CA1181931A

CA1181931A - Dead-end messenger wire holder

Info

Publication number: CA1181931A
Application number: CA000422507A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Isaac Sachs
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Diamond Communication Products Inc
Priority date: 1983-02-28
Filing date: 1983-02-28
Publication date: 1985-02-05

Abstract

DEAD-END MESSENGER WIRE HOLDER
Abstract of the Disclosure The invention is concerned with a device for holding a cable suspended from a support, the cable having an aerial support wire connected there-along for supporting same with an end portion thereof securely held by the device. The device of the invention comprises an open-ended tubular member having an inlet end and an outlet end for receiving the cable and support wire therethrough with the end portion of the support wire extending beyond the outlet end and separated from the cable, wire retention means integral with the tubular member for securing the wire end portion to the tubular member and means for connecting the tubular member to the support such that the tubular member lies at a pre-determined distance from the support. This device enables an aerial support wire, such as the steel messenger wire of a messenger coaxial cable used in the cable TV industry, to be securely held at the dead-end thereof while preventing the cable from undergoing further separation from the messenger wire when separating forces are exerted thereon.

Description

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BACKGROUND OF T~IE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device for holding a cable suspended from a support, and more particularly a cable of the type having an aerial support wire connected therealong for support~
ing same, such as the steel messenger coaxial cable used in the ca~le TV industry~
Applicant has already described in his Canadian Patent No. 982,787 of February 3, 1976 a wedge clamp for securing a coaxial television cable to a support. This wedge clamp comprises a conical body member formed with a longitudinal outer groove having a depth smaller than the diameter of the cable ~or receiving the cable such as to leave a cable portion protruding therefrom, and a conical wedge sleeve for mounting over the body member and ~ormed with a longitudinal slot for passing the cable theret~rouyh. The conical body member is also pro-vided at its smaller end with means for connecting it to a support. Thus, in use, the wedge sleeve is mounted over the body member wi-th the slot in axial alignment with the groove, the cable is inserted in the groove -through the slot and the sleeve is rotated over the body member to clamp the cable therebetween.
Since nowdays coaxial TV cables are generally no longer used alone but rather in combination with a steel messenger wire which is connected therealong by means of the PVC or rubber coating covering both the cable and messenger wire, for the purpose of supporting the cable suspended above ground between two remote connection points, Applicant's cable clamp described above cannot 3 ~

be used successfully to secure this type of cable to a support, such as a pole or a housing. As the primary purpose of the messenger wire is to support the cable suspended above ground and to thereby prevent axial tensions from belng exerted along the cable, it is *hat wire which must be secured to the support, instead of the cable itself. Thus, when using Applicant's wedge clamp, sufficient clamplng pressure cannot be exerted on the rnessenger wire owing to the difference in size between the messenger wire and the cable, the messenger wire having a much smaller diameter than the cable. As a result, the steel wire cannot be positively held and therefore has a tendency of slipping within its plastic j~cket.
Other devices are also known for securing a guy wire to a support and have been used for holding a messenger coaxial cable suspended therefrom. One such device is the so~called guy thimble which consists of an elongated piece of metal bent to define an open loop and formed with a longitudinal outer groove for seatingly receiving over the loop a dead-end portion of the messenger wire which has been separated from the cable, with the dead-end of the wire being wound around the messenger wire itself adjacent the ends of the loop for posit:ive securement. Due to the particular confi-guration of this device, the dead-end portion of the messenger wire often slips away during installation, thus rendering the latter difficult and time consuming. Dif-ferent sizes of guy thimbles are also re~uired for differ-ent si~es of messenger wires. Moreover, since the loop 3i~

