Electrical Socket

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an electrical socket, more particularly to an electrical socket having a protective cover to cover the socket openings thereof when the electrical socket is not in use.

2. Description of the Related Art

Presently, as the number of electrical appliances acquired by a household grows, the need for numerous electrical sockets which can be conveniently accessed becomes an important factor in housing design.

One of the disadvantages of conventional electrical socket constructions is that they are not provided with a cover structure which can cover the socket openings thereof when the electrical socket is not in use. Since the electrical sockets are within reach of children, and since most children would frequently notice their elders plugging and unplugging electrical appliances from the electrical sockets, they would eventually become curious and might decide to play with them, unknowing of the dangers of doing so. Accidental fire or electrical shock may occur if a child unknowingly inserts a conductive object (such as a clip or a key) into the electrical socket.

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an electrical socket having a protective cover that automatically covers the socket openings thereof when the electrical socket is not in use.

Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of an electrical socket of the present invention comprises: a socket housing defining conductor receiving spaces therein and having a front face provided with a circular depression, spaced socket openings provided in the circular depression and serving as passages into the conductor receiving spaces, a shaft opening provided at the center of the circular depression, and a control piece opening similarly disposed in the circular depression; conductor pieces provided inside the conductor receiving spaces and adapted to be electrically connectable to contact blades of an electrical plug; a socket cover including a circular rotary plate provided in the circular depression and having a number of openings, and a shaft projecting rearward from the rotary plate and extending through the shaft opening, the socket cover being movable between a closed position, wherein the rotary plate covers the socket openings, and an open position, wherein the openings of the rotary plate are aligned with the socket openings, permitting insertion of the contact blades of the electrical plug into the electrical socket to achieve electrical connection between the contact blades and the conductor pieces; a control member including a control piece provided in the control piece opening and a spring to urge the control piece to engage one of the openings in the rotary plate when the socket cover is in the closed position, engagement of the control piece with one of the openings of the rotary plate preventing rotation of the rotary plate relative to the socket housing, the control piece being disengageable from the rotary plate to permit rotation of the rotary plate from the closed position to the open position; and a torsion spring means provided in the socket housing and being connected to the shaft and the socket housing, the torsion spring means returning the socket cover to the closed position when the electrical plug is pulled out of the electrical socket.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the first preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the second preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the second preferred embodiment when in a closed position;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the second preferred embodiment when in an open position; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the third preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the first preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention is shown to comprise a socket housing including a housing frame 10 and a housing cover 20, conductor pieces 121, a control member 30, a socket cover 40, and a torsion spring means 50.

The housing frame 10 defines two conductor receiving spaces 12 therein to receive the conductor pieces 121. The conductor pieces 121 are adapted to clamp the contact blades (B) of an electrical plug (A) to achieve electrical connection. The construction of the conductor pieces 121 is known in the art and will not be detailed further. The housing frame 10 has a partition 13 separating the conductor receiving spaces 12, and a shaft opening 131 provided in the partition 13. The rear face of the housing frame 10 has a depression 14. A base plate 15 is mounted on the rear face of the housing frame 10 to cover the depression 14.

The housing cover 20 is mounted on the front end of the housing frame 10 and includes a cover frame 21 having a front face provided with a circular depression 22. The cover frame 21 has a pair of spaced socket openings 23 provided in the circular depression 22 and serving as passages into the conductor receiving spaces 12, a shaft opening 24 provided at the center of the circular depression 22 and to be aligned with the shaft opening 131 of the housing frame 10, and a control piece opening 25 similarly provided in the circular depression 22.

The control member 30 is provided in a receiving space 31 on the partition 13 and includes a spring 32 and a control piece 33. The rear end of the control piece 33 is provided with a connector 331 to engage the spring 32. The control piece 33 has a peripheral flange 332 and an front end portion 333 with a chamfered periphery. The spring 32 urges the control piece 33 to extend through the control piece opening 25. The peripheral flange 332 prevents the control piece 33 from fully extending through the control piece opening 25 and, at the same time, prevents the front end portion 333 of the control piece 33 from entering the receiving space 31.

