AU717523B2

AU717523B2 - Hose mounting bracket

Info

Publication number: AU717523B2
Application number: AU50419/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Andrew John May
Original assignee: Spiral Guard Australia Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Spiral Guard Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1996-11-29
Filing date: 1997-11-28
Publication date: 2000-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-28
Also published as: AU5041998A

Description

PCAT 9 7 10 0 1 RECEIVEO 07-S 1998

TITLE

"Hose Mounting Bracket" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved mounting bracket.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION Existing mounting brackets, in particular those used in the mounting of hydraulic hoses and lines, have consisted of devices such as C clamps. These clamps, usually made from metal, were difficult to tighten quickly and easily and had a tendency to rub against the hydraulic lines or wrapping. Hydraulic lines and wrappings are commonly made from a plastics or rubber material and premature wear to the lines and wrapping was caused by the use of these clamps. Further, previously known clamps had only a limited adjustability and therefore a variety of sizes of the known clamps were needed.

The present invention seeks to alleviate some, if not all, of the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a mounting bracket for receiving, in use, a strap for holding a conduit, characterised in that the mounting bracket includes a support means located, in use, adjacent a, strap and a conduit held in the strap, and a tensioning means including a displacement member movable between a first position adjacent the support means and a second position remote from the support means, the displacement member being located, in use, intermediate a strap and a conduit held in the strap, the arrangement being such that when the displacement member is moved from the first position to the second 7 0 J SHEET

IPF.A/AU

PC'A 7 0 0 8 0 RECEIVED 0 3 SEP 1998 position, a portion of the said strap adjacent the displacement member is pushed away from the support means by the displacement member and an increased tension is thereby applied to the said strap.

In a preferred embodiment the mounting bracket of the present invention includes at least one curved support surface.

i AM NDED SHEET

IPEAAU

WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 shows a side view of the present invention; Figure 2 shows an upper perspective view of the mounting bracket as seen in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the mounting bracket in use; Figure 4 shows a schematic end view of the mounting bracket of the present invention with a tensioning member disengaged; and Figure 5 shows a schematic end view of the mounting bracket of the present invention with a tensioning member engaged.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a mounting bracket 10. The mounting bracket 10 includes a body 12, tensioning means 14 and support means 16. The body 12 includes an attachment means 18, a first end 20, a second end 22 and at least one connecting member 24, connecting the first end 20 to the second end 22.

The tensioning means 14 includes an offset displacement member 30, a plurality of radius arms 32 and at least one engagement means 34. The displacement member is attached to the radius arms 32 of the tensioning means 14. The radius arms 32 are attached to the engagement means 34 by shafts (not shown) which protrude through apertures (not shown) in the first end 20 and second end 22 of the body 12 as seen in Figure 1. The shafts act as an axis of rotation of the radius arms 32, the displacement member 30 and the engagement means 34.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (Rule 26) WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 3 The radius arms 32 and thus the tensioning means 14 rotate from a first position 37 to a second position 38 as seen in Figures 4 and 5. The rotation of the tensioning means 14 is limited by at least one stop means 36 situated on the inside of the first end and/or the second end 22. Preferably the stop means 36 is in an over-centre position whereby the displacement member 30 is retained in the second position due to the over centre relationship with the axis of rotation of the displacement member unless the displacement member 30 is manually caused to move to the first position.

The support means 16 are preferably rounded or curved at the ends, as can be seen in Figure 1.

The body 12 of the mounting bracket 10, the tensioning means 14 and the support means 16 are made from, for example a metal such as steel.

In Figure 3 there is shown the mounting bracket 10 in use. The mounting bracket is attached to a conduit by a strap 42. The conduit may be in the form of a line protector 40 as shown. The strap 42 includes a free end 46 and is fixedly attached at the other end to an adjustment mechanism 44. The adjustment mechanism 44 includes apertures (not shown) to allow the strap 42 to pass around the line protector and loop over part of the adjustment mechanism 44 so that the length of the strap 42 around the line protector 40 is fixed as seen in Figure 3.

The strap 42 may be made from, for example a webbing material that is flexible.

The adjustment means 44 may further include a strap 50 located on a side of the adjustment means 44.

In Figures 4 and 5, there is shown a schematic end view of the mounting bracket showing a non-engaged first position 37 of the tensioning means 14 in Figure 4 and an engaged second position 38 of the tensioning means 14 in Figure SUBSTITUTE SIEET (Rule 26) WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 4 When in the non-engaged first position 37 as seen in Figure 4, the displacement member 30 is situated close to the line protector 40 providing only a small displacement of the strap 42 from the outer surface of the line protector When the tensioning means 14 is engaged, that is rotated to its second position 38 as seen in Figure 5, the strap 42 is forced into a larger displacement form the outer surface of the line protector 40 by the displacement member The method of use of the preferred embodiment of the mounting bracket of the present invention will now be described.

The mounting bracket 10 is used to group a number of hydraulic lines, cables, hoses or other similar items and locate them securely with respect to a support structure.

