US2636520A - Electrical conduit structure - Google Patents

Description

April 1953 A. M. IGEIST El'AL 2,636,520

ELECTRICAL CONDUIT STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 18, 1948 l5 IOE IOU INVENTORS: I V J23 Alex M. Geisl g= Rex W/hders mm Attorneys and Patented Apr. 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT' STRUCTURE Alex Geist and Rex R. Winders, Lincoln, Nebr.

Application August 18, 1948, Serial No. 44,908

3 Claims. I

This application is a continuation in part of our-copending application Serial No. 736,559, filed M rch 22, 1947, now Patent No. 2,595,452.

'This invention relates to electrical wiring devices and particularly it relates to apre-formed floor duct of a type such that it is useful on an exposed floor area or for concealment beneath rugs or other floor coverings.

Inv our prior Patent No. 2,391,409, patented December 25, 1945, several forms of floor duct are illustrated that are intended and adapted for the same uses as the ducts of the present invention, and the present invention constitutes an improvementupon the various forms of floor ducts shown in our aforesaid prior patent. The primary object of the present invention is to enable iloor ducts Qf. the, aforesaid character to be formed in a continuous manufacturing s a more pec fic l it i he Object of the present invention to enable such ducts to be formed by processes of extrusion from a material such as relatively hard rubber. Further and related objects are to simplify the installation and mounting of floor ducts of the aforesaid character, and particularly it is an object of this in- Vention to afford means on the lower face of such ducts to prevent creeping or undesired movement of the duct relative to the floor surface upon which it is mounted. Another important object of the present invention is to simplify the extension of wires from the mounting passage or" such a duct, and to enable a lateral or upwardly extending riser to be associated with such a, duct in a manner which afford v .5 Sup.- port as well as the hQusing for wires that. arev xtend d l ter ll from the. m in duct. Other and. further. O jects, of the presen in vention. will be apparent from the following de: scription and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illus-v tration, show preferred embodiments and the principle thereof and what we now consider to be the; best mode in which we have contemplated applying that principle. Other embodiments of the. invention embodying the same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without. dep ing f om th pr nt invention and the purviewof the appended claims.

Inthe drawings:

Fig.1 is a perspective view illustrating a duct embodying, he invent on. and ha in riser associatedth r w th;

Fig 2 is. a.transverseisectional' view taken sub sanualiyaions a. 1i ne.'2. -..2.of Fig. 1.;

iii)

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View taken substantiallyalong; the line 3.3- of Fig. 1 and show-,

the manner in which the riser conduit is associated with the duct;

Fig. 4; is a, perspective view illustrating anoth er emboiment of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 5-5of-Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is. a view similar to Fig. 5 and showing the bottom wall of the duct in a separatedand open relation Fig. '7 is a view taken along the line l-'! of Fig. 4; and v Fig. 8 is a view taken along the line 8.-8 of Fig. 7.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings as embodied in floor conduit 19 that is a longitudinal passage H extended therethrough so as to be adapted to receive one or more wires. 12 that are to be extended across a floor. The duct I0 is formed from a plastic material such as relatively hard rubber that may be formed by processes of extrusion, and the duct 19 has a rounded or arcuate upper surface idU so that the duct is relatively thick along its longitudinal center line and tapers downwardly to relatively thin side edgesv HIE that meet a generally flat bottom surface MB.

The passage II that is to receive the wires 12 is formed along the longitudinal center line of the duct I0, or in the relatively thick portion of the extruded body ofthe duct, and in the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the lower side of the passage H is solid or unbroken so as to fully enclose the wires 12 so as to thereby adapt the duct It for use with relatively high voltage wires.

When a duct is mounted in position on a floor, either in an exposed position or beneath a rug or similar floor covering, there is a tendency for such a duct to be displaced, particularly in a lateral direction, and under and in accordance with the present invention means are afiorded on the lower or bottom face 10B of the duct to reduce such tendency toward lateral shifting movement. Such means are under the present invention of such a character that they may be formed as an incident to the extrusion operation in which the main body of the conduit is formed, as will be evident in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings, and such means take the form of a. plurality of relatively small longitudinal ridges I! that are extended along lower surface [013 of'the duct.

When the duct of the present invention is utilized. particularly in a home or residence, it is often desirable, at one end of the duct, to extend the wires upwardly from the duct, and in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, means have been illustrated whereby this may be readily and easily accomplished. Thus a riser fitting is afforded that co prises a tubular member l8 formed preferably from relatively hard rubber, and at one end this tubular member has a mounting base 29 that is secured to or integral with the tubular member l8 and which extends laterally therefrom as will be evident in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The member 26 tapers gradually toward opposite edges thereof so that these edges are relatively thin as indicated at 29E, Fig. 3, and thus when the fitting is put in place on the top of the rounded surface lGU of the duct, the fitting aifords a neat continuation of the normal upper surface of the duct. In thus mounting the fitting in place on the duct H], a vertical bore or opening 25 is formed downwardly through the upper surface of the duct and into the passage H, as will be evident in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and the fitting is then put in place with the tubular member H3 in alignment with the opening 2|. The fitting is then secured in place by suitable rubber cement or other adhesive which fastens the base member 2!) in position on the rounded upper surface of the duct it. In the alternative form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 to 8 of the drawings, a duct 1 ill is formed by extrusion from rubber or similar material to afford a rounded u per surface lltU and flat bottom surface lltB that meet in relatively thin side edges i HIE. The lower or bottom face has relatively small longitudinal ribs l l 5 formed therealong so as to prevent undesired transverse slipping of the duct. A continuous passage l l l is formed in the duct member midway between the edges 1 IDE, and the upper side of the passage H l is arcuate while the lower side is flat and is spaced from the bottom surface I HEB so as to define a continuous and unbroken bottom wall I50. It will be observed, however, that adjacent the left hand edge of the passage III, a pair of V-notches or grooves l5! are formed longitudinally in the opposed relation in the upper and lower faces of the wall I50.

