Electricity: conductors and insulators – Boxes and housings – With electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-08
2002-12-31
Dinkins, Anthony (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Boxes and housings
With electrical device
C174S053000, C174S066000, C220S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06501021
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical boxes used in residential, commercial and industrial wiring. More particularly, the invention provides a shim or spacer between the electrical box and devices mounted within the box.
When an electrical device, such as a switch or receptacle, is mounted in an electrical box, the box is not always mounted flush with the wall surface. This leaves a gap between the device and the box, preventing a rigid attachment to the box. While most electrical devices today have ears or tabs to engage the wall surface providing a rigid attachment to the wall, the wall surface can erode over time resulting in a loose fit of the electrical device to the wall and box. One previous attempt at bridging the gap between the device and box has included the use of metal washers. However, these metal washers are awkward to keep on the screw while attaching the device and are usually not the correct thickness to bridge the gap. Other devices have been tried such as cardboard shims, but these also tend to wear and loosen with time.
One object of the present invention is to provide a shim for electrical devices within an electrical box that is easy to install. Another object of the present invention is to provide a shim for electrical devices with varying thickness allowing for shimming different size gaps.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The shim of the present invention is a plastic, cylindrical shaped device of varied thickness. A hole extends through the shim to allow the passing of the screw which holds the electrical device to the electrical box. This hole is sized to allow screws of common sizes, such as a number 6 or number 8, to pass. Means are provided within the hole to frictionally engage the screw thus preventing the shim from falling off once it has been placed onto the screw. The shims can be made with different thickness to bridge different size gaps, and each different thickness can be color coded to allow easy identification of the various thickness. If the correct thickness of shim is not available, multiple shims can be used in combination to provide the proper thickness needed.
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Greene Randy Joseph
Myers Russell Lee
Corl Rodney A.
Dinkins Anthony
Patel Dhiru R
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