Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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RETRACTABLE ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY AND
ELECTRIC-HEATING GARMENT INCLUDING THE SAME
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority of Taiwanese
Application No. 101125837, filed on July 18, 2012.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable
electrical connector assembly and an electric-heating
garment including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to Figure 1, Taiwanese Utility Model No.
M431583 discloses a conventional electric-heating
garment 9, which includes an upper body garment 91, a
glove 92 and a remote controller 93. The upper body
garment 91 includes a first electric-heating component
94 in a form of a soft slice, a controller 98 capable
of providing electricity, and a first electric cable
95 electrically connected between the first
electric-heating component 94 and the controller 98 for
transmitting electricity from the controller 98 to the
first electric-heating component 94, so that the first
electric-heating component 94 is operable to warm up
the upper body garment 91. The upper body garment 91
further includes an extension cord 96 electrically
connected to the controller 98, and an output terminal
961 electrically connected to the extension cord 96 and
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exposed from a sleeve of the upper body garment 91. The
glove 92 includes a second electric-heating component
94' disposed therein, an input terminal 951 configured
to be electrically connected to the output terminal 961,
and a second electric cable 95' electrically connected
between the input terminal 951 and the second
electric-heating component 94' for transmitting
electricity to the second electric-heating component
94'. When the input terminal 951 is electrically
connected to the output terminal 961, electricity is
transmitted from the controller 98 to the second
electric-heating component 94' for warming up the glove
92.
In addition, the conventional electric-heating
garment 9 is typically formed with a slit 971 on an outer
cloth layer at a position close to a cuff of the sleeve
of the upper body garment 91, and the electric-heating
garment 9 further includes a pouch 97 that is disposed
between the outer cloth layer and a lining layer of the
sleeve, that corresponds to the slit 971, and that has
an accommodating space in spatial communication with
the slit 971 for receiving the extension cord 96 and
the output terminal 961 therein. Moreover, the
electric-heating garment 9 may further include a zipper
(not shown) sewn on the sleeve at the slit 971 for opening
and closing the slit 971. In such configuration, the
extension cord 96 is able to be partially exposed from
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the pouch 97 via the slit 971 and the output terminal
961 is able to be electrically connected to the input
terminal 951 of the glove 92.
However, it is difficult and inconvenient for a user
to look for the extension cord 96 and the output terminal
961 disposed in the pouch 97 with one hand when the user
is wearing the electric-heating garment 9. Further, it
is also inconvenient to put the extension cord 96 and
the output terminal 961 into the pouch 97 with one hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to
provide a retractable electrical connector assembly
that is able to alleviate the above drawbacks of the
prior art.
Accordingly, a retractable electrical connector
assembly of the present invention is adapted to be
attached to a piece of clothing and is adapted to be
electrically connected to an electric-powered article
for transmitting electricity from a power supply to the
electric-powered article. The piece of clothing
includes a clothing main body and a pair of limb parts
extending from the clothing main body, and at least one
of the limb parts is formed with a slit.
The retractable electrical connector assembly
comprises an electrical connector, a stationary unit
and a movable unit. The electrical connector is adapted
to be disposed at the piece of clothing and is adapted
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to be electrically connected between the power supply
and the electric-powered article for transmitting the
electricity from the power supply to the
electric-powered article. The stationary unit is
adapted to be attached to one of the limb parts that
is formed with the slit. The movable unit is connected
to the electrical connector, is adapted to be exposed
from one of the limb part s through the slit, and i s movable
relative to the stationary unit to move the electrical
connector between an inner position, where the
electrical connector is adapted to be received in said
one of the limb parts, and an outer position, where the
electrical connector is adapted to be exposed partially
from said one of the limb parts.
Another object of the present invention is to provide
an electric-heating garment provided with the aforesaid
retractable electrical connector assembly.
