The invention to which this application relates is apparatus and a method to form a network to allow the provision of a direct current (DC) electricity supply, typically within a premises, and particularly although not exclusively, to provide a network which allows flexibility with respect to the locations at which the electricity supply can be accessed and used by one or more users.

With the increasing use of electrical items, such as LED task lighting, IT equipment and portable devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones can be operated and powered using low voltage DC power supplies, such as an external or integrated AC to DC transformer, or internal battery, which requires charging from a DC power supply, there is likely to be a future demand for the provision of DC power supply points in offices and other commercial buildings . However currently DC power circuits are typically only provided in ceilings for the provision of DC power to LED lighting, whilst power supplied at floor level e.g. for feeding power to single, or clusters, of office desks to allow the operation of electrical items on the desk is almost always an AC power supply.

Conventionally, when a premises is being constructed, there are a number of different options which are available in order to allow the supply of electrical power to different locations in the premises . For example, with regard to a particular room of the premises, there are a number of options with regard to the location of the electricity supply connection sockets at which the electricity supply can be made available. However, while there are a range of options, these options tend to be only available with respect to certain types of building construction and as mentioned above with the exception of some types of lighting circuits, only for the provision of AC power. For example, the range of options which are available can be determined with respect to whether the floor is formed of concrete or wood, or whether there are ducts provided in the flooring for cables, whether the ceiling is suspended and allows a gap for the trunking of cables and the like. In any case the supply of the electrical power to these sockets is typically by cable connection from the mains power supply to the premises to each of the sockets which means that the sockets are typically provided at selected fixed locations in the premises .

A further problem is that the selection of the particular configuration of the electricity supply sockets tends to need to be made during the construction of the premises in order that the necessary components, cable routing and the like can be provided at that time. However, it is commonly the case, that the end user of the premises or rooms in the premises, may not be known at that stage and therefore the particular requirements of the end users are not taken into account so that, most typically, all the rooms in the premises will be provided with a generic socket location configuration which is within the confines of the type of electricity supply network which can be provided within the particular type of premises construction.

For example, power supply connection sockets, conventionally, can be selected to be located on the walls around the periphery of the room and/or if under floor cable trunking is available, sockets may be provided at fixed locations on the floor. However this latter option is only possible with certain types of premises construction and, even when provided, the location of the sockets is fixed at the time of construction as the cable ducting is installed at that stage.

This therefore means that when the end user comes to design the location of their furniture and location of staff, they are restricted by the locations of the power connections which have already been installed. This means that quite often the end user has to compromise between their preferred staff configuration and the actual staff configuration which is practically possible to achieve. An option is to install further cabling across the top surface of the flooring but this is unsightly and potentially hazardous to end users due to the high voltage of AC power circuits so tends to be avoided and therefore it is most likely that the end user will have to compromise their use of the premises.

There is therefore an accepted need for greater flexibility to be available to the end user of rooms in a premises and/or the premises themselves in order to allow the end user of the same to have flexibility as to the particular locations at which they wish to have power supply available and be accessed by users in their normal day to day operations . Furthermore it is anticipated that there will be demand for the direct supply of DC power in the workplace beyond use with lighting.

An aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a DC electricity supply network for a premises, or a room of a premises, which allows the user selection of the location of connection points to the electricity supply network to be made, at the time of installation but also subsequent to the installation of the same. A further aim is to allow the DC electricity supply to be made available at any location within a given area so as to allow the user to be able to select a particular location within the given area which suits their particular purposes.

A yet further aim is to allow the provision of a DC electricity supply network which allows the location of connection points to be altered over time to suit changes in preferences and/or changes in usage of the room or premises.

A yet further aim is to provide a DC electricity supply network for a premises or room which can be retrofitted into an existing premises or room which already has AC power supply cabling to designated locations so as to allow the room or premises to be provided with a DC electricity supply network which allows the user selection of the location of their connection to the network.

