Adjustable electric box and bracket combination
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- an electrical box being substantially rectangular and enclosed on five of six sides by contiguous wall portions and front edges of four of the contiguous wall portions define an opening, the electrical box including a first plurality of ribs formed on at least one of the five contiguous wall portions and a first, a second and a third plurality of grooves formed on a contiguous three of the five wall portions, respectively; and
a bracket having a substantially “
U”
-shape and including a body, a top arm and a bottom arm extending away from an inside of the body, a plurality of bracket body ribs on an interior surface of the bracket body, a plurality of top arm grooves on an interior surface of the top arm and a plurality of bottom arm grooves on an interior surface of the bottom arm, each of the plurality of bracket body ribs being slidingly connected to the second plurality of grooves of the electrical box, the first plurality of ribs being slidingly connected to the top arm grooves to enable adjustment of the position of the electrical box relative to the bracket, and a flange extending substantially perpendicularly away from one side of a back surface of the bracket, the flange including at least one fastener opening formed there through.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electric boxes and hanging brackets and more particularly adjustable electric boxes with parallel rails for connection with reciprocal parallel grooves in a hanging bracket that is configured to connect to a support, for example, a wall stud.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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an electrical box being substantially rectangular and enclosed on five of six sides by contiguous wall portions and front edges of four of the contiguous wall portions define an opening, the electrical box including a first plurality of ribs formed on at least one of the five contiguous wall portions and a first, a second and a third plurality of grooves formed on a contiguous three of the five wall portions, respectively; and a bracket having a substantially “
U”
-shape and including a body, a top arm and a bottom arm extending away from an inside of the body, a plurality of bracket body ribs on an interior surface of the bracket body, a plurality of top arm grooves on an interior surface of the top arm and a plurality of bottom arm grooves on an interior surface of the bottom arm, each of the plurality of bracket body ribs being slidingly connected to the second plurality of grooves of the electrical box, the first plurality of ribs being slidingly connected to the top arm grooves to enable adjustment of the position of the electrical box relative to the bracket, and a flange extending substantially perpendicularly away from one side of a back surface of the bracket, the flange including at least one fastener opening formed there through. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An apparatus comprising:
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an electrical box including a top wall connected at a right end to a top end of a right side wall and connected at a left end to a top end of a left side wall, the right and left side walls depending away from the top wall toward and connecting at their bottom ends to a right end of a bottom wall and a left end of the bottom wall, respectively, with a back wall extending between and being connected to back ends of the top, right side, left side and bottom walls to enclose a back of the electrical box and front edges of the top, right side, left side and bottom walls defining a front opening into an inside of the electrical box, the top wall including a top pair of substantially parallel raised ribs located adjacent to one of the left side wall or the right side wall and extending from areas adjacent the top wall front edge backward toward and terminating adjacent to the back end of the top wall, the bottom wall including a bottom pair of substantially parallel raised ribs located opposite to the top pair of substantially parallel raised ribs and adjacent to the one left or right side wall and extending from areas adjacent the bottom wall front edge backward toward and terminating adjacent to the back end of the bottom wall, and a middle groove formed in the one left or right side wall and extending from the front edge of the left side of wall or the right side wall to the back edge wall of the one left or right side wall; and a bracket including a top arm connected at an inner end to a top end of a body portion at a substantially orthogonal angle and a bottom end of the body portion being connected to an inner end of a bottom arm at a substantially orthogonal angle, the top arm and the bottom arm each including pairs of oppositely positioned grooves on inside surfaces of each arm and being configured to adjustably and slidingly connect with the pairs of substantially parallel raised ribs on the electrical box, and a raised, cylindrical element on an inner surface of the body portion being configured to adjustably engage with the middle groove of the electrical box. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of assembling an electrical box and a bracket, the method comprising:
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positioning a flange on a side of a “
U”
-shaped bracket adjacent a corner edge of the electrical box between a back wall and a first side wall of an electrical box;sliding the bracket forward and engaging a top plurality of grooves formed in an inside surface of a top arm of the bracket with a top plurality of ribs on an outside surface of a top wall of the electrical box, engaging a bottom plurality of grooves formed in an inside surface of a bottom arm of the bracket with a bottom plurality of ribs on an outside surface of a bottom wall of the electrical box, engaging a top groove and a bottom groove formed in an outside surface of the first side wall of the electrical box with a top rib and a bottom rib formed on an inside surface of a body portion of the bracket, and engaging a central groove formed in the outside surface and between the top and bottom grooves of the first side wall of the electrical box with a raised cylindrical portion formed on the inside surface of the bracket; and inserting a screw end of an adjustment screw that is positioned in the central groove of the first side wall of the electrical box into a channel formed in and extending through the raised cylindrical portion of the bracket. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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Specification