Switch Cord Plug Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED. STATESPATENT OFFICE.
EUGENE LAMAR SMITH, OF OAK CLIFF, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO GEORGE F.
CHILDRESS, OF WILLS POINT, TEXAS.
SWITCH-CORD PLUG.Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented April 28, 1908.
Application fied September 1, 1906. Serial No. 332,958.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, EUGENE LAMAR SMITH,
a citizen of the United States, and a resident
of Oak Cliff, in the county of Dallas and State
5 of Texas, have invented a new and Improved
Switch-Cord Plug, of which the following is a
full, clear, and exact description.
This invention relates to a new and im-
proved plug adapted to be attached to cords
10 and used in connection with the common
form of telephone switchboard, and com-
prises means whereby the plug may be in-
serted within a vertical switchboard and the
cord relieved from all strain, due to its bend-
15 ing at a point at which it is attached to the
plug.
My improved plug is made of two parts se-
cured together by a ball and socket, joined so
that when one part of the plug is inserted in a
.20 vertical switchboard the .other part of the
plug may turn at an angle without breaking
the connection or straining the wire. By
this improved joint the one portion of the
plug may be rotated a short distance in re-
25 spect to the other, so that the cord may be
relieved of strain due to a slight twisting as
the plug is inserted within the switchboard.
Reference' is to be had to the accompany-
ing drawings forming a part of this specifica-
30 - tion, in which similar characters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in all the fig-
ures, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my complete
plug having a portion of the cord attached
35 thereto; Fig. 2 isan enlarged central longitu-
dinal section through -my improved plug;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the
]parts constituting the socket;; Fig. 4 is an en-
larged central longitudinal section through
40 the socket member with one terminal of the
plug attached thereto; and Fig. 5 is an en-
larged cross section substantially on the line
5-5 of Fig. 2.
My improved plug may be made of any
45 suitable design to accommodate it to the dif-
ferent designs of switchboards now in- use,
and the terminals of the plug may be ar-
ranged in many different manners, but the
~plug substantially comprises two members
50 secured together by a ball and socket joint,
and in the specific form of my invention
which I have illustrated in the drawings, the
socket member is -carried by the portion of
the plug -inserted. within the switch board,while the ball portion is carried on theend of 55
the cord.
The ball 1 is formed integral with the head
2 on the end of a cord and is separated there-
from by a short hollow neck 3: The head 2
may be secured to the ends of the wires of the '60
cord 4 in any suitable manner, as for instance,
extending each of the wires through insulat-
ing casings 5 and 6 and connecting one of
these wires to the head by a suitable terminal
connection 7, while the other is entirely insu- 65
lated from the head and adapted to' be se-
cured to the wire extending to the tip of the
plug, as. will be hereinafter described. The
socket member of -the plug is formed from a
hollow cylinder split longitudinally into two 70
parts 8 and 9 and provided with a smoothly
polished socket 10, at one end thereof, adapt-
ed to exactly fit the outer surface of the ball 1.
The two parts 8 and 9 are rigidly held to-
gether after the ball is. inserted within 'the 75.
socket and any suitable'means for so holding
them may be employed, 'although I prefer-
ably provide bolts 11 at the socket end and
bolts 12 at the opposite end, the heads of all
of which fit within countersunk openings so 80
that no part projects beyond.the surface. If
desired, a notch or lug 13 may be provided on
one of the parts adapted to fit into.a similarly
shaped recess on the other part and keep the
two in perfect alinement. .. 85
Secured to the end of the socket member
at the end opposite to the socket, is a short
tube 14, through the ellges of which extend
the bolts 12 so that the tube is rigidly held in
place; but the bolts 12 do not extend through 90
the inner surface of this tube. Within. the
tube 14 is a bar 15 separated therefore by
suitable insulating material 16 and terminat-
ing within the socket member in the form of
an enlarged head 17, which also is insulated 95
from the socket member. The rod 15 has a
tip 18 secured to its outer end by means of a
screw 19, but the tip and screw are carefully
insulated from the' tube 14. An insulated
conductor 20 connects the enlarged head 17 100
with the terminal of the wire 5 within the
head and secured to the cord, and this wire
passes through the hollow ball 1 and neck 3,
both of which are rounded on their inner
sides so that no sharp. edges are present to in- 105
jure the insulated wire or destroy the insula-
tion. The socket member has a portion cA
one of the parts cut away to form an openingNo. 886,262
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Smith, Eugene Lamar. Switch Cord Plug, patent, April 28, 1908; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth513222/m1/2/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.