Patent Application
20240128694
The present invention relates to electrical outlets, and more specifically, to relocatable and extendable electrical outlets.
Electrical outlets are one of the most components in a home because most of our lives revolve around the ability to supply power to our tools, games, and other electronic items. However, for aesthetic and safety purposes there is a limit to the quantity and density of outlets with commercial and residential buildings. As a result, access to electrical outlets is difficult and tethers our lives to certain locations in the building.
Electrical extensions have attempted to expand our travel beyond the length of our power cords. Electrical extensions bring their own access issues as they constantly fall into inaccessible locations, force us to search in tight locations for the end of the extension, limit the number of devices that can benefit from the extension, and limit the direction from the electrical outlet that we experience the freedom to the single direction that the electrical extension is run.
One embodiment of a power adapter may include a base wall mounted power adapter configured to be plugged into a wall power outlet and at least one extension adapter unit electrically coupled to the base wall mounted power adapter and configured to be extended away from the wall power outlet. The at least one extension adapter unit may include an electrical conduit reel configured to unravel in response to the at least one extension adapter unit being extended.
One embodiment of a method of manufacturing a wall mounted power adapter, may include forming a first housing unit. A first electrical conduit may be included within the first housing unit. A second housing unit may be formed. An electrical conduit reel with a second electrical conduit supported thereby may be attached within the second housing unit, where the electrical conduit reel may enable the second electrical conduit to spool therefrom and outside the second housing unit. An outlet may be mechanically coupled to the second housing unit. A first end of the second electrical conduit may be electrically coupled to the first electrical conduit, and a second end of the second electrical conduit may be may be electrically coupled to the outlet coupled to the second housing.
One embodiment of a method of manufacturing a wall mounted power adapter may include forming a first housing unit and a second housing unit, inserting an electrical conduit reel into the second housing unit, electrically coupling a first end of the electrical conduit reel to the first housing and electrically coupling a second end of the electrical conduit reel to the second housing, and recessing a portion of the second housing unit configured to receive a connecting mechanism for connecting the second housing unit to wall.
One embodiment of a power adapter may include a base wall mounted power adapter and at least one extension adapter unit. The base wall mounted power adapter may include a first electrical conductor, an electrical plug electrically coupled to the first electrical conductor and configured to be plugged into a wall power outlet, and a first housing configured to house the first electrical conductor and support said electrical plug. The least one extension adapter unit may include a second electrical conductor electrically coupled to the first electrical conductor, an extension adapter socket configured to enable electrical plugs to be electrically connected thereto, an electrical conduit reel configured to circularly support the second electrical conductor, and enable the second electrical conductor to unravel from a first state to a second state in response to the at least one extension adapter unit being pulled away from the base wall mounted power adapter, and a second housing configured (i) to house the second electrical conductor and the electrical conduit reel, and (ii) to support the extension adapter socket.
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein and wherein:
With regard to
The power adapter 100 may be plugged into the electrical outlet and detachably coupled to alternative positions on the wall, or different walls. The power adapter may be configured to provide electrical power from the electrical outlet in the wall to a plurality of electronic devices at both the electrical outlet and the alternative positions. The power adapter 100 may be configured to include a housing with a profile that may be placed behind objects in the building.
With regard to
The base wall mounted power adapter 202 may include a first housing, at least one first electrical conductor, and at least one electrical plug electrically coupled to said at least one first electrical conductor. The at least one electrical plug may be configured to be plugged into the wall electrical outlet. The housing may be configured to house the at least one first electrical conductor and support the electrical plug.
The at least one extension adapter unit 204 may include a second housing, at least one second electrical conductor, an extension adapter socket, and an electrical conduit reel. The at least one second electrical conductor may be electrically coupled to the at least one first electrical conductor. The extension adapter socket may be configured to enable electrical plugs to be electronically connected thereto. The second housing may be configured to house the at least one second electrical conductor and the electrical conduit reel. The second housing may be further configured to support the extension adapter socket.
With regard to
The at least one extension adapter unit 304 may include an electrical conductor 306 and an electrical conduit reel (as described hereinbelow with reference to
In an embodiment, a portion or all of the housing 308 of one or more components of the power adapter 300 may be transparent (e.g., clear plastic), translucent (e.g., semi-clear plastic in any color or multiple colors), or opaque (e.g., solid white). In an embodiment, one or more of the extension adapter units 304 extending from a base wall mounted power adapter 302 may have at least a portion of the housing being translucent. In another embodiment, one or more illumination devices 310, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted to and powered by one or more of the extension adapter unit, may be configured to illuminate when power is available thereat. The illumination device may be positioned within the housing such that when illuminated, a clear or translucent housing allows for the illumination to pass therethrough. In an alternative embodiment, the illumination device may be positioned on an outside portion of the housing. In an embodiment, a current sensor may be configured to illuminate the illumination device in response to a device being plugged into the extension adapter unit. In another embodiment, a switch 312 may be positioned on any of the components of the power adapter 300, and be configured to enable a user to turn on or off the illumination device, thereby acting as a nightlight. In yet another embodiment, a light sensor may be configured to sense when ambient light is below a certain level, and cause the illumination device to turn on, and in response to sensing when the ambient light is above a certain level, to turn off the ambient light.
