GB2502769A

GB2502769A - Frangible coupler for cable trays

Info

Publication number: GB2502769A
Application number: GB201207478A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nigel Leaver; David Atkinson
Original assignee: Legrand Electric Ltd
Current assignee: Legrand Electric Ltd
Priority date: 2012-04-30
Filing date: 2012-04-30
Publication date: 2013-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2032-04-30
Also published as: GB2502769B; GB2508101A; GB2508101B; GB201320794D0; GB201207478D0

Abstract

A coupler for joining cable tray sections has at least one snap line 12 along which it can be broken. It may have holes 16, 18 of different shapes to allow the two portions to be reconnected in a different configuration by securing a bolt in them to join cable tray sections at an angle. The coupler may have more than one snap line so different lengths can be produced. The coupler may also have bend lines 14 so that it can form brackets appropriate to different widths of cable tray.

Description

CABLE TRAYS

Cable tray assemblies are used for routing cabling.

Cable tray assemblies are constructed by assembling cable tray sections of standardized configurations, such as straight sections and corner sections, The inventors for the present invention have identified the challenge of further facilitating the assembly of cable tray sections.

There is hereby provided a coupler bracket for joining cable tray sections at their side walls, which coupler bracket defines a pair of bolt holes of different shapes located symmetrically about a snap line, and is snappable at said snap line into two portions, which two portions are reconnectable in a different configuration by securing a bolt in said holes of different shapes, to thereby provide a coupler for joining a first cable tray section to a second cable tray section at an angle to the plane of the first cable tray.

In one embodiment, the coupler bracket further defines bend lines about which said coupler bracket is bendable by up to 90 degrees for use in connecting two cable tray sections at an angle in a common plane, and/or for use in connecting two cable tray sections of different widths in a common plane.

In one embodiment, the coupler bracket defines sufficient bend lines for connecting two cable tray sections having any width difference selected from 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 125mm, 150mm and 200mm.

In one embodiment, the coupler bracket defines sufficient bend lines for connecting two cable tray sections having any width difference selected from 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm.

In one embodiment, the coupler bracket comprises a planar strip and flanges at both lateral edges of the planar strip, which flanges define a space having a dimension matching a dimension of the sidewall of the cable tray.

In one embodiment, the side wall of the cable tray section has a width of 25mm or 50mm.

In one embodiment, the coupler bracket defines, in addition to said pair of bolt holes of different shapes, at least two further bolt holes on either side of said snap line for use in securing said coupler bracket to the side walls of cable trays.

In one embodiment, said pair of bolt holes of different shapes comprises a circular hole and a square hole.

There is also hereby provided a method of joining cable tray sections using a coupler bracket as described above.

There is also provided a method comprising providing a plurality of identical coupler brackets as described above; using one or more of the plurality of identical coupler brackets to connect one cable tray to another cable tray at an angle to the plane of said one cable tray; and using one or more others of the plurality of identical coupler brackets to connect two cable trays of differing widths in a common plane.

There is also hereby provided a coupler for joining cable tray sections at their bases, which coupler comprises a metal plate defining a plurality of snap lines distributed along the length of the metal plate, wherein the metal plate is snappable at each snap line to produce coupler segments of different lengths.

There is also hereby provided a method of joining cable tray sections at their bases using a coupler as described directly above, the method comprising snapping the metal plate at one of said plurality of snap lines to generate coupler segments, and using one or more of said coupler segments to join two cable tray sections at their bases.

There is also hereby provided a method comprising: providing a plurality of identical couplers as described two paragraphs above; snapping one or more of said plurality of identical couplers into coupler segments and using said coupler segments to join cable trays at their bases; and using one or more others of said plurality of identical couplers to join cable trays at their bases without snapping into coupler segments.

An embodiment of the present invention is described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 illustrate examples of cable tray sections for use with coupler brackets according to embodiments of the present invention; Figure 3 illustrates a coupler bracket according to embodiment of the present invention for joining cable tray sections as illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 4 illustrates a coupler bracket according to embodiment of the present invention for joining cable tray sections as illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 5(a) illustrates examples of combinations of cable tray sections of differing widths that can be connected together using the coupler brackets illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 5(b) illustrates different ways of bending the coupler brackets at the bend lines to accommodate various differences in cable tray widths; Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the use of the coupler brackets of Figures 3 and 4 to generate couplers for joining a first cable tray section to a second cable tray section at an angle to the plane of the first cable tray section; Figures 8 and 9 further illustrate the plurality of bend lines defined by the coupler brackets of Figures 3 and 4, and also illustrate the use of the coupler brackets to join cable tray sections of differing widths in a common plane; Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the use of the coupler brackets of Figures 3 and 4 to fix a vertical cable tray section to one side of a horizontal cable tray section; Figures 12 and 13 illustrate the use of the coupler brackets of Figures 3 and 4 as end brackets for fixing cable tray sections to support walls; Figures 14 and 15 both illustrate the use of the coupler bracket for joining two cable tray sections in a common plane to form a 900 turn; and also illustrate the use of an additional coupler according to an embodiment of the present invention for further joining the two cable tray sections at their bases; All dimensions stated in the drawings are expressed in mm.

