Plumbing supply boxes

Abstract

Plumbing supply boxes may be made of a thermoset plastic material that will not melt or permit the boxes to collapse inside a wall if subjected to flames or high temperatures resulting from a fire. If the thermoset plastic boxes have a drain opening, a thermoplastic tubular drain adaptor may be connected thereto that can be solvent welded. Relatively small intumescent pads may be installed in close proximity to the drain opening which, if subjected to flames or high temperature caused by a fire, will expand and form an insulating char that seals off the drain opening. The boxes may be slidable in opposite directions along adjustable support brackets to permit the boxes to be mounted in any desired position in stud bays having different spacings between the stud walls for ease of alignment of one or more openings in the box with in-wall plumbing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 077,671, filed Jul. 2, 2008.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to plumbing supply boxes that are installable in wall recesses for connecting one or more water shut-off valves and / or drain lines to in-wall plumbing.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Plumbing supply boxes are commonly used to connect hot and / or cold water supply lines and / or one or more waste drains to appliances and plumbing fixtures such as washing machines, icemakers, water softeners, sinks, toilets and the like. Oftentimes these boxes are molded out of a suitable thermoplastic material to enable any drain outlets to be solvent welded to thermoplastic drain pipes.[0004]If these thermoplastic supply boxes are to be recess mounted in walls that are fire rated, the boxes must be similarly fire rated to insure that the original fire rating of the walls is maintained even though th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The present invention provides fire rated plumbing supply boxes that are less costly than previous known fire rated thermoplastic supply boxes and have a higher degree of structural integrity at high temperatures. Also the plumbing supply boxes of the present invention may easily be mounted in any desired position in stud bays having different spacings between the stud walls and also be easily aligned with in-wall plumbing.

[0009]In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a relatively small amount of intumescent material may be installed in close proximity to the thermoplastic drain adaptor, whereby if the boxes are exposed to enough heat to cause the drain adaptor to melt, the intumescent material will expand and form an insulating char that seals off the associated drain opening.

Problems solved by technology

A major disadvantage in using such intumescent pads to achieve the requisite fire rating for thermoplastic supply boxes is the relatively high cost of the intumescent pads and poor structural integrity of the supply boxes at high temperatures.

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