Safety socket

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a receptacle for selectively conducting electric power. The receptacle contains a switch that is normally open to prevent the occurrence of electric shock. An optical prong detector is provided to determine whether both the hot and neutral prongs of a plug have been inserted into the receptacle. The receptacle provides conductance upon determination of insertion of a plug into the receptacle. Additional features include GFI detection, current detection, heat detection, warning lights and an audible alarm. The receptacle includes communication abilities with remote devices to transmit data indicative of the state of the device.

1 . An electrical receptacle for selectively conducting electrical power comprising:
 a housing having a load side and a line side, the load side having at least two apertures disposed thereon for receiving a user engageable prong, the housing further having at least two conductor contacts, each of the conductor contacts being disposed adjacent to a respective aperture to permit conduction with the user engageable prong;   a contact detector for detecting the presence of a prong in each aperture, the contact detector having an emitter and a pair of detectors, the detectors producing a high signal indicative of the absence of a prong, and the detectors producing a low signal indicative of the presence of a prong;   a pair of partitions for blocking light, each partition disposed between the emitter and one of the respective detectors, each partition having an aperture to permit only light directly from the emitter to pass through to the respective detector; and   an interrupter circuit for governing the flow of electrical power to the conductor contacts, the interrupter circuit having a line side, a load side, and a switch, the switch operatively coupled to a source of electrical power at the line side, and operatively coupled to the conductor contacts at the load side, the switch configured to be closed when both detectors in the pair of detectors produces a high signal indicative of the presence of a prong.   
     
     
         2 . The electrical receptacle of  claim 1  wherein the receptacle comprises a microcontroller, the microcontroller being configured to receive signals from the detectors and transmit signals to the interrupter circuit, the microcontroller configured to transmit to the interrupter circuit a third signal when there is two or more prongs in the receptacle, and to transmit to the interrupter circuit a fourth signal when there is less than two prongs in the receptacle, and the switch being further configured to be closed when it receives the third signal from the microcontroller. 
     
     
         3 . The electrical receptacle of  claim 2  comprising a sensor and a communication device, the microcontroller being operatively coupled to the communication device and configured to receive a signal from the sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The electrical receptacle of  claim 1  wherein the emitter produces light and the high signal produced by the pair of detectors is indicative of a high light level. 
     
     
         5 . The electrical receptacle of  claim 4  comprising a filtering circuit which is coupled to each detector, the emitter is further configured to produce a target frequency, and the filtering circuit is configured to eliminate erroneous signals generated from ambient light by filtering out signals not having the target frequency. 
     
     
         6 . The electrical receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising a filtering circuit coupled to each detector, the filtering circuit configured to pass signals generated by modulated light from the emitter. 
     
     
         7 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , wherein said receptacle produces has a unique tone signal, whereby said tone signal identifies the receptacle. 
     
     
         8 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one communications conduit for transmitting signals indicative of the condition of the receptacle, said communications conduit selected from the group consisting of a power line, a serial port and a wireless port. 
     
     
         9 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising a thermal sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising a current sensor. 
     
     
         11 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising a pyroelectric sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one warning light. 
     
     
         13 . The receptacle of  claim 1 , further comprising an audible alarm. 
     
     
         14 . A system for monitoring and controlling an electrical receptacle comprising:
 at least one electrical receptacle having a load side and a line side, the load side having at least two apertures disposed thereon for receiving a user engageable prong, the housing further having at least two conductor contacts, each of the conductor contacts being disposed adjacent to a respective aperture to permit conduction with the prong, and the receptacle configured to produce a unique tone; and   a master control panel, the master control panel having an input side wired in electrical connection with the branch circuits of a breaker box and an output side wired in electrical connection with the at least one electrical receptacle, at least one remote circuit breaker for disconnecting at least one of the electrical receptacles to its respective branch circuit.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the master control panel comprises a battery interface configured to receive electrical power from a battery for power backup. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the master control panel comprises an alarm system to provide notification in the event of a hazard. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the master control panel comprises a transceiver for wireless communication with remote devices. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the master control panel comprises a manual disconnect switch for terminating power to all of the electrical receptacles. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14  wherein at least one of the electrical receptacles comprises a current sensor which measures circuit branch electrical current, the current sensor being in communication with the master control panel, the master control panel having a display, and the master control panel configured to monitor the electrical current measured by each current sensor on the display. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the master control comprises a wireless port and a wireless alert unit, the wireless port transmits signals indicative of the condition of at least one of the electrical receptacles, and the wireless alert unit receives the signals from the wireless port.