US2036519A - Outlet receptacle - Google Patents

Description

Ari! 7, 936.- w. H. FABREY ETAL 2 36,519"

' OUTLET RECEPTACLE Filed July 2, 1931 n a .5 u 1 m a 0 4 4 a. w I a M a m m. 1/ WW "W n a w Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OUTLET RECEPTACLE Application July 2, 1931, Serial No. 548,451

I V 3 Claims. (Cl. 173330) The present invention relates to electrical out- I9, 20, and 2| communicating respectively with let receptacles, and has for its principal purpose to provide a receptacle body member and contact member having interengag'ing means for holding 5 the two members in assembled relation.

Heretofore, it has been a customary practice to mount the contact members freely in recesses provided in the body members, the operative relationship of the two members being mainlo tained by a mountingyoke for the receptacle. Prior to the actual mounting of the receptacle, consequently, the members were apt to become disassembled. M I 7 Another practice has beento secure the'body -15 and contact members together by means of screws or screw-attached clips.

According to, thef present invention, the body,

and contact members are provided with mutually engageable means readily brought into operative 20 relation upon assembly and effective to securely maintain the relation of the parts, the improved arrangement being no more expensive to produce than the less satisfactory devices of the prior art.

5 The invention also relates to simplified screw anchors utilized in uniting the receptacle body members and wall plates.

As illustrative of the invention, we have shown it in the accompanying drawing as applied to a 30 duplex receptacle. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited in its application to this specific type of receptacle.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a face view of a receptacle embodying the present invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the receptacle,

Figure 3 is a rear View of the receptacle,

Figure 4 is a rear View of the receptacle par tially assembled,

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a section on line 66 of Figure 1,

Figure 7 is an elevation of a contact member or conductor bar constructed in accordance with the present invention, and

45 Figure 8 is an elevationof a screw anchor forming part of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral l indicates generally a body member of insulating material whose end portions Illa, I (ll) are provided with service openings ll, l2, l3, and I4 for the reception of the usual type of plug, the intermediate body portion being inwardly offset as at IS, The end portions of the body member have rearwardly extending boss portions l6 and 5 ",Figs. 2, 4, and 6, Provided with recesses l8,

the service openings II to M. Between the boss portions It and II, the body portion has a further rearwardly extending boss 22 spaced some- What from the first mentioned boss portions. 5 The boss portion 22 has parallel side walls 23 and 24 terminating upwardly in inwardly extending recesses 23 and 24', these recesses being formed in the sides of the intermediate body member portion I5.

Recesses I8 and 26 are aligned longitudinally of the body member, and the walls of the boss portions are provided with aligned kerfs intersecting the recesses so that the walls of recess I8 present a groove 25 and an opposite slot 26 in alignment with a groove 2'! and a slot 28 in j the walls of recess 20, the bottoms of the slots and grooves forming ledges lying in the same plane. The walls of recesses l9 and 2| are similarly slotted and grooved.

Boss portion 22 is provided with a central slot 29 extending longitudinally of the body member, the slot having a central substantially cylindrical enlargement 30. Boss portions l6 and I! have end recesses 31 and 32.

Two conductor bars of identical form are provided, one being particularly shown in Figures 4 and 7; The bar is composed of a strip of spring metal 33 having integral angularly projecting contact fingers 34 and 35 adjacent its ends and jlying substantially in the plane of the adjacent strip portions. Intermediate the contact fingers, the mounting strip is offset as at 36 and provided with an ear or protuberance 31 projecting in the same direction as the contact fingers and having an extremity 31', Figure 5, bent in the opposite direction to the offset. The offset portion is provided with tapped apertures at the sides of ear 3'! which receive terminal screws 38 and 39.

In assembling, the contact fingers are inserted in the recesses l9 and 2|, Figure 4, with the ends of the conductor bar engaged in the grooves of the recess wallsjand the portions of the bar between the contact fingers and the bar offset engaged in the slots of the recess walls. The offset portion of the conductor bar projects externally of the bosses in the lateral recess existing between the latter and the bent portion 31 of the ear 31, the bar yielding outwardly, is slid along the side wall 23 of boss portion 22 until it springs over the seat 23. As the extremity of the preformed bent portion 31 rides along wall 23, the freely projecting ear flexes so that undue distortion of the contact strip proper is prevented.

When the two members have thus been interengaged, T the end portions of the conductor bar sented by the body member so that the contact; strip is held against longitudinal displacement relative to the latter. The screws 38 arid 39 lie in the spaces between the central and outer bosses. It will be understood that the parts can be disassembled by prying the ear 3'! out of recess 23- and reversing the assembly operation.

