FR2636405A1 - Spacer device for elongate objects - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a spacer member for elongate objects, such as cables, bundles of cables, tubes, sheaths or the like. It comprises a body 2 having at least one cradle 3 which forms a housing 4 which is open outwards and which consists of at least one support surface 6A, 6B supporting an elongate object 5, and of at least one small bar 7 arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the said cradle corresponding to that of the said elongate object once arranged on the said support surface, clamping means 11 associated with the said cradle and passing around the small bar and through an opening made between it and the said body, clamping the said elongate object in order to press it against the said support surface.

Description

The present invention relates to a bracing member for elongated objects, such as electric and / or optical cables, hydraulic or pneumatic pipes, and the like, which in particular makes it possible to maintain and guide said objects, for example, along a structure.

A preferential, although not exclusive, application of the spacer member according to the invention is of particular interest to the aeronautical industry. Indeed, the multitude of cables, pipes, etc ..., intended for the transmission of information by fluidic, electrical and optical ways to control and control the various apparatuses of an aircraft, implies the use of organs of bracing of cables and piping to maintain and guide them appropriately according to the pre-established path. In addition, safety standards in the field of aeronautics impose a minimum spacing between the cables and / or the pipes mounted on said members to avoid, in particular, any friction between, for example, two adjacent cables, capable of '' cause incidents thereafter.

The bracing member according to the invention is certainly not limited to this particular application, but can be used in the case where a large number of elongated objects have to be guided.

A bracing member, of a known type, currently used to guide along a predetermined path, for example, two cables parallel to each other while keeping them distant from each other, has a hollow parallelepiped shape. Two of the opposite faces of said member respectively receive the cables, each of these being then fixed to the corresponding face by a clamping collar surrounding it and passing through the recess provided in said member.

If several cables and / or pipes are to be guided parallel to each other, a bracing member is then provided between each of them, the opposite planar faces each supporting one of the elongated objects, by being linked to it by a clamp. There is thus obtained a series of bracing members aligned and arranged transversely to the general direction of said elongated objects. Consequently, by arranging at regular intervals series of bracing members in the general direction of said elongated objects while respecting the defined path, these are maintained and guided substantially prallally between them while being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to that separating the two opposite faces of each bracing member.

This type of bracing member nevertheless has drawbacks.

First of all, their installation is tedious and long since elongated objects, generally of circular section, tend to slide on the respective flat faces of the members. In addition, in use, in particular because of the vibrations generated by the aircraft, the elongated objects tend to move relative to the corresponding bearing faces, although they are held there by said collars. In this way, the spacing imposed by safety standards between cables and / or piping may, subsequently, not be respected by being able to then cause unfortunate consequences, since these "float" relative to the bracing bodies. Careful and careful maintenance of these organs is therefore imperative.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks and relates to a bracing member for elongated objects which, by virtue of its original and simple design, allows in particular said elongated objects to be firmly held to said member while also respecting a spacing imposed between them.

To this end, the spacer member for elongated objects, such as cables, cable bundles, tubes, sheaths or the like, is remarkable, according to the invention, in that it comprises a body having at least one cradle which forms a housing open to the outside and which is constituted by at least one bearing surface capable of supporting at least one elongated object, and by at least one bar arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle corresponding to that of said elongated object once disposed on said bearing surface, clamping means associated with said cradle and passing around the bar and through an opening formed between the latter and said body, enclosing said elongated object in order to apply it against said bearing surface .

Thus, thanks to the invention, said elongated object is guided by being at least partially received in the concave housing formed by said cradle, which then prevents said object from sliding relative to the bearing surface, the fixing means ensuring then clamping said object against the bearing surface.

Several cradles, distant from each other, are advantageously distributed angularly around said body having their longitudinal directions parallel to each other. Thus, each cradle can receive an elongated object, each of said elongated objects, parallel to each other, being thus spaced from each other by a distance corresponding to that imposed by the safety standards.

The elongated objects are then correctly distributed and arranged by said bracing member.

Furthermore, at least two cradles provided on said body can have their orthogonal longitudinal directions.

