UK Folding Plug concept could flatten that bulky British adapter

[edesignuk]

Of all the AC adapters stuffed into your personal item when globetrotting, the plug used in Merry Old England must surely be the most cumbersome -- its three copper prongs flung to the extremes of a giant block of plastic. That Victorian holdover gets a major re-do with this UK Folding Plug concept. The two horizontal prongs rotate themselves in-line with the top, vertical one, and the body of the adapter then folds in half, resulting in a thickness of about 1cm. Interestingly the plug would still work in either position, with a slimline power strip envisioned to accept three of these slender lovelies at once. It's positively brilliant, but is just a concept at this point, and while we don't have any news to pass along about its likelihood for production, surely some manufacturer will watch the video after the break and start churning these out by the millions.

Engadget.

It's a wonder this hasn't shown up on Dragons Den yet. Genius!

 

[mbpnewbie]

Now when will manufacturers start implementing this is the real question?

 

[Tom B.]

That would be great if it became widely used!

Thankfully Apple managed to reduce the size of the UK plug that comes with the iPhone 3G S though:

(Thanks to petemwah for the picture!)

 

[0098386]

Forget the plug, who does that mains outlet belong to?

 

[Schtumple]

Forget the plug, who does that mains outlet belong to?

Looks like an art studios or something. One that's bad at painting...

 

[remmy]

Living in the UK I would love if they did put that into production as standard for normal portable gadgets.

 

[Wheaty]

Fold flat plug has won Design Museum Design Awards 2010.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8571928.stm

Well done that man! Link to Snippet of BBC news above.

Couldnt find the original post to link to on macrumours, but I know its on here some where.

My only comment would be, I hope its printed on quite clearly with 3 Amp max, or 5 amp max as appropriate.

It really annoys me finding a 13 Amp fuse in everything from the toaster to a radio lead!

Wheaty

 

[miles01110]

Someone posted this a couple of months ago; it was a Youtube video...

I would be a stickler and link to it if I could find it

Oh...here it is.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/733216/

 

[Rodimus Prime]

To me here in the US the 220V set up in UK has always confused me because it seems like over kill for most things so it involves pretty large plugs

But part that I really want to know is how many plugs do you have in lets say a bed room. Take for example my Bed room in the US. It has 6 pairs of sockets in it and that is on the normal side that most bed rooms have 4-6 pairs of plugs. This plus a plug in my dressing room.

In my apartment I believe my bed room had 5 pair, study (9'x9' or 3mx3m room) had 4 pairs in it. Basic a lot of walls with plugs on it.

Is it this way in UK or do you have to relay much more heavily on power strips?

 

[Wheaty]

I would be a stickler and link to it if I could find it

Oh...here it is.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/733216/

Ahh super, I just wasnt using quite the right search words.. still Its late!

Just read the Old posts about it being suitable for 3KW.. I Hope not! Mobile chargers - Laptops maybe, but I doubt much more than that.

Wheaty

 

[andalusia]

Wow, that's a pretty cool design. I hope they implement it in everything

 

[Wheaty]

But part that I really want to know is how many plugs do you have in lets say a bed room. Take for example my Bed room in the US. It has 6 pairs of sockets in it and that is on the normal side that most bed rooms have 4-6 pairs of plugs. This plus a plug in my dressing room.

Is it this way in UK or do you have to relay much more heavily on power strips?

Depends on how old the house is. And if its had a rewire in the last 10 yrs or not. If it has had a rewire resently, then abut the same as you. If its about 20yrs old or more then maybe 2 per room, and a couple extra in the kitchen if your lucky.

 

[Signal-11]

To me here in the US the 220V set up in UK has always confused me because it seems like over kill for most things so it involves pretty large plugs

220-240V at 60Hz is just about the best way to transmit electricity. You lose generation and transmission efficiency at 110/120 and/or 50Hz.

The US being at 110 is a legacy of Edison's stubborn pigheadedness. The UK's (along with several former British colonies) ridiculous plugs with the fuse on the plug is a legacy of the original ring circuits, where everyone else in the world went to a spur main. The UK went to a spur main with fuses at the switchboard for lighting, but for some reason, kept the old plugs for outlets.

