Abstract:
An electrical box assembly for concrete pours that includes an improved leveling ring and can be adapted to mount either high or low voltage components or a combination of high and low voltage components. The leveling ring for leveling an electrical component with respect to the concrete surface includes one or more legs extending outward of the ring&#39;s periphery for improving adhesion of the ring with the inner surface of the electrical box. The versatility of the electrical box is improved by a slide member that can be inserted within the enclosure of the electrical box in order to subdivide the enclosure into high and low voltage compartments. Leveling rings are provided in two embodiments for mounting conventional electrical box covers, one for mounting a flat electrical box cover and one for mounting a pop-up electrical box cover.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to electrical boxes, and specifically to an electrical box for mounting an electrical device in a poured concrete floor. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A common desire in the pouring of concrete floors for basements, patios, and the like, is the installation of one or more electrical outlets in the concrete floor in order to provide electrical service in a given floor area. In order to meet this need, electrical boxes have been proposed for concrete pours. These boxes are placed within the forms that will receive the concrete pour and the concrete is poured around the electrical box, and, after the concrete cures, an electrical component is mounted within the box. 
     One problem that commonly occurs when an electrical box is placed within the form area that will receive the concrete pour is the shifting of the orientation of the electrical box as a result of the heavy concrete mixture forcing the box out of the desired plumb vertical orientation. In other cases, the concrete surface is purposely sloped and the concrete pour forces the electrical box out of alignment with the concrete surface. In either case, an adjustment must be made in order to mount the electrical component, such as a duplex receptacle, level with the concrete surface. 
     Several electrical boxes have been proposed in order to compensate for the misalignment of an electrical box as a result of a concrete pour. Typically, these electrical boxes use a leveling ring that can be adjusted to align the electrical component with the level of the concrete. Two types of leveling rings have been proposed, including those attached by clips within the electrical box and those secured to the box by adhesive. In order to be able to level in any desired direction, the outer surface of the adhesive attached leveling rings is arcuate in shape. Although electrical boxes with leveling rings secured by adhesive have been proposed, as a result of the arcuate outer surface of the ring, the amount of surface available for adhesive contact of the ring with the inner wall of the electrical box is minimal. This minimal contact between the leveling ring and the inner wall of the electrical box has been known to cause loosening of the ring from the electrical box inner wall and thus causes loosening of the electrical component mounted therein. 
     What is needed therefore is an improved electrical box for concrete pours that enables secure mounting of an electrical device therein and also enables mounting of both flat and pop-up electrical covers. Furthermore, what is needed is an electrical box for concrete pours that provides the capability to mount both high and low voltage components in the same box. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is an electrical box assembly for concrete pours that includes an improved leveling ring and which can be adapted to mount either high voltage components, low voltage components, or a combination of high and low voltage components. The leveling ring for leveling an electrical component with respect to the concrete surface includes one or more legs extending outward of the ring&#39;s periphery. The legs increase the amount of ring surface available for bonding with the inner surface of the electrical box, thereby enabling the ring to bond more securely to the electrical box. The versatility of the electrical box is improved by a slide member that can be inserted within the enclosure of the electrical box in order to subdivide the enclosure into high and low voltage compartments. Leveling rings are provided in two embodiments for mounting conventional electrical box covers, one for mounting a flat electrical box cover and one for mounting a pop-up electrical box cover. A leveling ring adapter is provided for adapting either embodiment of the leveling ring in an electrical box with a wider enclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       Reference is made herein to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of an electrical box assembly for poured concrete floors, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of an electrical box that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the electrical box taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 3   a  is a sectional view of the bottom portion of the electrical box taken along line  3   a - 3   a  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of a slide that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the slide. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of a reducer that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a view of the reducer as taken from the top side of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view of the reducer taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of a Y-connector that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the Y-connector taken along line  10 - 10  of  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 10   a  is a sectional view of the Y-connector taken along line  10   a - 10   a  of  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 11  is an end view from of the Y-connector as viewed from the bottom of  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 11   a  is a sectional view of the Y-connector taken along line  11   a - 11   a  of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 12  is a bottom perspective view of the Y-connector. 
         FIG. 13  is a bottom perspective view of a first embodiment of a leveling ring or leveling ring for a flat cover that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 14  is a top perspective view of the leveling ring for a flat cover. 