Consequently, it is possible, for example, to guide, by means of said bracing member according to the invention, two objects elongated perpendicularly to one another. However, at least two cradles provided on said body may have their longitudinal general directions forming between them any angle.

In a first alternative embodiment, said cradle can be shaped by two bearing surfaces spaced from one another and each having a V shape, said bar, parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle, connecting the points together V of said surfaces. Thus, said elongated object is in contact with the branches of the V of each of the bearing surfaces.

 In a second variant embodiment, said cradle may be shaped by a substantially planar bearing surface extending at each of its opposite edges parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle respectively by bars, said bearing surface and said bars forming approximately a U.

Advantageously, in this alternative embodiment, a hole or the like is provided in said body to open into said bearing surface, perpendicular to the latter. Therefore, said spacer member can then be fixed to a structure.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the bracing member can be produced in a single piece obtained by molding.

The figures of the appended drawing will make it clear how the invention can be implemented. In these figures, identical references designate similar elements.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the bracing member of the invention, according to a first example of a first embodiment
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of said member along the line II-II of FIG. 1.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of a second embodiment of said bracing member.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of said member according to line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 represents a top view of said member according to arrow F in FIG. 4.

Figure 6 shows a plan view of a second alternative embodiment of said bracing member.

FIG. 7 represents a side view of said member shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 represents a top view of said member according to the arrow F1 of FIG. 6.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the bracing member 1 according to the invention is in the form of a body 2 comprising, in this first alternative embodiment, four cradles 3, of identical design, each forming a housing 4 open to the outside and capable of receiving an elongated object 5, two of which have been shown.

In the example shown in these Figures 1 and 2, each cradle 3 is constituted by two bearing surfaces 6A and 6B, spaced from one another and each having a shape of
Identical V, and by a bar 7 connecting together the points 8 of the Vs of said bearing surfaces 6A and 6B, each bar 7 being arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle, corresponding to that of the elongated object 5 once placed on the bearing surfaces 6A and 6B.

Note in Figure 1 that the four cradles 3 are regularly distributed angularly around the body 2 having their longitudinal directions parallel to each other, and, we also see that the bearing surfaces 6A and 6B of said cradles 3 can have V having a more or less high opening angle, then making it possible to receive elongated objects of any diameter as shown in FIG. 1.

Of course, it goes without saying that, depending on the number and the diameter of the various elongated objects present, it is possible to provide bracing members having a number of cradles adapted to the need, these may be identical to each other or present different opening angles.

Furthermore, an opening 10 is provided between each bar 7 and the body 2, so as to allow the passage of clamping means 11 intended to hold the elongated object against the bearing surfaces of the corresponding cradle. These clamping means 11 are advantageously constituted by a clamp, well known per se and schematically shown in FIG. 1.

The bracing member 1 can be produced in a single piece obtained, for example, by molding. A synthetic, metallic, or composite material may be suitable for its manufacture. As for the elongated objects 5, they can be electrical and / or optical cables, hydraulic and / or pneumatic pipes, etc.

The installation of elongated objects on the bracing member does not pose any difficulty. Each object is placed on the bearing surfaces 6A and 6B of the cradle 3 while being guided in this way, then a clamp 11 surrounds said object and the bar associated with the bearing surfaces, so that said object is held firmly against the corresponding bearing surfaces.

With particular regard to FIG. 1, it can therefore be seen that the bracing member, by design, offers excellent distribution to the elongated objects, each of the elongated objects being guided and "channeled" into the concave housing formed by the two V-shaped support surfaces spaced from each other, then fixed to them by the clamp. Furthermore, the elongated objects 5, which are parallel to each other, are spaced from each other, thus respecting the spacing imposed between said elongated objects by safety standards. This spacing does not vary in use, even for example because of vibrations generated by the aircraft, since each object rests in a concave housing.

In the first example described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, the bracing member 1 is suitable for guiding and holding elongated objects which must be arranged parallel to each other.

