U.S. patent application number 11/640084 was filed with the patent office on 2008-06-19 for electrical box with multi-mount features.
Invention is credited to Greg Herth.
Application Number | 20080142242 11/640084 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39426857 |
Filed Date | 2008-06-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080142242 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Herth; Greg |
June 19, 2008 |
ELECTRICAL BOX WITH MULTI-MOUNT FEATURES
Abstract
A multi-use electrical box has first and second side walls,
lower and upper walls, which, together, form a front opening into
the electrical box, and a rear wall. The first side wall includes a
plurality of removable alignment tabs extending therefrom. The
lower and upper walls each have external grooves which accommodate
external attachment nails for the electrical box. One or more exit
holes are provided in the first side wall for fastener screws. A
slidable wall is removably mounted in the electrical box to receive
one or more fastener screws at desired locations within the
box.
Inventors: |
Herth; Greg; (Oakdale,
NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ALFRED M. WALKER
225 OLD COUNTRY ROAD
MELVILLE
NY
11747-2712
US
|
Family ID: |
39426857 |
Appl. No.: |
11/640084 |
Filed: |
December 15, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
174/58 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 248/906 20130101;
H02G 3/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
174/58 |
International
Class: |
H02G 3/12 20060101
H02G003/12 |
Claims
1. A multi-use electrical box comprising: first and second side
walls, lower and upper walls forming a front opening into said
electrical box, and a rear wall; said first side wall having a pair
of removable alignment tabs extending therefrom; said lower and
upper walls having external grooves for accommodating external
attachment nails; a plurality of exit holes in said first side wall
for at least one fastener screw; means removably mounted in said
electrical box for receiving said at least one fastener screw, said
removably mounted means comprises a single fastener mounting block
for a single fastener or a two fastener mounting block for a dual
set of fasteners, a single angled screw guide for said at least one
fastener screw in registry with one of said plurality of exit
holes; or, a plurality of angled screw guides for a plurality of
said fastener screws in registry with said plurality of exit holes;
an interior surface of said first side wall has at least one rail
for receiving either said single fastener mounting block or said
two fastener mounting block for said dual set of fasteners said
mounting block comprising said removably mounted means; each of
said mounting blocks having at least one partially extending closed
ended mounting slot or engaging said at least one rail located
inside of said first side wall, wherein said plurality of exit
holes in said first side wall are in positional register with said
plurality of screw guides in said mounting block when said at least
one slot pushed in said box to the full extent onto said at least
one rail, and, said at least one slot is the same size as said at
least one rail.
2. (canceled)
3. The electrical box of claim 1 wherein said at least one fastener
screw is a plurality of fastener screws.
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)
7. The electrical box of claim 1 in which said rails each have a
T-shaped cross section.
8. The electrical box of claim 1 in which said rails each have a
dove tail-shaped cross section.
9. The electrical box of claim 1 in which each of said external
grooves has mounting straps forming a transverse rail to accept an
external attachment nail.
10. The electrical box of claim 9 in which each said external
groove has an opening facing the front opening of said of said
electrical box.
11. (canceled)
12. The electrical box of claim 1 in which said side walls, lower
and upper walls, rear wall, tabs, rails and said mounting straps
are of single piece molded construction.
13. (canceled)
14. (canceled)
15-19. (canceled)
20. The electrical box of claim 1 in which said rails have a
geometric crossectional configuration mating with a corresponding
inverse geometric crossectional configuration of said mounting
slots.
21-26. (canceled)
27. A multi-use electrical box comprising: first and second side
walls, lower and upper walls forming a front opening into said
electrical box, and a rear wall; said first side wall having a pair
of removable alignment tabs extending therefrom; said lower and
upper walls having external grooves for accommodating external
attachment nails; a plurality of exit holes in said first side wall
for at least one fastener screw; means removably mounted in said
electrical box for receiving said at least one fastener screw, said
removably mounted means comprises a single fastener mounting block
for a single fastener or a two fastener mounting block for a dual
set of fasteners, a single angled screw guide for said at least one
fastener screw in registry with one of said plurality of exit
holes; or, a plurality of angled screw guides for a plurality of
said fastener screws in registry with said plurality of exit holes;
an interior surface of said first side wall has a plurality of
rails for receiving either said single fastener mounting block or
said two fastener mounting block for said dual set of fasteners
said mounting block comprising said removably mounted means; each
of said mounting blocks having a plurality of partially extending,
closed ended mounting slots for engaging said plurality of rails
located inside of said first side wall, wherein said plurality of
exit holes in said first side wall are in positional register with
said plurality of screw guides in said mounting block when each
slot of said plurality of slots are pushed in said box to the full
extent onto each rail of said plurality of rails, and, each of said
plurality of slots is the same size as each said rail of said
plurality of rails.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to adaptable electrical boxes
with multiple uses.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Molded electrical boxes designed for nail attachment to
wooden beams or studs are well known in the industry. Molded
electrical boxes with internal screw attachment are known in the
prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,093 of Herth et al. describes such a
dual purpose electrical box which is attached by two internal
screws; it is especially convenient to use for old work. A pending
application of Herth describes an electrical box for single
fastener attachment using a single internal screw; for new work,
two anti-rotation and positioning tabs are molded onto the mounting
side of the box. The prior art does not reveal molded electrical
boxes equipped with features permitting the three different types
of attachment methods described above.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0003] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an adaptable electrical box with multiple attachment
locations for multiple uses.