         FIG. 15  is a plan view of the leveling ring for a flat cover. 
         FIG. 16  is a sectional view of the leveling ring for a flat cover taken along line  16 - 16  of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 16   a  is a sectional view of the leveling ring for a flat cover taken along line  16   a - 16   a  of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 17  is a bottom perspective view of a second embodiment of a leveling ring or leveling ring for a pop-up cover that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 18  is a top perspective view of the leveling ring for a pop-up cover. 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a clip member that forms a portion of the leveling ring for a pop-up cover. 
         FIG. 20  is a plan view of the leveling ring for a pop-up cover. 
         FIG. 21  is a sectional view of the leveling ring for a pop-up cover taken along line  21 - 21  of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 22  is a sectional view of the leveling ring for a pop-up cover taken along line  22 - 22  of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 23  is a top view of a pour cap that forms a portion of the electrical box assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 24  is a side view of the pour cap. 
         FIG. 25  is a sectional view of the pour cap taken along line  25 - 25  of  FIG. 23 . 
         FIG. 26  is a conceptual view of an electrical box assembly including the first embodiment of a leveling ring, with the electrical box installed in concrete and the leveling ring adjusted to be level with the slope of the concrete surface. 
         FIG. 27  is a perspective view of an electrical box assembly including the first embodiment of a leveling ring installed therein and with a pour cap exploded away. 
         FIG. 28  is a perspective view of a leveling ring adapter according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 29  is a plan view of the leveling ring adapter of  FIG. 28 . 
         FIG. 30  is a sectional view of the leveling ring adapter taken along line  30 - 30  of  FIG. 29 . 
         FIG. 30   a  is a detailed view of a portion of the sectional view of  FIG. 30  depicting the notched section of the leveling ring adapter. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an electrical box assembly  20  for concrete pours according to the present invention. The electrical box assembly  20  includes an electrical box  22  and an optional slide member  24  for dividing the electrical box into low voltage and high voltage compartments. The electrical box assembly can be configured to mount a conventional electrical cover (not shown), including either a flat electrical cover or a conventional pop-up style electrical cover, to the electrical box  22 . The electrical box assembly  20  further depicts a leveling ring  26  for a flat cover and a leveling ring  28  for a pop-up cover, either of which can be selected to mount the desired style of electrical cover. Each leveling ring  26  and  28  includes a lower surface  30  and at least one leg  32  extending downward from the lower surface  30 . The electrical box  22  includes a sidewall  34  having one or more hubs  36  and a plurality of feet  38  extending from the sidewall  34 . One or more reducers  40  can be used to selectively block off one or more hubs  36  and a Y-connector  42  can be used to configure the electrical box  22  to receive two electrical conduits (not shown) through a single hub  36 . In order to keep the interior of the electrical box  22  clean, a pour cap  44  is provided to block the electrical enclosure  46  during the pouring of concrete. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2-3   a , the electrical box  22  includes a bottom wall  48 , which combined with the sidewall  34  defines the electrical enclosure  46 . The sidewall  34  includes a top  50 , a bottom  52 , and an inner wall  54 . A channel  56  extends along the bottom wall  48  of the electrical box  22  and into the electrical enclosure  46 . The channel  56  is formed by two parallel rails  58  that extend along the bottom wall  48  and two side rails  60  that are integral with and extend upward along the inner wall  54 . If so desired by the installer, the slide member  24  can be inserted within the enclosure  46  of the electrical box  22  in order to subdivide the enclosure  46  into a high voltage compartment  62  and a low voltage compartment  64  (see  FIG. 26 ). Each of the feet  38  includes an aperture  66  therein and each of the hubs  36  includes a conduit seat  68  therein. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the slide member  24  includes a body  70 , a narrowed head portion  72 , a top edge  74 , a bottom edge  76 , a shoulder  78 , side edges  80 , and notches  82  on opposing sides of the body  70 . As shown in  FIG. 26 , when inserted in the channel  56 , the slide member  24  extends substantially to the top  50  of the electrical box  22 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6-8 , the reducer  40  includes a substantially tubular reducer body  84  including an open end  86  with a flange  88  thereon and a nose portion  90  extending from the flange  88  to a closed end  92 . A reducer  40  can be inserted into the conduit seat  68  of a hub  36  in order to selectively close one or more hubs  36  on the electrical box  22 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 9-12 , the Y-connector  42  includes a substantially tubular body  94  including an inlet end  96  with two inlet openings  98  and an outlet end  101  with one outlet opening  103  defining a substantially Y-shaped inner passageway  105  therein. The inlet end  96  includes two conduit seats  107  therein, and the outlet end  101  includes a nose portion  109  adapted to fit snugly within one of the hubs  36  of the electrical box assembly (see  FIG. 1 ). The Y-connector  42  is used to adapt the hub  36  to accept two electrical conduits (not shown). 
