Status display electric signal plug

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6572402
  • Patent Number
    6,572,402
  • Date Filed
    Monday, September 17, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 3, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
The present invention relates to an electric signal plug with status display, including a plug that connects to an electric cable at one end for linking to the electric signal source; the above-described plug can detect and display electric signal strength by connecting a circuit detector equipped with an IC detector and at least one display component to the electric cable, moreover the formation of a display ring from the internal tube and outer case directly reveal to the outside the strength of the electric signal inside the electric cable.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a status display electric signal plug, and specifically a plug structure used with electric signal connections and possessing external ring components pervious to light that directly display the strength of electric signals.




2. Description of the Prior Art




Electric signal plugs are widely used in electric signal connections, such as for linking signal sources with all kinds of electric/electronic equipment so that signal sources can directly supply the needed electric signal to electric/electronic equipment. Therefore it is necessary to confirm electric signal strength levels in order to maintain circuit free flow. Nevertheless, in actual situations where electric signal plugs are applied to connect signal source and electric/electronic equipment, it leads to a situation where the electric signal must take an extremely long transmission route because of the connection of the electric signal plug and signal source by an electric cable, thereby creating problems such as transmission failures to the electric/electronic equipment, breaks in signal transmission, or large amounts of damaged signals due to disturbance, route break malfunction, or signal source malfunction.




Also, the electric signal transmitted by the electric signal plug is usually related to voltage, current, or frequency changes. For example, the electric signal plug power source types commonly used to provide direct current power source to electric/electronic equipment are totally unable to concisely and immediately display status detection results for voltage or current changes in electric cords. If a voltage meter or current meter must be used to measure electric signals in the electric cord then the electric signal plug must be temporarily disconnected from the electric/electronic equipment and this leads to having to temporarily stop using the equipment as well as inconvenient detecting and inspection steps. Also, there are problems we cannot easily or lightly ignore stemming from voltage deficiency, current deficiency, or even breaks in the line or signal transmission inside the electric cable that leads to other malfunction situations and makes it further impossible to use the naked eye to directly obtain observation results; while having to judge by the situation of end equipment performance makes it even more impossible to immediately understand electric signal transmission malfunction circumstances and greatly affects electric/electronic equipment performance.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a status display electric signal plug possessing an electric signal strength detector and circuit display able to directly and immediately display electric signal strengths. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a status display electric signal plug possessing an exterior radiating ring that displays electric signal strength and is able to display the conditions of signal strength detection in a manner observable by the naked eye.




In order to accomplish the above-described objective, the present electric signal plug invention includes a plug that connects to an electric cable at one end for linking to the electric signal source; the above-described plug can detect and display electric signal strength by connecting a circuit detector equipped with an integrated circuit (IC) detector and at least one display component to the electric cable, in order to detect and display electric signal strength. Moreover, the plug itself also is enclosed with an internal tube and outer case as well as a light conducting tube installed between the internal tube and outer case with a display ring exposed at its top and a plurality of half-circle shaped indentations at its bottom to avoid contact with the circuit detector display components and welded points, acting to diffuse and guide the flashing light from the display component to the display ring thereby revealing electric signal strength and status through the display ring.




Structural details and application of the present invention will be made clear by the details in the explanation to follow. At the same time an elaboration of the structure are presented in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments below and preceded by the brief description of the drawings to provide a further understanding of technological content of the invention herein.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the present invention's external structure.





FIG. 2

is a perspective exploded view showing the structure of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is an exploded view similar to

FIG. 2

, but shows the structure of how the circuit detector and electric cable connect inside the plug.





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view taken along line I—I of

FIG. 1

showing the situation where the half-circle shaped indentations at the bottom of the light conducting tube avoid contact with the circuit detector welding points.





FIG. 5

is a cross-sectional view taken along line II—II of

FIG. 1

showing the situation where the half-circle shaped indentations at the bottom of the light conducting tube avoid contact with the circuit detector display components.