According to another aspect, an electric-heating
garment of the present invention comprises a piece of
clothing, an electric-powered article, an
electric-heating device and a retractable electrical
connector assembly. The clothing includes a clothing
main body and a pair of limb parts extending from the
clothing main body, and at least one of the limb parts
is formed with a slit. The retractable electrical
connector assembly is disposed on the piece of clothing
and includes an electrical connector, a stationary unit
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and a movable unit. The electrical connector is disposed
at the piece of clothing and is electrically connected
between the power supply and the electric-powered
article for transmitting the electricity from the power
5 supply to the electric-powered article. The stationary
unit is attached to one of the limb parts formed with
the slit. The movable unit is connected to the electrical
connector, is exposed from said one of the limb parts
through the slit, and is movable relative to the
s tat ionary uni t to move the electrical connector between
an inner position, where the electrical connector is
received in said one of the limb parts, and an outer
position, where the electrical connector is exposed
partially from said one of the limb parts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent in the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments with reference
to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Figure 1 is a schematic view of a conventional
electric-heating garment;
Figure 2 is a schematic view of an example of an
electric-heating garment provided with a retractable
electrical connector assembly according to a first
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an
electric-heating device of the electric-heating
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garment according to the present invention;
Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view for
illustrating the retractable electrical connector
assembly of the first preferred embodiment according
to the present invention;
Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary enlarged sectional
views for illustrating the retractable electrical
connector assembly of the first preferred embodiment
according to the present invention;
Figure 7 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view
for illustrating a modification of the retractable
electrical connector assembly of the first preferred
embodiment according to the present invention;
Figures 8 and 9 are fragmentary enlarged sectional
views for illustrating a retractable electrical
connector assembly of a second preferred embodiment
according to the present invention;
Figures 10 and 11 are fragmentary enlarged sectional
views for illustrating a retractable electrical
connector assembly of a third preferred embodiment
according to the present invention; and
Figure 12 is a schematic view of another example of
an electric-heating garment provided with the
retractable electrical connector assembly according to
the preferred embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Before the present invention is described in greater
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detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted
by the same reference numerals throughout the
disclosure.
Referring to Figure 2, an example of an
electric-heating garment 100 according to a first
preferred embodiment of the present invention includes
a piece of clothing 110, a pair of electric-powered
articles 20 (only one is shown in Figure 2), an
electric-heating device 30, and a pair of retractable
electrical connector assemblies 40 di spos ed at the piece
of clothing 110. The piece of clothing 110 has a clothing
main body 1 0 , a pair of pockets 12 disposed on the clothing
main body 10, and a pair of limb parts 11 extending from
the clothing main body 10. Each of the retractable
electrical connector assemblies 40 is configured to be
electrically connected between a power supply 36 (see
Figure 3) and a respective one of the electric-powered
articles 20 for transmitting electricity from the power
supply 36 to the respective one of the electric-powered
articles 20. In this embodiment, the piece of clothing
110 isan upper body garment, the limb pa rt 11 is asleeve,
and the electric-powered article 20 is a glove.
Referring to Figures 2, 4 and 5, each of the limb
parts 11 is formed with an end opening 112 (i.e., a cuff
of the sleeve) away from the clothing main body 10, and
includes an outer cloth layer 115 formed with a slit
116 near the end opening 112, a lining layer 113, and
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a pouch layer 114 disposed between the outer cloth layer
115 and the lining layer 113. The pouch layer 114
corresponds to the slit 116, cooperates with the outer
cloth layer 115 to define an accommodating space 120
in spatial communication with the slit 116, and is formed
a pair of apertures 117 in spatial communication with
the accommodating space 120 and adjacent to opposite
ends of the slit 116.
Each of the retractable electrical connector
assemblies 40 includes an electrical connector 31, a
stationary unit 41, and a movable unit 42. The electrical
connector 31 is disposed at the piece of clothing 110
and is electrically connected between the power supply
36 and a corresponding one of the electric-powered
articles 20 for transmitting the electricity from the
power supply 36 to the corresponding one of the
electric-powered articles 20. The stationary unit 41
is attached to the corresponding one of the limb parts
11. The movable unit 42 is connected to the electrical
connector 31, is exposed from the corresponding one of
the limb parts 11 through the slit 116, and is movable
relative to the stationary unit 41 to move the electrical
connector 31 between an inner position, where the
electrical connector 31 is received in the limb part
11 (see Figure 5), and an outer position, where the
electrical connector 31 is exposed partially from the
limb part 11 (see Figure 6).
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Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the electric-heating
device 30 includes a first electric-heating component
34 disposed in the clothing main body 10, a pair of second
electric-heating components 35 disposed respectively
in the pockets 12, and a controller 32 and a user-operable
unit 33 disposed at the clothing main body 10. The
controller 32 is electrically connected to the
user-operable unit 33, the first and second
electric-heating components 34, 35, and the electrical
connector 31 of the retractable electrical connector
assembly 40, and is configured to be electrically
connected to the power supply 36 and to control the
electricity transmitted from the power supply 36 to the
first and second electric-heating components 34, 35 and
the electrical connector 31. In additi on , the controller
32 may be configured to control and provide the
electricity from the power supply 36 to the second
electric-heating components 35 only when the electrical
connector 31 is not electrically connected to the
electric-powered article 20. The user-operable unit 33
includes an on-off button 331 for activating the
controller 32 to output the electricity from the power
supply 36, and a power-switching button 332 for
activating the controller 32 to adjust electric power
of the electricity provided to the first and second
electric-heating components 34, 35 and the first
electrical connector 31. The on-off button 331 and the
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power-switching button 332 may be, but is not limited
to, push buttons, turning knobs, etc..
