US3034753A - Busway hanger - Google Patents

Description

F. C. JOHNSTON ET AL BUSWAY HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS FRANK C. JouNsToN, PAUL KRAuss BY C ATTORNEY May 15, 1962 Filed May 26, 1958 May 15, 1962 F. c. JOHNSTON ET AL 3,034,753

BUSWAY HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1958 INVENTORS FRANK C. JOHNSTON, PAUL KRAL/ss ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,034,753 BUSWAY HANGER Frank C. Johnston, West Hartford, Conn., and Paul Krauss, Burlington, Vt., assignors. to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed May 26, 1958, Ser. No. 737,555 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-59) Our invention relates particularly to hangers for supporting a bus bar type electrical distribution system or busway.

Important and often controlling factors in the choice of electric power -busways are the relative ease and economy` of installation thereof. Prior art busway hangers have often been a deterent to the use of busways because they required special tools for installation, auxiliary hardware to hold the busway, and could not be easily adjusted.

It is an object of the invention to provide a busway hanger which can be easily installed on a busway at any point on the busway length without the requirement of special tools or ttings.

It is another object of the invention to provide a busway hanger which is easily adjustable in relation to the supporting structure for the hanger thereby permitting easy leveling ofthe busway.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a busway hanger which can be easily and economically adjusted to accommodate various widths of busway and which can be utilized for edgewise mounting, llatwise mounting, and vertical mounting of the busway.

In one embodiment of the invention a busway hanger is provided having a pair of supporting legs extending in generally parallel opposed relation and resiliently movable relative to each other, each of said legs having a retaining abutment thereon and having outer end portions thereof inclined at an angle to each other to provide opposed cam surfaces for engaging portions of the busway housing so as to displace the supporting legs relative to each other to cause engagement of the retaining abutments with the busway by a snap-action, and mounting means for attaching the hanger to the supporting structure.

The features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming a part of this' specification.

The construction and operation of the invention in one particular embodiment, however, will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of a busway assembly held in positiony by a hanger made in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the busway hanger of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the cross member utilized in the hanger of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the bus duct hanger of FIGURE used to support a horizontal run of busway, with the position of a bus duct indicated in dotted lines;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of the hanger of FIG- URE 5 used to support a vertical run of busway, with the bus duct being indicated in dotted lines.

In FIGURE 1, the invention is shown as embodied in a hanger 10 used to support a section of busway comprising conductors 2 mounted in insulating material 3 between opposing side wall members 4 and 5. Edge 3,034,753' Patented May 15, 1962 flanges 6 and 7 are formed by riveting or otherwise joining housing side members 4 and 5 at points 8 and 9 along the length of busway 1. The construction of busway 1 is intended to be illustrative of the class of structurer that can be utilized with the hanger of this invention and is more fully disclosed in co-'pending application Serial No. 737,954 assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 2, the hanger shown generally at 10 has a mounting portion 11 with two supporting legs 12 and 13 extending therefrom in generally parallel opposed relation. The legs 12 and 13 have inwardly defor-med portions forming coplanar retaining abut- ments 14 and 15 respectively and terminating in outwardly llared opposed cam surfaces 16 and 17 respectively. An aperture in the mounting portion `11 is used to trap threaded fastener 18. Threaded fastener 18 includes a hexagonal nut portion 19 which is xedly attached to a reduced portion of the member 20 so that the enlarged portions of members 19 and 20 are on opposite sidesv of the mounting portion 11 and the fastener is therefore rotatably trapped on the mounting portion 11. Threaded mounting stud 21 is engaged by threads in member 20.

Hanger 10 is preferably constructed so that mounting portion 11 and supporting legs 12 and 13 are formed from a single strip of spring steel. With such a construction, hanger 10 can be snapped into supporting engagement with ange 6 of busway 1 by forcing hanger 10 downward so that opposed cam surfaces 16 and 17 displace supporting legs 12 and 13 relative to each other thereby enabling retaining abutments 14 and 15 to pass over flange 6 and into Supporting engagement with the busway housing. With threaded stud 21 aiiixed to a beam of a building or other supporting structure, the position of the busway 1 relative to the supporting structure can be adjusted by rotating the captive fastener 18. This adjustment enables the busway run to be leveled after it has been hung.

To provide additional security for the mounting structure, bolt 22 is passed through apertures in supporting legs 12 and 13 and nut 23 is tightened thereon after hanger 10 has been snapped in place, thereby providing a positive locking action between hanger 10 and busway 1. A non-circular aperture 24 is provided in leg 13 to receive a correspondingly shaped portion of bolt 22 to prevent bolt 22 from turning. An enlarged aperture 25 in leg 12 allows alignment freedom for bolt 22 and is covered by the washer 26.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, a hanger assembly is provided for supporting a larger bus duct having wall members 4 and 5 separated by a spacer 27, providing two longitudinal flanges 28 and 29. The support members 30 and 31 are identical with the support member described for hanger 10 except that mounting portions 11 do not contain the trapped fastener 18. Instead, mounting portions 11 are fastened to the cross member 32 by bolts 33 and 34. As shown in FIGURE 4, cross member 32 is a rigid tubular member having slots 35 and 36 formed therein to accept the bolts 33 and 34. The bolts 33 are slidable in slots 35 and 36 to permit the spacing between the support members 30 and 31 to be adjusted. A threaded fastener 37, similar in construction to the threaded fastener 18 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, is rotatably trapped in an aperture formed in the top of support member 32.

