Electrical receptacle of molded body construction

A general purpose type of duplex receptacle, comprising:

• a receptacle housing of generally overall rectangular shape composed of an electrical insulating material and including a back cover portion, a front cover, and two at least substantially parallel side covers, one of said side covers hinged to the front cover to pivot relative thereto toward said receptacle housing;
• first and second groups of apertures arranged in mutually spaced-apart relationship extending inwardly of the front of said receptacle body, each group of apertures accommodating the male blades of a male plug insertable into one of the groups, a plurality of female contacts mounted in said housing and composed of electrically conductive material, each of said female contacts mounted in alignment with a different one of the apertures and facing frontwardly for making electrical contact with a corresponding blade of a male plug;
• insulation severing terminals composed of electrically conductive material mounted in the receptacle body, said terminals having respective insulation severing portions facing outwardly relative to at least one of said side covers,
• means for electrically connecting a first one of said female contacts in the first group of apertures with a first one of said insulation severing terminals and means for electrically connecting a second one of said female contacts in the second group of apertures with a second one of said insulation severing terminals;
• said one side cover having engagement means, operative when said at least one side cover is pivoted to push into said terminals insulated conductors having unstripped free ends placed at the terminals to cause severing of the conductor insulation by said terminals and making electrical contact between the respective terminals and conductor wires;
• and
• conductor strain relief means mounted on said one side cover for engaging the conductor insulation to resist removal of the conductors from the receptacle.

A housing for an electrical wiring device composed of an electrical insulating material comprising:

• an elongated frontal member having substantially parallel, opposed side edges and a longitudinal axis extending substantially midway between said side edges, said frontal member having a plurality of apertures extending therethrough, first and second ones of the apertures positioned substantially symmetrically relative to said longitudinal axis for accommodating power and neutral contact blades, respectively, and a third one of said apertures being substantially aligned with said longitudinal axis to accommodate a ground contact blade;
• first, second and third cover members;
• web hinges integral with said frontal member and the cover members for pivotally connecting the first cover member to one side edge of said frontal member and for connecting said second and third cover members to a second edge of said frontal member in substantially juxtaposed relationship;
• said cover members being moveable independently of one another from an open position wherein access is provided to the housing interior to a closed position wherein the housing interior is partially enclosed thereby, said first and second cover members being moveable about the axes of the connecting web hinges in respective planes which include the power and neutral apertures, respectively, and said third cover member being moveable about the axis of its connecting web hinge in a plane which includes the ground aperture.

A duplex receptacle, comprising:

• a receptacle body having a plurality of opposing side walls and a rear wall joined to said side walls;
• a front cover mounted on said side walls;
• said receptacle body and said front cover composed of a plastic insulating material;
• a yoke composed of an elongated strip of electrically conductive material for grounding the receptacle, said yoke mounted on said rear wall of said receptacle body and having the opposite ends thereof extending frontwardly adjacent different ones of said side walls to a position adjacent said front cover;
• a grounding contact electrically connected to said yoke and communicating with an aperture extending through said front cover;
• two pairs of metallic projections joined to said yoke and extending frontwardly from said yoke;
• a plurality of surfaces defining slots in the interior of said front cover, said projections entering said slots and bearing against the surfaces thereof to secure said front cover to said receptacle body;
• the periphery of said receptacle body being recessed to allow for the passage of said projections toward said front cover;
• each of said pairs of said projections mounted adjacent a different end of said yoke;
• and,
• a barbed element on the end of each of said projections for engaging a surface defining a slot in said front cover.

A duplex receptacle comprising:

• a frontal portion, two opposite side portions and a rear portion composed of electrical insulating material;
• a ground terminal mounted in one of said side portions;
• a plurality of power terminals and a plurality of neutral terminals for a plurality of electrical circuits feeding electrical power to and/or through the receptacle mounted in respective opposite side portions;
• at least two movable side covers composed of electrical insulating material overlying said opposite side portions for covering said plurality of power and neutral terminals, respectively, and a third side cover for covering said ground terminal;
• a plurality of web hinges pivotally connecting said side covers to said frontal portion, said hinges being formed as integral parts of said frontal portion and said side covers;
• means formed on each of said side covers for clamping individual electrical conductors connected to different ones of said terminals against displacement;
• and
• a plurality of screw means engaging interior portions of said receptacle body and passing through each of said side covers medially of the ends thereof for driving said side covers toward the conductors as the corresponding screw means is tightened.

