Modular electric conductor and system

Details Modular electric conductor and system Modular electric conductor and system

2000-11-17

2002-12-10

Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Conduits, cables or conductors

Plural duct

C174S0450TD, C174S095000, C174S068100, C439S120000, C439S209000, C439S212000, C439S216000, C439S535000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06492594

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is often desired to provide electricity to areas away from pre-installed electrical outlets. A common example is outside the home, where users often desire to provide electrical power to outdoor patios and decks. Although many homes have outdoor electrical outlets installed on an outside wall of the house, typically only one or two outlets are provided for the entire house and they are invariably located a significant distance from where the electricity is needed. Currently, such a problem is solved by running extension cords from the outlets to the remote location. These extension cords are unsightly and often present a tripping hazard. Additionally, these extension cords may present an electrical shock hazard due to excessive wires which may be run to “non-permanent” devices.
In addition to electricity, it is also often desirous to provide other types of electrical signals, such as cable television, telephone/Internet, and stereo speakers to remote locations away from a pre-installed source. The pre-installed sources for these signals are generally located inside the house, and any extension wires or cords must be run from inside the house, through an open door or window, and to the desired location. Similarly to the electrical power extension cords, these cords being strung from inside the house to the remote location are unsightly and may present a tripping hazard. Additionally, these cords have no protection from being cut, nicked, clipped or snapped.
It is known to provide raceways which can be attached to a surface, such as a side of a house or deck, in which electrical power and other cables may be located, eliminating the running of unsightly cables in the open and eliminating a tripping hazard. Such raceways are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,686 (Neirinck et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,762 (Gooding), U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,900 (Schmidger), U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,610 (Textoris), U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,849 (Whitney), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,933 (Pitchford et al.). However, such raceways are generally not sealed at joints, allowing moisture inside the raceway, thus making the raceway unsuitable for outdoor use.
Additionally, it is also known to provide electrical conductors integrated with such raceways. Such a raceway is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,871 (Booty, Sr. et al.). However, the raceway disclosed by Booty, Sr. et al. is limited by predetermined lengths or a predetermined range of lengths. This limitation restricts the ability to adjust the length of the raceway sections during installation. It would be beneficial to provide an integrated raceway which allows installation of any desired length to fit any particular application. The present invention provides such a capability.
Further, standard electrical power extensions, such as the “Yard Stake”, manufactured by Woods®, include only electrical outlets at the terminal end of an extension cable. Since cables which provide other than electrical power, such as telephone (for both telephone and Internet) and co-axial (for cable television) can also be extended, it would be beneficial to provide outlets for such other cables at the terminal end of, or along the length of, the raceway.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention includes a raceway for providing electrical power and low voltage electrical signals from one location to another in a waterproof environment. The raceway includes electrical power conductors embedded in the raceway.
Further, the present invention includes a raceway for providing electrical power and low voltage electrical signals from one location to another wherein electrical power conductors can be run through an enclosed portion of the raceway, thus shielding the power conductors from the low voltage conductors.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3622686 (1971-11-01), Neirinck
patent: 3721762 (1973-03-01), Gooding
patent: 4037900 (1977-07-01), Schmidger
patent: 4070078 (1978-01-01), Chrones
patent: 4255610 (1981-03-01), Textoris
patent: 4563542 (1986-01-01), Pollack
patent: 4875871 (1989-10-01), Booty, Sr. et al.
patent: 5336849 (1994-08-01), Whitney
patent: 5756933 (1998-05-01), Pitchford et al.
patent: 5802672 (1998-09-01), Rohder
patent: 5998732 (1999-12-01), Caveney et al.
patent: 6045374 (2000-04-01), Candeloro
patent: 6179476 (2001-01-01), Besler et al.
patent: 6323421 (2001-11-01), Pawson et al.

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