CA2099748A1

CA2099748A1 - Cable guide assembly and method of making same

Info

Publication number: CA2099748A1
Application number: CA002099748A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Horst Vogelsang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Ernst Vogelsang GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1992-07-11
Filing date: 1993-06-29
Publication date: 1994-01-12
Also published as: PL299556A1; HU9302001D0; EP0578961A1; CZ125093A3; MX9304107A; JPH06319215A; FI933120A; GB9311761D0; SK67193A3; HUT65281A; IL106146A0; GB2268635A; BR9302671A; NO932490L; AU4185093A; CN1082259A; FI933120A0; NO932490D0; SI9300338A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A cable guide assembly extruded in the flat state with tubes of thermoplastic connected by respective webs, can be bun-dled and connected in the bundled state with tongues formed on the outermost tubes which, upon bundling, are juxtaposed with one another and continuously welded together.

Description

2a~r~ 18 CA~E ~VIDE ASSEMBLY AND ME~HOD OF MAKING SAME

SP~ÇI~ICA~IO~

10 Field of the Inventio~
~he pre~ont invention relates ~o a cable guide asse~bly O~ ~h~ type ln which a plurality of plastic tube~ of ~ thermo- -pla~ti~ ~yntheti~ re~in can be extruded in a flat or planar state with de~ormable web~ interconne~tin~ pairs of tubes and wherein ~ 15 thR tube~ can be brought together into a bundled ~ondition ~o as to allow the tubes to abu~ one another laterally.
Tho a~embly can be opened outwardly from its bundled ~tato and oan ~omprl8è two outermost tube~ whiah a~n have tongues formed thereon along respeativ~ line6 and whioh can ~erv~ to 20 aohn~ the opposite end6 of the tube arra~ together in the bundling o~ the ~able guide a~6emb~y.

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~ h~ ~nventlon also rela~e~ to an lmproved ~ethod o~
m~king suoh an A~bly, ~ckaround of the~ nvent~n Cable guide assemblie~ of the aforedescribed type have been Pound ~o be hi~hly useful for electrlc cable~, glass fiber cable~ or the like, e~pecially for housing the aable in ~ubter-ranean appliaation~. The cable guide a~sembly ~an be ~et in the ground ~n~ ~an run between manholes or cable sh~fts, i.e. can run ~rom on~ cable ~ha~ to another and can be used as feeders into building~ and ~or li~e purpose~. -~ able ~uide assemblies adapted to be buried in the ground must take in~o consideration the nonhomogeneou~ charaate~
o~ the soils, the danger of water penetration from ~round wa~er, aquifers and ~ur~ce water into the cable guide and thenc~ in~o 15 the aable ~haft~ and stru~ture~ ~nto which the cable guides run, ~t~
~ n the p~st, the cable guide assembly, in 1t~ bundled state, was protected a~ain~t incur~ion of water at leas~ in part by ~he web~ which inter~onnected the tubes and by other ~ealing approache6.
Howev~r, ~ince the tube bundle must be ~u~ficiently flexible to allow i~sertion in the ground and even in the buried s~ate mus~ b~ flexible to ~o~e ~egree to prevent rupturo in ca~e of earth ~hift~, the earlier ~yste~ were freguentl~ a compromise b~tween n~ed th~ ~or ~lexibility and the de~irQ to ~ully ~eal the ` sys~em a~ain~t the incur6ion o~ water~
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~99~
18~52 In DE-GM 92 06 473, the webs for ~oining the tubes are so arranged.that one of ~hese webs connected along a line to an outer tube of the array, is brought into a tangential orientation to the other outer tube when the tubes are bundled and, along the contact lines at which this web is tangential to the tube to which it is to be ..
connected, a weld is formed between the web and'the outer .
wall o~ the latter tube.
Whi~e thi~ arrangement has been found to be highly sati~actory, it ha~ been found also that it could be improved upon ~rom the point o~ view of fabrication of the tube bundle or a~embly and the point of view o~ the ~unctlon of the la$ter.
For example, when the weld i6 e~ected directly against the wall o~ a thin-wall plastic tube, there is alw~ys a danger 15 that the wall will be damaged, that the weld ~eam might not be su~iaiently tight, or that the weld would not be able to ~; with~and me~hanical stres6es sufficiently. ~f the weld is not of ~u~ficient tightne~s, the ~ealing function oan ~ail.
With respect to the funotion of the tub~ bundle, i~ aan 2~ be ~aid that the earlier technique did not always allow the t~be ~undle to ha~e sufficient ~lexibility, coupled wit~ a certain de~ree of ~ti~fne~6, to ab~orb the move~ents and forces once ~he conduit a~em~ly wa~ buried.