The socket cover 40 includes a circular rotary plate 41 disposed on the circular depression 22 to selectively cover the socket openings 23 of the housing cover 20, and a shaft 43 extending rearward from the center of the rotary plate 41 and through the shaft openings, 24 and 131. The rotary plate 41 has a pair of openings 42 to selectively access the socket openings 23. The shaft 43 is provided with a transverse through hole 431 and an annular groove 432 disposed adjacent to the rearmost end of the shaft 43. The rearmost end of the shaft 43 extends into the depression 14. A C-shaped ring 44 engages the shaft 43 at the annular groove 432 to keep the rearmost end of the shaft 43 in the depression 14. A packing ring 433 is sleeved on the shaft 43 adjacent to the rearmost end of the same.

The torsion spring means 50 is disposed inside the depression 14 and includes a coiled torsion spring 51. The innermost turn of the torsion spring 51 engages the shaft 43 at the transverse through hole 431. The outermost turn of the torsion spring 51 is attached to a protrusion 142 projecting from the housing frame 10 and extending into the depression 14.

When the socket cover 40 is in the closed position, the control piece 33 extends into one of the openings 42 of the rotary plate 41. The socket openings 23 are not aligned with the openings 42 and are covered by the rotary plate 41. Thus, the contact blades (B) of the electrical plug (A) cannot be connected to the conductor pieces 121. To electrically connect the contact blades (B) and the conductor pieces 121, the contact blades (B) are inserted in the openings 42 to push the control piece 33 against the action of the spring 32, and disengage the control piece 33 from the rotary plate 41, thereby permitting rotation of the rotary plate 41. The rotary plate 41 is then rotated until the openings 42 are aligned with the socket openings 23 of the housing cover 20. The contact blades (B) can then be fully inserted in the socket openings 23 to achieve electrical connection with the conductor pieces 121.

The torsion spring 51 is wound when the rotary plate 41 is rotated from the closed position to the open position. When the electrical plug (A) is pulled out, the torsion spring 51 provides the necessary returning force to rotate the rotary plate 41 back to the closed position.

Referring to FIG. 3, the second preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention is shown to be substantially similar to the first preferred embodiment. The housing cover 20' of the second preferred embodiment, however, has a slide recess 61 provided in the circular depression 22'. The slide recess 61 is perpendicular to and extends radially outward from one of the socket openings 23'. A slide piece 62 is movably provided in the slide recess 61. The slide piece 62 has a curved front end 621 and a frontwardly extending stub 622. The rear face of the rotary plate 41' is provided with a circumferentially extending sectoral groove 46 and a slot 47 extending outwardly from one end of the sectoral groove 46. The rotary plate 41' is further provided with a pin hole 48 to be selectively aligned with a pin bore 26 formed in the circular depression 22' of the housing cover 20'. A locking pin 49 is received in the pin bore 26 and the pin hole 48 to lock rotary plate 41' in the open position, if it is not desired to cover the socket openings 23'.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the second preferred embodiment when in a closed position. To uncover the socket openings 23', the contact blades of the electrical plug are inserted in the openings 42' and are rotated to move the rotary plate 41' until the openings 42' are aligned with the socket openings 23'. Since the stub 622 of the slide piece 62 extends into the sectoral groove 46 of the rotary plate 41', rotation of the rotary plate 41' from the closed position to the open position thus causes the position of the stub 622 to be changed from one end (M) of the sectoral groove 46 to the other end (N) of the same.

Referring to FIG. 5, as the contact blades of the electrical plug are inserted into the socket openings 23', one of the contact blades pushes the slide piece 62 outward so that the stub 622 extends into the slot 47. When the electrical plug is pulled out, the torsion spring 51 unwinds to disengage the stub 622 from the slot 47 and return the slide piece 62 to its former position. The torsion spring 51 then moves the rotary plate 41' to its former closed position.

The slide piece 62 and the sectoral groove 46 permit accurate alignment of the openings 42' and the socket openings 23'. When the slide piece 62 engages the slot 47, torsion applied by the torsion spring 51 on the contact blades is reduced, thereby making it easier to extract the electrical plug.

Referring to FIG. 6, the third preferred embodiment of an electrical socket according to the present invention is shown to similarly comprise a housing frame 10", a housing cover 20", a control member 30, a socket cover 40", and a torsion spring means 50. The construction and operation of the third preferred embodiment is substantially similar to the first preferred embodiment except that the third preferred embodiment has three socket openings to receive three contact blades, one of which is to be electrically grounded.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.