Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 1 of 10. SUSPENDED CABLE SUPPORT FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 This invention relates to reusable cable support devices and in particular catenary wire suspension devices which can be opened to clip on to a catenary or to insert cables. Explanation of Catenary. Basic explanation of a catenary wire for the purposes of the present invention: 10 An adequately sized wire rope, or any other suitable rope type, used for the attachment of cable supports where the rope is anchored at one end prior to the rope being strained to achieve a selected sag suspension height before anchoring the other end of the rope. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 15 There are currently available a number of cable rings or cable ties that are used for the support of cables but in general there is little or no consideration for the suspension of the supports particularly from a catenary wire. A common method for the installation of cables in confined and concealed spaces, such 20 as in ceilings of commercial buildings, is to attach the cables to a suspended catenary wire. The supported cables are in most cases attached to the catenary by lock type cables ties that also firmly secure the cables in the required positions along the length of the catenary. When additional cables are required to be installed on the catenary, the existing 25 cable ties have to be either: o Disregarded, with additional cable ties being provided for the new cables; o cut, removed and replaced with new cables ties which will also be used to support the additional cables; o released to allow the additional cables to be added.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 2 of 10. Irrespective of which method is adopted, it is a costly exercise whether it is in materials or labour or both. Although split ring supports that allow for the easier placement of cables would seemingly be better suited in such applications, their use is not practical for a number of 5 reasons including: o there is nothing to prevent a split ring from rotating on the catenary with the possibility the installed cables could be accidently discharged through the open ring; o some means would be required to secure the split ring in the selected position 10 along the catenary; None of the above prescribed methods using either cable ties or cable rings as supports have the features or facilities to perform all the required functions plus an additional provision of being able to be clipped onto or removed from a catenary without disruption 15 to the already installed cables. Prior art cable rings that are split and have ends fitted with a closing device have a single action mechanism which is required to be opened and reclosed to increase or remove cable numbers. Other open type cable rings, where the ends are extended as a measure to 20 prevent inadvertent dislodging of installed cables, require some bending or manipulation of the cables in order to install the cables on the ring. Brief comments on prior art. D1. US 6,513,766 BI (Gretz) teaches a split cable support with a single action closing 25 mechanism with installation methods that seemingly include a suspension method but which suspension method is not incorporated into or related to the cable support ring. The suspension method seemingly provides for a single fixed anchor point from a solid "head" that enables the ring to be installed either horizontally or vertically. There is no facility for attachment to a catenary -other than threading through the 30 suspension hole, which is not practical - nor is there any feature of the ring that could be Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 3 of 10. applied or implied as a means of both readily attaching the ring to a catenary and that would prevent an installed ring from being accidently dislodged from a catenary. D2. US 3,432,129 A (Santucci) teaches a split cable support with a single action locking 5 device by means of cylindrical shaped male ends which connects with a slightly smaller diameter but similarly shaped cylindrical female end. This arrangement does not exempt the possibility of an accidental side slide disconnection of the locking device. D3. US 4,371,137 A (Anscher) teaches a split cable support with a single action locking 10 device by means of cylindrical shaped male ends which connects with a slightly smaller diameter but similarly shaped cylindrical female end. This arrangement does not exempt the possibility of an accidental side slide disconnection of the locking device. Some alternative single action lock positions are provided around the perimeter.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 4 of 10. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a suspended cable support specifically for the support of cables from a catenary having inbuilt features including the 5 following: * Supports can be readily fitted, removed or replaced at any time without disruption to the existing installation; * prevent the supports from inadvertent or accidental dislodgment from the catenary; 10 0 a two position locking mechanism; 0 a locking mechanism that is positioned in the upper quadrant of the support ring; * A method for securing the rings on to the catenary; * A method to space the rings along the catenary at selected intervals. 