GB2068448A

GB2068448A - A cable retaining band-clamp

Info

Publication number: GB2068448A
Application number: GB8038428A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-12-24
Filing date: 1980-12-01
Publication date: 1981-08-12
Also published as: FR2472860A1; DE2952394A1; SE8006774L; ES255020U; JPS56109973A; DE2952394C2; GB2068448B; ES255020Y; IT8026897A0; FR2472860B1; IT1134874B

Abstract

A band-clamp for retaining cables is mountable on a T-shaped stud by means of a stud-receiving part integral with flexible band portions (4, 19) which can be secured around a cable or group of cables by a buckle (3). The part has two apertures (11, 11') forming receiving portions for the stud and a stud retaining portion (10) therebetween and connected thereto by passages, so that the clamp can be moved sideways to move the stud from one or other of the receiving portions into the retaining portion. The stud shank is held between webs (14) and (15), the web (14) having an incision (16) partly embracing the shank. Other embodiments comprise two retaining portions which may have individual receiving portions or be joined to a common central receiving portion. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A cable retaining band The invention relates to a cable retaining band made of hard elastic plastics material, and comprising a retaining clip for fixing the cable band on a supporting plate by means of a Tshaped stud mounted on the plate, wherein the retaining slip has a receiving portion for insertion of the stud transversely to the longitudinal direction of the band, and a retaining portion for the stud, the retaining portion being joined tc the receiving portion by a narrow passage which can be resiliently enlarged.

Cable bands of this type are known e.g. from DE-OS 18 10 51 5. They are used chiefly for mounting cables or bundles of cables on plates in the chassis of all kinds of motor vehicles.

In the mounting of these cable bands the retaining clip is first pushed by its receiving portion over the head of the stud, pressed down until it lies on the supporting plate, and then pushed sideways so as to enlarge the narrow passage until the stud engages in the retaining portion. The fitter will generally endeavour to ensure that he always mounts the cable band in a position favourable to the subsequent fitting of the cables. If he is right-handed he will insert the retaining clip so that he can take the cable fastener in his left hand and the end of the cable to be inserted in the fastener in his right hand.

Depending on the position of the stud and the amount of space available, however, it may happen that the retaining clip has to be pressed down in exactly the opposite direction, so that the fitter cannot take hold of the band with his right hand in the usual way. Instead he has to take it in his left hand and consequently has to re-think the fitting of the cables, thereby seriously disturbing the flow of assembly work.

The present invention provides a cable retaining band comprising a flexible band portion which can be fastened round the cable or cables to be retained, and a clip integral with the band and by means of which the band can be attached to a T-shaped fixing stud, the clip being of the kind having one aperture forming a stud retaining portion and which is joined by a resiliently enlargeable passage to another aperture to initially receive the stud and forming a stud receiving portion, wherein the retaining portion is connected by such passages to two receiving portions, or two receiving portions are provided connected by such passages to a common retaining portion, or two retaining portions are each connected by such passages to individual receiving portions, in such a way that the clip can be attached to the stud by movement in either direction along a line which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the band.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:~ Figure 1 shows a cable band comprising a retaining clip with a retaining portion and two receiving portions, being placed on a stud; Figure 2 shows the same cable band when the stud has been pressed into the retaining portion; Figure 3 is a section through the clip taken along the line B-B; Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through the cable band taken along the line A-A; Figure 5 shows a different form of retaining clip with two retaining and two receiving portions; Figure 6 shows a modified form of the Figure 5 construction; Figure 7 shows a further cable band comprising a retaining clip with one receiving portion and two retaining portions;; Figure 8 is a longitudinal section through the cable band shown in Figure 7 taken along the line C-C; Figure 9 is a section through the retaining clip, taken along the line D-D in Figure 7, before the clip is engaged with a stud; Figure 1 Oa shows the clip when it has been engaged with the stud and moved laterally into the left-hand retaining portion, and Figure 1.0b shows the clip when it has been engaged with the stud and moved laterally into the right-hand retaining portion.

The cable bands illustrated in the drawings are made of hard elastic plastics such as polyamide or the like. They essentially comprise a band member 1, provided with serrations 2, and a locking member 3. When the band has been tightened around a cable or bunch of cables (not shown), the pointed end 4 of the band member 1 is pushed through into the locking member 3 and anchored in it. For this purpose the locking member 3 is provided with an insertion slot 5 and a bolt 6 which can spring open resiliently. The bolt engages in the depressions of the serrations 2, which slope in the direction of insertion.

A retaining c;;p 7 is formed on the band member 1 shortly before the locking member 3, and is connected to the locking member 3 by a portion of band 17. The purpose of the clip 7 is to fix the cable band onto a supporting plate 9 by means of a T-shaped stud 8. For this purpose it is constructed with a retaining portion 10 and with a receiving portion 1 1 and 11' at each side of the retaining portion, transversely to the longitudinal direction of the band. This enables the clip 7 to be pressed down onto the stud from two sides without the cable band having to be turned round first.

The retaining portion 10 is formed by two plates 14 and 1 5 which project from the side walls 18 and 18' of the clip 7 and engage behind the head 12 of the stud 8. One plate 14 has a U-shaped incision 1 6 to receive the shank of the stud, so that the plate 14 can almost be pushed right under the head 12 of the stud. The other plate 1 5 extends only as far as the shank 13 of the bolt, and together with the projecting ends 1 7 of the opposed plate 14, forms a narrow passage which can be enlarged.

In order to keep the side walls 18 and 1 8' carrying the plates 14 and 15 free from the tensile forces in the taut band portions 1 and 19, the portions 1 and 19 are divided in a forked shape shortly before the side walls 18 and 1 8', and their forked ends 20, 20' and 21,21' are joined integrally to the outer walls of the receiving portions 1 1 and 11'. In this way the tensile forces exerted by the band portions 1 and 19 are transmitted directly to the transverse walls 22 and 22' of the clip, so that the retaining portion 10 is still held securely to the stud 8, even with normal tearing forces, by virtue of the retaining plate 14 extending far below the head 12 of the stud.

If stronger tearing forces are expected it is advisable to use the embodiment shown in Figures 5 or 6. Here there are two retaining portions 10 and 10', each provided with a receiving portion 1 1 and 11' of its own. The retaining portions 10 and 10' are arranged close together near the centre line of the bands 1 and 19 respectively, and the receiving portions 11 and 1 1 ' are at least partially taken past one another. In Figure 5 the retaining portions 10 and 10' are slightly outside the centre of the band while in Figure 6 they are exactly in the centre of the bands 1 and 19 respectively, arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction. In both cases the band portions 1 and 19 are joined to the side walls 18 and 18' of the clip 7 exactly at the level of the retaining portions 10 and 10'.In the present case this does not impair the retaining force of the clip 7, since the side walls 18 and 18' are bridged by a connecting web 23 between the portions 10 and 10'.

Figures 7 to 10 show a further advantageous embodiment of the clip 7, in which a retaining portion 10 or 10' is arranged at each side of the central insertion portion 1 The receiving portion 11 is also covered by a transverse web 24 which is joined to the side walls 1 8 and 18' and which has tongues 25 attached to it. The tongues are inclined obliquely downwards towards the two retaining portions 10 and 10' and can spring up.

The purpose of the tongues is to support and secure the head 12 of the stud 8 when it is pressed into the retaining portion 10 or 10'.

In this embodiment the retaining portions 10 and 10' are slightly out of centre in the band portion 1, but the centre offset is so small that this has no disadvantages in relation to the holding force of the clip 7. On the other hand the overall width of the clip 7 is substantially smaller than that of the clip-7 in Figures 1 to 4,so that less plastics material is required to manufacture it. Nor is there any need for the band portions 1 and 1 9 to be joined with a forked arrangement. A transverse web 24 makes the clip 7 altogether more stable than the clip shown in Figures 1 to 4, so that this form of clip guarantees a secure hold even in the face of quite strong tearing forces.

Claims

1. A cable retaining band comprising a flexible band portion which can be fastened round the cable or cables to be retained, and a clip integral with the band and by means of which the band can be attached to a T-shaped fixing stud, the clip being of the kind having one aperture forming a stud retaining portion and which is joined by a resiliently enlargeable passage to another aperture to initially receive the stud and forming a stud receiving portion, wherein the retaining portion is connected by such passages to two receiving portions, or two receiving portions are provided connected by such passages to a common retaining portion, or two retaining portions are each connected by such passages to individual receiving portions, in such a way that ths clip can be attached to the stud by movement in either direction along a line which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the band.

2. A cable retaining band according to claim 1, wherein two receiving portions are arranged one at each side of a single retaining portion, and that portions of the flexible band joined to the retaining clip 7 are divided in a fork shape, their forked ends being joined to respective outer walls of the insertion portions.

3. A cable retaining band according to claim 2, wherein the retaining portion is formed by two plates projecting from side walls of the clip and engageable behind the head of the T-shaped stud, one plate having a U-shaped incision with projecting ends to partly embrace the shank of the bolt, and the other plate extending only as far as to abut the shank of the bolt and, together with the projecting ends 1 7 of the first-mentioned plate, forming passages which can be resiliently enlarged in width.

4. A cable retaining band according to claim 1, wherein two retaining portions with individual receiving portions are present, the retaining portions being arranged adjacent to each other, and at or near the longitudinal centre line of the flexible band.

5. A cable retaining band according to claim 4, where in the receiving portions partly overlap, and~ the retaining portions located in the longitudinal centre line of the flexible band and are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction.

6. A cable retaining band according to claim 1, wherein two retdining portions are located one on each side of a single receiving portion, the receiving portion is bridged by a transverse web, and resilient tongues are provided on both sides of the web and directed obliquely downwards to engage the head of the T-shaped stud when the stud is located in one or other of the retaining portions.

7. A cable retaining band constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in Figures 1 4, or 5, or 6, or 7-10 of the accompanying drawings.