Safety plate for electrical outlet

Claim 1

A safety cover plate for an electrical wall 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 apertures therein corresponding to the apertures in said receptacles, for receiving the prongs of an electrical plug, said apertures located so as to be aligned with receptacle apertures when the cover plate is fastened to a wall outlet; 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 apertures in said cover plate; a pair of panels slidably mounted for horizontal movement in the depressions in said cover plate; each said panel having a tab projecting from one end thereof; said cover plate further including a pair of spaced-apart notches formed through a portion of said lip, oriented to slidably receive said tabs; said panels having apertures therein corresponding to the apertures in said cover plate; said panels mounted for slidable movement between an operable position wherein the panel apertures are aligned with the cover plate apertures, and a storage position wherein said panel apertures are misaligned from the cover plate apertures; biasing means connected to the rearward surface of said cover plate adapted to bias said panels from their operable position to their storage position; and means for removably attaching said cover plate to a conventional outlet.