ES2369239T3 - CHANNEL FOR CABLES. - Google Patents

Abstract

The duct has two cable duct-pieces linked with each other and positioned in upright or in an angular orientation to each other around an axis in a linked region of the duct-pieces. The axis is perpendicular to a mounting surface. The pieces have a fixing unit for fixing at the mounting surface, and a spring unit is provided between a carrying- and fixing device and the duct pieces. The pieces are moved away from the mounting surface against force of the spring unit. Cable duct-side walls (7) run transverse or perpendicular to a cable duct-base (5) and/or to the mounting surface.

Description

Cable channel

The invention relates to a cable channel according to the preamble of claim 1.

It is known the practice of providing on the underside of table tops corresponding to office and work tables cable channels, in which the current necessary for electrification or for the transmission of data and information can be obtained, for the connection of PCs or notebooks, etc. and network cables, telephone cables, etc. can be laid.

In WO 2007/128432 A1 an improved piece of furniture has already been proposed, in particular an improved table with a cable channel in which, in a support device in the longitudinal direction of the cable channel, base bodies interspersed with each other are provided. In these base bodies, a clamp bar can rotate around a pivot axis between a hanging wiring position and a clamping position that instead runs at least essentially parallel to the cable channel. In the functional position the cable channel is so raised that practically no additional cable can be introduced into the cable channel or removed. To lay new cables or remove already laid cables, the cable channel can then be taken to a lower wiring position.

Although this cable channel has been accredited a lot, it is only suitable for a cable channel that runs straight.

A cable channel configuration has been disclosed for example also by EP 1 810 595 A1. According to this previous publication, a single piece of cable channel with a bottom of the cable channel and two walls of the cable channel that laterally limit the cable channel is proposed. This piece of cable channel is secured in each case by a spiral spring device, which fits in the area of the front face of the cable channel and which is supported on the lower face of the tabletop in a clamping piece. To insert the cable, the piece of the cable channel can be placed at an angle, so that on a longitudinal side of the piece of the cable channel formed by a single piece, cables that run along the length can be introduced. The cable channel piece is then a relevant part of the corresponding tabletop length.

A cable channel configuration is known for example from DE 40 14 082 A1. This cable channel can be mounted, for example, on the underside of desktops, to lay hidden cables there for electrical and electronic devices. Since many desk tables are also configured as angular combinations, it is proposed according to the previous publication mentioned above a cable channel that can be arranged straight, but also running at an angle. In order to avoid that in addition to straight cable channel parts, angular cable channel parts also have to be available, a cable channel configuration is carried out according to this previous publication in which the bottom of the cable channel on one side and the walls channel sides provided on both longitudinal sides on the other hand are configured separately and must be assembled to form a cable channel with a section similar to a U. Both side walls of the channel then include wall sections that in each case include a joint, which runs perpendicular to the bottom of the cable channel.

The cable channel is then supported by both side walls of the channel, which run at a lateral distance from each other and which are housed under the tabletop. Due to this design, the introduction of cables is relatively expensive and complex.

A generic cable channel is known from US 5,240,209 A. It includes multiple pieces of cable channel, which can be mounted, for example, between two brackets or spaced support plates. The different parts of the cable channel are configured articulated with each other. For this purpose, a piece of the cable duct can be joined in each case by means of an abruptly closed joint with a piece of the adjacent cable duct, the joint being abruptly configured such that by means of an elastic abruptly closing element it is possible at the same time relative rotation between two pieces of the adjacent cable channel. To this end, an axis of rotation is oriented in each common case of two pieces of the adjacent cable channel perpendicular to the surface of the bottom of the corresponding part of the cable channel and thereby perpendicular to the planes that are away from the support equipment , that is, of the mounting surfaces.

The cable channel parts can then be fixed adjoining their bottom plate, for example, on the underside of a tabletop, precisely by means of screws. At the side walls, at least part of the length of each piece of the cable channel is provided with a side wall. Facing the mounting surface and thereby also facing the bottom plate, a cover plate is arranged, which can rotate between a closed position and the open position. In the opening position the cables can be laid.

