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The disclosure relates to electrical plug devices and more particularly pertains to a new electrical plug device for inhibiting a male electrical plug from being damaged. The device includes a male electrical plug which has a pair of wings extending laterally away in opposite directions from each other. The wings abut a face plate of a female electrical outlet when the male electrical plug is plugged into the female electrical outlet. In this way the wings inhibit the male electrical plug from tipping sideways and subsequently damaging contacts on the male electrical plug.
The prior art relates to electrical plug devices including a male electrical plug comprising a disk and a power cord extending laterally away from the disk. The prior art discloses an electrical plug protector that comprises a ring being positionable around a male electrical plug. The prior art discloses a protective housing that is positionable over a wall plate to restrain a pair of electrical plugs that are plugged into the wall plate. The prior art discloses a child safety yoke that comprises a central member with a hole for insertably receiving a power cord of an electrical plug and a pair of arms extending along opposing sides of the electrical plug. The prior art discloses an ornamental design of an electrical plug that includes a recess in a top side of an electrical plug.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a male electrical plug that is electrically coupled to an electrical cord. The male electrical plug can be plugged into a female electrical outlet. The male electrical plug has a pair of wings each extending laterally away from the male electrical plug. Each of the wings abuts a wall plate of the female electrical plug when the male electrical plug is plugged into the female electrical plug. Additionally, each of the wings extends in opposite directions from each other on the male electrical plug. In this way the wings inhibit the male electrical plug from being bent sideways in the female electrical plug.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The male electrical plug 12 has a front end 22, a back end 24 and an outer wall 26 extending between the front end 22 and the back end 24. The outer wall 26 has a top side 28, a bottom side 30, a first lateral side 32 and a second lateral side 34. Additionally, the male electrical plug 12 is elongated between the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34 such that each of the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34 defines an end of a respective one of the wings 18. The top side 28 has a first central portion 36 extending between pair of first curved portions 38.
Each of the first curved portions 38 curves downwardly between the first central portion 36 and a respective one of the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34. The bottom side 30 has a second central portion 40 extending between a pair of second curved portions 42. Each of the second curved portions 42 curves upwardly between the second central portion 40 and a respective one of the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34. The male electrical plug 12 has a plurality of contacts 44 each extending away from the front end 22 of the male electrical plug 12. Additionally, the plurality of contacts 44 is centrally positioned between the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34. The front end 22 of the male electrical plug 12 inhibits the male electrical plug 12 from tilting laterally when the contacts 44 are plugged into the female electrical outlet 16. In this way the contacts 44 are inhibited from being bent or broken.
In an alternative embodiment 46 as is shown in
Continuing in the alternative embodiment 46, the male electrical plug 12 includes a pair of enclosures 70 which each has a front wall 72 and an exterior wall 74 extending away from the front wall 72. The front wall 72 of each of the enclosures 70 has a coupled edge 76 and the coupled edge 76 of each of the enclosures 70 is hingedly coupled to a respective one of the top side 60 and the bottom side 62 of the perimeter edge 54 of the panel 48. Each of the enclosures 70 is positionable in a closed position having the exterior wall 74 of each of the enclosures 70 abutting each other such that each of the enclosures 70 encloses the housing 64. Additionally, each of the enclosures 70 is centrally positioned between the first lateral side 56 and the second lateral side 58 of the perimeter edge 54 of the panel 48.
The pair of enclosures 70 includes a first enclosure 78 and a second enclosure 80. The first enclosure 78 has a pair of fasteners 82 integrated into the first enclosure 78 and the second enclosure 80 has a pair of wells 84 each integrated into the second enclosure 80. Each of the fasteners 82 engages a respective one of the wells 84 when the first enclosure 78 and the second enclosure 80 are positioned in the closed position. The alternative embodiment 46 can be retrofitted onto an existing power cord 86 for replacing a damaged male electrical plug 12 on the existing power cord 86. Additionally, the panel 48 inhibits the alternative embodiment 46 from tipping sideways in the female electrical outlet 16.
In use, the contacts 44 are plugged into the female electrical outlet 16. Each of the wings 18 abuts the wall plate 20 of the female electrical outlet 16. Each of the wings 18 inhibits the male electrical plug 12 from tipping sideways in the female electrical outlet 16 when the power cord 14 is pulled from being tripped upon, for example. In this way the contacts 44 on the male electrical plug 12 are inhibited from being bent or broken as a result of the male electrical plug 12 being pulled sideways in the female electrical outlet 16.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2027447 | Percy | Jan 1936 | A |
2759160 | Kelley | Aug 1956 | A |
4618200 | Roberts | Oct 1986 | A |
4840577 | Prouty | Jun 1989 | A |
4954940 | Chandler | Sep 1990 | A |
D394242 | Park | May 1998 | S |
6769930 | McDevitt, Jr. | Aug 2004 | B1 |
6921281 | Chen | Jul 2005 | B2 |
7078624 | Stewart | Jul 2006 | B1 |
D585378 | Haber | Jan 2009 | S |
D867294 | Kusano | Nov 2019 | S |
Number | Date | Country |
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WO2010111045 | Sep 2010 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20230291142 A1 | Sep 2023 | US |