Patent ID: 6232553
Filing Date: 2001-05-15
Classification: H02G

Abstract:
A house-wiring junction box including: a floor and side walls perpendicular to the floor and no top closure such that the side walls have top edges, and cable ports with knockout plugs in said floor and said side walls where cable clamps or conduit adaptors may be installed; wherein an improvement comprises fabrication of the junction box as two partial boxes, said partial boxes comprising a bottom partial box and a top partial box, said bottom partial box having said floor and portions of said side walls adjacent to said floor, said top partial box having the remainder of said side walls adjacent to said top edges, said partial boxes having means for being reversibly fastened to each other in assembly of said junction box, the assembled junction box having a seam where said partial boxes are juxtaposed for assembly, said seam intercepting said cable ports in said side walls; whereby, each said cable port in said side walls in absence of an associated one of said knockout plugs is open both axially and radially when said top partial box is displaced from said bottom partial box, hence said junction box may be assembled about a connected branch junction and its cables; wherein a further improvement comprises at least one unconventional cable port in at least one said side walls, said at least one cable port having a durable association with a cable clamp, said cable clamp comprising a base, a shoe-and-shield element and two junction-box screws, said base being built on to said bottom partial box in such position that said cable clamp can appropriately secure a cable traversing said at least one cable port with which said cable clamp is associated, said shoe-and-shield element being reversibly fastenable by said junction box screws to said base in a manner which provides for adjustable clamping force on said cable traversing said cable clamp and said at least one cable port, said shoe-and-shield element when so fastened essentially covering all portions of said at least one cable port of said assembled junction box which are not between said shoe-and-shield element and said base, said cable clamp having no enclosing structure when said shoe-and-shield element is unfastened and displaced from said base, whereby said cable may be placed in said at least one cable port and said cable clamp by radial translation when said junction box is disassembled and said shoe-and-shield element is unfastened and displaced.