EP0161456A1 - Apparatus plug socket - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Apparatus socket with an insulating material socket base (1) carrying behind two adjacent plug openings (13) the live current contacts (5) and behind a further plug opening (14) an earthing contact (6), as well as a contact cover member (4) mounted in movable manner at right angles to the plug-in direction (arrow 18) against a restoring force, such as a restoring spring, from the covering position (Fig. 1) into a release position (Fig. 6), for the one-sided covering of the live contacts (5) with the pins (33, 34) exracted from the associated plug (32), characterized in that for transferring into the release position, the cover member (4) is provided with at least one sloping abutting surface (27) for at least one plug pin (34) and located in the covering position in the vicinity of the associated plug opening (14) and on which is mounted the base (1) carrying contacts (5, 6).

Description

The invention relates to a device socket, in particular for ovens of cooking stoves, with a socket housing made of insulating material, which has two adjacent plug openings for the current-carrying current contacts behind it and a plug opening, in particular between them, for a ground contact lying behind them, and with a contact cover member which can be transferred into a release position for covering the current-carrying contacts on their sides lying towards the plug openings when the plug pins of the associated plug are pulled out.

Particularly when baking ovens have an electrically connected and mechanically held grill element in the form of, for example, a tubular heater, which can be removed from the socket by removing the plug that is structurally connected with it and removed from the rest of the oven when cleaning the oven the risk of touching live contacts, the penetration of solid or liquid cleaning or soiling substances, and therefore the Causing short circuits and clogging of the plug openings. In order to counteract this, it is therefore known to provide a so-called blind plug, which is to be inserted into the socket after the grill heater has been pulled out as a covering and insulating closure. However, this can easily be forgotten or not possible if the dummy plug cannot be found at the given time.

The invention has for its object to provide a device socket of the type mentioned so that the contact cover member is transferred into its cover position in a simple manner when pulling out the plug and is also returned to the release position when the appropriate plug is inserted thereafter.

This object is achieved in a device socket of the type described at the outset according to the invention in that the cover member is mounted transversely to the plugging direction against a restoring force from the cover position into the release position on the housing and for transfer to the release position with at least one sloping ramp surface for at least one connector pin is provided. As a result, the cover member no longer needs to be removed from the socket housing for guiding it into the release position, so that it cannot be lost and, when the plug is pulled out, reliably returns to the cover position under the action of the restoring force.

A particularly space-saving and failure-prone construction, in which the socket can keep the same external dimensions or shape through the inventive design, results when the cover member is arranged between the wall of the housing, which has the plug-in openings, and the contacts, and is arranged so as to be essentially concealed and preferably movably mounted at right angles to the plug-in direction. As a result, the cover member, including its storage, is also protected against soiling and is still fully effective even if the socket housing is already partially damaged.

In an embodiment that is easy to manufacture, the cover member is slidably mounted between a front housing part that has the plug-in openings and a rear housing part that carries the contacts, preferably in a depression that forms sliding surfaces in the rear of the front housing part, resulting in a simple sliding bearing arrangement without additional bearing parts. Furthermore, the arrangement according to the invention makes it possible in a simple manner to provide a continuous, one-piece design of the cover member and thus a further substantial reduction in susceptibility to failure.

According to a further feature of the invention, the cover member is plate-shaped, slidably mounted parallel to the plate plane, in particular to the shorter plate edges and / or perpendicular to the common axial plane of the current contacts, and is preferably connected to a prestressed return spring, such as a leaf spring. The platenfcrmipe cover member can be equipped with high stability, in particular with high breaking strength and high impact resistance, even with weak dimensions and low weight. Furthermore, the cover member formed in this way, in particular in the case of a rectangular plate shape, can be easily stored with two lateral edge surfaces and counter Secure lateral movement without the need for separate additional storage means.

To further increase the safety achieved by the cover member, the ramp surface is in the cover position in the area of a connector opening, preferably in the area of the connector opening for the ground contact, so that it can practically only be brought into the release position with the appropriate connector.

So that a relatively flat inclined ramp surface can be provided despite the relatively thin and thus weight and space-saving design of the cover member to achieve favorable force relationships, it is advantageous if the ramp surface is provided on a thickened section of the cover member, which is preferably provided by a web on the front of the cover member is formed, which is guided in a slot of the housing enclosing the associated plug opening. Through this thickened section, the cover member is additionally guided relative to the socket housing and it is easy to see at any time that the cover member is in the cover position.

