US2315523A - Electrical receptacle - Google Patents

Description

H. HUBBELL ELECTRICAL REcEPTAcLE Aril 6, 1943.

Filed Jan. 7. 1941 ATTORNEYS 2f IN 4 BY www Patented Apr. 6, 1943 npao'rnicar. ancnrracpa Harvey Hubbell, Long Bill, Conn., assigner to Harvey Hubbell, Incorporated,

Bridrepori,

Conn., a corporation o! Connecticut Application January 7, 1941, serial No. 313,439

l 9 Claims.

This invention relates to electric fittings, and particularly to electrical receptacles, and has for an object to provide an improved means for securing together the sections of the body of insulating material and also securing these sections to the bridge member for mounting the device in a wail box of the house wiring system.

It is also an object of the invention to provide *Ymeans for securing the body sections together which will facilitate assembly and will eliminate the use of screws and rivets for this purpose.

Another object is to provide a device in which the sections of the body of insulating material may be effectively and permanently secured together by the simple operation of forcing them together into the proper assembledl relation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view I have devised a construction as illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification. It is however to be understood the device is not limited to the specic construction and arrangement shown, but various changes and modifications may be employed within the scope of the invention.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the parts assembled in position preparatory to the operation of forcing the sections of the body together to complete the assembling operation. parts being broken away to more clearly sh-ow the construction;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the completed device;

F18. 4 is a transverse section thereof substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the lower or rear section of the body with the bridge and electrical contacts assembled therein and with the top or front section removed;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the top o1' front section looking toward the inner or rear side thereof;

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the bridge member removed; and A Fig. 8 is a partial plan view thereof.

The receptacle shown includes a body of insulating material comprising two sections, afrcnt or upper section I0 and the lower Ior rear section I I, which are secured together and supported in a wall box by a metallic bridge member I2. The section II has compartments I2 arranged in pairs in which are mounted the receptacle contacts I4. As the form shown is a duplex receptacle these contacts are arranged in two pairs and two contacts of each pair are connected by a bar Il on which are mounted means for securing lead wires to the bar. such as binding screws II. The contacts may be of any suitable type, but those shown comprise spring fingers i1 arranged in parallel relation to engage aligned contact blades of standard attachment plug caps and the third contact I4 arranged adjacent the inner edges of the contact fingers I1 and at right angles thereto to engage parallel contact blades of standard attachment plug caps. The front section I0 is provided with T-shaped slots I9 leading to the receptacle contacts I4 for insertion of either aligned or parallel blades of the attachment plug caps.' The compartments I2 are separated by walls 2li of insulating material andthe section Il has in its rear or inner wall somewhat shallower compartments '2| in alignment with the compartments I3 to receive the upper or free ends of the contact lingers I1 and I8. The T slots I9 lead to these compartments, and they are separated by wall 22 of insulating material.

To secure the sections I0 and II together and to mount them on the bridge member I2 the vend portions may also have spacing and locating lugs or washers 25 connected to the -end portions by scored or weakened portions 26 so that they may be easily broken ofi is desired. Intermediate portions of this bridge portion I2, and indicated at 2l, are bent at right` angles to the end portions 23 and have projecting laterally from the oppositeedges thereof lugs or projections 2I and 28. These lugs or projections are provided with means for grippingthe material of the body sections Il and II for securing the sections together.v Ths gripping means may be made in different ways such as roughing or ridging to provide shoulders to grip the material of the body to prevent withdrawal of the projections therefrom, but it is preferred to provide a series of teeth 29 on one or both oi'r the opposite edges of the projections and these teeth are preferably inclined on their outer sides at Il and have abrupt shoulders 3i at their inner sides. Thus when these projections are forced into the material of the body sections, the inclined sides of the teeth permit the projections to enter relatively easy. but after they enter the material the abrupt shoulders ll grip the material and prevent their withdrawal, thus effectively securing the body sections to the bridge member and to each other.

To properly locate the bridge member and facilitate the assembly the separating walls 2l and 22 of the body sections l0 and Il are provided with aligned grooves I2 and respectively into which the opposite edges of the offset portion 2l of the bridge may seat. To facilitate entrance of the lugs and projections 21 and 2l into the material of the body sections these sections are provided with openings or recesses Il and ll respectively leading in opposite directions from thebottoms of the grooves 32 and 33. 'I'hese openings or recesses are somewhat smaller than the width of the lugs or projections 21 and 2l but are of a size to permit passage of these lugs into the recesses without breaking the body section, but are sufficiently smaller than these lugs so that after the enter the recesses the teeth 29 grip the material o prevent their withdrawal. There is sufiicientresiliency to permit a certain amount of relative yielding of the molded material and the teeth of the lugs to permit these lugs to enter the recesses and then the material springs back suiiiciently toprovide the desired gripping or locking effect between the teeth. and the material.

In assembling the device the electrical contacts Il connected by the bars i are inserted in the section il as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the opposite sides of the section being provided with openings 36 opening through the side of the section in which the heads of the binding screws li are located and by which they are exposed so that they may be readily manipulated for connection of the lead wires. After the contacts are in' place the bridge member i2 is placed in position thereon as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with the free ends of the lugs or projections 2l seated in the entrances of the recesses 34. The entrances to these recesses and also the recesses 35 are preferably somewhat enlarged or beveled to permit the end portions of the lugs or projections 2B and 21 to seat therein and properly locate the parts relative to each other. After the bridge member is so placed on the lower section Il the upper section i I may be placed thereon with the ends of the projections 21 seating in the entrances to the recesses 35 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus the parts are all in proper alignment, and in this arrangement maybe placed between the die plates of a suitable press. As these die plates are forced together they force the portions Il and il together and at the same time force the lugs or projections 21 and 2l into the recesses 3l and u in the sections i0 and ii respectively. This operation brings the parts to the position shown inng. 3 bringing the opposite edges of the portions 2l of the bridge member to seat in the grooves 32 and 33. As the lugs or projections 21 and 2l are forced into the material of the sections Il and Il or specifically into the recesses 34 and 3l, provided to facilitate this action as above described, the teeth grip the material at the sides of the recesses effectively preventing withdrawal of the projections from the material and effectively securing the sections il and i I togetherl and also to the mounting bridge i2. It will be seen the sections are thus secured or locked together and to the bridge by the simple operation offorcing them together,

and no screws or rivetsare required and no openingsarerequiredleadingthroughthematerialof` the section I I to the rear wall thereof.