, 2 ~ 1 8 18~52 Obi~ts~ th~ Inyent~Q~
It 1~, therefore, tne prinaipal ob~ect o~ the present inv~ntion to provid~ a cable guide assembly ~or the n~orede~ib~d pu~po~e which can be fabricated especially 6imply ~d which allow~ the weld seam to be sufficientl~ tight and to with~tand all of the ~tre~es to whioh it oan be su~ec~, regard-le~ o~ the wall thicknes~es ~f the tube~.
Another ob~ect of this inventio~ is tô pro~ide a ~able guide a~sembly which is free from the drawbacks of the earlier arrangement, ~ t i~ al~o an object of thls invention to provide an lmproved method o~ ~abrlcating a cable ~uide assem~ly in whiah the ~tep~ o~ the method them6elves a~e 6implified.

SUmmQry of_the Inven~on The~e obje~t~ and other6 which will become apparent hereinafter a~e attained, in aaco~dance with the pre~ant inven-tion by p~ovidin~ the end tube6 o~ ~he array of tube~ æo that they both have ~onnectin~ tongue~ whioh are brought together upon bundling of the tubes, i.e. bundlin~ of the arr~y with respect of the we~ until the6e tongues lie against one another and forming a continuoU6 lon~itudinal weld ~eam therealong.
Advantageou~ly, the lines at whioh the tongues are con~ected to the respective tube6 lie oppo~ite one ~n~ther in the cable guide bundle an~ the tongues extend from the~e lines toward ~5 one ~nother and toward the longitudinal weld ~eam.

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2 0 9 ~ ~ 4 8 Pre~erA~ly, the conn~cting web~ whi~h oxtend continu-ou~ly ~etw~en p~lr~ o~ the tube~, ad~oln the re~pective tube~ at ~ine~ whlah are di~metrically opposite the line~ at whioh the aonneo~lng ~ongue~ adjo~n the tubes.
The longitudinal weld seam is preferably a contlnuou~
weld ~eam. I~ can be interrupted, however, but preferably ~Uch tha~ the required degree of tightnes~ or 6ealing ia not adversely a~Peated.
~he invention i6 based upon the discover`y;that a com-p~ete weld seam a~n be generated between the outer tu~e~ of the tube bundle if two continuous lamella or tongues~ also re~erred to a~ tube bundle alosure lamella, are provided wlth one o~ the tongue~ bein~ welded to the other of the ~ongues rather than direatly to the outer wall of a pla&ti~ tube.
~he direct welding of the mu~ually juxtaposed ~onne~t-~ ng tongue~ wlth one another can be e~ected with conventional welding ~eahniques used for thermopla~tic syn~hetic re~n, espeaially ultra~onia welding, laser welding, or the like without structurally endangering the plastic tube~.
It has been found to be especially effeotive t~ provide the longitudinal wel~ seam a~ a contact weld seam between upward- -ly bent oppo~ite edge region~ of the tongue which can curl away ~rom one another.
To en~ure ~hat the weld seam will be able to with~t~nd all ~f the atres~e~ whioh may be applied there~o, especially when ~he c~ble ~uide bundle after bundlinq is to be rolled up on ~

