 of the plug adapter assembly 102 may accept one of the swappable mating adapter plugs when the plug adapter assembly 102 is to be plugged into a wall outlet that matches the one for which the particular plug is designed (e.g. IEC type A, IEC type C, etc.). Alternatively, and as further discussed below with reference to
To ensure a secure coupling between either the extension plug module 206 or a mating adapter plug (which again has the same mating portion as the extension plug module 206) and the plug adapter assembly 102, the cavity 124 may be formed with slots or tracks 128A, 128B, as shown in
Moreover, and as shown in further detail in
In an embodiment, each mating adapter plug and the extension plug module 206 may be coupled within the cavity 124 of the plug assembly 102 in a locking but removable manner. To do so, embodiments of the plug assembly 102 include a button 130, as shown in
In an embodiment, each mating adapter plug and the extension plug module 206 also includes a divot or indentation 232, which has a size and shape configured to align and mate with the tab 132 included within the plug assembly 102 of the travel adapter 100 and the extension assembly 200. Thus, to insert each mating adapter plug, as well as the extension plug module 206, into the cavity 124 of the plug assembly 102, the rails 228A, 228B of each mating adapter plug or the extension plug module 206, as the case may be, are aligned with the tracks 128A, 128B of the plug assembly 102. The mating adapter plug or the extension plug module 206 is then further inserted into the cavity 124 of the plug assembly 102 until the indentation 232 of the mating adapter plug or the extension plug module 206 engages (i.e. interlocks with) the tab 132 of the plug assembly 102 in a locking manner due to the biasing force on the tab 132 as noted above.
The mating adapter plug (or the extension plug module 206) and the plug assembly 102, although removable, may thus remain safely and fixedly connected in this state, ensuring that the terminals 126.1, 126.2, 126.3 of the plug assembly 102 are electrically connected to matching electrical terminals included in the mating adapter plug or the extension plug module 206. This locking state is particularly useful, for instance, in the event that forces (e.g. due to weight) are applied in a direction that that would otherwise disengage the mating adapter plug (or the extension plug module 206) and the plug assembly 102. Once fixedly connected in this manner, to disconnect the mating adapter plug (or the extension plug module 206) from the plug assembly 102, a user may press the button 130, thereby retracting the tab 132 and disengaging the tab 132 from the indentation 232. Retracting the tab 132 allows a user to remove the mating adapter plug or the extension plug module 206 from the plug assembly 102 by sliding the rails 228A, 228B of the mating adapter plug (or the extension plug module 206) along the tracks 128A, 128B of the plug assembly 102 in the opposite direction as noted above with regards to the insertion of the mating adapter plug (or the extension plug module 206) into the plug assembly 102.
Again, a mating adapter plug is inserted into the plug assembly 102 of the travel adapter 100 or the extension assembly 200, and the mating adapter plug is then plugged into the matching plug type to enable a user to plug a “home” electrical component into the receptacles 108A, 108B and/or the USB ports 116A, 116B. In any event, the travel adapter 100 is in the open state during ordinary use, which may optionally include the use of the accompanying extension cord 200 as discussed in further detail herein. Embodiments also include the travel adapter 100 being placed into the closed state, as shown in
To do so, embodiments include the main housing 106 of the travel adapter 100 being formed with tabs, rails, or projections 114A, 114B. The projections 114A, 114B, examples of which are shown in
As shown in
In an embodiment, to place the travel adapter 100 into the closed state, the cord 104 is first wrapped beneath the main housing 106 as shown in
For instance, once the plug assembly 102 is engaged or mated with the main housing 106, the extension of the projections 114A, 114B by the rail extension width as shown in
The flush positioning of the plug assembly 102 onto the top surface of the main housing 106 may be used to align the tracks 128A, 128B of the plug assembly 102 with the projections 114A, 114B of the main housing 106 prior to further sliding the plug assembly 102 into the main housing 106 (while relieving the strain on the power cord 104 caused by pulling the power cord 104 away from the notch 112) to place the travel adapter in the closed state. The pulling force on the power cord 104 that ensures that the bottom of the plug assembly 102 is flush with the top of the main housing 106 need not be excessive, but may act to temporarily remove the slack in the power cord 104. For example, the user may pull the plug assembly 102 with enough force to temporarily take up the slack in the power cord 104 and to overcome the natural resiliency in the power cord 104 and the strain reliefs 110A, 110B.