The cover member can be formed relatively and above all sufficiently solid even with a relatively small socket if it protrudes from the housing in the release position, in particular with an edge zone of the plate body, which also makes the cover member very easy to install by pushing it in from the outside of the socket Housing is possible. Furthermore, because of its heat resistance, the preferably metallic return spring can be moved to the outside of the housing, so that even if the spring breaks, there is no danger that parts of the spring will be in conductive contact with live conductors Parts of the socket. In a simple embodiment, the return spring is supported on the end surface of the web that at least partially protrudes from the outside of the housing.

For simple and safe storage, the preferably arcuate return spring is supported with both ends in slots in the housing and is supported approximately in the middle between its ends on the cover member, which also ensures easier assembly of the return spring. The return spring is conveniently located on the underside of its housing when the socket is mounted, so that in the event of a spring break, the parts of the return spring come loose from the housing down into the oven or the like and do not penetrate into the socket or penetrate into its connecting terminals can.

The cover member can be precisely defined in its cover position in that it is stop-limited in this position, its associated outer edge preferably abutting the opposite boundary surface of the recess of the housing, so that no separate stop members are required and the ramp surface in the cover surface opposite the associated one Always takes the same position.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the cover member consists at least in the area of the contacts of insulating material, in particular of the same material as the housing, for example of ceramic, wherein it is preferably formed at least on the contact surface by a glaze layer or the like as a low-friction sliding surface, so that only small forces have to be applied to transfer to the release position. It is particularly expedient to design the cover member as a one-piece, monolithic part, so that even fewer parts are required for the design according to the invention are needed as for a similar socket with blind plug. It has surprisingly been found that the design according to the invention makes it possible to produce the cover member with relatively high frequency from the otherwise relatively difficult to form steatite. The design according to the invention also has the essential advantage that, in the covering position, the covering member covers not only the current-carrying contacts, but also the grounding contact, so that the latter is also protected from the harmful influences described. Possibly cleaning or dirt substances penetrating through the plug opening to the cover member can automatically come out of the housing again by the cover member being led out of the housing, so that a gradual clogging of the sliding surfaces for the cover member is not to be feared.

• Fig. 1 eine erfindungsgemäße Geräte- Steckdose in Vorderansicht,
• Fig. 2 ein Schnitt nach der Linie II-II in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 3 ein Schnitt nach der Linie III-III in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 4 das Abdeckglied der Steckdose gemäß Fig. 1 in Ansicht,
• Fig. 5 das Abdeckglied gemäß Fig. 4 in Ansicht von rechts,
• Fig. 6 die Steckdose in einer Darstellung gemäß Fig. 1, jedoch in Freigabestellung des Abdeckgliedes,
• Fig. 7 ein Schnitt nach der Linie VII-VII in Fig. 6,
• Fig. 8 eine weitere Ausführungsform einer Grillsteckdose in einer Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 3, jedoch in Freigabestellung,
• Fig. 9 die Grillsteckdose gemäß Fig. 8 in Vorderansicht,
• Fig. 10 das Abdeckglied der Steckdose gemäß den Figuren 8 und 9 in Ansicht und
• Fig. 11 die Rückstellfeder der Steckdose gemäß Fig. 9 in Draufsicht.

The invention is explained in more detail below with further details with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings. They are shown in:

• 1 is a device socket according to the invention in front view,
• 2 is a section along the line II-II in Fig. 1,
• 3 shows a section along the line III-III in FIG. 1,
• 4 the cover member of the socket according to FIG. 1 in view,
• 5 the cover member according to FIG. 4 in a view from the right,
• 6 shows the socket in a representation according to FIG. 1, but in the release position of the cover member,
• 7 is a section along the line VII-VII in Fig. 6,
• 8 shows a further embodiment of a grill socket in a representation corresponding to FIG. 3, but in the release position,
• 9 shows the grill socket according to FIG. 8 in front view,
• Fig. 10, the cover member of the socket according to Figures 8 and 9 in view and
• 11 shows the return spring of the socket according to FIG. 9 in a top view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, there is a device socket according to the invention, which is provided, for example, for the connection of different grill radiators or other devices to be used in the household or in the oven, such as grill motors, forced air fans or the like can be, essentially of a two-part housing 1 made of insulating material, between the two housing parts 2, 3, a cover member 4 is slidably mounted and in the current-carrying contacts 5 and a grounding contact 6 are provided, the two housing parts 2, 3 held together by two hollow rivets 8 are and the cover member is spring-loaded by a return spring 7 to its cover position. Except for the current-carrying contacts with the connecting members or terminals, not shown, for the associated power lines and except for the rivets 8, the socket thus consists of only four one-piece components. The front housing part 2, the rear housing part 3 and / or the cover member 4 suitably consist of a hard insulating material, for example steatite.