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18952 2a~p~8 dru~n, the invontion teaohes that pla~tic tubes in the region o~
th~ aenter of the tube bundle will bear on each.othe~ with play 4~ ~hi~kened region~ o~ the tu~e whi~h can ~orm ~ ~ub~tantially ~olld aore or a polygonal cro~s section duct. ~he welded ~on~ues ~tabilize thl6 struct~re and allow a de~ined play to be provided ~o that the ~able guide bundle ha6 a certain stlffne~ but neve~theles6 is ~fficiently ~lexible to be wound up or to be unwound depending upon whether it i6 being prepared for transport ~o the work ~ite or is being ~et in the ground at the latter.
The degrQe o~ play which 18 desirable lg tha~ w~ioh is 3uf~1cient to allow winding up on a drum and whlch may, there-~ore~ be ~e~orr~d to as a winding-up play and can be d~termlned and li~i~ed by the widths of the tongue~ which are welded together. It 18 ~180 possible to prov~de a plurality of t~be array~ Wh~ch aan be joined to a slngle cable guide bundle o~ an array of tube~ ~hich can be 30 ~oined from a plural~ty of .
individual array6 or even ~ingle tubes by overlapping to~gues formed on the tube~ and providing respecti~e weld seam~ between the~e tongues or web6. ..
Accordin~ to an~ther fe~ture of the invention, the tongues are formed with bead s~qment6 havlng flat ~urPace~ turned toward one another and which can be welded ~ogether. The flat ~egment~ upon ~oining can form a continuou~ full weld bead.
Between the surface~ to be welded, a 6trand of weldment can be introduced, e.g. in a groove formed in or by the ~ongues.

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2 a ~ ~ r~ s ~'he w~ldment can melt to bond to the two tongue6 and fill in ~he ~ud.
Aoaording to tbe inventlon, therefore, a cable condult A~nmbly a~n compri~e:
a plurality o~ thermoplastio synthetic resin ~ube6 ~orming condult~ ~or re~pe~tive aable~;
longitudinally extending flexible syntheti¢ r~in webs ~oining pairB o~ the tubes toqether and ~ormed on the tubes where~y the tube~ can lie in a plane in a ~pread ~ondition and aan be ~wung o~t o~ the plane by bending of the webc in~o a bundled condition where the tubes lie in oontact with one another, the tu~e~ inaluding two outermo~t tube~
re~pective ~lexible longitudinally extending tongue~
~ormed on the ou~ermost tu~as ~or connectlng the outermo~t ~ubes together in the bundled condition, th~reby ~e~ainin~ the as~embly ln the bundl~d condition, the tongues lying opposite one another in the bundled condition of the a~sembly; and a lon~itudinal weld seam conneoting the tongues together .
The metho~ of making the cable aondui~ a~sembly aan comprise:
: ~a) continuously extruding ih a flat ¢ondition a plurality o~ coplanar thermopla~tia 6ynthetlo re-~in tubes forming ~onduits for re~pective cable~, longitudinally extending fiexible ~ynt~etic re~in web~ joining pairs of the tubes together and 1~952 2 Q 9 ~ 7 L¦ 8 ~ormnd on th~ tubeR, and on two outermo~t tube~, ~espective ~loxible ~ongl~udln~lly ex~endlng ton~ues~
~b) ~ubstantially at a rate of eXtrUEiOn 0~ the tub~, the web~ and the tongue~ brin~ing the outer tu~es toget~er, thereby ~orming the tube~ into the assembly in a bundled ao"dition, the tongue6 lying opposite one another in the bundled conditlon o~ the a~sembly: and ~c) directly following step ~b) continuou~ly welding th~ tongue~ together to form a longitudinal weld ~eam oonnecting the tongue and maintaining the as6embly in the b~ndl~d condi-ti~n .
A cable guide bundle according to the invention is t~Us ~abrlaated compar~tively simply and in a sin~le fabriaation line into which the welding of the ton~ue6 i8 integrated together with - 15 th~ extru~ion and a~embly of the tube bundle. The extru6ion can be effected with a s~r2w-type extrusion press and the assembly into ~he bundle can be ef~ected at the same speed as the extru-~ion. Directl~ ~ollowing the assembl~, the longltudinal weld ~eam can be ~orm~d.
During this fabxioation method, the wlnd-up pl~y a#
de~cri~ed i~ ad~u~ted.
In con~unotion with the extrusion, a calibration of the plana~ a~em~ly aan ~e effected ~o facili~ate the welding process, the kon~ue~ whioh are coextruded with the tube~ are initially for~ed with manipula-tion bead~ on exten~lon6 o~ the ton~ues thereby faailitating 18952 2 ~ 9 ~ 7 Ll 8 handllng o~ t~e ~able guide aonduit until ~he bund~lng i8 e~feo~-~d. ~pon ~ormation of the longitudina~ weld ~eam, the extension~
with the hand~ing bead~ ~an be removed.

