Electrical connectors – Coupling part including flexing insulation – Sealing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-09-16
2004-09-14
Nguyen, Truc T. T. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Coupling part including flexing insulation
Sealing
C439S138000, C439S271000, C439S283000, C174S0450TD
Reexamination Certificate
active
06790084
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical and data termination modules and more specifically to watertight electrical and data termination modules which are flush mounted onto a floor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many new offices and commercial workplaces are being designed to provide a more open and less confined environment. This trend has resulted in larger work spaces with fewer walls and fewer wall-mounted electrical receptacles. Building designers have found that floor-mounted electrical termination devices provide a convenient means for connecting electrical power and data/communication signals when wall-mounted receptacles are not readily accessible or unavailable.
Modern buildings with large open floor space are now designed with floor-mounted receptacles spaced at regular intervals to provide flexibility in reconfiguring the floor plan design. When the receptacles are not in use, they are covered with a plate (or cover) that protects them from being damaged. There are many different designs for these plates in the prior art with accessibility to the interior of the module which houses the receptacles and safety being two of the basic design criteria. Preferred floor-mounted receptacles are flush-mounted to the floor in order to prevent persons walking through the work space from tripping over the receptacle covers.
The floor-mounted junction boxes that are currently in use are not watertight. Typically, the junction boxes have covers with lids which are opened to access the receptacles. The lids are attached to the cover using a retaining clip and do not provide any sealing capability around the receptacle outlets. In one design, the lids are held in the closed position by three vertical ribs on the internal surface of the duplex cover which provide only a minimal amount of pressure against the lid's mating wall. Moreover, the duplex cover uses only one mounting screw located in the center of the cover so that the outer edges of the cover do not securely contact the carpet ring or base plate. Moreover, the internal shoulder for the recessed section of the base plate is discontinuous around the perimeter and prevents the cover plate from being tightly secured to the base plate.
Since floor-mounted receptacles are located at or below the level of the floor, they are susceptible to water leakage that can short-out and damage the circuits connected through the receptacle. This has led to new listing agency regulations that require poke-through receptacles with flush mounted covers to be “scrub-watertight,” i.e., no water can penetrate the receptacle cover in the closed position and enter the receptacle openings where live electrical connections are present. Accordingly, there is a need for a flush cover for a floor-mounted receptacle which is watertight when not in use and which still provides easy access to floor-mounted receptacles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a flush mounted cover used on modular poke-thru (poke-through) systems for floor-mounted receptacles. More particularly, the present invention is a watertight modular system for floor-mounted electrical and/or data receptacles which includes a cover, a lid, a gasket and a base plate.
The cover for the watertight modular system has a generally flat upper surface, a lower surface, and a cutout adapted to expose an electrical or data receptacle, wherein the lower surface has a plurality of retaining walls which extend downwardly from the lower surface and define a plurality of enclosed regions. The cutout has a continuous retaining wall which extends downwardly from the lower surface of the cover around the edge of the cutout. The cover can also include a data port module which slidably engages a slot in the cover. The slot has a continuous retaining wall around the edge which extends downwardly from the lower surface of the cover and defines the slot. The cover is preferably made from a non-metallic material such as a rubber or a plastic.
The lid is shaped to fill and cover the cutout and includes a pivot mechanism at a first end for mounting the lid flush with the upper surface of the cover when in a closed position and for exposing the receptacle when in an open position. The lid also has a snap-in mechanism at a second end for providing a positive hold in the closed position, and a continuous perimeter wall extending downwardly and beyond the retaining walls when the lid is in the closed position. The pivot mechanism has a slot which pivotably engages two prongs which extend outwardly from opposing sides of the first continuous retaining wall. In a preferred embodiment, the cover includes two lids for accessing electrical receptacles.
The gasket has a cutout adapted to expose the electrical or data receptacle that are being accessed through the cover. The gasket is preferably formed from a resilient, waterproof material, preferably a rubber or an elastomeric material.
The base plate has a top surface and a central portion recessed from the top surface for receiving the gasket and cover. The recessed central portion includes a continuous wall which extends downwardly from the upper surface. At the base of the wall, a shoulder extends inwardly to define an opening. In one embodiment, a detachable web is connected to the shoulder and extends across the opening to form a plurality of openings. When the base plate, gasket and cover are assembled, the top surface of the base plate is flush with the upper surface of the cover and the retaining walls and the continuous perimeter wall sealably contact the gasket.
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Drane Mark R.
Osborn, Jr. Robert H.
Pyron Roger
Hoffmann & Baron , LLP
Nguyen Truc T. T.
Thomas & Betts International Inc.
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