Geometrical instruments – Gauge – Wall panel outline marker for utility
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-29
2004-11-02
Bennett, G. Bradley (Department: 2859)
Geometrical instruments
Gauge
Wall panel outline marker for utility
C033S562000, C033SDIG001
Reexamination Certificate
active
06810598
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to commercial or residential electrical wiring and component installation, and pertains more particularly to a template system for locating and cutting gang openings for installing stud-mounted “old work” electrical gang boxes. The invention is further directed to a template system for easily locating and cutting other openings of various sizes in a wall, ceiling or other surface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wiring and other components for electrical, networking or other such systems in a residential or commercial structure is installed utilizing either “new work” or “old work” installation techniques. The term “new work”, such as when used with reference to installing wiring and components in new home construction, refers to installation of the wiring and components wherein the wiring and components are routed through and installed within the framing of the structure prior to installation of the drywall wall/ceiling covering. The term “old work” refers to the installation of additional wiring or components to existing wiring or components, or to existing wiring or components in an existing structure. A common “old work” example is the installation of an electrical gang box for a new electrical outlet along an existing wiring branch.
It is commonly required that in “old work” installation and repair, at least a portion of the wall covering, typically being drywall, be removed to allow access to, or installation of the wiring or components. Particularly, for installation of electrical gang boxes for installing a new electrical outlet, a rectangular-shaped opening is generally required to be cut from the drywall, and the opening must be level both horizontally and perpendicularly to a horizontal line. It is also desired in such “old work” gang box installation that the location of the new opening is in the desired position relative to a floor, wall or ceiling in the room were the new outlet is installed.
Typical “old work” gang box installation involves locating, scribing and cutting the opening from the existing drywall covering, and installing an “old work” gang box which attaches directly to the drywall, typically utilizing a screw-mounted tab which is rotated to secure behind drywall and a screw accessible from the front of the gang box. A variety of other such means for securing a gang box to drywall have been introduced in the art as well.
The majority of “new work” gang boxes installed in the framing of the structure, for instance, in new home construction, are firmly secured to a framing member of the structure, usually a vertical wall stud, prior to the installation of drywall. It is well-known in the art that, for obvious reasons of stability, rigidity and safety, it is preferable that the gang box be mounted to a stud or other secure member in the framing of the wall boxes, hence such installation in new home construction. In such an application the gang box, and thereby the electrical outlet secured to the gang box, is less prone to jarring or damage caused by contact between cord ends plugged into the outlet and other objects, such as furniture for example, or drywall damage due to over-tightening of the mounting screws. Stability is further compromised in a drywall-mounted gang box application when the drywall, for whenever reason be it moisture damage, or deterioration over time, becomes softer and less able to support and secure the gang box. A particular advantage in such stud-mount application is thereby gained over “old work” drywall-mounted gang boxes, which are typically made of plastic or other non-metal material, and are much more prone to damage compared to metal stud-mounted gang boxes.
For “old work” installation of a new outlet it is therefore preferable that the new outlet be located such that the gang box to which the new outlet is attached is securely fastened to a stud or other framing member within a wall or ceiling. The opening for the new outlet must therefore be not only square, level and located a specific distance from the floor or wall, but must also be located such that one vertical side of the opening is exactly aligned with, and adjacent to, a side surface of a vertical framing stud, for instance, for the purpose of mounting the gang box to the side of the vertical stud. If such a gang box opening is not perfectly located and aligned, upon securing the gang box to the stud, damage to the drywall may occur due to misalignment between the gang box and the opening, and may also adversely affect the alignment and attachment of the wall plate covering the outlet. Presently, such “old work” installation of stud-mounted electrical gang boxes is therefore most often, and best carried out by, those trained in the skill of the art.
Various “old work” methods and apparatus have been developed for locating, scribing and cutting openings in drywall for installation of stud-mounted gang boxes, utilizing such as electronic stud finders, contractor's levels equipped with bubble levelers, and hand-held templates for marking or scribing the wall with an outline of the desired opening. Many “old work” gang boxes are supplied with paper templates for marking the opening prior to cutting.
Much improvement, however, is still needed in the art to enable one with ordinary skill to accurately locate and cut an opening in drywall for a stud-mounted gang box installation. Present techniques require many separate steps and devices to accurately scribe and cut such an opening. The person of ordinary skill performing the installation must first locate the stud behind the drywall using such as an electronic stud finder, manually mark on the drywall the location of the edge of a vertical stud, and then utilize several other devices and means for locating, scribing and cutting the gang box opening such that it is square and level and closely aligned with the vertical framing stud to which it will be mounted.
Such methods for locating and scribing the opening, utilizing an electronic stud finder and carpenter's level or hand-held template, for instance, easily lend themselves to errors in scribing or cutting the opening, because of the manual nature of the actions. Great care must be taken to accurately mark perfectly level horizontal and vertical lines for the new opening. When utilizing a hand-held paper gang box opening template, accurate marking around the periphery of the paper template is often difficult and prone to error, and hand-held leveling templates utilizing such as spiral cutting tools, or roto-zip tools as they are often referred to as, are often difficult to manually hold stationary to drywall while cutting the opening with the cutting tool around the periphery of the template. When utilizing a hand-held drywall saw for cutting a scribed opening, great care must also be taken to avoid cutting into electrical or other wires or cables which may be located behind the cutting line, and unknown to the person performing the cut.
An inherent functional limitation in hand-held gang box opening templates is that the templates are typically available in sizes applicable to either a single-gang box opening, or a dual-gang opening, or in some instances, both. Such a hand-held template provides no advantage, however, to one wishing to easily cut a square and level opening of a size different from what is required for a standard single or dual gang box, such as for a junction box for wiring of a local area network (LAN), for instance. Slight variances in the dimensions of “old work” gang boxes may require openings having dimensions slightly different from standard, posing further problems to the user of a conventional hand-held gang box opening template.
What is clearly needed is an “old work” template system for accurately locating and cutting an opening in drywall or other such wall covering, wherein the user of average skill may accurately locate the position of the cut relative to a framing member within a wall, for example, and precisely cut a square and level opening of predetermined size from the
Bennett G. Bradley
Boys Donald R.
Central Coast Patent Agency Inc.
Gonzalez Madeline
LandOfFree
Template system for locating and cutting wall or ceiling... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Template system for locating and cutting wall or ceiling..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Template system for locating and cutting wall or ceiling... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3356874