Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/898,295, filed Jan. 30, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention pertains to a snap fit screw plug or screw cover for covering the screw head and more particularly to a snap fit screw plug or screw cover for use with a recessed electrical outlet box such as a while-in-use box. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Recessed electrical boxes are well-known. Such boxes are designed to be recessed in an opening in a wall or other building structure such that an actual electrical fixture (duplex, GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter), switch, data jack, co-axial cable connector, etc.) is recessed into the wall and is not flush therewith as is normally the case. 
   Some recessed electrical boxes incorporate a cover thereon as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,988,832 and 5,171,939. Other such boxes include slots in the cover or the frame that permit a wire or cord to pass out of the box even when the cover is closed, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,257,946 and 6,737,576. While these and other recessed box designs are suitable for their intended purpose and provide a installation alternative for the user, due to their design, the screw heads used to affix the box to a structure are typically located on a flange that extends outwardly on the exterior of the box side wall. In order to mount the box to a structure, mounting screws are typically used which are received by mounting screw holes located on the flange. However because of the box design, the mounting screw heads are exposed and visible on the exterior of the box. The exposed screw heads do not provide a smooth appearance and may collect contaminants. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An electrical outlet box supports an electrical fixture. The box includes a box housing having a back wall, perimetrical side wall, and an open front face and a generally planar flange surrounding the open front face. The flange includes a mounting aperture threaded for receiving fastening hardware for securing the flange to a wall surface. A cover is positioned to overlie the mounting hardware and provide a flush relationship with said flange. 
   In a preferred embodiment, the aperture is surrounded by a recess. The cover includes a plug which is insertable into the recess. The plug may be tethered to the flange. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box with a cover installed having snap fit screw plugs installed; 
       FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box having snap fit screw plugs installed; 
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective exploded view of a while in use recessed electrical box showing both a mounting screw and snap fit plug; 
       FIG. 4  is a recessed box mounting screw flange detail view showing a recessed area for mounting screws and snap fit screw plug; 
       FIG. 5  is a top perspective view of the snap fit screw plug of the present invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a bottom perspective view of the snap fit screw plug of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box having an integral hinged snap fit screw plug; 
       FIG. 8  is a rear perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box having an integral hinged snap fit screw plug; 
       FIG. 9  is an exploded front perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box and electrical components showing a recessed area for mounting screws and snap fit screw plug; and 
       FIG. 10  is a front perspective view of a while in use recessed electrical box and installed electrical components showing a recessed area for mounting screws and snap fit screw plug. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to the drawings, there is shown recessed electrical outlet box  10  consisting of a body portion  12  and a cover portion  14 . Cover portion  14  may be pivotally secured to body portion  12  via hinge  16  which can be provided either on its narrower edge  16  or its wider edge  17  depending on the cover pivoting preference. On one corner of cover  14  is a tab mechanism  15 , which can be used to releasably retain cover  14  in the closed position. Hinge  16  and tab mechanism  15  may be of typical construction and are preferably molded at the same time as body  12 . Cover  14  is generally separately constructed and added to body  12  during assembly. Hence, hinge  16  can be designed to allow cover  14  to be assembled with the body  12  during the final stages of manufacturing. 
   Box  10  is generally constructed of a plastic material but this need not necessarily be the case. Body  12  and cover  14  may also be made of the same material or they may be made of different materials. Furthermore, cover  14  may be opaque, transparent or translucent if desired. As shown, the exterior of box  10  is rectangular but portions of it as well as the interior  20  of body  12  could be round, square, octagon or some other shape if desired. 
   Generally, flange  24  surrounds the front end  22  of body  12  and extends radially outward from body  12 . Flange  24  serves to not only aid in covering the opening made in the wall structure (not shown) into which body  12  is placed, but flange  24  also serves to support cover  14  therefrom via hinge  16 . Latching mechanism  18  is also supported from flange  24  in the normal fashion. Flange  24  may also be configured with one or more mounting openings  26  therein through which a fastener will pass in order to secure body  12 , and hence box  10 , to a building structure. In the view shown in  FIG. 1 , mounting openings  26  are covered with screw plugs  29 . 