is generally small in diameter and is mounted over aneye bol~ or hoo~ secured to the support, the dead-end of the messenger wire is held close to the point of attachment to the support, resulting in fatigue or stress being induced in the nearby cable portion upon swinging movement of the attachment due to weather conditions. As the cable and messenger wire which remain connected together adjacent the winding of the wire dead-end portion over the loop are not positively retained together by any means other than their own plastic coating, they often undergo further separation when separating forces are exerted thereon.
Another known device consists of a preformed grip wire bent to define a closed loop and having elongated, twisted end portions adapted to be wound around the dead-e~d portion of the messenger wire.
This grip wire basically suffers from the same dis-advantages noted above in respect to the guy thimble, in addition to not being reusable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to provide a device for holding a cable of the above type sus-pended ~rom a support, in such a manner that the aerial support wire can be securely held at the dead-end thereof while preventing the cable from undergoing separation from the support wire when separating forces are exerted thereon~as well as preventing fatigue or stress from being induced in the cable.
In accordance with the present invention, there is thus provided a device ~or holding a cable suspended from a support, the cable havlng an aerial support wire connected therealong for supporting same~
The device of the invention comprises an open-ended tubular member having an inlet end and an outlet end for receiving the cable and support wire therethrough with an end portion o~ the support wire extend:ing beyond the outlet end and separated from th~ cable, abutment means disposed adjacent the out:Let end and substantially along the longitudinal axis of the tubular member for engaging the support wire to enable the cable to extend freely within the member while permitting the end portion of the support wire to be bent adjacent the outlet end so as to extend exteriorly of the member in a direction towards the inlet end, at least one wire retention opening formed in the tubular member for enabling the wire end portion to be further bent and retained captive so as to be secured to the tubular member and means for connecting the tubular member to the support such that the tubular member lies at a predetermined distance from the support.
The cable is thus indirectly held by the device o~ the invention via the aerial support wire having the end portion thereof secured to the tubular member.
Ac~ording to a particularly preferred embodi ment, the wire retention opening comprises a slot formed at the inlet end and having a first portion extending inwardly from the inlet end for receiving the wire end portion and a second portion extending sub-stantially transversely to the ~irst portion for captive-ly retaining khe wire end portion received through the first slot portion and into the second slot portion~
Thus, in use, the end portion of the support wire extend-ing beyond the outlet end is secured to the tubular ''7 ,' - 5 -,'t33~

member by bending the wire end portion about the abutment means adjacent the outlet end so as to extend ex-teriorly of the member in a direction towards the inlet end, inserting the wire end portion through the first slot portion and then in-to the second slot portion while applying a pulling force so as to cause the wire end portion to extend closely adjacent the tubular member - 5a -,' `1 ~8~
between the ends thereof and to ~urther bend at the second slot portion for captive retention therein.
The provision of an open-encled tubular member through w~ich both the cable and support wire extend with the wire end portion being securely held thereby enables the retention force to be applied exclusively to the support wire, thus indirectly securing the cable via its support wire while provicling to the cable portion separated from the support wire and extend:ing beyond the outlet end full liberty of movement without any fatigue or stress i.nduced therein. On the other hand, the body of the tubular member acts as a stopper to prevent the cable from undergoing any further separa-tion from the support wire when separating forces are exerted thereon.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIO~ OF THE DRAWINGS
Further -features and advantages of the inven-tion will become more readily apparent from the fol.low-ing description of preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device ac~ording to a preferred embodiment o~ the invention, as seen holding a messenger coaxial cable suspended from a pole, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the device of Fig. 1, showing how the dead-end of the messenger wire is secured at ~he inlet end of the device, Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of FigO 2, showing how the dead-end of a messenger wire having a , ~, .....

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smaller siæe can be secured at the inlet end of the device, Fig. 4 is another view similar to -that of Fig. 2, showing how the dead-end of a messenger wire having a larger size can be secured at the inlet end of the device, Fig. 5 is a top view of the device shown in Fig~ 1, Fig. 6 is a sideview of the same device Fig~ 6A is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the device shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sideview of the device of FigO l~showing how it can be used as a tool to separate the cable and messenger wire extending beyond the outlet end of the device, Fig. 8 is a perspective view of another device according to a further preferred embodiment of the invention' and Fig. 8A is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the device shown in Fig. 8 DESCRIPTIOM OF PRFFERRED EMsoDIMENTs Referring first to the embodiment represented in Figures 1 through 7, th~re is illustrated in Fig. 1 a dead end messenger wire holder which is generally designated by reference numeral 10 and seen hooked to a pole 12, holding a messenger cable 14 suspended therefrom. The messenger cable 14 includes a coaxial cable 16 operative to transmit a signal, for example a TV signal, and a steel messenger wire 18 which is connected to the cable 16 and extends therealong for supporting ,it, both the cable 16 and messenger wire 18 are held connected toge ther by means of the PV~
or rubber coating covering them.
~he wire holder 10 comprises an open-ended tubular member 20 made of galvanized steel and having an inlet end 22 and an outlet end 2~, throuyh which the messenger cable 14 extends., The tubular member 20 has a conical configuration tapering towards the outlet end 24, and is provided at its outlet end with 10 an outwardly projecting abutment 26. The abutment 26 is planar and lies in a plane extendiny substan-tially alony the central axis of the tubular member 20, as best shown in Fig. 6. A pair of L-shaped slots 28 and 28' are provided at the inlet end 22 and 15 are arranged diametrically opposite one another. An elongated hookiny member 30 consisting of a metallic wire bent to define a hooking loop 32 and having the ends 34 and 34' thereof crimped in the abutment 26 serves as a connecting means for connectiny the tubu-20 lar member 20 to the pole 12. As shown, the hooking member 30 extends along the longitudinal axis of the tubular member 20 and connects the member 20 to the pole 12 such that it lies at a predetermined distance from the pole 12.
The L-shaped slots 28 and 28 t which are provided at the inlet end 22 of the tubular member 20 serve as means for securing the dead-end of the messenyer wire to the member 20. Each slot has a wire receiviny portion extending inwardly from the 30 inlet end 22 and along the lonyitudinal axis of the 3:l tubular member 20, and a wire retaining pc>rtion extending perpendicularly to the wire receiving portion. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the dead-end portion 18' of the messenger wire extending beyond the outlet end and separated from the cable portion 16' is secured to the tubular member 20 by first bending the wire end portion 18' over the outer edge of the abutment 26 between the spaced-apart ends 34 and 34' of the hooki.ng member 30, so as to extend exteri.orly of the tubular member 20 in a direction towards the inlet end 22 there-of. Next, the wire end portion 18' is inserted through the wire receiving portions of the slots 28 and ~8' and then into the wire retaining portions thereof while applying a pulling force so as to cause the wire end portion 18' to extend closely adjacent the tubular mem-ber 20 between the ends 22 and 2~ thereo~ and to further bend at each slot for captive retention therein.
The securing arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is particularly useful for securing the dead-end of a messenger wire of medium size, that is, having a diameter of about 0.062 inch, in this case, the wire end portion 18' is securely retained by the provision of two anchor-ing points, one at each slot. On the other hand, when use is made of a messenger wire of smaller size, that is, having a diameter of about 0.051 inch, it is advan-tageous to insert the wire end portion 18' a second time into the slot 28, thereby providing three anchoring points for positively securing the dead~end of such messenger wire, as shown in Fig. 3. With a messenger wire of larger size, that is, having a diameter of about 0.081 inch, it ~,, g 3~

is generally necessary to :insert the wi.re end portion 18' only ln one slot, such as the slot 28, as shown in Fig~ ~, thus, in this case, only one anchoring point is needed since the stiffness of such messenger wire contributes to the positive securing of the wire in slot 280 It should be noted that the open-ended tubu-lar member 20 through which the messenger cable 14 extends with the dead end portion 18' o~ the messenger wire 18 keing securely therehy enables the re-tention force exerted by the wire retaining slots 28 and 28' to ~e applied exclusively -to the messenger wire 18, thus indirectly securing the cable 16 via its messenger wire 18 while providing to the cable portion 16' sep-arated ~rom the wire end portion 18' and extendingbeyond the outlet end 24 of the member 20 full liberty of movement without any fatigue or stress induced therein. The body of the tubular member 20, on the other hand, acts as a stopper to prevent the cable 16 from undergoing any further separation from the messenger wire 18 when separating forces are exerted thereon.
As best shown in Figs 5 and 6, the outlet opening 36 which is provided at the outlet end 24 of the tubular member 20 and captively retains the cable 16 and messenger wire 18 together is angularly inclined relative to the longitudinal axis o~ the member 20. As also shown, the peripheral end edge of the member at the outlet opening 36 merges with the abutment 26 _ 10 --p~

