Safety plate for electrical outlet

Claim 1

A safety plate for a conventional electrical outlet of the type having a pair of receptacles, each receptacle having apertures therein for receiving the prongs of an electrical plug, comprising: a cover plate having a pair of vertically aligned openings therethrough, the openings located so as to be centered over the receptacles of an outlet when the cover plate is fastened thereto; said cover plate having a front surface, rearward surface, and a rearwardly projecting lip extending around the perimeter thereof; the rearward surface of said cover plate having a pair of depressions therein for receiving slidable panels and a biasing means, the depressions surrounding the openings in said cover plate; a pair of panels slidably mounted in the depressions in said cover plate; said panels having a raised portion projecting forwardly through said cover plate openings so as to be flush with the front surface of said cover plate, said raised portion having dimensions to allow only horizontal slidable movement of the panel in said cover plate; said panels further having apertures therein corresponding to the apertures in said receptacles, and in alignment therewith when said panels are in a use position; biasing means connected to the rearward side of said cover plate adapted to bias said panels from their use position where the panel apertures are aligned with the receptacle apertures, to a non-use position where the panel apertures are misaligned from the receptacle apertures; a back plate having apertures therethrough corresponding with said receptacle apertures and in alignment therewith when the cover plate is attached to the outlet, said back plate fastened to the rearward surface of said cover plate, and enclosing said slidable panels and biasing means within said depressions in the cover plate; and means for removably attaching said cover plate to a conventional outlet.