The upper and lower grooves 5| terminate short of each other so that while the wall Hill remains solid and unbroken as shown in Fig. 5, the opposed grooves 55! afford a weakened separating line so that when necessary or desirable, for insertion, removal or inspection of wires H2 extended through the passage HI, the wall I553 may be broken and moved to an open position as shown in Fig. 6. When the duct is thereafter put in position on the floor, the wall I58 will, of course, be returned to its closed relation.

The duct ill may readily be associated with a riser ESE] which is molded from a material such as rubber to afiord a base E29 having a flat bottom face 12913 which rests on the floor. The base i 20 is somewhat wider than the duct 1 I 0, and has a rounded upper surface lEBU which generally conforms with the shape of the surface IIBU but is somewhat wider and higher. An integral sleeve H8 extends upwardly from the upper surface IZtU, and its central bore opens downwardly into a longitudinal recess 155 that opens through the bottom surface IZEB of the base I20. The recess IE5 is bounded at its ends by end walls H36 and i6! which terminate in the plane of the bottom surface 12GB, and beyond these end walls. end

ledges I68 extend for a substantial distance as continuations of the upper surface IZUU. The lower faces ifiBL of these ledges R68 are complemental to the upper face ilOU of the conduit, so that these faces Hit, the end surfaces of the base, and the end walls IE6 and i6! afford end-opening sockets into either of which an end of a duct may be extended as shown in Fig. '7. When this is done, the adjacent end wall, as M36, is cut away as at MEGA, at a point opposite the passage l l I of the duct so that wires, as 8 l2, may pass from the duct and into the riser.

From the foregoing description it would be apparent that the present invention enables floor ducts to be manufactured and installed in a simple and inexpensive manner, and such ducts, being of a one-piece construction, are extremely rugged in use. The form of the duct, of course, enables the duct to be installed upon the floor where there is considerable traffic, and wheeled vehicles may be run across the duct without damage to the duct or to the wires that are enclosed therein.

Thus, while we have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification and we therefore do not wish to b limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a riser fitting for association with the end of a wiring duct, an elongated base having a flat bottom surface and a transversely rounded upper surface to afford a relatively thick central section and relatively thin longitudinal edges, a tubular member formed integrally with said base and extended upwardly therefrom, said base having a longitudinally extended recess formed in the bottom surface thereof and extended upwardly and opening into said tubular member, end walls formed as integral portions of said base and closing the ends of said recess, and end ledges along opposite ends of said base adjacent to said upper surface and extended beyond said end walls to define end-opening sockets into either of which the end of a duct may be extended to associate such a duct with the riser.

2. In an enclosure for electrical conductors, a duct comprising an elongated member of uniform cross section throughout its length and formed from material such as rubber, said member having a transversely rounded upper surface and a generally flat bottom surface so as to afford a relatively thick central portion and relatively thin longitudinal edges, said member having a continuous passage formed longitudinally through said member in the relatively thick central portion thereof, and a riser fitting associated with said duct and comprising an elongated base having a flat bottom surface and a transversely rounded upper surface to afford a relatively thick central section and relatively thin longitudinal edges, a tubular member formed integrally with said base and extended upwardly therefrom, said base having a longitudinally extended recess formed in the bottom surface thereof and extended upwardly and opening into said tubular member, end walls formed as integral portions of said base and closing the ends of said recess, an end ledge along one end of said base adjacent to said uppe surface and extended beyond the adjacent end wall to define an end-opening socket into which one end of said duct is extended to associate said duct with the riser, said adjacent end wall having an opening out therethrough opposite said passage of said duct.

3. In a riser fitting for association with a wiring duct, an elongated base having a flat bottom surface and a transversely rounded upper surface to afford a relatively thick central section and relatively thin longitudinal edges, a tubular member formed integrally with said base and extended upwardl therefrom, said base having a longitudinally extended recess formed in the bottom surface thereof and extended upwardly and opening into said tubular member, end walls formed as integral portions of said base and closing the ends of said recess, and an end ledge along one end of said base adjacent to said upper surface and extended beyond the adjacent end wall to define an end-opening socket into which the end of a duct may be extended to associate such a duct with the riser.

ALEX. M. GEIST. REX R. WINDERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 15 Number Name Date Morrison Sept. 1, 1914 Taylor May 30, 1933 Davis Oct. 16, 1934 Baker May 4, 1937 Strang Aug. 17, 1937 Corbett Jan. 4, 1938 Rutherford July 4, 1939 Geist et a1 Dec. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec. 9, 1940

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