Abstract:
The invention provides a circuit breaker panel with several safety features. The main breaker is separated from the circuit breakers by a non-conducting shield. The main breaker is also covered by a transparent, non-conducting shield. A further transparent non-conducting shield separates the circuit breakers from the neutral and ground bus bars. The neutral and ground bus bars are offset from one another to prevent wire crowding. Bending posts extending from the back plate of the panel help control the wire in the panel to prevent it from crossing bus bars or circuit breakers.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/677,729, filed May 4, 2005. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a breaker panel, more particularly, to a breaker panel having a unique layout, including safety dividers and wire bending posts.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Injury from electrical shock is possible whenever operating or working in close proximity to electrical equipment. When a person&#39;s body completes a circuit, connecting a power source with the ground, an electrical burn or injury occurs. Fatal injuries may result from high-voltage exposure. For this reason electrical safety is important in both work and home environments. While professionals that service or work in close proximity to live power lines are trained in proper handling procedures, many injuries and deaths occur each year. Furthermore, untrained individuals are often exposed live power lines and the prospect of electrocution. Further, many residential fires are the result of unsafe or crowded electrical wiring.  
         [0004]     A common place for someone to be injured by electrical shock is a breaker panel given the amount of work done at electrical panels and the likelihood of numerous electrical conductors in close proximity to the work being done. Generally, a breaker panel is a metal box in which multiple circuits are connected to a power source. The breaker panel also houses the individual circuit breakers that serve to automatically interrupt the flow of an electrical current. A breaker panel includes a main breaker which receives the power from the main service lines and provides a means for interrupting or cutting power to the facility or devices serviced by the breaker panel. Contact with the main service lines, as well as conductors exposed within the breaker panel can result in injury or death.  
         [0005]     Blown fuses or tripped breakers are often perceived as the reason that electrical equipment ceases to operate. In an attempt to remedy the situation, trained and untrained individuals often seek out the breaker panels and investigate within. A variety of adverse conditions, such as absence of adequate lighting and improper tools, can compromise a person&#39;s ability to evaluate and work within the breaker panel. Unfortunately, the conditions outlined above, alone or in combination, can result in injury or death. Finally, crowded or improper wiring in breaker panels is sometimes a source of electrical fires.  
         [0006]     Therefore, what is needed in the art is a breaker panel that includes safety devices that safeguard against inadvertent contact with live wires, that minimizes the potential for electrical faults and can aid in more orderly wiring of panels.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention provides an improved breaker panel including safety shields, a unique bus bar configuration, and wiring bending posts. A safety shield over the main breaker covers the main lugs to thereby prevent a hand or a tool from contacting the main lugs. Thus the shield provides protection from electrocution for a person working on or near the breaker panel. Additional shields are provided, such as a shield separating the main breaker area from the circuit breaker area, and a shield separating the circuit breakers from the bus bars. The unique bus bar configuration of the present invention includes offset bus bars, such as by situating the neutral bus bar in a higher position than the ground bus bar. This configuration provides easier access to the ground or neutral bus and makes it easier to connect conductors to the ground bar or the neutral bar. Such offset thus reduces the chances that a person will connect more than the specified number of conductors to either the neutral or ground bus and reduces potential wire crowding. Such offset also reduces the chances that a person will connect a neutral conductor to a ground, or a ground conductor to neutral when the bus bars are meant to be unconnected. The breaker panel of the present invention also includes at least one bending post. The bending post allows for neat bending of wires within the breaker panel. The bending posts also prevent the wires from crossing over the circuit breakers and other components within the breaker panel. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The present invention is disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an image of the improved breaker panel of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 1   a  is a top view of the improved circuit breaker of the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an image of main breaker compartment and main breaker shield of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is an image of the improved bus bar configuration of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is an image of the bending posts within the breaker panel of the present invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an image of the bus bar shield of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0015]     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The example set out herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention but should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 1   a,  one embodiment of the improved breaker panel  100  of the present invention is shown. The breaker panel  100  includes a plurality of shields and partitions that protect against accidental or unintended contact with the live electrical wires contained within. The main breaker shield  104  covers the area occupied by the main breaker  116 . The circuit breaker partition  102  divides the area within the breaker panel  100  into two distinct areas, more particularly the main breaker area  105  and the circuit breaker area  107 . The main breaker area  105  is the area occupied by the main breaker  122  and the circuit breaker area  107  is the area occupied by the circuit breakers, and other items, such as the bus bars  112 . The circuit breaker area  107  also includes a bus bar shield  110 . The bus bar shield  110  serves to separate the bus bar  112  from the other items within the circuit breaker area  107 , such as the circuit breakers  108  and any other devices.  
         [0017]     In operation, the breaker panel  100  includes a multitude of wires entering and exiting the panel, and connected to the circuit breakers  108  or other devices, and bus bars  112  contained within. Wires that are not neatly routed throughout the breaker panel are difficult to trace, and create a dangerous environment for operators providing service or maintenance. An embodiment of the present invention may also include one or more bending posts  114 . The bending posts  114  are attached to the back panel and provide a guide or means of routing the wires contained within the breaker panel  100 . The bending posts  114  allow an operator to easily install or trace wires and minimize the chances of wires becoming tangled and reduces the chances of misidentification of wires.  
