Improvements in Electricity Distributing Boxes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 13th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electricity Distributing Boxes.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WILLATT, of 4, Westcott Street, Holderness Road, Hull,
in the County of York, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my
said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained, in and by the following statement :-
My invention is applicable to electricity distributing boxes more particularly
such as are used on board ships or in damp places either for electric light or electric
power and can likewise be arranged for electric bell, telephone, or other electric
circuits any of which may embody in their design one or both of the novel features
herein set forth.
The objects of my invention are two-fold, viz.
First. An improvement in the construction of an electricity distributing box by
means of which it may be made both water tight and air tight in the lid or cover
and in the places where the electrical conductors enter or leave the box.
Second. An improved insulator to be used in such a box instead of the insulating
base usually fitted to the inside of such boxes and which is liable to give trouble
inasmuch that the nuts which are on the underside of the insulating base and
have current on them are liable to become slack, and in order to tighten them up
again the whole box must be disconnected and the insulating base taken out.
I carry out my invention with a view of obviating these defects in the following
manner.
The nature of my invention will be better understood on reference to the
accompanying sheet of drawings, in which
Fig. 1, is a plan of my improved distributing box suitable for distributing current
for electric light or electric power, shewing the lid or cover removed.
Fig. 2, is an elevation partly in section of the same box shewing the lid or cover
in position.
Fig. 3, is an enlarged sectional elevation of my improved insulator which may be
used in combination with electricity distributing boxes for any of the purposes
herein described or illustrated.
The same letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.
To prevent water or air entering the box through the joint of the lid or cover
or through the holes through which the insulated conductors pass in and out of the
box, I construct my improved distributing box with an outer and inner wall, f¹, ƒ³,
so as to form an annular recess into which I fit an india rubber ring b.
The walls of the box and the india rubber ring being pierced where required for
the insulated conductors, a, to enter or leave the box and the upper part of the
inner wall 1, 1 form with a fine thread on its outer circumference. On the top
of the india rubber ring, b, I place a thin metallic washer, c, by preference brass,
and the lid or cover, d, of the box, I form with a thread on its lower inner
circumference so that it may be screwed down by means of the threads on the
inner wall, f, of the box, thereby compressing the india-rubber in the annular
recess tightly round all the insulated conductors and the orifices through which
they are passed into or out of the box.
The improved insulator which I use in combination with my improved water
tight electricity distributing boxes herein last described is illustrated in an enlarged
sectional elevation, Fig. 3. It consists of a metal pillar or stud, e, which is screwed,

page_text: soldered, or otherwise affixed to the base, f, of the distributing box, over this
stud, e,
I place a sleeve, g, made of insulating material such as vulcanised fibre,
ebonite, porcelain, or the like. On to this sleeve I then place the metallic
washers, ', h2, h3, between which washers and around the insulating sleeve g,
1 twist the electric wires or conductors, a, which curry the current into or out of
the distributing box. These conductors, a, are kept in their place on the insulator
by means of a second insulating sleeve, i, made of like material to the first
mentioned insulator sleeve, g. This insulating sleeve, i, is kept in position by a
metal washer, k, which is secured by the metal nut, l, which is milled on its edges
and screwed on to the stud, e. It will thus be seen by the arrangement and
construction of my improved insulator there is no current in the nut, l, or the
stud, e, so that in the event of their becoming slack and getting in contact with
the metal lid, d, no leak to earth can take place. As a means of preventing the
nut, l, from slacking back I sometimes employ a spring washer, k.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
-claim is :-
1. In electricity distributing boxes, the method of maintaining the water-
tightness or air-tightness of the box at the joint of the lid and where the
conductors of electricity enter or leave it, by the particular form and construction
of the box and the lid, in combination with the india rubber ring and metallic
washer placed in the annular space formed between the walls of the said box, in
the manner and for the purposes substantially as herein described and illustrated.
2. In insulators used in water-tight electricity distributing boxes, the combination
of parts and appliances comprising the metallic pillar or stud, e, the sleeves, g, & i,
made of insulating material, the metallic washers, h1, h2, h3, the plain or spring
metallic washer, k, and the metallic nut, l, secured or affixed to the base, f, of the
distributing box in the manner and for the purposes substantially as herein
described and illustrated.
3. In electricity distributing boxes the combination of the method of maintaining
the water-tightness or air-tightness of the box as set forth in Claim (1), in
combination with the improved insulator as set forth in Claim (2), in the manner
and for the purposes substantially as herein described and illustrated.
Dated this 21st day of January 1897.
R. HEBER RADFORD,
Agent for the Applicant.