Self locking safety socket

A safety socket assembly comprising a non-conductive housing containing;

• (a) a pair of parallel conductive prong receptacles adapted to receive the prongs of an electrical plug each of said receptacles containing an aperture in a wall therein adapted to receive locking means,
• (b) a pair of corresponding electrical terminals spaced from, but electrically connectable to said prong receptacles,
• (c) a rearwardly displacable, non-conductive, non-rotatable peg axially aligned between said prong receptacles said peg extending forwardly from the front of said housing when the peg is in its forward position,
• alignment means to keep said peg in axial alignment between said prong receptacles,
• (e) spring means interspersed between said peg and the rear of said housing exerting a forward force on said peg,
• (f) a pair of flexible, conductive contacts each contact being attached to opposite sides of said peg, and located adjacent a prong receptacle, each contact having a forward locking head and a rear contact tail, said locking head being in alignment with and tensioned to snap into a prong receptacle aperture in a locking relationship when the peg is in its forward position, said contacts being sized and shaped such that when said locking heads are located in said prong receptacle wall apertures with the peg in its forward position the tails of said contacts are not in engagement with the corresponding electrical terminal, but when the locking heads are flexed out of the prong receptacle wall apertures and the peg rearwardly displaced compressing said spring means, the locking heads of said flexible contacts will be electrically engaged with the walls of said prong receptacles and the tails of said flexible contacts will be electrically engaged with the corresponding terminals.