Electricity: conductors and insulators – Overhead – Towers – poles or posts
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-14
2003-06-10
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Overhead
Towers, poles or posts
C174S068100, C052S220100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06576834
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fixing a device of any kind, such as a socket outlet or a telecommunication jack, into conduit of any kind, such as a baseboard, coving, column or other form of conduit, used for electrical power and/or telecommunication installations in domestic or business premises.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In some installations, in the case of both new construction and renovation, conduit fixed to the wall is often used for electrical or optical wiring. The conduit therefore runs horizontally along the walls, at the bottom in the manner of a baseboard, at the top in the manner of coving, or vertically against a wall, in a corner or on a column. The conduit provides a functional and protected internal wiring path enabling easy and reliable connection to diverse electrical or telecommunication devices.
The electrical devices are generally housed individually or in groups in a support frame or housing which is usually fixed directly to the wall, being recessed into the wall to a greater or lesser degree, and adjoins the conduit, or even overlaps it locally, in the transverse direction relative to its longitudinal direction.
This has the advantage of fast installation and facilitates subsequent work. However, it has the disadvantage of a relatively large footprint on the wall (or the column), which is somewhat unesthetic and difficult to reconcile with localized problems of congestion. Moreover, “made to measure” recessing of the housing and the device(s) that it contains into the receiving wall is not always desirable or convenient.
In other installations, the conduit, which in this case is usually referred to as trunking, is deep enough to receive not only the electrical conductors but also the entire depth of the device(s) to be fixed. In this type of installation, the devices are either attached directly to the trunking or accommodated in a housing or on a support frame which is in turn attached to the trunking. An apertured plate (shield) is generally locally substituted for the cover section of the trunking to provide access via an opening of appropriate dimensions to the active front face of the device(s), which is then flush with the shield attached in this way. The housing containing the device(s) is thus entirely accommodated within the trunking, without projecting from it at the front or at the rear, the trunking being deep enough to contain the entire depth of the housing and the device(s) that it contains.
This type of installation, which has the advantage of reducing the width of the footprint on the wall, has the major disadvantage of requiring the trunking to be relatively deep throughout its length, which is highly unesthetic and usually represents a heavy penalty on the general ergonomics of the interior space delimited by the wall in question. Clearly, because of its depth, the trunking projects a relatively large distance from the wall, impeding the installation of furniture, and even the circulation of persons, trolleys or other vehicles.
In further installations, as shown in the document FR 2,729,255, for example, each electrical device is individually received in a housing that is accommodated in the conduit and has an overall depth greater than that of the conduit; it passes through the bottom of the conduit by means of an opening formed locally for this purpose therein. The surplus part of its depth, which projects from the bottom of the conduit, is received in a corresponding recess formed in the wall specifically for this purpose. The above document therefore proposes a system for building an electrical device into a wiring conduit whose depth is less than that of the device, including a support provided with means for fixing it in the conduit and means for receiving the electrical device so that the front face of the device is flush with the front face of the conduit through a corresponding opening formed therein, and a patttess, i.e., an open-ended box, typically for accommodating an electrical device, adapted to pass through a corresponding opening formed in the bottom of the conduit and to form therein a recess to receive the rear part of the device. The pattress, which projects externally from the rear face of the base section of the conduit, is received in the associated recess in the wall, in which it delimits a specific volume, and protects the device.
However, in this system, the device support and the pattress are made in one piece forming the previously mentioned housing for individually receiving each device. This leads to the following two major disadvantages. On the one hand, the resulting housing is relatively bulky and therefore difficult to store and transport. On the other hand, and more importantly, each housing is associated with a single device and it is therefore necessary to fix to the conduit as many housings as there are devices, which complicates installation, to the detriment of cost. On the other hand, the support part of the housing must be matched to the type of device to be installed, and it is therefore necessary to provide several types of housing matching the various types of device, which increases manufacturing and distribution costs and complicates installation.
The object of the invention is to overcome the above drawbacks as much as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To this end, the invention provides a system for building at least one electrical device into a wiring conduit whose depth is less than the depth of the device, the system including:
at least one support provided with means for fixing it in the conduit and means for receiving the electrical device(s) so that a front face of each device is flush with a front face of the conduit via an opening formed in corresponding relationship therein, and
at least one pattress adapted to pass through an opening formed in corresponding relationship to it in the bottom of the conduit and to form therein a recess for accommodating a rear part of the device, in which system the pattress is separate from the support and has its own means for fixing it to the conduit.
It is therefore possible to provide a standard pattress that can be associated with different types of support corresponding to the different types of device that can be installed in the conduit. This reduces fabrication and distribution costs, because only the support, to be more precise its means for receiving the device(s), requires diversification. Clearly fabrication, transport and storage of the support alone are simpler and consequently less costly than in the case of a more complex assembly including the device support and the pattress, as was the case in the prior art previously mentioned.
Also, during installation, it is particularly convenient to be able to use a standard pattress so that it is possible to use only one type of drilling and recessing tool, also of standard design, to form the opening in the bottom of the conduit and the recess in the wall.
Similarly, in the chronological sequence of installation operations, it is easier for the operator, after forming the opening in the bottom of the conduit and the recess in the wall, to install the pattress or pattresses which then delimit a specifically delimited and protected volume in the wall and in the recess in the back of the conduit. The device(s) with their support(s) can be fitted and fixed to the conduit subsequently by means of the recess delimited in this way and protected by the pattress. Clearly it is more convenient for the operator, when installing the devices, to have a clear view of the recessed volume in which the devices are to be received, delimited by the pattress. Also, and most importantly, the ability to dissociate fitting the pattress into the recess in the wall through the opening in the bottom of the base section of the conduit from fixing the support with its device to the base section, in correspondence with the pre-installed pattress, proves to be not only more convenient but also propitious to obtaining an installation of good
Coutant Regis
Xerri Frédéric
Estrada Angel R.
Planet Wattohm
Reichard Dean A.
Young & Thompson
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