Electrical Box with Sliding Locking Tabs for Drywall Mounting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrical boxes are difficult to install after drywall or plaster is installed, requiring large holes and traditional fastening methods that complicate the mounting process.
Innovation Solution
An electrical box design featuring four sides with outer and locking tabs that slide into a track system, allowing for secure mounting to a wall without the need for large holes, using spring-biased locking tabs and teeth for alignment and retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional electrical boxes are mounted using nails or screws to wall studs, then secure mounting is achieved, but installation becomes difficult after drywall or plaster is installed requiring large holes
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical box is divided into a one-piece body and separate mounting tabs that can be independently positioned. The tabs extend through the drywall and are secured separately from the main box body, allowing installation through small holes rather than requiring large openings for hammer mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
Mounting tabs serve as intermediary elements between the electrical box and the wall structure. These tabs extend through the drywall and can be secured with small fasteners, acting as a mediator that transfers the mounting function from requiring direct box-to-stud attachment to a tab-to-wall attachment system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If electrical boxes are mounted after drywall installation using traditional methods, then mounting to finished walls is enabled, but large holes must be cut complicating the process
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting function is segmented from the box body into separate tabs that can be inserted through small holes in finished drywall. This segmentation allows the box to be adapted to finished walls without requiring large cutting operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting the box first and then covering it with drywall, the tabs are designed to protrude through the finished drywall surface. This inverts the traditional sequence, allowing the box to be mounted after wall completion using the tabs as access points.
3Strength
If electrical boxes use one-piece structures mounted with fastening devices, then structural integrity is maintained, but installation requires extensive hole cutting
Solution Approach 1:
The box structure is segmented into a one-piece body for structural integrity and separate mounting tabs for installation. The tabs are integrally formed with the box body, maintaining strength while enabling installation through small holes in finished walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting tabs are merged with the box body as an integral one-piece structure, combining the structural integrity of a solid box with the installation flexibility of separate mounting elements. The tabs extend from the box sides and can be secured independently.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical box including at least four sides extending from a bottom to an open top and a front surface, a first outer tab extending from one of the at least four sides and proximate the front surface, a second outer tab extending from one of the at least four sides opposite the first outer tab and proximate the front surface, a first aperture adjacent the first outer tab, a second aperture adjacent the second outer tab, a first locking tab mounted within the first aperture, a second locking tab mounted within the second aperture, and wherein the first and second locking tabs slide towards the front surface for securing a mounting wall between the first outer tab and the first locking tab and between the second outer tab and the second locking tab.