Can anyone recognise this mains plug/adaptor?

[GreensandsParticipant @greensands]

A Boxing Day poser – Can anyone identify the type of mains plug/adaptor fitted to a recently acquired digital photo frame viewer marketed by Kodak ca 2008? Made in two parts with the UK 3-pin adapter sliding into the rear of the plug and locked into position by the serrated knob. Electrical data reads Model MPA- 05015 AC Adaptor I/p : 100-240V 50/60Hz, O/p: +5V DC 1.5A . Question remains is to why go to such a complicated arrangement?

[GreensandsParticipant @greensands]

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

I've got / had something simiar (also photographic eqt?); I think it's so that one can slide in another adaptor when travelling to a country with different sockets..

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Obviously, the benefits of that design is that only one electrical unit needs be designed and the slide-in adapter can be swapped out according to which domestic market it's being shipped to.

Another advantage is that it keeps the packaging small.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

It is complicated, but presumably needs only the white adaptor to be in different forms for different countries.

That is simpler than making a range of different PSUs, if the labelled unit is that, not just a plug. The label itself suggests it is, by the symbols along the bottom of the label.

[Bill Davies 2Participant @billdavies2]

The base can take different plugs to accommodate sockets of different national standards. I imagine it is proprietary to Kodak. I have had one or two devices with such an arrangement, which I no longer have. The ones I had made it impossible to remove the plug once attached. They are also rather bulky and can interfere with adjacent plugs in our sockets.

Bill

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

More than just swapping for different countries. It is designed to fit through a letterbox although some don't quite fit.

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Posted by Bazyle on 26/12/2022 10:57:47:

More than just swapping for different countries. It is designed to fit through a letterbox although some don't quite fit.

You mean so that you can sneakily plug it in, in your neighbour's hall? ..certainly worth thinking about, these days..

edit; missing apostrophe..

Edited By DiogenesII on 26/12/2022 11:03:41

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

The locking arrangement may have something to do with its Underwriters Laboratory approval.

When I worked at KODAK [years before that], they were notably thorough about such things.

MichaelG.

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https://www.ul.com/

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Edit: __ a 2-pin insert is shown on this one:

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m55236762857

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 26/12/2022 11:25:02

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

Still doing the same today. I have several similar on various bits of Kit.

This one

Is from a BT Smart Hub. It was done so that (as Bazyle said) the packaging will fit through a UK letterbox.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I have a similar thing somewhere, it came with about 4 variations of plug, including the British standard one, it would work on dual voltage as it was a switched power supply intended for use in many parts of the world.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I have three of this style of adapter plug, the first one came with a Nook tablet, which I bought in 2013, and which I now use for charging my Walkman mp3 players and a couple of small battery packs, which can be used to re-charge mobile phones when out and about, plus a couple of portable speakers, but not all at the same time of course. The second one I have is for a multi-voltage power supply, which claims to be able to be used worldwide, which I got from Maplin electronics a year or two before they closed their stores.

The third one I have is for an Asus E21OM laptop, which I bought just last July 2022. Only the Nook and the Maplin ones have a locking mechanism, the Asus one just snaps and unsnaps into place.

Regards Nick.

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