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an electricity supply assembly for a premises, said as sembly including at least one power supply connected to provide a DC electricity supply to an electricity supply substrate, said substrate positioned with respect to a surface of the premises to cover a predefined area of said surface, said substrate including first and second, spaced, conductive layers to which the said power supply is connected and wherein at least one connector is provided to be selectively positioned with respect to said substrate and to pass into the substrate to achieve electrical contact with said conductive layers in order to allow the DC electricity supply to be provided to the connector at said selected location.

Typically the said substrate is substantially planar and the said conductive layers are stacked one above the other in a spaced apart relationship .

In one embodiment the said connector can be selectively positioned at a plurality of locations on said substrate within said pre-defined area so as to form a connection point for the supply of the said electric power to one or more electrical items connected thereto .

In one embodiment the electrical connection to the electrical item can be an integral connection or, more typically, the connector is provided with a socket or plug to which the electrical item can be selectively connected. Typically, the connector socket or plug configuration may be selected to match that which is in use at that time and/or at particular geographical locations and may be altered to suit particular requirements and/ or the connector may include a number of different socket/and or plug types in a body portion. In one embodiment, the voltage of the DC electric p ower supply to the conductive layers of the substrate is a relatively low voltage, such as, but not limited to, 24 Volts, or another suitable Voltage, so as to avoid the risk : of potentially damaging electrical shock from the conductive layers of the substrate.

In one embodiment, the substrate is provided so as to be part of the flooring of the premises or room. Although reference is hereonin made to use of the substrate with respect to a floor, it should be appreciated that this is in a non-limiting manner and the surface in relation to which the same is used can be a wall or ceiling of the premises or any combination of floor, wall and/or ceiling or may be a surface of an item located in the premises.

In one preferred embodiment the substrate is formed so as to be non- rigid in form. In one embodiment the substrate is provided to have sufficient flexibility so that, once formed, the same can be rolled or folded and then transported to the site of use and unrolled or unfolded to cover the predetermined area.

In one embodiment the substrate is provided as part of a type of floor covering, such as a carpet or vinyl, or alternatively, the substrate is provided as an underlay for a floor covering so that, for example, the substrate can be located between the base of the floor and the floor covering which has an external surface, such as carpet, wood or laminate flooring, on which furniture is located and across which persons move.

The conductive layers of the substrate are typically spaced by an insulating material which can also act as a protective layer and, in one embodiment further protective layers of material can be provided intermediate the conductive layers. In one embodiment further layers of insulating and/or protective material can be provided above the first conductive layer in the direction towards the exposed surface of the substrate and/or below the second conductive layer in the direction towards the surface of the substrate which contacts a support surface such as a wall or floor. The conductive layers are thereby maintained in a spaced, out of electrical contact, configuration and are protected from possible exposure and/or puncture and/or being moved together into contact and potentially cause a short circuit.

In one embodiment the substrate comprises at least five layers, including the two conductive layers a layer of insulating material intermediate the conductive layers and at least two further layers of insulating and/or protective material. Typically said layers are provided in a stacked configuration from the external surface of the substrate towards the opposing surface of the substrate.

In one embodiment, the insulating material layers and/or further layers are provided to protect the conductive layers from the effect of impact causing potential damage and/or electrical short circuit which may be caused, for example by the accidental piercing of the conductive layers by sharp objects accidentally or deliberately.

In one embodiment at least one of the conductive layers has a degree of stretch which allows the movement of the conductive layers during forming of the substrate, subsequent installation and/or use of the substrate to be absorbed without adversely affecting the conductive nature of the layers, or adversely affecting the supply of the DC power to the one or more connectors .

In one embodiment _^ the conductive layers are formed as a matrix of conductive material so as to allow the same to have sufficient flexibility to withstand rolling/unrolling, folding/unfolding, general handling during manufacture and installation and subsequent wear and tear during use of the assembly and the flooring in relation to which the same is located.

In one embodiment the matrix is formed by forming slots in the conductive material layer and/ or the material layer is wrinkled or corrugated. Alternatively the conductive layer matrix is formed by a braid or lattice of conductive members .

In one embodiment the conductive layers have a thickness which is less than the thickness of the insulating layer positioned intermediate the same.

Typically the substrate is provided in a single heterogeneous format. Alternatively the substrate is provided by a single or multi layer substrates provided in a stack.