 

[Nermal]

To me here in the US the 220V set up in UK has always confused me because it seems like over kill for most things so it involves pretty large plugs

The voltage doesn't really correlate to the size of the plugs. We use 230 V in NZ and the plugs are relatively small:

 

[BlizzardBomb]

To me here in the US the 220V set up in UK has always confused me because it seems like over kill for most things so it involves pretty large plugs

A big plus of having fairly large plugs in the first place is that plugs which have AC adaptors rarely intrude onto adjacent sockets so you can plug things in next to them unlike my experience with other plug styles.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

The voltage doesn't really correlate to the size of the plugs. We use 230 V in NZ and the plugs are relatively small:

That is kind of interesting. When I think of the 220-240V plus I think of these huge things used in the US for it. Now things that are pulling that kind of voltage or things like our driers and other high power devices.

A big plus of having fairly large plugs in the first place is that plugs which have AC adaptors rarely intrude onto adjacent sockets so you can plug things in next to them unlike my experience with other plug styles.

That is one thing annoying about here in the US is AC adapters are quite good at blocking another socket

 

[Kebabselector]

The US plug never looks safe compared to the bulk of our UK plugs. That said I've not fried myself using any of my US/Japanese mains adaptors on the step down transformer I use.

 

[daneoni]

Its such a brilliant design and the product of a south korean mind. I hope the guy makes a fortune

 

[Rodimus Prime]

220-240V at 60Hz is just about the best way to transmit electricity. You lose generation and transmission efficiency at 110/120 and/or 50Hz.

The US being at 110 is a legacy of Edison's stubborn pigheadedness. The UK's (along with several former British colonies) ridiculous plugs with the fuse on the plug is a legacy of the original ring circuits, where everyone else in the world went to a spur main. The UK went to a spur main with fuses at the switchboard for lighting, but for some reason, kept the old plugs for outlets.

The amount of power lost at 110/120 vs 240V in a home is pretty much negligible . Remember most of the power loss is in transmission which in both countries is just at 60Hz and at very high voltage.


Now the legacy from Edison I can understand as well for homes because it is near impossible to switch it back now. Now for most things it 110V is fine it is just for those high power devices that need the 220/240 volt plugs and adapters for them which is a big pain to get wired up in a home in the US.

 

[Signal-11]

The amount of power lost at 110/120 vs 240V in a home is pretty much negligible . Remember most of the power loss is in transmission which in both countries is just at 60Hz and at very high voltage.

Ngative. UK National Grid is on 50Hz. That's a 20% loss in generation, 20% in transmission and furthermore, requires 30% larger windings and coils. You lose efficiency on generation, transmission AND materials.

Generally speaking the higher the voltage, the higher the efficiency. Furthermore, there's also a material inefficiency because smaller gauge wires can be used for the same power draw.

 

[skunk]

Its such a brilliant design and the product of a south korean mind. I hope the guy makes a fortune

Just a small correction: it's a girl who invented this.

 

[Nermal]

He looks pretty male in the video... are there multiple people involved with it?

 

[skunk]

He looks pretty male in the video... are there multiple people involved with it?

I hadn't seen the BBC clip, only the original video. The inventor does indeed appear to be of a male persuasion. My mistake. He obviously got a girl to do the video presentation.

I still can't see any way that thing could be remotely safe.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

I still can't see any way that thing could be remotely safe.

Why?

 

[Wheaty]

I still can't see any way that thing could be remotely safe.

Yes why? There are far more dodgy electrical things going on in the UK....

As long as it is used for appliances for which it has a suitable rating, like phone chargers and laptops etc, I have no problem with it..

After all why would you need a flat pack plug for your Toaster, or Vacuum, 42" Plasma TV?

The US being at 110 is a legacy of Edison's stubborn pigheadedness. The UK's (along with several former British colonies) ridiculous plugs with the fuse on the plug is a legacy of the original ring circuits, where everyone else in the world went to a spur main. The UK went to a spur main with fuses at the switchboard for lighting, but for some reason, kept the old plugs for outlets.

Sort of...
- Plugs with Fuses are GOOD Things.. Would you like your £90 Laptop power supply to blow up if you damaged the cable? Or Sit and Melt? Maybe just burn the house down?

-Yes the UK is a little different in the way things have been wired compared with other parts of the world, but it is RING MAIN and RADIAL Circuits.

-The UK used to have Radial Circuits when we did not have much in the way of electrical appliances, during the war we switched to RING circuits because we could serve the same number of electrical outlets with a thinner grade cable, and less of it... saving precious copper!

RINGS and RADIAL Circuits have their own advantages, and disadvantages. And I shall stop before boring you with my day job...

Wheaty