Wall-Mounted Electrical Cover Plate With Concealed Fastener Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cover plate assemblies for wall-mounted electrical devices often feature exposed fasteners, which detract from their aesthetic appeal and do not meet modern design standards for concealment and security.
Innovation Solution
A hidden fastener style cover plate assembly is designed, utilizing a subplate with angled tabs and a cover plate with a threaded aperture, where set screws are used to secure the cover plate to the subplate without visible fasteners, allowing for a clean appearance and compliance with industry standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional cover plate assemblies use externally visible fasteners, then the attachment method is simple and reliable, but the aesthetic appeal deteriorates and modern design standards are not met
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener is extracted from the visible surface of the cover plate and relocated to the rear side, where it is concealed by the peripheral rim. The cover plate is attached to the electrical device using fasteners that are hidden from view, eliminating the visual defect while maintaining the attachment function.
Solution Approach 2:
A subplate is introduced as an intermediary component between the electrical device and the cover plate. The subplate provides mounting slots for fasteners that secure the cover plate assembly to the electrical device, while the cover plate's peripheral rim conceals these fasteners, achieving both secure attachment and aesthetic appearance.
2Device complexity
If plastic materials with integral fasteners are used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the harmful factors increase due to non-recyclability and harmful additives
Solution Approach 1:
The cover plate assembly is segmented into separate components: a cover plate, a subplate, and fasteners. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured from recyclable materials such as metal or biodegradable polymers, eliminating the need for harmful additives required in integral plastic fasteners while maintaining structural functionality.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cover plate uses a standard ratio tolerance of 1.4 to 1, then the manufacturing precision is maintained, but the adaptability to different electrical device configurations is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The subplate is designed with multiple mounting slots that can accommodate different fastener configurations and electrical device mounting patterns. This universal design allows the same cover plate assembly to be adapted to various electrical device configurations while maintaining the standard 1.4 to 1 ratio tolerance for dimensional precision.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical cover plate assembly has a subplate, a cover plate, and a fastener. The subplate has a first locating feature and a tab, and is sized to be mounted to an electrical device via attachment points associated with the electrical device. The cover plate is sized to extend over the subplate, and forms a second locating feature positioned to cooperate with the first locating feature to locate the cover plate relative to the subplate. The cover plate defines a threaded aperture extending through a peripheral rim of the cover plate and positioned to be aligned with the tab. A threaded fastener cooperates with the threaded aperture and engages the cover plate and the tab of the subplate to fasten the cover plate to the subplate.