Universal Plug Holder

1. Universal Plug Holder Jonathan Rajkowski Benjamin Dean Jonathan Fitzwater

2. Electrical appliance users in the US are potential victims of short circuiting, injuries, fires, and possibly death caused by the misuse or exposure of the prongs of an electrical plug by dislodging it from the electrical socket Problem Statement

3. The purpose is to create a mechanism which prevents the dislodging of a plug from an outlet Statement of Purpose

4. Approximately 4,900 electrical fires, 3,900 injuries, 360 deaths, and the loss of $995 million occur each year • The Universal Cord Holder can prevent these occurrences from happening Justification

5. 20% of survey participants were unaware that nearly 5,000 electrical fires occur each year due to plugs • 100% utilize appliances with plugs on a regular basis • 89% stated they have found a plug partially dislodged from the socket • 71% would be willing to purchase a solution to the problem • 33% would spend 6-10 dollars on this solution Survey Results

6. Patent No. 8,021,174- Cord Securing Cover for an Electrical Outlet • Utilizes a hinged cover over each outlet which contains a single prong that holds the plug in place when the cord is pulled Existing Solutions

7. Patent No. 3,838,383- Device for Preventing Disengagement of Electrical Cord from Wall Outlet • A stopper is held in place next to the existing plugs on an outlet face and the cord is looped into a hole in the metal prongs which functions to keep the plug connected to the wall when the cord is pulled Existing Solutions (cont.)

8. Needs to hold plug in wall when force is unintentionally put onto it • Needs to be cost efficient in order to be purchased by anyone • Needs to be safe and easy to use • Must fit regular faceplate dimensions • Must hold twenty pounds of force Requirements/Specifications

9. Decision Matrix

10. Two hooks are attached to side of faceplate to hold plug in by holding cord Top 3 Solutions

11. Three prongs “snap” the plug into place Top 3 Solutions (continued)

12. Plastic clamps encase the plug and hold in into the socket Top 3 Solutions (continued)

13. Chosen Solution

14. Sketches

15. Prototype Construction

16. Prototype Construction (continued)

17. Consumer Instruction Manual

18. Testing Procedure

19. TESTING Success

20. TESTING

21. TESTING Failure

22. TESTING

23. Test Results

24. Can’t hold plug lengths less than 1 ½ inches • Can’t fit wire thickness of more than a half inch • Hook does deform slightly (1/16 of an inch) with repeated testing at 50 lbs. of force • With continuous force, faceplate pulls away from the wall Extraneous Issues

25. All but one type of wire was tested successfully when using the product • Wire plug needs to be longer than 1 1/2” in order to properly work • Some deformation does occur to the faceplate, but goes back to normal after a few moments • Product takes 50 lbs. of force to completely break Data Analysis

26. 2 hooks= one dollar • Faceplate= 56 cents • Cost of product should be around $5.56, yielding $4 profit per item. • This costs less money than the amount the majority of the survey takers said they would pay. Cost of Materials

27. Testing was a success in finding the points at which the product works and fails • It was determined that it works for almost all plugs and will remain sturdy for continual use within 50 lbs. of force • If more time was allotted, product would have been altered so that the force was on the screw rather than on the faceplate • Product was successful in solving problem Conclusion

28. Gantt Chart

29. http://www.arkansaselectricenergylaw.com/tags/electricity/ • http://www.picturesof.net/pages/100112-052670-735042.html • http://students.clipart.com References