In order to prevent the ou-ter edge of the abutment 26 from damaging the PVC or rubber jacket covering the messenger wire which is bent thereover, the abutment 26 is provided an inwardly bent extension 38 which is curved to define a rounded folding edge 40, as best shown in Fig. 6A. On the other hand, the hooking member 30 which extends from the abutment 26 has its ends 34 and 34' crimped in the abutrnent with a retaining force capable of sustaining a load up to about 300 pounds. Thîs feature enables the connec-tion between the tubular member 20 and the hooking member 30 to yield when the rnessenger cable 14 is impacted for instance by a moving truck or a falling tree, thus avoiding damage to the pole 12 or other support.
Fig. 7 shows how the device 10 can be ad-vantageously used as a tool to separate the cable 16 and rnessenger wire 18 from one another immediately prior to securing the dead-end portion 18' o the messenger wire to the tubular member 20~ As shown, after having inserted the messenger cable 1~ -thxough the tubular member 20 and separated only the ends of the cable and messenger wire with conventional means such as a knife or a rasor blade, the hooking loop 3 of the hooking member 30 is inserted between the separated ends which are then grasped with one's hand and the member ~0 is grasped with the other hand and pulled in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 7, so as to cause further separation of the cable and messenger wire. Owing to the circular cross-section of the metallic wire constituting the hooking member 30, the cable and messenger wire can thus be separated to the desired length, w1thout damage to their ~VC
or rubber jacket. It should also be noted that the wire end portion 18' which has been separated from the cable portion 16' is in a position ready for being bent over the outer edge of the abutment 26.
Turning to Fig. 8, there is illustrated another dead-end messenger wire holder 100 similar to the device 10 represented in Figs 1-7, comprising an open~ended tu~llar member 102 of conical configuration and having an inlet end 104 and an outlet end 106 with L-shaped wire retaining slots 108 and 108' at the inlet end. However, instead of having a hooking member in the form of a wire loop connected to the tubular member as in the device 10, the embodiment of Fig. 8 has an elongated hooking member 110 which is solidary with the tubular member 102. The hooking member 110 is provided with an eyelet 112 adjacent the hooking end thereof and with a slot 114 adjacent the outlet 20 end 106 of the tubular member 102. The inner periph-eral edge 116 which is defined by the slot 114 in the hooking member 110 includes a folding edge portion 116' adjacent the outlet end 106 for enabling the dead-end portion of the messenger wire to be bent thereover after having been inserted in the slot 114, and to be ~hereafter secured to the tubular member 102 by means of the slots 108 and 108' similarly as in Figs 2-4.
As best shown in Fig~ 8A, the slot 114 is formed by cutting out a portion in the hooking member 110, the 3G cut-ou-t portion 118 being bent inwardly to provide to ~ . r' the folding edge portion 116' a rounded configura-tion, thus avoiding damage to messenger wire when it is bent thereover.
As it is apparent, the invention provides a dead-end messenger wire holder which is secure, con-venient and easy to install,

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1.- A device for holding a cable suspended from a support, said cable having an aerial support wire connected therealong for supporting same, said device comprising an open-ended tubular member having an inlet end and an outlet end for receiving said cable and support wire therethrough with an end portion of said support wire extending beyond said outlet end and separated from said cable, abutment means disposed adjacent said outlet end and substantially along the longitudinal axis of said tubular member for engaging said support wire to enable said cable to extend freely within said member while permitting said end portion of said support wire to be bent adjacent said outlet end so as to extend exteriorly of said member in a direction towards said inlet end, at least one wire retention opening formed in said tubular member for enabling said wire end portion to be further bent and retained captive so as to be secured to said tubular member and means for connecting said tubular member to said support such that said tubular member lies at a predetermined distance from said support, whereby said cable is indirectly held by said device via said aerial support wire having said end portion thereof secured to said tubular member.

2.- A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one wire retention opening comprises a slot formed at said inlet end and having a first portion extending inwardly from said inlet end for receiving said wire end portion and a second portion extending substantially transversely to said first portion for captively retaining said wire end portion received through said first slot portion and into said second slot portion, whereby said end portion of said support wire extending beyond said outlet end is secured to said tubular member by bending said wire end portion about said abutment means adjacent said outlet end so as to extend exteriorly of said member in a direction towards said inlet end, insert-ing said wire end portion through said first slot portion and then into said second slot portion while applying a pulling force so as to cause said wire end portion to extend closely adjacent said tubular member between the ends thereof and to further bend at said second slot portion for captive retention therein.

3.- A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slot is generally L-shaped and said first slot portion extends substantially along the longitudinal axis of said tubular member.

4.- A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein there are two said generally L-shaped slots arranged opposite one another transversely of said tubular member, whereby said end portion of said support wire extending beyond said outlet end is secured to said tubular member by bending said wire end portion at said outlet end so as to extend exteriorly of said member in a direction towards said inlet end, inserting said wire end portion through the respective first portion of each said slot and then into the respective second portion thereof while applying a pulling force so as to cause said wire end portion to extend closely adjacent said tubular member between the ends thereof and to further bend at each said respective second slot portion for captive retention therein.

5.- A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said abutment means comprises an abutment projecting outwardly from said outlet end and extending substantially along the longitudinal axis of said tubular member, said abutment having an outer folding edge for enabling said wire end portion to be bent thereover and to thereby provide said bending of said wire end portion adjacent said outlet end.

6.- A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said abutment is substantially planar and lies in a plane extending substantially along the central axis of said tubular member.

7.- A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said tubular member is provided at said outlet end with an outlet opening adapted to captively retain said cable and said support wire together and to thereby prevent further separation thereof when separating forces are exerted on said cable and support wire, said outlet opening being angularly inclined relative to the longitu-dinal axis of said member, and wherein said tubular member further has at said outlet opening a peripheral end edge merging with said abutment.

8.- A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said folding edge is rounded to avoid damaging said wire end portion bent thereover.

9.- A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said connecting means comprises an elongated hooking mem-ber extending substantially along the longitudinal axis of said tubular member.

10.- A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said connecting means comprises an elongated hooking mem-ber extending substantially along the longitudinal axis of said tubular member, said hooking member consisting of a metallic wire bent to define a hooking loop and having the ends thereof crimped in said abutment with said ends being spaced apart to permit said end portion of said support wire to be bent over said folding edge between said ends of said metallic wire.

11.- A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein said ends of said metallic wire are crimped in said abutment with a retaining force capable of sustaining a load up to about 300 pounds.

12.- A device as claimed in claim 10, wherein said metallic wire has a circular cross-section such that the hooking loop defined thereby may further serve as a tool to separate said cable and support wire extending beyond said outlet end, without damaging same.

13.- A device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said hooking member is solidary with said tubular member and is provided with an eyelet adjacent the hooking end there-of and with a slot adjacent said outlet end of said tubular member, said hooking member further having an inner peripheral edge defined by said slot and including a folding edge portion adjacent said outlet end, said folding edge portion defining said abutment means for enabling said wire end portion after being inserted into said slot to be bent over said folding edge portion and to thereby provide said bending of said wire end portion adjacent said outlet end.

14.- A device as claimed in claim 13, where-in said folding edge portion is rounded to avoid damaging said wire end portion bent thereover.

15.- A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said tubular member has a conical configuration tapering towards said outlet end, and wherein said generally L-shaped slots are diametrically opposite one another.