Basically, also by document GB 2 186 319 A a cable exit and clamping device has been disclosed which can also be fixedly mounted on the lower face of the table.

On the contrary, it is the task of the present invention to achieve an improved cable channel configuration for mounting on a support, in particular for mounting on an office furniture or furniture, preferably on the underside of a desk or desk . In this regard, the configuration of the cable channel corresponding to the invention should be, in terms of structure and use, as flexible as possible, whereby the cable channel can be laid, for example, on the underside of a straight tabletop but also in an angular path or curve depending on the circumstances.

The task is solved according to the invention according to the characteristics indicated in claim 1. Advantageous configurations of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.

Through the present invention a completely new route is traveled. Within the framework of the invention it is provided that the cable channel is composed of at least two pieces of the cable channel, which can be chained together. Chaining can then be performed on a "straight" path. However, according to needs, the different parts of the cable channel can also be oriented at an angle to the part of the preceding or next cable channel, whereby the cable channel can be laid in large areas following any section.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the chaining is then carried out by means of two insertable pins, so that an angular orientation can also be made simultaneously by means of a relative rotation of two pieces of adjacent cable channel.

It is also advantageous that the different parts of the cable duct can be fixed by means of spring loaded fasteners, for example on the underside of desktops. In this way, the different pieces of the cable channel can be adjusted against the force of a spring accumulator from the plane of the lower side of the table board moving downwards, increasing the distance between the side walls of the individual piece of the cable channel and the underside of the tabletop, to facilitate the introduction of cables into the cable channel or the removal of cables from the cable channel

The cable channel corresponding to the invention is, due to its design, very easy to handle and offers a number of advantages.

The invention will be described in more detail below based on exemplary embodiments. In this regard they show in detail: Figure 1: a schematic spatial representation of a cable channel corresponding to the invention using

three pieces of cable channel chained together; Figure 2a: a plan view of the exemplary embodiment corresponding to Figure 1; Figure 2b: a side view of the exemplary embodiment corresponding to Figure 2a; Figure 3: An enlarged spatial representation of a single piece of cable channel corresponding to the

invention, including the corresponding fixing equipment in exploded view; Figure 4: two pieces of the cable channel chained together at an angle to an exemplary embodiment corresponding to the invention in spatial representation;

Figure 5: a schematic sectional representation of two cable channel pieces chained together, in which one of the end sections of the bottom of the cable channel part is supported with a slight stepped shoulder in the cable terminal section of the next piece of the cable channel;

Figure 6: an axial schematic representation in section through a piece of cable channel perpendicular to the bottom surface in the area of one of the terminal sections of the cable with a fixing sleeve provided there shown in section for chaining with the next piece of cable channel;

Figure 7: a spatial representation of the fixing device corresponding to the invention with the corresponding spring device; Figure 8: an axial representation in longitudinal section through the fixing device, as shown in Figure 5;

Figure 9: an axial representation in longitudinal section through a detail of a piece of cable channel corresponding to the invention with the corresponding fixing device in a state of being mounted on the lower face of a tabletop;

figure 10: the representation corresponding to figure 7, in which however the corresponding piece of the cable channel is pressed downwards away from the lower face of the tabletop against the force of the spring equipment of the fixing device, to be able to introduce or remove cables more easily;

Figure 11: a representation of axial detail in section through two pieces of cable channel chained together and the fixing device provided in the area of the chain in the assembled state in a different embodiment; Y

Figure 12: a representation corresponding to that of Figure 11 with the cable channel parts pressed

down against the force of the spring force accumulation equipment of the underside of the

tabletop, to easily insert or remove cables in the cable channel.

An exemplary embodiment of a cable channel 1 corresponding to the invention is shown in spatial schematic representation, which is assembled from three pieces of cable channel 3.

Already in the spatial representation of Figure 1 and in the plan view of Figures 2a, 2b it can be seen that for example the first two pieces of cable channel 3a and 3b are chained running in straight extension with respect to each other and by the On the contrary, the third part of the cable channel 3c is arranged at an angle to the part of the preceding cable channel 3b. The angular position can be adjusted differently in a wide range.

