GB2553491A

GB2553491A - Cable bracket

Info

Publication number: GB2553491A
Application number: GB1610946.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Fraser Andrew
Original assignee: Cip Fastening Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Cip Fastening Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-22
Filing date: 2016-06-22
Publication date: 2018-03-14
Also published as: GB201610946D0

Abstract

A cable bracket formed from fire-resistant material comprising a formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun and a cable retaining means. The formation may be a recess. The fire-resistant material may be a metal and may be steel. The cable bracket may be in the form of a metal plate with raised and depressed components which are formed from a single blank. The cable retaining means may be a feature or features which can hold the cable(s) in place relative to the bracket. The cable retaining means may comprise two arms on which the cable may rest or which may be secured around cables. The arms may be ductile to allow them to be bent over cabling to enhance the retention of the cabling. The cable retaining means may be a means of attachment for further component(s) which can in turn secure the cable(s).

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

CIP Fastening Systems Limited

Pit Road, Waterside, KIRKINTILLOCH, Glasgow,

Strathclyde, G66 3ND, United Kingdom (72) Inventor(s):

Andrew Fraser (51) INT CL:

H02G3/32 (2006.01) (56) Documents Cited:

US 3638892 A US 20130269162 A1

US 20120217354 A1 US 20070137882 A1 (58) Field of Search:

INT CLF16L, H02G

Other: EPODOC, WPI, Patent Fulltext.

(74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

Hindles Limited

Clarence House, 131-135 George Street, EDINBURGH, EH2 4JS, United Kingdom (54) Title of the Invention: Cable bracket Abstract Title: Cable bracket (57) A cable bracket formed from fire-resistant material comprising a formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun and a cable retaining means. The formation may be a recess. The fire-resistant material may be a metal and may be steel. The cable bracket may be in the form of a metal plate with raised and depressed components which are formed from a single blank. The cable retaining means may be a feature or features which can hold the cable(s) in place relative to the bracket. The cable retaining means may comprise two arms on which the cable may rest or which may be secured around cables. The arms may be ductile to allow them to be bent over cabling to enhance the retention of the cabling. The cable retaining means may be a means of attachment for further component(s) which can in turn secure the cable(s).

Fig. 1

At least one drawing originally filed was informal and the print reproduced here is taken from a later filed formal copy.

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Cable Bracket

The present invention relates to a bracket for securing a cable or cables, for example electrical wiring, to a surface, for example a wall or ceiling in a building.

Modern buildings generally contain a large amount of cabling, particularly electrical wiring. This is routed through different parts of buildings and often requires securing to walls, floors and ceilings or other surfaces or components within buildings. Secure restraint of the cables is desirable so as to avoid cables becoming detached.

During a fire the presence of cabling can be associated with particular risks. Plastic cable ties, and plastic brackets, securing cables to walls, ceilings or other surfaces, can melt, resulting in the cabling falling down and causing hazards. Several firefighter deaths have been caused by firefighters becoming entangled in such electrical cabling.

New building regulations, including amendments to BS 7671, require that wiring systems in certain environments must be supported such that they will not be liable to premature collapse in the event of a fire. It is important to note that covering over, or boxing in, the cabling may not provide sufficient protection because in the event of a fire the covering surface (e.g. a false ceiling) may be destroyed or detached resulting in exposure of the cables.

From a first aspect the present invention provides a cable bracket formed from fireresistant material comprising: a formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun; and cable retaining means.

The fire-resistant material is a material which does not fail when subjected to direct flames, hot products of combustion, or high temperatures in a building which is on fire. This precludes the use of materials which, under such conditions, melt, combust or lose rigidity, e.g. plastic materials. Typically the fire-resistant material is metallic, for example steel, for example galvanised steel, e.g. galvanised steel plate.

The presence of a formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun means that the bracket can be conveniently and quickly secured to a surface by nailing using a nail gun. It is particularly important that the method of securing the cable brackets is convenient and simple so as to minimise the work required in order to comply with the updated building regulations. Compliance with the new building regulations is of key importance in ensuring safety in the event of a fire.

The formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun may be a recess, in which case a suitable nose of a nail gun will have a complementary protrusion. The description below refers mostly to this type of arrangement. Alternatively the formation may comprise a protrusion, in which case a suitable nose will have a complementary recess. The skilled person will understand that the features below can altered accordingly, within the scope of the present invention.

Nail guns are not generally used by electricians and electrical contractors. Such professionals typically use other tools and means of attachment when working on electrical matters. They would see no need to use a nail gun: to the contrary, they would see a nail gun as potentially hazardous. The present invention provides a significant step forward by recognising the benefit of combining the use of a nail gun with a cable bracket which is suitable for use in view of fire regulations. This was far from obvious in view of conventional working practices.

