Mounting Pedestal for Utilities

The present invention relates to mounting pedestals for utilities, and more particularly to a mounting pedestal adapted for mounting in a safe, compact, unique and novel relationship an electrical power box, an electric meter, a telephone box, a telephone jack, and gas meter for conveniently furnishing such utilities to a mobile home.

Heretofore, electrical power, telephone service, and gas have been provided for mobile homes through separate lines and conduits leading from meters and junction boxes supported in the vicinity of the mobile home but at separate locations selected by each utility company. In trailer parks, if there were no conveniently located tree or utility pole in proximity to the mobile home, it was necessary for each utility company to drive a post into the ground to support the meter or junction box for servicing one or more nearby mobile homes. This resulted in a tangled web of electrical wires, telephone wires, and gas lines. Further, when a mobile home is removed from its parking site, each of the utilities must be disconnected and, if the meters or junction boxes were mounted upon the mobile home itself, they had to be physically removed therefrom at considerable cost of labor.

Each utility company hesitated to mount its equipment upon a post or pole provided by another utility company. If a single mounting pedestal were provided by the owner of the trailer court, it was necessary to secure clearance from the telephone company, the gas company, and the electrical power company, from the state trailer park licensing authority, and from the appropriate licensing authority of the municipality or township within which the trailer park was located, before two or more utilities could install their equipment in such close proximity to each other, for reasons of safety.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved mounting pedestal for utilities adapted to operatively support in a safe, convenient relationship, electrical power, telephone, television, and gas service equipment for a mobile home in a manner which permits convenient connection and disconnection of such services to the mobile home. A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting pedestal for utilities which is inexpensive, easily constructed, and which meets the safety requirements of all major utility companies and conventional building and safety codes.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my improved mounting pedestal for utilities, showing in dotted lines the electrical power box, electrical meter, telephone box, gas meter, and electrical ground wire supported thereby.

FIG. 2 is a front view, partially in section, of a portion of a mobile home and surrounding ground area, showing the general manner in which utility equipment and connections are supported and provided by my invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of my invention.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of my invention.

FIG. 5 is a right elevation view of my invention.

FIG. 6 is a left elevation view of my invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an electrical meter taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an electrical power outlet taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a utility mounting pedestal, electrical box, and electrical meter taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but showing a one hundred ampere electrical power outlet in use with my invention in place of a fifty ampere outlet.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in which like characters are employed to designate like parts throughout the same, I provide an elongated, hollow, metal post 10, preferably having a cross-section three inches by three inches, and painted with a rust proof paint or otherwise protected against rusting. Post 10 is of sufficient length to be supported upright when buried or driven into the ground, and to extend upwardly above the ground a sufficient distance to conveniently support utility meters and junction boxes thereon as more particularly hereinafter described. In practice, I have found it convenient to make post 10 eight feet, more or less, in length, to have it extend approximately four feet six inches into the ground, and to extend approximately forty-two inches above the surface of the ground.

An L-shaped mounting bracket 12 is welded or otherwise secured atop post 10, as best shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6. As best shown in FIGS. 1, 7, 8 and 10, the upright portion of bracket 12 is drilled with nine holes, each adapted to receive a machine screw and positioned to correspond with the standard mounting screw bolt apertures provided in the rear surface of a conventional electric power meter 14 and either a conventional fifty ampere electrical power box 16 or a conventional one hundred ampere electrical box 16'. In Michigan, the conventional electrical meter utilized by the electric utility companies requires the use of four apertures 20, 20, 20, 20, to receive machine screws 22, 22, 22, 22. The conventional fifty ampere electrical box 16 available for use in this same area requires three apertures 24, 24, 24 to receive machine screws 26, 26, 26 extending through corresponding apertures in the box. A pair of additional apertures 28, 28 are also provided in bracket 12 to receive the upper pair of machine screws 26', 26' of a conventional one hundred ampere electrical power box 16' when such a larger box is used instead of a fifty ampere electrical power box 16.

A larger aperture 30 is also drilled in the upright portion of bracket 12 in a position of mutual alignment with the conventional knock-out apertures (not shown) conventionally provided at the rear of meter 14 and power box 16 or 16'. When the meter and either power box are supported upon bracket 12 as hereinabove described, and with the knock-out apertures of the meter and box removed, a conventional threaded raceway 32 is secured through the knock-out apertures and aperture 30 of bracket 12, and secured in the usual manner, thus providing a passage for electrical wires between meter 14 and power box 16 or 16', and further securing the meter and power box together and to bracket 12.