FIG. 6

is a perspective top view showing the correlating relationship between the half-circle shaped indentations at the bottom of the light conducting tube and the circuit detector display components and welding points.





FIG. 7

is a perspective partial enlarged view showing how the flashing light from circuit detector display components is expanded and conducted into the display ring through the light conduction tube.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




First look at

FIGS. 1 through 3

and notice that the present electric signal plug invention is displayed as unit


100


in all of the following Figures. However plug unit


100


shall not be limited in shape or form. The present invention uses a direct power source connection model as an example. Plug unit


100


includes: a plug


10


utilizing direct current connection model as described above, electric cable


20


to link with the electric signal source. The example made in the present invention is used to supply direct current to equipment that includes an insulation encasement


21


at the end of the electric cable


20


(as shown in

FIGS. 1

,


2


,


3


) to act as a bridge inside the plug


10


.




Conducting wires


22


and


23


of the above described electric cable


20


pass through the top part of insulation encasement


21


to provide electric signal from said signal source (direct current supply equipment). At the top part of insulation encasement


21


is installed a protruded area


24


acting to fasten circuit detector


40


in place. The shape or form of circuit detector


40


is not limited in form, and in the present invention has a disk design with opening


41


designed in the center to allow it to be fixed within protrusion


24


. Other circuit detector forms and fixation methods shall remain within the scope of the present invention.




IC detector


42


and a plurality of display components


43


are included on circuit detector


40


. IC detector


42


connects to conductor wires


22


and


23


to test the strength of the electric signal. The scope of signal strength testing includes the testing of components such as voltage, currency, frequency, etc, while display component


43


uses different colored lights to show signal strength. For example the present invention's direct current model use a green light to show normal voltage and currency and an orange light to show irregular voltage or current. Moreover, different colored light signals can be shown by a single display component


43


or a combination of multiple display components


43


, of which the form of component


43


shall not be limited, while the present invention uses Light Emitting Diode (LED) as a explanation demonstration. The above described circuit detector


40


forms a connection with plug


10


through conductor wires


44


in order to again transfer electric signal to plug


10


.




The circuit connection process of above described IC detector


42


and display components


43


on circuit detector


40


must be completed by a plurality of soldering points


45


, which are individually located spread out on the top and bottom sides of circuit detector


40


.




In regard to present invention electric signal plug unit


100


described above there is included internal tube


50


and outer cover


60


encases plug


10


. Inside on plug


10


is circumferential indentation


11


as well as a plurality of indented slips


51


and protruding clips


52


on internal tube


50


. Indented clips


51


match up with circumferential indentation


11


to fix plug


10


and internal tube


50


into one piece, while outer cover


60


is used to encase part of the insulated area


21


of electric cable


20


and internal tube


50


. Internal tube


50


and plug


10


protrude from outer case


60


and are used to connect to the corresponding socket of electric/electronic equipment (not shown in the accompanying Figures).




The form of conduction tube


70


shall not be limited, and can be made from any light conducting transparent or non-transparent tube component structure, fitting beneath said internal tube


50


and outer case


60


, into which are indentations


71


(see

FIGS. 6 and 7

) matching up with protruding clips


52


on said internal tube


50


, thereby fixing outer case


60


and internal tube


50


tightly together with light conductor tube


70


. On the top outer border of light conductor tube


70


is installed a display ring


72


, which has a mouth larger than the mouth of light conductor tube


70


, which protrudes out beyond outer case


60


. On the inside of this ring is side


721


, which is covered with reflecting or refracting material.




