Abstract:
A long travel cable carrier guide has a plurality of guideposts that support an upper portion of a cable carrier. The plurality of guideposts include horizontal rollers that rotate to allow the cable carrier to pass by the guideposts, but automatically return to a resting position wherein the horizontal rollers protrude into the path of the cable carrier.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of cable carriers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a guide for a cable carrier where an upper portion of the cable carrier is supported. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the field of cable carriers, especially long travel cable carriers, there is a need to provide support and guidance to the cable carrier to ensure consistent movement of the cable carrier. Cable carriers, also known as drag chains, energy chains, or cable chains, are guides that surround and guide flexible cables and/or hoses that are connected to moving parts of a larger machine. Cable carriers reduce wear and stress on the flexible cables and hoses, prevent entanglement, and improve operator safety by bundling multiple cables together. 
     Typical cable carriers have a rectangular cross section, inside which the cables travel, and include a plurality of sections that are rotatably attached to each other to form a length of cable carrier. More or less sections may be included in the cable carrier to accommodate cables of any length. Cable carriers come in a wide variety of sizes, depending on the application and number of cables carried by the carrier. 
     The primary benefit of using a cable carrier is to keep cables organized, separated, and protected in applications where the cable must move relative to the machinery to which it is attached. Some common non-exhaustive examples of where cable carriers are used are automated car washes, elevators, cranes, vending machines, and machine tools. A cable carrier can be used to guide and protect cables in any machine that has a movable part connected to a power source and/or control board. 
     In applications where the cable carrier travels a long horizontal distance, it may be necessary to support the cable carrier with a cable carrier guide to prevent damage to the cable carrier and to ensure efficient, low friction operation of the cable carrier. In particular, if the cable carrier travels a long horizontal distance and has a lower anchor point and an upper section that moves in relation to the lower anchor point, gravity causes the upper section to droop, and if the distance is long enough the upper section may droop so far that it contacts the lower section. Thus, there is a need for a modular, low friction guide that supports the upper section of the cable guide. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention relates to a guide for a cable carrier that travels along a path. The cable carrier has an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion. The guide includes a plurality of guideposts positioned on either side of the path, and each of the guideposts has at least one horizontal support roller attached to a rotation head. The rotation head is positioned at the top of a support post and includes a base removably attached to the support post so that the base cannot rotate with respect to the support post. The rotation head has a resting position and an engaged position, wherein the rotation head provides support to the cable carrier when it is in the resting position, and the rotation head allows the cable carrier to pass by the guidepost when in the engaged position. 
     It will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more aspects of this invention can meet certain objectives, while one or more other aspects can lead to certain other objectives. Other objects, features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in this summary and descriptions of the disclosed embodiment, and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such objects, features, benefits and advantages will be apparent from the above as taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of one embodiment of a long travel cable carrier guide in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the long travel cable carrier guide of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of one embodiment of a guidepost in accordance with the invention showing a horizontal roller in a resting position. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a partial exploded perspective view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3   
         FIG. 6  is a section view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3  taken generally along line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 7  is another section view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3  taken generally along line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 8  is another perspective view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3  showing the horizontal roller in an engaged position. 
         FIG. 9  is a section view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3  taken generally along line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is another section view of the guidepost of  FIG. 3  taken generally along line  10 - 10  in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of one embodiment of a support roller in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 12  is an exploded view of the support roller of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  is another exploded view of the support roller of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 14  is a section view of the support roller of  FIG. 11  taken generally along line  14 - 14  in  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 15  is another section view of the support roller of  FIG. 11  taken generally along line  15 - 15  in  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , one embodiment of a long travel cable carrier guide  100  in accordance with the invention is shown. The long travel cable carrier guide  100  includes a plurality of guideposts  150  that are positioned along a length of travel of a cable carrier  102 . Cable carrier  102  includes a plurality of sections  104  that are rotatably and removably attached to each other to create a chain that can articulate. The long travel cable carrier guide  100  has an upper portion  106  and a lower portion  108 . The lower portion  108  is anchored to a base such as a floor. The upper portion  106  is attached to a movable part. 
     The upper portion  106  and lower portion  108  are connected to each other by a curved middle portion  110 . The curved middle portion  110  has a consistent geometry based on the configuration of the sections  104  that only allow the curved middle portion to have a curvature that does not overbend the cables. In the embodiment shown, as the cable carrier  102  travels along a horizontal path, the cable carrier has more or less of an upper portion, and more or less of a lower portion, depending on the position of the cable carrier. 