As is particularly the result of the additional representation according to Figures 3 and 4, the different cable channel pieces have cable channel bottoms 5, which extend in the longitudinal direction of the cable channel piece, following a central partial length at the bottom of the cable channel 5 on both longitudinal sides of the cable channel part 3 in each case a side wall of the cable channel 7, which is generally oriented transversely in particular perpendicular to the plane of the channel bottom of cables 5.

As can be seen in the drawings, the parts of the cable channel 3 end sections of the bottom 11a, 11b are shown offset from each other in the horizontal direction (that is, in the direction in which the cables must be laid), which form an area of chain 11, on which we will go into more detail below. These bottom end sections 11a, 11b are configured in the exemplary embodiment shown in a circular, disk or plate shape. In this regard, one of the end sections of the bottom 11a arrives through a small projection in step 13 (Figure 5) to the central section 5 'of the bottom of the cable channel 5 slightly higher than the second end section of the bottom 11b which is It is opposite, so that when two pieces of cable channel 3 are chained, the terminal section 11a that is somewhat higher than the stepped shoulder 12 is supported by the next piece of the cable channel 3 on the bottom end section 11b provided there, and in this way both pieces of the cable channel 3 thus chained, viewed from its bottom face, reach exactly the same position in terms of height. The said small step-shaped projection 13 in one of the end sections of the bottom 11b, in front of a bottom end section 11a which is somewhat lower than the previous one of a next piece of the chained cable channel, is represented in the form simplified in section in figure 5.

In order to chain two pieces of the consecutive cable channel 3, it is provided in the exemplary embodiment shown in one of the end pieces of the bottom 11a a plug socket 13. This one sits centrally in one of the end sections of the bottom 11a configured with a circular shape , plate or similar (which is somewhat higher than the end section of the bottom 11b facing). This plug socket 13 is oriented perpendicularly to the plane of the bottom of the cable channel 5 and is provided at the height of the bottom of the cable channel, that is, of the end section of the bottom 11a, of a through opening that is inside .

The end section of the bottom 11a, which is somewhat lower, shows in the exemplary embodiment shown two retention pins 17 that protrude upward in the form of fingers and which can yield elastically, which at their free ends are provided with retention projections 17 'oriented radially opposite. The chaining is caused by inserting a piece of the cable channel with its bottom end zone 11a and the socket 12 there configured on the opposite end zone 11b of a next piece of the cable channel 3, whereby said pin of retention 17 passes through the through opening in the socket 13 of the other part of the cable duct 5 and when fully inserted it encompasses with its retention projections 17 'the edge 13' of the top of the socket 13.

As can also be seen in the drawings, the parts of the cable duct 5 in its central area 5 'have a fixing sleeve 23 (by way of a fixing column or a fixing cylinder), hollowly configured inside and provided in its terminal area of the upper part of an annular shoulder 23 'protruding inwards, with which a passage opening 23 "is formed. Through the edge of the front side 26 of the fixing sleeve 23, a mounting, support or clamping surface 26 'is achieved at the same time, with which the corresponding part of the cable duct 3 can be fixed, for example, to the lower face 35' of a tabletop 35. In this regard we also refer to the schematic sectional representation according to Figure 6, in which a longitudinal section is perpendicularly represented perpendicular to the plane of the bottom of the cable duct 5 through said fixing column or of the fixing sleeve 23. There it can also be seen that the annular shoulder 23 'is provided slightly below the free end of the front side of the upper part of the fixing sleeve 23.

