US1914317A - Molding electric wire conduit and alug cutlet - Google Patents

Description

MOLDING ELECTRIC WIRE CONDUIT AND PLUG OUTLET Filed May 22, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Enw 71 026072,

ATTORNEY June 13, 1933. w so 1,914,317

MOLDING ELECTRIC WIRE CONDUIT AND PLUG OUTLET Filed May 22, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eric Wilon,

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ATTORNEY Patented dune 3.3, 1933 Application filed May This invention relates to electric wiring conduits and outlet plugs and has for the primary object, the provision of a device especially adapted for providing an effective protection against fire hazards by enclosing or concealing the electric wires and their connectors and which may be easily and quickly installed and will have an attractive and finished appearance to itself and to the room to which it is applied.

Another object of this invention is the provision of conduits and outlet plugs which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost and which may be installed in a very short period of time and will provide a molding between the floor and wall of a building that will harmonize therewith and will eliminate or take the place of the present molding now employed.

With these and other objects in View, thls invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed. For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation illustrating electric wire conduits and an outlet plug associated with the floor and wall of a building and constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view illustrating the same.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 ofFigure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken on the line 5-5-of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a perspective View illustrating one section of the conduit separated from the box of the outlet plug and the rear wall of the box separated from the latter.

Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating the sections of the molding connected together.

Figure 8 is a perspective view illustrating i931. Seriai $1"? the clamp for connecting the sections of the molding.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the wall of a building and 2 the floor with my invention applied and forming a finished molding at the corner between the wall and the floor with the outlet plug positioned that an electric appliance may be easily plugged therein.

My invention includes a casing 3 having a removably rear wall 4 and a circular opening 5 in the front wall thereof and theend walls 6 are cut away to form entrances. 7 having arcuately curved flanges 8, the ends of which are bent angularly to form gripping fingers 9. The entrances 9 are adapted to receive the ends of conduits 10 that are of substantially triangular shape in cross section, The conduits each includes a bottom wall 11, a rear Wall 12, and a front Wall 13. The bottom and rear walls 11 and 12 are disposed at right angles to each other while the front wall 13 is arcuately curved to give the conduit the appearance of molding. The conduit or the walls thereof are formed from a single piece of material bent first to form the bottom and rear walls 11 and 12 and then bent to form the front wall 13. By referring to Figure 6 it will be noted that the material between the front wall 13 and the bottom wall 11 is bent upon itself to form a flange 14 while the free edge of the material after forming the front wall is bent angularly to extend parallel with the rear wall 12 forming a flange 15.

The conduit when inserted within one of the entrances of the casing 3, the arcuate shaped flange 8 will engage the curved front wall 13 with the fingers 9 snapping over the flanges 14 and 15 thus firmly securing the conduit to the casing. The conduits are adapted to be constructed from metal or any other material suitable for the purpose and have the electric conductors or feed wires 16 extending therethrough and into the casing 3 for attachment to the connecting plates 17 mounted in an insulating block 18. The plates 17 and the connection of the wires thereto are separated by an insulating spacing element 19 forming an integral part of the block 18 and by referring to Figure 3 it will be noted that the rear face of the block 18 is provided with recesses 20 in which the plates 17 and their connection with the electrical feed wires are located. Passages 21 extending from the recesses 20 through the outer face of the block 18, a portion of which projects from the circular opening 5 in the front wall of the casing and the pasages 21 have resilient contact elements 22 located therein and forming an integral part of the plates 17 so that an electrical appliance having the usual type of block may have the contacts thereof inserted in the passages 21 to engage the contact fingers 22 and thereby establish an electrical connection between the electrical appliance and the feed wires.

An insulating plate 23 engages the rear face of the block 18 and closes the recess 20 and has the rear wall 4 positioned thereagainst. Fasteners 24 in the form of screws pass through the front wall of the casing, block 18, insulating plate 23 and rear wall 4 of the casing and are adapted to be threaded into the wall 1 of the building thereby firmly anchoring the casing 3 to the buildlng and also the conduits leading from said casing. An ornamental plate 25 may be positioned over the front wall of the casing 3 and held thereon by the fasteners 24 extending therethrough. The ornamental plate 25 has an opening aligning with the opening 15 to permit a portion of the block 18 to extend therethrough to expose the passages 21. so that an ordinary electric plug or the contacts thereof may be inserted into the passages for engagement with the contact fingers 22.

The molding may be secured to the floor and wall of the building by headed fasteners 26 engaging over the flanges 14 and 15. The conduits may be manufactured in sections as shown in Figure 7 and the sections joined together by a substantially L-shaped clip 27 the ends of which are bent to form retalning flanges 28 adapted to receive the flanges 14 and 15 of adjacent sections of the conduit.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be noted that a. device has been provided which can be easily and efiiciently installed between the floor and wall of a building that will permit an outlet plug or box to be located any place desired within the room and that the electric feed wires and their connections will be entirely housed to reduce fire hazards and also relieve the wires of undue wear. Further it will be noted that the device is efliciently anchored to the building against accidental displacement and which anchorage is of a nature that will permit the installation of the device in a very short period of time. A device of the foregoing character can be manufactured and installed at a very nominal cost and will permit a person at a reasonable expense to have any number of outlet plugs or boxes within a building or room thereof and obviates the customary practice of securing exposed extension cords about the baseboards of a room. The conduits when installed may be painted to harmonize with the room and will eliminate the ordinary molding now placed between or within the corner of the floor and the wall.

Vhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A device of the character set forth comprising a casing having a fully opened rear portion adapted to be positioned next to a wall, said casing having an opening in the front wall thereof with the side walls of the casing cut away to receive the ends of adjacent conduits, flanges on the side walls of the casing and having offset ends adapted to grip opposite edges of the conduits to prevent displacement of the conduits relative to the side walls of the casing, a rear plate for closing the casing, and fasteners extending through the front wall of the casin to support an electric fixture within the casing and in alignment with the opening of the front wall, said fasteners extending through the rear plate into the wall.

- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ERIC WILSON.

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