Receptacles – Outlet or junction box type – Wall – floor – or panel mounted
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2001-01-09
Pollard, Steven (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Outlet or junction box type
Wall, floor, or panel mounted
C220S003200, C220S003500, C220S006000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170685
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention most generally relates to electrical outlet boxes as are customarily used for wall mounting of electric lighting circuit switches and electrical power outlets and related devices; and more particularly it relates to folding electrical outlet boxes intended for assembly and installation in wallboard.
2. Background Art
The construction industry has a long established practice of using wall mounted junction boxes to mount electrical power outlets and light switches and otherwise join and/or terminate electrical wires for user access to power for portable devices or control of lighting circuits and the like. Many variations of wall-mounted, open face junction boxes are represented in past and present commercially available products, and in the patented art, some being foldable, some disclosing new features.
For example, folding boxes are represented by Tansi's U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,457, a molded plastic foldable electrical outlet box with so-called “living hinge” joint lines for folding, a groove and blade structure for joining panel edges at right angles, and integral sleeves for nails for attaching the box to a stud. Jorgensen's U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,947 discloses a foldable electrical box for new work installations, with upper and lower nailing flanges for nailing the box to a stud. Both are for new work, prior to installation of wallboard. Schnell's U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,359 shows upper and lower, corner configured, rotable retention clips and screws that are used to secure a non-metallic, “old-work” box within a hole in the wallboard.
Bowden's U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,525 and Slater et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,957 illustrate a box having corner mounted rotable retention clips, related to those of Schnell's clips. Recessed, self clamping cable entry ports are also shown.
Bordwell's U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,424 discloses an old-work, wall mounting assembly with hinged side flaps as retention means, where the flaps are unfolded and brought forward to bear on the inside surface of the wallboard. Lockwood's U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,330 discloses a related, deployable flap structure for old work or “cut-in” work, as it may be called. Resilient hinges at the hinge line of the foldable wall panels of an electrical junction box, which become rigid under tension of the fold, are disclosed in Delamour et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,787.
In summary, problems not adequately addressed in the art include the need for an electrical junction box system for a rework, or cut-in or old work applications, that folds flat for efficient bulk packaging, distribution and storage; that has no unattached parts to get lost; that provides for simple snap lock assembly in single or ganged configurations; that has a simple, front actuated, upper and lower centerline retainer mechanism permitting quick and secure installation without tilt to one side or the other; that has provision for quick and ready grounding of the receptacle or switch assembly mounting plate to the box, that has flush, self-clamping cable ports; and that retains a maximum amount of interior space for wiring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention, most simply stated, is a design for a foldable electrical box for mounting in wallboard that combines the features of living hinges for folding, key and slot edges for easy fold and snap together assembly of the box, upper and lower sets of front face flanges and respective center-bored screw and rotating clip assembly configured so as to permit installation of the box by inserting it into a suitably sized hole in the wallboard of a wall, as far as the front edge flanges allow, so that the bulk of the box, including the retaining clips, is behind the wallboard in the interior cavity of the wall, then with screwdriver or similar tool, rotating the center-bored screws clockwise, the first quarter turn of which rotates the respective clips from the retracted or stowed position to an extended centerline position behind the wallboard, and further rotating the screws clockwise to bring the clips forward into firm contact with the backside of the wallboard so as to lock the box in place.
The center-bored screws are configured with conventional means of inhibiting reverse rotation once tightened. The upper and lower screws are configured so as to position their center bores at the lateral center and with proper vertical spacing to accommodate the mounting screws of industry standard switches, duplex receptacles, and other commonly used devices.
The box is a molded, one piece design, with living hinge features to provide for folding lines and with snap-in edge keys and slots for locking the mating edges. The top and bottom panels of the box are molded or formed with right angle front edge flanges directed outwardly from the box, interior tunnels for the center-bored screws, retraction slots for the retainer clips, and flush cable lock ports.
The box is molded or formed so as to accept insertion of the upper and lower screw and retaining clip sets in a non-releasable fashion, so that they cannot become separated from the box during ordinary handling, assembly and installation.
A gangable embodiment of the box utilizes a bipolar interlock mechanism to provide a universal side to side joining scheme.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a folding electrical box that will pack more densely and take up less space for the manufacturer, distributor and end user than the conventional, fully formed boxes.
It is an object of the invention to have a centerline retaining mechanism with a three point grip on the wallboard at the top and bottom of the box, so that the box is not likely to be tilted towards one side or the other or noticeably less secure when comparing one corner to another.
It is a further object to have such a box with a retractable retaining mechanism that permits the largest possible box and interior box volume for the standard size hole.
It is a yet further object to provide a folding electrical box, the components of which are already securely attached in the unassembled form so as to avoid the loss of parts and inconvenience to the user while assembling and installing.
It is a still yet further object of the invention to provide low parts count to a foldable box system, to minimize inventory requirements.
It is another object to provide a box with up to 20 cubic inches of interior room for up to ten #14 wires or eight #12 wires.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only a preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by me for carrying out my invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2850202 (1958-09-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 4202457 (1980-05-01), Tansi
patent: 4297525 (1981-10-01), Bowden
patent: 4304957 (1981-12-01), Slater et al.
patent: 4332330 (1982-06-01), Lockwood
patent: 4438859 (1984-03-01), Solek
patent: 4896787 (1990-01-01), Delamour et al.
patent: 5316165 (1994-05-01), Moran, Jr.
patent: 5434359 (1995-07-01), Schnell et al.
patent: 5603424 (1997-02-01), Bordwell et al.
patent: 5680947 (1997-10-01), Jorgensen
Asmus Scott J.
Maine Vernon C.
Pollard Steven
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