EP-4740282-A1 - DEVICE FOR FASTENING CABLES

Abstract

A device (1) for fastening cables (C), to a support element (S), such as a plate, a tubular support, a U-shaped profile, which device (1) comprises a metal U-bolt having a U-shaped cross section (3) with two opposite wings (103a, 103b) interconnected at one end thereof by a plate (203) positioned orthogonally between said wings (103a, 103b), between which wings (103a, 103b) one or more cables (C) or one or more saddles (2) for housing said cables (C) may be stacked. Each free end of said wings (103a, 103b), opposite to the connection end with said plate (203), is coupled to a hook anchor arm (6), which hook anchor arm (6) extends longitudinally and at least partially beyond the free end of said wings (103a, 103b) and terminates by folding itself to form a hook end (206), which hook end (206) is intended to hook said support (S) on which said device (1) is intended to be hooked, each of said two hook anchor arms (6) being made of a polymeric material.

Inventors

• VARALE, Alberto
• SALA, GIANLUCA

Assignees

• FISSAGGI MODERNI E TECHNICHE S.P.A. IN SIGLA FI.MO.TEC. S.P.A.

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240702

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1) Device (1) for fastening cables (C), to a support element (S), such as a plate, a tubular support, a U-shaped profile, which device (1) comprises a metal U-bolt having a U-shaped cross section (3) with two opposite wings (103a, 103b) interconnected at one end thereof by a plate (203) positioned orthogonally between said wings (103a, 103b), between which wings (103a, 103b) one or more cables (C) or one or more saddles (2) for housing said cables (C) may be stacked characterised in that each free end of said wings (103a, 103b), opposite to the connection end with said plate (203), is coupled to a hook anchor arm (6) which hook anchor arm (6) extends longitudinally and at least partially beyond the free end of said wings (103a, 103b) and terminates by folding itself to form a hook end (206) which hook end (206) is intended to hook said support (S) on which said device (1) is intended to be hooked, each of said two hook anchor arms (6) being made of a polymeric material. 2) Device (1) according to claim 1 characterised in that from the edge of each free end of said wings (103a, 103b) a longitudinal coplanar extension (203a, 203b) in the form of a bayonet branches off, which fits in a corresponding receiving seat (306) provided on each hook anchor arm (6) to enable coupling said hook anchor arms (6) to said wings (103a, 103b). 3) Device (1 ) according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that at the edge of each free end of said wings (103a, 103b) a window (403) is provided for inserting engagement means provided on each hook anchor arm (6) to enable coupling said hook anchor arms (6) to said wings (103a, 103b). 4) Device (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that each hook anchor arm (6) is equipped, at the end opposite to said hook (206), with a fastening plate (406) intended to be positioned in abutment against the outer surface of said wings (103a, 103b), said fastening plate (406) being equipped with means for engaging said hook anchor arms (6) on said wings (103a, 103b) of said U-bolt (3). 5) Device (1) according to claim 4 characterised in that said engagement means comprise a flexible fin (106) in a corresponding seat (416) provided on said fastening plate (406), which flexible fin (106) terminates, at the opposite end constrained to the seat (416) of said plate (406), with a radially protruding tab (116) which folds to form a hooking end (126) delimiting an accommodation seat (136) of the perimeter edge (413) of a window (403) provided at the edge of each free end of said wings (103a, 103b). 6) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims 3 to 5, characterised in that said window (403) is rectangular and positioned orthogonal to the median longitudinal line (M) of each wing (103a, 103b). 7) Device (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims characterised in that said receiving seat (306) is provided on the same surface of the hook anchor arm (6) from which the hooking tab (116) protrudes. 8) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims 2 to 7 characterised in that said receiving seat (306) is provided at the hook end (206) of said hook anchor arm (6) and the extensions of said hook anchor arm (6) and of said coplanar longitudinal extension (203a, 203b) in the form of a bayonet are such that when the tab (116) is inserted into the window (403) of the wing (103a, 103b), at least the end of said coplanar longitudinal extension (203a, 203b) is positioned within said receiving seat (306). 9) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims 2 to 8 characterised in that said receiving seat (306) is in the form of a pocket provided near the hook end (206). 10) Device (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims 5 to 9 characterised in that said radially protruding tab (1 16) and said receiving seat (306) in the form of a pocket are provided at the longitudinally opposite ends of said hook anchor arm (6). 11) Device (1) according to claim 10 characterised in that the fastening plate (406) with the radially protruding tab (116) is inclined relative to the receiving seat (306) in the direction of movement closer to the outer surface of the wings (103a, 103b) so as to ease the engagement of the perimeter edge (413) of the window (403) in the accommodation seat (136) when said a longitudinal coplanar extension (203a, 203b) in the form of a bayonet fits in the corresponding receiving seat (306) provided on each hook anchor arm (6). 12) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims characterised in that said hook anchor arm (6) is equipped with a radial stiffening rib (506) which radial stiffening rib (506) is positioned on the surface of the hook arm (6) opposite to the surface on which the receiving seat (306) is positioned. 13) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims characterised in that the hook end (206) of each hook anchor arm (6) has a knurled surface (216) engaging on the support element (S). 14) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims characterised in that it is provided in combination with one or more saddles (2) for housing cables (C), which may be stacked between the wings (103a, 103b) of the U-bolt (3) and the support element (S), each saddle (2) being composed of two half-saddles (102a, 102b) mutually coupled for forming the respective housing seats (302) of the cables (C) to be supported, which half-saddles (102a, 102b) are equipped on the surface facing said wings (103a, 103b) with a sliding seat (202) of the radially protruding tab (116) provided on the fastening plate (406) of each hook anchor arm (6), which tab (316) protrudes from the inner surface of said wings (103a, 103b) when said hook anchor arms (6) are coupled to the wings (103a, 103b) of said U-bolt (3). 15) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims characterised in that said connection plate (203) positioned orthogonally between said wings (103a, 103b) is equipped with a threaded through- hole (303) for the insertion of a locking screw (5) which locking screw (5) is intended to tighten, between its tip and a support element (S), one or more U-bolts (2) for housing cables (C), which may be stacked between the wings (103a, 103b) of the U-bolt (3). 16) Device (1 ) according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is provided in combination with a thrust-bearing plate (4) and a locking screw (5) which may be screwed into a threaded throughhole (303) provided on the connection plate (203) positioned orthogonally between said wings (103a, 103b), said thrust-bearing plate (4) being constrained to said wings (103a, 103b) and longitudinally movable along said wings (103a, 103b), and said plate (4) being adapted to be positioned against one or more cables (C) or one or more saddles (2) for housing said cables (C) by the action of the force exerted by the tip of said locking screw (5) on the upper surface of said thrust-bearing plate

