This invention relates generally to electric boxes and more specifically to electric box extenders or an insulating barrier for use with and/or in combination with electric boxes which are mounted in a fashion where the electric box is recessed in a wall surface.
Heretofore, a number of electric box extenders have been marketed by various competing manufacturers such as Bridgeport Fittings, Inc., Arlington Industries, Carlon, Inc. and perhaps others. All of the known or available box extenders are generally similar in construction in that the known box extenders include a circumscribing face plate having rearwardly connected extending sides or wings defining a body portion arranged to be received into an existing installed electric box to form an extension thereof, and whereby the face flange of the box extender is provided with one or more screw openings that are required to be in alignment with the screw opening of the flange or mount of the installed electric box. The prior known electric box extenders are secured to the installed and recessed electrical box by the screws or fasteners that secure the electrical receptacle, e.g. a switch or outlet, to the electric box. Such known extenders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,636; 5,042,673; 5,736,674; 5,117,996; 5,959,246; 6,180,879; 6,204,447; 6,307,154 and 6,369,322.
The prior known electric box extenders are relatively complex in structure, some being formed of several components, e.g. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,115,265 and 5,042,673. It has also been noted that, frequently, difficulty has been encountered in the installation of the known box extenders due to the requirement of the need to align the various screw openings of the assembled parts for securing the electric box extender to the installed electric box. As a result, the installation of such extenders is tedious and time consuming.
Because of the construction of such prior known electric box extenders, the shipping of such box extenders is cumbersome in that such box extenders, having integrally formed tubular walls, are generally loosely shipped in large cartons or had to be individually packaged in a box to prevent damage in shipment. Such packaging only served to increase the cost of those box extenders having relatively rigid integrally formed walls to the ultimate consumers.
An object of this invention is to provide an electric box extender that is relatively simple in structure and positive in operation.
Another object is to provide an electric box extender that can be readily installed in a relatively simple manner and with a minimum of effort.
Another object is to provide an electric box extender capable of being utilized with an existing installed electric box whereby the box extender is simply positioned between an electric box and the electrical device connected to the electric box without the need of aligning the screw holes on the electric box with any complementary screw holes on the box extender.
Another object is to provide an electric box extender free of any aperture or openings that are required to be aligned with the mounting screw holes of an electric box.
Another object of this invention is to provide a modified electric box extender particularly adapted to house an electrical receptacle or device such as GFCI's that have two wire termination methods that include (a) push-in captive lugs on the back side of the electrical receptacle or device for receiving bare wires and (b) side mounted screws that are tightened onto the bare wire conductors.
Another feature of this invention is to provide a box extender having an inwardly extending flange circumscribing the inner opening of the box extender to contain any arcing that may occur as a result of an improperly assembled wire/screw connection between an electrical device housed within the box extender and the conductor wires connected thereto.
The foregoing objects and other features and advantages may be attained by an electric box extender that includes a tubular body having opposed sides and interconnected top and bottom sides which are adapted to be telescopically received within an installed electric box. The box extender includes laterally and outwardly extending face flanges connected to each of the opposed sides of the tubular body. In accordance with this invention, the top side and bottom side of the tubular body are devoid of any flange and screw holes or apertures for receiving a fastening screw.
In a modified form of the invention, the respective opposed sides and connected top side and bottom side may be inwardly tapered or sloped to permit the electric box extenders to be nested or stacked one within the other so as to facilitate shipping and handling.
In another modified embodiment of the invention, the electric box extender at the inner end thereof is provided with a laterally inwardly extending circumscribing rear flange defining a rear opening and against which an electric device, e.g. a GFCI device, abuts. The rear flange is also provided with opposed notches for accommodating the ends of the wire conductors which are retained by the push-in captive lugs in the back side of the GFCI electric device. If desired, this modified embodiment may be further modified by having the opposed sides of the body portion tapered inwardly whereby like box extenders may be nested or stacked one within the other to facilitate shipping, handling, and/or the storage thereof.