For fixing, a spring 29 receptacle in the form of a pin or cylinder or the like is also needed, such as that which can be seen, for example, in exploded figure 3 and in figures 7 and 8 in spatial representation, as well as in representation in axial longitudinal section. This spring receptacle 29 has, on the opposite side, that is, on the opposite side, when mounted, the aforementioned mounting, support or support surface 26 'or the aforementioned edge 26, a support shoulder or a support flange 29 'projecting radially outwards, a spiral spring 31 inserted into the receptacle of the spike-shaped spring 29, the lower elastic section of which rests on said support shoulder or support flange 29'. In order for the spring to be kept as impermissible as possible on the cylinder-shaped spring 29 receptacle, it may be configured next to the support shoulder 29 ', projecting radially outwards, one or more fastening buttons 33, which are grasped by behind by the last spiral of the spiral spring. The support shoulder or the support flange 29 ’of the spring receptacle 29 therefore defines in the exemplary embodiment shown a so-called assembly plane

or mounting surface M, on which the said cable channel parts can be mounted. This assembly plane, mounting surface M, then generally coincides with the lower face 35 ’of a tabletop 35, when said cable channels must be mounted there in such a piece of furniture. In the variant described below in detail, the mounting sleeve 23, which is pressed by the force of the aforementioned spring 31, is also pressed down to the stop on one side of this mounting plane or mounting surface M bottom 35 'of a tabletop 35, that is, on the mounting plane or mounting surface M so defined.

The spring receptacle 29 thus formed is then inserted into the fixing sleeve 23 from below through the lower opening 24, until the front face 29 "which is located at the top of the housing of the cylindrical shaped spring 29 rests. for example on the lower face of the table 35 'of a support that holds the cable channel, for example of a lower face 35' of a tabletop 35, as can be seen basically in the representation of Figure 9.

In this position, a screw 37 is then screwed through centrally through the receptacle of the cylindrical shaped spring 29, precisely through the axial hole 29a (and whose axial length is greater than the axial length of the cylindrical shaped spring 29 receptacle), up to the support material, usually from the tabletop 35.

In the representation in axial section according to Figure 8, it can now be seen that the spiral spring 31 rests between the support shoulder 29 'of the elastic housing 29 with a cylindrical shape on one side and on the annular body, that is, the annular shoulder 23 'on the fixing sleeve 23 on the other hand and in this way the fixing sleeve 23 and on it also the entire piece of the cable duct 5 is held up and subjected to a force in the direction of the lower face of the board table 35 '.

The sizing is performed such that the height H of the side walls of the cable duct 7 is equal to or preferably less than the axial length of the cylindrical shaped spring receptacle 29. In this case, when the height H of the side wall of the cable duct 7 is less than the axial length or height of the cylindrical spring receptacle 29, the fixation position reproduced in the sectional representation of Figure 9 results, resulting in a lower distance A1 between the upper edge 7 'of the side wall of the cable channel 7 and the lower face 35' of the tabletop 35. The lower face 35 'of the tabletop 35 thus coincides thus with the mounting, support or clamping surface 26 'at the free front end of the fixing sleeve 23, thereby resulting in a plane defined in what follows also as a clamping and / or mounting plane M. The distance A1 may in an extreme case also be zero when the side wall 7 is supported with its upper edge 7 'on the lower face of the tabletop 35'.

Since the receptacle of the cylindrical shaped spring 29 is sized with its outer diameter such that this outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the through opening 23 'in the annular shoulder 23' of the fixing sleeve 23, it is possible to directly grasp completely the cable channel part and press it by compressing the spiral spring 31 downwards away from the tabletop 35, for example starting from the basic position shown in figure 9 to the position represented in figure 10. During this movement movement now increases more and more the effective distance A1 between the upper edge 7 'of the side wall of the cable duct 7 and the lower face 35' of the tabletop 35, that is, it becomes even so large that in this position they can be easily placed and comfortably electrical cables, telephone cables, data cables or computer cables, etc. inside the cable channel 1 or remove and remove the corresponding cables. The corresponding part of the cable duct can then be released, so that when the helical spring 31 is released, by means of the force of the spring device 31, the corresponding part of the cable duct is then lifted again towards the board of assembly 35, that is, in the direction of the support

or of the mounting plane M, until the mounting, support or clamping surface 26 (or mounting, support or clamping flange) of the fixing sleeve 23, which is in the direction of the tabletop, abuts in the lower face 35 'of the support, preferably in the form of the tabletop 35, that is, on the mounting surface or plane 11.

By means of the chain they are pressed down in part, by pressing down the different cable channels, also at the same time in part the corresponding adjacent cable channels, that is, they are pressed away from the lower face of the tabletop, with The introduction and removal of cables can be done very easily. When laying a cable, successive pieces of the adjacent cable channel can also be grasped, and in each case a cable can be introduced into the cable channel in sections or extracted from the cable channel. The corresponding cable channel can then be moved away from the underside of the tabletop limited by a stop until the spiral spring device is fully compressed, that is, until the different turns rest on one another. The travel path should then preferably be at least 5 millimeters, in particular at least 10 mm, 15 mm or at least 20 mm.

An example of slightly evolved execution is shown in Figures 11 and 12. In this exemplary embodiment, the plug socket 13 serves as a chaining device to chain two adjacent pieces of the cable duct. In other words, the corresponding fixing sleeve 23 in the center of the cable channel part is not provided in this exemplary embodiment, but is provided in one of the end sections of the bottom 11b, otherwise of course the same design and configuration as in the execution example described above.

In other words, it is therefore used in this exemplary embodiment, instead of the retaining pin 17 cited in the preceding exemplary embodiments, in one of the end sections of the bottom 11b the said fixing sleeve 23 with the described embodiment , which also serves as a retention device 117. This retention device 117 with a tubular or cylindrical shape in the form of the fixing sleeve 23 interacts with the plug socket 13 already described in the preceding exemplary embodiments and configured in the corresponding second end section of the bottom 11a, which in this exemplary embodiment of course has an axial length corresponding to the axial length of the fixing sleeve 23. In FIGS. 11 and 12 the corresponding axial representations are reproduced in section perpendicular to the bottom plane for cables 5 for this example of execution, with which the differences can be observed cto the corresponding axial representations in section according to figures 9 and 10 for the preceding exemplary embodiment.

In order to perform the simultaneous chaining of two pieces of adjacent cable channel, the fixing sleeve 23 is then inserted in each case from below into the socket 13, which is configured in the other end section of the bottom 11a, until both sections from the bottom for cables 11a, 11b of two pieces of cable 3 chained together are resting on each other. The outer diameter of the fixing sleeve 23 then corresponds to the inner diameter of the plug socket 13 or is slightly smaller, thereby ensuring a favorable possibility of rotation between both parts of the cable channel without the friction forces being too large or on the contrary the game is too big. In this way, the chaining of two pieces of adjacent cable channel 5 is caused on the one hand, which can rotate around the central axis Z thus formed in a large angular area relatively relative to each other. At the same time, the corresponding fixing equipment can be applied here, with the cylindrical spring receptacle 29 being introduced, as in the preceding exemplary embodiments, also starting from the lower face of the cable duct in the fixing sleeve 23 open downwards and inserted in the plug socket 13 from below, until the front face 26 located above or in this case also the annular flange 23 'is together with the edge 13' located above the plug socket 13 in the common mounting plane M , in the exemplary embodiment shown on the lower face 35 'of the tabletop 35.

Also in this exemplary embodiment, the corresponding cable channel can be moved against the force of the spring equipment 31 (compressing the spiral spring) away from the mounting plane M, that is, from the lower side of the tabletop, downwards. , to insert or remove cables in the cable channel. Figure 12 shows the position of the cable channel corresponding to Figure 11, when the corresponding cable channel is pressed down away from the assembly plane M and thus increases the distance A1 between the upper edge 7 'of the walls side 7 of the cable duct and the mounting plane M (ie, the underside of the tabletop 35 ').

