Improvements in and connected with Junction Boxes for Electric Cables, Inspection Chambers, and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Nov., 1893-Accepted, 10th Dec., 1898
Improvements in and connected with Junction Boxes for Electric
Cables, Inspection Chambers, and the like.
I, FREDERICK FRANKLIN, of 28, Church Street, Chelsea, S.W., in the County
of London, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows;-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of frames and covers
more particularly for junction boxes used for the purpose of connecting and
inspecting electric wires and cables, though the frames and covers constructed
according to my invention are applicable to other purposes such for instance .as
to ordinary inspection chambers, manholes and the like.
Junction boxes as at present constructed are more or less a source of danger
for the reason that when a leakage of gas occurs from the street mains in the
vicinity of such boxes, or near to the conduits to which they are connected, it
is possible for such gas to find its way into the said boxes where it occasionally
accumulates in sufficient quantity as to become, when mixed with a certain pro-
portion of air, a highly explosive compound which might be be fired by the
electric spark or be otherwise ignited with disasterous results.
The object of this invention is to provide means whereby junction boxes and
the like are ventilated and at the same time kept free, or as free as practicable,
from moisture or surface drainage.
The appliance, which constitutes the subject of my invention, is constructed
substantially as follows. I provide the cover of the junction or other box with
numerous holes or ventilating outlets so arranged that they permit any gas that
may enter such box to escape and at the same time to become so diluted with air
as to be rendered non-explosive. I preferably enlarge these ventilating outlets
at their lower orifices so that a free downward passage is ensured for dust or other
foreign substances that may from time to time enter such outlets. As a pre-
caution against drops of liquid trickling, from these outlets along the underside
of the cover and from thence falling into the box or chamber, I may cast around
such cover a bead or its equivalent so as to form a stop, or I may cut a groove.on
the underside of the cover for the same purpose.
Immediately beneath, or at some convenient distance beneath, "the_ventilating
outlets and around or in the frame into which the cover is fitted, I provide a
trough or channel which I arrange in such a manner that it shall receive any
dust or water that may find its way through the ventilating outlets and I attach
an outlet pipe or outlet pipes to the said trough or channel by which the water
shall run off and be thus prevented from entering the junction box or other
chamber.
I may trap or seal the said outlet pipe or outlet pipes or in lieu thereof I may
in some cases provide the bottom of the trough or channel with longitudinal
openings in line with, and beneath, the ventilating outlets of the cover."
Cith dor of July 1898

page_text: Improvements in and connected with Junction Boxes for Electric
Cables, Inspection Chambers, and the like.
I, FREDERICK FRANKLIN, of 28, Church Street, Chelsea, S.W., in the County
of London, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement;―
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of frames and
covers more particularly for junction boxes used for the purpose of connecting and
inspecting electric wires and cables, though the frames and covers constructed
according to my invention are applicable to other purposes such for instance as
to ordinary inspection chambers manholes and the like.
The object of this invention is to provide means whereby junction boxes and
the like are ventilated and at the same time kept free, or as free as practicable,
from moisture or surface drainage.
-
In order that my invention may be more clearly understood I will proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of my improved frame and cover.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same on the line x, y, Figures 3 and 4.
Figure 3 represents a plan view of the frame with the cover removed.
Figure 4 is a plan view of the frame with the cover in position.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section applied to an ordinary inspection
chamber and
Figure 6 is a modification in longitudinal section of my improved frame with
the cover removed.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
The appliance which constitutes the subject of my invention is constructed
substantially as follows.
I provide a frame A having a flange a adapted to rest upon brickwork, and a
channel B surrounding the upper part of the said frame, which channel as shown
in Figures 1, 2 and 5 (and more clearly in Figure 3). is in great part cut away
thus forming oblong openings 6, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 76, 67. 18. 19. To the frame A, I
fit a cover C, and around the edges thereof I provide the ventilating outlets c. c
to 19 so arranged that they permit any gas or vapours that may enter the
chamber, to which the frame and cover are adapted, to escape therefrom. I
enlarge these ventilating outlets at their lower orifices so that a free downward
passage is ensured for dust or the like that may from time to time enter such
outlets.
·
As a precaution against drops of liquid trickling from these outlets along the
underside of the cover and from thence falling into the box or chamber, I cast
around the underside of such cover a bead d or its equivalent so as to form a stop
or I may cut or form a groove on the underside of the cover in such a manner
that it answers the same purpose.
In Figure 5, the frame and cover are shown in position on the brickwork D,
formine the inspection or other similar chamber E. This brickwork I preferably
coat with cement or other suitable non-porous material so that no liquid can enter
such chamber from without, and around such brickwork I fill in with rubble
or similar loose material F. Upon reference to the said Figure 5, it will be seen
that there is a clear passage for any gas or vapours, that may find their way into
the chamber E. to pass over the lipe of the channel B. thence under the bead d,
and finally out of the ventilating outlets 8, 17, whereas any water or dirt that
entered such ventilating outlets would pass through the openings 64, 18, and
thence onto the rubble F from which the water. would drain away.

page_text: In the modification of my improved frame and cover illustrated in Figure 6,
the general construction is similar to that illustrated in the previous figures, the
difference being in the channel B only, which in this case is continuous, that
is to say in lieu of providing openings through which both dust and water can
pass, I provide an outlet pipe f by which the water entering the said channel
may, if desired, be conveyed some distance from the box or chamber. In some
cases I trap or seal this outlet pipe in any suitable manner. For the convenience
of receiving and removing any dust or solid matter that might otherwise collect
in the channel itself, I adapt to the said channel perforated oblong boxes of sheet
iron or other suitable material so that, with their contents, they may be readily
removed and replaced when empty.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a means of ventilating junction boxes and similar chambers and of pre-
venting the admission thereto of solid or liquid matter, the combination, with
a frame having a channel provided with openings for the discharge of such
matter, of a cover having conical outlets and provided with a bead or stop for
liquid, substantially as shown and described.
2. In a means of ventilating junction boxes and similar chambers and of pre
venting the admission thereto of solid or liquid matter, the combination, with a
frame having a channel provided with an outlet for liquid, of a cover having
conical outlets and provided with a bead or stop for liquid, substantially as
described and illustrated.
3. The improved frame and cover, for use with junction boxes or similar
chambers, constructed and operating substantially as and for the purposes
specified and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Third day of Narambo„ 1200