In one embodiment, when installing the substrate, the same is unrolled or unfolded and then cut to the shape required, such as the shape of the predefined area across which the same is to extend or to a shape which allows the same to be used in conjunction with further substrates to form the assembly over the predefined area. In one embodiment the predefined area is a floor or wall of the premises and the substrate has substantially same peripheral shape as the floor or wall.

In one embodiment, the conductive layers are provided as a unitary layer across the substrate. In another embodiment, and in particular for larger predefined areas, the respective conductive layers may be joined together at their edges to form larger area conductive layers in the substrate and/or the substrate may be formed in lengths or strips or parts which are joined together to form a larger substrate with the required pre-determined area and, in one embodiment, with the respective conductive layers joined together. Alternatively, a number of the substrates may be provided side by side to provide the predetermined area, with each of the substrates provided with separate DC power connections . In one embodiment the DC power supplied by each of the substrates can differ so as to allow specific voltage levels to be provided to particular areas and/or for use by specific types of electrical items which require different voltage levels as required.

In one embodiment, the connector includes a first conductor located so as to make electrical connection with a first conductive layer of the substrate only, and a second conductor provided to make electrical contact with the second conductive layer of the substrate only and thereby allow the electrical connection of the connector to the DC power supply.

In one embodiment, the connector includes securing means which allow the connector to be secured to one, or both, of the base of the floor and/or a floor covering which includes or is placed over the substrate. The securing means provide mechanical engagement of the connector with the fabric of the building and or the overlying floor covering to thereby ensure that the connector is maintained in the user selected location and in electrical connection with the conductive layers of the substrate during subsequent use.

Typically the securing means of the connector are releasable, most typically using a tool, so as to allow the connector to be moved, if required, to another location and or maintenance to be performed on the connector such as, for example, to allow the replacement of sockets and or to change the conductor portions.

Typically, once the location of the connector is selected, the conductor portions of the connector are moved so as to pass through the respective conductive layers of the substrate so that, when in position, a first conductor of the connector locates with the first conductive layer of the substrate and the second conductor of the connector locates with the second conductive layer of the substrate to thereby achieve electrical connection which is then transferred to the body of the connector in which the sockets or plugs are provided.

In one embodiment, a plurality of connectors can be selectively positioned at different locations across the predetermined area of the substrate.

In one embodiment if it is desired that a greater electrical power capacity is provided, further DC power supply connections can be attached to the conductive layers of the substrate so as to provide additional DC power to the substrate.

In one embodiment, the DC power supply connection to the conductive layers of the substrate can be achieved using any conventional connection form.

In one embodiment, the predetermined area of the sheet material is selected to be the area of the floor of a room or premises so that substantially all of the floor area is covered by the substrate and is therefore made available for receipt of one or more of said connectors.

In one embodiment the same or further layers of insulation and/or conductive layers can be provided to allow additional functionality to be achieved such as, for example, data gathering and/or data distribution.

In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a connector for selective positioning with respect to a substrate which carries an electricity supply along two spaced apart conductive layers wherein said connector is provided to allow electricity to be supplied from the substrate to a connected item and includes first and second portions provided spaced apart and formed so as to pass at least partially into the substrate so that the first portion is in electrical contact with a first of said conductive layers and the second portion is in electrical contact with the second of the said conductive layers to make an electrical connection to the said electricity supply.

In one embodiment the said connector includes at least one plug and/or socket to allow the said item to be connected thereto and the said plug and/or socket is accessible externally of the substrate when the connector is in position.

In one embodiment the connector includes mechanical engagement means to allow the connector to be retained in position with respect to the substrate and/or a base such as a floor or wall on which the substrate is provided.

In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a substrate for use as part of an electricity supply assembly for a premises, said substrate including means to allow at least one electrical power supply to be connected to first and second conductive layers provided as part of the substrate, wherein said conductive layers are spaced apart by at least one layer of insulating and/or protective material and a further layer of material forms the external face of the substrate and said layers are provided in a stacked manner and receive at least partially therethrough a connector which is selectively positionable with respect to the substrate and movable into the same to make an electrical connection with said conductive layers.

