Electric fixture-supporting and connecting device

May 7, 1935. j, mangin 2,000,241

ELECTRIC FIXTURE SUPPORTING AND CONNECTING DEVICE Filed May 27, 1931

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Patented May 7, 1935

2,000,241

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,000,241

ELECTRIC FIXTURE-SUPPORTING AND CONNECTING DEVICE

James Mangin, New Brunswick, N. J., assignor to New Brunswick Electric Supply Company, New Brunswick, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey

Application May 27, 1931, Serial No. 540,407 (CL 240—85) opening 3 in the rear wall thereof. As is well known, the purpose of lugs 2 is to enable the attachment to the box of its cover plate or strap (shown in broken lines in Figs. 2 and 3). In accordance with the present invention, I pro- 5 vide a novelly constructed fixture support 4 which is adapted for mounting upon the rear wall of the box in a manner to be fully explained hereinafter. In further accordance with the invention, I provide a specially designed recep- 10 taele 5 which may be supported from the cover plate of the box as will be clearly set forth hereinafter.

In Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing, the fixturesupporting member is clearly illustrated and 15 comprises a flat face 6, a pair of legs 7 and 8 extending therefrom, and threaded arcuate opposite sides 9 and 10 extending transversely between the legs. As illustrated in Fig. 5, this member is preferably formed by first stamping or punching it from a piece of suitable sheet metal. By means of this operation a centrally disposed aperture 11 is cut and the peripheral edge 20 (see Figs. 2 and 3) is pressed down. Slot 12 is also cut in the member, the slot being 25 disposed adjacent one end of the piece. At the same time a spreader arm 13 is cut out adjacent the other end, the side tabs 9 and 10 are shaped and the threads pressed therein, and pairs of notches 14 and 15 are cut adjacent the ends to so provide suitable feet 10 and 17. It will also be noted that the central portion of this member is restricted in width to provide pairs of shoulders 10 and 19, the purpose of which will be clearly set forth later. It is to be understood that the 35 member as illustrated in Fig. 5 may be formed in a single operation.

After the supporting member has been formed, as illustrated, it may be properly bent to the form shown in Fig. 4 in a second operation. In 40 this operation, the stamped piece is bent along the broken lines of Fig. 5. The internal surface provided by inturned edge 20 may be threaded before or after this operation. It will be apparent then that by means of a few simple ^4Soperations, this member of the device may be completely formed. This is an important feature of the invention and enhances its value from a commercial standpoint since it may be economically utilized.

As illustrated clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the fixture-supporting member is adapted to co-act with the knock-out opening in the rear wall of the box in such manner that the member and rear wall are interlocking. Since the support6 Claims.

The present invention relates to devices for supporting and electrically connecting fixtures to outlet boxes, the principal object of the invention being to provide a device of this nature S which enables ready and easy mounting of a fixture without the use of screws, bolts or other auxiliary fastening means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this nature which is simple in con10 struction and which readily lends itself to economical commercial manufacture.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the class specified which may be used by any unskilled person.

An Important feature of the invention is the novel fixture-supporting member which may be formed from a single piece of material and which is provided with portions adapted to interlock with a wall of the outlet box for attached ment to the same without the use of auxiliary fastening means.

A further feature of the invention is the specially designed receptacle and plug combination which serves to electrically connect the fix25 ture to the conductors leading to the outlet box. These elements are constructed so as to prevent their engagement in any except one relation so that correct polarity is assured in cases where polarity is important or essential.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a front view of an outlet box having 35 the elements constituting the invention associated therewith, the cover plate or strap of the box being removed for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along line 2—2 of Fig. 1 with the cover plate indicated by broken 40 lines;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line 3—3 of Fig. 1;

Pig. 4 is a perspective view of the fixturesupporting member of the device;

Fig. 5 is a view showing the fixture-supporting member after it is stamped or cut from a single piece of material and before forming the same by means of a suitable die;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the plug of the 50 device; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 of a modified form of the device.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 a standard outlet box I having the 55 usual apertured lugs 2 and the usual knock-out

2,00 ing member is made of suitable sheet metal, legs 7 and 8 thereof are resilient and may be pressed toward each other. The member is so constructed that the normal spacing of the lower 5 ends of the legs is such that the feet thereof can only be inserted through opening 3 of the box by pressing the legs toward each other. When this is done, the feet may be easily· inserted through the opening of the box by inclining the 10 member in the proper position relative to the box wall. Feet 16 and 17 of the member are shaped to conform with the opening of, the box, and when inserted therethrough they extend behind the rear wall of the box and engage the 15 surface thereof immediately adjacent the opening. At this time, the releasing of the legs of the supporting member allows them to resiliently spring away from each other and. tile edge of the box wall about opening 3 enters notches 14 20 and 15 to lock the member to the box wall. The purpose of spreader arm 13 is to prevent subsequent loosening of the supporting member. This arm is now bent so as to extend between the legs of the member with its restricted end extending 25 through slot 12 of leg 8. (see Fig.. 4) . The restricted end of the spreader arm enters slot 12 and the shoulders of the arm engage the inner surface of leg 8 on each side of the slot. When the spreader arm is so operatively positioned, it ° will stay in such position and will at all times function to press the legs apart and keep the feet and notches thereof in proper interlocking position with respect to the outlet box.