On the other hand, in the second example of the first alternative embodiment of said bracing member illustrated with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, this makes it possible to be able to guide and hold elongated objects 5, for example, orthogonally to one another. For this, the body 16 of the bracing member 15 shown in these Figures 3 to 5 has, in this example, two cradles 3 whose longitudinal directions are orthogonal to each other but whose structure is similar to that of the cradles described in see Figures 1 and 2.

Again, the angle of the V formed by the bearing surfaces 6A and 6B of each cradle, spaced from each other by being connected by the bar 7, can be different depending on the diameter of the elongated objects 5 to be supported . In addition, although in this embodiment, the longitudinal directions of the cradles are orthogonal to one another, these could, of course, form a different angle depending on the path of each elongated object.

The fixing of each elongated object to the bearing surfaces of the corresponding cradle is carried out by means of a collar 11, surrounding the object and passing around the bar 7 thanks to the opening 10 formed in the body 15. The spacing between the objects 5, arranged orthogonally to each other, is respected.

There is shown in Figures 6 to 8 a second alternative embodiment of the bracing member. This bracing member 20 comprises a body 21 having a cradle 22 which forms a concave housing 23 intended to receive an elongated object, in a similar manner to the cradles 5 previously described. The cradle 22, identical in function, differs in structure from the cradles 5.

 The cradle 22 is shaped, in this alternative embodiment, by a substantially planar bearing surface 24 extending at each of its opposite edges parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cradle 22 respectively by two bars 25. Thus, as shown in the figure 6, the bearing surface 24 and the two bars 25 have approximately a U-shaped section, an opening 29 being provided between each bar and the body. This design of the cradle makes it possible to provide a bore 26 orthogonal to the bearing surface 2 #, passing through the body 21 to open into the surface 27 of the body, opposite the surface 24. This arrangement makes it possible to be able to fix the member bracing 20 to a structure 28, such as a panel or a frame which may be flat or curved.

 For this, as shown in Figures 6 to 8, a screw 30 allows to fix the member 20 to the structure 28, its surface 27 being in contact with the structure.

After fixing the bracing member 20 to the structure 28 by the screw 30, a clamp 11 is introduced into the openings 29, opposite one another, then the elongated object 5 is placed in the concave housing 23 of the cradle 22 which is guided therein. The clamp is then closed.

By regularly arranging several bracing members 20, the elongated object 5 is then suitably guided along the structure 28 while being distant from the latter.

Although not shown, one could provide on this second alternative embodiment several cradles capable of fixedly holding several elongated objects regularly spaced from each other.

Claims (8)

1 - Bracing member for elongated objects, such as cables, cable bundles, tubes, sheaths or the like, characterized in that it comprises a body (2 or 21) having at least one cradle (3 or 22) which forms a housing (# or 23) open to the outside and which is constituted by at least one bearing surface (6A, 6B or 24), capable of supporting at least one elongated object (5), and by at least one bar (7 or 25) arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle corresponding to that of said elongated object once disposed on said bearing surface, clamping means (11), associated with said cradle and passing around the bar and by a opening formed between the latter and said body, enclosing said elongated object to apply it against said bearing surface. 2 - Body according to claim 1, characterized in that several cradles, distant from each other, are distributed angularly around said body, having their longitudinal directions parallel to each other. 3 - Body according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two cradles provided on said body have their orthogonal longitudinal directions.  4 -Organ according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two cradles provided on said body have their longitudinal general directions forming between them any angle. 5 - Body according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to #, characterized in that said cradle (3) is shaped by two bearing surfaces (6A, 6B) spaced from one another and each having a shape of V, said strip (7), parallel to the longitudinal direction of said cradle, connecting together the points (8) of the V of said surfaces.  6 - Body according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to #, characterized in that said cradle (22) is shaped by a substantially planar support surface (24) extending at each of its opposite edges parallel to the longitudinal direction said cradle respectively by bars (25), said bearing surface and said bars forming approximately a U. 7 - Body according to claim 6, characterized in that a bore (26) or the like is provided in said body (21) to open into said bearing surface (24), perpendicular thereto. 8 - Body according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is made in one piece obtained by molding.