Bri~ Descript on of thQ Drawinq ~he a~ove and other object~, features and advantages o~
the invention will become more readily appa~en~ from the foIlow-ing de~aription, re~erence being made to the ac~omp~nying highly d~a~ram~atic draw~ng in which;
~IG. 1 i~ a cros~ sectional vie~ through a cable guide as~embly accordin~ to ~he inventiont FIG~ 2 i~ a ~ross sec~ional view of the assembly in the spreAd ~ondition~
~IG. 3 is a detail o~ the longitudinal weld seam ~aken in the region III o~ FIG. l;
~IGS. 3A and 3B are cros3 sectional views Qhowing addi-tio~al detall~ relevant to the invention;
~; ~IGS. 4, 5 and 6 are cross seotional views ~imila~ ~o FIG. 1 but illustrating other embodiment~ of the invention;
FIG~ 7 i~ a cros~ sectional ~iew simila~ to FIG. 2 illu~trating another embodiment of the ~pread oondition;
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view si~ilar to ~IG. 7 of an embodiment in whio~ the bead ~egment~ are constructed to en-able the insertion o~ a strand of a weldment between the bead Be~tions of the longitudinal bead;

2~99 d(~
189~2 FIG. ~ is a cros6 ~ectional view si~ilar to FIG. 1 i~lu~rating th~ bundled embodiment o~ FIG. 7; and FIG. 10 i~ a detail ~howing the insertion o~ the strand b~tw~on ~h~ be~d ~egments of the embodiment of ~IG~8 upon bun-dling the~eof.

Speçi~ic De6cription ~ he cable oonduit a66embl~ of ~GS. 1; 4, ~ and 6, in ea~h case, compri~e a plurality of cable guide tubeR 2 extrusion-molded ~rom a thermopla~tic synthetic resln and lll~trated as ~ormed into a bundle 1. Individual pairs of tubes 2 are ~nter-oonne~ted by longitudinall~-ex~ending conneatin~ webs 3 which aan b~ unitary with the tube~ joined thereby as ~llustratqd in FIGS.
1-10 or, as shown in FIG. 3B, formed by welding at 3c at an ~ver-lappin~ region between webs 3a and 3b extruded unitarily with re~peativR tube6 2 whloh are the~eby ~oined in the as~e~bly.
In the embodimen~ of FIG. 1~ the ~wo outor tube~ ~ ~re of small~r diameter than of tube 2 ~isposed ~etween the ~uter tube~. Variou~ other size arrang~ment6 of the tube~ aan be pro-vided às well. For example, in FIGS. 4-6 all o~ the tubes a~e o~
20 the sa~e size whereas in FIG. 9 an arrangement of FIG. 1 is shown where the three tubes are also of the same 8ize- The size dif-~erene will be apparent ~rom FIG. ~ as weIl in which the tube array i8 ~hown in it6 ~pread or unfolded condition.
On tho outer tubes 2 along respective line~ 4, aonnect-ing tongue~ 5 are formed. ~he6e connecting tongues 5 ex~end 18952 2 0 ~ ~ 7 Ll 8 l~ng~udin~lly ~nd are coext~ude~ wlth the tubes and are unitary thor~with ~t the aonnecting l~nes 4 a~ can be seen ~rom FIG~ 3~
Tha ~ongues 5, in the bundled condition, lie opposite one ~nother, i.~. are mutually ~uxtaposed, and aurl away form one another as oa~ be ~een from ~IG. 1. They are welded together by a longitudinal and pre~erably continuous weld ~eam ~.
~ this embodiment ~nd in a preferred embodiment o~ the invention, the line 4 at which the tongue 5 adjoin~ eaah outer tube 2 lie~ diametrioally opposite the li~ 7 at which the ~e~ 3 10 i8 conneatcd to the outer tube. The lines 4 in the bundled con-ditlon al~o lie directly opposite one another.
In all ca~e6, the weld 6 can be a contaot weld with a bead whi~h ls form~d during the welding proaess extendlng there-along and compo~ed o~ thè ~aterial of the tongues. ~he oontaat r~gion between the tongues is repre~ented at 8 in FIG. 3.
From ~IGS. ~ and FI~S. 4-6, it can b~ seen that the tubes 2 ~t the cQnter o~ the bundle 1 oan b~ of enlarge~ wall thic~nes~ to form co~e element6 ~ and/or abutment el~ment~ 10 which are molded on the tubes du~ing the ex~rusion process ~nd abut one another with a li~ited play to provide a stiffened re-gion which some~hat stabilizes the bundle when the tonguRs 5 ~re welded together. This stabilization should, however~ not inte~-fere wlth th~ abllity ~o wind up the bundle 1 upon a drum or not unwinding of the bundle 1 from a drum so that it can be laid in a tren~h for burial and it ~hould not be ~uch a~ to resl~t all 7 i~ ~ :

