Abstract:
A planar member for use in a support structure, the planar member includes a plurality of apertures which are positioned to align with a set of openings in a wall of the support structure, the set of openings corresponding to a predetermined configuration of electrical components to be installed into the support structure. The number of openings in the wall are larger than the plurality of apertures in the planar member.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to electrical enclosures, and more particularly, to a planar member for use with an enclosure capable of accommodating various electrical component configurations. 
     Electrical enclosures of similar size and shape are used in many different applications. Accordingly, these enclosures are fitted with a plurality of prepositioned openings to allow different types of components to be secured within the enclosure in a variety of configurations. Circuit breakers, various types of communication ports, and different electrical components may be installed in the enclosure and are secured through the pre-positioned openings with fastening means such as screws. 
     Depending on the type, number, and configuration of electrical components secured in the enclosure, a number of openings will remain unused and exposed. Electrical codes require that these unused holes be covered. 
     One method of covering these unused and exposed openings is the use of vinyl adhesive-backed dots which are manually placed over the holes. Applying these adhesive dots is very labor intensive, and can cause confusion as to which of the openings are to be covered. Moreover, in the event the assembler forgets to cover an opening which had to be covered, the openings have to be reworked, which again increases the cost of assembly and manufacturing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a planar member for use in a support structure is provided. The support structure includes a back wall having a plurality of openings. The planar member includes a plurality of apertures which are positioned to align with the plurality of openings on the wall of the support structure when the planar member is secured to the wall. The plurality of apertures correspond to the anticipated openings to be used, while the remaining plurality of openings is covered by the planar member. 
     The above-described and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, drawings, and appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical enclosure with a planar member according to one embodiment of the present application; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an electrical enclosure with a planar member of FIG. 1 installed inside the electrical enclosure; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the planar member; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of a yet another alternative embodiment of the planar member; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment; and 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In order to provide an understanding of the invention, the invention is described in terms of application and use with respect to a six-unit, twenty-four hole standard sized electrical enclosure. It will be understood that this is but one configuration and size intended to be within the scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical enclosure is generally illustrated at  10 . Electrical enclosure  10  has a rectangular shape having a pair of elongated sidewalls  12 , a top wall  14 , a bottom wall  16 , and a back wall  18 . Enclosure  10  defines a receiving area  20  into which a plurality of electrical components are to be installed and enclosed. 
     Electrical enclosure  10  may further include a hinged access door  24  for securely closing off receiving area  20  and which allows user manipulation of electrical components inside. 
     Electrical enclosure  10  is installed in residential or commercial buildings by being directly secured on a wall. Alternatively, electrical enclosure  10  may be embedded into a wall opening  26  with the opening of the enclosure providing a flush fit with the wall. Of course, electrical enclosure  10  may be used in numerous applications and installation configurations. Electrical enclosure  10  is used in indoor and outdoor applications and provides protection against dust, dirt, oil and water from the electrical components inside. 
     Electrical enclosure  10  further includes a plurality of mounting apertures  30  prepunched on back wall  18 . Each mounting aperture  30  is configured to receive a securing means for securing electrical components  31 , such as circuit breakers and various types of communication ports, with electrical enclosure  10 . Mounting apertures  30  are prepunched during the manufacturing of enclosure  10 . 
     As various electrical components are installed in the electrical enclosure in a variety of configurations, some of the apertures will not be used, and will remain open and exposed. Electrical codes require that these apertures be covered to effectively seal off the electrical enclosure. 
     In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a planar member  32  has a predetermined and prepunched number of apertures exposing a portion of the openings in electrical enclosure  10 . In an exemplary embodiment, planar member  32  is a fiber sheet that has nonconductive and nonabsorbent qualities. Planar member  32  provides an aperture-covering configuration to be installed on back wall  18  of the electrical enclosure, thereby exposing mounting apertures  30  used for installation of electrical components and covering the unused apertures. Planar member  32  also provides an insulating function in that the unused openings are sealed off by planar member  32  and moisture is prevented from entering enclosure  10  through the unused openings. 
