Safety electrical tap

Claim 1

A safety electrical power tap adapted for plug-in electrical engagement with an existing wall receptacle, said power tap comprising, in combination: A. a base supporting at least two sets of separate first and second plug-in contacts of adjacent power tap plug receptacles; B. a cover secured to said base and including a front wall having therein at least two sets of separate first and second slots of said adjacent plug receptacles, said first slots of each slot set being aligned with said first contacts of each contact set and said second slots of each slot set being aligned with said second contacts of each contact set, whereby to accommodate the insertions of a pair of blades of a standard electrical plug through said first and second slots of either slot set into respective electrical connections with the aligned set of said first and second contacts; and C. a shutter mechanism mounted intermediate said cover front wall and said sets of first and second contacts, said shutter mechanism including 1) a stationary retainer, 2) first and second stationary catches, 3) first and second slides supported by said retainer for independent movement between respective open, closed-latched and intermediate closed-unlatched positions, said first and second slides integrally formed including (a) respective first and second latches respectively engaging said first and second catches to independently latch said first and second slides in their closed-latched positions, (b) respective first and second latch actuating elements respectively disposed immediately beneath each said first slots in said slide closed-latched positions. (c) respective first and second barriers respectively underlying said first and second latch actuating elements to obstruct the insertion paths between said first slots and said first contacts of said two sets in said closed-latched and slide closed-unlatched positions, and (d) respective first and second ramps obstructing the insertion paths between said second slots and said second contacts of said two sets in said slide closed-latched and said slide closed-unlatched positions, (3) respective first and second springs biasing said first and second slides toward said closed-latched positions (4) whereby, access to either set of said first and second contacts requires the concurrent insertions of a pair of blades of an electrical plug respectively through the aligned set of said first and second slots to initially shift the obstructing one of said first and second slides from said closed-latched position to said closed-unlatched position with said latch of said obstructing slide and the engageable one of said first and second catches in disengaged relation by depression of said latch actuating element of said obstructing slide in response to insertion of one blade, such as to then permit the engagement of the other blade with said ramp of said obstructing slide to cam said obstructing slide to said open position, thereby jointly removing said barrier and ramp of said obstructing slide from the respective blade insertion paths leading to either set of said first and second contacts.