Although in the specific arrangement shown the locking or securing projections 21 and 2l are located on the opposite edges of an offset 2t. it will be evident I am not limited to this t but that the lugs or projections 21 and 2l may be located on and project from any portion o'f the bridge member so long as they Project into the material of the body section or into such relation thereto as to interlock or grip this material.

With these devices, after they are installed they are usually covered with a finishing wall or face plate. Buch a plate is shown at I1 and the intermediate portion of the bridge member may have a tapped opening 3l to receive the securing screw Il for fastening the face plate in position Thisportionllisseatedinarecessliinthe inner or rear wall f section Il and this section has an opening 42 through this wall leading to the recess so the opening 3! is accessible.

This construction and arrangement greatly facilitates assembLv of the device, and as it does not require the use of screws or rivets it also eliminates the cost of such screws and rivets as well as the necessary operations when such screws and rivets are used.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention what I claim is:

1. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, one of said sections having chambers for receptacle contacts, contacts in said chambers, one

section having contact blade slots leading to said contacts, a bridge member adapted for mounting the receptacle in a wall box and located between said sections, said sections each having recesses therein extending in a direction away from the other section, said bridge having means to secure the body sections together comprising projections extending forwardly and rearwardly therefrom and forced into the said recesses in the respective sections, and said projections having means to grip the material of the sections to secure said sections together.

2. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, one of said sections having chambers for receptacle contacts, contacts in said chambers, one of said sections having contact blade slots leading to said contacts, a bridge member adapted for mounting the receptacle in a wall box and located between said sections, and said bridge being provided with means to secure the body sections gether comprising projections extending into the material of the respective sections and provided with means to grip this material to secure the sections together.

3. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, one of said sections having chambers therein, receptacle contacts in said chambers, one section having contact blade slots leading to said contacts, a bridge member adapted for moimting the receptacle in a wall box and located between said sections, and said bridge having means to secure the body sections together comprising projections extending in opposite directions therefrom and provided with shoulders engaging the material of the respective sections to secure the sections together.

4. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, a bridge member adapted for mounting the receptacle in a wall box and located between said sections, one o! said sections having chambers therein for receptacle contacts, contacts in said chambers, one section having contact blade slots leadf ing to said contacts, said sections each having recesses therein extending in a direction away from the other section, said bridge having means to secure the body sections together comprising projections extending therefrom and forced into said recesses in the respective sections, and said projections having teeth inclined on their outer sides to permit the projections to be forced into the recesses and abrupt on their inner sides to grip the material to prevent withdrawal of the projections from the recesses and thus secure the sections together.

5. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, said rear section having laterally spaced chambers for receptacle contacts, contacts in said chambers, said iront section having contact blade slots leading to said contacts, said sections having on their inner walls between the chambers aligned longitudinally extending grooves, a bridge member lncluding substantially nat portions seated on edge in said grooves and having lugs at its opposite ends extending beyond the body for mounting the receptacle in a wall box, and projections on said bridge extending into the body sections and having means gripping the material of these sections to hold them together.

6. An electrical receptacle comprising an insulating body having front and rear sections, said rear section having laterally spaced chambers for receptacle contacts, contacts in said chambers, said front section having contact blade slots leading to said contacts, said sections having on their inner walls between the chambers aligned longitudinally extending grooves, a bridge member including substantially ilat portions seated on edge in said grooves and having lugs at its opposite ends extending beyond the body for mounting the receptacle in a wall box, said sections each having recesses therein extending respectively forwardly and rearwardly from the bridge member, projections on said bridge member forced into said recesses, and said projections having teeth thereon inclined on their outer sides so they will pass into the recesses and abrupt on their inner sides to grip the material oi' the sections to prevent their withdrawal therefrom and thus hold the sections together.

'1. A bridge member for mounting an electrical receptacle in an outlet box comprising a substantially ilat strip of metal having ears at its opposite ends for securing it in the wall box, intermediate portions in a plane at substantially right angles to the plane of said ears, and pro- `jections extending in opposite directions from the intermediate portions oi' said member adapted to be forced into the molded material of separate sections of an insulating body and having means thereon to grip said material to hold the sections together.

8. A bridge member for mounting an electrical receptacle in an outlet box comprising a substantially fiat strip oi metal having ears at its opposite ends i'or securing it in the wall box, and said member including means to secure together separate sections of an insulating body comprising projections extending at substantially right an-- gles to the planes of the ears in opposite directions from portions of said member intermediate said ears adapted to be forced into the molded material of separate sections of an insulating body and having means thereon to grip said materialto secure the body sections together.

9. A bridge member ior mounting an electrical receptacle in an outlet box comprising a substantially ilat strip of metal having ears at its opposite ends for securing it in the wall box, and projections extending in opposite directions from portions of said member intermediate said ears, and said projections having teeth inclined on their outer sides to adapt the projections to be forced into the molded material of separate sections of an insulating body and abrupt on their inner sides to grip the material to prevent withdrawal of the projections from the material and thus hold the sections together.

HARVEY HUBBELL.

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