It will be understood that the second conductor bar is assembled in exactly the same manner as the first, its ends being engaged in grooves 25 and 21 directly at one side of the contact fingers and. in slots 2% and 2% directly at the other side of the contact fingersf It will be evident thatethe con-.- ductor bars being thus gripped, their. portions within the recesses are held against lateral movement, although their free intermediate. portions may be sufficiently flexed to engage the ears with the seats. Due to the provision of each recess with the slot and groove forv thus gripping the conductor bar; it will be evident that if desired the conductQr' 'bar may be made with only one contact finge1 for use in a simple receptacle. In other words, the conductor bar as shown in Figure '7 might be centrally and transversely out, as in the sectional view of Figure 5, since, upon being mounted as aboye described, its tail portion would be permitted to flex under the restraint of the portion adjacent the contact fingers which would be held against lateral movement.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, it will'be noted that the jack blades are,engageable between the contact fingers and the side walls of the boss recess. Consequently, the mounting strip :or bus bar portions at Ithe fingers tend to be deflected inwardly upon the insertion of the blades, this deflection being opposed by the edges of the slots and grooves on the opposite sides of the mounting stripsfrom the blades. Furthermore, since the contact fingers, as may be clearly seerg from Figure 6, are spaced from the walls toward which they flex when engaged by the jack blades, they may flex freely pastthe planes of the end portions of the contactstrips.

A metal yoke 40 has legs ll and 42 receivable in recesses 31 and 32 and carries an insulating plate 43 of a shape to cover the rear portion of the receptacle. The yoke and insulating plate have registering slots in register with the slot 29 of boss 22, a screw anchor 44 being passed through the registering slots. I

The screw anchor 34 is composed of a bifurcated fiat metal strip having a T-head 45 at its closed end, the inner edges of the bifurcations 4 6 and 47 each being provided with a series of serrations 46 and 47, the serrations of the one series being in staggered relation to the serrations of the other series so as to be adapted to engage the threads of a screw on diametrically opposite sides thereof. The bifurcations are somewhat convergent toward their free ends so as to be expanded upon the engagement of a screw therewith. The anchor has a thickness less than the diameter of the 00- operating screw and is readily formed in its entirety in a single stamping operation.

The anchor being inserted in the registering slots of yoke 40, insulating plate 43 and boss por= tion 22, with its head abutting the yoke, is adapted to be engaged and spread by a screw 48, Figure 5, passed through the face plate '39.

While we have shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that many modifications are possible without departure'from the scope of the invention, and, accordingly, we do not limit ourselves except as in the following claims.

We claim: i l

1. A duplex receptacle comprising a one-piece body member provided with pairs of service openings in its front face and rearwardly opening recesses behind said service openings and communicating with the latter, said body member having rearwardly open lateral recesses in its central portion, there being rearwardly open slots connecting the ends of said lateral recesses with said rearwardly opening recesses, a pair of contact strips each having angularly project: ing contact fingers at its end portions, said strips being arranged on edge withtheirmedial portions in said, lateral frecesses' and their end portions in said rearwardly opening recesses with said contact; fingers operatively disposed in the latter relative to said service openings, said strips being closely engaged in said slots between the end;and medial portions of the strips, said lateralrecesses having wall portions extending longitudinally of the body members forwardly of said contact strips and terminatingforwardly in inwardly directed ledges; said contact strips having freely forwardly projecting integral medial portions with inturned ends engaged over said ledgesjto' hold said strips against rearward displacement; said freely projecting portions beadapted to flex when upon assembly of the contact strips with the body member from the rear of the latter,'said inturned ends being preformed, the extremities of saidends ride over said longitudinally extending wall portions, such flexing preventing undue distortion of said contact strips. r r

2. A duplex receptacle comprising a one-piece portions in said lateral recesses and their end portions in said rearwardly opening recesses with said contact fingers operatively disposed in the latter relative to said service openings, said kit eral recesses having wall portions'extending longitudinally of the body members forwardly of said contact strips and terminating forwardly in inwardly directed ledges, said contact strips having freely forwardly projecting integral medial portions with inturned ends engaged over said ledges to hold said strips against rearward displacement, the body member also having abutment portions cooperating with the edges of jecting contact fingers at its end portions, said strips being arranged on edgewith their medial said inturned ends tohold said contact strips against longitudinal displacement relative to said body member.

3. A duplex receptacle comprising a one-piece body member provided with pairs of service openings in its front face and rearwardly opening recesses behind said service openings, said body member having rearwardly open lateral recesses in its central portion and having rearwardly open slots connecting the ends of said lateral recesses with said rearwardly opening recesses, said slots being spaced from the side walls of said rearwardly opening recesses, the end walls of said last-named recesses having grooves opposite said slots and spaced from the side walls of said last-named recesses, conductor strips disposed on edge with their medial portions in said lateral recesses and with their end portions disposed in said slots and in said rearwardly opening recesses, the extremities of said strips being disposed in said grooves, and contact fingers on the end portions of said strips in said rearwardly opening recesses, the blades of a cooperating jack inserted in a pair of said service openings being engageable with pairs of said fingers, lateral deflection of the conductor strip portions at the engaged fingers being opposed by the edges of the grooves and slots on the opposite side of the conductor strips from the engaged blades, clearances existing between the contact fingers and the side walls of said rearwardly opening recesses to enable the fingers to be forced freely beyond the planes of the conductor strips when engaged by the blades.

WILLIAM H. FABREY.

JOHN WEBER.

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