Watthour meter socket adapter

Claim 2

A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter having a plurality of blade type electrical terminals to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of biased electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for removably receiving the blade type electrical terminals of a socket-type watthour meter in a snap-in connection; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing..].

Claim 3

The watthour meter socket adapter of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.4 .Iaddend.further including: surge protection means mounted within the housing and connectable to earth ground. .[.3. The watthour meter socket adapter of claim 1 wherein the guide means comprises: dividers disposed between each of the individual terminals in the terminal portion and forming slots therebetween; the terminals being slidably disposed within the slots between the dividers; each of the dividers having an outer edge inwardly tapered towards the adajcent slot to provide a surface for guiding the building wiring

Claim 4

conductors into engagement with the terminals in the housing.]. 4. .[.The watthour meter socket adapter of claim 3 further including:.]..Iadd.A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter having a plurality of blade type electrical terminals to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of biased electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for removably receiving the blade type electrical terminals of a socket-type watthour meter in a snap-in connection; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing, the guide means including: dividers disposed between each of the individual terminals in the terminal portion and forming slots therebetween; the terminals being slidably disposed within the slots between the dividers; each of the dividers having an outer edge inwardly tapered towards the adjacent slot to provide a surface for guiding the building wiring conductors into engagement with the terminals in the housing; and .Iaddend. a cover removably disposable into engagement with the terminal portion of the housing; the cover including; a plurality of spaced dividers formed with complimentary shaped outer, inwardly tapering edges to cooperate in an engaged manner with the dividers on the terminal portion of the housing to form the slots for urging inward the building conductors into engagement with the terminals

Claim 5

in the housing. 5. .[.The watthour meter socket adapter of claim 1 further including:.]..Iadd.A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter having a plurality of blade type electrical terminals to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of biased electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for removably receiving the blade type electrical terminals of a socket-type watthour meter in a snap-in connection; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; .Iaddend. a cover removably engageable with the terminal portion of the housing; means for slidably attaching the cover to the housing, the attaching means comprising: complementary formed slot and flange means formed on the watthour meter receiving portion of the housing and the peripheral edges of the cover for

Claim 6

removable insertion of the cover into the housing. 6. The watthour meter socket adapter of claim 5 further including: a removable top; key means lockably insertable through a portion of the top and engageable

Claim 7

with the underlying cover for releasably locking the top to the cover. 7. A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for receiving the terminals of a socket-type watthour meter; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and surge protection means mounted within the housing and connectable to earth ground for protecting the watthour meter from electrical power surges, the surge protection means comprising a pair of wires embedded within the watthour meter receiving portion of the housing and connectable through

Claim 8

with the underlying cover for releasably locking the top to the cover. 7. A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for receiving the terminals of a socket-type watthour meter; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and surge protection means mounted within the housing and connectable to earth ground for protecting the watthour meter from electrical power surges, the surge protection means comprising a pair of wires embedded within the watthour meter receiving portion of the housing and connectable through

Claim 9

the housing to earth ground. 8. The watthour meter socket adapter of claim 7 wherein the wires are mounted in the peripheral edge of the watthour meter receiving portion of the housing. .[.9. A watthour meter socket adapter for mounting a socket-type watthour meter having a plurality of blade type electrical terminals to a building comprising: a housing, the housing including: a watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of biased electrical contacts mounted within the watthour meter receiving portion for removably receiving the blade type electrical terminals of a socket-type watthour meter in a snap-in connection; a terminal portion integrally formed with the watthour meter receiving portion; a plurality of electrical terminals mounted within the terminal portion; a plurality of electrical conductors connected between the contacts in the watthour meter receiving portion and the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing; and guide means formed in the terminal portion of the housing for guiding the electrical wiring conductors of the building into engagement with the terminals in the terminal portion of the housing. .].