US 5,701,981 AGranted

Retractable power cord

OwnerTrevor Marshall, Joseph Wing-Tak Hui +1inventors

InventorsTrevor Marshall, Joseph Wing-Tak Hui, Thomas Wong

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Abstract

A retractable and extendable electrical cord, for positioning in a wall and having a hollow housing, one or more reels rotatably mounted within the hollow housing, an electrical cord wound upon each reel, a retraction spring connected to each reel for rewinding the reel to retract the cord, first and second electrical contact members mounted on the reel in spaced apart relation, and ends of the electrical cord being connected to the contacts of said reel, first and second contact rings mounted within the housing and engageable by respective first and second electrical contacts, as the reel rotates, and electrical supply connections connected to the first and second contact rings. Also disclosed is a portable electrical cord extension and retraction device which can be plugged in to a conventional wall socket so that the cord can be extended to reach an appliance, and can be retracted when not required.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A retractable electrical cord apparatus, for interconnection between electrical power means installed in a building fabric and a piece of electrical equipment and comprising:

a hollow housing having inside surfaces, said housing being adapted to be mounted in a standard electrical wiring box in said building fabric;
at least one reel rotatably mounted within the hollow housing and having a reel portion lying in a predetermined plane close to a said inside surface of said housing;
a reel body formed integrally with said reel portion and recessed with respect thereto away from said inside surface of said housing, said reel being formed of a main reel component having a flange on one side, and a secondary flange component attached to said main reel component, said recessed reel body being formed in said main reel component;
an electrical cord wound upon said at least one reel;
a retraction spring connected to said reel, and adapted for rewinding the reel to retract the cord;
first and second electrical spring contact members mounted on said reel in said recessed reel body in spaced apart relation said contacts being rotatable in unison with said reel body, and ends of said electrical cord being connected through openings in said reel body to respective said contact members and being rotatable in unison with said reel;
first and second non-rotatable contact rings mounted on said inside surface of said housing and engaged by respective said electrical spring contact members on said recessed reel body, as said reel rotates;
said first and second contact rings being connectable to said electrical power means in said building fabric;
and wherein said housing is made up of first and second shell parts, adapted to interfit together to enclose said at least one reel, and wherein said shell parts are secured together, to form said hollow housing, and includes an annular retaining ring means for retaining said retraction spring therein.

6 more elements

A plurality of retractable electrical extension cords for mounting in a wall and comprising;

a hollow housing adapted to be mounted in said wall and having two inside surfaces located on opposite sides of the interior of said housing;
a plurality of reels rotatably mounted within the hollow housing each said reel having a reel portion lying in a predetermined plane close to a respective said inside surface of said housing;
and
a reel body formed integrally with each said reel portion and recessed with respect thereto away from said respective inside surface of said housing;
electrical cords wound upon respective said reels;
retraction springs connected to respective said reels, and adapted for rewinding said reels to retract their respective cords;
first and second electrical spring contact members mounted on respective said reels in said recessed reel bodies in spaced apart relation and rotatable in unison therewith, and ends of said electrical cords being connected to respective said contact members and being rotatable in unison with respective said reels;
pairs of first and second non-rotatable contact rings mounted on respectives ones of said opposite inside surfaces of said housing and engaged by respective first and second electrical contact members, as said reels rotate, and,
connection means for connecting said contact rings to a source of electrical supply.

6 more elements

A retractable electrical cord apparatus, for interconnection between electrical power means in a wall receptacle in a building fabric and a piece of electrical equipment and comprising;

a hollow housing made up of front and rear shell parts;
at least one reel rotatably mounted within said hollow housing;
an electrical cord wound upon said at least one reel;
a retraction spring connected to said reel, and adapted for rewinding the reel to retract the cord;
first and second electrical contact members mounted on said reel in spaced apart relation and rotatable therewith, and ends of said electrical cord being connected to respective said contact members;
first and second non-rotatable contact rings mounted within said housing and engaged by respective said first and second electrical contact members, as said reel rotates;
and wherein said rear shell part has means for positioning said non-rotatable contact rings therein;
first and second electrical connecting means connecting to respective said contact rings;
and
first and second electrical prongs connected to said connecting means for insertion into a said wall receptacle.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.