Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki
Thinking of shutters, I recall a particular style of mains-outlet a couple of decades back where the shuttering on the L and N sockets was by way of a sort-of nylon butterfly-device that pivoted on a spindle centred between the 2 sockets; there were small ramps moulded on the parts of the butterfly visible through the socket-holes and arranged that when you put a plug in the butterfly rotated on its spindle to allow the pins further inward access.
There was no involvement of the earth-pin in the shutter-opening.
Anyone else recall these sockets? I thought it was a rather cunning design, and would have made it a lot easier to develop an 'updated' lightweight version of the 13A plug with only two pins for use with the current profusion of double-insulated low-power devices where the need for an earth-pin to open the shutters just adds bulk and cost.
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They were made by MK and the science labs at the school I went to from 1976 to 1981 had them, so they've been around for a long time.