GB2483064A

GB2483064A - Cable conduit

Info

Publication number: GB2483064A
Application number: GB201014078A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Fieldhouse
Original assignee: J F PLASTICS Ltd
Current assignee: J F PLASTICS Ltd
Priority date: 2010-08-24
Filing date: 2010-08-24
Publication date: 2012-02-29
Also published as: GB201014078D0

Abstract

A swept pipe conduit has a vertical section 14 and two curved arms 13 co-operating to lead a cable from an incoming horizontal section round one arm to a vertical section 14, and back down the other arm until the cable can once again join a further horizontal section of conduit 12. This configuration eases feeding of the cable sections up into the vertical section and down again. It is applicable for instance to rows of vehicle charging stations.

Description

CABLE CONDUIT

The present invention relates to a conduit, preferably for electrical cables, that is to be laid underground between a number of surface stations mounted on pillars or columns. Such stations might be lamps, for instance, but the invention has particular application to charging points for vehicles, or for data cables such as fibre-optic cables.

When routing cables from one point to the next along a horizontal conduit buried in the ground, the cables have to come up the respective column in order to be connected to the electrical apparatus, terminating at that apparatus, then down again and along the conduit to the next point.

It is quite a fiddly job to feed the cables into the next part of the conduit. The alternative is to have a separate cable for each apparatus, terminating at that apparatus, but that limits the number of apparatuses that can be fed from one conduit, since there is only space for a certain number of cables.

An example of a conduit joint system is shown in GB 565995 (Gilbert), which in Figure 4 shows an inverted T-joint. The cable pair enters along one arm of the T, rises up the central section and returns (or the next section of cable returns) down and into the other arm of the T. No details are given as to how the cable is fed round the 9Q0 bend into the T-arm.

According to the invention there is provided a cable conduit section of generally inverted-T-or -Y-shape, having a vertical central section and two arms leading from the lower end of the central section to a horizontal conduit section to be laid in the ground, wherein the arms curve continuously from the vertical to the horizontal so as to guide a cable when inserted into the conduit section.

Preferably the conduit section is of uniform cross-section, the two arms meeting at a single shared central section. However, the central section could be a composite of two tubes formed as the arms bend round in parallel, or the two vertical parts of the tubes could simply remain close but separate.

The invention is also concerned with an installation made up of a set of such sections with horizontal conduit sections between them, the vertical portion extending above ground to respective electrical apparatuses, preferably vehicle charging stations.

The conduit section or T-adapter can be made by splicing together two identical or similar curved tubes, i.e. by slicing through two curved sections arranged back-to-back but overlapping, and welding or gluing along the slices. The slice can be symmetrical or, preferably, offset. Alternatively, the section can be moulded in one piece.

The full conduit can be assembled by such sections and straight sections between them connecting the arms, or alternatively by splicing the conduit sections on to the upper surface of a continuous main conduit.

For a better understanding of the invention, embodiments of it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows an installation using the conduit sections of the invention; Figure 2 shows a conduit section; Figures 3 and 4 show alternative versions; Figure 5 shows an alternative conduit system; and Figure 6 shows further variants.

Figure 1 shows very schematically a run of cables to a set of apparatuses, using conduit sections in accordance with the invention. The individual apparatuses 5 are mounted on columns or pillars 3 arranged at a suitable spacing, say about 6m for adjacent car parking.

Underneath the pillars, there is a trench in which a conduit 10 runs, containing one or more cables such as electrical cables or fibre-optic cables. The conduct has horizontal sections 12 between the points, vertical sections extending up into the pillars 3, and intermediate swept portions 13 taking the cable round by 90° up into the columns towards the apparatus 5. The cables are thus fed up one bend and into the apparatus 5, where they are connected to the next stretch of cable. This next stretch extends back down the other bend and on towards the next apparatus, in a kind of daisy-chain arrangement.

The swept part has a junction 16 where the incoming and outgoing swept portions 13 meet, so that it has a curved inverted-Y or tree shape. The branches of the tree, or the arms of the Y, are connected by adapters, not shown, to standard stretches of pipe forming the horizontal sections 12.

The double-swept section is shown in Figure 2. It is made simply by taking two identical curved sections of pipe, arranging them back-to-back with the vertical section 14 overlapping and cutting them along a plane (or curved surface) that cuts through one of the pipes and makes an opening in the other. Of course, the pipes do not literally have to be cut in this way -they could even be formed to order -but that is the effect. Figure 3 shows an alternative cutting plane, in fact a symmetrical one extending vertically. Figure 4 shows a notional moulded Y-adapter, a possibility if one wished to do away with the cutting and gluing/welding processes.

The pipes (and welds) are formed of PVC but could equally well be of PE, PP or equivalent materials, depending on the application. They are typically 50mm in diameter or thereabouts.

In principle, the Y-adapter could instead be made simply of two 90° curves of pipe arranged as it were back to back, though this would be harder to handle and would take up more space.

Such an arrangement can be used for interconnecting a variety of apparatuses, for instance charging stations for vehicles, arranged along a street, or even whole houses, for instance for fibre-optic cables. The arrangement shown in Figure 1 is suitable for low-voltage applications where the cables are not armoured and hence do not take up much space.

Figure 5 shows an alternative layout, where the Y-adapters are fixed to a continuous main conduit 30, of diameter about 12 cm. The lower part of each bend joins the main conduit 30 as it sweeps round towards the horizontal, where it is cut away and welded to a similarly cut-away part of the top surface of the conduit, as shown at 18.

Constructions of this type are suitable for high-voltage applications with bulky armoured cables. Here one cable 40 passes up one arm of the Y-adapter and down the other, while other cables 42 bypass it and continue towards downstream apparatuses. Conduits of this type, having a main straight conduit and a curved side arm, are known, but there is no return arm, so there has to be one cable for every apparatus in the circuit, which limits its capacity.

Figure 6 shows further variants of the type of embodiment shown in Figure 5, where the vertical pipe sections meet and are welded together (Figure 6A) or remain separate (Figure 6B) References herein to "vertical" and "horizontal'T are of course labels of convenience, intended for one specific use and not intended to limit the application or orientation of the conduit section of the invention.