Electrical enclosure expandable in the Z direction
View Patent ↗An expandable electrical enclosure system is presented where expansion collars can be serially added to an existing base box to increase the dimension of the enclosure in only the Z direction. A removable cover can be disconnected and connected as each expansion collar is added.
1. An expandable electrical equipment enclosure system comprising,
a) a base box having a front, a back, and outer dimensions X, Y and Z, the base box having a first hinged connector on the front;
b) a collar having outer dimensions X and Y and a ZZ outer dimension, where ZZ is less than or equal to Z, where the collar has a second hinged connector configured to attach to the first connector, and where the collar has a third hinged connector;
c) a first latch positioned on the base collar, the first latch having a first locked mode where the collar and base box are coupled together, and a first unlocked mode where the collar is configured to swing open on the first and second hinged connections;
d) a cover having a fourth hinged connector configured to attach to the third connector; and
e) a second latch positioned on the cover, the second latch having a second locked mode where the collar and base box are coupled together, and a second unlocked mode where the cover is configured to swing open on the third and fourth hinged connections.
2. The system of claim 1 further comprises a second collar having outer dimensions X and Y and a ZZZ dimension, where ZZZ is less than or equal to Z, wherein the second collar has a fifth hinged connector configured to attach to the first and third hinged connectors.
3. The system of claim 2 where the second collar has a sixth hinged connector configured to attach to the fourth hinged connector.
4. The system of claim 2 where ZZZ is equal to ZZ.
5. The system of claim 3 where the cover further comprises a gasket that is configured to form a seal with the front face of the base box.
6. The system of claim 3 where the collar has a gasket on a backside that is configured to form a seal with the front face of the base box.
7. A method of expanding an electrical equipment enclosure in the Z direction comprising,
a) removing a cover from a base box having a front, a back, and X, Y and Z outer dimensions, the base box having a first hinged connector on the front that is configured to removably connect to a second hinged connector on the cover;
b) adding a collar to the front of the base box, where the collar has X and Y outer dimension and a ZZ outer dimension that is less than or equal to the Z dimension, the collar having a third hinged connector configured to attach to the first hinged connector, and the collar having a fourth hinged connector, where the collar includes a first latch having a first locked mode where the collar and base box are coupled together, and a first unlocked mode where the collar is configured to swing open on the first and second hinged connections;
c) connecting the cover to the collar via the third hinged connector and the fourth hinged connector, where the collar includes a second latch having a second locked mode where the collar and base box are coupled together, and a second unlocked mode where the cover is configured to swing open on the third and fourth hinged connections.
8. The method of claim 7 further comprises adding a second collar to the collar to increase the outer dimension only in the Z direction.