15 STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a moulded suspended cable support is composed of a cable support ring and a suspension ring that are joined together on their perimeters 20 forming a narrow access opening at the top of the support ring and at the bottom of the suspension ring, resulting in the two rings having common internal and external boundaries. The support ring is also split with a two position closing lock attached to the two ends. The cable support when suspended ensures that the locking device on the split ring will locate within the upper quadrant of the support ring to prevent the accidental 25 dumping of installed cables when the lock is in the open position.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 5 of 10. One end of the locking device is a male sphere that closes to the first position by manually placing the male sphere into a sliding groove mated in the female sphere attached to the other end of the support ring. The second closing position is achieved when the spherical male end is manually forced 5 to snap lock into a part spherical recess in the centre of the female sphere attached to the other end. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 10 An embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a perspective front view of a suspended cable support of the present invention. Fig 2a is a perspective view of a suspended cable support clipped to a catenary wire and 15 secured in position by rubber banding. Fig 2b is a perspective view of a suspended cable support clipped to a catenary and positioned by attachment to a twine leader. Fig 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the two position support ring closer in the open position 20 Fig 4a is an enlarged perspective view of the two position support ring closer in the closed position. Fig.4b is a sectional view of the female sphere of the support ring closer. Fig.5 is a perspective of a section of a catenary fitted with a suspended cable support installation. 25 NOMENCLATURE 1. Cable support ring. 2. Suspension ring. 30 3. Access way between cable support ring and suspension ring.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 6 of 10. 4. Female sphere of closing mechanism in cable support ring. 5. Male sphere of closing mechanism in cable support ring. 6. Pliable cable and catenary wire access arm of the cable support ring. 7. Reinforcement around the perimeter of the cable support ring. 5 8. Horn projection to top of suspension ring. 9. Tapered fissure created between the horn and suspension ring. 10. Rubber ring band 11. Catenary wire 12. Twine length between adjacent suspended cable supports. 10 13. Twine loop wedged in fissures in the top of the suspension ring. 14. Guides in female sphere and park position for closing mechanism. 15. Recess in centre of female sphere for docked position of closing mechanism. 16. Anchor Indents along the lower perimeter of the support ring. 17. Shoulder at top of recess in female sphere to retain male sphere in docked position. 15 18. Guides in female sphere for shaft attached to the male sphere. 19. Recess in female sphere for shaft attached to the male sphere. 20. A suspended cable support of the present invention.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 7 of 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Fig.1 depicts a suspended cable support of the present invention (20) with the closing mechanism (4) & (5) of the support ring (1) shown in the open moulded position. The 5 suspended cable support (20) is moulded from nylon or similar based materials and is formed by the joining of 2 rings being at the top perimeter of a larger diameter support ring (1) which is joined to the base perimeter of the smaller diameter suspension ring (2). A narrow access way (3) is formed between the 2 rings providing a common boundary and forming the suspended cable support (20). 10 The lower support ring (1) is split on one side on the circumference in the upper quadrant of the ring and an open-close mechanism is attached to the ends in the shape of a female sphere (4) on the higher end and a smaller male sphere (5) on the lower end as shown in Fig. 3 & Fig.4. The open-close mechanism has a 2 position manual operation. A part spherical recess (15) is formed in the centre of the female sphere (4) which 15 accommodates the male sphere (5) when the ring is fully closed in the second or "docked" position as shown in Fig.4a. A shoulder (17) is formed around the top of the recess over which the male sphere (5) passes before being clipped in to the final docked position where it is retained by the shoulder (17) until released. To fully close or open the open-close mechanism can be accomplished with the force of one hand. The profile of the 20 recess (15) in sphere (4) is extended vertically (14), at right angles to the plane of the support ring (1), to act as a guide for positioning the male sphere (5). The extension (14) also provides the seat for the male sphere (5) in the first or "parked" position in the open close mechanism. The extension profile (14) is extended to include extension legs (18) as a guide for the shaft of the support ring (1) where it is attaches to male sphere (5). The 25 tension effect caused when the male sphere (5) is forced in to the guides (14) of the female sphere (4) assist in securing the male sphere (5) when in the parked position. A channel (19) sized to the diameter of the shaft of the support ring (1) where it attaches to the male sphere (5), is formed in the female sphere (4) to accommodate the shaft when the male sphere (5) is in the docked position. As the diameter of the male sphere (5) is Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 8 of 