   The interior  20  of body  12  may be configured with multiple pairs of bosses therein. Boss pair  28  project into interior  20 . Each end region  32  of each boss of each boss pair  28  can be configured with at least one mounting hole  34  therein. Preferably each boss would be configured with at least a mounting hole  34  and a cover plate mounting hole  36  in end region  32 . 
   Mounting hole  34  can be sized and shaped to accept a mounting screw used to secure an electrical fixture (not shown) to body  12 . Such electrical fixtures include, but are not limited to, a duplex, GFCI, switch, data jack, co-axial cable connector or the like. Mounting hole  34  would either be pre-threaded so as to accept the mounting screw therein or mounting hole  34  would become threaded upon the rotation of the mounting screw therein. In contrast, cover plate mounting hole  36  can be generally sized larger and is preferably also threaded to accept a cover plate mounting screw for attaching a cover plate to cover an electrical component. Cover plate mounting hole  36  preferably provides a place for the screw that secures the cover plate (not shown) to the fixture to extend. Hence, while mounting hole  34  is employed to secure the fixture to body  12 , cover plate mounting hole  36  can be employed to accept a cover plate mounting screw for securing the cover plate to the fixture. 
   In this embodiment, the bosses  28  are preferably located within interior  20  in accordance with industry guidelines that set forth the requirements for single gang boxes. However, while a single gang electrical box is depicted in accordance with the present invention, one skilled in the art will recognize that a larger box, such as a double gang box may be developed within the scope of the present invention. Center boss pair  28  can be located in accordance with the requirements for a single gang box while an adjacent pair of bosses may be located in accordance with the requirements for a double gang box. Hence, in accordance with the present invention, a recessed box  10  may be used whether there is a need for a single or a double gang box. While boss pairs  28  are shown extending continuously upward from the back of body  12 , other configurations of boss pairs  28  are equally likely, such as extending only intermediate the front and back surfaces of body  12  or incorporating only a single boss pair but with multiple mounting holes  34  therein. 
   In addition to the above capabilities, the electrical box of the present invention incorporates an elliptically shaped recess  26  on box flange  24  for receiving mounting screws  30  for attaching electrical box  10  to a structure. As will be described in further detail hereinbelow, the recess  26  receives a snap fit plug  29  which forms a cover for the recess  26 . Typically, box flange  24  includes a mounting screw recess  26  at each corner. The screw recess  26  may be of a wide variety of shapes, sizes and configurations. In the presently described embodiments, the screw recess  26  are oval-shaped and aligned at approximately a 45 degree angle to the flange  24  side edges  31  as shown. In other embodiments, the screw recess  26  can be aligned parallel to either side of the box flange edge or alternately at some other angle as may be needed in accordance with any particular use for the recessed electrical box  10 . It can further be appreciated that the flange  24  includes an overhang with a thickness that corresponds to the depth of the recess  26 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , each recess  26  is formed as a depression in the flange surface  33 . The bottom surface  35  of recess  26  includes holes  37  for mounting screws  30 . In the embodiment depicted there are shown two mounting holes  37 . However, an alternate number of mounting holes could be utilized within the scope and spirit of the present invention. In addition, there are located on the side wall  26   a  of recess  26  slots  39  for receiving resilient snap fit device  41  of screw plugs  29  ( FIGS. 5 and 6 ). The slots  39  include a niche  45  defining an opening in bottom surface  35  of recess  26 . The niche  45  provides clearance for receiving the tang  49  of resilient snap fit device  41  formed as a deformable thermoplastic as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In addition, niche  45  can also be designed so that the blade of a regular flat blade screwdriver may be inserted into recess  26  from the rear ( FIGS. 9 and 10 ) to remove screw plug  29  if necessary. The tang  49  can be integrally formed with and attached to a cantilevered resilient stanchion  47  on the bottom side of snap fit screw plug  29 . 
