AU710277B3

AU710277B3 - Cable support

Info

Publication number: AU710277B3
Application number: AU23774/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jason Ely Meredith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-04-14
Filing date: 1999-04-14
Publication date: 1999-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 2005-04-14

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Colin Joseph Burton and Jason Meredith Ely

AHEARNS

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, GPO Box 1149 Brisbane, Queensland, 4001 Invention Title: "CABLE SUPPORT" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: -1- CABLE SUPPORT This invention relates to a cable support. The invention has particular application to a cable support for supporting cables, particularly low load power cables but also communications cables in high rise buildings and commercial buildings. The invention may also have application in other situations and possibly could be used for heavy cables in some circumstances.

Low voltage power cables in high rise buildings and other commercial buildings are typically supported on continuous cable trays which have a generally U-shaped cross-section with a base and two side walls. Such trays are generally constructed of galvanised sheet steel and are hung from pairs of spaced hanging rods mounted at one end to the sides of the cable tray and secured at their other ends to the underside of the concrete floor above. Such cable trays are undesirably expensive to produce and install and moreover do not facilitate easy installation of the cables thereon, and generally the power cables must be pulled along their respective trays after the trays have been installed. This is a difficult and time consuming task.

One object of the present invention is to provide a cable support which can be used instead of cable trays in at least some applications at a lower cost. Another object is to provide a cable support which can be fitted in a desired cable supporting location of a building more quickly and easily than known cable trays. Yet another object is to provide a cable support which facilitates easier installation of power cables thereon than on typical cable trays and in particular allows cables to be run -2along the floor and then lifted onto the cable supports. Still a further object is to provide a cable support which allows power cables to be clustered in accordance with appropriate electricity wiring standards and data communications cables to be layed in accordance with the applicable wiring standards.

With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in a cable support having two spaced apart cable supporting portions of substantially U-shaped cross-section and a mounting portion connected to each said cable supporting portion and adapted to be connected to a hanging rod or to the underside of a floor or beam for securing the cable support in a desired location of a building with the cable supporting portions opening upwardly, the inner leg of each U-shaped cable supporting portion being of greater length than the outer leg whereby the upper edges of the outer legs are spaced below the mounting portion, the cable support being so made and arranged that cables may be supported by said cable supporting portions on both sides of said mounting portion and each cable supporting portion having securement means whereby cables may be secured therein in a predetermined desired position. Terms such as upper, lower, base, and side are used herein for the purpose of description and illustration of the invention in the position it would normally be used in supporting cables unless clearly not appropriate and are not intended to limit the cable support to any particular orientation.

Preferably, the mounting portion has a centrally located aperture through which a hanging rod, bolt or screw may pass to secure the cable support in the desired location.

-3- Preferably, the securement means includes pairs of spaced apart apertures whereby cable ties may be passed around a cable and through the apertures to hold the cable in the predetermined desired position in the cable supporting portion. It is also preferred that the pairs of apertures be arranged to allow clustering of power cables in spaced apart groups to meet wiring standards particularly in TPS installations. In a preferred form the apertures are arranged to allow the cables to be clustered and secured in the corners of the U-shaped cable supporting portions, one aperture being provided in the outer leg, one in the inner leg and two spaced apart in the base of the U. In a more preferred form one or more additional apertures are provided in the inner leg to allow another cluster of cables to be secured thereagainst above the cluster in the inner corner. In a preferred form the cable support is folded from a strip of galvanised steel strip which is 50mm wide and 1.6mm thick resulting in a cable support 50mm long in the direction of cable run and of sufficient strength to support four clusters of three TPS power cables as is often required. Suitably, such length is sufficient to avoid cable crushing in normal use but is short enough to enable easy installation in most locations. Of course, the supports may be longer or shorter but we believe that a length of about 50mm offers significant advantages. The strip may include ribs or the like to increase its resistance to bending while maintaining a generally planar upper face in the base of the U so that cable damage does not occur.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a cable support having two spaced apart cable supporting portions of substantially U-shaped cross-section and a mounting portion -4connected to each said cable supporting portion and adapted to be connected to a hanging rod or to the underside of a floor or beam for securing the cable support in a desired location of a building with the cable supporting portions opening upwardly, and securement means for the securement of cables to the respective cable supporting portions to prevent them moving from a desired position therein, said securement means being adapted to secure two or more clusters of cables in each cable supporting portion.

Preferably, the securement means are pairs of apertures as previously described which allow clustering of cables in predetermined desired positions.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a method of laying cable as described herein using cable supports as described herein.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a cable support according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the cable support of Fig. 1 along line 1-1; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cable support of Fig. i.