Now please correlate with

FIGS. 4

,


5


,


6


, and


7


to see half-circle shaped indentations


73


on the bottom of said light conductor tube


70


, which fit around each display component


43


and soldering point


45


located on the circuit detector


40


(see

FIGS. 4

,


5


,


6


), thereby ensuring that the bottom of light conductor tube


70


does not touch display components


43


and soldering points


45


. This also allows half-circle shaped indentations


73


to act as concave lenses diffusing and guiding the light rays emitted by display component


43


and transmitting them through light conducting tube


70


to display ring


72


at the top end. During this transmission process the reflecting or refracting material applied to inner ring


721


it causes light to reflect or refract 90 degrees thereby expanding light into the entirety of display ring


72


(see

FIG. 7

) and displaying such results on the surface of display ring


72


so that such results correlate exactly with the colors flashed by circuit detector


40


when it releases signal source electric signal testing results. Thus by looking at the exterior of signal plug


100


the naked eye can directly observe and identify the strength and condition of the electric signal being transferred inside the plug. Moreover, according to the detailed structure, capability, and operation explanation of the present electric signal plug invention as described above in FIGS.


1


˜


7


, we discover the following conclusions about its advantages, practical uses, and valuable industrial applications as follows.




1. Possesses automatic electric signal strength testing capability through the direct testing of the electric signal by circuit detector


40


and display of the results by display component


43


. By now combining this with the conduction and display of flashing from display component


43


though display ring


72


and conductor tube


70


, the user is now able to clearly observe the strength and condition of the electric signal directly with the human eye and without any need for additional apparatus.




2. Possesses simple and direct clear display capability results. Through a structure causing flashing from display component


43


to be conducted and displayed through display ring


72


and conductor tube


70


, the user does not need to use additional apparatus to be able to clearly observe the strength and condition of the electric signal directly with the human eye.




The present invention is an electric signal plug with status display, the essence of which lies in the most streamlined composition of components resulting in the electric signal plug possessing direct electric signal strength and status display capabilities, further making it the only such superior invention with industrial application value.




As shown above in FIGS.


1


˜


7


, the present invention is an electric signal plug with status display and all related explanations, content, and diagrams, are for the purpose of explaining the technology and means used by the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the practical application example contained therein. Moreover, all structural embellishments and/or component replacements in relation to the present invention are included within the parameters and essence of the present invention, which parameters shall be established by the following patent parameters.



Claims
  • 1. An electric signal plug comprising:a plug with one end configured to connect to a corresponding electric/electronic equipment socket; an internal tube encasing the plug; an outer cover encasing the internal tube; an electric cable with one end connecting to an electric signal source, and another end equipped with an insulation encasement enclosed by the outer cover, the electric cable having two conductor lines extending out of the insulation case to transmit an electric signal; a circuit detector fixed in place on the electric cable insulation encasement and connecting to the electric cable conductor lines to receive electric signals, the circuit detector having an integrated circuit (IC) detector and at least one display component to detect and display electric signal strength; and, a light conductor tube fitted between the internal tube and the outer cover having a top with a display ring that is exposed outside of the outer cover and a bottom with a plurality of half-circle shaped indentations that match up with and avoid the at least one display component and welding points on the circuit detector so as to diffuse and guide flashing light from the at least one display component to the display ring thereby revealing electric signal strength and status at the display ring.
  • 2. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, a circumferential indentation on the plug is engaged by a plurality of indented clips on the internal tube to tightly fix the internal tube to the plug.
  • 3. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, a protruding clip on the top end of the insulation case engages a center hole in the circuit detector to allow the circuit detector to fit over the protruding clip.
  • 4. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, the plug and the circuit detector are connected by a pair of conductor lines.
  • 5. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, the at least one display component in the circuit detector is a Light Emitting Diode (LED).
  • 6. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, a plurality of protruding clips on an exterior of the interior tube engage indentations on an inside of the light conductor tube allowing the inner tube and connector tube to fit tightly together.
  • 7. The electric signal plug according to claim 1, wherein, a reflecting and refracting material applied to an inner ring of the display ring on the light conduction tube cause the light to reflect and refract 90 degrees.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number Name Date Kind
5244409 Guss et al. Sep 1993 A
5964616 Eisenbraun Oct 1999 A