Supports – Brackets – Specially mounted or attached
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-28
2002-11-26
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Brackets
Specially mounted or attached
C220S003500, C248S906000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06484980
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates in general to an electrical box support but is more specifically directed to the construction at the outer end of the support of a stud-engaging tab that can be bent in the field to conform to a particular box depth and when necessary, straightened and rebent without fracturing the metal forming the tab.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The terms “box” and “electrical box” as used herein are intended to refer to a junction box, receptacle box, switch box, terminal box, connector box or the like as are known in the electrical trade. The term “stud” as used herein is intended to include structural members in a building surface, including wall studs, joists, rafters, etc. The term “wall” as used herein is intended to include ceiling surfaces as well as vertical walls. With these terms in mind, the teachings of the patents described below are given for background and are deemed to be incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,506,330 issued in 1924 recognized the need for an electrical box support capable of accommodating an electrical box of a known depth and studs of different spacing. The '330 patent teaches the practice of forming an electrical box support from a pair of telescoping, channel formed struts, each having a face to which the box could be attached. The '330 patent also teaches bending the ends of the support to form right angled tabs for mounting the box support to and between adjacent studs. The '330 patent box support however required that adjustments for boxes of different depths be made by locating the bent ends of the box support at different locations on the sides of the studs.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,789,124 issued in 1931 also recognized the need for adjusting the length of an electrical box support by bending the ends of the support to accommodate to studs of different spacing. As with the '330 patent box support the '124 patent box support required adjustments for boxes of different depths to be made by locating the bent ends of the box support at different locations on the sides of the stud.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,334 issued in 1941 also recognized the need for an electrical box support capable of accommodating electrical boxes of different depth and mounting to studs of different spacing. The '334 patent teaches the practice of forming an electrical box support from a single bar having a face to which the box could be attached. The '334 patent also teaches bending the ends of the support to form right angled tabs for mounting the box support between and to adjacent studs. The electrical box support of the '334 patent however was not adjustable lengthwise and also required that adjustments for boxes of different depths be made by locating the bent ends of the box support at different locations on the sides of the studs.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,188 issued in 1957 illustrates in one embodiment an electrical box support constructed of a pair of struts which telescope within each other so as to be able to adjust to different spacings between the studs and providing a face to which the box could be attached. In the mentioned embodiment, the '188 patent also illustrates the practice of prebending the ends of the telescoping struts to form tabs useful for attaching the box support to and between adjacent studs of a known spacing. In another embodiment, the '188 patent illustrates an electrical box support formed from a single flat sheet with bendable tabs at each end. Each tab (described in the patent as the “end of the rod”) is described as being provided with equally spaced bend lines (described in the patent as “equally spaced points”) with a weakened area which in the '188 patent is described as being a grooved, embossed or etched line along which line the tab can be bent back and forth until the tab breaks off. Thereafter, the next adjacent section to the broken point is bent at right angles to the strut to provide a mounting tab. No details are given in the '188 patent as to how the bend lines would be grooved, embossed or etched. Here it should be recognized that embossing involves forming a protuberance on a surface, etching involves deforming a surface by use of a corrosive and grooving involves cutting into a surface.
The practice of providing a line of holes in an electrical box support to facilitate bending or breaking of the metal along such line, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,922, issued in 1983, for an electrical outlet box support. The '922 patent illustrates a pair of weakening lines used to facilitate bending for the purpose of breaking off of excess metal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,453, issued in 1984, illustrates an electrical box support in which a plurality of parallel lines of holes are used to facilitate bending for the purpose of breaking off of excess metal and U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,235, issued in 1987, also describes an electrical receptacle subplate having two pairs of such bend lines defined by lines of spaced apart holes. The subplate of the '235 plate however unlike the bracket of the present invention, does not accommodate to dimensions which may and typically do vary.
The electrical box support described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,990, issued in 1990, comprises a pair of telescoping struts adapted to be mounted between two spaced-apart wall studs. The struts described in the '990 patent have tabs (referred to as “extensions” in the '990 patent) which can be field bent along either of a pair of fold lines defined by spaced apart slots to accommodate electrical boxes of different depth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,444 issued in 1993 describes an electrical box support in both telescoping and non-telescoping form in which the tabs are provided with bend lines defined by spaced apart slots similar to those found in the '990 patent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,959 issued in 1995 is also noted as teaching use of opposed edge slot notches to establish plural bend lines.
Another practical consideration to be noted is that when brackets are prebent at the place of manufacture and arrive at the job site in a prebent form, the installer may find that the tabs of the bracket have been bent at the wrong location and thus will require straightening and rebending. In other situations, the installer may find that he has an excess quantity of brackets prebent for one job site but which are not suitable for the next job site. In still other situations, the customer may change his requirement, e.g. he may need a 2⅛ inch outlet box at a particular job site instead of a 1½ inch outlet box. These situations thus further illustrate the need for a tab construction which can be straightened and rebent when necessary without fracturing the metal forming the tab.
To complete the foregoing background description it should be recognized that when tabs are bent in the field, it is sometimes necessary after the tab has been bent once along one bend line to straighten and rebend the tab along another bend line better suited to the depth of the box being mounted. For example, the stud to which the tab is being attached may be found to be distorted or the installer may misjudge or initially select the wrong depth of box. In this regard, applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,111, issued in 1995 teaches in a further example the practice of flattening a previously pre-bent tab and rebending the tab to accommodate a different box depth but without relying on any kind of weakening along the bend lines. Therefore, because of the foregoing described and other situations experienced in the field, it is desirable that the tab be relatively easy to bend to accommodate a particular depth of box but not break apart when straightened after being bent and rebent. However, when a bend line is defined by a grooved, embossed or etched line formed so as to intentionally facilitate breaking of the metal as in the '188 patent referred to above, by a set of holes as in the '453 patent referred to above or by a set of spaced apart slots as in the '990 patent
Medlin, Jr. Lewis B.
Medlin, Sr. Lewis B.
Olive & Olive P.A.
Ramirez Ramon O.
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