Patent ID: 8435041

Claim:
An electrical socket comprising: a receptacle having an opening for receiving an electrical plug of an electrical or electronic device, the receptacle having electrical connectors therein for making electrical contact with the plug; a cover for the receptacle; a hinge coupling the cover to the receptacle so that the cover can pivot toward and away from the opening in the receptacle to allow insertion of the electrical plug into the receptacle; further comprising a region on the receptacle that is adjacent to the cover when the cover is closed; and further comprising a paired combination comprising a magnet and a magnet attractive element on ones of an area of the cover and the region on the receptacle causing the cover to be attracted to the receptacle by magnetic force when the cover gets to a predetermined distance from the receptacle, thereby causing the cover to be closed on the receptacle opening by magnetic attraction when the plug is not inserted in the receptacle, wherein the region on the receptacle comprises a peripheral region surrounding the opening in the receptacle and the area on the cover comprises an area on a bottom surface of the cover that faces the opening when the cover is closed.