The conventional ground terminal 33 provided in power boxes 16 and 16' is grounded by a ground wire 34 which extends downwardly through an aperture 36 in the bottom portion of bracket 12, and through the interor of hollow post 10, and emerges through an aperture 38 drilled in a wall of the post at a point which lies underground when the post is in use. As best shown in FIG. 2, ground wire 34 is connected, in turn, to one of the conventional underground metal water .[..[.pipe.]..]. .Badd.pipes .Baddend.40 provided for the mobile home 42 to which the utility services are provided, and to the conventional ground wire connection 44 of the mobile home itself. This combination insures a positive grounding of the mobile home appliance, the post, the power box, power meter, telephone box and gas .Badd.meter .Baddend.mounted upon, and themselves grounded to.Badd., .Baddend.the post.

Electrical power is supplied to meter 14 through three-conventional electrical wires generally indicated at 50. After metering, the electric current passes by electrical wires generally indicated at 52 through raceway 32 into power box 16. A flexible, weatherproof electrical cord 54 then conducts the electrical current from power box 16 to the conventional electrical power inlet (not shown) of mobile home 42. Electrical wires 50 are preferably shielded by an electrical conduit 56 extending from the bottom of meter 14 downwardly along post 10 to a point below ground, and extending thence to a transformer or other conventional electrical power distribution point maintained by the electrical power company.

As best shown in FIG. 6, the left side of post 10 is provided with a pair of apertures adapted to receive self-threading screws or toggle bolts 60, 60 for supporting thereon a conventional telephone service box 62. An additional aperture 64 is provided in post 10 immediately below box 62 to receive conventional telephone service wires 66 and permitting same to extend downwardly within the post to aperture 38 from which they emerge and extend underground to a convenient location for connection to the main telephone service line. A smaller aperture (not shown) is drilled into post 10 adjacent to aperture 64 and tapped to receive a machine screw 67 by which the conventional ground wire 68 for box 62 may be fastened to the post. The lead-in wires for conveying telephone service from box 62 to mobile home 42 are contained in a conventional flexible, weatherproof cable 69 and are connected to the conventional telephone inlet (not shown) of mobile home 42 in the usual manner.

An additional pair of apertures are provided in the right side of post 10 to receive self-threading screws or toggle bolts 76, 76 for securing a conventional gas meter box 78 to the post as best shown in FIG. 5. Bracing means generally indicated at 80 in FIG. 5 is conventionally provided within the gas meter box 78 to facilitate mounting same. A gas inlet pipe 82 extends from meter 78 downwardly into the ground, and from thence to the conventional distribution lines of the gas company, to supply gas under pressure to the meter. Metered gas is, in turn, conducted from meter 78 by a gas pipe 84 to the conventional gas inlet (not shown) of mobile home 42.

As an optional feature, a conventional television antenna connection 86 may be mounted upon post 10, preferably below telephone box 62 as shown in FIG. 6, and a television antenna cable .[..[.extend.]..]. .Badd.extends .Baddend.through an aperture (not shown) in the post, downwardly through the interior of the post, and outwardly through aperture 38 (or a separate aperture, if preferred), underground to the common television antenna of a central antenna system providing service for several mobile homes.

It will be particularly noted that the spatial arrangements of meter 14, power box 16, mounting bracket 12, .[..[.aperture.]..]. .Badd.apertures .Baddend.30 and 36, ground wire 34, and aperture 38, all cooperate to provide a structurally strong, easily assembled, and perfectly grounded assembly for the purpose intended. Gas meter 78 and telephone box 62, being mounted on opposite .[..[.side.]..]. .Badd.sides .Baddend.of post 10, are physically separated and yet permanently grounded by common post 10 to which they are both fastened. The service lines and pipes for all three utilities extend underground from post 10 or immediately adjacent thereto to the conventional distribution lines or pipes of the utility companies, thus being protected againts damage by moving vehicles and mobile homes being moved into and out of the trailer park. Lines 54, .[..[.68.]..].69, and .Badd.84, which conduct utility services from the mounting pedestal to mobile home 42.Badd., .Baddend.and ground wire 34, may be easily disconnected at their respective conventional points of connection to the mobile home when it is desired to remove the mobile home from the site.

My invention has received approval of Michigan Bell Telephone Company, Consumers Power Company, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, the Michigan Mobile Home Association, the National Mobile Home Association, the Mobile Homes Manufactures Association Park Division, and the Michigan State Electrical Adminstration. It is accordingly adapted for use in compliance with the strictest building and safety codes, and hence provides assurance to all utility companies, licensing authorities, trailer park operators and mobile home owners of maximum safety, convenience, ease of installation, and rapid and convenient connection and disconnection of utility services to a mobile home.