In one embodiment one or more further layers are provided in the substrate to provide further resistance to potential damage of the substrate.

In one embodiment at least one of the layers or between the layers of the substrate is used to allow a further function to be provided. In one embodiment the further function is the provision of data carried along one of mote of the said layers or by cables in the said layer or between the layers to allow the data to be accessible, typically via the location of a connector with the substrate at a desired location.

Typically the substrate can be formed of one portion or a number of portions which are provided with separate electrical supply connections thereto or alternatively the conductive layers of adjacent portions are electrically connected so as to allow the same to act as a unitary substrate provided with electricity from the same common electricity supply connections .

Typically in use the substrate is provided to be laid substantially flat.

It will therefore be appreciated that in accordance with the invention, there is no longer a need to provide fixed sockets on the floor or walls and therefore the requirement to run supply cables in new build premises is significantly reduced. Furthermore the network in accordance with the invention can also be installed as a retro fit facility, thereby allowing the advantages of the invention to be provided to existing premises as well as newly built premises and therefore allow an infinite number of possible electricity supply connector locations to be available within a room or premises.

Specific embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings; wherein

Figure 1 illustrates a room of a premises including the electricity distribution apparatus as defined in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Figures 2a and b illustrate a cross section of a portion of the substrate in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 illustrates the manner in which the substrate of Figures 2a and b may initially be provided;

Figures 4a-f illustrate embodiments of the conductive layer of the substrate;

Figures 5a-i illustrate embodiments for attachment of a connector in a selected position with respect to the substrate and/or floor covering; and

Figures 6a-t illustrate embodiments of the conductor portions of the connector to allow connection with the respective conductive layers of the substrate.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is illustrated a plan view of an example of a premises 2 with which the current invention can be used to advantage, with the roof removed for ease of illustration. The premises is split into room 4, a reception area, and rooms 6,8,10 each of which may be used, in this case as offices, by the same user or different users. In accordance with the invention, each of the bases, in this embodiment the floors 12 of the rooms 6, 8, 10, are provided with a DC electricity supply distribution assembly in accordance with the invention. This allows the user to selectively locate connectors to make connection with the electricity supply at any location on the respective predefined areas 14, 16, 18 indicated by the respective hatching. It will therefore be appreciated that in this embodiment all of the floor space 6,8,10 is available for the receipt of connectors thereon and the locations of the connectors can be selected by the users in accordance with the invention as will now be described.

In Figure 1 the location of connectors 42 has already been performed as indicated with respect to room 6. The assembly in accordance with this embodiment of the invention provides, on each of the floors 12 of the rooms 6,8, 10, a substrate in accordance with the invention which extends across all of the floor space in each room 6, 8, 10 so as to define the respective predefined areas in each room and it should be noted that in other uses the substrate need not cover the entire floor or may be provided on another base such as a wall, or ceiling or surface of an item of furniture. At at least one, but possibly several locations, and most typically at the periphery 17 of the substrate, there is provided a DC power supply connection 19 which allows the provision of electrical power, typically from a mains power supply, to conductive material layers provided in the substrate. The number of DC power supply connections 19 provided can be selected with respect to the required ampage input with respect to the actual or envisaged user demand for power from the assembly. In one embodiment the DC power is supplied to and from the substrate at 24 Volts but this is only one example and the assembly can be adapted to suit specific requirements . As the DC current flows through the conductive layers 28, 30 of the substrate, shown in Figures 2a and b, the DC electricity power supply spreads out across the substrate 20 to therefore be available for electrical connection therewith.

Figures 2a and b illustrates a cross sectional view of two embodiments of a substrate 20 in accordance with the invention. It will be seen that in both embodiments of the invention the substrate is formed of a series of layers which are stacked one on the other and depend from an external surface which is the exposed surface of the top layer 26, 26a to the opposing surface (the surface of the base layer 22,22b) which lies on or adjacent to the base when the substrate is in use.

In Figure 2a it will be seen that there is provided a base layer 22 of insulating material, an intermediate layer of insulating material 24 and a top layer of insulating material 26. The insulating material layers 22,24,26 effectively serve to encapsulate and space apart first and second conductive layers 28, 30 formed of a suitable conductive material such as a metal foil, matrix or the like, with one of the conductive layers provided at a predefined voltage, such as 24V and the other conductive layer at 0V via the appropriate connection of the layers 28,30 to DC power supply connection(s) 19.

The insulating layers 22,24, 26 can also be provided of a material to protect the conductive layers from impact, damage and prevent the same from being brought together to cause a risk of short circuit.

As shown in Figure 2b, the substrate can be formed of a greater number of stacked layers and in this case the top and bottom layers are provided of two sub layers 26a, 26b and 22a, 22b respectively and in this case one of the layers may provide the insulating characteristic and the other layer provides a greater resistance to damage or unintended puncturing of one or more layers of the substrate. Also shown is that the intermediate layer 24 is split into two sublayers 24a, 24b and again this can be to allow greater insulating characteristics to be provided or greater resistance to the conductive layers being brought together into contact.

In addition to these functions or more of the layers 22,24,26 can be used for other functions such as to provide data thereacross and allow the data to be accessible by a suitable connection being made with the layer.

Typically, when the substrate is being used on a floor the external or top face of the substrate will be covered over by a floor covering of some form or in another embodiment the substrate is formed as part of the floor covering.

In accordance with the invention, the substrate is preferably provided in a flexible format so as to ensure that the same can be rolled and unrolled, cut to fit and installed, whilst maintaining the integrity of the conductive layers 28, 30 and ensuring that the electricity supply is available across the substrate.

In order to achieve this, in one embodiment the conductive layers 28, 30 have a thickness X which is less than the thickness Y of the intermediate insulating layer 24 and the thickness Z of the insulating layers 22, 26. Equally the relative thickness of the insulating layers can be selected to suit particular purposes, for example the insulation layers may differ to provide protection from external impact or piercing forces such as for example, having differing hardness and/or flex and/or wear characteristics to suit particular usage requirements and the conductive layers may differ to provide specific stretch requirements . It will therefore be appreciated that the thickness of the respective layers can be selected to suit particular requirements and/or the types and /or configuration of the material used.

The stretch requirements between the conductive layers 28, 30 when the substrate 20 is rolled, differ as shown in Figure 3 as the "outer" conductive layer 28 has to stretch, and stretch further than the "inner" conductive layer 30.

In order to accommodate this, one, or both, of the conductive layers can be formed so as to allow a degree of stretch without affecting the conductive integrity of the layer and examples of how this can be achieved are shown in Figure 4a-f.

A first embodiment is shown in Figures 4a and b in which a conductive layer 28 is shown in plan in a relaxed format (Figure 4a) and a stretched format (Figure 4b) . The conductive layer has a series of cuts or slots 34 formed at regular intervals as shown and when the conductive layer is stretched in the direction indicated by arrow 36 the cuts or slots expand so as to allow a degree of expansion as indicated by arrow 38 as shown in Figure 4b . An alternative embodiment is shown in Figures 4c and d in which the side elevation of the substrate 20 shows the conductive layers 28, 20 as being wrinkled or corrugated when the substrate is in the relaxed condition shown in Figure 4c. When the substrate is stretched such as by rolling the same as shown in Figure 4d, or perhaps by the application of a downward force on the substrate during installation or once installed, then, as shown in Figure 4d, the stretching of the conductive layer 28, and to a lesser extent conductive layer 30, is accommodated by the straightening out of the wrinkles or corrugation.

A yet further alternative is to form the conductive layers of a series of members 40 in a braided format shown in Figure 4e or a lattice format as shown in Figure 4f which allows the integrity of the conductive layers to be maintained whilst allowing a range of stretch of the conductive layer to be provided.

Alternatively a conductive material, with inherent properties allowing stretch, could be used as long as it satisfies the requirement for effective conductivity.