Thus, once the plug assembly 102 is engaged with the main housing 106 in the closed state by overcoming the biasing force caused by the power cord 104 (together with the strain reliefs 110A, 110B) the plug assembly 102 is mated with the main housing 106 in the closed state. This is facilitated by the projections 114A, 114B of the main housing 106 engaging with the tracks 128A, 128B of the plug assembly 102 a small distance from the open end of the cavity 124 (e.g., a ¼″, a ½″, etc.). Therefore, in this closed state, the plug assembly 102 is substantially captivated in the Y direction as well, as an additional force needs to be applied by the user in the −Y direction (away from the receptacles 108A, 108B and the notch 112) to once again take up the slack in the power cord 104 and remove the plug assembly 102 from the main housing 102. The notch 112, through which the power cord 104 is passed, further holds the power cord 104 in place in the closed position (see FIG. K), and prevents the plug assembly 102 from twisting within the X-Y plane, which would otherwise cause the plug assembly 102 to decouple from the main housing 106 (e.g. if the plug assembly 102 moves enough such that the projections 114A, 114B are positioned outside the cavity 124). Moreover, the specific direction and degree of force required to separate the plug assembly 102 from the main housing 106 is unlikely to accidentally be applied during transport, thus ensuring that the travel adapter 100 remains in the closed state until the user decides otherwise.
In this way, the interlocking nature of the components of the travel adapter 100 advantageously provide a compact storage solution when the travel adapter is in the closed state without requiring additional fasteners or cord management solutions. Moreover, in the closed state, the plug assembly 102 also covers the USB ports 116A, 116B as indicated in
Again, the extension assembly 200, which is shown in
The extension cord 204 may be made of a similar or identical material as the power cord 104 as discussed above with reference to the travel adapter 100, although the extension cord 204 may be longer (e.g., twice as long, five times longer, ten times longer, etc.) than the power cord 104 to provide additional length between a power outlet and the main body 106 of the travel adapter assembly 100. Moreover, the extension cord 204 may function to couple electrical conductors included in the extension cord 204 with matching terminals located on the plug module 206 and the plug adapter assembly 102. In this way, the extension assembly 200 enables a user to extend the length of the power cord 104 by mating the extension plug module 206 of the extension assembly 200 with the plug adapter assembly 102 of the travel adapter 100. In this case, the mating adapter plugs are inserted into the plug adapter assembly 102 of the extension assembly 200 instead of the plug adapter assembly 102 of the travel adapter 100. Thus, when the extension assembly 200 is used with the travel adapter 100, any of the mating adapter plugs as discussed herein may be alternatively inserted into the plug adapter assembly 102 of the extension assembly 200, and the extension plug module 206 may be inserted into the plug adapter assembly 102 of the travel adapter 100. Examples of the usage of the travel adapter 100 with the extension assembly 200 are further shown in
The drawings included with and referenced throughout this disclosure are provided as examples and for ease of explanation. The drawings may be, but need not be, considered as being to scale.
The aforementioned description of the specific aspects will so fully reveal the general nature of the disclosure that others can, by applying knowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific aspects, without undue experimentation, and without departing from the general concept of the present disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed aspects, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light of the teachings and guidance.
References in the specification to “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “an exemplary aspect,” etc., indicate that the aspect described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every aspect may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same aspect. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an aspect, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other aspects whether or not explicitly described.
The exemplary aspects described herein are provided for illustrative purposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary aspects are possible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary aspects. Therefore, the specification is not meant to limit the disclosure. Rather, the scope of the disclosure is defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
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