Abstract:
The present invention is directed to an electrical outlet box assembly for adjustable positioning with respect to a wall stud. An electrical outlet box includes plural side walls defining a box interior having an open front face. A box locator is adjustably positioned on one of the side walls so as to adjust the location of the front face with respect to the stud to which the box locator is mounted. A support bracket is adjustably attached to another of the side walls for supporting the adjustably positioned box with respect to the back wall board.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/630,005 filed Nov. 22, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to an electrical outlet box mounted to a wall stud. More particularly the present invention relates to an electrical outlet box which may be adjustably mounted to the wall stud so as to accurately position the outlet box with respect to the wall stud.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Electrical outlet boxes are widely used to house electrical components such as switches and receptacles for termination of electrical wires run through the wall of a structure. Typically, these electrical outlet boxes are mounted to a wall stud supporting structural wall board. In new construction, the outlet box is mounted to the wall stud prior to attachment of the wall board. Thus, the outlet box must be properly positioned with respect to the stud so that the front face of the outlet box is aligned with the front of the wall board once it is placed against the stud. Such positioning of the box must be taken into consideration for the various thickness and layers of wall board.  
         [0004]     In addition to such accurate mounting, subsequent electrical termination of the switches and receptacles in the box may cause the box to be moved or displaced once secured. In certain situations, there may be a tendency for the electrical installer to push the box inwardly into the wall cavity rendering the box useless.  
         [0005]     The art has seen a number of brackets which are used in combination with stud mounted electrical boxes to both accurately align the front face of the outlet box with respect to the wall board and to prevent the box from being pushed into the wall cavity.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,092 shows an adjustable support bracket that prevents the box from being pushed into the wall cavity.  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 2,473,051 also shows a box having an adjustable support preventing the box from being pushed into the cavity.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,289,934; 5,253,831 and 3,384,658 show adjustable stud mounted brackets which allow the box to be adjustably positioned with respect to the wall stud.  
         [0009]     None of the prior art devices, however, allow both for adjustment of the box once the box is attached to the wall stud, as well as providing separate independent structure to prevent the adjusted box from being pushed into the wall cavity.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     The present invention provides an electrical outlet box assembly for adjustable positioning with respect to a wall stud. An electrical outlet box includes plural side walls defining a box interior having an open front face. A box locator is adjustably positioned on one of the side walls. The box locator includes a mounting surface parallel to the open front face of the box and an attachment surface perpendicular thereto. The attachment surface is adjustably positioned along one of the side walls so as to adjust the location of the front face with respect to the stud to which the box locator is mounted. The attachment surface is fixable to the side wall upon adjustable positioning of the front face of the box. A support bracket is provided. The support bracket is adjustably attached to another of the side walls for supporting the adjustably positioned box with respect to the back wall board. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIGS. 1 and 2  are perspective opposite side showings of adjustable electrical outlet box of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 3-5  show the adjustable electrical outlet box of  FIG. 1  accommodating various thicknesses and numbers of wall board. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]     The present invention provides an electrical outlet box for supporting electrical components such as switches and receptacles (not shown). In conventional fashion, the stripped ends of insulated wires (not shown) are run into the box so as to be terminated to the components mounted within the box. The box itself is designed to be secured to a wall stud such that when wall board is placed over the wall stud, the front face of the box is positioned generally flush thereto.  
         [0014]     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the electrical outlet box  10  of the present invention is shown. Box  10  includes a back wall  12 , perimetrical side  14  including top and bottom walls  14   a  and  14   b  and opposed lateral side walls  14   c  and  14   d . The box defines a box interior  15  where the components are terminated and supported. Each of the side walls  14   c  and  14   d  includes an extending compartment  16  so as to increase the interior volume of box  10 .  
         [0015]     The extending compartments  16  define extending forward surfaces  16   a  which are generally parallel to the open front face  15   a  of box  10 . As will be described in further detail herein below, the surfaces  16   a  are used to support wall board so that the front face  15   a  of the box may be positioned flush thereto.  