Previously, processes for securing wiring have involved drilling and screwing, i.e. a processes which involve at least two stages. These take time and result in dust or spoil. In contrast the present invention allows almost instantaneous fixing and avoids dust or spoil. The labour-saving benefit of the present invention is considerable. This was far from obvious.

Aside from requiring a nose which fits with the recess on the cable bracket, the nail gun may have features known in the art. Advantageously the nail gun may be portable

i.e. cordless. Furthermore, the nail gun may use gas canisters and gas firing technology.

During the fixing operation, the cable brackets may temporarily be held magnetically to the nose of the nail gun.

The recess on the bracket may be asymmetric and may have a shape which is complementary to the shape of the nose of the nail gun. This allows the bracket to be positioned on the nose of the nail gun in a particular orientation, which facilitates the positioning of the bracket relative to the wall. In use, the nail gun fires a nail through the recessed portion of the bracket so as to secure the bracket to the wall or other surface.

As noted above, the bracket has cable retaining means. The inventors have developed two types of cable retaining means. A first type of cable retaining means may be a feature or features which can hold the cable(s) in place relative to the bracket. A second type of cable retaining means act as means of attachment for further component(s) which can in turn secure the cable(s).

Forming the bracket from a material which is ductile or bendable brings further advantages in that holding features and attachment means can not only be integral but also can be bended over or around cabling to hold it in place.

Means of holding the cable in place may be arms or tabs on which the cable may rest orwhich may be secured around cables.

Thus, for example, a metal sheet may be cut so that at least one part of the metal sheet forms an arm. Preferably two arms are formed, from cutting regions of the metal sheet. The cuts may be U-shaped and may be formed by punching operations such as slitting. Thus, for example, an arm may be formed by cutting along two long sides and one short side of a rectangle such that the arm is connected to the body of the metal sheet at the remaining short side of the rectangle which is not cut.

As noted above, in one type of bracket according to the present invention the cable retaining means do not directly hold the cabling but rather act as means of attachment for further component(s) which can in turn secure the cable(s). The further components may for example be metal ties. In this type of bracket, the means of attachment of the bracket may be bridges raised up from the metal sheets to which the metal tie or other component can be attached. A bridge may be formed by cutting two parallel slits and displacing the material between the slits away from the plane of the metal plate. This can allow the formation of a passageway, beneath the raised bridge through which the further securing component (e.g. metal tie) may be threaded.

A different set of bridges may be displaced in the opposite direction, i.e. beneath the metal plates, and these may, for example, project downwardly to the same extent as the aforementioned recess so that such depressed bridges and recessed base may stably contact the wall or other surface to which the bracket is being attached. Also for reasons of stability during attachment, the base of the recess may be generally planar so as to sit against the wall or other surface..

Conveniently the bracket may be of generally rectangular shape though this is not essential.

It will be evident to the reader that the bracket may generally take the form of a metal plate with raised and depressed components, made from metal sheeting by standard metal forming techniques. The thickness of the metal sheeting may suitably be between 0.5 and 3 millimetres, for example between 1 and 2 millimetres, for example between 1 and 1.5 millimetres, for example approximately 1.2 millimetres in some embodiments.

The depressions and projections below and above the metal plates may generally be quite shallow. For example, the internal depth of the recess which mates with the nose of the nail gun may be less than 10 millimetres, for example between about 2 and about 5 millimetres, for example between about 2 and 3 millimetres. The bridges may optionally extend below and above the metal plates by about the same amount. The arms may be bendable and therefore in some forms may extend from the upper surface of the metal plate by a larger amount, though it is envisaged that when they are retaining the cabling in place they may optionally project by no more than 30 millimetres and for example no more than 20 millimetres above the plates.

In some embodiments the dimensions of the plate may be approximately 3 to 10 centimetres by approximately 2 to 8 centimetres, for example approximately 5 to 7 centimetres by approximately 4 to 6 centimetres.

Optionally, where the plate contains two arms these may be parallel to each other but facing in opposite directions. This means that, in use, cabling will always be constrained and held in place by at least on arm regardless of the orientation of the bracket.

The invention will now be described by way of example, and in further non-limiting detail, with the reference to the figures in which:

Figures 1 to 4 are photographs of a cable bracket in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention (in perspective view from above, in plan view from above, in perspective view from below, and in plan view from below, respectively); and

Figures 5 to 8 are photographs of a cable bracket in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention (in perspective view from above, in plan view from above, in perspective view from below, and in plan view from below, respectively).