   Referring additionally to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , snap fit plug  29  includes a pair of opposed resilient snap fit devices  41  extending from either side thereof. The snap fit devices  41  are received by slots  39  in recess  26 . When screw plug  29  is inserted into recess  26 , the tangs  49  engage the side wall  26   a , causing resilient stanchions  47  to flex inward. Once the screw plug  29  is fully inserted into recess  26 , tangs  49  are received by the opening defined by niche  45  whereupon the inward pressure on resilient stanchions  47  is released causing tangs  49  to engage the inside edges  51  of niche  45 , thereby retaining screw plug  29  within recess  26 . 
   Snap fit screw plug  29  further includes a perimetrical side wall  50  which forms a recessed area  50   a  accommodating the heads of mounting screws  30  (not shown) when a snap fit screw plug  29  is fully inserted within recess  26 . In this way the top surface  55  of snap fit screw plug  29  will align flush with flange surface  33  when it is fully inserted within recess  26  to define a flat plane with the flange  24 . Thus, the plug  29  covers completely over the recess  26  in a seamless arrangement. Furthermore, it should be noted that the outer dimension of perimetrical side wall  50  is adapted to provide a close tolerance fit with the inner dimension of recess  26 . 
   In addition to the embodiment disclosed above, an alternate embodiment is depicted in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . Shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  is snap fit screw plug  29  attached or tethered to flange outer side edge  31  with a living hinge  57 . As shown in  FIG. 7  the living hinge  57  when in the open position, extends the snap fit screw plug  29  beyond flange side edge  31  such that mounting screws  30  (not shown) may be installed into mounting holes  37  to rigidly affix electrical box  10  to a structure. Once the mounting screws  30  are fully in place, the snap fit screw plug  29  can be snapped into place by rotating the plug  29  on the hinge  57  about its axis such that snap fit device  41  engages slots  39  in recess  26  as described above. As is further seen in  FIG. 7 , when the snap fit screw plugs  29  are closed, the top surface  55  of snap fit screw plugs  29  are flush with flange top surface  33 . In that regard, the perimetrical edge  33   a  of flange surface  33  includes grooves  57   a  for accommodating living hinge  57 . Each of the grooves  57   a  support the living hinge  57  in a flush condition when the snap fit screw plugs  29  are inserted into recess  26 . 
   Also shown in  FIG. 8  is the rear view of the electrical box  10  wherein the rear of recess  26  is visible. In this view the rear of mounting screw holes  37  are visible as well as opening  45 . More particularly, there is shown the inside edge  51  of openings  45 . As described above, when snap fit screw plugs  29  are fully inserted, inward pressure on resilient stanchions  47  is released as tangs  49  pass through openings  45  causing resilient stanchions to flex back into their pre loaded position, whereupon tangs  49  engage the inside edge  51  of opening  45 , thereby retaining screw plug  29  within recess  26 . 
   In addition to the above capabilities,  FIGS. 9 and 10  depict the electrical box according to the present invention showing both an exploded view of the box and duplex electrical outlet with adapter plate and a view of the electrical box and installed electrical components. In  FIG. 9  a front perspective view of electrical box  10  is shown along with a duplex electrical outlet  90 , an adapter plate  92  and a cover plate  94 . If the receptacle is a GFCI unit, then in this embodiment a cover plate is mounted directly over the GFCI unit without the need for a separate adapter plate  92 . Also shown are outlet mounting screws  96  which are received into mounting hole  34  on boss  28  and plate mounting screws  98  which are received into cover plate mounting holes  36  on boss  28 . Once installed electrical outlet  90  is housed within electrical box  10  as depicted in  FIG. 10  wherein cover plate  94  is shown in position over duplex outlet  90  within the interior  20  of recessed electrical box  10 . 
   While select preferred embodiments of this invention have been illustrated, many modifications may occur to those skilled in the art and therefore it is to be understood that these modifications are incorporated within these embodiments as fully as if they were fully illustrated and described herein.

Technology Category: 5