These handmade electrical plugs allow you to plug a second appliance into the back.
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Dutch designer Dave Hakkens noticed that appliances like fridges and boilers need to stay plugged in all the time so there’s often a shortage of sockets for occasional use.
His Sharing Plug eliminates the need for a tangle of multiple-socket extension leads or unplugging one device to use another.
Hakkens sculpted the plug by hand, scanned it digitally and used the manipulated model to cast the casing in rubber so it’s soft and flexible.
He then made a rubber socket and standard plug in the same way, resulting in a range with a warmer aesthetic that their mass-produced plastic counterparts.
Here’s some more information from Hakkens:
Most of the products around us are made industrially. Although I am a big fan of craftsmanship I believe our world sometimes just needs products to be made industrially. To make the products produceable for machines they need a 3D file which is designed and drawn on the computer.
Usually this is done entirely computer based. Products are starting to look the same and a personal details are lost.
I wanted to make a technical product by hand but still produceable for the industry.
I did this combining old techniques & crafts with new technologies such special software and 3D scanning.
I took a normal plug and a power socket. Usually these things haven’t got any value.
If for instance an electronic device doesn’t work anymore the plug is also thrown away, even though it still works perfectly fine. I wanted to give the plug more value and make it less disposable, so when a electronic device is broken you disconnect the plug instead of throwing it away.
Making of:
I started off by making a lot of different models and variaties. With this information I made the final models.
Instead of designing them on the computer I made them completely by hand, after that I scanned the models in 3D and put them on the computer.
I edited them, drew the technics inside and made the dimensions universal. Right now the file is 3D readable and usable for the industry. I used this file to make the final models in 3D.
Now, they are made from rubber which gives them a soft feeling, allows the plug to bend in the direction of the cable and fits perfectly around cables with a 3 – 8 mm diameter.
Handmade plugs, ready for the industry!
Yes.. That would be nice,… If it were allowed. In fact these things used to exist but were banned for safety reasons. They simply won’t allow people to plug in more plugs into one socket. This one will not get your dutch “kema keur. “. To bad! But then again you were not the first to have this brilliant brain wave.
From the designers website
The sharing plug can't stack in itself so you don't have to worry about using to much power on one socket. ( this makes it better then those things in the 70's)
Now you still have to connect it yourself, but I would love to see it if companies attach this plug at there product(which are always plugged in) as the standard.
( so the goals is to not do it yourself in the end, and i think I don't mind to do this when i buy a television or something)
I just really believe in this plug! :D:D
looks great
Excellent!.
Something really useful in design..after along while..and it's not bad looking too.
An amazing amount of work for such an ugly end result – sorry, but here in New Zealand we've had "tap on" plugs available for the past 20+ years: http://www.pdl.co.nz/product-details.aspx?rcat=pr…
great project!
Would love to see more products like this.
Are they also avalible for other countries?
very smart product design! I love it.
i remember my father used to have a radio with a plug like this.. you can plug another plug into that plug. dont know why they're not around any more. is a good idea.
yeah well, double adaptors have been around for a very long time. And they don't require you to rewire your appliances to make them work. Honestly, a design that creates extra work for the user (ie rewiring your appliances) is a bit silly in my opinion.
Fast-forward to the past! Those were available in Western Europe in the seventies. They were forbidden at one point because people kept stacking them, which would overload the circuitry.
this is one of the most beautiful project I have seen in a long long time, congratulations Dave.
Please make a UK version, I would buy loads form you :)
Maybe do a Kickstarted project and manufacture them yourself, again, I would buy loads for you.
keep up the very awesome work.
James
Just reintroducing an old idea… not many people have studied design history, so who really cares if it has been done before? The 'maarten baas' esthetics are a nice twist to this type of product….
This such a brilliant design of a plug! Love it! Great post!
KPN uses this principle on their adapters for their digital TV.
Sorry to say that I find the handmade and rubber look a bit fuzzy or sloppy, and the color of the rubber, brr. Even my grandmothers underwear has nicer colours.