Patent Abstract:
An electrical receptacle including a body having a plurality of electrical connections a device face connected to the body, wherein the device face is slidable with respect to the body. An electrical device including a body having a face, a locking mechanism positioned within the body, and wherein the locking mechanism interacts with an electrical plug when the face is slide to a locked position.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/987,400, filed on May 1, 2014 and titled LINEAR LOCKABLE ELECTRICAL DEVICE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/987,409, filed on May 1, 2014 and titled LOCKABLE ELECTRICAL DEVICE WITH BUTTON RELEASE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/984,042, filed on Apr. 25, 2014 and titled LOCKABLE ELECTRICAL DEVICE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/984,261, filed on Apr. 25, 2014 and titled WEATHERPROOF SELF-SECURING ELECTRICAL RECEPTACLE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/987,403, filed on May 1, 2014 and titled INWARD LOCKABLE ELECTRICAL DEVICE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/988,256, filed on May 4, 2014 and titled CAM ENGAGEMENT ROTATABLE DEVICE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/991,590, filed on May 11, 2014 and titled LOCKING ROTATABLE DEVICE AND CORD LOCK to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 62/047,022, filed on Sep. 7, 2014 and titled WATER RESISTANT CORD END to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 62/104,832, filed on Jan. 18, 2015 and titled ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED RECEPTACLE to Baldwin et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This application hereby incorporates by reference co-filed applications titled LOCKING ELECTRICAL DEVICE and ROTATING ELECTRICAL DEVICE both to Baldwin et al. and filed on the same day as this application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Electrical devices and receptacles are well known to provide electrical current to a number of devices within a building once connected to the electrical receptacle. Some features of electrical devices include tamper resistant shutters to prevent inappropriate access to the device and to make sure the electrical device is as safe as possible. 
     SUMMARY 
     Aspects of this disclosure relate to an electrical receptacle. The electrical receptacle may include a body having a plurality of electrical connections, a device face connected to the body, and wherein the device face is slidable with respect to the body. 
     In an implementation, a plurality of electrical receptacle apertures may be located on the device face. The slidable movement may be in the vertical direction. The slidable movement may be in the horizontal direction. The body may further include at least one locking prong which is engaged when the device face is slide to a locked position. The locking prong may extend inward when the device face is moved to the locked position. The body may further include at least one ramp which operates in conjunction with the at least one locking prong. The at least one ramp may be two ramps. The at least two ramps may be angled towards each other. The body may further include at least one spring biased member which prevents sliding movement unless an electrical plug is fully inserted into the receptacle. 
     An electrical plug may not be removable when the electrical receptacle is moved to the locked position. The at least one prong may be positioned within at least one aperture in the electrical plug when the device face is moved to a locked position. The device face may be at least two device faces which are slidable independent of each other. A release button may be included which can be engaged to slide the device face from a locked position to an unlocked position. A removal force between 20 to 50 pounds removes an electrical plug from the electrical receptacle when the device face is in a locked position. A removal force between 32 and 40 pounds removes an electrical plug from the electrical receptacle when the device face is in a locked position. 
     In another aspect, the electrical device may include a body having a face, a locking mechanism positioned within the body, and wherein the locking mechanism interacts with an electrical plug when the face is slide to a locked position. 
     In an implementation, the face may be slidable in the vertical direction. The locking mechanism may be at least one pivotable component with a tab. The locking mechanism may be two pivotable components each having a tab. The two pivotable components may each engage with separate ramps in the body. 
     Aspects and applications of the disclosure presented here are described below in the drawings and detailed description. Unless specifically noted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specification and the claims be given their plain, ordinary, and accustomed meaning to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. The inventors are fully aware that they can be their own lexicographers if desired. The inventors expressly elect, as their own lexicographers, to use only the plain and ordinary meaning of terms in the specification and claims unless they clearly state otherwise and then further, expressly set forth the “special” definition of that term and explain how it differs from the plain and ordinary meaning Absent such clear statements of intent to apply a “special” definition, it is the inventors&#39; intent and desire that the simple, plain and ordinary meaning to the terms be applied to the interpretation of the specification and claims. 
     The inventors are also aware of the normal precepts of English grammar. Thus, if a noun, term, or phrase is intended to be further characterized, specified, or narrowed in some way, then such noun, term, or phrase will expressly include additional adjectives, descriptive terms, or other modifiers in accordance with the normal precepts of English grammar. Absent the use of such adjectives, descriptive terms, or modifiers, it is the intent that such nouns, terms, or phrases be given their plain, and ordinary English meaning to those skilled in the applicable arts as set forth above. 
