A variety of terminal adapters are known and can be bought in auto parts stores in the United States of America. Thus the BWD Automotive Corporation of Franklin Park, Illinois markets a twelve piece"D"package of terminal adapters under the"ONE STOP"brand. The package is made up of four types of adapters.

The first is a metal strip having a central female contact, a male contact on one end and an insulated crimp for a wire lead on the other. A second has a central female contact with male"spade"or"blade"terminals on each end. A third has a female contact on one end and two side by side male blade contacts on the other. The fourth has configuration"z" with a female contact on one end and, on the other end, two parallel male blade contacts offset at right angles on a base which is perpendicular to the female contact.

The adapters have many uses. One of the primary uses is to assist in the connection of automotive accessories to vehicle fuse blocks by connecting leads.

The connectors often have a terminal or a contact on one end, a wire lead to a fuse holder, and a wire extending from the fuse holder for connection to the accessory.

A male element of the terminal adapter is forced into a vehicle fuse box female contact in parallel with the blade of a plug fuse and can slip or be pulled out and forgotten when the fuse is removed for inspection, etc.

U. S. Patent 2,372,638 issued to L. J. Sohler teaches a form of a terminal adapter to be used with fuse boxes. The connector is bent upon itself at the mid-point to form a blade for insertion into a female contact. At the end of the blade, the two sides bifurcate at roughly a forty five degree angle. At the point where the width between the two sides becomes greater than that of a plug fuse, the two sides are rebent forty-five degrees to form a parallel male contact which has an outward crimp at it's lower end. The"Y"portion of the connector is inserted into a vehicle fuse block over the top and sides of a blade fuse and fit outside the female contact within the fuse box receptacle. Half of the metal in the rebent portion of the connector is cut away vertically so that the non cut away will rest on top of the fuse box and prevent excessive penetration by the end of the bifurcated section into the receptacle in which the female contact is positioned.

Dennis Brooks has invented"T","Y", and"L"shaped adapters. The"L" shaped adapter is marketed by TSI Acquistion Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Florida under the mark"Fuseplug". Each of these adapters has one pair of male electrodes which are plugged into female fuse receptacles of a vehicular fuse block. The adapters have two or more pairs of female receptacles into which fuses can be inserted. One, effectively, replaces the fuse block female receptacle into which the receptacle is plugged and the other acts as a receptacle for a second fuse in a vehicular accessory circuit when an accessory electrode is plugged into it.

Automobile design considerations have resulted in the need for smaller fuse blocks. At the same time, the public demand for accessories has increased spectacularly. Since installed fuse blocks cannot be enlarged or the space for the fuse blocks expanded, there is a need for inexpensive ever more compact adapters.

The fuse extender units of this invention provide those smaller adapters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The fuse/extenders of this invention have a sheath, two male electrodes which fit into the female receptacles of a vehicle fuse block, one or more accessory fuses and accessory electrodes for connection to accessory lead electrodes for supplying power to an otherwise electrically grounded accessory (s).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 is an elevational view of a preferred fuss/extender.

Figure 2 is an end view of an accessory electrode and connector element of the unit of Figurel.

Figure 3 depicts a layout of the fuse extender of Figure 1 less the sheath.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the fuse extender unit and the electrode configurations of Figures 1-3.

Figure 5 depicts a model with a male accessory electrode.

Figure 6 depicts a portion of a connector element connected to a male electrode within the sheath.

Figure 7 depicts a portion of a fuse extender unit where the accessory electrodes are positioned at a right angle to the"fuse"body..

Figure 8 depicts a fuse extender having two male accessory electrodes for connection to complementary accessory lead electrodes.

Figure 9 depicts a fuse extender having a"L"configuration and three male accessory electrodes.

Figure 10 is a bottom view of Figure 9 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES In the Figures, the numbers for each item remain constant but have an alphabetic identifier for any changes in form.

Figures 1-4 depict the preferred embodiment. In Figure ta a yellow tinted transparent plastic sheath 10 encloses and aligns male electrodes 11 and 12.

Electrode 12 is much shorter than electrode 11. Connector element 13 is separated from electrode 12 and both are individually connected to electrode 11 by fuse 14 and accessory fuse 15. Connector element 13 is flat and its panhandle 16 turns 90 degrees and is inserted, i. e., electrically connected, within female spade accessory lead electrode 18 which is connected to accessory lead 19 of wire 20. Cover 21 is fitted over connector element 13 and lead electrode 18. These are enclosed within hollow 22 of cover 20, which can be fused to sheath 10.