     Planar member  32  is preferably made of an insulative material such as plastic, fiberglass, urea formaldehyde, melamine formaldehyde or any other insulative material. In an exemplary embodiment, planar member  32  is constructed out of a nonabsorbent, nonconductive material. As illustrated herein, planar member  32  is rectangular and is configured and dimensioned to be installed on the back wall inside the receiving area of the electrical enclosure. Alternatively, planar member  32  may be installed to an exterior  19  of the electrical enclosure  10  on the back wall  18 . Of course, other shapes and configurations of the planar member  32  such as oval, circular, and hexagonal for covering some apertures while exposing others are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. 
     Planar member  32  has a first surface  33  and a second surface  35 . Second surface  35  is laid over on back wall  18  when planar member is installed in the electrical enclosure. 
     Planar member  32  further includes a plurality of holes  34  extending from first surface  35  through second surface  37 . Each hole  34  allows a fastening means such as a screw or fastener to pass through back wall  18  and planar member  32 , to secure planar member  32  inside electrical enclosure  10 . As best seen in FIG. 2, each hole  34  overlays on a corresponding installation hole  28 , where the mounting template and the electrical enclosure can be installed together on the wall or separately. 
     In one embodiment, planar member  32  is manufactured with a plurality of prepunched mounting apertures  36 , also extending from first surface  35  through second surface  37 . The mounting apertures are specifically arranged according to a specific configuration of the electrical components to be installed. Mounting apertures  36  are preferably circular in shape and are similar to the size to the openings  30 , although other shapes such as rectangular or triangular are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, and for example illustrative purposes, if an assembler desires to install two circuit breakers inside electrical enclosure  10 , a planar member is provided with a prepunched aperture configuration conforming to the installation configuration of the two circuit breakers. Therefore, by installing planar member  32  on back wall  18  of the electrical enclosure having a plurality of mounting apertures  30 , only the necessary apertures on the back wall that are required for the installation of the two circuit breakers will be exposed and the other apertures on the back wall will be covered by the planar member, as illustrated at  33 , from exposure to moisture and water. The preselect aperture configurations can be produced during manufacture, and accordingly, the most commonly used configurations can be premade. 
     The use of planar member  32  inside electrical enclosure  10  also prevents any confusion for the user as to which mounting apertures  30  on the back wall are needed to be used, and which mounting apertures  30  on the back wall are needed to be covered. 
     The planar member allows manufacturers to design and manufacture a single electrical enclosure, and use the enclosure for various uses, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of different electrical enclosures for different applications. For example, wall  18  of electrical enclosure  10  is manufactured with a plurality of openings identified as A through X for total of 24 openings, which relate to six different unique configurations of four holes each. Of course, many alternative configurations of enclosure  10  and openings  30  are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, and in order to save manufacturing costs wall  18  is prepunched with holes A-X, thus enclosure  10  can be used in a variety of configurations. However, not all of the holes are utilized in the various configurations therefore, the unused holes must be sealed off in accordance with regulatory requirements. 
     Thus, a plurality of planar members  32  may be used with the same electrical enclosure while providing a variety of installation configurations. This will allow the assembler to use the correct holes for installation in a particular unit. 
     For example, and referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5, planar member  32  has an alternative configuration with openings “F” and “J” instead of openings “D” and “I” (FIG.  1 ). Accordingly, the planar member of FIG. 5 easily allows a different installation configuration to be used with the same electrical enclosure as illustrated in FIG.  1 . Thus, and through the use of planar member  32 , a plurality of electrical enclosures with a plurality of openings corresponding to multiple installation configurations may be used without increasing the associated labor time and/or costs. In fact, the use of plurality of planar members  32  having different opening configurations with a plurality of enclosures having the same opening configurations will eliminate labor intensive tasks such as determining which openings in enclosure  32  to use or leave open. 