[0004] It is also an object of this invention to improve over the
disadvantages of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In keeping with these objects and others which may become
apparent, this invention is a molded electrical box with features
which make it adaptable to external nail attachment to a beam or
stud as well as either single or dual internal screw attachment.
The electrical box is usable for new work or for old work where the
internal screw feature permits convenient attachment through a hole
in the wall surface adjacent to a stud that is sized to the
perimeter of the box. Resetting of the box to accommodate a
modification of a wall surface which affects the thickness of the
wall covering is also facilitated by the internal screw
features.
[0006] A single molded electrical box serves the needs of three
separate sub markets for both new and old work. Thus the box can be
molded in high volume using techniques which take advantage of
economy of scale, such as an eight cavity mold. The electrical box
has a smooth outer mounting wall surface with a plurality of exit
holes, such as, for example, three screw fastener exit holes.
Inside, on the mounting wall are molded one or more short parallel
rails having a particular geometric crossectional configuration,
such as two rails, with, for example, a "T" or dovetail crossection
(or any other engaging geometrical crossectional shape). A separate
mounting block with corresponding mounting slots is slid onto the
rails and pushed to the back end of the electrical box. The rails
may have any geometric shaped crossectional configuration mating
with a corresponding inverse geometric configuration of the
mounting slots. Mounting blocks are molded in several varieties,
for multiple fasteners, such a pair of fasteners or otherwise, or
for single fastener mounting. They have either a single angled
screw guide in the middle or a plurality of separate angled screw
guides at the distal side edges of the block. When inserted in the
electrical box on the rails provided, the mounting block exit hole
or holes for the screw fastener or fasteners line up in
registration with the center fastener exit hole in the electrical
box or with the plurality of outer exit holes on the mounting side
of the electrical box. The electrical box also has a plurality of
alignment tabs, such as a pair of tabs, molded at right angles to
the mounting side for new work; these also act as anti-rotation
tabs in case the single screw fastener option is selected. These
tabs have break-off perforations for easy removal for old work
use.
[0007] For nail attachment in new work, nails are inserted across a
recess at the top and bottom of the electrical box each nail
supported by a molded groove the full width of the box and one or
more capturing straps which are molded to capture the opposite
surface of the nail shaft thus forming a nail guide which is the
equivalent of brackets with holes. While two or more straps are
preferable, if a single strap extends longitudinally of a
sufficient length, it may also form a nail guide.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The present invention can best be understood in connection
with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is
not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in
which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a molded electrical box of
this invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a two fastener mounting
block, a single fastener mounting block, two mounting rails with
"T" crossection, and two mounting rails with a dovetail
crossection;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an end view of a rail with a "T" crossection;
[0012] FIG. 4 is an end view of a rail with a dovetail
crossection;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a non-mounting side view of the molded electrical
box showing nail groove and straps which form nail guides and,
[0014] FIG. 6 is a back elevation showing nails mounted on
electrical box.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0015] The present invention has broad applications to many new
work and old work electrical boxes of varying configurations. For
illustrative purposes only, a preferred mode for carrying out the
invention is described herein the drawing Figures.
[0016] Molded multi-mount electrical box 1 is shown in FIG. 1.
Mounting side 2 has three fastener exit holes, center 3 and two
side holes 4. Center hole 3 is used for single fastener attachment
wherein alignment tabs 6 also double as anti-rotation tabs for new
work applications. The two side holes 4 would be used for
two-fastener screw attachment. Also seen in this view is one end of
grooves 5 which support attachment nails (if used). This box will
accommodate all three attachment methods with appropriate
accessories. Tabs 6 are removed for old work applications.
[0017] FIG. 2 shows two-fastener mounting block 10 with dual angled
screw guides 11 and mounting slots 12. Also shown is single
fastener mounting block 15 with single angled screw guide 11 and
mounting slots 12. Either of these mounting blocks 10 or 15 is
mounted on the inside of mounting wall 2 of electrical box 1 on a
pair of "T" crossection rails 18 (see FIG. 3) or on a pair of
dovetail rails 20 (see FIG. 4) which are integrally molded on the
inside surface of wall 2. The holes in the angled guides 11 are in
positional registration with either exit hole 3 or holes 4 in wall
2 when slots 12 pushed in to the full extent onto rails 18 or
20.
[0018] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the use of fastening nails with
electrical box 1. Non-mounting side 25 is shown in FIG. 5 with nail
groove 5 and mounting straps 26 forming a transverse nail guide to
accept nails 30, as shown in back view FIG. 6. The back 28 of
electrical box 1 is shown extending from nails 30 each captured by
three molded strap members 26. While FIG. 6 shows one example
depicting, for example, three straps 26, it is noted that any
number of straps 26, such as one or more straps 26, may be used to
capture nail 30.
[0019] In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual
depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment.
However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the
terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the
prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only,
and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.
[0020] It is further known that other modifications may be made to
the present invention, without departing the scope of the
invention, as noted in the appended Claims.
* * * * *