Abstract:
A safety protective cover for socket receptacles includes an upper housing, a sliding base, a first elastic member, a second elastic member, and a lower housing. The upper and lower housings are provided with receptacles, respectively. The sliding base is capable of vertical and horizontal movements between the upper and lower housings, and has elastic restoring forces. The sliding base further has stopping members that can be extended into the receptacles of the housings. When the stopping members of the cover are not simultaneously pushed away from the receptacles, the other stopping member not being pushed away blocks in the receptacle to stop horizontal displacement of the sliding base, thereby prohibiting an alien object from pushing away the stopping member and entering the socket.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a safety protective cover for socket receptacles, and more particularly, to a safety protective cover having a sliding base capable of vertical and horizontal movements between upper and lower housings of a socket, such that stopping members therein are blocked in receptacles at the upper housing for prohibiting invasions of alien objects and thus preventing accidental electric shocks. 
     (b) Description of the Prior Art 
     A common wall socket or an extension wire socket is generally provided with at least one set of receptacles, wherein each set of receptacles has two or three receptacles. However, several drawbacks are found after studying the aforesaid prior socket. First of all, the “open” socket lacks protective measures, and accidental electric shocks are repeated occurrences among children caused by curiosity. Secondly, the prior socket is an open structure as described, with conductive straps at an interior thereof mostly being conductive materials such as copper. These conductive materials are often formed with aerugo resulted from humidity for being exposed in air over long periods of time, or accumulated with dust, and hence conductive efficiencies thereof may become affected. Therefore, the prior socket has potential hazards to a certain degree, and can hardly be accounted as an ideal design when put to use. To overcome the aforesaid shortcomings, the inventor provided a structure disclosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,088. Referring to FIG. 8, the structure comprises a socket housing having a protective cover D 1  capable of elastic horizontal movements; and two stopping members D 2  each having an inclined plane and located at a top portion of the protective cover D 1 , with the two stopping members D 2  blocking below receptacles D 3 . When pins B 1  of a plug B are inserted into the receptacles D 3 , the inclined planes of the two stopping members D 2  are simultaneously displaced to further horizontally move the entire protective cover D 1 , so as to conduct the plug B with conductive straps D 4  by completely inserting the plug B into the receptacles D 3 . When an alien object C is inserted into one of the receptacles D 3  as shown in FIG. 9, the alien object C imposes a downward force at one end of the protective cover D 1 . Leverage is formed from force received at one end of the protective cover D 1 , and the stopping member D 2  at the other end of the protective cover D 1  is lifted to block in the receptacle D 3 . As a result, the protective cover D 1  fails to displace horizontally with the protective cover D 1  remaining blocked in the receptacles  3 , thereby preventing potential hazards by forbidding the alien object C from coming into contact and conducting with the conductive straps D 4 . This prior invention indeed offers practical excellences. However, for that the two stopping members D 2  of the protective cover D 1  are located below the two receptacles D 3 , consumers so happen to notice the two stopping members D 2  have inclined planes when observing the receptacles D 3  in an inward direction from an exterior of the socket D, and the protective cover D 1  is often mistaken to have unqualified assembly by being seemingly slanted. Therefore, purchasing concerns are incurred. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To overcome the aforesaid difficulty, the object of the invention is to provide a safety protective cover for socket receptacles, in that the safety protective cover is capable of preventing alien objects from entering one of the receptacles and offering dust-proof effects. More particularly, upper edges of stopping members of the safety protective cover are flat in shape, and appear as evenly assembled when viewed from an exterior. The stopping members are free from slanting appearances and are prevented from being mistaken as having unqualified assembly, and the socket is provided with enhanced texture overall. 