Figure 2 depicts the left end of Figure 1 without female spade electrode 18 and Cover 21 in place. While shown in one straight piece the panhandle"accessory electrode"can be refolded to increase thickness or even multiple pieces.

Figure 3 shows unbent connector element 13 positioned end to end with electrode 12 by an electrically insulating"H"shaped positioning device 23 and positioned in parallel with and in the same plane as electrode 11 by fuses 14 and 15.

The plastic sheath 10 shown in Figure 4 is made of two pieces which lie above and below the plane of electrodes 11, and 12, and which are fused at line 9 to form the sheath 10. Cover 21 is shown separated prior to mechanically interlocking it to sheath 10 when female spade accessory lead electrode 18 is in place.

Figure 5 depicts a different embodiment where male electrode 12 is widened at its bottom to ensure that it preserves circuit polarity and where conductor element 13a is square or rectangular. Male accessory electrode 25 is bent at point 26, and split at point 27 to fit over a corner of connector element 13a where it is welded, soldered, or brazed to connector element 13a. The male accessory electrode 25 is housed by cover 20a which has a hollow 28 surrounding male accessory electrode 25. Cover 20a is an integral part of sheath 10a.

The cutaway of Figure 6 depicts a different embodiment of a device where connector element 13b has been partially cutaway and female accessory electrode 29 has been split, fitted over and brazed to element 13b and is vertically recessed within hollow 28a in sheath lOb.

Figure 7 is a unit with recessed male accessory electrodes formed from panhandle of connectors 13c. Connector elements 13c are not twisted as in"Figure 1 but are bent while flat at a rounded right angle over the bottom portion of cover 20b onto which the part is fused at dashed line 9a.

Figure 8 is an embodiment where two male accessory electrodes 25a and 25b are positioned within a modified sheath 10d. Accessory electrode 29a is vertically positioned (with respect to the Figure) and connected to a connector element 13d.

A second accessory electrode 29b is angled and is connected to connector element 30. Connector element 30 is then connected to electrode 11 via fuse 31. While two male accessory electrodes are shown, two female or one each of a female and male electrode can be utilized.

Figure 9 depicts a layout of a unit with three female electrodes 29a. Sheath 10e is"L"shaped as a final product. The top portion bends downward at a 90 degree angle into the drawing sheet at bend line 33. Modifie fuses 15a, 31a, and 34 connect electrode 11 a to modified male accessory electrodes 29a. The electrodes 29a are modified for fused connection to the fuses 15a, 31a, and 34 and by adding anchors 35. While the"L"shape sheath has the accessory electrodes linearly positioned with respect to the male electrodes, 1 la and 12, these electrodes could be placed at right angles to the left or right of the Figure by modifying the shapes of the fuse elements or electrodes.

Figure 10 is a view of the bottom end of the unit of Figure 9. It shows the "L"configuration of male electrode 1 la.

The positive electrode 1 la has an"L"shape which extends rearward to the top of electrode 11 a.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The fuse sheaths are made of any non conductive silicone, carbonate halocarbon or other polymer utilized commercially in the manufacture of vehicular fuses. The sheaths can be opaque or translucent if suitable"windows"of nearly transparent material are provided to permit visual inspection of the condition of each fuse.

The sheath components can normally be fused, usually thermally, or adhered together but can be molded. Interlocking sheath components can also be pressed together to form the sheath.

The sheaths will provide the usual apertures for the male electrodes to be fitted into the female receptacles of the fuse blocks and whatever aperture shapes are required to fit the accessory electrodes with the complementary accessory lead electrodes, i. e., the male and female leads must easily be shaped to electrically connect with each other.

The sheaths may not always be required to shield the accessory electrodes from human contact. For example, the accessory electrodes might be coated with a self sealing, electrically insulating material which is slit or pierced by a portion of a complementary accessory lead electrode. In some circumstances, there may be no need to insulate the accessory electrodes, e. g., when the accessory lead electrodes and vehicle fuse accessory can be handled only with electrically insulated tools.

The connector element and electrode materials can be any organic or