The electrical connector 31 includes an output
terminal 311 configured to be electrically connected
5 to the
electric-powered article 20 for outputting the
electricity thereto, and an electric cable 312
electrically connecting the output terminal 311 to the
controller 32 for transmitting the electricity to the
output terminal 311. The electric cable 312 extends
10 through the
apertures 117 of the pouch layer 114. The
output terminal 311 is disposed out of the pouch layer
114, and is formed to be bigger than the apertures 117,
preventing the output terminal 311 from passing through
the pouch layer 114.
In this preferred embodiment, the controller 32 is
a control chip, and is configured to adjust the electric
power of the electricity transmitted from the power
supply 36 before providing the electricity to the first
and the second electric-heating components 34, 35.
Specifically, the power-switching button 332 is
user-operable to activate the controller 32 to adjust
the electric power of the electricity transmitted from
the power supply 36 to the first electric-heating
component 34, so that the first electric-heating
component 34 is operable to warm up the piece of clothing
110 with various levels of heating power. Similarly,
the second electric-heating components 35 are operable
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to warm up the respective pockets 12 with various levels
of heating power. For example, the controller 32 may
adjust and output 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% of the electric
power of the electricity transmitted from the power
supply 36 so as to warm up the piece of clothing 110
with a desired level of heating power . In this embodiment,
a user can repeatedly press the user-operable unit 33
to select a certain one of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of
the electric power outputted from the power supply 36
in a cycling manner. It should be understood that the
percentages of the electric power of the electricity
are not limited to the disclosure of this preferred
embodiment.
The electric-powered article 20 (i.e., the glove in
this embodiment) includes an article main body 21, a
third electric-heating component 22 disposed at the
article main body 21, and an input terminal 23
electrically connected to the third electric-heating
component 22. The input terminal 23 is configured to
be electrically connected to the output terminal 311
of the electrical connector 31 of the retractable
electrical connector assembly 40 for transmitting the
electricity from the electrical connector 31 to the third
electric-heating component 22. Thus, when the input
terminal 23 is electrically connected to the output
terminal 311 of the electrical connector 31, the user
can operate the power-switching button 332 to activate
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the controller 32 to adjust the electric power of the
electricity transmitted to the third electric-heating
component 22, so that the third electric-heating
component 22 is operable to warm up the electric-powered
article 20 with various levels of heating power.
Referring to Figures 2, 4 and 5, in this embodiment,
the stationary unit 41 includes a pair of tooth members
411 sewn on the limb part 11 of the piece of clothing
110 at the slit 116. The movable unit 42 is connected
to the stationary unit 41, and includes two sliding
members 421 adjacent closely to each other, a connecting
member 422, and a pull rope 43 interconnecting the
sliding members 421. The sliding members 421 are
connected between the tooth members 411, are slidable
with respect to the tooth members 411, and cooperate
with the tooth members 411 as a zipper. When the pull
rope 43 is pulled, the sliding members 421 are moved
together at the same time to ensure the slit 116 being
always closed for preventing entry of water into the
accommodating space 120 and for preventing exposure of
the electric cable 312 through the slit 116. The
connect ing membe r 422 connects one of the slidingmembers
421 to the electrical connector 31 for driving the
electrical connector 31 to move between the inner
position (see Figure 5) and the outer position (see
Figure 6) by pulling the pull rope 43 to move the sliding
members 421. Specifically, the connecting member 422
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of the movable unit 42 is fixedly connected to the
electric cable 312. Alternatively, in a modification
of the retractable electrical connector assembly 40 as
shown in Figure 7, the connecting member 422 may be
fixedly connected to the output terminal 311. In other
embodiments, the movable unit 42 may only include one
sliding member 421 and the pull rope 43 may be omitted.
Referring to Figures 2 to 6, when the user wears the
electric-heating garment 100, the user is able to turn
on/off the electric-heating device 30 by pressing the
on-off button 331 of the user-operable unit 33 of the
electric-heating device 30. When the user wants to wear
the electric-powered article 20 and to heat the
electric-powered article 20 for warming up the user's
hand, the user may pull the movable unit 42 of the
retractable electrical connector assembly 40 toward the
end opening 112 of the limb part 11 to move the electrical
connector 31 from the inner position to the outer
position. As a result, the output terminal 311 is exposed
from the limb part 11 through the end opening 112, and
can be electrically connected to the input terminal 23
of the electric-powered article 20 for transmitting the
electricity to the third electric-heating component 22.