If the device is a rechargeable device, such as a rechargeable battery of a mobile phone, then the illumination device may be configured to generated different colors (e.g., blue, white, green, yellow) depending on whether the rechargeable device is powered or not (e.g., if current is flowing or not). In such a configuration, the socket may be a conventional adapter, such as a USB port, as understood in the art, that is capable of causing the illumination device to be illuminated. In another embodiment, the electrical conductor 306 that extends between the base power adapter and extension adapter unit may include one or more illumination devices 314, such as LEDs, that are configured to operate in the same or similar manner as the illumination device positioned on the extension adapter unit.
In an embodiment, an extra extension unit that may or may not have outlets, and may serve to increase the overall distance the extendable unit could reach may be utilized. The extra extension unit may essentially operate as an extension cord that allows for additional distance (e.g., 6-10 feet) of the extension adapter unit 304. The extra extension unit may include an adapter configured to enable the electrical conductor 306 to connect thereto, if disconnectable from the extension adapter unit 304 or base wall mounted power adapter 302. In an embodiment, instead of connecting to the power adapter 302, the extendable unit could connect to another accessory, which may also mount to the wall. Alternatively, the extension unit may connect to the hub. The extendable unit may include a pair of adapters, one on each end of an electrical conductor. In an embodiment, the electrical conductor may be contained within a housing and spooled outward from each end, thereby allowing for a consistent look with the extension adapter unit 304 and power adapter 302.
With regard to
The at least one extension adapter unit 406 may be electrically coupled to the base wall mounted power adapter 404 by an electrical conductor 408a-408c (collectively 408). The electrical conductor 408 may be the electrical conductor 306 of
With regard to
The at least one extension adapter unit 504 may be configured to be pulled in a plurality of directions and/or distances away from the base wall mounted power adapter 502 so that a user may place the at least one extension adapter unit 504 in a location that is easily accessible by the user.
With regard to
In one embodiment, the at least one extension adapter unit 604 may include two extension adapter units. In one embodiment, the at least one extension adapter unit 604 may include three extension adapter units as shown hereinabove with regard to
With regard to
With regard to
With regard to
With regard to
With regard to
In one embodiment, the extended unit 1100 may also include a rotatable member 1108a-1108c (collectively 1108) configured to house at least one of the at least one electrical socket 1102, the USB port 1104, and the Ethernet port 1106. The rotatable member 1108 may enable a user to rotate the rotatable member 1108 so that the user may access the extended unit in any of a plurality of positions and/or orientations. One of skill in the art will appreciate that any of a plurality of sockets and/or outlets used to power and/or communicate with electrical devices, or any combination thereof, may be included in the extended unit 1100. In one embodiment, the Ethernet port 1106 may be configured to provide power.
With regard to
In one embodiment, the extended portion may include at least one opening 1204a-1204n (collectively 1204) this is configured to allow a connector, such as a screw, to pass through and connect directly to a wall. In one embodiment, a connecting mechanism, such as the connecting mechanism 800 of
With regard to
The electrical conduit reel system 1300 may include an inertial reel 1304, 1500 configured to circularly support an electrical conductor 1306 and enable the electrical conductor 1306 to unravel from a first state to a second state in response to the extension unit being pulled away from a base wall mounted power adapter. The electrical conductor 1306 may be electrically coupled to the extension unit on a first end and to the base wall mounted power adapter on a second end opposite the first end. In one embodiment, the electrical conduit reel system 1300 may also include an inertial reel spring 1604 that is configured to enable the inertial reel 1304, 1500 to unravel. In one embodiment, the electrical conductor 1306 may be configured to ravel into the first state using at least one track system 1404a-1404n (collectively 1404).
A method of manufacturing a wall mounted power adapter may include forming a first housing unit and a second housing unit, inserting an electrical conduit reel into the second housing unit, electrically coupling a first end of the electrical conduit reel to the first housing and electrically coupling a second end of the electrical conduit reel to the second housing, and recessing a portion of the second housing unit configured to receive a connecting mechanism for connecting the second housing unit to wall.
The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods. Although process flow diagrams may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
The previous description is of a preferred embodiment for implementing the invention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily be limited by this description. The scope of the present invention is instead defined by the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/200,062, filed Mar. 12, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/034,897, filed Jul. 13, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,950,990, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/651,465, filed Apr. 2, 2018, each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62651465 | Apr 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17200062 | Mar 2021 | US |
| Child | 18457195 | US | |
| Parent | 16034897 | Jul 2018 | US |
| Child | 17200062 | US |