The cable support 10 illustrated in the drawings has a length in the direction of cable run of about 50mm and is cut from a coil of 50mm wide galvanised steel strip 1.6mm thick which is then folded to the shape illustrated.

The cable support includes two spaced apart cable supporting portions 11 and 12 which depend from a mounting portion 13. Each U-shaped cable supporting portion has a base 14, an outer leg and an inner leg 16 which is of significantly greater length than the outer leg and the cross-sectional shape of the cable supporting portion in fact approaches a j-shape. Advantageously the inner and outer legs diverge at an enclosed angle of about 1040 which assists in easy location of the cables thereon and easy clustering as will be described later, but of course other angles would also be satisfactory.

Apertures 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 are provided in each cable supporting portion along the width-wise centre line and are adapted to receive cable ties therethrough for securing cables to the cable support. In this particular embodiment the apertures are spaced apart in pairs by suitable distances for supporting clusters of three power cables in a normal TPS installation in the corners of the U and as well a further three cables against the inner leg if desired. The cables can be clustered in this manner in both cable supporting portions and suitably the distance between clusters meets present wiring standards for typical commercial building installations. It will be seen in Fig. 2 that all apertures are 7mm in diameter and that apertures 23 and 24 are spaced apart by about 23mm which will give the desired horizontal spacing of clusters secured in the inner corners of the U. These two apertures are spaced from the respective outer and inner legs 15 and 16 by 20.5mm. Aperture 21 is spaced from the base 14 by about 22mm while aperture 24 is spaced from the base by about 25mm. The additional aperture is spaced from aperture 24 by about 40mm and aperture 24 will accept two cable ties therethrough for securing a cluster above and below.

-6- An aperture 26 is provided centrally of the mounting portion 13 and adapted to receive therethrough a hanging rod or a bolt for securing the cable support to the underside of a building floor.

In this embodiment the galvanised steel is powder coated which not only improves the aesthetic appeal of the cable support but also smooths the edges so that cable damage is prevented or at least inhibited. In an alternative embodiment the edges could be rounded.

It will be appreciated that various modifications can be made without departing from the invention, for example, the corners 28 maybe rounded so that the upper edge 27 becomes a continuous curve to lessen the possibility of cable damage during installation, and ribs may be formed in suitable places to increase the strength of the unit or to allow lighter gauge material to be used with equivalent strength.

In use, the cable supports are mounted to hanging rods via aperture 26 or directly to the underside of the floor immediately above. The cable can then be run on the ground beside the cable supports and then simply lifted into the respective cable supporting portions over the edge 27 for securement singly or in clusters by cable ties or other suitable fixing means. Typically the cable supports would be spaced apart by 500mm to 1200mm depending on cable size and in the case of communications cables may be spaced further apart. At corners, the supports may be located more closely and placed to guide the cables around the corner.

It should be understood that while the foregoing description has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, -7modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cable support having two spaced apart cable supporting portions of substantially U-shaped cross-section and a mounting portion connected to each said cable supporting portion and adapted to be connected to a hanging rod or to the underside of a floor or beam for securing the cable support in a desired location of a building with the cable supporting portions opening upwardly, the inner leg of each U-shaped cable supporting portion being of greater length than the outer leg whereby, in use, the upper edges of the outer legs are spaced below the mounting portion, the cable support being so made and arranged that cables may be supported by said cable supporting portions on both sides of said mounting portion and adapted to be mounted in line with and spaced from other like cable supports whereby cables may span between the respective cable supporting portions of adjacent cable supports, each cable supporting portion having two pairs of spaced apart apertures, one of said pairs of apertures being arranged to allow one set of cables to be clustered and secured in one corner of the U-shaped cable supporting portion by a cable tie passing through the apertures of said one pair and around one set of cables and the other of said pairs of apertures being arranged to allow a second set of cables to be clustered and secured in the other corner of the U-shaped cable supporting portion by a cable tie passing through the apertures of said other pair and around the second set of cables. 9

2. A cable support according to Claim i, wherein said one pair of apertures includes an aperture in said outer leg and an aperture in the base of the U joining said inner leg and said outer leg, and said other pair of apertures includes an aperture in said inner leg and an aperture in the base of the U.

3. A cable support according to Claim 2, wherein one or more additional apertures are provided in said inner leg to allow another cluster of cables to be secured against said inner leg. Dated this 20th Day of July 1999 COLIN JOSEPH BURTON and JASON ELY MEREDITH By their Patent Attorneys AHEARNS