     The foregoing and other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent to those artisans of ordinary skill in the art from the DESCRIPTION and DRAWINGS, and from the CLAIMS. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a linear electrical receptacle with an electrical plug separated. 
         FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of some internal components of the linear electrical receptacle. 
         FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of some internal components of the linear electrical receptacle. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the body of the linear electrical receptacle. 
         FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the front body of the linear electrical receptacle. 
         FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of a device face. 
         FIG. 6  is a partial sectional view taken generally about line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken generally about line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a partial sectional view taken generally about line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 1  with an electrical plug inserted into the electrical receptacle. 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view taken generally about line  9 - 9  in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view taken generally about line  10 - 10  in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 11  is a sectional view taken generally about line  11 - 11  in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the electrical receptacle with an electrical plug inserted. 
         FIG. 13  is a sectional view of the electrical receptacle taken generally about line  13 - 13  in  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 14  is a sectional view of the electrical receptacle taken generally about line  14 - 14  in  FIG. 13 . 
         FIG. 15  is a sectional view of the electrical receptacle taken generally about line  15 - 15  in  FIG. 13 . 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective view of an electrical receptacle with a release button. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     This disclosure, its aspects and implementations, are not limited to the specific components or assembly procedures disclosed herein. Many additional components and assembly procedures known in the art consistent with the intended operation and assembly procedures for an electrical receptacle will become apparent for use with implementations of an electrical receptacle from this disclosure. Accordingly, for example, although particular components are disclosed, such components and other implementing components may comprise any shape, size, style, type, model, version, measurement, concentration, material, quantity, and/or the like as is known in the art for such implementing components, consistent with the intended operation of an electrical receptacle. 
       FIGS. 1-5  illustrate various views of electrical receptacle  20 . Electrical receptacle  20  includes a rear body  22  with sidewalls  22 A and back wall  22 B. A front body  24  which may be a separate piece from rear body  22  and they may be connected together while front body  24  includes a front surface  26 . A tamper resistant tab mounting structure  22 C may extend forward from and be formed in part from back wall  22 B. A device face  28  is positioned on front surface  26  and includes a plurality of receptacle openings  30  and ground prong opening(s)  30 A. Electrical receptacle  20  may also include electrical connection screws  32 , yoke  34 , and grounding screw  36  as is commonly known in the electrical receptacle art. Grounding screw  36  may be positioned on a ground wire connection tab  41  having a hole  43 , while connection screws  32  may be positioned in apertures  97  in sidewalls  22 A of rear body  22  for accessing receiving arms  96  of connectors  92  while in rear body chamber  23 . Yoke  34  may include mounting flanges  35  on each end with a vertical portion  37  having a hole  39  therein which is positioned to mount the yoke to rear body  22  at hole  25  in the rear body back wall  22 B. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an electrical plug  38  is shown separated from electrical receptacle  20 . Electrical plug  38  may include plug blades  40  and ground prong  40 A extending therefrom and having apertures  42  in the plug blades. While a  3  prong electrical plug and plug blades is shown, it is within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure to incorporate a two prong electrical plug or any other suitable numbers of prongs. 
     Device face  28  may include a device face surface  44  and a rear surface  45  with a device face  28  rear portion  46  having a top surface  47 . Tabs  48  extend from top surface  47  and may include angled surface  50 , top surface  52 , and rear surfaces  49 . Device face  28  includes retainer tabs  54  used to secure the device face with front body  24  having a back surface  27 . Rear portion walls  56  may include ramped portions  58  and form a cavity  60  for receiving locking arms therein. The rear portion walls  56  may include apertures  57  for contact mechanisms  62  to be accessible. 
     Each contact mechanisms  62  may include inner contact surfaces  64  and outer contact surfaces  66  which are adapted to convey electrical current from the electrical connections to the electrical plug when inserted. A ground tab  68  may include a mounting hole  70  and a ground tab body  72  having ground angled walls  74  therein for securely retaining an electrical plug ground prong within aperture  75 . A ground connector  76  may include a washer and crimp  78  on each end of wire  77  with apertures  80  therein. A ground support  79  includes an aperture  81  and is used in conjunction with ground tab  68  and ground connector  76  to further secure and retain the ground prong. A rivet  130  may be used to secure ground connector  76  to ground tab  68  and yoke mount strip  37  to back wall  22 B. Front body  24  may also include a front body opening  82  with locking arms  84  positioned behind a front surface  26 . Locking arms  84  may include offset portions  86  and ends  88  with a locking arm prong  90  near end  88 . 