         [0016]     Referring specifically to  FIG. 1 , box  10  includes an adjustable box locator  20  which is slidably attached to the side of compartment  16 . The box locator  20  is generally a right angled member having a mounting surface  22  positioned generally parallel to front face  15   a  and an attachment surface  24  perpendicular thereto. The attachment surface  24  is held to compartment  16  by a pair of rails  25  which slidably accommodate attachment surface  24 . The distal edges of attachment surface  24  may include protrusions  24   a  to prevent dislodgement of the locator from the box. The box locator  20  allows the box  10  to be adjustably positioned with respect to a wall stud as will be described in further detail herein below.  
         [0017]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a support bracket  30  is adjustably attached to compartment  16  on the opposite side wall  14   d  of box  10 . Support bracket  30  includes an elongate body  32  having right angled stop members  34  and  36  extending from the ends thereof. Body  32  has a central elongate slot  33  through which an attachment screw  35  extends so as to attach the support bracket to the compartment  16 . The box is slidably coupled to compartment  16  by a pair of rails  38  so that the support bracket  30  can be slidably adjustably positioned along compartment  16 . As will be described in further detail herein below, the support bracket  30  is adjustably positioned so that stop  36  abuts against the inside of wall board and stop  34  is positioned adjacent the opposed wall board to prevent the box from being pushed into the wall during use.  
         [0018]     Having described the components of the adjustable box of the present invention, it use may be described with respect to the  FIGS. 3-5 .  
         [0019]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the box  10  of the present invention may be supported to a wall stud  40  in such a manner that it accommodates a single thickness of ½″ wall board  50 . The box is installed on the stud in the following manner. The mounting surface  22  of box locator  20  is secured to the face  40   a  of the stud using a conventional mounting screw  60 . The box  10  is then adjustably positioned by slidable movement of the box with respect to the locator  20  such that the front face  15   a  of the box extends approximately 7/16″ from the face  40   a  of the stud. Once the box is properly positioned, a second screw  60  may be installed through the interior  15  of the box and through the attachment surface  24  to fix the position of the box with respect to the stud. The wall board  50  may now be attached to the stud  40 . A ledge  16   a  formed by compartment  16  serves to seat the wall board  50 . In this position, the front face  15   a  of the box is fixed at a position nearly flush with the wall board. Once the position of the front face of the box is fixed, support bracket  30  may be slidably positioned with respect to wall board  50 . The attachment screw  35  is loosened so that the support bracket  30  can be slidably adjustably positioned along the box. The bracket  30  is positioned such that stop  36  is slidably positioned against wall board  50 . The length of the support member is selected such that when properly positioned, the opposite stop  34  will be positioned next adjacent the wall board (not shown) which is attached to the opposite face  40   b  of stud  40 . In this manner, during use and installation, and subsequently upon reattachment of components to box  10 , the box will not be pushed into the wall.  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a similar mounting technique for box  10  employed with two layers of ½″ wall board  50 . In this embodiment, the box  10  is adjusted such that the front face  15   a  thereof is aligned substantially flush with the outer wall board surface at a distance of approximately 15/16″ from face  40   a  of stud  40 . The wall boards  50   a  and  50   b  are attached to the stud  40  such that the outer wall board  50   a  is positioned over ledge  16   a  of compartment  16  while the inner wall board  50   b  is positioned rearwardly and to the side of compartment  16 . The bracket  30  is adjusted so that the stop  36  abuts against the inner surface of wall board  50   b . In this position, opposed stop  34  abuts against the wall board attached to the face  40   b  of stud  40  to prevent the box from being inadvertently pushed into the wall during use.  
         [0021]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , box  10  may also be used to accommodate multiple layers of different thicknesses of wall board. For example, in  FIG. 5 , wall board  50  which is ½″ wall board is combined with wall board  52  which is ¾″ wall board. In this embodiment, the front face  15   a  of box  15  is positioned approximately 15/16″ from the face  40   a  of stud  40 . The adjustable positioning of both the box locator  20  and the support bracket  30  accommodate this combination by adjustment in a manner similar to that described with respect to  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0022]     Furthermore, it is contemplated that the present invention can be used with a variety of wall board thicknesses as well as a variety of multiples of wall board layer. In each case, the box is adjustably positioned with respect to box locator  20  so as to position the front face  15   a  of box  10  substantially flush with the outer surface of the wall board. In the same manner, support bracket  30  can be adjustably positioned so as to prevent the box during use from being pushed into the wall.