1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to an electrical interconnect, for transitioning between round wire electrical power cable and flat conductor undercarpet power cable, profiled for installation and mounting to all standard electrical utility boxes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of undercarpet cable is typically used in office buildings and the like where electrical power must be routed to local areas of the office such as modular office space, or cubicles, and local receptacles are installed there for local power. Round power cable is typically routed down through the walls and terminated within a junction box located just above the floor level. Undercarpet cable is then interconnected to the round power cable, via some type of transition member, and the transition member is installed in the junction box.
Undercarpet cable is virtually flat, typically on the order of 0.025 inch thick, and can carry either three or five conductors, although three conductors are more typical. Each conductor of the undercarpet cable is approximately 0.010 inches thick and 1/2 inch wide. The three conductors are then spaced apart in three elongate rows and insulative material is laminated or extruded over the conductors to comprise a cable assembly. As assembled the cable is typically on the order of three inches in width, and thus, any transition member which interconnects the undercarpet cable conductors to the round power cable conductors, due to the physical requirements of the transition member, is usually wider than the assembled undercarpet cable. Therefore, any junction box which is to house the transition member and the undercarpet cable will be on the order of at least 4 inches in width.
One prior art junction between flat cable and round wire is made along a flat transition member similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,687. The junction box which encloses this transition member is, therefore profiled to accommodate the undercarpet flat cable and the flat termination member. This junction box is, therefore substantially larger and typically more expensive than standard junction used within the electrical industry. The requirement of having a specialized box for enclosing the terminated undercarpet cable detracts from the desirability of using the undercarpet cable.
Another prior art design utilizes a flat transition member but again the junction box must be large enough to accommodate the transition member and the undercarpet cable, therefore this transition member can only be installed in a four inch square junction box.
Still other flat undercarpet to round cable transition members are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,564,256; 4,240,687; 4,289,370; 4,387,949 and 4,446,330.