GB2211364A

GB2211364A - Flush-mounting electrical accessory box

Info

Publication number: GB2211364A
Application number: GB8724515A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Edward Layton
Original assignee: EGA Ltd
Current assignee: EGA Ltd
Priority date: 1987-10-20
Filing date: 1987-10-20
Publication date: 1989-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-20
Also published as: GB2211364B; GB8724515D0

Abstract

A flush-mounted electrical accessory box having a peripheral flange 3 includes integral resiliently-mounted engagement members on opposite walls 2A. Each engagement member includes a flange (4) and a pillar (5) which receives an accessory mounting screw (not shown) so as to draw flange (4) towards flange (3) and thereby grip a panel or the like. Slots (6) in the base (1) of the box provide resiliency for movements of the engagement members. The box further comprises barbs (10) on respective resilient flaps (11) for locating the box in the aperture of a panel. A cable grip formed by an integral resilient flap (14) in respective opposite sidewalls of the box. <IMAGE>

Description

HOLDER FOR AN ELECTRICAL COMPONENT This invention relates to a holder for an electrical component such as a switch or socket.

Such holders are commonly in the form of boxes mounted on surfaces such as walls to contain various components and are provided on their sides or bases with holes to receive cables passing from the outside to the inside of the box. These holders can also be mounted flush or substantially flush with the surface of a hollow wall or a panel or partition and are often in the form of so-called dry lining boxes.

With known dry lining boxes, there is often a problem in installing them in that it is not always an easy task to ensure that securing tabs of the box, which are intended to be drawn against the rear of the wall or partition to hold the box in place, clear the wall or partition when the box is inserted in the aperture in the wall or partition. Furthermore, currently available boxes consist of a number of separate parts which, when assembled together, create a unit which has deflectable wing projections.

According to the present invention, there is provided a holder for an electrical component, the holder having means for securing it in an aperture in a front mounting surface of a part such as a panel or partition wall, the holder having a main body including opposed walls and an outwardly-extending flange on the rim of each wall, said means including at least one engagement member for engaging a rear surface of a said part, said at least one engagement member being arranged to protrude from one of said opposed walls and being joined to a securing member inside the walls, to which securing member a component can be secured by a screw, and the engagement and securing members being integral with said main body, the arrangement being such that, in use with the holder fitted in a said aperture, screwing of a said component to said securing member causes the component to abut on a front face of said flange or on said front mounting surface and causes said engagement member to be drawn against said rear surface of said part, thereby to secure the holder in place in said aperture.

Preferably, said main body includes two of said securing members and a base with the opposed walls extending from said base and said means includes two said engagement members, each engagement member being arranged to protrude from a respective one of said walls and being joined to a respective one of said securing members.

Two opposite walls of the holder can be provided with projecting barbs which are arranged to engage behind or in the wall of said part. When the holder is being pushed into the aperture in said part, the barbs are intended automatically to deflect inwards until they spring clear at the rear of the aperture or into the body of said part.

Preferably, the holder is in the form of a rectangular (square or oblong) box having a base and an open front.

The holder may be moulded from a thermoplastics material or from a thermosetting material with sufficient flexibility and resilience.

The or each engagement member may be in the form of at least one flange provided with a sloping underside so that, when the holder is pushed into the aperture of the part, the or each flange is pushed inwardly of the holder out of the way and preferably the or each flange has a resilience which acts to restore it to its original position once it has cleared the part. On the other hand, the resilience need not be so great as to restore the flange to its original position and, in such a case, this can be achieved manually instead.

The or each securing member may be in the form of an upright pillar extending from a or the base of the holder, the top of the pillar housing an internal screwthread to receive a securing screw of an electrical component.

With the engagement and securing members being joined to one another, it follows that the or each securing member is also moveably mounted relatively to the main body of the holder. To facilitate this movement and to assist in keeping the alignment of the or each pillar at right angles to the open side of the holder when an electrical component is being secured to it, slots extend in a or the base of the holder in the regions of the engagement and securing members.

The holder can also be provided with at least one aperture in its base through which cabling can be passed and an integrally moulded, resilient flap can be provided at this aperture to serve as a cable clamp.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder for an electrical component, Figure 2 is a plan view of the holder shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is an underneath view of the holder shown in Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 4 is a side view of the holder.

Referring to the drawings, the holder for an electrical component illustrated is suitable to receive such an item as an electrical switch or socket and is in the form of a so-called dry lining box, the box having means for securing it substantially flush with a mounting surface of a part such as a hollow wall or a panel, ceiling or partition. The box illustrated includes a base 1 and four walls comprising two pairs of opposed walls 2A and 2B which together with the base 1 form a substantially rectangular, open-fronted box. An outwardly-extending flange 3 extends around the box on the rim of each wall 2A, 2B.

The means for securing the box in an aperture in a front mounting surface of a part such as a panel or partition wall includes two engagement members for engaging a rear surface of that part and in the form shown each engagement member is in the form of a flange 4 having sloping underside portions 4A. The two engagement members are integral with the main body of the box and are arranged in the form illustrated resiliently to protrude from a respective one of the walls 2A. This is achieved by moulding the box from a thermoplastics or a thermosetting material and by joining the flanges 4 to respective pillars 5 which are located inside the walls 2A, the pillars 5 themselves being joined to and integral with the main body of the box at the base 1.

Straight slots 6 and U-shaped slots 7 are provided in the base 1 about the base of the sloping undersides 4A of the flanges 4 and about the pillars 5, respectively, to allow movement of the flanges 4 and pillars 5 relatively to the main body of the box.

