Claims
- 1. An apparatus for grounding an external metal component on a watthour meter normally insertable through an aperture in a cover of a watthour meter socket, the apparatus comprising:
- a watthour meter socket having a conductive, grounded cover;
- a watthour meter having blade terminals normally insertable through the cover and into the watthour meter socket, a ground terminal carried on a base, and a mounting flange;
- a first mounting flange formed on the cover of the watthour meter socket engageable with the mounting flange on the watthour meter;
- a metallic sealing ring releasably mountable about the mounting flange on the cover of the watthour meter socket and the mounting flange on a watthour meter when the watthour meter is mounted in the watthour meter socket; and
- the ground terminal on the base of the watthour meter extending into engagement with the sealing ring when the watthour meter is mounted on the watthour meter socket and contacting the grounded cover of the watthour meter socket.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:
- an outer end of the ground terminal is angularly disposed from a main portion of the ground terminal.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:
- the watthour meter has an external metal cover ring disposed on the base of the watthour meter;
- the sealing ring contacting the metal cover ring to connect the metal cover ring to ground.
- 4. An apparatus for grounding an external metal component on a watthour meter normally insertable through an aperture in a cover of a watthour meter socket, the apparatus comprising:
- a watthour meter socket having a cover;
- a watthour meter having blade terminals normally insertable through the cover and into the watthour meter socket;
- a first mounting flange formed on the cover of the watthour meter socket;
- a metallic sealing ring releasably mountable about the mounting flange on the cover of the watthour meter socket and the mounting flange on a watthour meter when the watthour meter is mounted on the watthour meter socket;
- a ground terminal on the base of the watthour meter extending into engagement with the sealing ring when the watthour meter is mounted on the watthour meter socket; and contacting the cover of the watthour meter socket; and
- means for connecting the engaged ground terminal on the base of the watthour meter and the sealing ring with electrical ground at the cover of the watthour meter socket.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein:
- an outer end of the ground terminal is angularly disposed from a main portion of the ground terminal.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein:
- the watthour meter has an external metal cover ring disposed on the base of the watthour meter;
- the sealing ring contacting the metal cover ring to connect the metal cover ring to ground.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the ground connecting means comprises:
- the cover on the watthour meter socket being grounded.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
- a watthour meter socket adapter adapted to be interposed between a watthour meter and a watthour meter socket, the watthour meter socket adapter having a housing supporting a plurality of electrical jaw contacts adapted to receive blade terminals of the watthour meter in an electrical connection and a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals adapted to be inserted into the watthour meter socket;
- first and second opposed mounting flanges formed on the watthour socket adapter housing;
- the metal sealing ring releasably mountable about the mounting flange on the watthour meter and the first mounting flange formed on the watthour socket adapter housing;
- another sealing ring releasably mountable about the second mounting flange on the watthour socket adapter housing and the mounting flange on the cover of the watthour meter socket;
- a surge ground conductor mounted in the watthour socket adapter housing and engagable with the ground terminal on the base of the watthour meter when the watthour meter is mounted on the watthour meter socket adapter housing; and
- means, carried on the watthour meter socket adapter housing and coupled to the surge ground conductor, for forming an electrical ground circuit path between the surge ground conductor and the another sealing ring.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for forming an electrical ground circuit path further comprises:
- a metal fastener extending through the watthour meter socket adapter housing and having an end positioned exteriorly of the socket adapter housing, the metal fastener electrically engaged with the surge ground conductor; and
- a conductive member external of the watthour socket adapter housing and engaged with the end of the metallic fastener, the conductive member engagable with the watthour meter socket cover.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/611,933 filed on Mar. 6, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,804.
This application describes an improvement to subject matter which is described in a related application Ser. No. 08/521,009 filed Aug. 30, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,933, issued Nov. 26, 1996, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/215,915, filed Mar. 22, 1994, now abandoned, both in the name of Darrell Robinson et al, and entitled "WATTHOUR MOUNTING APPARATUS WITH SAFETY SHIELD".
US Referenced Citations (15)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
Grote & Hartman Product Catalog, 1993. |
Long Life For Power Contacts, Machine Design, Jan. 11, 1990. |
Series Reconnect Device Series SRD-51900, Scientific Atlanta Instrumentation Group, 1992. |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
611933 |
Mar 1996 |
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