Plug-in receptacle-circuit breaker device having unitary housing

Claim 2

A power outlet device removably mountable in an electric power distribution panel, said device including a receptacle section, a first circuit breaker section, and a second circuit breaker section; unitary generally block-like molded insulating housing means for said sections; said circuit breaker Sections being positioned side by side and having a manual operating handle connection extending forward of said housing means for manually operating both of said circuit breaker sections to open and closed positions at the same time; said receptacle section being positioned adjacent one end of said circuit breaker sections in abutting relation therewith; each of said circuit breaker sections having a line terminal disposed at the other end thereof; said other end being at an end of said housing means remote from said receptacle section; said receptacle section including first, second, third and fourth elements aligned with respective first, second, third and fourth openings in the front of said housing means to be engaged by plug prongs, of a single plug, inserted into said receptacle section through said openings; electrical connections within said housing means directly connecting said first and second elements to said first and second circuit breaker sections, respectively, at their first ends; third and fourth plug-in type neutral and grounding terminals connected to said third and fourth elements, respectively, and accessible for engagement from the rear of said housing means.

Claim 3

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 1 in which the housing means includes individual molded housings for the respective first and second circuit breaker sections which are connected to form a sub-assembly; and retainer means mechanically connecting said sub-assembly to said receptacle section to form a unitary structure.

Claim 4

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 2 in which the retainer means includes a retainer member fastened to one of said sub-assembly and said receptacle section and providing a hook-like blocking means cooperating with formations of the other of said sub-assembly and said receptacle section.

Claim 5

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 3 in which one end of the retainer member is fastened directly to the receptacle section and the hook-like blocking means, disposed at the other end of the retainer member, extend between the housings of the circuit breaker sections.

Claim 6

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 4 in which the retainer member is disposed within the region bounded by said housing means.

Claim 7

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 3 in which the housing means for both of said circuit breaker sections and said receptacle section are provided with complementary interengaging formations for operatively locating said sub-assembly relative to said receptacle section.

Claim 8

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 2 in which each of said circuit breaker sections is an individually housed single pole unit of identical construction having automatic overload trip means.

Claim 9

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 7 in which there is a means tying said circuit breaker sections together so that automatic tripping of one of said circuit breaker sections due to an overload in this section will cause the other of said circuit breaker sections to open.

Claim 10

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 1 in which the first element, the second element, the neutral terminal and the grounding terminal are of substantially the same size and construction including a pair of jaws for engaging a conductor therebetween.

Claim 11

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 1 in which each of said circuit breaker sections includes an opening at said one end for venting of arcing gases; said housing of said receptacle section having chamber means at the rear thereof communicating with said openings of said circuit breaker sections.

Claim 12

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 1 in which each of the line terminals is of a plug-in type construction.

Claim 13

A power outlet device removably mountable in an electric power distribution panel; said device including a receptacle section and a circuit breaker section; a unitary housing structure including a relatively narrow housing portion for said circuit breaker section, a line terminal at one end Of said housing portion and a load terminal at the other end of said housing portion; means securing said sections together with said load terminal adjacent said receptacle section; said receptacle section including first, second, and third plug prong engaging elements, said unitary housing structure also including another housing portion for said receptacle section, said elements being disposed within said another housing portion in alignment with prong receiving openings in a front surface of said another housing portion, first and second plug-in type connectors supported by said another housing portion at the rear thereof and electrically connected to the respective first and second elements; and means disposed within said housing structure and electrically connecting said load terminal to said third element; said housing portion for said circuit breaker section being no wider than half the width of said another housing portion of the receptacle section; said another housing portion at the rear thereof being provided with first and second transverse parallel slots; said first and second connectors extending into the respective first and second slots where they are accessible for engagement with respective ground and neutral conductors of an electric distribution panel.

Claim 14

A power outlet device removably mountable in an electric power distribution panel; said device including a receptacle section and a circuit breaker section; a unitary housing structure including a relatively narrow housing portion for said circuit breaker section, a line terminal at one end Of said housing portion and a load terminal at the other end of said housing portion; means securing said sections together with said load terminal adjacent said receptacle section; said receptacle section including first, second, and third plug prong engaging elements, said unitary housing structure also including another housing portion for said receptacle section, said elements being disposed within said another housing portion in alignment with prong receiving openings in a front surface of said another housing portion, first and second plug-in type connectors supported by said another housing portion at the rear thereof and electrically connected to the respective first and second elements; and means disposed within said housing structure and electrically connecting said load terminal to said third element; said housing portion for said circuit breaker section being no wider than half the width of said another housing portion of the receptacle section; said another housing portion at the rear thereof being provided with first and second transverse parallel slots; said first and second connectors extending into the respective first and second slots where they are accessible for engagement with respective ground and neutral conductors of an electric distribution panel.

Claim 15

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 12 in which the transverse parallel slots extend the full width of the another housing portion.

Claim 16

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 12 in which each of the connectors is of female plug-in type construction.

Claim 17

A power outlet device as set forth in claim 12 in which said line terminal is of a plug-in type construction and said housing portion at the rear corner thereof remote from the receptacle section is provided with slot means aligned with said line terminal; said slot means being in a plane perpendicular to said slots.