     The invention comprises an upper housing, a sliding base, a first elastic member, a second elastic member, and a lower housing. The upper housing has receptacles. The sliding base is disposed below the upper housing; and has pushing members, and stopping members at an upper portion thereof. The first elastic element is accommodated at the sliding base to provide the sliding base with horizontal elastic restoring forces. The second elastic member has elastic terminals that are supported at a lower edge at a middle section of the sliding base to provide the sliding member with vertical elastic restoring forces. The lower housing is joined with the upper housing; and has receptacles, and slide-guide members for producing horizontal movements when coming into contact with the pushing members of the sliding base. When the stopping members of the sliding base are simultaneously pushed away from the receptacles at the upper housing, the sliding base suppresses the second elastic member to move vertically in a downward direction. When the pushing members come into contact with slide-guide inclined planes of the slide-guide members, the sliding base keeps moving to force the stopping members to deviate out of the receptacles at the upper housing. However, when the stopping members of the sliding base are not simultaneously pushed away from the receptacles, the sliding base regards one of the elastic terminals of the second elastic members as a fulcrum, such that the sliding base fails to move horizontally by having the stopping member not being pushed away remain blocked in the located receptacle. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows an exploded elevational view according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a sectional view according to the invention. 
     FIG. 3 shows a schematic view illustrating vertical movements of the sliding base according to the invention. 
     FIG. 4 shows a schematic view illustrating horizontal movements of the sliding base according to the invention. 
     FIG. 5 shows a schematic view illustrating the pins being entirely inserted into the conducting straps according to the invention. 
     FIG. 6 shows a schematic view illustrating the invention forbidding entry of an alien object. 
     FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of another embodiment according to the invention. 
     FIG. 8 shows a conventional schematic view illustrating a prior socket structure. 
     FIG. 9 shows a schematic view illustrating the prior invention forbidding entry of an alien object. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     To better understand the invention, detailed descriptions shall be given with the accompanying drawings hereunder. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the invention comprises an upper housing  1 , a sliding base  2 , a first elastic member  3 , a second elastic member  4 , and a lower housing  5 . 
     The upper housing  1  has two lodge posts  11 , two corresponding receptacles  12  at an outer side of the upper housing  1 , a downwardly formed retaining member  13  between the two receptacles  12 , and a locating portion  14  at one side of one of the receptacles  12 . 
     The sliding base  2  disposed in the upper housing  1  is a hollow frame body; and has corresponding pushing members  21  at a middle section thereof, two upwardly disposed stopping members  22  at two upper edges thereof, with upper edges of the stopping members  22  being flat in shape, and a horizontal projecting pillar  23  at one inner edge thereof. 
     The first elastic member  3  is accommodated around the projecting pillar  23 , and can be a spring for offering the sliding base  2  with horizontal elastic restoring forces. 
     The second elastic member  4  is fixed at the locating portion  14  at the upper housing  1 , and can be a spring for offering the sliding base  2  with vertical elastic restoring forces. The second elastic member  4  further has two elastic terminals  41 . 
     The lower housing  5  is joined at a lower edge of the upper housing  1  by means of inset, screwing or ultrasonic. The lower housing  5  has two lodge openings  51  with two receptacles  52  in between, two slide-guide members  53  located between the two receptacles  52  and corresponding to the pushing members  21  of the sliding base  2 , and an obstructing member  55  between the two slide-guide members  53 , wherein each of the two slide-guide members  53  is provided with an inclined plane  54  for guiding sliding movements. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, for assembly, the first elastic member  3  is accommodated around the projecting pillar  23  of the sliding base  2 . The sliding member  2  is placed at an inner side of the upper housing  1 , such that the two stopping members  22  of the sliding base  2  are blocked in the two receptacles  12  at the upper housing  1 . An open end of the projecting pillar  23  of the sliding base  2  is butted against the retaining member  13  at the upper housing  1 , whereas the second elastic member  4  is mounted at the locating portion  14  of the upper housing  1 . The two elastic terminals  41  of the second elastic member  4  are pushed in an upward direction against a lower edge of the middle section of the sliding base  2 , so as to enable the stopping members  22  to constantly block in the receptacles  12  at the upper housing  1 . The two lodge openings  51  of the lower housing  5  are inserted with the two lodge post  11  of the upper housing  1 , thereby joining the upper and lower housings  