GB2546105A

GB2546105A - Two-piece electrical fitting

Info

Publication number: GB2546105A
Application number: GB1600429.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Murray Lonergan Lawrence
Original assignee: Electrium Sales Ltd
Current assignee: Electrium Sales Ltd
Priority date: 2016-01-11
Filing date: 2016-01-11
Publication date: 2017-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2036-01-11
Also published as: GB201600429D0; GB2546105B

Abstract

A two-piece electrical fitting comprises a retaining piece 16 and a rigid cover piece 14. The retaining piece includes a number of protrusions (20) each located on a flexible part (22) of the retaining piece. The rigid cover piece includes corresponding protrusions 30 which engage with these to retain the retaining piece and the rigid cover piece in engagement. The cover piece may conceal mounting screws 26. Locking pegs (46, Fig 4) may be inserted to prevent the flexible parts from moving and thus lock the retaining piece and cover piece together. The fitting may be used in a school or public transport.

Description

TWO-PIECE ELECTRICAL FITTING

The present invention relates to electrical fittings such as mains switches, sockets, RF outlets, telephone sockets and so on. Conventionally, such fitting comprise a mounting box and a front plate which carries an accessory such as a switch or a socket.

In other arrangements, the front plate may be assembled from two or more parts.

Typically, the front plate is attached to the mounting box by two machine screws. While simple, this means of attachment is susceptible to tampering in public environments such as transport carriages or schools. In such environments, it is preferred to have an arrangement for mounting the front plate without accessible screws. Some known arrangements employ a flexible cover which clips onto a part mounted underneath. Typically, the flexible cover is moulded from a polymer which is susceptible to scratching. Conventionally, electrical fittings are moulded from a hard, scratch-resistant material such as urea (Bakelite). However, such materials are unsuitable for including flexible fasteners.

The present invention provides an electrical fitting with a clip-on cover to resist tampering. The clip-on cover may be lockable .

The present invention accordingly provides electrical fittings as defined in the appended claims.

The above, and further, objects, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of certain embodiments thereof, in conjunction with the appended claims, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a view of an electrical fitting according to an embodiment of the invention, in an assembled state;

Fig. 2 shows a functional part of the electrical fitting of Fig. 1, without a cover in place.

Fig. 3 conceptually represents assembly of a clip-on cover to the functional part of the electrical fitting of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 illustrates use of a locking feature of the electrical fitting of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the fitting of Fig. 4 with the locking feature fully in place.

According to a feature of the present invention, the electrical fitting comprises a rigid cover piece and a flexible retaining piece. The rigid cover piece and the flexible retaining piece comprise co-operating protrusions, such that on installation, a protrusion of the rigid cover piece causes deformation of a protrusion in the flexible retaining piece, said protrusions then interfering to latch in place thereby to retain the rigid cover piece in assembly with the flexible retaining piece.

Fig. 1 shows a view of an electrical fitting 10 according to an embodiment of the invention, it an assembled state. It is a single rocker switch. Preferably the rocker 12 is of a rigid material, such as urea (Bakelite) . Rigid cover piece 14 is preferably also of urea (Bakelite).

Fig. 2 shows flexible retaining piece 16, which carries the functional part 18, including switch rocker 12. Flexible retaining piece 16 includes a number, here four, of protrusions 20. These protrusions are located on a flexible part of the retaining piece 16. In this illustrated embodiment, this is arranged by providing protrusions 20 on flexible bars 22 which each have a space 24 behind them, that is to say, the space is on the opposite side of the bar from the protrusion 20. Mounting screws 26 are provided, and these allow the flexible retaining piece 16 with functional part 18 to be mounted onto a mounting box (not illustrated) in the conventional manner. Functional part 18 includes a surround 28 around the rocker 12. This will depend on the design of the electrical fitting, but may allow a standard rigid cover piece 14 to be used for numerous types of electrical fittings .