The cable tray sections of Figures 1 and 2 are formed from a single steel plate, which is cut and bent so as to define a base 2, opposing side walls 4 extending from the edges of the base 2 at 90° to the base 2, and flanges 6 extending inwards at the ends of the side walls 4. Holes/perforations are punched into the pad of the steel plate defining the base and the side walls to: (a) reduce the weight and cost of the finished cable tray section; (b) provide bolt holes for securing cable tray sections to one another via couplers as described below; and (c) securing cables to the cable trays. The resulting steel plate may then be subjected to hot dip zinc galvanisation.

The holes/perforations punched into the steel plate have a minimum dimension of 5mm to avoid them filling with zinc.

The cable tray sections illustrated at the upper portions of Figures 1 and 2 are provided in widths ranging from 450mm to 900mm; the cable tray section illustrated at the lower portion of Figure 1 is provided in widths of 75mm, 100mm, 150mm, 225mm and 300mm; and the cable tray section illustrated at the lower portion of Figure 2 is provided in widths of 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 150mm, 225mm and 300mm; wherein the widths here refer to the distance between the opposing side walls 4.

The coupler brackets of Figures 3 and 4 are also formed from a single steel plate which is cut and bent so as to define a planar strip 8 and flanges 10 extending at 90° from both lateral edges of the planar strip 8 at the longitudinal end portions of the planar strip 8. No flanges are provided at the central portion of the planar strip 8.

Holes/perforations are punched into the part of the steel plate defining the planar strip 8 to: (i) reduce the weight and cost of the coupler bracket 7; (U) provide bolt holes for securing the coupler bracket to cable tray sections; and (iU) define a snap line 12 and bend lines 14 to facilitate the snapping and bending of the coupler bracket 7 at those locations. The snap line 12 and bend lines 14 are each defined by a combination of (a) a set of perforations extending in a straight line at 90 degrees to the lateral edges of the planar strip 8 and (b) indentations in the planar strip at the points where the lateral edges of the planar strip 8 lie on an extension of the line of perforations.

S

A single snap line 12 is provided at the exact midpoint of the planar strip 8; and bend lines 14 are provided at a plurality of locations between the longitudinal edges of the planar strip 8 such that the coupler bracket can be bent into a number of different shapes of differing dimensions. The distances between pairs of bend lines 14 is shown in Figures 3 and 4, and the set of separation distances includes distances matching all the various differences in widths of the different cable tray sections with which the coupler bracket 7 may be used.

Figure 5A illustrates different ways of connecting cable tray sections of differing widths; and Figure 5B illustrates how the coupler bracket 7 can be bent in different ways (i.e. at different bend lines 14) to accommodate a range of differences between the widths of the cable tray sections to be coupled using the coupler bracket 7.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate the use of the coupler bracket 7 of Figures 3 and 4 for joining a first cable tray section to a second cable tray section at an angle to the plane of the second cable tray. The user first snaps the coupler bracket 7 at the snap line 12 into two portions. The user then secures the two portions together by securing a bolt in a pair of bolt holes 16, 18 located symmetrically about the snap line 12. The user secures the two coupler portions together at a pivot angle corresponding to the angle at which the first cable tray section is to be arranged relative to the plane of the second cable tray, which angle can be any angle up to 90°. One of the pair of bolt holes 16, 18 is square and the other is circular. The use of a non-circular hole for one of the pair of bolt holes 16, 18 facilitates the fastening of the two coupler portions together. A bolt with a square shank portion (below the bolt head) matching the dimensions of the square bolt hole 16 is inserted in the pair of bolt of holes 16, 18, and a nut can be tightened onto the bolt using only a single socket wrench.

Figures Sand 9 illustrate the use of the coupler bracket of Figures 3 and 4 for joining two cable tray sections of differing widths in a common plane. Figure 5 illustrates the joining of a cable tray section of 300mm width to a cable tray section of 150mm width in a symmetrical (straight) configuration, and Figure 9 illustrates the joining of a cable tray section of 150mm width to a cable tray section of 100mm width in an offset configuration.

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the use of the coupler bracket 7 of Figures 3 and 4 to fix a first cable tray section to a second cable tray section in a configuration in which the base 2 of first cable tray section lies parallel to a side wall 4 of the second cable tray.

The user snaps the coupler bracket 7 into two portions about the snap line 12; bends one of the two portions by 90 degrees about one of the bend lines 14; secures the two coupler portions together in a 90 degree configuration using the bolt holes 16, 15 mentioned above; secures one of the coupler portions to a side wall 4 of the second cable tray; and secures the other of the two coupler portions to a side wall 4 of the first cable tray.

Figures 12 and 13 illustrate the use of the coupler bracket of Figures 3 and 4 as an end bracket to fix a cable tray section to a support fixture, such as a support wall.

The user snaps the coupler plate 7 into two portions about the snap line 12; bends both coupler portions by 90 degrees about corresponding bend lines; secures one of the coupler portions to the support wall and one of the side walls of the cable tray; and secures the other of the coupler portions to the support wall and the other of the side walls of the cable tray.