     Connectors  92  may include connector protrusions  94  on a first end and connector arms  96  with connector apertures  98  therein. Connector apertures  98  may be threaded and arranged to receive electrical connection screws  32 . A block  100  includes tamper resistant tabs  102  which include angled front faces  104  and are connected to block  100  with springs  106 . Apertures  101  in back wall  22 B communicate with channels  103  in mounting structure  22 C. Tamper resistant tabs  102  are used to prevent the sliding motion without an electrical plug engaged as will be discussed in greater detail below. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a back perspective view of body front  24  which highlights locking arm  84  within body front cavity  110 . Locking arm  84  may include ramped surfaces  108  on an outer portion of the locking arm ends  88 . In this orientation, ramped surfaces  108  assist with deflecting the locking arm ends  88  inwards as will be discussed in greater detail. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a pair of receptacle blade cavities  112  formed by contact mechanism  62 , locking arm  84 , device face rear portion walls  56 . Receptacle blade cavities  112  may also be slightly increased or decreased, depending on the configuration, by compressing springs  106  and moving tamper resistant tabs  102  with electrical plug blades  40  during insertion or decompressing springs  106  and moving tamper resistant tabs  102  when electrical plug blades  40  are removed. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a side view of tamper resistant tabs  102  having clearance surfaces  114 . Clearance surfaces  114  are used to permit and facilitate easier vertical movement of the device face. Specifically, clearance surface  114  are used as a chamfer which allows the tamper resistant tabs to engage and disengage the device face and permit movement in both the upwards and downwards direction. 
       FIGS. 8-15  illustrate various operational views of the electrical device.  FIGS. 8-11  illustrate various views of the electrical plug  38  with plug blades  40  inserted through device face  28  and receptacle openings  30 . Specifically, plug blades  40  are inserted in the direction associated with arrow  116 . With movement in the direction of arrow  116 , plug blades  40  also contact tamper resistant tabs  102  and compress springs  106  until the tamper resistant tabs  102  extend beyond a rear surface of device face rear portion  46 . When the tamper resistant tabs  102  are forced behind device face rear portion  46 , device face  28  may be moved linearly in the direction associated with arrows  118  as seen in  FIG. 12 . 
       FIGS. 12-15  illustrate the next movement of the device face  28  and the electrical receptacle in general after an electrical plug is fully inserted through receptacle openings  30 . Specifically, the electrical plug and device face  28  are moved in the direction associated with arrow  118  so that they both move relative to body front  24 . Movement of device face  28  in the direction of arrow  118  forces device face  28  and particularly rear portion walls  56  downward onto locking arms  84 . Rear portion walls  56  and specifically ramped portions  58  communicate with the locking arms and specifically locking arm end  88  with locking arm ramped surface  108  which are received within cavities  60 . When ramped surfaces  108  contact ramped portions  58 , the locking arm end  88  and locking arm prong  90  are forced in the direction associated with arrows  120 . Since electrical plug blades  40  are positioned within the electrical receptacle  20 , locking arm prongs  90  are positioned within blade apertures  42 . With the locking arm prongs  90  within blade apertures  42 , the electrical plug blades  40  and the electrical plug  38  cannot be pulled outwards easily. 
     In another implementation, the electrical plug  38  may be removed after a specified amount of force, such as 50 pounds of pulling force overcoming the locking arm prongs  90  and thereby permitting the electrical plug to be removed without inadvertently dislodging the electrical receptacle. In yet another implementation, the electrical plug may only be removed when the locking arm prongs  90  are disengaged from blade apertures  90 . Specifically, the electrical plug is removable from the electrical device with less than 15 pounds of removal force in the unlocked position and in one implementation between 3 to 15 pounds of force removes the plug as identified in UL498. In another implementation, the removal force in the unlocked removable force is between 0 and 30 pounds of removal force. 
