![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Unknown.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m talking about those two holes in all (or most) of the electrical plugs in your house. I\u2019ve always wondered what they were for \u2014 it must take some effort to make the holes, so they must have some specific purpose, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number one reason I\u2019ve been given over a lot of years is that they enable the outlet to get a better grip on the plug. I\u2019ve been told that if you look inside an electrical outlet, you\u2019d see that the contact wipers used to transfer electricity to the plug have little \u201cbumps\u201d on them and that these round bits fit snugly into the holes in the plug so the plug won\u2019t fall out of the outlet. Well, I can\u2019t speak for all electrical outlets, but I\u2019ve taken many apart and none of them have little \u201cbumps\u201d that fit into the holes of the electrical plug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time this particular puzzlement of mine pops up, I get about as far as the old \u201cgrip\u201d theory and don\u2019t get much further until my mind wanters off to another subject. But today, I thought I\u2019d dig a little deeper\u2026.
The first electrical plug in the United States was patented on June 17, 1913 by Harvey Hubbell. Turns out that Hubbell\u2019s design had no holes. His design had little semi-circle indents on both sides of the plug\u2019s prongs. These indents, according to the patent were designed to hook the plug to the socket and prevent it from falling out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to my extensive research, a lot of people tried to modify Hubbell\u2019s design and make it their own. \u201cInventors\u201d came up with plugs with square holes and round holes, but none of them copied Hubbell\u2019s semi-circular indents for fear of being sued for patent infringement. But Hubbell sued them anyway \u2014 he lost the case, but all the publicity created a movement that determined, because electricity was becoming so wide-spread, there needed to be a single, universal (standardized) plug in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when all the dust settled, all the designs, including Hubbell\u2019s, converged and resulted in electrical plugs sporting holes in the middle of the prongs and not Hubbell\u2019s semi-circular indents on the sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why are the holes there? In my limited experiment of taking apart electrical outlets, none of them contained anything special to take advantage of an electrical plug\u2019s design, and I couldn\u2019t find anything that fit into the holes of the plug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides the \u201cgrip\u201d theory, there are a lot of myths about the \u201choles.\u201d One such theory is that sometimes manufacturers have important messages they want to convey to their customers about their electrical device and they put that message on a tag that\u2019s attached with a tie-wrap through the holes in the prongs. When you cut or undo that tie, that serves as an acknowledgement that you\u2019ve read the \u201cterms and conditions.\u201d Slipping a zip tie or other material through the holes is also a way to ensure the equipment isn\u2019t being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another theory is that the holes ultimately save the manufacturers money \u2014 if you\u2019re mass producing thousands of those little prongs, there\u2019s a lot of metal that comes from those little punch-outs. That metal can be melted down and used to make more plugs\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So \u2014 my<\/em> answer is that those holes do nothing. Maybe people are just so use to seeing the holes, they\u2019d be upset if the plugs didn\u2019t have them. I guess until someone comes up with an explanation that satisfies me, I\u2019ll just continue to ponder\u2026. There are a number of things that I\u2019ve wondered about off and on for many years. A lot of these have been mentioned on this blog. If you go back several years, you\u2019ll probably find an entry about the same … Continue reading
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"