Turning now to Figures 5a-i there are illustrated several embodiments of the manner in which a connector can be selectively located with the substrate 20 and /or floor in order to allow electrical power from the conductive layers 28, 30 of the substrate 20 to be made available to the connector 42 and, in turn to the user. The particular configuration which is used is dependent upon the particular format in which the substrate 20 is provided, the type of base 44 on which the substrate is located and/or the particular type of floor covering 46 with which the substrate 20 is to be used.

In Figure 5a the substrate is located on a floor base 44 with a wooden floor covering 46 to be provided on top of the substrate 20. Once the user selects the location on the floor covering at which the connector 42 is to be located then, in this embodiment, a router tool 48 is used to form a passage 50 through the wood floor covering 46 and a passage 52 into the substrate 20 for the receipt of the connector 42 therein as will be subsequently described.

In Figures 5b and c there is provided the floor base 44 which in this embodiment is formed of concrete. In this case the router tool 48 has formed the passage 50 in the floor covering 46 and a drill 54 is then introduced to form the passage 52 in the substrate 20 and a passage 56 into the concrete base 44 as shown in Figure 5b. A locating means 58 such as a rawl bolt is then placed into the passage 56 and secured in position and which receives a bolt 60 and nut 62 as shown in Figure 5c. When in position, the body 43 of the connector 42 can be rotated into position on the bolt 60 such that a first conductor portion 64 of the body 43 is positioned at a distance into the substrate to be able to make electrical connection with the first conductive layer 28 of the substrate 20 and a second conductor 66 is positioned so as to make electrical connection with the spaced apart second conductive layer 30 of the substrate, as shown in Figure 5d. This therefore completes the electrical connection between the two connected conductor portions in the connector and allows the supply of the electricity from the conductive layers 28,30 to the connector 42 which can then be made available for use by an electrical item via a plug or socket 68 provided on the connector body 43.

In one embodiment when the connector 42 is in position and electrical connection to the conductive layers 28,30 of the substrate is achieved, the passage 50 can receive a fitting 69 as shown in Figure 5h to form part of the connector and thereby allow user access to the interface 71 which includes the socket or plug 68 for receipt of the other of the plug or socket provided with the electrical item which is to be provided with the DC power. The fitting 69 includes electrical contacts which engage with the respective electrical contacts 75, 77 on the nut 73 of the body 43 which, in turn, are in electrical contact with the respective conductor portions 64,66 so as to allow the DC power to be transferred from the conductive layers 28, 30 to the electrical item. The plug or socket fitting 69 can also provide a water seal with the floor covering via sealing means 72.

Alternatively, and as shown in Figure 5d, if the plug or socket fitting 69 is not required to be used at that location at that time the connector 42 can be water sealed, by the provision of a cover 70 with the seal element 72 and, if desired, the aesthetic appearance can be enhanced by the provision of a cap 74 which is of similar material as the floor covering 46 and which lies flush with the external surface 76 of the same and the cap 70 and cover 74 can be replaced with the plug or socket fitting as and when the same is required to be used to provide power, and vice versa, when the connector is no longer required to provide power.

In either embodiment the cover 70, or plug or socket fitting 69, can be secured in position via a screw shank 79 which is provided to screw into a threaded passage 81 in the connector body 43.

Figure 5d also illustrates the manner in which an alternative floor covering 46' can be provided in the form of carpet or a tile and it will be appreciated that the depth of certain components and/ or the need to use certain components will be determined by the type of floor covering with which the connector is to be used.

Figure 5i illustrates a further embodiment of a securing means for a connector 42 in accordance with the invention. Figure 5i illustrates another embodiment in which the floor base 44 is formed of wood and the floor covering is carpet. The Figure illustrates the manner in which a securing bolt 90 is threaded into location with the base 44 and is retained in position by nut 92 and therefore allows the securing thereto of the body (not shown) of the connector. In each embodiment appropriate electrical circuitry and/or connection means will be included in the plug or socket fitting 69 to allow the electricity from the conductors 64,75 and 66,77 to be supplied to the socket or plug provided on the same and, in turn, be provided to an electrical item connected to the plug or socket.