Description

DEVICE FOR FASTENING CABLES The present invention relates to a device for fastening cables such as coaxial cables, feeder cables, fibre optic cables and energy cables, known as a cable clamps. The field of the invention is that of devices used to fasten long-shaped bodies in general such as cables, pipes and the like to a support, for example pylons, used to support telecommunications antennas. The support to which the cable clamp is hooked can be a plate in the form of a blade, a circular or oval pipe, or a C-shaped or U-shaped profile, for example a slotted C-shaped or U-shaped profile. In this field, it is important that the support device carries out an effective supporting action on the cable, preventing it from slipping or being displaced from its seat by the weight thereof or by the action of the weather. Current cable clamps consist of two half-saddles coupled together to form the respective housing seats for the cables to be supported. The union between the two half-saddles is made by means of U-bolts within which the saddles are hooked and stacked against each other by the action of a plate pushed by an adjusting and locking screw. The saddles are made of polymeric material while the supports, U-bolts, plate and screw are made of metal. In this type of application, there is also the need to reduce or eliminate the negative impact of the passive intermodulation phenomenon, or PIM, on the infrastructure of radio networks. Basically, passive intermodulation occurs when several radio frequency signals from one or more radio base stations mix together in a site housing a cell, resulting in a signal containing a new set of frequencies. Unwanted signals due to passive intermodulation are generated due to some form of mechanical non-linearity. A major cause is ineffective metal-to-metal contacts in areas affected by high current intensities, such as those within transmission lines or within radio frequency (RF) components. This may be due to imperfectly prepared RF terminations or sub-optimal assembly procedures, loose screws or rivets inside RF components, contaminated or oxidised connector surfaces, or improperly tightened RF connectors. Therefore, passive intermodulation has the potential to significantly degrade the service quality of new networks, e.g., LTE (Long Term Evolution) and HDSPA+ (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), and it is of paramount importance for telecommunications operators to reduce the negative effects of passive intermodulation so as to be able to install more advanced network infrastructures capable of supporting broadband data transport, without a significant increase in cost and without compromising performance levels. The metal material with which some components of the known cable clamps are made (adjusting and locking screw, thrust-bearing plate and U- bolt, supports) creates passive intermodulation problems on the signal transported by the cable or cables supported by said cable clamps. The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for fastening cables capable of stably and securely supporting cable housing saddles or the cables themselves while avoiding the problem of passive intermodulation on the signal transported by the cable(s). A further aim of the present invention is to provide a device for fastening cables which may be hooked to different types of supports. A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for fastening cables which is easy and inexpensive to make and easily adaptable, not only to the support bracket but also to the number and size of cables to be supported. In view of such aims, it has been devised to make, according to the invention, a device for fastening cables (called cable clamps) to a support element, such as a plate, a tubular support, a U-shaped profile or a C- shaped profile or an angular profile, which device comprises a metal U- bolt have a U- shaped cross section with two opposite wings interconnected at one end thereof by a plate positioned orthogonally between said wings, between which wings one or more cables or one or more saddles for housing said cables may be stacked. Each free end of said wings, opposite to the connection end with said plate, is coupled to a hook anchor arm, which hook arm extends longitudinally and at least partially beyond the free end of said wings and terminates by folding itself to form a hook end, which hook end is intended to hook said support on which said device is to be hooked, each of said two hook anchor arms being made of a polymeric material. Thanks to the device of the present invention, the cables and/or saddles housing the cables can be stably supported between the wings of the metal U-bolt, and thanks to the fact that said metal U-bolt is not in direct contact with the support, which is also made of metal, the problem of passive intermodulation on the signal transported by the cable(s) is avoided. The pair of hook anchor arms made of polymeric material allows the