10. approximately 40% larger than the diameter of the support ring shaft, the male sphere (5) will remain secure in the docked position when the support ring (1) is under load. The support ring (1) is reinforced around the sides and lower half of the perimeter (7) to prevent the support ring from distorting through the weight of the installed cables when 5 the support ring is in the open position. The reinforcement (7) has a number of indents (16) along the edge for the purpose of anchoring cable ties or bands that may be required to tie down any installed cables. Cables are introduced to (or are removed from) the support ring (1) by manipulating the pliable arm (6) which will provide an opening sufficient to enable cables with a diameter 10 sized to at least 60% of the diameter of the support ring to be introduced or removed at any one time. To clip the suspension ring (2) on to a catenary wire (11) as shown in Fig.2, the pliable arm (6) is raised so that the access way (3) opens sufficiently to allow the catenary (11) to pass through the closing mechanism of the support ring (4) & (5); through the access way (3) and into the suspension ring (2). When returned to its normal 15 position, the pliable arm (6) closes the access way (3) which prevents the clipped on cable support ring (2) from dislodging from the catenary (11). Normally the chosen catenary (11) has a diameter that is smaller than the internal diameter of the suspension ring (2) and this allows the suspended cable support (20) to move freely along the catenary (11). 20 Fig.2a shows the method of anchoring a suspended cable support (20) at any selected point along the catenary. The open end of the rubber ring band (10) is secured at one end by placing it around the horn projection (8) moulded into the top of the suspension ring (2). The rubber ring (10) is stretched and extended before being wound around the catenary (11) for 2 or 3 turns to the side of and adjacent to the suspension ring (2). The 25 extended rubber band (10) is then passed over the top of the horn (8) above the suspension ring (2) and again wound around the catenary (11) but on the opposite side adjacent to the suspension ring (2). The process is repeated until the extended rubber band (10) is all but expended whereupon the remaining end of the rubber ring is placed over the anchoring horn (8) to secure the rubber band (10) and the suspended cable 30 support (20) in the selected location.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 9 of 10. Fig 2b shows the method of positioning a number of suspended cable supports (20) at selected intervals along a catenary (11) to form a cable support installation similar to that shown in Fig.5. The numbers of suspended cable supports (20) that are required for the installation are clipped on to the catenary (11) at the proposed start point of the cable 5 support installation. The suspended cable support (20) at the tail end of the installation is secured to the catenary (11) in the manner as previously described using rubber banding (10) as shown in Fig.2a. The end of an adequate length of twine (12) is then fastened around the horn (8) of the secured suspended cable support (20). The horn (8) forms tapered fissures (9) on both sides of the' suspended cable support (20) where the horn (8) 10 is moulded onto the suspension ring (2). A loop (13) is fashioned in the length of twine (12) at a measured distance equal to the selected spacing required for the suspended cable support adjacent to the already anchored support. The loop is then placed around the horn (8) of the adjacent suspended cable support (20), drawn taut so that it becomes wedged within the fissures (9) where it is held securely. Each of the suspended cable 15 supports (20) to be used in the installation are similarly looped until all the suspended cable supports (20) are secured by loops (13) in the twine (12). The loose end of the twine is then used to draw the suspended cable supports (20) into position along the catenary (11) after which the end or lead suspended cable support (20) is secured by banding (10) as shown in Fig.2a. The loose end of the twine (12) is tied off around the 20 horn (8) of the end suspended cable support (20) to stabilise the installation and which will complete a suspended cable support installation similar to that depicted in Fig.5. After the cables have been installed onto the suspended cable support installation, they may if required be tied down at each suspended cable support (20) by using the formations (16) in the support ring (1) to anchor the ties.
Patent application Number: 2009100199 22.12.09. First Statement of Proposed Amendments AMENDMENT 1. SUBSTITUTE Page 10 of 10. VARIATIONS It will be realised that the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example only and that all other modifications and variations as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth. The generic features of the suspended cable support are a clip-on suspension support with a two position opening and closing mechanism in the upper section of the suspended ring such that the open ring admits cables and the catenary and the closed ring secures them within the designed shape of the support. The design shape, the types of materials used in the manufacture and the detail of the catenary clip on arrangement can be varied. Throughout the description and claims of this specification the words "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising" are not intended to exclude other additives components integers or steps.