Abstract:
Disclosed herein is an electrical interface shield. The shield includes, a transparent support member having a first end and a second end, a transparent housing hingedly attached at the first end of the transparent support member and latchably engagable with the second end, and at least one brace. The at least one brace has at least one mounting hole therethrough and is removably attached to the transparent support member and the at least one mounting hole is configured to receive a fastener therein for mounting the transparent support member to an electrical interface frame.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application, 60/934,131, filed Jun. 11, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It may be desirable to provide a shield over an electrical interface, such as a wall light switch or electrical power outlet, for example, to prevent inadvertent contact with or operation thereof. Permanent attachment of a cover over such electrical interface is one approach, which can be effective but can also be unattractive as well as difficult to override when it is desirable to interact with the electrical interface. The art may; therefore, welcome an unobtrusive shield that is effective, yet can be easily defeated. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Disclosed herein is an electrical interface shield. The shield includes, a transparent support member having a first end and a second end, a transparent housing hingedly attached at the first end of the transparent support member and latchably engagable with the second end, and at least one brace. The at least one brace has at least one mounting hole therethrough and is removably attached to the transparent support member and the at least one mounting hole is configured to receive a fastener therein for mounting the transparent support member to an electrical interface frame. 
     Further disclosed herein is a method of shielding an electrical interface. The method includes, aligning at least one hole in at least one brace of a transparent support member with an existing fastener-receiving hole of an electrical interface frame and attaching the transparent support member to the electrical interface frame by applying fasteners through the at least one hole in the at least one brace and into the fastener receiving hole. The method further includes rotating a transparent housing hingedly attached to the transparent support member about a hinge and latchedly engaging the transparent housing to the transparent support member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following descriptions should not be considered limiting in any way. With reference to the accompanying drawings, like elements are numbered alike: 
         FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of the electrical interface shield disclosed herein in; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a perspective view of the electrical interface shield of  FIG. 1  shown mounted on wall switch; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a plan view of the support member used in the electrical interface shield of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  depicts a side view of the support member of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  depicts a plan view of the housing of the electrical interface shield of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  depicts a partially cross-sectioned side view of the housing of  FIG. 5 ; and 
         FIG. 7  depicts an alternate support member disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the disclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way of exemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the electrical interface shield  10  disclosed herein is illustrated. The interface shield  10  includes: a transparent support member  14  having a plurality of braces  18 ,  19 ,  20  and a transparent housing  22 . The housing  22  is hingedly attached to the support member  14  at hinge  26  the details of which will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 3-6  below. The hinge  26  allows the housing  22  to close over the support member  14  to thereby prevent access to, inadvertent contact with, and actuation of an electrical interface to which the shield  10  is attached. The support member  14  and the housing  22  are made of transparent material so as to not prevent seeing therethrough. Such transparency will preserve any décor provided therebehind. As such, an injection molded transparent plastic is a good choice for material usage for both the support member  14  as well as the housing  22 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the electrical interface shield  10  is shown mounted to an electrical interface  30 . The electrical interface  30 , disclosed in this embodiment, is a toggle switch, however, it should be noted that the electrical interface  30  could be other electrical interface devices including; a rocker switch, a light dial dimmer, a light sliding dimmer, an electrical outlet, a coaxial cable outlet and a phone jack, for example. The electrical interface  30  includes an interface plate  34  with a hole  38  therethrough through which a toggle switch lever  42  protrudes. In this embodiment, the support member  14  is attached to the electrical interface  30  with fasteners  46 , disclosed herein as screws, which extend through holes  50  in the braces  18  and through holes  58  in the interface plate  34 . The location of the holes  58  in the interface plate  34  is defined by standards in the electrical industry to facilitate plate interchangeability. 
     Such standards exist for all of the different types of standard interface plates. The locations of holes  50 ,  59  and  60  in the braces  18 ,  19  and  20  of the support member  14  are, therefore, positioned according to these standards. For example, a rocker switch interface plate (not shown) has the two holes  59  located further apart than the two holes  50  used for the toggle switch interface plate  34 . The holes  59  on the support member  14  would therefore be used to mount the support plate  14  to a rocker switch electrical interface. Similarly, a 110-volt electrical outlet interface plate (not shown) has a single fastener-receiving hole at its center through which it is attached to the electrical outlet interface. As such, the support member  14  includes a brace  20  ( FIG. 1 ) with a hole  60  located at the center of the support member  14  to align with the hole in the electrical outlet interface plate. 
