The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 23, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2001
Michael J. Rodney, Sr., Venice, FL (US);
Baker Electronics Inc., Sarasota, FL (US);
Abstract
An apparatus is provided for removably mounting and electrically connecting electronic equipment through a plug to a permanently mounted powered receptacle that allows removal of power from the equipment, such as a monitor, attached to it without removal of the plug/monitor assembly from the receptacle. Embodiments include a plug portion inside of which is slidably mounted a connector housing carrying an electrical connector half. The plug further comprises a lever for sliding the housing between an engagement position, in which the electrical connector half engages a mating electrical connector half in a receptacle, and a non-engagement position where the connector halves are apart. The plug has retractable nubs on its exterior which are biased to engage grooves in the receptacle to retain the plug in the receptacle by a spring-like backing plate attached to the nub disposed in the interior of the plug near the walls of the slidable housing. When the housing is in the non-engagement position, the nubs and their backing plates are allowed to retract with a modest force to allow the plug to be engaged with or removed from the receptacle. Thus, the plug can be inserted into the receptacle without engaging the electrical connector halves, and the lever can thereafter be operated to engage (or disengage) the electrical connector halves when the plug and receptacle are engaged, without removing the plug from the receptacle.