GB2415992A

GB2415992A - Device retaining cable by deformation of cable

Info

Publication number: GB2415992A
Application number: GB0415332A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philip Clive Franklin
Original assignee: Seneca Tech Ltd
Current assignee: Seneca Tech Ltd
Priority date: 2004-07-08
Filing date: 2004-07-08
Publication date: 2006-01-11
Also published as: GB0415332D0

Abstract

A device suitable for retaining a cable 12 comprising a housing 10, a bore 11, a channel 15 and a chamber 18 opening into the bore, wherein a member 14 is insertable into the channel 15 to deform a cable into the chamber. The channel 15 has a nominal diameter; the opening of the chamber 18 may extend a greater distance along the bore 11 than said nominal diameter. The member 14 used to deform the cable may be a screw. An end of the member 14 may be deformable to be non-removable from the device. The invention is particularly for use in securing a throttle cable of a light aircraft to the carburettor. The housing may be provided with a pair of spaced apart openings 16, 16', which may be used to fix the housing 10 to another item such as the actuator of a carburettor.

Description

241 5992 A Cable Retaining Device and a Method of Securinn a Cable The

present invention relates to a cable retaining device, in particular a form of clevis, and a method of securing a cable. Cables are of course used in a multitude of different industries and environments. The present invention is particularly designed to cater for uses where the retention of the cable is of particular importance, e.g. the throttle cable for a light aircraft or other vehicle.

Clearly, if the throttle cable became disconnected from the carburettor whilst the aircraft was flying, there could be disastrous consequences.

Cables are secured in a large number of different manners. One simple and convenient manner is to have the cable extending through a hole in a housing with a screw penetrating the housing to clamp the cable within the hole. Such fixings however are, however, prone to the screw becoming loose, though this can sometimes be remedied to a sufficient degree by simply using an adhesive to secure the screw within the housing.

A modified version of such clamps is also known where the housing is in the form of a clevis. The cable then extends through the body of the clevis and may be clamped by a screw therein. Alternatively, opposed screws in the clevis can be used with the cable clamped between the two screws. The clevis may also be provided with a means for attaching it to, e.g. the carburettor actuator in a vehicle installation.

In other circumstances, various types of crimps or push connections can be used to secure a fixing on to the end of thecable. However, these types of fixing are prone to become loose over time.

Cables are provided either as multi-filament (braced) or mono-filament cables.

Braded cables have a tendency to unravel, especially if trimmed to length.

Push-pull cables normally have a mono-filament inner with/without a covering sheath. Mono-filament cables are more difficult to grip firmly with a screw clamp, crimp, etc. The present invention seeks to provide a way of securing a cable to an object which is less likely to release the cable from the object.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cable retaining device comprising a housing having an elongate cable bore extending at least partially therethrough, a channel having a nominal diameter extending through the housing to intersect and open in to the cable bore, and a chamber opening in to the cable bore, the opening of the chamber extending a greater distance along the cable bore than said nominal diameter, wherein a member is . insertable into the channel so as to deform a cable into the opening. A cable . 15 once it is deformed is much more difficult to slide out of the bore than when the ë cable is straight. Be He

It will often be convenient to manufacture the cable retaining device with the chamber open to the exterior of the housing and/or the chamber opening is generally circular with a diameter greater than said nominal diameter. The I...e chamber will then be simply produced by a drill or the like.

It will often be efficient to manufacture the channel with a circular cross section, is as a secondary bore in the housing angled to intercept the cable bore.

Preferably the member is retainably insertable into the channel as this will prevent the retained cable from being able to resume an undeformed configuration, thus reducing the chance of the cable being released from the housing. Often the member comprises a threaded fastener, such as a screw or a bolt. An adhesive may be used as additionally security against the threaded fastener becoming undone.

Advantageously, the member has a distal end which extends in to the bore and the distal end is deformable so as to be non-removable from the housing. The distal end will then deform, for example, when it deforms the cable and the deformation of the distal end prevents the member from being removable from the channel.

Advantageously, the member will have a predetermined length, which will be set so that it is easy to insert the member the correct distance into the cable bore. For example, where the member is a screw or bolt, the member will be the correct length so that it protrudes the necessary amount into the cable bore to deform the cable and no further when it is tightened against the housing.

The cable retaining device will normally be provided with means for attaching to another item. This may be any type of connection so that suitable for connecting to the device which the cable operates. For example, the means may be a pair of spaced apart holes for retaining a pin for fixing to a carburettor actuator if the cable is a throttle cable. :.

The cable retaining device will normally be provided with the cable for the . particular installation. It is envisaged that it most cases the cable is a single lo: core cable.

Preferably, the cable will be permanently deformable. In this way the cable is less likely to slide from the cable bore even if the member is removed from the housing after initially deforming the cable.