With reference to Figure 1, cable bracket (10), formed from a single blank of sheet metal, is a plate of generally rectangular shape with raised and depressed portions. In this particular embodiment the size of the rectangular plate is approximately 58 millimetres by approximately 50 millimetres. Centrally located on bracket (10) is recess (12) which is approximately frustoconical and extends below the plane of the plate to a small extent. Recess (12) has a shallow side wall which is generally circular in shape when viewed from above (as seen most clearly in Figure 2), apart from being truncated by a chord (14) on one side. Chord (14) is a flat side which introduces an asymmetry so as to enable recess (12) to fit onto the nose (not shown) of a nail gun and be radially fixed relative to said nail gun. This allows the position and orientation of the bracket (10) to be controlled relative to a wall or other surface to which the bracket is to be fixed.

Recess (12) has a flat base and the underside of the recess (12) has flat surface (22) (shown in Figure 3) which usually contacts the wall or other surface when in use. Extra stability is provided by the presence of four depressed bridges (20) which are located near the corners of the bracket (10). Rear surfaces (24) of the depressed bridges (20) are on the same plain as the flat surface (22) of the recess (12) so that the bracket can stably rest against the wall or surface which it is to be fixed. Bridges (20) are formed by cutting parallel slits in the metal plate and by depressing the material between the slits.

Bracket (10) also comprises cable retaining means in the form of arms (16, 18). Like recess (12) and depressed bridges (20), these are also integrally formed from the bank of sheet metal. The arms (16, 18) are formed by cutting along three sides of a rectangle such that they are connected to the bracket (10) at fourth side (17, 19). In use, after bracket (10) has been secured to a wall or other surface by firing a nail through recess (12), cabling can be routed approximately along axis (26) and arms (16, 18) can be bended over the cabling to hold it in place. Bracket (10) may be supplied with arms (16, 18) already raised and shaped with appropriate curvature as shown in the figures, so as to minimise further action required by the user other than some application of finger pressure to bend the arms downward over the cabling. Alternatively the bracket (10) may be supplied with the arms (16, 18) extended to a lesser degree so as to be closer to the main body of the plate (10) so that the user will not even need to bend the arms or apply a further pressure: in this case the intention is that the cabling will simply be placed approximately along axis (26) and will simply rest in place.

A second type of bracket (60) in accordance with the present invention is shown in figures 5 to 8 is identical to bracket (10) except that is contains raised bridges (62) instead of arms (16, 18). Similarly to bridges (20), bridges (62) can be formed by cutting parallel slits and by forcing the material between the slits away from the plane of the plate. Bridges (62) provide points of attachment for a further component, e.g. a metal cable tie (not shown) which in turn can secure a cabling. The consequence of this is that the cabling is routed generally along axis (64) (as shown in Figure 6) relative to bracket (60).

Claims

1. A cable bracket formed from fire-resistant material comprising: a formation for mating with the nose of a nail gun; and cable retaining means.

2. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 1 wherein the formation is a recess.

3. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the fire-resistant material is metal.

4. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 3 wherein the fire-resistant material is steel.

5. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 in the form of a metal plate with raised and depressed components which are formed from a single blank.

6. A cable bracket as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the cable retaining means are a feature or features which can hold the cable(s) in place relative to the bracket.

7. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 6 wherein the cable retaining means comprise two arms on which the cable may rest or which may be secured around cables.

8. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 7 wherein the arms are ductile to allow them to be bended over cabling to enhance the retention of the cabling.

9. A cable bracket as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein the cable retaining means are means of attachment for further component(s) which can in turn secure the cable(s).

10. A cable bracket as claimed in claim 9 wherein the means of attachment are raised bridges to which the further component(s) may be secured, for example by threading the further components through passageways under the bridges.

11. A cable bracket as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising one or more projections beneath the bracket, the lower surface of which are in substantially the same plane as the lower surface of the recess so as to allow the bracket to sit stably against a wall or other surface to which it is intended to be secured.

12. A kit comprising a cable bracket as claimed in any preceding claim and a nose for a nail gun, said nose being shaped so as to mate with the formation of the cable bracket.

13. A kit as claimed in claim 12 further comprising a nail gun to which said nose fits.

14. A kit as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13 further comprising magnetic means to hold the cable bracket to the nose.

15. A kit as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14 further comprising nails suitable for use in said nail gun and for nailing said cable bracket to a wall, ceiling or other surface.

16. A wall, ceiling or other surface, or building or part of building or other construction, to which a cable bracket as defined in any of claims 1 to 11 is attached.

17. Use of a cable bracket as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, or a kit as claimed in any of claims 12 to 15, for securing cabling to a wall, ceiling or other surface, or building or part of building or other construction.

18. Method of securing cabling to a wall, ceiling or other surface, or building or part of building or other construction, comprising locating a cable bracket as claimed in any preceding claim on a nose of a suitable nose gun, positioning said cable bracket at a suitable position on a surface, nailing said cable bracket to said surface using said nail gun, and locating said cabling in said cable bracket.

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