Mounting bracket with bendable tabs for electrical boxes

A mounting bracket for electrical boxes, the mounting bracket comprising:

• a mounting body that defines:
• an access opening extending from a front side of the mounting bracket to a rear side of the mounting bracket, to provide access to an interior of an electrical box secured on the rear side of the mounting bracket, the access opening including an interior perimeter that includes a first side and a second side that is opposite the first side and spaced from the first side along an insertion direction;
• elongate openings configured to receive fasteners, in the insertion direction, to attach the electrical box to the mounting bracket;
• and
• a bendable tab located along the second side of the interior perimeter, with a pre-formed bend feature defining a bend axis that is transverse to the insertion direction,
• the bendable tab being bendable rearward, about the bend axis, and being configured to engage an interior side of a wall of the electrical box, when bent rearward, to secure the electrical box on the rear side of the mounting bracket by blocking movement of the electrical box in a removal direction opposite the insertion direction.

A method of installing an electrical box on a mounting bracket, the method comprising:

• providing a mounting bracket having a mounting body that includes:
• an access opening extending from a front side of the mounting bracket to a rear side of the mounting bracket, the access opening including an interior perimeter that includes a first side and a second side that is opposite the first side;
• a first set of elongate openings configured to receive first fasteners to attach a first electrical box to the mounting bracket in a first insertion direction from the second side toward the first side;
• a second set of elongate openings configured to receive second fasteners to attach a second electrical box to the mounting bracket in a second insertion direction;
• a first bendable tab located along the first side of the interior perimeter, with a first pre-formed bend feature defining a first bend axis that extends along the first side and is transverse to the first insertion direction, the first bendable tab including a tapered engagement surface facing toward the access opening, the tapered engagement surface extending obliquely relative to the first bend axis;
• and
• a second bendable tab located along the second side of the interior perimeter, with a second pre-formed bend feature defining a second bend axis;
• selecting an electrical box from a set of electrical boxes including the first electrical box and the second electrical box;
• sliding the selected electrical box in the first insertion direction inserting a plurality of fasteners engaged with the selected electrical box into a corresponding set of elongate openings in the mounting body, including a first set of elongate openings for the first electrical box or a second set of elongate openings for the second electrical box;
• translating the fasteners along the first or second insertion direction, respectively, of the corresponding elongate openings to secure the selected electrical box to the mounting body, with a front opening of the selected electrical box aligned with the access opening;
• and
• after translating the fasteners along the first insertion direction to secure the selected electrical box to the mounting body, selectively bending, based on the selected electrical box:
• the first bendable tab rearward about the first bend axis to engage an interior side of a wall of the first electrical box, with the tapered engagement surface engaging the wall at a progressively increasing depth corresponding to an increasing degree of bending of the first bendable tab, to block movement of the first electrical box in a direction away from the first side and toward the second side and thereby secure the first fasteners within the first set of elongate openings, or
• the second bendable tab rearward about the second bend axis to engage the second electrical box, to block movement of the second electrical box and thereby secure the second fasteners within the second set of elongate openings.