1  and  5 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, to use the aforesaid structure, the assembled upper and lower housings  1  and  5  are fixed into a fastening recess A 1  of a socket A. The receptacles  12  and  52  at the upper and lower housings  1  and  5  are aligned with conducting straps A 3  at a housing A 2  in the socket A, and two pins B 1  of a plug B are inserted into the two receptacles  12  at the upper housing  1 . When the pins B 1  are inserted, the two stopping members  22  of the sliding base  2  are pushed to simultaneously move vertically in a downward direction, and to further suppress against the two elastic terminals  41  of the second elastic member  4 . When the pins B 1  continue to push downward, the sliding base  2  moves downward such that the two stopping members  22  are departed from the two receptacles  12 . The two pushing members  21  of the sliding base  2  immediately come into contact with the inclined planes  54  at the two slide-guide members  53  of the lower housing  5  to slide. Thus, apart from moving vertically in a downward direction, the sliding base  2  also horizontally displaces to suppress against the first elastic member  3 . The first elastic member  3  becomes suppressed and also moves downward at the same Ume. However, the first elastic member  3  is not disengaged out of the retaining member  13  for being stopped by obstructing member  55  of the lower housing  5 . When the sliding base  2  move horizontally to an extent that the two stopping members  22  are entirely departed from positions below the two receptacles  12 , the two pins B 1  of the plug B are allowed to pass through the two receptacles  52  of the lower housing  5 , so as to become inserted into the conducting straps A 3  at the housing A 2  of the socket A and electrically conducted for providing normal power supply as shown in FIG.  5 . When the pins B 1  of the plug B are withdrawn, the sliding base  2  is pushed to displace horizontally using restoring forces of the first elastic member  3 , and is also pushed vertically to reposition using restoring forces of the second elastic member  4 , thereby restoring and blocking the two stopping members  22  of the sliding base  2  in the receptacles  12  at the upper housing  1 . 
     For that the upper edges of the two stopping members  22  of the sliding base  2  are flat in shape, the stopping members  22  appear properly assembled in the receptacles  12  when viewed from the exterior of the receptacles  12  of the socket A, and are not mistaken as being slanted from unqualified assembly. Thus, texture of the socket A is enhanced overall. 
     Referring to FIG. 6, when an alien object C is inserted into one of the receptacles  12  at the upper housing  11 , one of the stopping members  22  on the same side is pushed to move downward, and the middle section of the sliding base  2  forms leverage relative to the elastic terminal  41  of the second elastic member  4  as a fulcrum. The other end of the sliding base  2  is lifted, and the stopping member  22  at the lifted end is blocked in the other receptacle  12 , such that the sliding base  2  fails to keep on moving vertically in a downward direction. As a result, the stopping member  22  being pushed by the alien object C is not successfully moved away and still remains blocked below the alien object C. The alien object C is not proceeded downward, and hence not penetrated through the receptacle  52  at the lower housing  5  and inserted into the conducting strap A 3  at the housing A 2  for conductance. 
     Referring to FIG. 7 showing another embodiment according to the invention, the middle section of the sliding base  2  is provided with a slide-guide member  24  having an inclined plane  25  for guiding sliding movements. The lower housing  5  is provided with a pushing member  56  that comes into contact with the inclined plane  25  of the slide-guide member  24  to produce horizontal displacement, thereby accomplishing effects as those of the first embodiment. 
     In the aforesaid two embodiments, the upper housing  1  and the lower housing  5  may be formed at other objects depending on actual needs. In other implementations, as long as an interlining layer is present between the upper housing  1  and the lower housing  5  in order to assemble the sliding base  2 , the first elastic member  3  and the second elastic member  4 , the implementations are feasible. 
     Conclusive from the above, the invention has the following excellences: 
     1. When the sliding base according to the invention is opened under normal circumstances, the sliding base first performs vertical movements in a downward direction, followed by horizontal displacement. In addition, the stopping members of the base member for blocking in the receptacles are free from any inclined planes needed for assisting horizontal displacement of the sliding base, and therefore the stopping members are provided with flat upper edges. When viewing from the exterior of the receptacles, the stopping members are properly blocked in the receptacles while providing enhanced texture. 
     2. When one of the receptacles according to the invention is invaded by an alien object, the sliding base is not horizontally displaced, with the stopping member remaining blocked in the other receptacle not being inserted by the alien object. Consequently, invasions of alien objects are effective prohibited, thereby preventing accidental electric shocks and thus offering outstanding safety. 
     It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.