The front housing part 2 has in the installed position, as a rule, vertical wall 9, which is surmounted at the front by a flange shoulder 10 in such a way that the front of the wall 9 forms the bottom surface of a countersink 11, the outline shape of which is long in the front view with a horizontal longitudinal extension . The less high rear housing part 3 is tensioned against the back of the wall 9 with the rivets 8, in which three openings 12 lying next to one another for receiving the metallic contacts 5, 6 are provided. Aligned to each of the contacts 5, 6, a plug opening 13, 14 in the form of an opening is provided in the wall 9, the central axes of the plug openings 13, 14 lying in a common axial plane 15 perpendicular to the wall 9, which at the same time-the longitudinal median plane of the Countersink 11 and is horizontal in the installed position. The three plug openings 13, 14 are equidistant from one another, the two outer plug openings 13 assigned to the current-carrying contacts 5 being cylindrical, while the plug opening 14 associated with the grounding contact 6 is formed by the end of a groove-like slot 16 which extends the wall 9 up to one , preferably penetrated to the lower longitudinal limit of the countersink 11 and continued in the flange extension 10 as a constantly wide groove open to the rear of the front housing part 2, which penetrates the associated outer surface 17 of the front housing part 2 lying transversely or at right angles to its longitudinal direction. To the front of the wall 9, the plug openings 13, 14 are widened like a funnel for easy insertion of the plug. The plug direction arrow 18 of the socket is parallel to the plug openings 13, 14 and thus at right angles to the wall 9.

In the otherwise almost continuous entire back of the front housing part 2, against which the rear housing part 3 rests, an approximately rectangular recess 19 is provided in view, the flat bottom wall parallel to the rear being penetrated by the plug openings 13, 14, and which extends approximately from the plug openings 13, 14 to the outer surface 17. The lateral boundary surfaces 20 of the recess 19 lie parallel to one another and, in view of the plug openings 13, 14, laterally outside the mutually facing outer boundaries of the two outer plug openings 13. The boundary surface 21 of the recess 19 opposite the outer surface 17 lies parallel to the axial plane 15, approximately in such a way that it touches the connector openings 13, 14 on the side facing away from the outer surface 17 tangentially in the view according to FIG. 1.

The substantially rectangular plate-shaped cover member 4 is inserted into the recess 19, the four corners of which are rounded and the thickness of which is approximately equal to the depth of the recess 19. The length of the cover member 4 is smaller than the distance between the lateral boundary surfaces 20 of the recess 19 by the necessary play, so that it can be guided with its lateral plate edges 22 on the boundary surfaces 20. The height of the cover member 4 corresponds approximately to the distance between the boundary surface 21 and the outer surface 17, the outer edge 23 of the cover member 4 opposite or adjacent to the boundary surface 21 being parallel to the boundary surface 21. In the middle of its length, the otherwise plate-shaped cover member 4 is thickened by a central web 24, which is rectangular in cross-section and projects beyond its front surface and protrudes over the front surface of the cover member 4 by approximately the thickness which the wall 9 has in the region of the plug openings 13, 14 Has. The web 24, which passes approximately over the height of the cover member 4 and protrudes slightly over its lower longitudinal edge, is adapted to the slot 16 such that it engages in this slot with the necessary play. The cover member 4 can be displaced at right angles to the axial plane 15 in the arrow directions 25 and 26 in the housing 1 and thus relative to the plug openings 13, 14. In the end region adjacent to the longitudinal edge 23, the web 24 is provided with an oblique run-up surface 27 which, with the axial plane 15, encloses an angle of approximately 45 ° which opens towards the front of the wall 9. The run-up surface 27 merges continuously and at the same level into a chamfer 28 which is provided on the front side of the cover member 4 along the longitudinal edge 23.

Above the outer surface 17 two projections 29 of the front housing part 2 protrude, which in the view according to FIG. 1 lie on both sides of the depression 19 and face each other Inner surfaces can form continuations of the lateral boundary surfaces 20 of the recess 19. In these lugs 29 there is a pocket-shaped slot 30, which is only open to the front and to the inside of the respective lug 29. In the S. slot 30 of the lugs 29 aligned with the front and the rear of the wall 9, the arcuate curved spring 7 is inserted with its ends in the relaxed state. Between these ends, the return spring 7 rests with its convex side, which is convex in the relaxed state, on the end face 31 of the web 24 facing away from the run-up face 27 outside the housing 1 with a prestress. By means of the return spring 7, the cover member 4 is pressed into the housing 1 in such a way that its longitudinal edge 23, which is rounded in cross-section or chamfered on both sides, bears against the limit face 21 of the recess 19 and limits both the plug openings 13 from the rear of the wall 9 the plate body as well as the plug opening 14 are closed by the web 24 and thus the associated contacts 5, 6 are shielded from the front of the socket insulated.

The plug 32 associated with the socket, indicated by dash-dotted lines in FIGS. 2, 3 and 7, has three plug pins 33, 34 belonging to the plug openings 13, 14, which are parallel to one another and lie in a common axial plane, of which the middle plug pin belonging to the ground contact 6 34 is slightly longer than the two other connector pins 33 of the same length for the current-carrying contacts 5. The plug pins 33, 34 are arranged on an insulating support 35, the outline of which - seen in the direction of insertion arrow 18 - is only slightly smaller than the countersink 11 and its extent in the direction of insertion arrow 18 is slightly greater than the depth of the recess. On the side of the insulating carrier 35 facing away from the plug pins 33, 34 there is one over the outline of the insulating carrier 35 protruding support plate 36 attached, which is electrically connected to the connector pin 34 and is insulated from the connector pins 33. The support plate 36 supports the ends of a grill heating element 37, which is both electrically connected and mechanically or statically held by inserting the plug 32 into the socket. The socket in turn is fastened with the flange extension 10 such that only the flange extension is exposed. If the plug 32 is inserted into the socket, the spherical cap-shaped or frustoconically tapered end surface of the middle plug pin 34 first comes into contact with the run-up surface 27, while the ends of the plug pins 33 are still at a distance from the cover member 4. When pressing the middle plug pin 34 against the run-up surface 27 of the cover member 4, the latter is pressed downward in the direction of arrow 25 against the force of the return spring 7 until the peripheral surface of the middle plug pin 34 according to FIG. 7 has reached the longitudinal edge 23 of the cover member 4; here, too, the connector pins 33 are still at a distance from the cover member 4, specifically according to FIG. 7 at the outer ends of the associated plug-in openings 13. In this position, the distance between the insulating support 35 and the front of the flange projection 10 is already so small, that can no longer be reached with a finger in the recess 11. With further insertion, the plug pin 34 first comes into contact with the ground contact 6, the front surface of the insulating support 35 already being closed in this position in front of the front open side of the recess 11; in this case the plug pins 33 possibly also come into contact with the cover member 4, specifically in the region of the chamfer 28, so that they can, if necessary, push the cover member 4 a small distance against the force of the return spring 7 in order to reach the current-carrying contacts 5 to penetrate. The plug pins 33 only come into contact with the latter,

if the insulating support 35 already engages in the recess 11 and thus the connector pins 33 are hermetically shielded from the outside over their entire length. If the plug 32 is then pulled out again, the cover member 4 springs back under the force of the return spring 7 in the direction of arrow 26 into its cover position described.

In FIGS. 8 to 11, the same reference numerals are used for corresponding parts as in FIGS. 1 to 7, but with the index "a".

In the socket shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, enlarged compared to FIGS. 1 to 7, the contact surface 27a of the cover member 4a is adapted in cross-section to the associated part of the cross-section of the associated plug pin 34a of the plug 32a and therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, has a concavely rounded cross-section , wherein this groove-shaped run-up surface 27a is slightly narrower than the web 24a, so that the side boundaries of the run-up surface 27a lie at a short distance from the side surfaces of the web 24a. This configuration enables the plug pin 34a to slide even more smoothly when the plug 32a is inserted into the socket. The outer boundary 38 of the cover member 4a associated with the end face 31a directly adjoins the end face 31a on both sides of the web 24a and extends from this connection at an acute angle to the outer edge 23a in such a way that the two sections of the outer boundary 38a lying on both sides of the web 24a are at an obtuse angle of only slightly less than 180 ° to each other. In the covering position, the end surface 31a is flush or level with the outer surface 17a of the housing 1a, but the arrangement is such that that the return spring 7a can at least slightly enter the housing opening receiving the cover member 4a.

