Watthour meter socket adapter with snap-on jaw contacts
First Claim
1. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
- a housing adapted for mating with a watthour meter, the housing having a base, and a sidewall extending from the base and terminating in a watthour meter mounting flange;
an aperture formed in the base;
a terminal having a first contact end for engagement with a blade terminal of a watthour meter and a second blade end for insertion through the aperture in the base into contact with a watthour meter socket jaw contact;
a spring member having first and second ends, the first end biasingly disposed with respect to the first contact end of the terminal to bias a blade terminal into contact with the first end of the terminal, the second end fixedly joined to the terminal; and
clip means, carried on the spring member and extending therefrom, for mounting the terminal in the housing in a snap-on connection.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A jaw blade contact for a watthour meter socket adapter includes a terminal with a blade end and an opposed jaw contact end. A spring clip is fixedly mounted on the terminal and has a jaw contact end opposed from the jaw contact end of the terminal for receiving a blade terminal of a meter there-between. Angled arms carried on the spring clip releasibly engage the base of the socket adapter housing to mount the jaw blade contact on the housing in a snap-on connection. In another embodiment, a spring clip engages apertures in a jaw contact formed of two folded over portions to mount the jaw contact in the housing. The housing has a mounting flange with a frangible portion conformable to different sized socket cover openings. An arcuate surge ground conductor is mounted on the housing sidewall by an integral bendable member which is movable from an in-line position to a mounting position extendable through an aperture in the housing. One or more jaws of the jaw contact include at least first and second separately movable legs, each having a contact edge engageable with a blade terminal. The contact edges of the at least two legs are spaced apart along the length of the jaw to provide a stepped blade terminal insertion force.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
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a housing adapted for mating with a watthour meter, the housing having a base, and a sidewall extending from the base and terminating in a watthour meter mounting flange; an aperture formed in the base; a terminal having a first contact end for engagement with a blade terminal of a watthour meter and a second blade end for insertion through the aperture in the base into contact with a watthour meter socket jaw contact; a spring member having first and second ends, the first end biasingly disposed with respect to the first contact end of the terminal to bias a blade terminal into contact with the first end of the terminal, the second end fixedly joined to the terminal; and clip means, carried on the spring member and extending therefrom, for mounting the terminal in the housing in a snap-on connection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
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7. The watthour meter socket adapter of claim wherein the clip means comprises first and second clips.
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11. A jaw contact mountable in a housing of an electrical device, the housing having a base with an aperture therein for coupling a blade terminal of an electrical device therethrough to a jaw contact of another electrical device, the jaw contact comprising:
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a terminal having a first contact end for receiving a blade terminal of an electrical device and a second blade end for insertion through the aperture in the base into another electrical device jaw contact; a spring member having first and second ends, the first end biasingly disposed with respect to the first contact end of the terminal to bias a blade terminal into contact with the first end of the terminal, the second end fixedly joined to the terminal; and clip means, carried on the spring member and extending therefrom, for mounting the terminal in the housing in a snap-on connection. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
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a one piece, unitary housing adapted for mating with a watthour meter; the housing having a base central wall and a radially outward extending first mounting flange; an annular wall extending unitarily from the base central wall and terminating in a second mounting flange extending radially outward from the annular wall; substantially the entire base central wall axially offset from the first mounting flange in an axial direction opposite from the first mounting flange; the annular wall having a length to closely space the first and second mounting flanges; an aperture formed in the base central wall; a jaw contact mounted in the base central wall for receiving a blade terminal of a watthour meter; and a blade terminal connected to the jaw contact and extending through the aperture in the base central wall for insertion into a watthour meter socket jaw contact.
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22. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
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a housing adapted for mating with a watthour meter, the housing having a base, and an annular sidewall extending from the base and terminating in an annular flange engageable with a watthour meter, an aperture formed through at least one of the sidewall and the base; a surge ground conductor mounted in the socket adapter housing, the surge ground conductor including; a conductive member; first and second electrically conductive tabs carried on the conductive member; apertures formed in the mounting flange of the housing for receiving the first and second conductive tabs of the conductive member and disposing the first and second conductive tabs for contact with a ground tab on a watthour meter mounted on the mounting flange; and a mounting member, unitary with the conductive member and extending from the conductive member for insertion through the aperture in at least one of the sidewall and the base of the housing to mount the conductive member on the housing. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 35, 36)
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25. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a ringless-type cover and a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
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a housing having a base, an annular sidewall extending from the base, and an annular mounting flange formed on an end of the sidewall mateable with a mounting flange on a watthour meter; and a frangible portion frangibly carried on the mounting flange, the frangible portion extending over at least a portion of the annular extent of the mounting flange and separable from the mounting flange for altering the peripheral configuration of the mount flange to enable an opening in a ringless-type watthour meter socket cover to pass over the mounting flange. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. In an electrical apparatus having a housing with electrical connections and receiving a separate electrical device in a plug-in electrical connection to the electrical connections in the housing, the electrical connections comprising:
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a jaw contact mountable in the housing and formed of first and second jaws for receiving a terminal of a separate electrical device there-between in a plug-in connection; the first jaw having an end formed of at least first and second laterally spaced legs; the at least first and second legs respectively having first and second contact lines, each respectively adapted to be separately engageable with a blade terminal inserted between the first and second jaws, the first and second contact lines spaced longitudinally apart on the first jaw; and the second jaw having an end formed of first and second laterally spaced legs opposing the first and second legs of the first jaw, respectively contact lines on the first and second legs of the second jaw axially offset from the opposing contact lines of the first jaw. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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37. An electrical watthour meter socket adapter for interconnecting a watthour meter socket having a plurality of jaw contacts to a watthour meter having a plurality of outwardly extending blade terminals, the watthour meter socket adapter comprising:
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a housing adapted for mating with a watthour meter, the housing having a base, and an annular sidewall extending from the base and terminating in an annular flange engageable with a watthour meter, an aperture formed through at least one of the sidewall and the base; an electrically conductive surge ground conductor having opposed first and second ends; the first end mountable on the annular flange of the housing and disposed for electrical contact with an electrically conductive element of a watthour meter when the watthour meter is mounted on the annular flange; and a mounting member carried on the second end of the surge ground conductor and and extending from the second end to a position extendable through the aperture in the at least one of the sidewall and the base of the housing, for mounting the surge ground conductor to the housing. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
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Specification