m~bi~it~ o~ ~he oable ~onduit when buried and as a resul~ o~
e~rth moVement~.
~ho width~ o~ the ~ongue~ 5 ~an deflne the wind-up pl~ . , ` ` ` ~ `.
S ~he weld 6eam and the tongues oan take up all o~ the ~tre~se~ to whic~ the bundle will be sub~eot when in pla~e. The play has been ~epresented at 11 in FIG. 1 and is somewhat exag- . :
gerated there.
A~ ~an be ~een Prom FIGS. 2 and 3A, ~ach tongue 5 p~ior to weldin~ ~nd upon ex~uslon, can be formed with a h~ndling or manipul~tion bead, adv~ntageously on an extenslon o~ the tongue which oan facilltate puIlin~ the end tube6 togethe~ into the bundled aonfigurat~on ~o that the tongue6 can then be ~utomati-cally welded. ~hese beads can be enga~ed by th~ automatia weld-ing maahine a~ well. As repre~ented by broken lines in ~IG. 1, however, the extensions beyond the weld sea~ 6 ~an be cut aw~y d~ring the welding pro~e~
In the embodi~ents of FIG5. 4 and 5, the portlons 9 or ~` 10 of qreater wall thickness abut each other at planar ~ur~ace~ -to ~orm a mo~e or le~s 601id core within the limits of play 11 whe~eas ln FIG. ~ the port~on6 10 define a central duct through the as~embly.
~IGS. 7 and 8 ~how tube ass~mblies 13 in vertical plane~ ~nd whioh can be converted into tube bundle~ a~ shown for ;~ 25 exampl~ in FIG. 9. The assemblie~, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, , . .

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2~9~7f~8 haYe ~l~t ~ur~aae6 welded toyether to form the full wsld bead 6 G~ 9)-In thc embodlment of FIG. 8, the ~urfaae~ 16 o~ the ~egment~ 14 are at a bevel to ~orm ~ creviae 17 (~IG. lO~ in whlah a ~trand 18 o~ a weldment can be introduoed. The strand 18 can a~o be aoextruded with the tube~ or can b~ a ~eparate s~rand whla~ fuse~ ~nd bond~ to the segment~ 14 to form ~ ~ull bead li~e t~e bead 6 of FIG. ~.
In all ca6e-~ the tube a66embly in the planar or flat-lo tened (~pread) s~ate can be subjeated to a calibration up~tream of ~he bundllnq. ~ollowing the bundling, the cable gui~e a~sem-bly ~an be ~ound up Oh a drum.

