Some people have two left feet. I believe that I have two left feet and a third invisible foot that exists only to trip me in very important moments. It’s an issue. During my senior prom, while showing off my signature Hammer moves, I tripped and unplugged the DJ booth and all of the lights, resulting in complete darkness and silence for about ten minutes. In college, while rushing to finish a project, I tripped over a power cord in the computer lab which turned off every single computer, resulting in a sprint for my life as a mob of caffeinated procrastinators chased me through the quad at 3 am. I have ruined countless presentations, proposals, and parties.
For some industries, the importance of maintaining constant power is far more important than my two left feet. Hospitals need to ensure that power can be supplied to operating room machinery seamlessly. Storage facilities need to supply power to all of their mainframes. The OEM marketplace is well aware of the necessity of power supply. But how do you guarantee this?
Fortunately, Quail Electronics has an eye out for these types of conundrums and created the Auto-Lock® for us gravity-challenged folk.The IEC-Auto Lock® is a locking mechanism that guarantees power cords will stay connected to your appliance. The Auto-Lock® performed splendidly under a pull-test, with an ultimate weight of 30 pounds. That means that you can put 30 pounds of weight on Auto-Lock® and it will stay attached!
The Auto Lock® is operated by mechanisms that hook to the pins of the power supply inlets. When clicked into place, the power cord will resist axial force, making sure that the flow of electricity remains uninterrupted. When the Auto-Lock® is clicked to unfasten, the plug will slide out easily. No tools or special skills required!
The Auto-Lock® comes in the IEC60320-C13 and C19, and can either be black or clear. All plugs are UL, C-UL, and TUV approved. In addition, the Auto-Lock® comes in multiple configurations, listed in the chart below.
|
Configurations |
P/N |
Common Use |
| • NEMA 5-15P TO C13 AUTO-LOCK® |
Standard Computer Cable |
|
| • NEMA 5-15P Hospital Grade CLR to C13CLR AUTO-LOCK® |
Hospital Use |
|
| • IEC-60320-C14 TO IEC-60320-C13 AUTO-LOCK® |
3500.039AL (Universal 3’3″) |
Networking/Storage |
| • IEC-60320-C20 TO IEC-60320-C19 AUTO-LOCK® |
Networking/Storage |
|
| • IEC-60320-C14 TO IEC-60320-C19 AUTO-LOCK® |
Networking/Storage |
The Auto-Lock® has helped me appease those whose cords I have ruined. I managed to track down the DJ, the cohort of procrastinators, and all of those whose presentations I ruined. They were quite pleased with the gift of the Auto-Lock® and forgave me. Well, at least some of them started to forgive me. And now I can walk throughout my rotating house without fear of unplugging all of my important power cords.
By Clark Cable
Clark was removed from the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space last month after he tripped, fell off a banister onto a Boeing 247, which promptly crashed into the original Apollo 11 command module. The Apollo 11 then splintered in two, with a significant hunk rolling and breaking into a large portion of the Man on the Moon exhibit, thus ruining a group of third graders’ field trip experience. While no one was hurt, Clark has been asked to refrain from returning to the Museum or Air and Space, as well as any other Smithsonian museum, unless armed with a team of security guards to watch over him.