The cable is formed from a harder material than the member, e.g. the distal end of the member. In this way the cable can act to deform the member if desired.

If the member is deformed, the member is preferably not then removable from the housing. The cable will normally be made from high tensile steel.

The cable retaining device is particularly suitable for installations where the cable is a throttle cable for a vehicle, such as an aircraft. It will be appreciated that in the case of a vehicle, particularly aircraft, the secure fixing of the throttle cable will be of great importance.

The bore will often be provided so as to be open at both ends. In this way a simple visual check can be made that the cable is correctly inserted into the bore before actuating the member to deform the cable. In other instance, for example in high volume production manufacturing, the bore could be closed and the cable inserted until it is deemed to have reached the end of the bore.

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, there is provided a cable retaining device comprising: (i) a housing; (ii) a bore extending at least partly through the housing to . . 15 accommodate a deformable cable; A. (iii) a chamber in the housing communicating with the bore by way of an opening; and :. (iv) a movable deforming member having a distal end which, in a clamping position of the device, extends into the bore, . the distal end having a cable-contact surface the dimension e along the channel is less than the minimum dimension of said opening along the channel.

This aspect of the invention may of course have any or all of the features of the first aspect of the invention.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of securing a cable comprising the sequential steps of: (a) inserting the cable in to a cable bore of a housing; and (b) actuating a member in a channel of the housing so as to deform part of the cable into a chamber opening in to the bore so that the cable cannot be retracted from the housing.

Thus is provided a simple way of reliably securing a cable.

Preferably, the member is movable to a position unconnected from the cable and the cable still cannot be retracted from the housing. In this case, the cable is more likely to remain in the housing even where the member falls out unintentionally after, e.g. prolonged use.

Advantageously, the member is a threaded fastener as this is simple to use.

The method according to the third aspect of the invention may utilise any of the features of the first or second aspect of the invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a clevis of the present invention with a cable secured therein; Figure 2 illustrates a bottom view of the clevis of Figure 1; and Figure 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view along the line of A-A of Fig.2 :.

A clevis, or cable retaining device, of the present invention is shown in Figure 1. This comprises a housing 10 through which there are several bores which can be seen more clearly from Figure 2 and Figure 3. I:

As seen most clearly in Fig. 3, there is a cable bore 11 extending through the housing 10 which is open at both ends. A cable 12 may be inserted therealong and the cable bore 1 1 is sized appropriately for the cable 12. A channel 15, also in the form of a bore of diameter X, is provided at right angles to the bore 11. Channel 15 is provided with a thread to allow the member 14 to be screwed thereinto. Chamber 18, is also provided as a bore of diameter Y. The diameter X is less than the diameter Y of the respective bores. Finally, the housing is provided with a pair of spaced-apart openings 16, 16' which can be used to fix the housing 10 on to another item, such as the actuator of a carburettor (not shown) by means of a pin or the like.

In the illustrated embodiment, channel 15 is provided with a thread to allow the retainable insertion of the member 14, which in the illustrated embodiment is a screw or bolt. However, in embodiments of the invention where the member 14 is only used to deform the cable 12 and thereafter may not be retained in the housing 10, will not require a threaded channel.

The member 14 has a length which is designed so that when inserted to its maximum extent into the channel 15, the distal end 14' extends across the cable bore 11. In this regard it is important that the member 14 extends far enough so as to deform the cable 12 to the necessary degree, but it is preferable if the member cannot extend further than necessary.

The chamber 18 is shown being open to the exterior of the housing 10 and to the bore 1 1. However, chamber 18 may open simply onto the bore 11 so as to provide an enlarged region thereof. However, for production purposes it is considered simpler to provide chamber 18 as a bore from the exterior of the housing 10. The nominal diameter of the chamber 18 is greater than the A. nominal diameter of channel 15. In this regard, in the illustrated embodiment . chamber 18 and channel 15 are shown as being generally circular, but they may be provided in any convenient shape. The opening of chamber 18 must be . greater than the extent of channel 15, along the cable bore 11 in order for the cable to be able to deform into chamber 18 when acted upon by the member 14.

The housing 10 will normally be formed of metal, such as steel or brass alum.

However, it is possible to provide it in any material. For example, plastics such as polyamide, polyacetyl or ABS could be used in some instances, e.g. where the security of the cable within the housing is of relatively low importance.

The cable 12 may be any type of cable. However, it is preferred if the cable 12 is made from high tensile steel or the like. In this case, the cable 12 will be permanently deformed when acted upon by member 14. In this way, even if member 14 is removed from the housing 10 the cable 12 will still be reliably contained therein. The cable 12 may be the form of an inner core of a throttle cable which has a protective sheath (not shown).

