Electrical connectors – With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision – Direct grounding of coupling part member passing into aperture
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-08
2002-03-26
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With circuit conductors and safety grounding provision
Direct grounding of coupling part member passing into aperture
C439S650000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06361333
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to residential and commercial electrical wiring systems and devices; and, more particularly, to an improved electrical junction box for electrically connecting an electrical receptacle device to an electrical wiring system.
2. Description of Related Art
State and federal building codes require that when a building is wired to provide electrical power therein, the wiring must be installed between the exterior and interior wall surfaces, beneath the floors, above the ceilings, and between the surfaces of interior walls. The electrical wiring is installed after the framing of the building is completed but before the walls are erected on either side of the frame. Where ever electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, wall switches, or the like are desired within the building, an electrical junction box, usually made of plastic or similar non-conductive material for interior use or metal for some exterior applications, is mounted on a frame member and then connected to the wiring. When wall surfaces, such as drywall or plaster, are later installed, access to the junction boxes is achieved through appropriate openings cut into the wall surface. Thus, standard residential and commercial electrical systems comprise a plurality of electrical junction boxes, each of which provides electrical conduit or sheathed cable for connecting the wires of electrical receptacle devices, such as electrical outlets, switches, fixtures, or the like to the electrical wiring of the building. While conventional electrical systems and junction boxes function adequately and relatively safely, they admit a variety of interrelated limitations. Conventional electrical wiring involves connecting the circuit at a junction box by terminating the stripped wires at the electrical receptacle device such as an outlet, switch, light fixture, hard wired appliance or the like. Therefore, in order to complete the proper, flush-mounted wall installation of any electrical receptacle device, all of the many wires and connectors associated with connecting the particular electrical receptacle device to the electrical system must first be connected electrically to the device and then the device with the attached wires is mounted onto the junction box. If the power is not shut off while the electrical receptacle device is being connected to the electrical system, the installer may receive an electrical shock during the installation, because the junction box contains a plurality of open wires and wire connections that are easily accessible and therefore readily mis-connected by the novice installer, such as the homeowner attempting to install a simple light fixture or ceiling fan without the aid of a skilled electrician. Moreover, because the wires are usually crammed into the junction box very tightly, the wires are capable of short-circuiting and causing dangerous electrical fires.
Standard electrical practices create additional limitations associated with the fact that current electrical systems only permit switch control of fixtures and/or outlets when the particular fixtures and/or outlets are directly wired to the same junction box as the switch. In an effort to circumvent this disadvantage, multiple gang junction boxes have been developed for terminating several switches in a single location and thereby permitting comparatively convenient control of multiple fixtures or groups of fixtures. Further, since a building's electrical circuits cannot be tested fully until after the walls of a building are erected, electrical connectivity errors or problems related to proper switch control of particular outlets and fixtures are frequent, especially in the case of multi-way switches, where more than one switch controls a single fixture or group of fixtures. These errors are costly and time-consuming to correct, as they require that the relevant portion of the interior wall surface be removed and reconstructed after the electrical error has been found and repaired.
It therefore would be advantageous to have an electrical junction box that permits convenient and simplified installation and removal of electrical receptacle devices in a plug and play manner. It would also be advantageous to have an electrical junction box wherein electrical wires from a building's electrical system terminate at a set of terminal strips and lugs in a secure area of the box rather than directly on an electrical receptacle device connected to the junction box. It would be further advantageous to have a junction box that provides a pair of plug-and-play terminals into which electrical receptacle devices are readily and conveniently plugged for connection to a building's electrical system. It would also be advantageous to have a junction box that provides a low voltage connector block adapted to provide for smart circuitry and a smart circuit communications path. It would also be advantageous to have a method for terminating and routing electrical wires such that full testing of the circuitry is possible prior to completion of the interior wall surfaces. It would also be advantageous to have a junction box that decreases the possibility of electrical shock. It would also be advantageous to have an electrical junction box that reduces the risk of electrical fire.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An electrical junction box now has been discovered that overcomes the above-described deficiencies of the prior art. The present invention provides an improved electrical junction box wherein the electrical wires from a building's electrical system terminate at connectors or lugs on a set of conductive terminal strips in a secure area of the junction box housing rather than directly on an electrical receptacle device that is mounted within and electrically connected to the junction box. In accordance with the instant invention, an improved electrical junction box provides at least one set of plug-and-play electrical termini into which electrical receptacle devices plug directly without any need for additional hard wiring, stripping, pig tailing, or the like. In a preferred embodiment of the instant invention, all electrical wires have a connection terminus on lugs conductively connected to terminal strips in a secure, non-confined area of the junction box, thereby eliminating the need to twist and pig tail bare wire and reducing the hazard of electrical shock as well as the risk of electrical fire. The housing can therefore also contain at least one set of low voltage cables for actuating and or monitoring the function of the junction box to provide a “smart circuit”.
In accordance with the broad aspect of the invention, the improved electrical junction box comprises a housing which is adapted to be fastened or attached to a building structure. The housing contains at least two conductive terminal strips that are preferably located at the rear of the housing and are insulated one from the other by a non-conductive barrier. At least two terminal connecting lugs, which are attached in spaced apart relation along the conductive terminal strip, are in conductive communication with each conductive terminal strip. Preferably, the terminal connecting lugs on the conductive terminal strips provide termination points for the wire strands contained in a standard 600V sheathed cable. In another broad aspect, the housing contains at least one set of low voltage cables, which preferably terminates at a low voltage connector block, to provide monitoring and/ or controlling function to the junction box of the instant invention.
In accordance with the invention at least one outstanding female connector, conductively communicating with at least one conductive terminal strip, provides a plug-and-play electrical interface adapted to matingly and retentively engage a male connector on an electrical receptacle device which is adapted for electrically connecting an electrical appliance or fixture to the building electrical system through the junction box. The electrical receptacle device has at le
Hyeon Hae Moon
Patel Tulsidas
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
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