Safer Electrical Outlets to Protect Children and Vulnerable People

Patent 1, 11,011,877 B2

This is a prototype of the whole switched receptacle of Patent 1, connected to power through the attached cord. It is not a finished product, as would be offered for sale, but only a proof of concept construction. In it, the top cap with standard openings for plug blades covers an internal sliding socket that is fixed in its initial position by four lock bar wires extending from the socket into the sides of the receptacle case.

At the insertion of a plug, the power blades interact with four lock bar wires, retracting the lock bars into the socket and allowing the socket to move with the plug blades to connect with the power buses through the blade receivers. Notice that the movement to power also compresses the arcuate ends of the socket blade receptors, pressing the blade lock “dimples” into the holes of the plug blades. This locks the plug blades into the internal socket so that when the plug is removed from the receptacle, the socket is returned to its original position and the blades are released.

This receptacle denies access to the power buses for any foreign objects unless the objects have size and shape characteristics as standard plug blades. If you need more information on this design, please check the patent.

Patent 2, 11,108,186 B2

These are the prototypes of the Patent 2 receptacles that are offered at the end of this website. A complete prototype of the patent 2 receptacle design is not needed to experience the ease of plug insertion and safety characteristics of this patent 2 design.

The actual invention is contained in the small boxes or frames, which are glued underneath a receptacle face herein called a top cap. This frame, with its white internal shutter, is spring biased in the closed position by the larger spring , and the four lock bars are spring biased in their locked positions. The four lock bars are responsible for the advanced safety of this design. To open the shutter, all four lock bars must be moved to their unlocked position for the shutter to open. This blocks everything from going through to power unless two blades with the width of standard plug blades are inserted. This is illustrated in the following drawing.

This drawing is of the top side of the frame, the labeled surface of which is glued to the top cap in line with the power blade slots. The top cap is not shown so that the four lock bars may be seen. The springs are not shown, but all the lock bars are spring biased in the shown locked position. The holes in the back of each lock bar are for mounting the springs. The extra shutter shown alongside is there just to show the structure of the shutter, with its four slots in which the four lock bar extensions lie when locked, and the two ramps that, in conjunction with the plug blades, open the shutter when all four lock bars are removed from the shutter slots. The single lock bar in the extra shutter illustrates how the four lock bars in the frame similarly lie in shutter slots when locked. The next picture shows how the lock bars are spread by inserting a polarized plug.

This moves all the lock bar extensions out of the shutter slots, unlocking the shutter, and allowing the interaction of the plug blades with the ramps to open the shutter so the blades can go through to power. In this picture the extra shutter has been tilted down slightly so that the extra lock bar separation from the extra shutter slot is visible. In a whole receptacle, the power bus contacts would be directly under the frame’s blade slots so that the plug blades are powered.

Since the insertion of a plug into these prototypes is almost effortless, the resistance to plug insertion in a whole receptacle of the patent 2 design would be nearly the same as the old non-safety receptacles. Likewise, the safety of the whole receptacle depends on the safety of the frame with its internal shutter and four lock bars. Therefore, obtaining one of these partial prototypes will let you experience both the ease of plug insertion and the safety of a whole receptacle with the design of patent 2. At the end of this website you will find instructions how to receive one of these prototypes at no cost.

Tamper-resistant (TR) receptacles, which the above receptacles will replace, have been mandated by the US Electrical Code since 2008 for all new construction and renovation. The public hates these receptacles because of the difficulty of plugging in a plug, but they accept them because of their supposed safety. This website exposes the fact that a single plastic screw for the receptacle cover plate could have been mandated that would provide non-safety receptacles essentially the same electrical safety as TR receptacles when installed near the floor of a home. This could have saved electrical manufacturers billions of dollars. TR receptacles are not safety receptacles and do not protect children from poking two wires or hair pins into the power slots. The TR receptacle shutters are easily opened by two such foreign objects, which is a good way to be electrocuted. The current path would be from hand to hand and through the heart!