     With reference to  FIGS. 13 and 14 , there is shown a first embodiment of a leveling ring  26  according to the present invention. Leveling ring  26  includes a lower surface  30  and at least one leg  32  extending downward from the lower surface  30  and is used to mount a flat electrical cover (not shown) to the electrical box  22  (see  FIG. 1 ). Leveling ring  26  further includes an upper surface  111 , an outer periphery  113  including an arcuate outer surface  114 , an inner periphery  115 , and one or more cover attachment arms  117  having a bore  118  therein extending inward from the inner periphery  115  of the ring. Leveling ring  26  includes a collar  119  on the inner periphery  115  of the ring and the collar  119  extends around the entirety of the inner periphery  115 . The leveling ring  26  further includes one or more component attachment arms  121  extending inward from the inner periphery  115  of the ring, each of the component attachment arms  121  including a bore  123  therein. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 15-16   a , the cover attachment arms  117  further include a brass insert  125  pressed within each of the bores  118  therein in the arms. At least one of the brass inserts  125  in the cover attachment arms  117  includes a ground wire  128  (see  FIG. 1 ) secured thereto. As shown in  FIG. 16 , the leg  32  of the leveling ring  26  includes an arcuate outer surface  127  that is coextensive with the arcuate outer surface  114  of the leveling ring  26 . A brass insert  129  is pressed within the bore  123  in the each of the component attachment arms  121 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 17-18 , there is shown a second embodiment of a leveling ring  28  according to the present invention. In the same manner as the first embodiment of the leveling ring described hereinabove, leg  32  of leveling ring  28  includes an arcuate outer surface  127  that is coextensive with the arcuate outer surface  114  of the leveling ring  28 . However, the cover attachment arms  117  of leveling ring  28  each include a slot  131  therein (see  FIG. 17 ) and a metal clip member  133  pressed within each of the slots  131  (see  FIG. 18 ). As shown in  FIG. 19 , the metal clip member  133  includes a planar base  135  with an opening  137  therein and a lip  139  extending orthogonally from the base  135 . The opening in  137  the planar base  135  of the clip member  133  includes a flat edge  141 . Lip  139  includes an aperture  143  therein. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 20-21 , the cover attachment arms  117  include a tab  145  in axial alignment with the slot  131 , whereby pressing of the clip member  133  into the slot enables the tab  145  to snap into and engage the opening  137  in the clip member  133  thereby locking the clip member to the leveling ring  28 . As shown in  FIG. 18 , the upper surface  111  of the leveling ring  28  includes a notch  147  therein for accommodating the lock portion of a pop-up electrical cover (not shown) and the upper surface  111  of the leveling ring includes two notches  149  therein for accommodating the hinge portion of a pop-up electrical cover (not shown). As shown in  FIG. 21 , the leg  32  preferably extends at least 0.5 inch from the lower surface  30  of the leveling ring  28 . Most preferably, as shown in  FIG. 20 , the leveling rings  26  and  28  of the present invention include three of the legs  32  and the legs are preferably arranged 120° apart, as denoted by angle θ1 on  FIG. 20 , around the periphery of the ring. Dashed line  150  in  FIG. 20  indicates position of two of the legs  32  on the ring, which are out of view on the lower surface of the leveling ring  28 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 23-25 , the electrical box assembly  20  includes a pour cap  44  that is adapted for sliding over and covering the top  50  of the electrical box  22  (see  FIG. 1 ). The pour cap  44  includes a top  151  and a sidewall  153  including a lower edge  155 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 28-30   a , the electrical box assembly may further include a leveling ring adapter  157 . The leveling ring adapter  157  includes a ring portion  159  including an outer periphery  161 , an inner periphery  163 , and an upper surface  165 . A lip  167  extends inward from the inner periphery  163  of the ring portion  159  and a notch  169  is provided in the lip  167  for accommodating passage of the leg  32  of the leveling ring  26  or  28 , when adapter  157  is used to adapt the leveling ring to a larger diameter electrical box (not shown). The leveling ring adapter  157  includes a plurality of narrow tabs  171  extending upward from the upper surface  165  of the ring portion  159  and a plurality of wide tabs  173  extending upward from a juncture  175  with the upper surface  165  of the ring portion  159 . A notch  177  is provided at the juncture  175  of the wide tabs  173  with the upper surface  165  of the ring, the notch  177  enabling removal of the wide tabs  173  in order to reduce the outer diameter of the leveling ring adapter. By retaining the wide tabs  173  on the adapter ring  157 , the adapter ring will enable a leveling ring to accommodate an electrical box enclosure with diameter D2 as shown in  FIG. 29 . By removing the wide tabs  173  on the adapter ring  157 , the adapter ring will enable a leveling ring to accommodate an electrical box enclosure with diameter D3 as shown in  FIG. 29 . 
