WO1995026579A1

WO1995026579A1 - Cover plate assembly for wall outlet

Info

Publication number: WO1995026579A1
Application number: PCT/US1995/003595
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert G. Dickie
Original assignee: Paige Innovations Inc.
Priority date: 1994-03-28
Filing date: 1995-03-24
Publication date: 1995-10-05

Abstract

A cover plate assembly for electrical wall outlets includes a wall plate (10) and a cover plate (12). The wall plate has a flat rear panel (22) which lies against the wall and includes peripheral lips (26, 27, 28, 29) holding a plurality of detent ridges (30, 31). The cover plate (12) is a truncated pyramid with extending lips (38, 39) at the bottom which fit over the lips on the wall plate. A plurality of in-line snap action projections (41, 42) on the inner surfaces of the cover plate detent ridges engage the retention ridges (30, 31) on the outer surfaces of the wall plate in a ratchet-like fashion to ensure that the cover plate is flush against the wall regardless of the amount of extension of the wall plate away from the wall. Notches (32, 33) in the corners of the wall plate allow the electrical cord (21) to exit the cover plate flush against the wall, while breakaway, removable exit notches (37) in the cover plate (12) also assist in the exiting of the cord from the cover plate assembly.

Description

COVER PLATE ASSEMBLY FOR WALL OUTLET

Technical Field

This invention relates to cover plate assemblies for electrical and electronic wall outlets and, more particularly, to cover plates having a low profile extending away from the wall upon which it is mounted.

Background of the Invention

An electrical outlet cover plate assembly is often used to cover unsightly electrical and electronic plugs and cords exiting from an wall outlet. Such cover plates comprise a wall plate, which is mounted to the electrical or electronic outlet assembly itself, and a cover plate, mounted on the wall plate and shaped to cover and hide the electrical or electronic plug plugged into the electrical outlet. Such wall outlets are used for standard 120 volt electrical service, for telephone jacks, data jacks and broadcast and cable television wall outlets. It is desirable, for all of these applications, to minimize the protrusion of the cover plate from the wall in order to improve the appearance of the cover plate assembly, as well as to prevent dangerous, possible sharp, corners extending outward from the wall. A snug fit of the cover plate against the wall becomes difficult when the connection box itself protrudes significantly from the wall due to installation and wall finishing errors and irregularities. In order to further improve the visual appearance and safety of the cover plate assembly, it is also desirable to keep the electrical cord exiting from the cover plate as close to the wall as possible. Since the wall plate must be mounted on the wall surface, it is difficult to keep the electrical cord exiting from the cover plate close to the wall surface. Finally, exit holes are normally provided in the cover plate to allow the electrical cord to exit from underneath the cover plate. Indeed, two such exit holes are normally provided to permit exiting of the electrical cord from either the top or the bottom of the cover plate. The unused exit hole in the cover plate, however, detracts from the appearance of the cover plate assembly. Summarv of the Invention

In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a cover plate assembly includes a wall plate and a cover plate. The wall plate has a flat rear surface parallel to the wall which permits mounting flush with the wall to maximize the volume under the cover plate and to minimize the protrusion of the cover plate assembly from the wall. The wall plate includes a lip extending outwardly from and perpendicular to the wall. This protruding lip includes a plurality of cover plate engagement ridges or detents for engaging and locking the cover plate into position over the wall plate. The wall plate is attached to the wall outlet assembly by one or more screws passing through a central hole in the wall plate and into threaded holes in the outlet assembly, as is standard for such wall outlet assemblies.

Although such a cover plate assembly is suitable for telephone, data and television outlets, as well as electrical outlets, the following description will be limited to electrical outlet applications for the purposes of simplicity. The modifications necessary to accommodate other outlet applications will be obvious to those skilled in these arts.

The cover plate is attached to the wall plate by snap action projections on the inner edges of the cover plate which snap over the detent ridges on the protruding lip of the wall plate. Such snap action latching permits rapid attachment and removal of the cover plate from the wall plate to facilitate the insertion and removal of the electric plug from the wall outlet assembly. In accordance with the present invention, and in order to ensure assembly of the cover plate flush against the wall, a plurality of in line projections are mounted, one behind the other, on the inner side of the cover plate to permit a ratchet-like snap action engagement of the projections with the detent ridge. If the outlet electrical box is inadvertently mounted such that it protrudes from the surface of the wall, this ratchet-like action allows the cover plate to be ratcheted into contact with the wall surface even though the wall plate itself is not flush with the wall. The flush fit of the cover plate to the wall prevents the unsightly, and possibly dangerous, protrusion of the cover plate from the wall. Two or three stages of such ratchet-like snap action projections is normally enough to accommodate the most egregious misinstallation of the electrical box. In further accord with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, cut outs in the wall plate accommodate the exit of an electrical cord from under the cover plate. Such a wall plate cut out permits the electrical cord to exit in contact with the wall and thus minimize the protrusion of the electrical cord from the wall. This contributes to the overall low profile of the cover plate assembly.

In yet further accord with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, in order to avoid the unsightly appearance of an unused electrical cord exit hole in the cover plate, the cut out holes are formed by breaking out the exit hole from the cover plate only when such an exit hole is to be used. A break out exit hole can be form by undercutting the hole area on the inside of the cover plate, thus leaving only a thin outer surface over the exit area. This thin area adequately hides the exit hole when in place, yet is easily removed when the exit hole is needed. Brief Description of the Drawings

A complete understanding of the present invention may be gained by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective exploded view of a low profile wall outlet cover plate assembly showing an improved wall plate and an improved cover plate for a standard duplex outlet in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged cross sectional view of the engagement of the outermost latching projection on the cover plate with the detent ridge on the lip of the wall plate; FIG. 3 shows an enlarged cross sectional view of the engagement of an innerly disposed latching projection on the cover plate with the detent ridge on the lip of the wall plate;

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged partial view of one corner of the cover plate illustrated in FIG. 1 showing the dashed outline of a break away exit hole for the electrical cord from under the cover plate in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged cross sectional view of the undercut of the exit hole area shown in dashed outline in FIG. 4 used to permit easy removal of the remaining exit hole material. FIG. 6 shows a perspective exploded view of a low profile wall outlet cover plate assembly showing an improved wall plate and an improved cover plate for a decorative duplex outlet known as "DECORA" in accordance with the present invention; To facilitate reader understanding, identical reference numerals are used to designate elements common to the figures.

Detailed Description

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective exploded view of an electrical outlet cover plate assembly comprising a wall plate 10 and a cover plate 12. Wall plate 10 and cover plate 12 are preferably fabricated by an injection molding process using any rigid plastic material such as NORYL^® available from the General Electric Company. An electrical plug 11 is inserted in the electrical outlet assembly 13 to complete the electrical connection to the recessed female contacts 14 and 15. Electrical plug 11 is preferably a low profile plug such as that disclosed in U.S. patent 4,927,376, granted May 22, 1990 and comprising an octagonal plug body 16 from which electrical connectors, similar to connector 17, extend for insertion in recessed sockets 14 and 15. An optional grounding plug, not illustrated in FIG. 1, can extend from plug body 16 to engage in ground socket 18 in outlet assembly 13. Electrical wires exit from plug body 16 by way of flexible sleeve 19 exiting from plug body 16 at an angle to the major dimensions of wall plate 10 and cover plate 12, and with a bend 20 realigning the sleeve 19 with the longest dimension of wall plate 10 and cover plate 12. Electrical cord 21 exits from sleeve 19 parallel to the longest dimension of plates 10 and 12, all in accordance with the aforesaid patent.

Wall plate 10 comprises a rectangular flat rear or inner panel 22 which is attached to the standard duplex outlet assembly 13 by a screw through a central hole 23. A wall plate for a different, decorative outlet assembly is disclosed and will be described in detail in connection with FIG. 6. In FIG. 1 , the area in the vicinity of hole 23 is reinforced by ramp-shaped fillets 24 and 25. Lips 26, 27, 28 and 29 extend at right angles from rear panel 22 away from the wall in which outlet assembly 13 is embedded. It will be noted that the wall plate 10 construction is opposite to the normal wall plate in that the lips extend away from rather than toward the wall in which the wall outlet assembly is embedded. This topology minimizes the protrusion of the wall plate 10 from the wall and, at the same time, maximizes the interior volume under the cover plate 12 for containing one or more electrical plugs such as plug 11. A plurality of triangular retention ridges or detents, like ridges 30 and 31, are located on the outer surfaces of two or more of lips 26-29. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the triangular detent ridges 30-31 cooperate with latch projections on the interior edges of cover plate 12 to latch cover plate 12 to wall plate 10.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, wall plate 10 has notches 32 and 33 cut out of two corners of wall plate 10. Notches 32 and 33 accommodate the exit of electrical cords, similar to cord 21, from under the cover plate 10. More particularly, notch 32 allows the electrical cord 21 to lie directly against the wall under wall plate 10 as cord 21 exits from under cover plate 12. This allows the lowest possible profile of the cover plate assembly and facilitates the use of cord covering channels or ducts to further enhance the appearance of the installation.

Cover plate 12 is shaped like a truncated rectangular pyramid having a central flat outer or exterior panel 34 with four sloping edge panels similar to edge panels 35 and 36, sloping toward the wall plate 10. The outer edges of the sloping edge panels similar to edge panels 35 and 36 terminate in lips similar to lips 38 and 39 extending perpendicularly to and away from central panel 34. The rectangular opening formed by the lips similar to lips 38-39 on cover panel 12 is sufficiently large to tightly enclose the outer lips 26-29 of wall plate 10. As will be shown more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the interior surfaces of the lips similar to lips 38 and 39 support retainer snap action projections which register with and engage triangular detent ridges like ridges 30 and 31 to hold cover plate 12 in place over wall plate 10. An exit hole 37 is cut into sloping panel 36 to accommodate the exit of electrical cord 21 from under cover plate 12. Note that plug 11 could be inverted to exit from wall plate 10 by way of notch 33 rather than notch 32. An exit hole similar to exit hole 37 and located diagonally across cover plate 12 in the rear sloping panel, not visible in FIG. 1, can be used to accommodate the exit of the electrical cord from the top or rear of the cover plate assembly of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a partial enlarged cross sectional view of one edge of cover plate 12 in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the inner surface of edge panel 38 includes two in line projections 41 and 42 having a sloping upper surface and a right angle lower surface. This configuration allows cover plate 12 to be removed from wall plate 10 more easily than cover plate 12 can be forced over wall plate 10. Note, however, that the plastic material of cover plate 12 can be flexed by pushing on the center of panel 34 (FIG. 1), thereby allowing projections 41 and 42 to clear retention ridge 31. Upon release of the center panel 34, the lip 38 relaxes to allow projection 41 to engage detent ridge 31 and hold cover plate 12 to wall plate 10.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the wall plate 10 lies substantially against the wall 40 in which the electrical outlet assembly 13 is embedded and snap protrusion 41 is engaged with retention ridge 31. If wall plate 10 were to lie substantially away from wall 40, possibly due to the electrical outlet box extending out of the wall 40, or the outlet assembly 13 (FIG. 1) extending beyond the electrical outlet box, retention detent ridge 31 could engage projection 42. This configuration is illustrated in FIG. 3 for clarity. Thus snap action projections 41 and 42 are engaged ratchet-like by detent 31 as cover plate 12 is pushed over wall plate 10. While only two snap projections 41 and 42 are shown in FIG. 2, it is clear that as many such snap action projections as desired are possible. Similarly the spacing between the adjacent snap action projections such as projections 41 and 42 can also be varied to ensure the desired maximum set off of the cover plate 12 from the wall. It has been found, however, that two or three snap protrusions separated by between 0.05 inches and 0.15 inches, and preferably around 0.10 inches are sufficient to accommodate the necessary range of variation in the extension of the electrical outlet box from the wall 40. As noted above, FIG. 3 illustrates the situation where the inaccurate installation of the electrical outlet box in wall 40 forces the wall plate 10 to lie substantially away from wall 40. The ratchet action described above allows retention ridge 31 to be engaged by snap protrusion 42 rather than protrusion 41. This, in turn, allows the lip 38 of cover plate 12 to lie substantially flush on wall 40 and avoiding a cover plate 10 extending in an unsightly fashion away from the wall 40. Such an extending cover plate also forms a safety hazard where clothing or fingers could get caught and damaged or harmed. It will be noted that the ratchet action at each of the snap action projections and detents such as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 operate independently of each other. Assuming, for example, that there is a pair of projections and detents at each corner of cover plate 12 and wall plate 10, respectively, these four corners will be ratcheted into position flush with the wall independently of each other. As a result, if the electrical outlet box or the outlet assembly is at an angle to the wall, the cover plate 12 will nevertheless ratchet into contact with the wall at all corners of cover plate 12. This flush position of the cover plate regardless of the orientation of the outlet assembly provides a significant advantage over prior art cover plates.

In FIG. 4 there is shown an enlarged perspective view of one corner of the cover plate 12 of FIG. 1 prior to assembly of the cover plate assembly illustrated in FIG. 1. In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the exit notch 37 is represented by a breakaway or knock-out area 50 which can be optionally removed from the cover plate 12 to form the notch corresponding to notch 37 in FIG. 1. If not removed, area 50 maintains the smooth outer surface of cover plate 12 when the exit notch is not required.

In FIG. 5 there is shown an enlarged cross sectional view of the corner of cover plate 12 shown in FIG. 4. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the break away or knock-out area 50 can be formed by an undercut 51 in the area 50 on the inner surface of cover plate 12 to leave a thin outer skin in the breakaway area which can be easily removed by hand if needed. Other configurations can also be used to provide a breakaway exit notch for the electrical cord, such as perforations at the periphery of the breakaway area 50. In FIG. 6 there is shown a perspective exploded view of another electrical outlet cover plate assembly for a decorative duplex outlet 61. In FIG. 6, the opening in wall plate 61 is rectangular rather than in the shape of a standard duplex outlet (as in FIG. 1) and two mounting screw holes, similar to screw hole 62, are located in strengthening pads, similar to pad 63, for attaching wall plate 61 to the outlet 61. In all other respects, the cover plate assembly of FIG. 6 is identical to the cover plate assembly of FIG. 1 , and the same reference numerals have been used to indicate the identical parts of the cover plate assembly of FIG. 6. No need is seen to further describe the assembly of FIG. 6 inasmuch as the parts are identical and operate in an identical fashion to those described in connection with FIG. 1.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A cover plate assembly for electric wall outlets comprising a wall plate for mounting directly on said electric wall outlet and having a first peripheral latch mechanism, and a cover plate for covering an electric plug inserted in said electric box and having a second peripheral latch mechanism for engaging said first peripheral latch mechanism.

2. The cover plate assembly according to claim 1 wherein said first peripheral latch mechanism comprises a plurality of detent ridges around the periphery of said wall plate, and said second peripheral latch mechanism comprises a plurality of snap action projections around the periphery of said cover plate to register with said detent ridges when said cover plate is assembled to said wall plate.

3. A low profile cover plate assembly for electrical wall outlets comprising a wall plate having at least one detent ridge at the outer periphery thereof, and a cover plate having a plurality of in-line snap action projections on the inner periphery thereof for successively engaging said detent ridge in ratchet- like fashion to lock said cover plate to said wall plate.

4. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 further comprising at least one breakaway area defining, when broken away, an exit hole near one corner of said cover plate for permitting the exit of an electrical cord from under said cover plate.

5. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 wherein said wall plate comprises a rear panel for mounting flush against the wall in which said electrical wall outlet is mounted, and peripheral lips extending perpendicularly away from said rear panel, said detent ridge being located on the outer surface of said peripheral lips.

6. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 wherein said cover plate comprises a truncated rectangular pyramid, and peripheral lips extending away from the base of said pyramid.

7. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 wherein said cover plate includes two of said in-line snap projections near each corner of said cover plate.

8. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 wherein said plurality of in-line snap projections are spaced apart by a distance between 0.05 inches and 0.15 inches.

9. A low profile cover plate assembly for electrical wall outlets comprising a rear plate having a rear panel for mounting flush against the wall in which said electrical wall outlet is mounted, and peripheral lips extending perpendicularly away from said rear panel, said peripheral lips having a detent ridge at the outer surface thereof, and a cover plate having a snap action projection on the inner periphery thereof for engaging said detent ridge to lock said cover plate to said wall panel.

10. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 1 further comprising at least one breakaway area defining, when broken away, an exit hole near one corner of said cover plate for permitting the exit of an electrical cord from under said cover plate.

11. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 7 wherein said cover plate further comprises a plurality of in-line snap action projections on said inner periphery of of said cover plate to engage said detent ridge on said outer surface of said rear panel.

12. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 7 wherein said cover plate comprises a truncated rectangular pyramid, said peripheral lips extending away from the base of said pyramid.

13. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 7 wherein said cover plate includes two of said in-line snap projections near each corner of said cover plate.

14. The low profile cover plate assembly according to claim 7 wherein said plurality of in-line snap projections are spaced apart by a distance between 0.05 inches and 0.15 inches.