Electrical receptacles for various appliances are commonly used in everyday life. As the awareness of product safety and demands for higher performance and safer appliances, electrical/electronic products, manufacturer of various appliances, power suppliers, power connectors, and wall outlets are looking for new ways to improve the safety of these products. Electrical safety sockets are generally divided into two categories: the first one has two plugholes connected to two wires (one is for hot wire, and the other is for neutral wire), and the second one has three plugholes connected to three wires (the first one is for hot wire, the second one is for neutral wire and the third one is for ground). They are designed to be used with the two prong plugs or three prong plugs generally available on the market. Current products are usually connected to electrical sources all the time, and they provide electricity as soon as they are plugged in. The continuous connection to the electrical sources may be hazardous to little children. For example, young children may not be aware of the fact that the two wires in the receptacle are not to be connected by an electricity conductive material, such as metal wire. These children may attempt to put metal materials into the two plugholes out of curiosity. These actions may cause fire, injury to human, and/or damage to property. The difficulty of preventing the accidents from happening has not been overcome for a long time.
The electrical receptacles currently available on the market share certain common deficiencies: (1) protection against hot and neutral wires being accidentally short circuited and (2) providing electricity only when matching electrical plugs are used.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds