Carrier for cables and the like
First Claim
Patent Images
1. For cables and like flexible conduits, a carrier capable of articulative movement accommodating the conduit within, comprising:
- a series of a plurality of units, said units having the same configuration and being interconnected in series to form said carrier;
each of said units comprising an assembly of left and right side wall members, an upper coupling bar and a bottom coupling bar, the assembly forming a hollow rectangular unit open to the front and back in the longitudinal direction;
each of said left and right side wall members having front and rear portions offset inwardly and outwardly, respectively, and the front portion of each member having a stopper mechanism overlapping and cooperating with the rear portion of the member in the forwardly adjacent unit of said series, for effecting pivotal articulative movement within a predetermined angular range with respect to each other;
one of said left and right side wall members having an inwardly-directed projection having a first hinge element for pivotally mounting said upper coupling bar therein, said projection overlapping the corresponding projections of the side wall members in the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series;
said upper coupling bar at one end having a complementary second hinge element connected to said first element, and at the other end thereof a latch capable of being locked to the other of the side wall members in said unit;
said upper coupling bar of each unit overlapping the upper coupling bar of the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series throughout said predetermined angular range of articulative movement afforded by said stopper mechanism;
said bottom coupling bar of each unit also overlapping the bottom coupling bars of the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series throughout said predetermined angular range of articulative movement afforded by said stopper mechanism.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cable drag chain having a large number of flexibly connected link units each with a pair of opposingly spaced link plates having upper and lower sides thereof connected to each other by coupling bars to provide a hollow rectangular structure forming a closed channel for threadedly accommodating therein cables, hoses or like flexible conduits, which may be used to supply power to a movable piece of equipment. The link units are disengageably coupled with each other and the components of each unit also detachably coupled together to permit disassembly and reassembly in the field.
41 Citations
26 Claims
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1. For cables and like flexible conduits, a carrier capable of articulative movement accommodating the conduit within, comprising:
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a series of a plurality of units, said units having the same configuration and being interconnected in series to form said carrier; each of said units comprising an assembly of left and right side wall members, an upper coupling bar and a bottom coupling bar, the assembly forming a hollow rectangular unit open to the front and back in the longitudinal direction; each of said left and right side wall members having front and rear portions offset inwardly and outwardly, respectively, and the front portion of each member having a stopper mechanism overlapping and cooperating with the rear portion of the member in the forwardly adjacent unit of said series, for effecting pivotal articulative movement within a predetermined angular range with respect to each other; one of said left and right side wall members having an inwardly-directed projection having a first hinge element for pivotally mounting said upper coupling bar therein, said projection overlapping the corresponding projections of the side wall members in the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series; said upper coupling bar at one end having a complementary second hinge element connected to said first element, and at the other end thereof a latch capable of being locked to the other of the side wall members in said unit; said upper coupling bar of each unit overlapping the upper coupling bar of the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series throughout said predetermined angular range of articulative movement afforded by said stopper mechanism; said bottom coupling bar of each unit also overlapping the bottom coupling bars of the forwardly and rearwardly adjacent units of said series throughout said predetermined angular range of articulative movement afforded by said stopper mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification