Cable tray including u-bent wires having a first sidewall with a wavy shape for receiving laterally placed cables

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to cable trays for carrying cables. In one such embodiment, a cable tray made of wire material is disclosed with a number of lateral U-bent wires and longitudinal wires fastened thereto. The U-bent wires form a bottom and a first and a second side wall for the cable tray, where the bottom is narrower than the side walls are high, as such the cables may be placed stacked one above another in the cable tray. The first side wall is made with a wavy shape with wave troughs placed close to or in contact with the second side wall and wave crests between the wave troughs. The wave-shaped first side wall forms, together with the second side wall, spaces for receiving cables.

Claims

1. A cable tray for carrying cables, the cable tray comprising: wire material including a number of lateral U-bent wires, and longitudinal wires fastened to the U-bent wires, so that the U-bent wires form a bottom and a first and a second side wall for the cable tray, and where the bottom is narrower than the side walls are high, the cable tray configured and arranged so that the cables may be placed laterally in the cable tray, and wherein the first side wall is a wavy shape with wave troughs placed close to or in contact with the second side wall and wave crests between the wave troughs, and in that the first side wall together with the second side wall forms spaces configured and arranged for receiving the laterally placed cables and to prevent contact between adjacent cables.

2. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the U-bent wires are fastened to the longitudinal wires by welding.

3. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal wires are fastened externally to the U-bent wires.

4. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the wires consist of stainless steel.

5. The cable tray according to claim 4, wherein the diameter of the wire is 3 mm, and the wire has a tensile strength between 840-900 1 N/mm.sup.2.

6. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein a first U-bent wire forming the second side wall is longer than a second U-bent wire forming the first side wall, a wire section of the second U-bent wire extends past an extension of the wire in the first side wall and is bent towards and past an end section of the wire in the first side wall of the cable tray, and a longitudinal wire is fastened on the wire section of the second U-bent wire in the second side wall of the cable tray.

7. The cable tray according to claim 6, wherein the end section of the second U-bent wire in the first side wall of the cable tray is positioned between the second side wall and the longitudinal wire on the end section of the second U-bent wire in the first side wall of the cable tray.

8. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein at least one wave trough from the first side wall is placed in contact with the second side wall and configured and arranged to secure a wire between the first and second side walls.

9. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the spaces formed between the first side wall and the second side wall are larger than other spaces that are formed between the first side wall and a line joining the vertices of the wave crests.

10. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the spaces formed between the first side wall and the second side wall are identical to other spaces that are formed between the first side wall and a line joining the vertices of the wave crests.

11. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the lateral U-bent wires are only fastened to the longitudinal wires on the wire sections that form the second side wall of the cable tray.

12. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the spaces between the first side wall and the second side wall are aligned, and other spaces between the first side wall and a line connecting the vertices of the wave crests are also aligned.

13. The cable tray according to claim 1, wherein the spaces between the first side wall and the second side wall, and other spaces between the first side wall and a line joining the vertices of the wave crests are located in an alternately aligned, the cable tray configured and arranged so that cables that are fitted in the cable tray are placed alternately in the spaces and the other spaces.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The invention is explained in more detail hereunder, referring to the appended drawing, where

(2) FIG. 1 shows a partial perspective sketch of a cable tray according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a sketch of the cable tray shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the end and with cables shown in the cable tray,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a sketch, corresponding to FIG. 2, of a further embodiment of a cable tray according to the invention,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a partial perspective sketch of a further embodiment of a cable tray according to the invention, and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a sketch of the cable tray shown in FIG. 4, viewed from above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) In the description of the figures, identical or equivalent elements will be denoted with the same reference symbol in the various figures. Therefore explanations will not be given for all details in connection with each individual figure/embodiment.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(8) 2 Cable tray 4 U-bent wires 6 Longitudinal wires 8 Bottom 10 First side wall 12 Second side wall 14 Cable 16 Wave trough 18 Wave crest 20 Space 22 Wire section of second side wall 24 End section of wire in first side wall 26 Fastening 28 Vertex of wave crest 30 Vertex of wave trough 32 Other space 34 Line through vertices of the wave crests

(9) FIG. 1 shows a mounting element according to the invention, and FIG. 2 shows an illustration of this cable tray viewed from the end.

(10) FIG. 1 shows a sketch of a cable tray 2 according to the invention. The cable tray is produced by fastening a number of U-bent wires 4 to a row of parallel longitudinal wires 6. The U-bent wires form a bottom 8 and a first side wall 10 and a second side wall 12 for the cable tray. The bottom 8 will be narrower than side walls 10, 12, so that the cables may be placed stacked one above another in the cable tray but without touching one another.

(11) The mutual distance between the cables is created by making the first side wall 10 with a wavy shape with wave troughs 16 placed close to or in contact with the second side wall 12 and with wave crests 18 located between them. The wave-shaped first side wall 10 will, together with the second side wall 12, form spaces for receiving cables 14 with a spacing apart that ensures easy, effective cleaning.

(12) The cable tray is produced by placing U-bent wires laterally and fastening them by welding to the longitudinal wires 6, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Only a section of a cable tray is shown in FIG. 1. The length of the cable tray may vary and be formed in sections of one metre up to 8-10 metres.

(13) The length of a cable tray section will depend on the intended use.

(14) As can be seen from FIG. 2, the longitudinal wires 6 are fastened externally on the U-bent wires 4.

(15) The cable tray will be made of wires of stainless steel, where the diameter of the wire in the U-bent wires is 3 mm. The diameter of the wire for the longitudinal wires will be 4 mm.

(16) As can be seen especially clearly in FIG. 2, the second side wall 12 has a longer extent, so that a wire section 22 extends beyond the extent of the wires in the first side wall 10. This wire section 22 is bent towards an end section 24 of the first side wall 10 of the cable tray. On the end section 24, the wire is fastened to a longitudinal wire 6 with an outer end of the wire section 22. As a result, the first side wall 10 can be swiveled by elastic deformation and be pressed-in past the longitudinal wire 6, so that the cable tray assumes a closed state.

(17) Alternatively, it is possible to omit the longitudinal wire 6. As an alternative, reliable closure of the cable tray can be established by providing a fastening 26 between the first side wall and the second side wall.

(18) In the situation shown, only a single fastening 26 is shown, at the vertex 30 for a wave trough 16 and the opposite second side wall 12. A fastening may be provided between each individual wave trough and the opposite side wall or for some other wave trough than that shown.

(19) When a catch is used between the end section 24 and the longitudinal wire 6, the wire in the first side wall 10 will be located between the second side wall 12 and the longitudinal wire 6. It may thus be said that the longitudinal wire 6 retains the first side wall and prevents it swiveling out and making opening of the cable tray possible, and hence a risk of the cables being placed in contact with one another.

(20) It is possible to use a combination of one or more fastenings 26 and the catch between the end section 24 and the longitudinal wire 6.

(21) FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 in another embodiment. Here it can be seen that the wavy shape is provided in such a way that the spaces 20 that are formed between the wave-shaped first side wall and the second side wall 12 are larger than the space 32 that will be formed between the first wave-shaped side wall 10 and a line 34 joining the vertices 28 of the wave crests 18.

(22) As a result, the greatest possible space is provided for accommodating cables in relation to the total volume that is occupied by a cable tray.

(23) For all the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3, the longitudinal wires 6 will only be fastened to the part of the U-bent wires that is used for forming the second side wall 12. The second side wall 12 also includes the bent-over wire section 22.

(24) Thus, there will not be mutual holding between lateral wire sections that are used for forming the first side wall 10. This makes it possible to open and close the cable tray partially by only opening one or more of the U-bent wires. This may be advantageous when replacing cables.

(25) The cable tray may be used when supplied with the form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, so that cables are pulled through a row of U-bent wires located in a line. Alternatively, the cable tray may be supplied as an open cable tray, where the cables are inserted and closed gradually as the spaces are filled up.

(26) Finally it should be noted that FIGS. 2 and 3 shows the U-bent wires of the cable trays with a horizontal orientation.

(27) However, it will typically be applied with a vertical orientation, so that the bottom 8 will face downwards and the side walls 10, 12 will be oriented vertically upwards from the bottom 8.

(28) FIGS. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the cable tray 2.

(29) Only a section of the cable tray 2 is shown. In practice, the cable tray will have a longer extent. It should also be noted that the strips shown are not used in practice. In practice, the cables 14 will not be held with said strips, but will be held on being placed in the spaces 20.

(30) As can be seen from FIG. 4, the cables 14 are placed alternately in a space 20 that is formed between the first wave-shaped side wall 10 and the second side wall 20 and the other space 32 that is formed between the first side wall 10 and a line 34 (not shown in FIG. 4) joining the vertices of the wave crests, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

(31) With this alternating placement, the cables 14 are held in every other one of the U-bent wires 4 shown. In practice, this will be sufficient for the vast majority of cables that are placed in the cable tray 2. With this embodiment, the cable trays will thus be able to hold a number of cables corresponding to the number of wave troughs and wave crests in the wave-shaped first side wall 10.

(32) As it is preferable for the cables to run parallel in the longitudinal direction of the cable tray, the spaces 20 and 32 are placed end to end in the longitudinal direction of the cable tray in order to establish the alternating placement of a cable in space 20 and in space 32, when the cable is extended in the longitudinal direction of the cable tray.

(33) In the embodiment shown, space 20 that is located closest to the bottom 8 is shaped with double the width, so that it contains two cables 14. As a result, the outer cable 14, as shown in FIG. 4, will be held on all the U-bent wires. On the other hand, the next and the other cables 14 will be held in an alternating placement in space 20 and space 32.

(34) FIG. 5, which shows the cable tray shown in FIG. 4 viewed from above, illustrates more clearly how the cables 14 run parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cable tray and thus also parallel to the longitudinal wires 6 in the cable tray.