The design and construction of the electric box extender, in accordance with this invention, permits one to extend an installed electric box simply by inserting the tubular body of the extender into the existing electric box until the opposed side flanges are brought flush to the outermost wall surface without requiring the alignment of any screw holes. The arrangement is such that the electric box extender is secured in place by the fasteners or screws securing the electric device, e.g. the outlet or switch component, to the screw mount or tapped hole on the installed electric box.
An advantageous feature of the box extender is that it may be used with an electric box that is flush mounted to a wall surface to insulate at least a portion of an electric box from the wires and connected electric device mounted in the electric box. Such use is dependent upon the relative dimensions of the electric box and the extender, which operates as a barrier or insulator rather than an extender.
Referring to the drawings, there is shown in
As shown in
Connected to the front end of each of the side walls 16 and 17 of the tubular body 15 is a laterally outward face flange 16A and 17A respectively. The box extender 14 thus described is devoid of any flanges that connected to the top wall 18 and bottom wall 19, and is devoid of any screw holes. The arrangement is such that the tubular body 15 is inserted into opening 13A so that the innermost end is received within the front opening of the electric box 12, with the face flanges 16A and 17A disposed flush with the surface of the new wall 13.
As best shown in
With the box extender 14 inserted through opening 13A and with the inner end 20 positioned within the electric box and the face flanges 16 and 17 flush with the outer surface of the new wall 13, the box extender 14 is secured in place by the electric device 21, e.g. a plug outlet, or a wall switch and the like, simply by threading the fastening screws 21A of the electrical device 21 to the mounting holes 22 located in a screw mount or boss 22A on the electric box 12. By installing the electrical device 21 to the electric box 12 in the customary manner, the box extender 14 is made secured between the electric device 21 and the electric box 12, as seen in
Preferably, the box extender 14 described can be readily molded of a suitable plastic, e.g. nylon, polyvinylchloride (PVC), or other suitable fire resistant material, as a unitary member. The electric box 12 may be formed of metal or plastic.
It will be understood that the electric device 21 may be of a type having any wire termination means, including without limitation, one and/or two wiring termination methods. The electric device 21 may be provided with opposed side mounted screws 14A and/or push-in captive lug opening 14B for receiving the bare ends of the conducting wires, e.g. conductors 14C, 14C. When using screws 14A for effecting the electrical connection, the stripped bare end of the conductor wire 14C is hooked about the shank of screw 14A, which is then tightened onto the bare end of the conductor. Using the alternate connection method, the bared end of the electrical conductor 14C is merely inserted into the push-in captive lug opening 14B. The device wire termination means is not critical to the invention. For example, the device may have pre-connected wire leads intended to be connected to the house wiring.
The thickness of the front edge of the extender along the top and bottom walls is shown as dimension a,
The sloping of the respective sides 32–35 of the tubular body 31, as seen in
While the illustrated embodiments of
It is to be noted that the opposed sides, top and bottom sides in each of the described embodiments are interconnected to define a unitary tubular body that are not designed to be severed or cut at the corners, as required in some of the prior art extenders herein noted. Thus, the described embodiments do not require any trimming or other modification prior to installing the same, as herein described.
While the present invention has been described with respect to various embodiments, it will be understood that variations and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3115265 | Mulkey | Dec 1963 | A |
4134636 | Kleinatland | Jan 1979 | A |
4634015 | Taylor | Jan 1987 | A |
5042673 | McShane | Aug 1991 | A |
5117996 | McShane | Jun 1992 | A |
5402902 | Bouley | Apr 1995 | A |
5736674 | Gretz | Apr 1998 | A |
5959246 | Gretz | Sep 1999 | A |
5975323 | Turan | Nov 1999 | A |
6180879 | Gretz | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6204447 | Gretz | Mar 2001 | B1 |
6307154 | Gretz | Oct 2001 | B1 |
6369322 | Gretz | Apr 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050194172 A1 | Sep 2005 | US |