Ceiling fan kit and electrical connector with mounting method

Abstract

A plurality ceiling fan kits comprising one or more pre-wired downrods or a set of pre-wired downrods having internal wiring terminating on one or more ends in wire leads made of electrically conductive materials. Different electrical connectors, for use with the ceiling fan kits and pre-wired downrods, are adapted to electrically couple one or more sets of wiring by pushing in the electrically conductive wire leads into a plurality of ports disposed on the electrical connectors. The electrical connectors may include a jumper for switching between a single- and dual-power supply switch configuration and indicia for identifying the insertion of a wire into a corresponding port. A method of mounting a ceiling fan to a structure having an electrical supply, utilizing the pre-wired downrods and the electrical connectors.

1 . A ceiling fan kit comprising:
 a set of pre-wired downrods, each downrod having a hollow interior, wiring passing through the hollow interior, and terminating on opposite ends in first and second wire leads;   a structure mount configured to mount the pre-wired downrods to a structure;   a fan motor assembly having wiring terminating in a third wire leads;   at least one electrical connector configured to couple to at least one of the first, second or third wire leads; and   a set of blades configured to mount to the fan motor assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 1  wherein the at least one electrical connector comprises a pair of mating electrical connectors, with one of the at least one electrical connectors configured to connect to the first and second wire leads and the other of the at least one electrical connectors configured to connect to one of the third wire leads or an electrical supply. 
     
     
         3 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 2  wherein the pair of mating electrical connectors comprises a pair of mating push-in electrical connectors. 
     
     
         4 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 3  further comprising at least one canopy. 
     
     
         5 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 4  wherein the at least one canopy comprises multiple canopies. 
     
     
         6 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 5  wherein there is a one-to-one correspondence between at least one of the multiple canopies and one of the pre-wired downrods. 
     
     
         7 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 3  further comprising a light unit. 
     
     
         8 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 3  further comprising a remote control. 
     
     
         9 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 3  further comprising a downrod coupler connecting the pre-wired downrods to a hanger bracket. 
     
     
         10 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 9  wherein the downrod coupler is a trilobular ball. 
     
     
         11 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 1  wherein the at least one electrical connector comprises a jumper switch. 
     
     
         12 . A ceiling fan kit for mounting to a structure with a power supply having a power supply wire leads, the kit comprising:
 at least one downrod having a hollow interior and at least a first and second opening providing access to the hollow interior;   wiring having opposing first and second ends, with corresponding first and second wire leads;   a structure mount configured to mount the at least one downrod to a structure;   a fan motor assembly having wiring terminating in a third wire leads; and   a first electrical connector having a releasably connected plug and socket, with each of the plug and socket having push-in ports for receiving the first wire lead and a power supply wire lead, and a jumper switch operably between a first position corresponding to a single power supply switch configuration and a second position corresponding to a dual power supply switch configuration.   
     
     
         13 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 12  wherein one of the plug and the socket comprises at least five push-in ports corresponding to a fan wire, a light wire, two ground wires, and a neutral wire. 
     
     
         14 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 13  wherein the other of the plug and the socket comprises at least six push-in ports corresponding to a fan wire, two light wires, a ground wire, and two neutral wires. 
     
     
         15 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 14  wherein the jumper switch couples the fan wire and the light wire of the one of the plug and the socket in the second position. 
     
     
         16 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 15  wherein the jumper switch is located on the other of the plug and the socket. 
     
     
         17 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 16  further comprising indicia for the push-in ports identifying the corresponding one of the fan wire, the light wire, the ground wire and the neutral wire. 
     
     
         18 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 17  wherein the indicia comprises at least one of a color or an icon. 
     
     
         19 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 18  wherein the indicia comprises both a color and an icon for each of the push-in ports. 
     
     
         20 . The ceiling fan kit of  claim 12  further comprising a second electrical connector having a releasably connected plug and socket, with each of the plug and the socket having push-in ports for receiving the first wire lead and the power supply wire lead.