Patent · US Expired

Safety covers for electrical outlets (II)

US4718856A · kind A · utility

23Cited by
7References
4Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 18, 1986
Grant dateJan 12, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 18, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01R13/447
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A protective cover for restricting access to the female sockets or connectors of an electrical outlet, thereby protecting infants and small children and others of limited understanding against electrical shock. The cover includes a base plate bearing an externally threaded boss which replaces the conventional outlet cover; a safety cap of the push-and-twist type threaded on the boss; protective members which are clamped by the safety cap against the boss overlying the socket being protected to deny access to the socket, both when the socket is in use and when it is not in service; and a platelike shield which normally overlies, and denies access to, a second female socket of the typical double socket wall outlet. This shield can be swung aside after backing off the safety cap to furnish unprotected, but controlled, and typically temporary, access to that second female socket.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.