     As shown, the guideposts  150  are positioned in pairs along the length of the path of travel of the cable carrier  102 . Alternatively, the guideposts  150  may be positioned in any suitable arrangement without departing from the invention, e.g., offset in position. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 3-10 , one embodiment of a guidepost  150  in accordance with the invention is shown. The guidepost  150  includes a base  152 , a support post  154 , and a roller assembly  155 . The roller assembly  155  includes a horizontal roller  156 , and a vertical roller  158 . The horizontal roller  156  supports the upper portion  106 , and the vertical roller  158  guides the upper portion to maintain its position over the lower portion  108 . The horizontal roller  156  is protected by a bumper  160  that the curved middle portion  110  contacts as the cable carrier  102  passes by the guidepost  150 . 
     The roller assembly includes a swivel base  161  and a rotation head  162 . The horizontal roller  156  and vertical roller  158  are rotatably attached to the rotation head  162 . The rotation head  162  may rotate either clock-wise or counter-clockwise depending on whether the cable carrier  102  is extending or retracting past the guidepost  150 . 
     As shown, the swivel base  161  is inserted into the support post  154  and secured in position by a bolt  164  that passes through the support post and the swivel base and is secured by a nut  166 . In the embodiment shown, the swivel base  161  includes a tab  168  into which a spring loaded ball plunger  170  is inserted, and a spindle  172  onto which the rotation head  162  is mounted. 
     In the embodiment shown, two springs  174  are inserted over the spindle  172  and are disposed between a screw cylinder  176 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the screw cylinder  176  is disposed between the springs  174  and includes a spiral recess  178  that engages a protrusion  180  at the base of the rotation head  162 . As the rotation head turns, the engagement of the protrusion  180  and the spiral recess  178  causes the screw cylinder to raise or lower. The springs  174  tend to bias the screw cylinder  176  to a resting position where the screw cylinder is centered between the springs and the horizontal roller extends into the path of the cable carrier  102 . A tab  178  on the rotation head  162  also engages the ball plunger  170  when the rotation head is in the resting position. As shown in  FIGS. 8-10 , the screw cylinder  176  travels within a cavity  177  that prevents the rotation head  162  from spinning freely. Rather, the screw cylinder  176  moves vertically due to rotation of the rotation head  162 , and when the screw cylinder reaches the top or bottom of the cavity  177 , it stops the rotation of the rotation head. This ensures that the rotation head  162  does not rotate completely out of the path of the cable carrier  102 . Of course, any alternate means of biasing the rotation head  162  in the resting position may be used without departing from the invention. 
     Horizontal roller  156  is attached to the rotation head  162  by a screw  182  that captures a lower ball bearing  184  between the horizontal roller and the rotation head and allows the horizontal roller to rotate freely. Likewise, vertical roller  158  is attached to the rotation head  162  by a screw  186  that captures an upper ball bearing  188  and allows the vertical roller to rotate freely. In the embodiment shown, a spacer  190  is also included between the rotation head  162  and the upper ball bearing  188 . 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 11-15 , another embodiment of a rotation head  200  in accordance with the invention is shown. The rotation head  200  only includes a horizontal roller  202 , and omits the vertical roller of the previously described embodiment. In place of the vertical roller, a vertical tab  204  extends near the base of the horizontal roller  202 . Vertical tab  204  has a convex profile that minimizes the friction generated between the cable carrier  102  and the vertical tab when there is contact between the two. 
     Rotation head  200  includes a base  206  that is secured to support post  154  in the same manner as the previously described embodiment, i.e., with a screw and nut that pass through the base and the support post that prevents rotation of the base relative the support post. A top cover  208  that includes the vertical tab  204  is rotatably attached to the base  206 . A torsion spring  210  is captured between the top cover  208  and the base  206  and biases the top cover in a resting position where the horizontal roller  202  is disposed in the path of the cable carrier  102 . To further bias the rotation head  200  in the resting position, the base  206  includes sloped surfaces  212  on which tabs  214  in the top cover ride when the rotation head is rotated. The sloped surfaces  212  meet in a valley  216 . Due to gravity, the tabs  214  tend to travel toward the valley  216 , which is oriented so that when the tabs align with the valley, the rotation head  200  is in the resting position. When the rotation head  200  is rotated 90 degrees, the tabs  214  contact stops  218  that prevent the rotation head from rotating more than 90 degrees. 
     When the cable carrier passes by the rotation head  200 , it contacts the horizontal roller  200 , causing it to rotate out of its path. When the cable carrier  102  has passed the horizontal roller  200 , it springs back to the resting position so that the cable carrier horizontal roller is supported by and rides on top of the horizontal roller. 
     Although the invention has been herein described in what is perceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments set forth above. Rather, it is recognized that modifications may be made by one of skill in the art of the invention without departing from the spirit or intent of the invention and, therefore, the invention is to be taken as including all reasonable equivalents to the subject matter of the appended claims and the description of the invention herein.