Contact-safe base-and-socket system for lighting fixtures

A base-and-socket system for electrical lighting fixtures comprising:

• a lamp base having a lamp guide profile extending downwardly from said base, the distal end of said lamp guide profile forming a centering projection for facilitating insertion of said lamp base into a lamp socket;
• a plurality of spaced-apart electrical-contact pins extending downwardly from said lamp base;
• a plurality of lateral projections extending longitudinally along the outer surface of said lamp guide profile, said lateral projections terminating above said centering projection;
• a lamp socket leaving a recessed socket guide profile which is adapted to receive said lamp guide profile, and a plurality of downwardly-depending slots on said socket guide profile which are adapted to mate with the lateral projections on said lamp guide profile;
• a plurality of power-supplying counter-contacts in said lamp socket, each of said counter-contacts adapted to engage an electrical contact pin on said lamp base when the base is mounted in the lamp socket;
• whereby the lamp base can be inserted into the lamp socket only if said lamp base lateral projections are in register with the slots on said lamp socket.