Universal Ring and Plate Assembly for Electrical Box Depth Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical boxes and rings require precise wall thickness determination before installation, leading to costly and time-consuming adjustments when changes occur during construction, and existing adjustable rings are complex and expensive, necessitating teardown for corrections.
Innovation Solution
A universal ring with stackable plates of varying thicknesses that can be secured to the electrical box, allowing for adjustable depth without removing drywall or other wall materials, enabling easy adaptation to changing wall thicknesses without the need for multiple depth rings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If standard fixed-depth rings are used, then installation is simple and cost-effective, but the system lacks adaptability when wall thickness changes occur during construction
Solution Approach 1:
The ring system is segmented into multiple thin plates (e.g., three 1/8-inch plates) that can be stacked independently. Each plate can be added or removed individually to adjust the total depth, allowing adaptation to different wall thicknesses without requiring a completely different ring assembly. This segmentation enables flexible configuration while maintaining simple individual components.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring system transitions from a fixed-depth design to a dynamic, adjustable-depth design. The stacked plates can be easily added or removed to change the total depth of the ring assembly, allowing the system to adapt to changing wall thickness requirements during construction without becoming mechanically complex.
2Adaptability or versatility
If deeper rings are used to accommodate thicker walls, then adaptability improves, but cost and availability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of manufacturing expensive, deep single-piece rings in various depths, the system segments the depth requirement into multiple thin, standard-depth plates. These thin plates are inexpensive to manufacture and widely available, yet when stacked together they achieve the equivalent depth of expensive custom rings while maintaining ease of manufacture and availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses multiple inexpensive thin plates that can be easily replaced or adjusted if needed. Rather than investing in expensive, specialized deep rings, the solution employs cheap, standard-depth plates that can be freely combined and reconfigured, reducing cost while maintaining adaptability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable rings are used to permit depth adjustment, then adaptability improves, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable ring mechanism is replaced by a simple stack of independent plates. Each plate is a separate, simple component that can be independently added or removed. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex adjustable mechanisms while achieving the same adaptability through modular assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system achieves dynamic adjustability not through mechanical adjustment mechanisms but through the dynamic addition or removal of stacked plates. This approach provides adjustable depth capability while keeping each individual component simple and the overall system less complex than traditional adjustable rings.
4Manufacturing precision
If ring installation occurs before drywall installation, then proper depth positioning is possible, but loss of time occurs when wall thickness changes require ring removal and replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The ring system is segmented into multiple thin plates that can be easily added or removed. This segmentation allows for quick adjustments by simply adding or removing plates rather than removing and replacing entire rings, significantly reducing the time required to adapt to wall thickness changes while maintaining precise depth positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The stacked plate system provides dynamic adjustability that allows for quick modifications during construction. When wall thickness changes occur, the system can be rapidly adjusted by adding or removing plates rather than performing time-consuming removal and replacement operations, reducing time loss while maintaining positioning accuracy.
5Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different depth rings are manufactured to accommodate various wall thicknesses, then adaptability improves, but device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of manufacturing and managing inventory of multiple deep rings in various depths, the system segments the solution into multiple thin plates of standard depth. These thin plates can be stacked in different combinations to achieve various total depths, providing the same adaptability while simplifying manufacturing and reducing inventory complexity to just a few standard plate thicknesses.
Data Source
AI summary
A universal ring and plate assembly is disclosed for use with an electrical or utility box. The universal ring and plate design can achieve any finish wall thickness by stacking plates and securing them to the universal ring, even after the drywall, tile, stone and/or other wall materials have been installed. The universal ring and plate simplifies the current installation process, eliminates the need for the multiple different depth rings, and accommodates all changes to the finished wall thickness by the owner, architect or builder, without having to tear down portions of the finished wall.