ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,470,018, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to Norman R. Byrne (Ada, Mich.).
"Tamper resistant electrical outlet" was invented by Gerald N. Vander Till (Grandville, Mich.) and Roger J. Barr (Lowell, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tamper resistant electrical outlet maintains its electrical contacts in a non-energized state until an object is inserted into an outlet opening for a different electrical contact. In this way, an object contacting the electrical contact behind one contact opening will not be subjected to electrical current unless another object is simultaneously inserted sufficiently far into another outlet opening. Insert...