     Thus, electrical enclosure  10  can be manufactured with a plurality of openings corresponding to a plurality of preselected installation configurations, which may relate to the most common installation configurations for a particularly sized unit. 
     Accordingly, using a fiber sheet or planar member  32  in place of covers or screws increases the number of mounting hole combinations that can be added to a body without confusing assemblers. By condensing the number of bodies or enclosures produced creates cost justification to carry some bodies as stock and or hard tooled which decreases the time it takes to ship a product from the time an order is placed. 
     In addition, the use of planar member  32  or fiber sheet  32  instead of a plurality of white dots with a vinyl adhesive backing ensures that all of the correct holes are covered and only the necessary holes are left open for the assemblers to use. This eliminates the rework of white dots, and decreases final production time. 
     As an alternative, and referring now to FIG. 6, wall  18  of enclosure  10  has a different configuration, namely, and for illustration purposes only, the lack of holes P, Q, R and S. However, planar member  32  still has the same configuration, holes D, I, J and N, as in FIG. 1, which may still be employed with the enclosure illustrated in FIG.  6 . Accordingly, planar member  32  may be used in conjunction with electrical enclosures having a plurality of dissimilar hole configurations as long as the electrical enclosures have the same openings as planar member  32 . 
     In addition, planar member  32  can be used as a template for determining whether the proper enclosure is being used for the configuration on member  32 . For example, and referring now to FIG. 6, if planar member  32  is inserted into enclosure  10  and there is no corresponding “N” hole in wall  18  of enclosure  10 , the same is not acceptable for the configuration contemplated by planar member  32 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Here, component parts performing similar or analogous functions are numbered in multiples of 100. In this embodiment, planar member  132  comprises a plurality of perforated sections  138 . The removal of each perforated section  138  exposes an opening  140  extended from a first surface  135  to a second surface  137 . Each opening  140  conforms to the size and dimension of mounting aperture  130  on the back wall. Each opening  140  overlays a corresponding mounting aperture  130  when planar member is installed on the back wall. 
     Each perforated section  138  is removed by a user according to a desired configuration by pushing out the perforated section. This allows the user to utilize electrical enclosure  110  for use for different electrical components installed in different arrangements by simply removing as many perforated sections  138  as required to provide for the installation of the electrical components. 
     Referring to FIG. 4, yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Here, component parts performing similar or analogous functions are numbered in multiples of 200. In this embodiment, planar member  232  comprises a plurality of protrusions  242  disposed on a second surface  237 . Each protrusion  242  preferably has a circular shape, the removal of which results in an opening  240  extending from a first surface  235  to second surface  237 . Each opening  240  is used to receive a securing means such as a screw for installing electrical components. 
     Each protrusion  242  may be removed during the manufacturing process of the planar member according to a user&#39;s specification for installing different electrical components, or alternatively, each protrusion  242  may be perforate at the circumference, allowing the user to push out each protrusion  242  to create opening  240 . 
     Moreover, each protrusion  242  is received within a corresponding aperture  30  on the back wall of the electrical enclosure when the planar member is installed in the electrical enclosure. The protrusions provide a guide for the correct installation of the planar member and provide an error proof installation means for the user. 
     Effectively covering the unused apertures on the back wall inside the electrical enclosure individually is costly and labor intensive. And in the event of there being numerous unused apertures, the user may encounter the probability of missing a cover to one of the apertures, or perhaps covering the wrong aperture needed to be used for the installation of an electrical component. 
     The use of planar member  32  allows manufacturers to design and manufacture a single electrical enclosure and use the enclosure for various different uses, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of different individual electrical enclosures for different applications. 
     Moreover, utilizing the planar member instead of single adhesive covering dots ensures that all of the unused apertures are correctly covered and only the necessary apertures are left exposed for the assemblers to use. This reduces the time and labor for configuring the electrical enclosure for installation of different electrical components. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.