The return spring 7a is provided on one longitudinal edge with an angular projection 39, which is formed in one piece with it, the free leg of which forms an erected tab 40. When the return spring 7a is pressed into a plane, the other leg of the extension 39 lies in the plane of the return spring and the tab 40 of the same width is at right angles thereto. When the return spring 7a is relaxed, the tab 40, which is only slightly narrower than the web 24a, projects beyond the convex curvature side of the return spring. The distance between the tab 40 and the opposite longitudinal edge of the return spring 7a is only slightly smaller than the thickness of the cover member 4a in the region of the web 24a. In the assembled state, the return spring 7a engages behind the cover member 4a on its rear side, the shoulder 39 abutting the end face 31a. In the front surface of the rear housing part 3a, which serves to guide the rear of the cover member 4a, a pocket 41 which is open on the underside is provided as a receiving opening for the tab 40 in the cover position of the cover member 4a. As a result, the return spring 7a is additionally protected in the cover position of the socket.

FIG. 8 also shows one of the contacts, namely the ground contact 6a, which lies in the opening 12a of the rear housing part 3a and is essentially formed by a clamping bush provided with a spring clip 42, which on the top of the housing 1a is one of has freely accessible terminal 43 on the outside.

Claims (11)

1. Appliance socket, especially for ovens
with a socket housing made of insulating material, which has two adjacent plug openings for the current-carrying current contacts behind it and one, in particular between these plug openings, for a ground contact behind it, and with a contact cover element that can be moved into a release position for covering the plug-in side Current-carrying contacts when the plug of the associated plug is pulled out, characterized in that the cover member (4) can be moved transversely to the plug direction (arrow 18) against a restoring force from the cover position (Fig. 1) into the release position. (Fig. 6) Housing (1) is mounted and is provided with at least one inclined run-up surface (27) for at least one plug pin (34) for the transfer into the release position. 2. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover member between a wall (9, 14) having the plug openings (13) of the housing (1) and the contacts (5, 6) is arranged essentially concealed and preferably at right angles to the direction of insertion ( Arrow 18) is movably mounted. 3. Socket according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover member (4) between one of the plug-in openings (13, 14) having front housing part (2) and a contacts (5, 6) carrying rear housing part (3), preferably is slidably mounted in a depression (19) forming sliding surfaces (20) in the rear of the front housing part (2). 4. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cover member (4) is plate-shaped, parallel to the plate plane, in particular to the shorter plate edges (22) and / or at right angles to the common axial plane (15) of the current contacts (5) slidably mounted and is preferably connected to a prestressed return spring (7), such as a leaf spring. 5. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ramp surface (21) in the covering position in the region of a plug opening (14a), preferably in the region of the plug opening (14a) for the ground contact (6a), and / or in Cross-section at least approximately adapted to the associated plug pin (34a), in particular is designed in the form of a groove. 6. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the ramp surface (27) is provided on a thickened portion of the cover member (4), which is preferably formed by a web (24) on the front of the cover member (4) which is guided in a slot (16) of the housing (1) which encloses the associated plug opening (14). 7. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cover member (4) in the release position (Fig. 6) from the housing (1), in particular with an edge zone of the plate body, protrudes and that on the outside of the Return spring (7) lying on the housing (1) preferably abuts against the end surface (31) of the web (24) which at least partially protrudes. 8. Socket according to one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the preferably arcuate return spring (7a) with both ends in slots (30a) of the housing (1a) and approximately in the middle between their ends on the cover member (4a ) is supported and secured in particular with an upright tab (40) which engages behind the cover member (4a). 9. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the cover member (4) in the cover position (Fig. 1) is stop-limited, preferably its associated outer edge (23) on the opposite boundary surface (21) of the recess (19th ) of the housing (1). 10. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the cover member (4) at least in the region of the contacts (5, 6) made of insulating material, in particular of the same material as the housing (1) consists for example of ceramic and is formed at least on the run-up surface (27) by a glaze layer or the like as a low-friction sliding surface. 11. Socket according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the cover member (4) is continuously formed in one piece.

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