The member 14 has a distal end 14'. This distal end may preferably deform (not shown) when or after deforming the cable 12. The deformation is to raise burs on the distal end 14' by the harder cable 12 during assembly. The member 14 cannot then be removed from the housing 10, i.e. cannot accidentally undo after assembly. This further reduces the chance that the cable 12 can be removed from the housing 10 when in use.

As will be appreciated, the cable retaining device of the invention could join together two cables by having a housing with two cable bores 1 1, two channels 15, two members 14 and two chambers 18 in a non-illustrated embodiment. a, 15 . .

In the method of securing a cable of the present invention, the cable 12 is inserted into cable bore 1 1 of the housing 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the cable is pushed through the cable bore 11 until a small extent of the cable 12 can be seen protruding from the housing 10. A user would then recognise . . that the cable 12 is properly inserted into the cable bore 11. Thereafter, the member 14 is tightened into the channel 15 so as to deform the cable as shown in figure 3. The cable 12 kinks into chamber 18. If desired, an adhesive can be used on the thread of member 14 so as to secure the member 14 in the channel 15. It will be appreciated that this is a very simple but reliable way of securing the cable 12 to the housing 10.

The present invention is particularly suitable for use in e.g. the bespoke assembly of light aircraft. For example, the assembly of the throttle cable linkage using the present invention only requires the use of hand tools such as spanners and/or screwdrivers. Yet the fixing of typical mono-filament throttle cable to the carburettor is still very reliable whilst allowing the cable to be trimmed to the length necessary for the particular installation.

In some instances, for example in mass production circumstances, the need for a user to visually inspect that cable 12 has been inserted far enough through the housing by seeing a small extent thereof extending therefrom may be considered inefficient. In such circumstances where the cable bore 11 may be closed in the housing. The cable 12 will then be pushed into the housing until it abuts the far end of the cable bore 11. This embodiment is not shown.

Generally, the present invention provides a simple and reliable method to secure a cable in to a housing particularly for use in securing a throttle cable of a light aircraft to the carburettor. The cable is inserted into a cable bore in the housing, and a screw is used to deform part of the cable into a chamber opening on to the bore so that the cable cannot be removed from the housing. : A:

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A cable retaining device comprising a housing having an

elongate cable bore extending at least partially therethrough, a channel having a nominal diameter extending through the housing to intersect and open in to the cable bore, and a chamber opening into the cable bore, the opening of the chamber extending a greater distance along the cable bore than said nominal diameter, wherein a member is insertable into the channel so as to deform a cable into the opening.
2. The cable retaining device according to Claim 1, wherein the chamber is also open to the exterior of the housing.
3. The cable retaining device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the :. chamber opening is generally circular with a diameter greater than said nominal ë . 15 diameter. I. .
4. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims, :. wherein the channel has a circular cross-section. ë
5. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the member is retainably insertable into the channel.
6. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the member comprises a threaded fastener.
7. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the member has a distal end which extends on to the bore and the distal end is deformable so as to be non-removable from the cable retaining means.
8. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the member is a predetermined length.
9. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims further including attachment means for attaching the cable retaining device to another item.
10. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims further including the cable.
11. The cable retaining device according to Claim 10, wherein the cable is a single core cable.
12. The cable retaining device according to Claim 10 or Claim 1 1, wherein the cable is permanently deformable.

A.
13. The cable retaining device according to any one of Claim 10 to 12, wherein . 15 the cable is formed from a harder material than the member, e.g. the distal end .- of the member. ë :-.

:.
14. The cable retaining device according to any one of Claims 10 to 13, wherein the cable is a throttle cable for a vehicle, and optionally the vehicle is . an aircraft.

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15. The cable retaining device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bore is open at both ends.
16. A cable retaining device comprising: (i) a housing; (ii) a bore extending at least partly through the housing to accommodate a deformable cable; (iii) a chamber in the housing communicating with the bore by way of an opening; and (iv) a movable deforming member having a distal end which, in a clamping position of the device, extends into the bore, the distal 1 1 end having a cable-contact surface the dimension along the channel is less than the minimum dimension of said opening along the channel.
17. A method of securing a cable comprising the sequential steps of: (a) inserting the cable in to a cable bore of a housing; and (b) actuating a member in a channel of the housing so as to deform part of the cable into a chamber opening in to the bore so that the cable cannot be retracted from the housing.
18. The method of Claim 17, wherein the member is movable to a position unconnected from the cable and the cable still cannot be retracted from the housing. :. ë
19. The method of Claims 17 or 18, wherein the member is a threaded fastener. ë . :-.
20. The method according to any one of Claims 17 to 19 using the cable retaining device of any one of Claims 1 to 16. ë

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21. A cable retaining device as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
22. A method of securing a cable as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.