The installation of the hanger shown in FIGURE 3 is the same as that described for the hanger of FIGURE l in that the support members 30 and 31 are snapped over the anges 28 and 29 and the busway may be leveled by rotating the captive fastener 37. Positive locking is provided by the bolts 38 and 39 in the same manner as that provided by bolt 22. The bolts 53 and 34, in cooperation with slots 35 and 36, permit the spacing of support members 30 and 31 to be varied thereby accommodating a variety of sizes of busway in which the spacing between flanges 28 and 29 may vary,

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG- URES 5, 6, and 7, resilient supporting'legs 40 and 41 are joined to rigid mounting portion 42 by the rivets l43:. Each supporting leg is made of spring steel, and has an inwardly deformed portion forming retaining abutments 44 and 45. The end portions of the legs 40 and 41 are flared outwardly to form the opposed cam surfaces 46 and 47. Mounting portion 42 has a central aperture in which a threaded fastener 48 is trapped. This threaded fastener can be identical with that disclosed for the hanger of FIGURE 1 and is dimensioncd to accept the threaded mounting stud 49.

As shown in FIGURE 6, abutments 44 and 45 are notched out to form the projecting tabs 50 and 51. The hanger described in FIGURE 6 can be snapped over side flanges 52 and 53 of busway 54 (shown in dotted line) in the same manner as the hanger disclosed in FIGURE 1. That is, the opposed cam surfaces 46 and 47 engage anges 52 and 53 when the clip is pushed down relative to busway 54 thereby forcing supporting legs 40 and 41 in an outward direction enabling retaining abutments 44 and 45 to engage flanges 52 and 53. Tabs 50 and 51 restrain outward lateral movement of supporting legs 40 and 41 relative to flanges 52 and 53 after the legs 40 and 41 have been snapped in place. Additional positive locking of the hanger relative to the busway is provided by bolts 55 which engage in threaded openings 56 and 57 in mounting portion 42. When threaded fasteners 55 are advanced into engagement with upper surface 58 of busway 54, the hanger assembly is securely locked against movement relative to the busway 54.

The locking bolts 55 may be omitted if desired since the locking tabs 50 and 51 provide a high degree of security to the holding action of the hanger when the busway is in a horizontal position. t

Removal of the busway from the hanger is also easily accomplished. To accomplish this, it is merely necessary to loosen the bolts 55 and deflect supporting legs 40 and '41 relative to ilanges 52 and 53 so as to disengage abutments 44 and 45, enabling the busway to be withdrawn from the hanger. f course, if threaded fasteners 55 are not utilized to provide positive locking, supporting legs 40 and 41 can be at once displaced relative to each other and to the busway.

The hanger disclosed in FIGURES and 6 can be utilized to provide support and spacing for a vertical run of busway 54 relative to a supporting wall 67, as is shown in FIGURE 7. Hanger 60 is installed in the same manner as described in connection with FIGURE 6.

Threaded members 61 and 62 are inserted through appropriate apertures 63 and 64 in side flanges 52 and 53 of busway 54 and pass through slotted openings' 65 and 66 (see FIGURE 5) in support member 42. By providing slots and 66 rather than simple apertures, the position of Support member 42 can be adjusted relative to apertures 64 and 63 in the anges of the busway. If lag bolts are used as threaded fasteners `62 and 61, the busway can be directly fastened to the supporting wall and is effectively spaced therefrom by hanger 60.

It will be seen that we have provided a simple and effective busway hanger which can be easily snapped into supporting relationship with a busway, which provides easy leveling of the busway after installation, which can be utilized for edgewise, flatwise, or vertical mounting, which is economical to manufacture and install, and which requires no special tools for installation `or loose parts during shipment. Although the invention has been described only as incorporated in specific embodiments, it will be apparent that many modifications thereof may readily tbe made. It is to be understood therefore that We intend, by the appended claim, to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What We claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A busway hanger comprising an elongated rigid transverse supporting member, -a pair of resilient strips each `'attached to a separate end of said supporting member and extending in a common direction, said resilient strips having portions adjacent their outer ends bent inwardly toward each other to provide retaining ledges, said inwardly bent portions lying in parallel planes and being spaced transversely of said strips to define `a passage therebetween, each of said inwardly bent portions having a return bent extension to provide a pair of cam surfaces, said inwardly bent portions each having a retaining lug struck outwardly therefrom in a direction toward the other end of the strip, a pair of clamping bolts threadedly engaged in said transverse member extending toward ,said inwardly bent portions to clamp a retained member thereagainst, yand a threaded fastener rotatably carried by said transverse member intermediate said clamping bolts for adjustably attaching said hanger to `a threaded stud.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,185,802 Russell Nov. 26, 19198 1,746,962 Perry Feb. `11, 1930 2,571,832 Chapin Oct. 16, 1951 2,662,745 Jorn Dec. l5, 1953 2,693,385 Cavalli NOV. 2, 4 2,734,126 Kruger Feb. 7, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 998,270 France Sept. 19, 1951

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