The hydraulic lines, cables, hoses or similar items may be encased in a line protector as seen in Figure 3. The term conduit is used to broadly refer to hydraulic lines, hoses, cables, protectors, looms and the like or groups or bunches of the aforementioned. The mounting bracket 10 attaches to and locates one or more conduits hereafter referred to, by way of example, as a line protector The free end 46 of the strap 42 is passed through the mounting bracket 10 by passing the free end 46 under a first support member 16, over the offset displacement member in its first position 37 and back under a second support member 16, as can be seen in Figure 4. The free end 46 of the strap 42 is then passed around the line protector 40 and inserted into the adjustment means 44 through an aperture and then looped back out of the adjustment means 44 through the aforesaid aperture, as can be seen in Figure 3.

The strap 42 may then be initially tightened by pulling the free end 46 of the strap 42 in a direction substantially tangential to the circumference of the line protector 40 and SUBSTITUTE SIMET (Rule 26) WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 pulling the strap 50 in a substantially opposite direction. The tension in the strap 42 is maintained by the adjustment means 44 which only allows the strap 42 to move fireely in one direction when engaged.

This initial tightening of the strap 42 can be insufficient and additional tightening is often required to stop excess movement of the line protector 40 with respect to the mounting bracket 10. Movement between the mounting bracket 10 and the line protector 40 leads to premature wear of the line protector 40. Further, another problem is that the line protector 40, which is commonly made from a spiral piece of plastics material, is compressible and can be difficult to tighten adequately with the straps 42 and 50 alone. Still further, where line protector 40 is not used, the strap 42 of the mounting bracket 10 can be used to group and support a number of other conduits, such as hydraulic lines. The hydraulic lines may move relative to one another while within the strap 42 causing a rearrangement of the hydraulic lines which can reduce the tension in the strap 42. To accomplish the required additional tightening so that the aforementioned problems are reduced, the tensioning means 14 is employed.

The tensioning means 14 may be engaged by attaching, for example a spanner to the engagement means 24 and rotating the displacement member 30 from the first position 37 shown in Figure 4 to the second position 38 shown in Figure 5. The tensioning means 14 is inoperative in the first position 37 and operative in the second position 38. The rotation of the engagement means 30 from the first position 37 to the second position 38 causes a greater length of the strap 42 to be held within the body 12 of the mounting bracket 10 as seen in Figures 4 and 5. The increase in length of the strap 42 held within the body 12 of the mounting bracket 10 causes increased SUBSTITUTE SHEET (Rule 26) WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 6 tension to be applied to a portion of the strap 42 that extends circumferentially of the line protector 40. This reduction in length of the loop of the strap 42 causes a corresponding increase in tension in the strap 42 and thus assists in the securing of the line protector It can be seen that a line protector 40 of any diameter can be held securely using the mounting bracket of the present invention, as the size of the loop of the strap 42 is able to be adjusted through a wide range of sizes. Therefore a single size and type of mounting bracket 10 can be used for a wide variety of line protector 40 sizes or any number of conduits.

It is considered within the scope of the present invention if the mounting bracket 10 is used to apply tension to a load for a lifting device, for example a crane or hoist.

It is considered within the scope of this invention if, for example, a cam is used instead of a radius arm. In this case, the cam is connected to a shaft which acts as an axis of rotation of the cam and the displacement member. The cam engages with and provides the displacement member with movement towards or away from the axis of rotation when the shaft and thus the cam are rotated.

Further, the attachment means 18 may be any known means of attaching the mounting bracket 10 to a support.

Further still, the strap 42 can be any flexible material used singularly or in layers as can be seen in Figure 3.

Further still the displacement member may be arranged to be closer to the shaft in the second position than in when the displacement member is in the first position.

Also further still, it should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention if there are a plurality of tensioning means used to progressively tension the SUBSTITUTE SHEET (Rule 26) WO 98/23888 PCT/AU97/00805 7 strap as each tensioning means is moved from a respective first position to a respective second position.

Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to the skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

SUBSTrru SHEET (Rule 26)

Claims

1. A mounting bracket for receiving, in use, a strap for holding a conduit, characterised in that the mounting bracket includes a support means located, in use, adjacent a strap and a conduit held in the strap, and a tensioning means including a displacement member movable between a first position adjacent the support means and a second position remote from the support means, the displacement member being located, in use, intermediate a strap and a conduit held in the strap, the arrangement being such that when the displacement member is moved from the first position to the second position, a portion of the said strap adjacent the displacement member is pushed away from the support means by the displacement member and an increased tension is thereby applied to the said strap.

2. A mounting bracket in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the support means includes at least one curved support surface.

3. A mounting bracket in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the mounting bracket includes a body which includes an attachment means, a first end, a second end and at least one connecting member connecting the first end to the second end.

4. A mounting bracket in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the displacement member is attached to a plurality of radius arms connected to shaft oP/HEEU T :P ASU means, the shaft means acting as an axis of rotation of the radius arms and the displacement member. A mounting bracket in accordance with claim 4, characterised in that rotation of the displacement means is limited by at least one stop means.

6. A mounting bracket in accordance with claim 5, characterised in that the stop *0 .o means is located in an over-centre position such that when the displacement member is moved to the second position, the displacement member remains in the second position OL.. unless the displacement member is manually returned to the first position.

7. A mounting bracket in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the displacement member engages with cam means connected to shaft means, 0* wherein, in use, the cam means causes the displacement member to move towards or

15- away from the shaft means when the shaft means is rotated. 8. A mounting bracket in accordance with any one of claims 4 to 7, characterised in that the shaft means may be rotated by one or more engagement means. 9. A mounting bracket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.