The condition of the flanges 4 shown in the drawings is in their relaxed condition where they protrude from respective apertures 8 in the walls 2A of the box.

The construction is such that, when the holder is pushed into an aperture in a part such as a hollow wall or a panel or ceiling, the flanges 4 are caused by their undersides 4A to be pushed inwardly of the box by the walls of that part. This movement occurs against the inherent resilience of the box. Accordingly, once the flanges 4 have cleared the walls of the aperture, the resilience acts to restore the flanges to their original positions, where they then lie behind the rear surface of the part in which the box is mounted. If necessary, the pillars 5 with the flanges 4 can be pushed outwardly manually to restore them to their original, relaxed positions.

The top of each pillar 5 forms a securing member for an electrical component to be held on the box, the top of each pillar 5 housing an internal screwthread 9 to receive a securing screw of the electrical component to be secured to the box.

The two opposed walls 2A are also each provided with two pairs of projecting elongate barbs 10, each pair being located on a resilient flap 11 cut out of the wall 2A, one on either side of the flange 4 in that wall. As best seen in Figure 4, each flap 11 has only one side of it joined to its associated wall 2A so that the barbs 10 can be pushed inwardly of the walls 2A. In this way, the barbs 10 are arranged to engage behind or in the wall of the part in which the holder is to be mounted so that, when the holder is being pushed into the aperture, the barbs 10 are deflected inwards until they spring clear at the rear of the aperture or, in the case where the holder is being mounted in plasterboard, for example, the barbs will probably be physically pushed into the body of the plasterboard. The barbs 10 would spring clear if the holder is used, for example, with hardboard panelling.If desired, barbs 10 can also be provided on the other walls 2B as well or instead of on the walls 2A.

With the holder pushed in an aperture, it is loosely held in place by the barbs 10 but it should be noted that a considerably greater effort is required to push each pair of barbs inwardly of its respective wall 2A than the effort required to deflect one of the flanges 4 inwardly of the wall 2A.

When an electrical component is screwed onto the pillars 5, the flanges 4 are automatically drawn forwards thereby tightly clamping the holder to the part in which it is mounted with the flange 3 lying flush or substantially flush with the front mounting surface of the part. It is important that, during this latter part of the installation, the pillars 5 remain substantially at right angles to the open face of the holder because of the threaded engagement with the electrical component. This is achieved by the weakness slots 6 and 7 which create hinge axes at the critical pivot points which in turn enable a form of cantilever action to take place. What happens in fact is that the parts referenced 12, which are the parts which join the flanges 4 and pillars 5 to the main body of the box, tend to be drawn upwardly away from the base 1, whilst the pillars 5 tend to react against this movement by coming out of line with the parts 12 at the slots 7.

Finally, the holder illustrated is provided with at least one, and in the embodiment illustrated, two apertures 13 in its base 1 through which cabling can be passed. The or each aperture 13 can be provided with an integrally moulded, resilient flap 14 depending at an angle from a respective side wall 2B towards the base 1 about the aperture 13, these flaps 14 acting as cable clamps when the cables are pushed through the apertures 13.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A holder for an electrical component, the holder having means for securing it in an aperture in a front mounting surface of a part such as a panel or partition wall, the holder having a main body including opposed walls and an outwardly-extending flange on the rim of each wall, said means including at least one engagement member for engaging a rear surface of a said part, said at least one engagement member being arranged to protrude from one of said opposed walls and being joined to a securing member inside the walls, to which securing member a component can be secured by a screw, and the engagement and securing members being integral with said main body, the arrangement being such that, in use with the holder- fitted in a said aperture, screwing of a said component to said securing member causes the component to abut on a front face of said flange or on said front mounting surface and causes said engagement member to be drawn against said rear surface of said part, thereby to secure the holder in place in said aperture.

2. A holder according to claim 1, wherein said main body includes two of said securing members and a base with the opposed walls extending. from said base and said means includes two said engagement members, each engagement member being arranged to protrude from a respective one of said walls and being joined to a respective one of said securing members.

3. A holder according to claim 1 or 2 and being in the form of a rectangular box having an open front.

4. A holder according to claim 1, 2 or 3 and having been moulded from a thermoplastics or thermosetting material.

5. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each engagement member is in the form of a flange provided with a sloping underside so that, when the holder is pushed into an aperture in a said part, the or each flange is pushed inwardly of the holder out of the way.

6. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each engagement member has an inherent resilience.

7. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each securing member is in the form of an upright pillar extending from a or the base of the holder, the top of the pillar housing an internal screw thread to receive a securing screw of an electrical component.

8. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein slots extend in a or the base of the holder in the regions of the engagement and securing members.

9. A holder according to claim 8, wherein two straight slots are provided in said base extending from either side of the adjacent engagement member and a U-shaped slot extends in the base around the base of the or each securing member.

10. A holder according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein two opposite walls thereof are provided with projecting barbs which are arranged to engage behind or in the wall of a said part.

11. A holder according to claims 3 and 10, wherein all four walls of the holder are provided with said projecting barbs.

12. A holder according to claim 3 or any one of claims 4 to 11 as appendant to claim 3, wherein at least one aperture is provided in said base through which cabling can be passed.

13. A holder according to claim 12, wherein an integrally moulded, resilient flap is provided at the aperture in said base to serve as a cable clamp.

14. A holder for an electrical component, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.