Patent ID: 7114968

Claim:
An electrical outlet with safety guard for operation with an electrical plug having conductive prongs, said electrical outlet comprising: an outlet body made from electrically non-conductive material and having a plurality of sockets within said outlet body; each of said plurality of sockets comprising: an open end, a longitudinally-extending recess opposite said open end, and a box-shaped cavity disposed between said open end and said recess, said box-shaped cavity having offset portions lateral to left and right sides of a path between said open end and said recess, a resilient, wedge-shaped gate having a corner thereof flexibly attached to said outlet body within one of said offset portions of said cavity, said gate disposed in a first position extending entirely across and blocking the path between the open end and said recess; a conductive terminal disposed in said recess, the terminal being adapted for electrical connection to an alternating current power source; wherein each socket of said plurality of sockets is adapted to receive a conductive prong of an electrical plug, each said resilient, wedge-shaped gate being angularly displaced to a second position into said one of said offset portions of said cavity when said gate is contacted by the conductive prong of an electrical plug inserted into said socket open end, said gate retracting to said first position upon removal of the conductive prong from the socket; and wherein when said resilient, wedge-shaped gate is in said first position it provides a camming surface and an opposing resisting force sufficient to deflect conductors such as hairpins or paper clips, inserted into said socket open end, toward an opposite wall of said box-shaped cavity and thereby prevent the conductors from contacting said conductive terminal.