     In the locked position, the removal force may be higher. The removal force in the locked position may be between 32 and 38 pounds of removal force or between 25 and 50 pounds of removal force in another implementation. As can be seen, any suitable holding force may be utilized in the locked position between 25 to 50 plus pounds of force as the electrical code, UL, and various requirements may specify. In another implementation, the removal force may be less than 20 or 15 pounds. Accordingly, any suitable unlocked and locked force may be utilized to secure the electrical cord within the receptacle. While the above description relates to a three prong electrical plug, a similar analysis may be accomplished for a two prong electrical plug whereby the two prong electrical plug may have higher or lower removal force in the locked or unlocked positions selectively between 0 and 50 plus pounds. 
     In order to remove the electrical plug  38 , the user simply slides the device face upwards to allow the locking arm ends  88  to move outwards against the ramped portions  58  to remove locking arm prongs  90  from plug apertures  42 . The additional movement upwards moves the device away from the locking prongs. The user may then remove the electrical plug blades  40  and tamper resistant tabs  102  may be repositioned by springs  106  to prevent unwanted access to the electrical device. 
     In another aspect, the electrical receptacle  20  may include an electrical current control or cutoff circuit. In this instance, the electrical contact mechanisms may be electrically isolated from the electrical connection screws and other line voltage until the electrical receptacle is slide to the active, engaged, or locked position. 
     In another aspect, a person of skill in the art will immediately appreciate that the sliding electrical face may be duplicated to provide more than one sliding face on the electrical device. For example, two sliding faces may move vertically together or independently. Further, the two sliding faces may slide horizontally in the same or different directions. Still further, one sliding face could move vertically while the other sliding face could move horizontally. Any number of sliding faces may be utilized and slide in any suitable direction without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. While not specifically shown, the same features may be implemented in any suitable electrical receptacle, whether on a power strip, surge protector, cord reel, power tap, extension cords, or the like. 
       FIG. 16  illustrates another implementation electrical receptacle  20 A with a lock and release button  122 . The electrical receptacle is moveable in a manner similar to the above-referenced disclosure but may lock in the engaged, active, or locked position. Accordingly the electrical receptacle remains locked until release button  122  is depressed, thereby allowing the device face  28  to be moved upwards or into the unlocked position. In another implementation, device face  28  may be spring biased to the unlocked or upwards position such that when the spring is compressed or extended by moving to the locked position, the device face will return to its natural position and force the device face to the unlocked position. 
     It will be understood that implementations are not limited to the specific components disclosed herein, as virtually any components consistent with the intended operation of a method and/or system implementation for an electrical receptacle may be utilized. Components may comprise any shape, size, style, type, model, version, class, grade, measurement, concentration, material, weight, quantity, and/or the like consistent with the intended operation of a method and/or system implementation for an electrical receptacle. 
     While this and other embodiments illustrate the use of a side-wired receptacle, a person of skill in the art will immediately appreciate that a back wired, side wired, hard wired, or any other suitable connection method to the structural wiring system may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
     The concepts disclosed herein are not limited to the specific implementations shown herein. For example, it is specifically contemplated that the components included in a particular implementation of an electrical receptacle may be formed of any of many different types of materials or combinations that can readily be formed into shaped objects and that are consistent with the intended operation of an electrical receptacle. For example, the components may be formed of: rubbers (synthetic and/or natural) and/or other like materials; polymers and/or other like materials; plastics, and/or other like materials; composites and/or other like materials; metals and/or other like materials; alloys and/or other like materials; and/or any combination of the foregoing. 
     Furthermore, embodiments of the electrical receptacle may be manufactured separately and then assembled together, or any or all of the components may be manufactured simultaneously and integrally joined with one another. Manufacture of these components separately or simultaneously may involve extrusion, pultrusion, vacuum forming, injection molding, blow molding, resin transfer molding, casting, forging, cold rolling, milling, drilling, reaming, turning, grinding, stamping, cutting, bending, welding, soldering, hardening, riveting, punching, plating, and/or the like. If any of the components are manufactured separately, they may then be coupled or removably coupled with one another in any manner, such as with adhesive, a weld, a fastener, any combination thereof, and/or the like for example, depending on, among other considerations, the particular material(s) forming the components. 
     In places where the description above refers to particular implementations of an electrical receptacle, it should be readily apparent that a number of modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof and that these implementations may be applied to other electrical receptacles. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true spirit and scope of the disclosure set forth in this document. The presently disclosed implementations are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the disclosure being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning of and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7