Electrical socket with monitoring unit for monitoring operating conditions

Claim 1

An electrical socket, comprising: at least one socket receptacle adapted to connect electrically an electrical appliance to a line power source; and a monitoring unit connected electrically across said socket receptacle for monitoring operating conditions of the electrical socket, said monitoring unit further including; a temperature sensor for sensing the ambient temperature; a processing unit connected electrically to and receiving ambient temperature data from said temperature sensor; a memory unit connected electrically to said processing unit and storing maximum operating-temperature data therein, said processing unit comparing said ambient temperature data with said maximum operating-temperature data to detect presence of a preset overload condition; wherein said operating conditions include ambient temperature, line voltage and line current, said processing unit being connected electrically to said socket receptacle and receiving line voltage data and line current data therefrom; wherein said memory unit further stores maximum operating-voltage data and maximum operating-current data therein, said processing unit comparing said line voltage data with said maximum operating-current data to detect the presence of the preset overload condition; and wherein said operating conditions further include line power supplied by the line power source, said processing unit computing the line power by multiplying said line voltage data with said line current data, said memory unit further storing maximum operating-power data therein, said processing unit comparing the line power computed thereby with said maximum operating-power data to detect the presence of the preset overload condition.