Installation Box Break Connection for Adjustable Wall Mounting

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing installation boxes with spring lips can be difficult to adjust and position accurately, especially when holes are not drilled exactly, leading to potential misalignment of switches and hindrance in correcting their position during plaster hardening.

Innovation Solution

The installation box features a break connection with a placement protrusion that can be removed and extended along the circumferential wall, allowing for adjustable positioning and secure engagement with the wall, facilitated by a Y-shaped cross-section and angled anchoring edges, enabling precise centering and adjustment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If spring lips are used to center the box in the hole, then the box is secured in position, but the box cannot be adjusted if the hole is not drilled exactly at the correct place

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecuring box in holeVSAvoidadjustability in hole
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The circumferential wall is segmented into multiple removable sections through break connections. These sections can be selectively removed to allow adjustment of the box position in the hole, while remaining sections maintain securing function. This segmentation enables both reliability (through remaining securing sections) and adaptability (through removable sections).

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The break connection allows changing the structural parameter of the circumferential wall from continuous to discontinuous. By breaking specific sections, the box transitions from a fixed centered position to an adjustable position, enabling adaptation to improperly drilled holes while maintaining securing capability through intact sections.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If spring lips are used to hold the box, then the box is secured during plaster hardening, but the spring lips hamper correction in certain directions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecuring box during hardeningVSAvoidease of correction
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The circumferential wall is divided into removable sections via break connections. During installation, sections can be removed to facilitate easy correction and positioning. During plaster hardening, sections can be repositioned or secured to maintain the box in the correct position, thus enabling both ease of operation and reliability at different stages.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of operation

If the placement protrusion extends along the circumferential wall, then engagement with the bounding wall is facilitated, but the break connection requires higher break-off forces

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveengagement with wallVSAvoidbreak-off force
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSForce

Solution Approach 1:

The placement protrusion is extracted as a separate functional element connected to the circumferential wall through the break connection. The protrusion can be removed independently by breaking the connection, allowing engagement with the bounding wall without requiring high forces during normal operation. The break connection is designed to fail at a specific force threshold, separating the engagement function from the structural connection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Measurement precision

If the placement protrusion is used for centering, then the box is positioned in the hole, but the protrusion inadvertently hampers correct positioning when the hole is not drilled exactly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecentering accuracyVSAvoidadaptability to misplaced holes
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The placement protrusion system transitions from a static centering mechanism to a dynamic adjustable system. The break connection allows the protrusion to be removed or repositioned, enabling the box to adapt to holes drilled at different locations. This dynamic capability maintains measurement precision when needed while providing adaptability when the hole position deviates from the ideal location.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP1865583B1Installation box
Publication Date: 2012.01.11 ABB BV
  • EP1865583B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP1865583B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP1865583B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Installation box to be placed in a hole in a wall of a building, comprising a bottom wall, a circumferential wall an edge of which bounding an installation opening, and a placement protrusion at the outside of the circumferential wall for engagement onto a bounding wall of the hole, wherein the placement protrusion forms a unity with the circumferential wall via a break connection.