Figures 14 and 15 illustrate the coupling of two cable tray sections in a common plane to form a 90 degree turn, In addition to using the coupler bracket of Figures 3 and 4 to secure join the two cable tray sections at their side waIls 4, a further coupler is used to join the two cable tray sections at their bases 2. The same coupler 20 is used in each of the examples illustrated in Figures 14 and 15. The coupler 20 comprises a steel strip that defines bolt holes and snap lines 22 of the same kind as coupler bracket 7 of Figures 3 and 4 at a plurality of locations along the length of the steel strip. In the examples illustrated at Figure 15 and the left-hand section of Figure 14, the coupler 20 is snapped in half about one of the snap lines 24 to form coupler segments 24, and the one or both of the coupler segments are used to secure the cable tray sections at their bases 2. In the example illustrated at the right-hand section of Figure 14, the whole of the coupler 20 is used to secure the two cable tray sections together at their bases 2 without snapping the coupler 20 into coupler segments. The additional couplers 20 can also be used for joining cable trays at their bases in the applications illustrated in Figures 6 to 11, with some bending of the additional coupler about one or more of the snap lines 24 in the case of Figures 6, 7, 10 and 11.

As illustrated at the right-hand section of Figure 14, the coupler bracket 7 of Figures 3 and 4 can also be bent about the snap line 12.

In addition to the bolt holes 16, 18 of different shapes, the coupler bracket 7 of Figures 3 and 4 also defines at least two further bolt holes (rectangular bolt holes) on either side of the snap line 12 in order to ensure that there are at least two locations for securing each half of the coupler bracket to a cable tray section in the uses illustrated in Figures 6,7 and lOto 15.

The applicant draws attention to the fact that the present invention may include any feature or combination of features disclosed herein either implicitly or explicitly or any generalisation thereof, without limitation to the scope of any definitions set out above.

In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments within the scope of the invention,

Claims

CLAIMS1. A coupler bracket for joining cable tray sections at their side walls, which coupler bracket defines a pair of bolt holes of different shapes located symmetrically about a snap line, and is snappable at said snap line into two portions, which two portions are reconnectable in a different configuration by securing a bolt in said holes of different shapes, to thereby provide a coupler for joining a first cable tray section to a second cable tray section at an angle to the plane of the first cable tray.
2. A coupler bracket according to claim 1, which further defines bend lines about which said coupler bracket is bendable by up to 90 degrees for use in connecting two cable tray sections at an angle in a common plane, and/or for use in connecting two cable tray sections of different widths in a common plane.
3. A coupler bracket according to claim 2, which defines sufficient bend lines for connecting two cable tray sections having any width difference selected from 25mm, 60mm, 75mm, 100mm, 125mm, 150mm and 200mm.
4. A coupler bracket according to claim 2, which defines sufficient bend lines for connecting two cable tray sections having any width difference selected from 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm.
5. A coupler bracket according to any preceding claim, which comprises a planar strip and flanges at both lateral edges of the planar strip, which flanges define a space having a dimension matching a dimension of the side wall of the cable tray.
6. A coupler bracket according to claim 5, wherein the side wall of the cable tray section has a width of 25mm or 50mm.
7. A coupler bracket according to any preceding claim, wherein the coupler bracket defines, in addition to said pair of bolt holes of different shapes, at least two further bolt holes on either side of said snap line for use in securing said coupler bracket to the side walls of cable trays.
8. A coupler bracket according to any preceding claim wherein said pair of bolt holes of different shapes comprises a circular hole and a square hole.
9. A coupler bracket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 3 or Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.
10. A method of joining cable tray sections using a coupler bracket according to any of claims ito 9.
ii. A method comprising providing a plurality of identical coupler brackets according to any of claims 1 to 9; using one or more of the plurality of identical coupler brackets to connect one cable tray to another cable tray at an angle to the plane of said one cable tray; and using one or more others of the plurality of identical coupler brackets to connect two cable trays of differing widths in a common plane.
12. A coupler for joining cable tray sections at their bases, which coupler comprises a metal plate defining a plurality of snap lines distributed along the length of the metal plate, wherein the metal plate is snappable at each snap line to produce coupler segments of different lengths.
13. A coupler substantially as hereinbefore described for joining cable tray sections at their bases with reference to Figure 14 or Figure 15 of the accompanying drawings.
14. A method of joining cable tray sections at their bases using a coupler according to claim 12 or claim 13, the method comprising snapping the metal plate at one of said plurality of snap lines to generate coupler segments, and using one or more of said coupler segments to join two cable tray sections at their bases.
15. A method comprising: providing a plurality of identical couplers according to claim 12 or claim 13; snapping one or more of said plurality of identical couplers into coupler segments and using said coupler segments to join cable trays at their bases; and using one or more others of said plurality of identical couplers to join cable trays at their bases without snapping into coupler segments.
16. A method of joining cable tray sections substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 5 to 15 of the accompanying drawings.