         [0018]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the main breaker shield  104  of the present is shown. The main breaker shield  104  substantially encloses the area where the main power enters the breaker panel  100 , as well as the main breaker  116 . The main breaker shield  104  is attached to the wall  124  of the breaker panel  100  by a plurality of standoffs  122 . While the illustrated embodiment utilizes sheet metal screws attached through preformed holes in the main breaker shield  104  and the standoffs  122 , other methods of attaching the main breaker shield  104  to the breaker panel are within the scope of the invention. The main breaker shield  104  shown in the illustrated embodiment may be constructed of clear material to allow views of the components contained within. It is understood that the main breaker shield  104  and other shields utilized in the present invention may be constructed of non-metal or any other suitable material that may serve as a barrier or wall to guard against unintended contact with the electrical wires or components contained within. It is a further feature of the present invention to allow an operator to actuate the main breaker  116  as needed, while protecting him from inadvertently contacting the live wires attached thereto. A switch opening  120  is formed in the main breaker shield to allow access to the switch  118  of the main breaker  116 .  
         [0019]     Referring once again to  FIG. 1 , the circuit breaker shield  102  is substantially perpendicular to the back plate  128 . The circuit breaker shield  102  serves to separate the interior of the breaker panel into two compartments. The first compartment, as discussed above, includes the main breaker  116 , and the second compartment includes circuit breakers  108 , other devices, and bus bars  112 . The circuit breaker shield  106  may include one or more passageways to allow wires or junctions to communicate between components contained within the main breaker area  105  and components contained within the circuit breaker area  107 . The circuit breaker shield  106  may be constructed of a non-metal or any suitable material for use within a breaker panel.  
         [0020]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the improved bus bar configuration  126  of the present invention is shown. The proximity of the ground bar  130  to the neutral bar  132  is convenient for making connections to the bus bars  126 . The bus bars  126  are substantially rectangular elongated bars, constructed from a conductive material, having a plurality of fastening screws  135 . The fastening screws are configured to hold the conductor of a wire in electrical communication with the bus bar. The bus bars  126  are offset, such as by situating the neutral bus bar  132  in a higher position than the ground bus bar  130 . This configuration makes it more difficult for a person to accidentally connect the neutral bus bar  132  directly to the ground bus bar  130  and makes it easier to install ground and neutral conductors without overcrowding such conductors or connecting conductors to the wrong bus. The ground bar  130  and the neutral bar  132  are each mounted to a pair of standoffs  131  and  133  respectively. The standoffs may be constructed from any material that supports the bus bar, and serves to isolate or connect the bus bar from the mounting point as desired, in this particular embodiment the back plate  128 .  
         [0021]     A bus bar shield  110  is provided, separating the bus bars  126  from the other items within the circuit breaker area  107 , such as the circuit breakers  108  and other devices. This bus bar shield  110  serves to safeguard against inadvertent contact between the ground or neutral bus bar and a power source connected to the circuit breakers or other devices. Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the bus bar shield  110  is substantially perpendicular to the back plate  128  and attaches to the breaker panel  100  via to a pair of standoffs  111 . The bus bar shield  110  includes a pair of holes adapted to receive a pair of screws  113  protruding from standoffs  111 . While the illustrated embodiment utilizes screws  113  attached through preformed holes in the bus bar shield  110  and the standoffs  111 , other methods of attaching the bus bar shield  110  to the back plate  128  are within the scope of the invention. The bus bar shield  110  shown in the illustrated embodiment may be constructed of clear material to allow views of the components contained within. It is understood that the bus bar shield  110  and other shields utilized in the present invention may be constructed of a non-metal material or any other suitable material that may serve as a barrier or wall to guard against unintended contact with the electrical wires or components.  
         [0022]     In use, the breaker panel  100  will include a multitude of wires entering and exiting the panel, and connected to the circuit breakers  108 , fuses, and bus bars  112  contained within. To assure that these wires are neatly guided throughout the breaker panel one or more bending posts  114  are provided. Referring now to  FIG. 4  and once again to  FIG. 1   a,  the bending posts of the present invention are shown. The bending posts  114  are attached to the back panel and provide a guide or means of guiding the wire  115 . The bending post  114  used in the illustrated embodiment of the invention include a base  136 , a spool segment  137  and cap  138 . The bending post  114  attaches to the back panel via the base  136 . The base segment  136  includes a threaded recess adapted to receive a screw to fixedly attach the bending post to the base plate. Additional methods of attaching the base  136  of the bending post  114  to the back panel are possible. Above the base  136 , the spool segment  137  is substantially cylindrical, and communicates with the wires guided with the bending post  114 . The binding post terminates at the cap  138 , which serves to prohibit the wires from sliding off of the spool segment  137 . While the bending post in the illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, other bending post configurations are contemplated such as clips, combs, hooks, slotted partitions, or perforated devices. In the illustrated embodiment, the wire  115 , enters the breaker panel  100  and connects to breaker.  108 . The bending posts  114  serve to guide the wire about the interior perimeter of the breaker panel  100 . This configuration prevents the wires from crossing over the circuit breakers  108 , bus bars  126 , or other components contained within the breaker panel  100 . While the illustrated embodiment shows a particular number of bending posts  114 , it is understood that the number of bending posts used, as well as positions of the posts can vary.  
         [0023]     While this invention has been described as having particular embodiments, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present invention using the general principles disclosed herein.