US1929547A - Electric outlet molding - Google Patents

Description

oct. 1o, 1933. P, J. CAssmv 1,929,547

ELECTRIC OUTLET HOLDING Filed may 1o, 1932 V ilff' f' f so vlbiu, w", l

wllms ,3 I ,NVE'NTOR Philip d. Cassidy, 0 a 27 /2 28 BY 5 j f- AroRNEY Patented Oct. 10, 1933 PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC OUTLET MOLDING Philip J. Cassidy, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., assignor to Albert Philip Dorsey, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Application May 10, 1932. Serial No. 610,406

Claims.

This invention relates to an electricoutlet molding ofl that class which is intended to be installed in the wiring of buildings, etc., to provide a continuous socket whereby the plugs of 5 electrical lights and appliances may be attached at any point and also as many as desired, and also moved to different locations as desired.

The usual manner of wiring buildings is to provide at predetermined locations, what are 1o known as outlets or wall plugs, and these are mostly located in the base board of the room and wired into the main circuit, but these outlets always have to be used inthe places where located, which in many cases are not in the proper location, and this requires long cords on the electrical attachments.

The object of the invention is to provide an outlet member similar to the usual member which receives the prongs of the attachment 90 plug, but which is constructed in the form of a molding of insulating material having contact members in the form of long strips which are incorporated in the insulation and -which are adapted to receive the prongs of the attachment plug at any location, this molding to be built into the base board of the room for its entire length, or if desired it may be incorporated into any other part of the walls or ceiling or floor of the room, and attached at one 3o or more places to the feed wiring of the house circuit.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a device of this class, an outlet moldingr that may be readily installed, cheap to manufacture,

and be inconspicuous when in place.

Still another object being to provide an article of this kind that shall be safe and comply with the requirements of electrical installation.

A further object of the invention is to provide in an outlet molding of this kind means whereby the ends of the several lengths and the short sections where the feed line is attached may be jointed together end to end in a simple and effective manner, as also the joining of corners, angles, etc., required in installing the molding around a room.

Another object being to provide means whereby the junction of the feed wires lwith the molding may be reached without injury tothe installation, for the purpose of repairing, etc.

With these and other objects in view, my inventionv consists in certain construction and combination of parts as will hereinafter be fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the l'55 accompanying drawing, in which like figures of reference refer to corresponding parts in all of the views, but it is fully understood that slight changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing- Figure 1 shows a front elevationvof a portion of the molding, with two attachment plugs in place.

Figure 2 shows a rear view of a small section of the molding, illustrating the method of attaching the feed wires, but showing the cable box removed therefrom.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view of the molding and the method of mounting the same in the base board of the room, and also shows an attachment plug in place.

Figure 4 shows the rear view of two abutting ends of the molding and the means for joining the ends of the contact or feed bars together.

Figure 5 shows an enlarged cross sectional view of one of the feed bars and its attachment or joining means.

Referring to the drawing- I have shown in Figure 3, and indicated by the numeral 10 a sectional View of part of a wall 'studding, which has been cut out to receive the feed wire box 11, and secured to this studding 10 in the usual manner is shown a section of the plaster wall 12 and a section of a base board 13, but it is understood that any type of wall construction may be used and also that the device may be incorporated into any part of the building.

The invention comprises a number of lengths of molding 1 4 of any desired length, and. some preferably short, as the length shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Each length of molding 14 is formed with two L-shaped slots 15 which extend through the entire length and which are spaced apart the approximate distance apart of the two contact prongs 16 of the usual electric fixture plug 17.

Within these parallel clots 15 are mounted a pair of contact strips 18 which are of resilient material such as hard copper or brass, and which are formed with an attaching angle piece and a spring arm 19, and it is understood that these two contact strips extend the entire length of the molding 14, but that they may be provided with transverse cuts extending part way across their surface at intervals for the purpose of allowing short parts to bend by the action of the prongs 16 Without having to bend back any great length of the spring arm 19.

It will thus be seen that an attachment plug may be inserted at any point desired upon the entire length of the molding.

The back of the molding 14 is formed with a channel 20 also extending its entire length, and in this channel 20 are mounted two feed bars 21, which are slightly wedge shaped in cross section as shown in detail in Figure 5, and which are formed at intervals with transverse holes for the attachment screws 22 which pass therethrough and through a hole in the insulation 14 and are threaded into the angle portion 23 of the contact strip 18 to hold the same in place and feed current to the strip 18.

The assembled molding 14 with the contact strips 18 and the feed bars 21, is mounted within a metallic casing which is formed on the back with the dovetail 24, and the flanges 25 which are formed by folding the material back upon itself, and then bending forward to form the sides 26 between which the molding 14 is mounted; and at intervals along the length of said casing and within the dovetail 24 are placed threaded nuts to receive the mounting screws 27 which are passed through the molding 14 for the purpose of attaching the molding 14 to the casing', said casing flanges 25 being secured to the wall studding 10 by a series of clamps 28 bent to engage the edge of said ange 25 and secured to the studding 10 by the wood screws 29.

Where adjacent ends of the molding 14 abut each other and require joining, this is accomplished in a simple manner as is shown in Figures 4 and 5, where the ends of the feed bars 21 have snapped thereon a connecting member 30 which is formed of resilient material, such as spring bronze, the same being of channel shape in cross section, and these members 30 may be cut and bent to conform to a corner or angle, and the sides thereof tightly gripping the wedge shaped sides of the feed bars 21, while to insure a perfect electrical contact there is placed between the clamp 30 and the feed bar 21 a strip of resilient material 40 which is formed with transverse iiutes or ridges which are compressed between said clamp 30 and the feed bar 21, thus securing the abutting ends together in both a mechanical and electrical manner.

Adjacent the ends of each length of molding 14, the dovetail of the casing is formed with elongated holes 31 so that the attachment screws 27 may readily register with the nuts 32.

The channel 20 between the feed rods 21 and the back of the casing may be filled with an insulating material in the form of wax or a strip of insulating material may be secured therein.

For supplying the molding with its feed rods 21 with electric current, and to facilitate the installation and inspection of said feeding means, I have provided short sections of the molding and as many of these may be used as desired depending upon the entire length of the molding and the size of the room, and the number of attachment plugs which it is intended to use.

I have shown one of these short sections in Figures 1 and 2, and by referring to Figure 2,

it will be seen that a portion of the back of the casing is cut out to expose a portion of the two feed bars 21 and the molding 14 with its channel 20, While surrounding said cut out portion the back of the casing is provided with the holes 33 for the screws or rivets 34 by which the outlet box 11 is attached by its flanges 35.

Said box 11 is of the usual type formed with holes located in different positions for the entrance of the conduit 36 carrying the feed wires 37 and 38, and held in place in the box 11 by the clamp 39; the ends of the feed Wires 37 and 38 being held under the heads of the screws 22.

In the installation of the molding, at the dead end of a length or at the sides of a doorway, the end of the molding is covered by a block of molding or other means for closing the end thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an electric attachment socket comprising a length of insulating molding formed with two parallel longitudinal slots in theface thereof, resilient contact strips mounted in said slots and adapted to receive the prongs of an attachment plug at any point throughout their entire length, a channel formed on the back of said molding in parallel relation with said slots, feed rods mounted therein and connected to said contact strips.

2. In an electric outlet socket member comprising a molding of insulating material formed with parallel slots in the face thereof and a parallel channel in the back thereof, contact strips mounted in said slots, feed rods mounted in said channel, means for connecting said contact strips to said feed rods and a U-shaped clamp, for lconnecting the abutting ends of adiacent feed rods together.

3. In an electric outlet socket member comprising in combination with a length of insulation molding formed with slots in the face thereof and a groove in the back thereof all parallel with each other, of resilient contact strips mounted in said slots, feed rods mounted in said groove and connected to said contact strips, said feed rods adapted to be connected to an electric circuit, a metallic casing for said molding, flanges formed on said casing and means for attaching said casing to a support.

4. In an electric outlet socket member comprising in combination with a length of molding, contact strips mounted therein and adapted to receive the prongs of an attachment plug, feed rods mounted in said molding and connected to said strips, and adapted to be connected to a source of electrical energy, means for connecting the abutting ends of adjacent feed rods together comprising a clamp adapted to embrace the ends of said feed rods and a fluted member placed between said clamp and said feed rods.

5. In an electric outlet socket member, comprising in combination with one or more lengths of molding, of contact strips mounted therein and adapted to receive the prongs of a plug, feed rods mounted therein and connected to said contact strips and to the electrical circuit, a casing for said molding formed with attaching means, and means for securing a conduit box thereto.

PHILIP J. CASSIDY.

Images