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Claims

1. A cable conduit assembly, comprising:
a plurality of thermoplastic synthetic resin tubes forming conduits for respective cables;
longitudinally extending flexible synthetic resin webs joining pairs of said tubes together and formed on said tubes whereby said tubes can lie in a plane in a spread condition and can be swung out of said plane by bending of said webs into a bundled condition where said tubes lie in contact with one anoth-er, said tubes including two outermost tubes;
respective flexible longitudinally extending tongues formed on said outermost tubes for connecting said outermost tubes together in said bundled condition, thereby retaining said assembly in said bundled condition, said tongues lying opposite one another in said bundled condition of said assembly; and a longitudinal weld seam connecting said tongues to-gether.

2. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 1 where-in said tongues are joined to the respective outer tubes along respective lines which are juxtaposed with one another in said bundled condition of said assembly.

3. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 2 where-in said webs are joined to said outer tubes along lines diametri-cally opposite the lines at which said tongues are joined to said outer tubes.

4. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 3 where-in said tongues are provided with opposing edge regions adapted to be joined together in a contact weld seam and said longitudi-nal weld seam is a contact weld seam.

5. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 1 where-in said tubes at a center of said assembly in said bundled condi-tion have portions of greater wall thickness adapted to abut one another to for a generally stiff central region.

6. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 5 where-in said central region is a substantially solid core for said assembly.

7. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 5 where-in said central region is a substantially polyhedral duct sur-rounded by said tubes.

8. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 5 where-in said portions of greater wall thickness abut each other with a play determined and limited by widths of said tongues.

9. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 1 where-in said tongues are overlapped and welded together at said weld seam to form a web bridging said outer tubes.

10. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said tongues are formed with respective bead segments which are welded together to form a full bead constituting said weld seam.

11. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 1, further comprising a strand of a weldment disposed between sur-faces of said tongues joined to form said weld seam.

12. The cable conduit assembly defined in claim 11 wherein said strand is disposed between surfaces of bead segments which are welded together to form a full bead constituting said weld seam.

13. A method of making a cable conduit assembly, com-prising the steps of:
(a) continuously extruding in a flat condition a plu-rality of coplanar thermoplastic synthetic resin tubes forming conduits for respective cables, longitudinally extending flexible synthetic resin webs joining pairs of said tubes together and formed on said tubes, and on two outermost tubes, respective flexible longitudinally extending tongues;
(b) substantially at a rate of extrusion of said tubes, said webs and said tongues bringing said outer tubes together, thereby forming said tubes into said assembly in a bundled condi-tion, said tongues lying opposite one another in said bundled condition of said assembly; and (c) directly following step (b) continuously welding said tongues together to form a longitudinal weld seam connecting said tongues and maintaining said assembly in said bundled condi-tion.

14. The method defined in claim 13 wherein in step (b) said tongues are brought together as to lie flat against one another and are joined in step (c) in a contact weld seam.

15. The method defined in claim 13 wherein said tongues are extruded with said tubes and said webs with extensions formed with manipulation beads said extensions being separated from said tongues upon forming of said seam.

16. The method defined in claim 13 wherein said tongues are extruded with said tubes and said webs with bead segments which are welded together in step (a) to form a full bead.

17. The method defined in claim 14, further comprising the step of introducing a strand of a weldment between said seg-ments prior to welding in step (a).

18. A method of making a cable conduit assembly, com-prising the steps of:
(a) extruding a thermoplastic synthetic resin tube having respective webs unitary therewith and projecting from diametrically opposite sides of said tube continuously there-along;
(b) joining a plurality of sections of said tube into a planar array by overlapping the webs of pairs of said sections and welding the overlapping webs together along respective lon-gitudinal weld seams, said array having two outermost tube sec-tions from which respective tongues extend formed by webs of said outer tube section which are not welded to an overlapping web of another tube section;
(c) bundling said array so that said outer tubes are brought together and said tongues are juxtaposed with one anoth-er; and (d) continuously welding said tongues together to form a longitudinal weld seam held together with a bundle of said tube sections.