When the user wears the electric-heating garment 100,
he or she is able to control the desired heating degree
within the clothing 110 by simply pressing the
power-switching button 332 on the user-operable unit
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33 of the electric-heating device 30. For example, with
correspondence to the number of times the user presses
the power-switching button 332, the controller 32 may
adjust and sequentially output 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 25%,
50%, 75%, and 100% of electric power of the electricity
transmitted from the power supply 36 to achieve desired
heating degree within the clothing 110.
Referring to Figures 8 and 9, the second preferred
embodiment of the retractable electrical connector
assembly 40 of the present invention is shown. In this
embodiment, the stationary unit 41 of the retractable
electrical connector assembly 40 includes a pair of
stationary members 44 that are fixedly connected to an
inner surface 119 of the outer cloth layer 115 of the
limb part 11, that are disposed adjacent respectively
to opposite ends of the slit 116, and that are formed
with respective through holes 441. The movable unit 42
includes a movable cord 424 movable with respect to the
stationary members 44, a pull rope 43 fixedly connected
to the movable cord 424 and adapted to be pulled for
moving the movable cord 424 with respect to the
stationary members 44, and a connecting member 422
fixedly connecting the movable cord 424 to the electrical
connector 31 for driving the electrical connector 31
to move between the inner position (see Figure 8) and
the outer position (see Figure 9).
In this preferred embodiment, the movable cord 424
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is in a ring shape. The pull rope 43 of the movable unit
42 is fixedly connected to the movable cord 424 between
the stationary members 44. The connecting member 422
of the movable unit 42 is fixedly connected to the movable
5 cord 424 at a position opposite to the pull rope 43.
Accordingly, when the user pulls the pull rope 43 away
from the end opening 112 of the limb part 11, the movable
cord 424 is driven to move cyclically. Meanwhile, the
connecting member 422 moves toward the end opening 112
10 of the limb part 11 soas to drive the electrical connector
31 to move opposite to the pull rope 43 from the inner
position (as shown in Figure 8) to the outer position
(as shown in Figure 9). Asa result, the output terminal
311 is exposed from the limb part 11 through the end
15 opening 112.
Referring to Figures 10 and 11, the third preferred
embodiment of the retractable electrical connector
assembly 40 of the present invention is shown. In this
embodiment, the pouch layer 114 serves as the stationary
unit 41 . The pull rope 43 of the movable unit 42 is directly
and fixedly connected to the connecting member 422. When
the user pulls the pull rope 43 toward the end opening
112 of the limb part 11, the electrical connector 31
moves from the inner position (as shown in Figure 10)
to the oute r pos it ion (as shown in Figure 11) . As a result,
the output terminal 311 is exposed from the limb part
11 through the end opening 112.
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It should be appreciated that, although the
retractable electrical connector assembly 40 is
disposed at the limb part (i.e., sleeve) of the piece
of clothing 110 and the electric-powered article 20 is
a glove in the foregoing embodiments, the retractable
electrical connector assembly 40 may be disposed at a
collar 13 (see Figure 2) of the piece of clothing 110
and the electric-powered article 20 may be a scarf, an
earmuff, or any other headgears in other embodiments.
Referring to Figure 12, another example of the
electric-heating garment 100 is shown. In this example,
the piece of clothing 110 is a pair of pants including
a clothing main body 50 and a pair of limb parts 51 (i.e.,
pant legs) extending from the clothing main body 50.
In this case, the electric-powered article 20 is a sock.
Each of the limb parts 51 is formed with the slit 116
at a bottom part thereof, and each of the retractable
electrical connector assemblies 40 is disposed at the
bottom part in connection with the slit 116.
To sum up, the retractable electrical connector
assembly 40 according to the present invention
facilitates the user to pull out or in the output terminal
311 of the electrical connector 31 using one hand.
Moreover, by virtue of the pull rope 43 and the sliding
members 421 of the movable unit 42, the slit 116 is always
closed for preventing entry of water into the
accommodating space 120 and for preventing exposure of
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,
the electric cable 312 through the slit 116. Further,
the controller 32 is configured to control and provide
the electricity from the power supply 36 to the second
electric-heating components 35, which are disposed in
the pockets 12, only when the electrical connector 31
is not electrically connected to the electric-powered
article 20.
The scope of the claims should not be limited by
the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples,
but should be given the broadest interpretation
consistent with the description as a whole.
