Abstract:
A device for fastening tubular objects includes a C-shaped mounting rail ( 3 ) and retaining plate ( 2 ) having a threaded through-bore ( 8 ), with the width (b1) measured in a direction parallel to the retaining plate plane and corresponding at most to a width (b2) of the elongate opening ( 2 ) of the mounting rail ( 3 ), a length (c) measured transverse to the width direction and which is greater than the width (b2) of the elongate opening ( 2 ) of the mounting rail ( 3 ), and at least one web ( 14   a   , 14   b   ; 22 ) provided on its side adjacent to the elongate opening formed in the mounting rail.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a device for fastening tubes and tubular objects and includes a C-shaped mounting rail having an elongate opening, and a retaining plate having a through-bore extending transverse to a plane of the retaining plate and provided with an inner thread, a width measured in a direction parallel to the retaining plate plane and corresponding at most to a width of the elongate opening of the mounting rail, and a length measured transverse to the width direction and which is greater than the width of the elongate opening.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Fastening devices of the type described above find particular application for suspending and bracing of objects such as, e.g., tubes and the like. To this end, a mounting rail having an elongate opening is secured to a constructional component or part, e.g., with several segment anchors. For fastening a fastening element, a retaining plate is inserted into the interior of the mounting rail through the rail elongate opening and is pivoted by an angle, e.g., 90° and engages, from behind the free ends, so-called retaining projections. For securing a fastening element, e.g., a threaded rod, the retaining plate has a through-bore provided with an inner thread that form-lockingly engages a complementary outer profile provided at least on a portion of the fastening element. In order to insure the insertion of the retaining plate through the elongate opening, the width of the retaining plate corresponds at most to the width of the elongate opening provided in the mounting rail. The engagement of the retaining projection of the mounting rail by the retaining plate is insured by having the length of the retaining plate, which is measured transverse to the width direction of the retaining plate, greater than the width of the elongate opening.  
           [0005]    German Patent DE 38 11 794 C2 discloses a fastening device including a C-shaped mounting rail and non-circular retaining part which is formed, e.g., as a cast part.  
           [0006]    The drawback of the known device consists in that for producing the retaining part, a lot of material is spent in order to obtained the desired dimensions, which adversely affects the economy of the production.  
           [0007]    A further drawback consists in that the excessive weight of the retaining part increases the overall weight of the fastening device, in particular, when several retaining plates are required.  
           [0008]    Accordingly, an object of the invention is a fastening device including a retaining plate that can be economically produced and has a reduced weight.  
           [0009]    Another object of the invention is a fastening device including a retaining plate that would insure a high stability and would exhibit a good performance under tension loads.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    These and other objects of the present invention, which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by providing, in the device of the type described above, a retaining plate having at least one web on a side of retaining plate adjacent to the elongate opening of the mounting rail. The web provides for stiffening the retaining plate and for its positioning with respect to the mounting rail.  
           [0011]    Providing a stiffening and positioning web permits to form a plate with less consumption of the material and that would weigh less than a conventional retaining plate. At least one web further insures a reliable positioning of the used fastening element. The at least one web defines an additional space for receiving the fastening element and which extends coaxially with the inner bore of the retaining plate. This permits to use fastening elements which do not have a precise length.  
           [0012]    At the same time, the retaining plate according to the present invention occupies less space in the mounting rail than a cast plate or a plate formed of a sheet metal and provide with a reinforcement on its top for increasing its stability.  
           [0013]    Advantageously, there are provided two, arranged parallel to each other, stiffening and reinforcing webs. The webs dependent on the requirements, can have different cross-sections such as, e.g., round, rectangular or the like cross-sections. The dimensions of the webs depend on the space available for the fastening device.  
           [0014]    Advantageously, the two webs are provided on opposite sides of the inner thread which insures an optimal stability in the region of the inner thread as the thread causes weakness of the plate in this area.  
           [0015]    Advantageously, the retaining plate has a U-shaped profile, with the free ends of the profile forming the webs. This shape proved to be optimal for reducing the material consumption and the production costs.  
           [0016]    The webs are advantageously provided, on sides of the inner thread, with beads, which reduces overload in the region of the inner thread. In fastening devices which are subjected to a load in their foreground, the webs are wave-shaped over their entire length, which increases their stability. In addition, the beads function as predetermined bending points, protecting the mounting rail and, thus, the fastening device from an overload.  
           [0017]    To provide for its economical manufacturing, the retaining plate has a uniform wall thickness.  
           [0018]    Advantageously, a side of the retaining plate remote from the elongate opening projects, at least in a region of the inner thread, beyond a remaining region of the remote from the elongate opening, side of the retaining plate. This insures an adequate axial extent of the inner thread, on one hand, and, on the other hand, minimizes the height of the webs in the axial direction of the inner thread.  
           [0019]    An axial extent of the inner thread advantageously corresponds to about 1.5-4.5 times, preferably, to 2.25 times of the wall thickness of the retaining plate.  
           [0020]    Advantageously, the retaining plate is formed as a stamped bent part, which insures its economical manufacturing.  
           [0021]    Advantageously, the mounting rail is provided, at its free edges, with recesses a width of which at least corresponds to a wall thickness of the retaining plate, and wherein the stiffening and positioning webs of the retaining plate engage in the recesses. At least one of the retaining plate webs engages in a corresponding recess. This reduces displacement of the retaining plate in the longitudinal direction of the mounting plate under forces acting in the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail. The distance between separate recesses, which are provided at the free edge, advantageously corresponds to the dimensions of the retaining plate. The recesses preferably have a rectangular cross-section in the longitudinal direction.  