In attaching the supporting member to. the box, it is only necessary to insert the member through the opening in the rear wall of the box as described above, and then tap the spreader arm by means of a screw driver or other instrument which may be inserted· into the box from 40 the front thereof. Thus, it is an easy matter for anyone installing the device of the invention to properly attach the supporting, member to the box without the use of auxiliary fastening devices and their attending inconvenience. The 45 advantage of the construction illustrated becomes apparent when it is considered that in using such devices a very small amount of space is available for the manipulation of the respective elements and any attaching screws or the 50 like which may be necessary. By eliminating the necessity for such auxiliary attaching means, the present invention provides a device of great value.

After the supporting member has been mount55 ed upon the box, a fixture or fixture fitting, may be properly screwed upon the threaded surface of sides 9 and 10 to firmly attach the fixture to the supporting member. Previous to this, however, it wifi be understood that the cover 60 plate of the box will have been attached thereto in the usual manner. In the present instance, such cover plate will be provided with a centrally disposed aperture through which the end of the supporting member will extend, and 65 shoulders ¢8 and (9 of such member will abut against the rear surface of the cover plate (see and 3). Thus, the cover plate will serve che additional functions of supporting the fixture-supporting member and preventing longi70 tudinal forward motion of the member, and will thus cooperate with the previously discussed spreader arm and notches of this member to maintain it rigidly within the box.

The internal threaded surface of edge 20 is 75 also adapted to receive a fixture fitting. Thus ',241 the supporting member is provided with both internal and external threaded portions which are adapted to receive externally and internally threaded fixture fittings respectively of different sizes. This construction widens the range of 5 use of the device and permits of its use with different fixture fittings.

The present invention also contemplates the use with the above-described novel fixture-supporting member of the specially designed re- 10 ceptacle 5 previously mentioned. Such receptacle may be suitably riveted or otherwise attached to a supporting bracket 21 (see Fig. 2) which is bent as illustrated to provide a foot portion 22. This assembly may be mounted upon the 15 cover plate of the box by welding or otherwise attaching foot portion 22 of the bracket to the inside surface of the cover plate. The cover plate is provided with a second opening which conforms in shape with the front portion of the 20 receptacle so as to allow this portion to extend through the plate. The receptacle is provided with the usual sockets 23 which are adapted to receive prongs 24 of plug 25 (see Fig. 6). As a feature of the invention, I provide an in- 25 tegral extension 26 on the outer face of the receptacle and a recess 27 on the face of the plug. When these members are operatively associated with each other, the extension 26 seats itself within recess 27, provided the proper re- !W lation of the members exists. Should one attempt, however, to associate the plug with the receptacle in a different manner, extension 26 will abut against the face of the plug to prevent complete insertion of the prongs within 35 the sockets. In this manner, correct polarity is insured in cases where it is important. While I prefer to have the fixture-supporting member and receptacle in the relative positions shown, it will be apparent that any other relative po- 40 sitioning of these members may be utilized.

In Fig. 7, there is shown a modified form of the device in which the rear wall of the outlet box is specially formed to co-act with the fixture-supporting member. Instead of utiliz- 45 ing the usual knock-out opening in the rear wall of the box, as described above, this modification of the invention contemplates the provision of raised strips 28 and 29 on the rear wall of the outlet box on each side of the open- 50 ing. In other words, pairs of parallel slits may be cut in the rear wall of the box on each side of the opening and the strip of material between such slits may be raised. In this manner, the raised portions 28 and 29 may be made 55 to serve as straps under which the feet of the fixture-supporting' member may be inserted. The supporting member may take the same form as in the preferred embodiment and the raised portions of the box may be suitably shaped to 00 properly co-act with the member. It will be apparent, however, that the elements of the device may be modified in the details of construction. In this embodiment, the supporting member is associated with the box in a manner 65 similar to that already described, the only difference being that the feet of the member are inserted beneath the straps instead of through the opening of the box. While this form of the invention is constructed in accordance with the 70 principles thereof, it will be apparent that it has the disadvantage that the box must be slightly modified from its standard form to coact with the fixture-supporting member.

From the foregoing description, it will be ap- 75

3,000,341 3 parent that I have provided a device comprising novelly designed elements which enable it to carry out its intended purpose in a highly efficient manner. While I have disclosed herein only two embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that various modifications and changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. I am aware that it has been previously proposed to mount a fixture-supporting member on the rear wall of an outlet box, but in prior art devices, such mounting necessitates the use of auxiliary locking members, such as lock washers and the like, to firmly attach the elements together.