GB2223891A

GB2223891A - Improved accessory box for wiring appliance

Info

Publication number: GB2223891A
Application number: GB8822579A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Melville Trevor Meyers; John Richard Ready
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-09-26
Filing date: 1988-09-26
Publication date: 1990-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 2008-09-26
Also published as: GB2223891B; GB8822579D0

Abstract

An accessory box comprises a box (10) incorporating a flange (11) extending therearound, the distance of the flange from the front of the box being determined as being the normal depth of plaster to be applied to the wall to which the box is to be attached. A plurality of apertures (12) are provided in the flange (11) providing fixing holes by means of which the box may be secured to a wall (22) without the need for any fixing to be made to the rear base portion of the box (10). A plurality of knockout portions or apertures (13) are provided in the side walls and//or in the base portion of the box (10) to enable access to the interior of the box from the side door rear for wiring. The flange (11) is covered by the plaster base coat thereby providing additional securing of the box, whilst the provision of the flange (11) obviates the need for careful excavation of a recess for mounting as with a conventional mounting box. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPOVED MOUNNJ BOX FOR SOCKET The present invention relates to improved mounting box for an electrical socket or switch1 which box is intended to be sunk into an opening provided in a wall surface and to which a socket or switch may then be attached, after plastering of the wall.

At present a variety of different types of boxes are produced for different purposes to which an electrical socket or switch may be mounted, such boxes being either sunk into the wall or surfacemounted onto a wall, the latter type of boxes being made of plastics material. With sunk boxes, when the wiring is being installed, prior to plastering, the installer seeks to sink the box to an appropriate depth, so that the front edge of the box will lie in the same plane as the intended finished plastered surface. Equally, such box must be mounted on level back surface, to avoid twisting, which would have the consequence that, when the socket is attached, the socket fixing screws will cross-thread providing an insecure fixing.As it will be appreciated, it can be a laborious and time-consuming task creating the necessary opening in the material of the wall of the correct size and depth, whilst at the same time having to seek to provide a flat rear mounting surface.

With breeze block or other cellular type of wall materials, there is an additional difficulty in that such types of blocks are of a hollow construction and there is a limited depth to which an installer may go, without breaking through into the hollow interior from which a solid fixing cannot be achieved. Indeed, the box itself may end up being positioned too deep in the wall, requiring the socket or switch front to be fixed with extension screws and, possibly an extension piece may be required for the back box itself, in order to maintain the integrity of the socket mounting, whilst at the same time providing sufficient projection of the box for the plasterer to level to, when plastering is carried out.The depth of known metal back boxes has generally been determined by the provision of circular knockout portions, through which the wiring may enter, such knockout portions being generally sized to mate with a standard conduit.

One alternative arrangement which is known 1 a plaster-depth box, in which case insufficient depth is available to provide an opening to which a conduit may be attached, but in this case elongate rather than circular openings are provided into which a standard electrical cable may be fed. The reduced depth of such boxes can make wiring of such difficult in that it gives very little room to accommodate the rear components of the socket or switch as well as the wiring within the box itself.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved back box for an electrical socket or switch, which not only enables a secure fixing in breeze block or the like wall, but which removes the need for accuracy in providing an opening for receiving the box or the provision of a level mounting surface, which can thereby reduce the time taken to install such a sunken box.

According to the present invention there is provided a mounting box for an electrical socket or switch, comprising a rear based portion and four side portions, said box being open at the front and having means for receiving mounting screws for an electrical socket or switch to be attached to the open front thereof, and depth determining means provided on or attachable to the side walls of the box for determining the depth of insertion of the box in an aperture or recess in a wall onto which such is to be mounted, said depth determining means preferably including means for securing said box to the wall on which it is to be mounted, and said side walls including means for enabling access into the interior of the box for wires or the like.

Such a back box can be made of any suitable material, but is preferably of metal, and may be produced by any suitable technique and may suitably be made by pressing and folding, as with conventional metal back boxes.

The present invention will now be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the configuration and use of the device of the present invention.

In Figure 1, there is shown a back box 10 of conventional shape, in this case for a double socket, but such additionally includes a flange 11 extending around the side walls of the box 10, the distance of the flange from the front of the box being determined as being the normal depth of plaster to be applied to the wall to which the box is attached. The flange 11 includes fixing holes 12, in this case four, by means of which the box can be attached securely to the wall in a conventional manner, the flange 11 additionally providing security in that, when plastered over, the flange 11 itself is sandwiched between the wall and the face coat of plaster.A plurality of apertures, in this case shown as elongate aperture 13, are provided, but if required these can be of the conventional circluar knockout type, if such is to be used with conduits, in which case additional depth may be provided in the box, to accommodate such apertures. The flange 11 may be attached permanently to the box 10, or may be integrally formed with the back box, or such may be attached in a readily detachable manner, if preferred, by suitable attachment means.

Figure 2 illustrates a back box 10 attached to a wall in which an opening 21 has been provided, which opening has been made larger than the box itself. It can be seen that it is not necessary to ensure that the opening 21 is accurately produced, since it is sufficient to ensure such is larger than the portion of the box to be sunk into the wall, and further, there is no need to be concerned with the uniformity of the interior surface of the opening 21 in that no fixing is made thereto. In contrast, the flange 11 abuts the front surface 22 of the wall, which can be generally expected- to be flat, thereby providing a level and secure surface for fixing box 10 and, when plastering has been completed, the flange 11 is completely buried within the plaster, together with the fixings, providing a reliable and accurate mounting for the box 10.The position of the flange 11 on the box 10 is such as to provide an appropriate amount A of protruding side walls, to the plaster depth, tQ provide a level for the plasterer to work to.

Due to the provision of the flange 11, if the box 10 is to be of conventional size, then the openings for feeding wiring into the interior of the box are made elongate in shape, but if it is necessary to utilise such a box with a conduit or the like, then a box of increased depth behind the flange can be produced as an alternative arrangement to accommodate conventional circular knockout openings, if preferred.

The flange 11 is preferably permanently attached to the side walls of the box 10, although, if desired, such could be attached in a readily detachable manner by suitable fixing means, so that the flange itself could be utilised for marking out the appropriate opening in the wall, from which material is to be removed for location of the box, or alternatively, a template may be provided, of approximately the same shape and size as the box, for marking the wall for creation of the necessary recess.

Although the flange 11 is shown as preferably a continuous flange extending around the whole of the periphery of the side walls of the box, a similar objective can be achieved by a plurality of flange portions strategically placed or attached around the side of the box, in which appropriate fixing holes can be provided as required.

As it will be appreciated, the improved mounting box of the present invention enables more reliable securing of such boxes in walls, particularly those of a breeze block construction, which can be achieved in a simple manner, whilst achieving a safe and secure fixing of the box, to which a front socket or switch can be mounted.

Claims

1. A mounting box for an electrical socket or switch, comprising a rear base portion and four side portions, said box being open at the front and having means for receiving mounting screws for an electrical socket or switch to be attached to the open front thereof, and a depth determining means provided on or attachable to the side walls of the box for determining the depth of insertion of the box in an aperture or recess in a solid wall onto which such is to be mounted.

2. A mounting box as claimed in claim 1, in which said depth for determining means includes means for enabling said box to be secured to a wall onto which it is to be mounted.

3. A mounting box as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which said side walls and said base portion include weakened portions removable for enabling access into the interior of the box for wiring.

4. A mounting box as claimed in any preceding claim comprising a pressed metal construction having removable weakened knockout portions produced therein for stamping, and incorporating a flange integrally formed therewith or securably attachable thereto to provide said depth determining means, said flange being provided with a plurality of apertures for receiving securing means for securing the box to a solid wall.

5. A mounting box as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, in which the box is constructed from a moulded plastics material in which the side walls and rear base portion include portions of reduced wall thickness capable of being removed to enable access to the interior thereof, said depth determining means being provided by means of a flange integrally moulded with the side walls and incorporating apertures for receiving the securing screws for securing the box to a side wall.

6. A mounting box as claimed in claim 4 or 5 in which the peripheral flange is replaced by a plurality of lugs at least some of which include apertures for receiving securing means for securing the box to a solid wall.

7. A mounting box as claimed in any preceding claims in which the depth determining means is spaced from the front edge of the mounting box by an amount equivalent to the normal depth of a plaster base coat.

8. A mounting box substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.