Fig. 3 illustrates a step in the process of assembling the parts of the electrical fitting of the present invention together. Rigid cover piece 14 includes a number of protrusions 30, corresponding in number and position to the protrusions 20 on the flexible retaining piece 16.

Rigid cover piece 14 is pressed onto the flexible retaining piece 16. Protrusions 30 on the rigid cover piece 14 interact with the protrusions 20 on the flexible retaining piece 16. Bars 22 flex, allowing protrusions 30 on the rigid cover piece 14 to pass the protrusions 20 on the flexible retaining piece 16. The resilience of the bars 22 causes the protrusions 20 on the flexible retaining piece 16 to engage with the protrusions 30 on the rigid cover piece 14 to retain the flexible retaining piece 16 and the rigid cover piece 14 in engagement.

Preferably, a cutout 32 is provided in an edge of the rigid cover piece 14 and aligns with a recess 34 in the flexible retaining piece 16 to provide a disengagement feature whereby a tool, such as a small screwdriver, may be engaged in the disengagement feature and used to lever the rigid cover piece 14 and the flexible retaining piece 16 apart. This feature is more clearly visible in Fig. 4.

The assembly provided by the step of Fig. 3 has no accessible screw heads or other fasteners, but could be tampered with by levering the rigid cover piece 14 from the flexible retaining piece 16. Fig. 4 illustrates features which prevent, or at least impede, the removal of the rigid cover piece 14.

Rigid cover piece 14 includes a number of access slots 40. Each of these access slots 40 aligns with a space 24 behind a flexible bar 22 carrying a protrusion 20. As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, flexible retaining piece 16 may include blanking tabs 42 which fill the access slots 40 when the rigid cover piece 14 and the flexible retaining piece 16 are assembled together.

As shown at the bottom-left of Fig. 4, these blanking tabs 42 may be removed, preferably before the assembly step of Fig. 3. By removal of a blanking tab 42, access is gained to a channel 44 which includes at least part of the space 24 behind at least one of the flexible bars 22. According to a feature of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a locking peg 46 may be inserted into the channel 44. The locking peg 46 fills part of the space 24 behind at least one of the flexible bars 22 and prevents it from flexing. Preferably, locking pegs 46 are inserted to prevent all of the flexible bars 22 from flexing, although it may be sufficient that only some of the flexible bars 22 are prevented from flexing.

Fig. 5 shows the assembly of Fig. 4 with locking peg 46 driven fully into place.

In the illustrated embodiment, each locking peg 46 extends behind only one flexible bar 22, although in other embodi- merits, the locking pegs may be longer and may each extend behind two flexible bars 22.

Optionally, features may be provided in an accessible end 48 of each locking peg 46 to enable its removal with a tool.

Claims

1. A two-piece electrical fitting comprising a retaining piece (16) and a rigid cover piece (14), wherein the retaining piece (16) includes a number of protrusions (20) each located on a flexible part (22) of the retaining piece (16), and rigid cover piece (14) which includes a number of protrusions (30), corresponding in position to the protrusions (20) on the retaining piece (16) wherein protrusions (20) on the retaining piece (16) engage with protrusions (30) on the rigid cover piece (14) to retain the retaining piece (16) and the rigid cover piece (14) in engagement.

2. A two-piece electrical fitting according to claim 1 wherein the retaining piece carries a functional part (18).

3. A two-piece electrical fitting according to any preceding claim, wherein the retaining piece (16) comprises a number of flexible bars (22), each carrying one of the protrusions (20) and each provided with a space (24) behind it.

4. A two-piece electrical fitting according to any preceding claim, further comprising a locking peg (46) in position preventing disengagement of the protrusions (20) on the retaining piece (16) from the protrusions (30) on the rigid cover piece (14).

5. A two-piece electrical fitting according to claim 4 when dependent on claim 3, wherein the locking peg occupies part of a space (24), thereby impeding flexure of the associated flexible bar (22).