An electrical wiring device to which an electrical cord including a plurality of individual, insulated conductors may be electrically wired, the device having a longitudinal axis and comprising:

• a housing including an elongated front cover of substantially rectangular configuration and composed of an electrical insulating material disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the device, said front cover having respective frontal and rearward surfaces and respective first and second side edges;
• a plurality of spaced-apart openings extending substantially perpendicularly through said front cover;
• a plurality of elongated contact blades fixedly mounted in spaced-apart relationship on the rearward surface of said front cover for connection to mating contacts of a second wiring device upon the coupling of the two wiring devices;
• each of said contact blades having a frontward and a rearward end, the frontward end of each blade being disposed in substantial alignment with a respective one of said openings;
• a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within said housing;
• at least two side covers composed of electrical insulating material for enclosing said terminals, each of said side covers having an edge portion;
• a plurality of web hinges joining the edge portions of both of said side covers to said first side edge of said front cover in juxtaposed relationship to form a unitary structure, said hinges mounting said side covers from said first side edge of said front cover for pivotal movement about respective axes which are substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis;
• said terminals extending laterally from the rearward ends of respective ones of said blades toward said side covers.

An electrical duplex receptacle comprising:

• a housing of insulating material having a front plate and a plurality of side plates;
• the insulating material of the front plate forming at least two sets of apertures therethrough, each set of apertures for receiving the blades of an electrical plug;
• said front and side plates being integrally interconnected by a web of said insulating material which forms a hinge connection between said front and side plates, so that said side plates are pivotable toward and away from one another to close and open said housing;
• electrical contact members within said housing aligned with the apertures in said front plate, each of said contact members having an insulation penetrating portion;
• at least two of said insulation penetrating portions facing one of said pivotable side plates;
• a plurality of breakoff conductive members, each connected between an electrical contact member aligned with an aperture of one set and an electrical contact member aligned with an aperture of the second set, to convert said receptacle to a split circuit mode;
• and,
• at least two pusher members formed integral with the interior surface of said one side plate, each pusher member being aligned with one of said insulation penetrating portions, for forcing an insulation-covered conductor against either one or both of said insulation penetrating portions to make electrical connection to said receptacle.

An electrical duplex receptacle comprising:

• a housing of insulating material having a front plate and a plurality of side plates;
• the insulating material of the front plate forming at least two sets of apertures therethrough, each set of apertures for receiving the blades of an electrical plug;
• said front and side plates being integrally interconnected by a web of said insulating material which forms a hinge connection between said front and side plates, so that said side plates are pivotable toward and away from one another to close and open said housing;
• electrical contact members within said housing aligned with the apertures in said front plate, each of said contact members having an insulation penetrating portion;
• at least two of said insulation penetrating portions facing one of said pivotable side plates,
• said front plate including integral, rearwardly extending walls which define open-sided pockets of insulating material each of which borders the area of one of said insulation penetrating portions.
• at least two pusher members on the interior surface of said one side plate, each said pusher member being aligned with one of said insulation penetrating portions, for forcing an insulation-covered conductor against either one or both of said insulation penetrating portions to make electrical connection to said receptacle.

An electrical duplex receptacle comprising:

• a housing of insulating material having a front plate and a plurality of side plates;
• the insulating material of the front plate forming at least two sets of apertures therethrough, each for receiving the blades of an electrical plug;
• said front and side plates being integrally interconnected by a web of said insulating material which forms a hinge connection between said front and side plates, so that said side plates are pivotable toward and away from one another to close and open said housing;
• a separate body member formed of insulating material and having recesses for receiving and holding electrical contact members;
• electrical contact members located within the recesses of said body member and aligned with the apertures in said front plate;
• said front plate having rearwardly extending integral projections which project into recesses in said body member to provide channels to receive electrical wires to be connected to said receptacle;
• and,
• said side plates having surface areas which mate with said rearward projections to enclose the electrical wires, when said side plates are in a closed position.

A duplex receptacle of generally rectangular shape and having front and rear wall portions comprising:

• a plurality of opposing side covers hinged to the front wall portion of the receptacle;
• a plurality of rear cover sections each joined to one of said side covers and extending inwardly toward each other so that the edges thereof lie in opposed spaced-apart positions to form part of the rear wall portion of the receptacle;
• said front cover having apertures extending therethrough;
• said front cover, side covers and rear covers composed of an insulating material and formed as a unitary structure;
• an elongated strip of electrically conductive material mounted on said rear wall portion of said receptacle intermediate the edges of said rear covers and having opposite ends thereof extending frontwardly to a position adjacent said front cover;
• and,
• an electrical contact electrically connected to said strip and communicating with an aperture extending through said front cover.

A method of making a duplex receptacle comprising the steps of:

• forming insulating material into a front plate with at least two sets of apertures therethrough and integral side covers, with the insulating material thinned in the regions where the side covers are attached to the front plate to provide a web hinge connection for each of the side covers,
• forming a separate body member to have pockets to house electrical contact members,
• inserting electrical contacts into the pockets in said body member,
• holding said body member to said front plate with a straplike yoke member,
• attaching said yoke member to the rear surface of said front plate to hold said body member behind said front plate with the contacts in the body member in alignment with the apertures in said front plate, and
• engaging a screw through each of said side covers into said body member for controlling the position of said side covers.