     For an understanding of the operation of the present invention, the reader is referred to  FIG. 1 . The electrical box assembly  20  enables an installer to mount an electrical box  22  within a formed area that will be filled with concrete. Electrical box  22  is placed within the formed area and may be anchored to the floor if desired by driving fasteners (not shown) through apertures  66  in feet  38 . Concrete is then poured into the formed area. After the concrete is cured, the top of electrical box sidewall  34  may be trimmed off with a saw to adjust the top of the electrical box to be substantially level with the concrete. If the electrical box  22  is subdivided into low and high voltage compartments, a portion of the bottom edge  76  of slide member  24  may be cut away to adjust the slide to fit the shortened electrical box  22 . The installer may then upon his preference install either leveling ring  26  to accommodate a flat electrical cover or leveling ring  28  to accommodate a pop-up electrical cover. The leveling rings  26  and  28  enable the electrical cover to be leveled with respect to the level of the cured concrete. When either leveling ring  26  or  28  is inserted in electrical box  22 , notches  82  on slide member  24  is adapted to engage the collar  119  on the leveling ring, thereby holding the leveling ring within the box. 
       FIG. 26  depicts a situation in which the electrical box  22  has been knocked out of a plumb alignment and thus the electrical box is tilted sideways with respect to the concrete surface  179  and thus one side of the electrical box is higher than the opposing side. In this situation, the installer would remove the pour cap  44 , the leveling ring  26  and the slide member  24 , and cut the electrical box  22  at the desired level, substantially near the concrete surface  179 . Bottom edge  76  of slide  24  is then trimmed to the proper size to not extend beyond the top  50  of the electrical box and is slid into channel  56  to subdivide the box into a high voltage compartment  62  and a low voltage compartment  64 . It should be noted that either compartment can be designated for low or high voltage as desired. The installer then applies adhesive to the outer arcuate surface  114  of the leveling ring  26  and to the arcuate outer surface  127  of each leg  32 . The leveling ring  26  is placed into the electrical box  22  at the desired level after which the adhesive cures and bonds the leveling ring to the sidewall  34  of the electrical box. 
     With reference to  FIG. 27 , the arcuate outer surface  114  of the leveling ring  26  is adapted for fitting snugly within the electrical enclosure  46 , even when the ring is tilted to level the electrical box cover with respect to the concrete surface. Arcuate outer surface  127  of the leg  32  will also fit snugly within the electrical enclosure and the added surface area for gluing provided by the arcuate outer surface of the leveling ring adds significantly to the strength of the bond between the leveling ring and the electrical box. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , the material of construction of the electrical box  22 , slide member  24 , leveling rings  26  and  28 , reducer  40 , Y-connector  42 , and pour cap  44  is plastic. Most preferably, each of these elements are molded in one piece of plastic, with the brass inserts  129  pressed into apertures  123  in the arms  121  of leveling ring  26  (see  FIG. 15 ) and the clip member  133  of leveling ring  28  (see  FIG. 19 ) preferably constructed of steel. Most preferably, the electrical box  22 , slide member  24 , leveling rings  26  and  28 , reducer  40 , and Y-connector  42  are constructed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The pour cap  44  is most preferably constructed of polypropylene. 
     Having thus described the invention with reference to a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited by the description herein but is defined as follows by the appended claims. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiments herein were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention.