Wall recessible box for electrical apparatus

• US 6,328,177 B2
• Filed: 01/26/1999
• Issued: 12/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Legrand France SA (Legrand SA)
• Original Assignee: Legrand (Legrand SA), Legrand Snc (Legrand SA)
• Inventors: Goudal, Jean-Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Garbe, Stephen P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Merek, Joseph C.
• Application Number:
  US09/236,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20010002018A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,050 Days
• Field of Search: 220/3.2, 220/3.5, 220/3.6, 220/787, 220/789, 220/3.3, 220/3.4, 220/3.9, 220/3.94, 220/8, 248/27.3, 174/153.G, 174/138.R, 174/135, 174/153.R, 174/656, 174/48, 174/49, 174/58, 174/63, D26/74, 411/947
• US Class Current: 220/3.5
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/743 integral with the housing
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 3/123 in thin walls

Abstract

A box, in particular for electrical devices, is built into a wall of any kind by fitting into an opening therein. The box includes a transverse flange which bears in the manner of a guard against the wall to be equipped and, beyond the flange, at least one elastically deformable lug projecting laterally to cooperate with the wall. The elastically deformable lug has two branches with a common root and extending in respective different directions, namely, referred to the insertion direction, a first or front branch extending globally away from the flange and a second or rear branch extending globally towards the flange. Applications include electrical devices, for example infrared radiation receiving cells.

Claims

1. A box for housing an electrical apparatus and adapted to be fitted into a hole in a wall, said box comprising:

a body with a longitudinal axis and a flange proximate one longitudinal end of said body, said flange extending in a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis and being adapted to bear on an outer side of a wall into which said box is fitted; and

at least one elastically deformable lug laterally projecting from said body at a position closer to the transverse plane than to a second longitudinal end of said body,

said lug having a single root and two branches extending from said single root in generally opposed longitudinal directions therefrom, a first one of said branches having a free end extended longitudinally away from the transverse plane and a second one of said branches having a free end extended longitudinally toward the transverse plane and being shorter than said first one of said branches,

at least one of said branches being engageable with a wall into which the box is fitted depending on a thickness of the wall.

2. A box according to claim 1, wherein said second branch alone is cooperable with thin wall.

3. A box according to claim 1, wherein said second branch alone is cooperable with thin and medium thick walls.

4. A box according to claim 1, wherein both said first and second branches are cooperable with a thick wall.

5. A box according to claim 1, wherein said first and second branches are both oblique with respect to the longitudinal axis of the box and define therebetween an outwardly converging a dihedral angle less than 180°

.

6. A box according to claim 1, wherein said second branch has a length substantially shorter than the length of the first branch.

7. A box according to claim 1, wherein a free end of said second branch is longitudinally spaced from a rear face of said flange.

8. A box according to claim 1, wherein said second branch has a wall engagement surface including a plurality of detents.

9. A box according to claim 8, wherein said detents have a front flank and a rear flank defining a dihedral angle of about 90°

therebetween.

10. A box according to claim 8, wherein said detents have a common base plane, said common base plane defining an acute angle dihedron with a plane passing through said root of said elastically deformable lug and a normal to the longitudinal axis of the box.

11. A box according to claim 10, wherein a front flank of said detents forms with a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the box a dihedral angle less than 45°

when the lug is unstressed.

12. A box according to claim 8, wherein said detents all project from a common base plane and said base plane defines an obtuse dihedral angle with a plane passing through the root of said elastically deformable lug and normal to a longitudinal axis of the box.

13. A box according to claim 12, wherein a front flank of said detents forms with a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the box a dihedral angle greater than 45°

when said lug is unstressed.

14. A box according to claim 1, wherein said root lies substantially in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the body of said box.

15. A box according to claim 1, wherein said flange has at least one notch opening onto a peripheral portion of the flange and recessed in a rear surface of said flange and spaced longitudinally from said at least one elastically deformable lug.

16. A box according to claim 1, wherein two said deformable lugs are provided, said deformable lugs being disposed diametrically opposite each other relative to a longitudinal axis of said box, said flange having two notches diametrically opposite each other, opening onto a rear surface of said flange and angularly offset from and longitudinally spaced from said elastically deformable lugs.

17. A box according to claim 15, comprising a pair of substantially identical shells arranged face to face, each of said shells having integrally formed therewith a said elastically deformable lug.