1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plug, and more particularly, to a rotary plug which can rotate its terminals freely.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The consumer electronic industry is prosperous due to popularization of electronic device and increase of service quality, so the electronic device with conveniently operative function is designed according to user's demand. The consumer electronic device can be a portable device, which has enlarged storage of a built-in battery and further provides an external plug for receiving electric power in a wire transmission manner, so as to increase usage time of the electronic device. Terminals of the conventional plug are immovable. A connecting cable of the conventional plug is twisted for adjusting an inserting angle of the terminals relative to a socket when an initial mode of the terminals is not matched with the socket. The conventional plug has drawbacks of inconvenient operating process and easy damage of the connecting cable due to over-bending. Therefore, design of a plug with adjustable terminals is an important issued in the related electronic component industry.
The present invention provides a rotary plug which can rotate its terminals freely for solving above drawbacks.
According to the claimed invention, a rotary plug includes a base, a first annular slot structure, a second annular slot structure, a first conductive component, a second conductive component, a bridging component, a positive terminal and a negative terminal. An accommodating space is formed on the base. The first annular slot structure is disposed on an inner wall of the accommodating space, and a first hole is formed on the first annular slot structure. The second annular slot structure is disposed on the inner wall of the accommodating space and different from a position of the first annular slot structure. A second hole is formed on the second annular slot structure. The first conductive component is disposed inside the first annular slot structure. The first conductive component includes a first protrusion, and the first protrusion inserts into the first hole. The second conductive component is disposed inside the second annular slot structure. The second conductive component includes a second protrusion, and the second protrusion inserts into the second hole. The bridging component is rotatably disposed inside the accommodating space. A first end of the positive terminal protrudes from a bottom surface of the bridging component. A second end of the positive terminal protrudes from a lateral surface of the bridging component and movably inserts into the first annular slot structure for contacting the first conductive component. A first end of the negative terminal protrudes from the bottom surface of the bridging component. A second end of the negative terminal protrudes from the lateral surface of the bridging component and movably inserts into the second annular slot structure for contacting the second conductive component.
According to the claimed invention, the bridging component is a cylinder, the accommodating space is a circular sunken space, and the cylinder rotatably inserts into the circular sunken space in a loose fit manner.
According to the claimed invention, a depth of the first annular slot structure is substantially greater than a thickness of the first conductive component.
According to the claimed invention, the second end of the positive terminal is clamped by two inner lateral walls of the first annular slot structure for preventing the bridging component from separating from the accommodating space.
According to the claimed invention, the rotary plug further includes a constraining component disposed on the base and the bridging component for preventing the bridging component from separating from the accommodating space.
According to the claimed invention, a length of the first protrusion is substantially greater than a depth of the first hole, and the first protrusion passes through the first hole to protrude out of an outer surface of the base.
According to the claimed invention, a distance between the second end of the positive terminal and the bottom surface of the bridging component is substantially different from a distance between the second end of the negative terminal and the bottom surface of the bridging component.
According to the claimed invention, the rotary plug further includes a third annular slot structure, a third conductive component and a grounding terminal. The third annular slot structure is disposed on the inner wall of the accommodating space and different from position of the first annular slot structure and the second annular slot structure. A third hole is formed on the third annular slot structure. The third conductive component is disposed inside the third annular slot structure. The third conductive component includes a third protrusion, and the third protrusion inserts into the third hole. A first end of the grounding terminal protrudes from the bottom surface of the bridging component. A second end of the grounding terminal protrudes from the lateral surface of the bridging component and movably inserts into the third annular slot structure for contacting the third conductive component.
According to the claimed invention, a distance between the second end of the grounding terminal and the bottom surface of the bridging component is substantially different from distances between the second end of the positive terminal and the bottom surface of the bridging component, and between the second end of the negative terminal and the bottom surface of the bridging component.
According to the claimed invention, the rotary plug further includes a connecting cable. The connecting cable includes a first wire, a second wire and a third wire electrically connected to the second ends of the positive terminal, the negative terminal and the grounding terminal respectively.
According to the claimed invention, the rotary plug further includes a covering component disposed on an outer surface of the base. The wires of the connecting cable pass through the covering component to electrically connect to the second ends of the positive terminal, the negative terminal and the grounding terminal respectively.
The rotary plug of the present invention has advantages of simple structure and easy operation. The rotation angle of the bridging component can be adjusted before connection with the socket, and the rotary plug can be conveniently combined with the socket which is located at a narrow area and has no tolerance space. Thus, the connecting cable does not twist as the rotary plug is electrically connected to the socket, so that the present invention has preferred operation convenience and preferred market competition.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
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When the bridging component 26 is disposed inside the accommodating space 38, the second end 283 of the positive terminal 28 can slidably insert into the first annular slot structure 14 to contact the first conductive component 20, the second end 303 of the negative terminal 30 can slidably insert into the second annular slot structure 16 to contact the second conductive component 22, the second end 323 of the grounding terminal 32 can slidably insert into the third annular slot structure 18 to contact the third conductive component 24. Therefore, each terminal can be electrically connected to the corresponding conductive component no matter what rotation angle of the bridging component 26 relative to the base 12 is.
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Besides, the rotary plug 10 of the present invention can selectively include a constraining component 40 disposed on the base 12 and the bridging component 16. The constraining component 40 is fixed on the base 12, such as fixing the constraining component 40 on the base 12 by a screw or a rivet. The constraining component 40 can block a movement of the bridging component 26 in an unlock manner. For example, the constraining component 40 can movably contact against the bottom surface 261 of the bridging component 26, so the bridging component 26 can rotate relative to the base 12 and further slide relative to the constraining component 40. Therefore, the constraining component 40 and a combination of the terminal and the annular slot structure can effectively prevent the bridging component 26 from separating from the accommodating space 38 of the base 12.
In conclusion, the rotary plug of the present invention disposes the plurality of conductive components inside the annular slot structures of the base individually. The parts of the second ends of the positive terminal, the negative terminal and the grounding terminal protruding from the lateral surface of the bridging component are arranged separately. The bridging component can revolve on its own axis (a longitudinal axis of the cylinder) relative to the base, to adjust point angles of the positive terminal, the negative terminal and the grounding terminal. As the initial point angles of the terminals of the rotary plug do not align with holes on the socket, the bridging component can be rotated manually to a situation that the initial point angles of the terminals align with the holes on the socket, and the rotary plug of the present invention can be conveniently combined with the socket without twisting the connecting cable. It is to say, rotation of the base of the rotary plug is unnecessary. The connecting cable of the rotary plug does not twist (which means the base is unrotatable), and the bridging component is driven to axially rotate relative to the base for inserting the terminals into the holes on the socket.
Comparing to the prior art, the rotary plug of the present invention has advantages of simple structure and easy operation. The rotation angle of the bridging component can be adjusted before connection with the socket, and the rotary plug can be conveniently combined with the socket which is located at a narrow area and has no tolerance space. Thus, the connecting cable does not twist as the rotary plug is electrically connected to the socket, so that the present invention has preferred operation convenience and preferred market competition.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013 1 0039737 | Jan 2013 | CN | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140213072 A1 | Jul 2014 | US |