Referring now to Figures 6a-t there are illustrated several embodiments of the arrangement of the conductors 102, 104 of the connector 42 in order to achieve the electrical contact with the respective conductive layers 28, 30 of the substrate 20. It will be appreciated that connectors including the conductors 102, 104 of the type shown can be selectively used to suit particular requirements and/or locations of use.

In Figures 6a-c the conductors 102, 104 are provided on arms 106, 108 retained on a plate 110 via which the user inserts the same into the substrate by applying a downward force. In Figure 6a the conductors 102, 104 are selectively located intermediate the ends of the respective members 106, 108 and in Figure 5b the conductors 102, 104 are located at the free ends of the respective arms 106, 108.

In Figures 6d and e the arms 106, 108 are provided as elongate portions running along the length of a plate 1 10 with conductors 102, 104 at the appropriate locations and a retaining pin 112 can be provided to pass through the plate and into the substrate 20 and base of the floor to secure the connector in position.

In Figures 6f and g the plate 1 10 is provided to be circular and the arms 106, 108 are provided in a teeth formation so as to allow the plate 1 10 to be rotated about axis 1 14 as indicated by arrow 1 16 and allow the teeth to press into and through the substrate 20 to allow the conductors 102, 104 to be brought to the required location with respect to the conductive layers 28, 30. A similar form is shown in Figure 6j but in this case the plate 1 10 extends downwardly and the teeth formations are replaced by a screw thread 118 on which the conductors 102, 104 are positioned so as to lie at the level of the electrically conductive layers 28, 30 positions when installed.

In Figure 6h there is illustrated an arrangement in which the conductors 102, 104 are respectively located as the lower surface of plates 120, 122 and again a securing pin 1 12 is provided.

In Figure 6i there is provided a body 124 in a wedge shape which has at the appropriate levels the conductors 102, 104 so that when the body 124 is inserted into the substrate typically by locating the securing pin 112 the conductors 102, 104 make the appropriate electrical contact with the conductive layers 28, 30.

In Figures 6k and 1 there is provided a body 126 with a securing means 1 12 and the body has conductors 102, 104 at the appropriate height which, initially as the body is inserted into the substrate are substantially flush with the side walls of the body but, when in position, the conductors can be pivoted outwardly about their respective axes 128, 130 by rotating head portion 131 to make contact with the conductive layers 28, 30 respectively. Figures 6r and s illustrate a similar arrangement but in this case the conductors 102 104 move out linearly when head portion 152 is rotated about axis 144

In Figures 6m and n there is provided a body portion 132 with the conductors 102, 104 formed therein at the required location and a securing means 112 is provided which passes through the body 132. In Figure 6m there are provided arms 134, 136 which extend from the body and into the substrate 20 so as to assist in securing the connector with the substrate. In Figure 6n the arms 134, 136 are shortened and a second set of lower arms 138, 140 are provided and a crimping action can be performed. A similar arrangement is shown in Figure 6o but in this case the body is replaced by a plate 142 and the conductors 102, 104 are formed on the required locations on the lower arms 138, 140.

In Figure 6p a securing pin 112 is provided and the conductors 102, 104 are formed on the threaded shank 144 of the securing pin. Figure 6q includes a securing pin 112 acting on a plate with arms 148, 150 on which the conductors 102, 104 are located.

In Figure 6t the connector includes first and second arms 78, 80 which pass through a passage 50 formed in the floor covering 46 and into the substrate 20. Arm 78 has a conductor 64 to contact with the conductive layer 28 and arm 80 has a conductor 66 to contact conductive layer 30 and thereby allow electricity to be provided to the conductor body 42. The arms 78, 80 are provided with gripping portions 82, 84 to allow the same to be retained in the substrate 20 insulating material layer 22 and the body of the connector includes a bolt 86 onto which is threaded a retainer 88, which is also externally threaded, to allow the same to be secured to the floor covering 46.

The present invention therefore provides the ability for the selective location of power supply connections to be achieved in both new and old premises utilising a flexible tollable substrate which can be fitted to any required shape of floor, wall and/or ceiling thereby solving the problem of allowing the provision of power connections in a room or premises at locations as desired and selected by the particular users of the premises at that time and for the further adaptation of the power supply locations thereafter to meet change of use requirements.