           [0022]    The novel features of the present invention, which are considered as characteristic for the invention, are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional advantages and objects thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]    The drawings show:  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 a cross-sectional view of a fastening device according to the present invention with a longitudinal extending, fastening element;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 a plan view of a retaining element shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 a cross-sectional view of the retaining element taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 a cross-sectional view of the retaining element taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 a plan view of a retaining element with beads;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 a plan view of a another embodiment of a retaining element for a fastening device shown in FIG. 1; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 7 a cross-sectional view of the retaining element along line VII-VII in FIG. 6. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0031]    A fastening device according to the present invention, which is shown in FIG. 1, has a C-shaped cross-section and includes a mounting rail  3  provided with an elongate opening  2 , and a retaining element or plate  1 .  
         [0032]    The elongate mounting rail  3 , which is shown in FIG. 1, has a substantially C-shaped cross-section and is formed, preferably, of a single strip of a galvanized or stainless metal sheet.  
         [0033]    The mounting rail  3  has a rear wall  4  and two side walls  5   a  and  5   b  provided at opposite longitudinal sides of the rear wall and extending substantially perpendicular to the rear wall  4 . At their free front ends, the side walls  5   a ,  5   b  are bent inward at a substantially right angle and form two webs  6   a  and  6   b  extending parallel to the rear wall  4 . The webs  6   a ,  6   b  form the elongate opening  2  which extends in the longitudinal direction L of the mounting rail  3 . The sides of the webs  6   a ,  6   b  adjacent to the rear wall  4  can be provided with the straight knurls  7   a ,  7   b , respectively.  
         [0034]    The retaining plate  1  has a through-bore  8  extending transverse to the plate plane and provided with an inner thread  9 , as particularly shown in FIGS.  2 - 4 . The through-bore  8  is designed for receiving a fastening element, in particular a bolt  12  provided with an outer thread  11 , as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5. The retaining plate  1  has, in a direction parallel to the plate plane, a width b1 that approximately corresponds to the width b2 of the elongate opening  2 , and has, transverse to its width dimension, in the direction parallel to the plate plane, a length c that is greater than the width b2 of the elongate opening  2 . The retaining plate  1  has a uniform width d.  
         [0035]    The U-shaped retaining a plate  1  has at its side  13  adjacent to the opening  2 , two stiffening and positioning webs  14   a ,  14   b  which form free legs, as particularly shown in FIG. 4. The webs  14   a ,  14   b  extend in the longitudinal direction of the retaining plate  1  perpendicular to its side  13  adjacent to the elongate opening  2 , and have a height f.  
         [0036]    Dependent on the dimensions and on the use of the fastening means that cooperates with the retaining plate  1  (e.g., of the bolt  12 ), the webs  14   a ,  14   b  can project, regionwise, beyond bearing areas  15   a ,  15   b . The web elevation  14   c , which serves regionwise as stiffening and positioning means, represents a modification of the retaining plate  1  and is shown in FIG. 1 with a dot-dash line. The axial extent f 1  of the web elevation  14   c  and the wall thickness d of the retaining plate  1  in this case is greater than the height h that corresponds to the distance between the bearing areas  15   a ,  15   b  and the outer side  16  of the retaining plate  1 . The side  16  of the retaining plate  1  remote from the opening  2 , projects, in the region of the inner thread  9 , beyond the remaining region of the side  16 , as particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. An axial extent e of the inner thread  9  corresponds approximately to 2.25 times of the wall thickness d. The retaining plate  1  can be formed, e.g., as a stamped bent part.  
         [0037]    The bearing regions  15   a ,  15   b  have, preferably, a straight knurl  18   a ,  18   b , respectively, engageable with a respective straight knurl  7   a ,  7   b  provided on the free ends of webs  6   a ,  6   b  of the mounting rail  3 .  
         [0038]    In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the webs  14   a ,  14   b  have additionally two beads  17  surrounding the inner thread  9 . The beads  17  serve, on one hand, for stabilizing the inner thread  9  and, on the other hand, as overload protection means for the fastening device. When a two high load p acts on the fastening element, in particular, on the bolt  12 , the retaining plate  1  would bulge in the region of the beads  17 . The overload protection prevents failure of the entire fastening device at an unpermissible high load p acting on the device.  
         [0039]    Contrary to the retaining plate  1  shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the retaining plate  21 , which is shown in FIG. 6, has only one circumferential web  22  provided on the side  13  of the retaining plate  21  adjacent to the elongate opening  2 . A straight knurl in the bearing areas  15   a ,  15   b  of the retaining plate  21  is eliminated in this embodiment of the retaining plate.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 7 shows a web  6   a  of the mounting rail  3  a free edge of which, as well as the free edge of the web  6   b , have, instead of a knurling surface, a toothing  23 . The width k of separate indentations of the toothing  23  only slightly wider than the width d of the retaining plate  21 . The spacing between the separate indentations of the toothing  23  corresponds to the dimension b1, so that the web  22  can engage in this indentations to retain the retaining plate  21  against forces which act in the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail  3 .  
         [0041]    Though the present invention was shown and described with references to the preferred embodiments, such are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiments or details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.