EP-4736281-A1 - LOCKING CONNECTOR

Abstract

A locking connector (10) comprises a body (19) which defines apertures each to receive pins which have the same, first, orientation as the pins of a C14 type plug and pins which have the same, second, orientation as the pins of a C20 type plug, the connector comprising a locking mechanism (25) which is displaced by a plug pin upon insertion of the plug thereby to permit insertion of the plug but which seizes the pin on attempted withdrawal of the plug, said locking mechanism comprising a first pair (27) of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a first orientation and a second pair (28) of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a second orientation.

Inventors

• JINKS, STEVEN
• YANG, Zhang
• YAOKE, Wan
• HAO, LIU

Assignees

• Scolmore (International) Limited

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240628

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A locking connector comprising a body which defines apertures each to receive pins which have the same, first, orientation as the pins of a C14 type plug and pins which have the same, second, orientation as the pins of a C20 type plug, the connector comprising a locking mechanism which is displaced by a plug pin upon insertion of the plug thereby to permit insertion of the plug but which seizes the pin on attempted withdrawal of the plug, said locking mechanism comprising a first pair of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a first orientation and a second pair of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a second orientation.
2. 2. A locking connector according to claim 1 wherein the locking mechanism comprises a first pair of oppositely positioned pin retention surfaces and a second pair of oppositely positioned pin retention surfaces, the surfaces of one pair being spaced apart in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction in which the pin retention surfaces of the other pair are spaced apart.
3. 3. A locking connector according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the connector comprises earth, live and neutral terminals and wherein the locking mechanism is arranged to engage with the earth pin of an inserted plug.
4. 4. A locking connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each aperture if the front face of the body is of a T shape.
5. 5. A locking connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the locking mechanism comprises at least one moveable member in the form of a latch plate.
6. 6. A locking connector according to claim 5 wherein the latch plate defines an aperture within the outer profile of the latch plate.
7. 7. A locking connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the latch plate has an outer profile which at least in part defines a recess region which defines at least one pair of retention surface.
8. 8. A locking connector according to any one of claims 5 to 7 wherein the latch plate defines an aperture of a T shape.
9. 9. A locking connector according to claim 8 wherein the T shaped aperture defines two pairs of pin engagement surfaces.
10. 10. A locking connector according to claim 8 or claim 9 wherein the T shaped aperture is pivotable about an axis parallel with the length of the stem section of the T shape.
11. 11. A locking connector according to any one of claims 5 to 10 wherein the body defines live and neutral terminal apertures and wherein the latch plate is pivotable about an axis that is perpendicular relative to the direction in which said live and neutral apertures are spaced apart.
12. 12. A locking connector according to any one of claims 5 to 11 wherein in the absence of an inserted pin, the latch plate resides inherently at an angle of between 10° and 20° relative to a plain that is perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the pin of a plug.
13. 13. A locking connector according to any one of the preceding claims and comprising a moveable member which is resiliently biased and which may be deflected from a biased position by means of a release mechanism that acts against a biasing means thereby to permit removal of a plug from the connector.
14. 14. A locking connector according to claim 13 wherein the release mechanism comprises a component operable from a front face of the connector.
15. 15. A locking connector according to claim 13 or claim 14 wherein the biasing means comprises a spring.
16. 16. A locking connector according to claim 15 wherein the spring applies a torque to the biased movable member by bearing directly on the movable member.
17. 17. A locking connector according to claim 15 wherein the spring bears indirectly on the movable member.
18. 18. A locking connector according to claim 16 wherein the movable member is formed integrally with a spring.
19. 19. A locking connector according to claim 18 wherein the movable member comprises a latch plate and a support plate integrally formed with one another in a V shaped formation.
20. 20. A locking connector according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the locking mechanism comprises a first movable member that defines the first pair of retention surfaces and a second movable member that defines the second pair of retention surfaces.

Description

Locking Connector This invention relates to a connector and more particularly but not exclusively to a connector for use between items of electrical equipment or to connect electrical equipment to a power supply. Various proposals have been made and employed to reduce the ease with which plugs may be removed or inadvertently be displaced from sockets in electrical equipment. One long established technique, especially for computer equipment, is to employ screws or clips at either side of the plug to keep the plug attached to the equipment to which it is connected. Screwing or clipping the plug to the equipment, however, is laborious and often a quick visual inspection does not reliably indicate whether or not a screw or clip is engaged with the equipment. For many applications it may be desirable to lock individual pieces of equipment together more permanently than many prior art solutions allow. This invention seeks to provide a locking connector that may be operated easily and quickly. Commonly used connectors for use in connecting electrical equipment to a power supply are in the form of one of four types of sockets that are in accordance with the International standard IEC 60320. The commonly used types of socket are designated as C14, C16, C20 and C22. The apertured end faces of connectors of these types are shown in Figure 1 . The aforementioned four types of socket all comprise a front face which defines three rectangular apertures for receiving respective rectangular earth, neutral and live pins of a plug. In the C14 and C16 sockets the rectangular earth pin aperture has, as viewed in cross section, a length direction longer than a width direction of the aperture and which length direction is perpendicular to the direction in which live and neutral apertures are spaced. The outer profiles of the C16 and C14 sockets differ in that, as viewed in cross section, one edge of the body of the C16 socket if formed with a recess region. The C20 and C22 sockets differ from the C14 and C16 sockets in that the length direction of each rectangular pin aperture extends in the same direction and said length direction is perpendicular to the length direction of the apertures of the C14 and C16 sockets. The C20 and C22 sockets differ in that, as viewed in cross section, the body of the C20 is of a generally rectangular shape whereas the body of the C22 socket has two chamfered corners. In the case of C14 and C16 type sockets it is known that they may be of a type which automatically locks the pins of a plug in position within the socket and permits removal only when a release mechanism is operated. Sockets of that type are described in more detail in the specification of our EP1459512 and provide a simple and convenient means for effectively inhibiting unauthorised or inadvertent separation of a plug from a socket. However the mechanism described in EP 14595112 is not readily adaptable to providing lockable versions of C20 and C22 type plugs. The present invention seeks to provide a locking connector which comprises a locking mechanism operable in particular, but not exclusively, to securely retain a pin of an inserted plug of a C20 or C22 type to prevent unauthorised or inadvertent removal of the plug. The present invention further seeks to provide a locking connector in the form of a socket able to receive and securely lock in position the pins of a plug such as of any of the types normally received by a C14, C16, C20 or C22 socket, and said socket comprising a locking mechanism to securely retain a pin of the inserted plug. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a locking connector comprising a body which defines apertures each to receive pins which have the same, first, orientation as the pins of a C14 type plug and pins which have the same, second, orientation as the pins of a C20 type plug, the connector comprising a locking mechanism which is displaced by a plug pin upon insertion of the plug thereby to permit insertion of the plug but which seizes the pin on attempted withdrawal of the plug, said locking mechanism comprising a first pair of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a first orientation and a second pair of retention surfaces for engaging with a pin of a second orientation. The locking mechanism may comprise one movable member which defines the two pairs of retention surfaces. Alternatively the locking mechanism may comprise a first movable member that defines the first pair of retention surfaces and a second movable member that defines the second pair of retention surfaces. Preferably the locking member comprises a movable member which is resiliently biased and which may be deflected from a biased position by means of a release mechanism that acts against a biasing means thereby to permit removal of the plug from the connector. Each of the apertures of the front face of the body may be of a T shape thereby to receive pins of a plug of the C14 and C16 t