     Such standards allow an embodiment of the electrical interface shield  10  to be supplied with the single support member  14 , yet be adaptable for use with a variety of electrical interfaces through simple modifications of the support plate  14 . These simple modifications include the removal of one or more of the braces  18 ,  19 ,  20  from the support member  14  according to which holes  50 ,  59 ,  60  are required for each application. To determine which holes  50 ,  59 ,  60  are required, one simply positions the support member  14  over the electrical interface plate and observes which of the holes  50 ,  59 ,  60  will be used for that specific interface plate. The unneeded braces  18  and  20 , in the rocker switch example, can be cut from the support member  14  with a pair of scissors, for example. To facilitate removal of the braces  18 ,  20  from the support member  14 , lines of wellness  64  can be located at the locations where the braces  18 ,  19  connect to an outer frame  68 , of the support member  14 . A localized thinning of the material may form the lines of wellness  64 . 
     The industry standards also control spacing between adjacent electrical interfaces. These standards allow the interface shield  10  to be sized such that one or more interface shields  10  are mountable to a multiple interface frame. For example, a multiple switch interface, also known in the industry as a gang switch, could have individual switches shielded with the interface shields  10 , while leaving the remaining switches unshielded. This may be desirable when not all of the switches, in the gang switch, need to be shielded. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3-6 , the support member  14  and housing  22  are illustrated in greater detail. In this embodiment, the hinge  26  is formed from two hinge pins  72  ( FIG. 5 ) of the housing  22  that engage with two C-shaped openings  76  ( FIG. 4 ) of the support member  14 . The pins  72  snap into the C-shaped openings  76  through flexing of the C-shaped openings  76 . The hinge  26  allows the housing  22  to rotate relative to the support member  14  about the hinge pins  72 . The hinge pins  72  protrude toward one another from bosses  80  that extend from a first end  84  of the housing  22 . The C-shaped openings  76  are formed in bosses  88  that protrude from a flange  92  on a first end  96  of the support member  14 . Alternate embodiments could have hinges with different configurations. The housing and support member could be a single piece of injection-molded plastic with a thin area of plastic forming the hinge, for example. Such a hinge, also referred to as a living hinge, would bend to allow the housing to rotate relative to the support member. Living hinges have the advantage of fewer components and less steps required during assembly. 
     Rotation of the housing  22 , relative to the support member  14 , brings a second end  100  of the housing  22 , toward a second end  104  of the support member  14 . Continued rotation causes an inner surface  108  of the housing  22 , to contact an outer surface  112  of a tab  116 , protruding from the frame  68  of the support member  14 . The outer surface  112  of the tab  116  is ramped to form a hook  120 . Applying a small force in the direction of continued rotation causes both the housing  22  and the support member  14  to deform. The flange  92 , in particular, may deform to allow the inner surface  108 , to ramp along the outer surface  112 , until the hook  120  snaps into the recess  124  formed in the second end  100  of the housing  22 , thereby latching the second end  108  of the housing  22 , with the second end  104  of the support member  14 . This latch, however, is easily overcome by one of mature skill such as an adult, for example, as opposed to a small child. To overcome the latch, one simply applies a force to the first end  84 , towards the second end  100 , while rotating the second end  100  of the housing  22 , away from the support member  14 . The applied force will flex the flange  92  sufficiently to displace the housing  22 , disengaging the hook  120  from the recess  124 , thereby unlatching the housing  22  from the support member  14 . Alternate latch embodiments could be employed, such as an embodiment with a recess on the tab  116 , and a hook on the inside surface  108 , for example, to create an alternate disengagable mechanism. Additionally, in an alternate embodiment, the deformable flange  92  could be part of the housing  22 , instead of being part of the support member  14 . In such an embodiment, a pivot point of the hinge would be in a plane of the frame  68  of the support member  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6  specifically, a slot  128  is illustrated in a sidewall  132  of the housing  22 . In this embodiment, the slot  128  is in only one sidewall  132 , however, alternate embodiments could have multiple slots in multiple sidewalls of the housing  22 . The slot  128  allows a conductor (not shown), such as an electrical cord for an appliance, a telephone wire or a coaxial cable, for example, to extend therethrough, while being electrically connected to the electrical interface shielded by the electrical interface shield  10  disclosed herein. A width and depth of the slot  128  may vary; depending upon a size of a conductor anticipated being used in a particular application. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , an alternate embodiment of a support member  144  is illustrated. The support member  144  differs from the support member  14 , in that sidewalls  148  are part of support member  144 , whereas the support member  14  did not include such sidewalls. An embodiment using the support member  144  could have a housing (not shown) that does not include sidewalls, since such sidewalls would be redundant. The sidewalls  148  of the support member  144  can have a slot  152  formed therein for routing of a conductor therethrough, in a similar fashion to that used with the slot  128 , discussed above. Having the sidewalls  148  connected to the flange  92 , would stiffen the flange  92 , so that deformation of the flange to disengage the hook  120  from the recess  124  would be difficult. The sidewalls  148 , therefore, are not connected to the flange  92 , but end at slots  156 , thereby leaving room for the flange  92  to deform as described above. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims.