Title: Electric box extender
Abstract: An electric box assembly that includes a box extender having a tubular body with opposed sides arranged to be received within an electric box, and which box extender is formed with a pair of laterally outwardly extending face flanges arranged to be flush mounted against a wall surface in the assembled position. The box extender is devoid of any top or bottom flanges and is adapted to be secured in place within an electric box by the electric device, outlet receptacle, switch or the like. In an embodiment of the invention, the sides of the tubular body are tapered inwardly toward the central axis of the tubular body so as to permit the box extender to be nested one within the other to facilitate shipping and handling. In another form of the invention, the inner end of the box extender is provided with an inwardly turned circumscribing rear flange to define the inner opening of the box extender and which rear flange is provided with opposed clearance notches to facilitate the attachment of the wire conductors to the push-in captive lugs on the back side of an electrical device.
Patent Number: 7,002,076 Issued on 02/21/2006 to Ungerman, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Ungerman; Mark E. (Potomac, MD);
Kiely; Kenneth M. (Milford, CT)
|
| Assignee:
|
Bridgeport Fittings, Inc. (Stratford, CT)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
154410 |
| Filed:
|
June 16, 2005 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
174/58; 174/53; 174/57; 174/48; 220/3.2; 220/3.3; 248/906 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
H01H 9/02 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
174/50,58,48,17.R,57,53,61,62
220/32,33,34,36,37,38,39,402
248/906,343,909
439/535,536,537
D13/152
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 3115265 | Dec., 1963 | Mulkey.
| |
| 4134636 | Jan., 1979 | Kleinatland et al.
| |
| 4634015 | Jan., 1987 | Taylor.
| |
| 5042673 | Aug., 1991 | McShane.
| |
| 5117996 | Jun., 1992 | McShane.
| |
| 5402902 | Apr., 1995 | Bouley.
| |
| 5736674 | Apr., 1998 | Gretz.
| |
| 5959246 | Sep., 1999 | Gretz.
| |
| 5975323 | Nov., 1999 | Turan.
| |
| 6180879 | Jan., 2001 | Gretz.
| |
| 6204447 | Mar., 2001 | Gretz.
| |
| 6307154 | Oct., 2001 | Gretz.
| |
| 6369322 | Apr., 2002 | Gretz.
| |
Primary Examiner: Estrada; Angel R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fattibene & Fattibene, Fattibene; Arthur T., Fattibene; Paul A.
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of the co-pending patent application Ser.
No. 10/794,746 filed Mar. 5, 2004, entitled Electric Box Extender.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electric box extender for extending a pre-existing mounted electric box,
having fastener mounts for securing thereto an electrical device, said electric
box extender comprising:
a tubular body having a front and rear opening,
said tubular body including a first pair of opposed sides and a second pair of
opposed sides interconnected between said first pair of opposed sides,
a laterally outwardly extending flange connected to one of said pair of opposed
sides at said front opening, said other pair of opposed sides being devoid of any
outwardly extending flanges at said front opening
whereby said tubular body is maintained in position between the electric device
and the electric box independently of any fastening alignment between the electrical
device and the electric box.
2. An electric box extender as defined in claim 1 and including an inwardly extending
rear flange circumscribing said rear opening.
3. An electric box extender as defined in claim 2 and including opposed notches
formed in said rear flange adapted to accommodate the insertion of wire conductors.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
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.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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.
IN THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view illustrating how an embodiment of the
electric box extender is utilized in combination with an installed electric box
and the electrical device to be secured to the electric box.
FIG. 2 is a sectional side view illustrating an embodiment of the box extender
in an operative assembly.
FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view of an embodiment of the box extender according
to the invention.
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the box extender taken along line 4—4
on FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6A is a top view of an alternative embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a side view of a modified embodiment of the electric box extender
in which the opposed sides of the tubular body are inwardly sloped to permit the
nesting of one extender within another extender.
FIG. 8 is a side view of the modified embodiment of FIG. 7 shown in the nesting position.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another modified embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a rear view of an embodiment according to FIG. 9.
FIG. 11 is a top view of an embodiment according to FIG. 9.
FIG. 12 is a side view of an embodiment according to FIG. 9.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a further modified embodiment in a nesting position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a wall
10 having
a wall opening
11 and a typical electric box
12 mounted in alignment
with the wall opening
11 and secured by suitable fasteners. While one type
of electric box is shown in the drawings, the specific type of electric box is
not critical. In the event the wall
10 is resurfaced with a new or covering
wall surface
13, code and safety requirements mandate that the electric
box, e.g. box
12, be located flush with the new wall. Because it is difficult,
if not impossible, to relocate the electric box
12 secured with respect
to the old wall, this invention provides for a box extender
14 which is
adapted to be received within the electric box
12 and which, together with
the electric box
12, effectively functions as an electric box which is rendered
flush with the new wall
13 to satisfy any code requirements.
As shown in FIG. 1, the new wall
13 is provided with an opening
13A
which is in alignment with the opening
11 in the old wall
10. The
box extender
14, in accordance with this invention, includes a tubular body
15 having opposed side walls
16,
17, a top wall
18
and a bottom wall
19 which are integrally connected to and between the side
walls
16 and
17. Preferably, the wall thickness of the tubular body
may range between 0.045 to 0.062 inches.
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 FIG. 2, the innermost end of the tubular body
15 may
be
provided with an inwardly tapered edge
20 which circumscribes the entire
periphery of the innermost end of the tubular body
15. The taper or slope
of the edge
20 may be approximately 15° plus or minus a few degrees
relative to the adjacent or corresponding inner surface of the respective sides.
The tapered edge
20 functions to facilitate the insertion of the box extender
14 into the recessed electric box
12.
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 FIG. 2. As the box extender
14 is devoid of top and bottom flanges, that heretofore required screw openings
for alignment with the mounting screw holes
22 in the electric box
12,
the instant invention obviates the need of aligning any screw openings on the box
extender
14 with the screw holes
22 of the electric box
12.
Thus, the installation of the instant box extender
14 is greatly simplified.
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.
FIG. 6A shows an alternative configuration of the extender
60 with a
recessed central portion
61 of the front surface of the top wall
62.
The front surface of the bottom wall may also be configured with a similar recess
61. Of course, the extender
60 may be oriented in any manner and
the use of the terms top, bottom, left and right is only for ease of describing
the figures. In use, the extender
60 will be oriented in alignment with
the electric box. The recesses
61 may be provided so that the device
21
installed in the box
12 is flush mounted with respect to the surface of
the wall
13 and to eliminate or reduce any deformation of the device
21
mounted in the electrical box.
The thickness of the front edge of the extender along the top and bottom walls
is shown as dimension a, FIG. 4. The width of the front flange of the extender
along the side walls is shown at dimension b, FIG. 11.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention. In this form
of the invention, the box extender
30 includes a tubular body
31
defined by opposed sides
32 and
33 interconnected by a top side
34
and bottom side
35 that taper inwardly toward the central axis of the tubular
body
31, as shown. Preferably, the respective sides
32,
33,
34 and
35 are sloped or tapered at approximately 15 to 20 degrees.
In all other respects, the construction of the modified embodiment of FIGS. 7 and
8 is the same as hereinbefore described. The tubular body
31 is also provided
with lateral face flanges
32A,
33A connected to the opposed sides
32 and
33.
The sloping of the respective sides
32-
35 of the tubular body
31,
as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, provide for at least two important advantages. The tapering
or sloping of the respective sides
32-
35 of the tubular body
31
will enable the box extender
30 to be utilized with those electrical boxes
which may be provided with inwardly projecting obstruction as the tapered embodiment
may be more readily received within the electrical box. Another important feature
of the tapered embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 is that the box extender
30 can
be readily nested one within the other, as noted in FIG. 8 to facilitate shipping
and handling of the box extenders
30. With the nesting of the box extenders,
more extenders can be shipped in a smaller box or carton which will greatly reduce
shipping costs. By nesting the box extenders
30 during shipping, any damage
or waste is greatly minimized. In all other respects, the construction, assembly
and use of the modified tapered box extender
30 of FIGS. 7 and 8 is similar
to the box extender
15 described with respects to FIGS. 1 to 6.
While the illustrated embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 6 and FIGS. 7 and 8 have tubular
bodies that are generally rectangular in shape, other shaped bodies are also feasible,
e.g. round bodies, hexagonal bodies, and the like. Also, the box extenders described
may be made to any size or shape so as to accommodate any of the standard sized
electrical boxes.
FIGS. 9 to 12 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention. As shown in
FIGS. 9 to 12, the box extender
40 is similar to that described with respect
to the embodiment of FIG. 3 except that the inner end opposite the face flanges
41,
42 is provided with an inwardly extending circumscribing inner
or rear flange
43 to define the rear or inner opening
44. Oppositely
disposed in the circumscribing rear flange
43 are clearance notches
45,
46 for accommodating the bear ends of the wire conductors (not shown) which
electrically connect to the electrical device, e.g. a GFCI receptacle outlet or
switch and the like. The arrangement is such that when the GFCI electrical device
is fitted into the box extender
40, the back of the GFCI receptacle is seated
against or abuts the rear flange
43. Most GFCI receptacles have two wire
termination methods, i.e. side mounted screws that are tightened onto the bare
end of the conducting wires or push-in captive lugs located on the back side of
the electrical device for insertion of the bare ends of the wire conductors. The
advantage of the embodiment of FIG. 9 is that in the event the wire/screw connection
is improperly made, any arcing that might occur will be contained by the extender
rear flange
43. The notches
45,
46 are positioned adjacent
the push-in captive lugs on the back side of the GFCI receptacle in the operative
position to provide for the necessary clearance whereby the bare ends of the wire
conductors can be readily inserted into the respective push-in captive lug to make
the necessary electrical connection to the electrical device.
FIG. 13 illustrates a modified embodiment of the box extender as described with
respect to FIGS. 9 to 12. As shown, the box extender
50 of FIG. 13 is provided
with a tubular body
51 in which the opposed sides and interconnected top
and bottom sides are inwardly tapered, similarly as described with respect to the
FIG. 8 embodiment. Each box extender
50 is provided with opposed laterally
outwardly extending face flanges
52, and an inner rear flange
53
as herein described with respect to FIGS. 9 to 12. The rear flange
53 is
also provided with opposed notices
54 as previously described. In all other
respects, the nested embodiment 50 is similar to that of FIG. 9, both structurally
and functionally.
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.
*