Claims (8)

1. Cable channel to be fixed to a support (35), in particular office furniture, and the cable channel can be mounted cables (1) on a mounting surface (M) running straight or angle, with the following characteristics: the cable channel (1) includes at least two pieces of cable channel (3), the parts of the cable channel ( 3), of which there are at least two, can be chained or be chained together, in the chaining zone (11) of two cable channel pieces (3) both cable channel parts (3) can be positioned around an axis (Z) perpendicular to the mounting surface (M), running straight or forming a certain angle to each other,

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the cable channel parts (3) include a support and fixing equipment for fixing to the surface of

assembly (M), the cable channel parts (3) include a bottom of the cable channel (5), the longitudinal sides of the cable channel part (3) follow, at least in a length section of the cable channel part (3), in each case a side wall of the cable channel (7), which runs transversely or perpendicularly to the bottom of the cable channel (5) and / or to the mounting surface (M) , characterized by the following additional features: the cable channel parts (3) are arranged such that the edges (7 ') configured on the side walls of the cable channel (7) in front of the bottom of the cable channel (5), in the basic mounting position, end on the mounting surface (M) or at a free distance (A1) thereof,

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between the support and fixing equipment and the cable channel part (3) a spring device (31) is provided, by means of which the cable channel part (3) can move against the force of the spring device (31) moving away from the mounting surface (M), whereby the distance between the edge (7 ') of the side walls of the cable duct (7) and the mounting surface (M) is greater than in the position Basic assembly

2.

Cable channel according to claim 1, characterized in that a part of the cable channel (3) can move against the force of the spring device (31) by at least 5 mm, preferably at least 10 mm, 15 mm or in at least 20 mm

3.

Cable channel according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the support and fixing equipment includes a fixing sleeve (23) that is fixedly connected to the cable channel part (3) or that is part of the part of the cable channel (3), whose axial orientation runs transversely or perpendicularly with respect to the mounting surface (M), and because the fixing sleeve

(2. 3)

includes a stop provided inside the fixing sleeve (23) or annular shoulder (23 ’) provided and because inside the fixing sleeve (23) a support receptacle sits with a stop shoulder

or stop flange (29 ') disposed offset with respect to the stop or with the annular shoulder (23'), whereby between the stop or the annular shoulder (23 ') of the fixing sleeve (23) and the stop shoulder or the stop flange (29 ') of the support receptacle (29), a spring device (31) is supported, preferably in the form of a spiral spring under pressure, an axial fixing device is provided that crosses the receptacle of the spring (29), preferably in the form of a screw (37), whose axis of the screw is anchored to the mounting surface (M), passing through it.

Four.

Cable channel according to claim 3, characterized in that the annular shoulder (23 ') forming the stop is provided in the fixing sleeve (23) at the upper front end (29') of the fixing sleeve (23) or at a distance axial thereof within the fixing sleeve (23).

5.

Cable channel according to one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that the mounting surface () is defined by means of the free front face (26) of the fixing sleeve (23) or by means of the annular shoulder (23 ') provided in this area. M).

6.

Cable channel according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the fixing sleeve (23) is provided with respect to the chain areas (11) laid out in the central area (5 ') of the cable channel part ( 3).

7.

Cable channel according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the fixing sleeve (23) is fixedly connected to the bottom of the cable channel (5), preferably configured to form a single piece.

8.

Cable channel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that for chaining two pieces of cable channel (3) in one of the terminal sections of the cable channel (11a), a plug socket (13) is provided with a through opening (13 ') at the bottom of the cable channel (5) and because in the terminal section of the cable channel (11b) in each opposite case, they are

provided on the bottom of the cable channel (5) elements or retention pins (17, 117) that protrude upwards, which can be anchored by inserting them into a plug socket (13) of a piece of the cable channel (3) chained together . Cable duct according to claim 8, characterized in that the retention device or pin (17) is provided with elastically deformable retention elements (17 '), which can fit in the corresponding retention sections, preferably in the front edge free (13 ') of the plug socket (13), grabbing it from behind. 10. Cable channel according to one of claims 3 to 7, together with claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the retention device (117) is formed from the fixing sleeve (23) with the spring receptacle (29 ) which sits there and the screw (37) that passes through the spring receptacle (29), which axially passes through the plug socket (3). 11. Cable channel according to claim 10, characterized in that the axial length of the fixing sleeve (23) and the axial length of the plug socket (13) are the same.