Abstract:
A cable hanger includes: a base with a front wall having locking projections and a rear wall having an opening; a pair of arcuate front arms mounted to front locations on the base, the front arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base and having first locking features; and a pair of arcuate rear arms mounted to rear locations on the base, the rear arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base and having second locking features. The front and rear arms on one side of the base are mounted in back-to-back relationship, and the front and rear arms on the opposite side of the base are mounted such that they are in back-to-back relationship. The locking projections of the base are insertable into the opening. The first locking features of the front arms are interlockable with the second locking features of the rear arms.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/139,205, filed Mar. 27, 2015, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     invention relates generally to devices for supporting cables and, in particular, to hangers for securing cables to support structures. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Cable hangers are commonly used to secure cables to structural members of antenna towers and or along tunnel walls. Generally, each cable is attached to a structural member by cable hangers mounted at periodically-spaced attachment points. 
     Antenna towers and or tunnels may be crowded due to the large numbers of cables required for signal-carrying. Over time, as systems are added, upgraded and or expanded, installation of additional cables may be required. To conserve space, it may be desirable for each set of cable hangers to secure more than a single cable. Certain cable hangers have been constructed to secure multiple cables; other cable hangers have a stackable construction that permits multiple cable hangers to be interlocked extending outwardly from each mounting point/structural member. Stacked and multiple-cable-type cable hangers significantly increase the number of cables mountable to a single attachment point. 
     One popular stackable cable hanger is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,836 to Korczak, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Hangers disclosed therein have generally a U- or C-shaped profile with rounded arms. A locking projection extends from the free end of each arm, and the “root” of the hanger that spans the fixed ends of the arms has a large aperture. The hanger can hold a cable between the arms; gripping of the cable is enhanced by short fingers that extend inwardly from the arms to engage the cable. Hangers can be “stacked” onto each other by inserting the locking projections of one hanger into the large aperture of the next hanger. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show one variety of cable hanger of this type. The hanger  10  includes curved arms  5  that extend from a flat base  6 . Locking projections  7  extend from the free ends of the arms  5 . As can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the locking projections  7  are inserted into a reinforced hole  8  in a tower structure  4  to mount the hanger  10  thereon. The base  6  of the hanger  10  includes a reinforced hole  9  that can receive the locking projections  7  of another hanger  10  to mount a second cable. 
     As can be best seen in  FIG. 2 , the arms  5  include arcuate sections  14  that together generally define a circle within which a cable can be grasped. Two cantilevered tabs  12  extend radially inwardly and toward the base  6  at one end of the arcuate sections  14 , and two cantilevered tabs  16  extend radially inwardly and toward the base  6  from the opposite ends of the arcuate sections  14 . The cantilevered tabs  12 ,  16  are deployed to deflect radially outwardly when the hanger  10  receives a cable for mounting; this deflection generates a radially inward force from each tab  12 ,  16  that grips the jacket of the cable. 
     SUMMARY 
     As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly suitable for hanging two cables. The assembly comprises first and second cable hangers. Each of the first and second cable hangers comprises: a base with a front wall having locking projections and a rear wall having an opening; a pair of arcuate front arms mounted to front locations on the base, the front arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base; and a pair of arcuate rear arms mounted to rear locations on the base, the rear arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base. The locking projections of the second cable hanger are inserted into the opening of the first cable hanger. A space configured to capture a cable is formed by each pair of second hanger front arms and first hanger rear arms. 
     As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a cable hanger used to mount cables to a mounting structure, comprising: a base with a front wall having locking projections and a rear wall having an opening; a pair of arcuate front arms mounted to front locations on the base, the front arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base and having first locking features; and a pair of arcuate rear arms mounted to rear locations on the base, the rear arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base and having second locking features. The front and rear arms on one side of the base are mounted such that they are in back-to-back relationship, and wherein the front and rear arms on the opposite side of the base are mounted such that they are in back-to-back relationship. The locking projections of the base are configured to be insertable into the opening. The first locking features of the front arms are configured to be interlockable with the second locking features of the rear arms. 
     As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a method of mounting two communications cables to a mounting structure. The method comprises the steps of: (a) providing first and second cable hangers, each of the first and second cable hangers comprising: a base with a front wall having locking projections and a rear wall having an opening; a pair of arcuate front arms mounted to front locations on the base, the front arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base; and a pair of arcuate rear arms mounted to rear locations on the base, the rear arms extending laterally from opposite sides of the base; (b) inserting the locking projections of the first cable hanger into mounting holes of a mounting structure; (c) positioning first and second cables adjacent the rear arms of the first cable hanger; and (d) inserting the locking projections of the second cable hanger into the opening of the base of the first cable hanger to capture the first and second cables. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior cable hanger. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the cable hanger of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a dual cable hanger according to embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of a blank from which the hanger of  FIG. 3  can be formed. 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged top view of the locking projections of the cable hanger of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of two cable hangers of  FIG. 3  interlocked to capture two cables. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments that are pictured and described herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It will also be appreciated that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in any way and/or combination to provide many additional embodiments. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms that are used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the below description is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in this disclosure, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that when an element (e.g., a device, circuit, etc.) is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. 
     Referring now to the drawings, a dual cable hanger, designated broadly at  110 , is illustrated therein. The cable hanger  110  includes a base  112  that is hollow and generally rectangular in cross-section, with side walls  114 ,  116 , two front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b , and a rear wall  120 , although other shapes for the base  112  may be employed. Each of the front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b  has a locking projection  122  with a hook  124  for mounting the cable hanger  110  to a structure  170 , such as an antenna tower or the like, that includes a mounting hole  172  (see  FIG. 6 ). The rear wall  120  has a mounting hole  126  that is sized to receive the locking projections  122  of a second cable hanger  110 . 
     The cable hanger  110  also includes two arcuate front arms  130 ,  132  and two arcuate rear arms  140 ,  142 . The front arms  130 ,  132  are attached near the shared edges of the front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b  and the side walls  114 ,  116 . Each of the front arms  130 ,  132  is generally semicircular in profile. Similarly, each of the rear arms  140 ,  142  is attached near the shared edges of the rear and side walls  120 ,  114 ,  116  and is generally semicircular in profile. As can be seen in  FIG. 3 , each of the front arms  130 ,  132  has a central portion that extends rearwardly, and each of the rear arms has a central portion that extends forwardly, such that each pair of front and rear arms  130 ,  140 ,  132 ,  142  has a “back-to-back” relationship, with the “open” ends of space defined by pairs of front and rear arms facing in opposite directions. 
     Each of the front arms  130 ,  132  includes a respective tab  134 ,  136  that extends from the end of the arm away from the base  102 . Each of the rear arms  140 ,  142  includes a respective hook  144 ,  146  that extends rearwardly from the end of the arm. The hooks  144 ,  146  are configured to engage and lock with the tabs  134 ,  136 . 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 6 , a pair of cable hangers  110 ,  110 ′ can be used to hang two cables  180 ,  190 . A first cable hanger  110  is mounted in the mounting structure  170  by inserting the locking projections  122  into the mounting hole  172 , with the front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b  adjacent the mounting structure  170  to form a discontinuous front wall  118 . The cables  180 ,  190  can then be positioned within the spaces defined by the rear arms  140 ,  142 . A second cable hanger  110 ′ can then be mounted to the first cable hanger  110  by inserting its locking projections  172 ′ into the mounting hole  126  of the first cable hanger  110 . The cable  180  can be secured by inserting the tab  134 ′ of the front arm  130 ′ of the second cable hanger  110 ′ into the hook  144  of the rear arm  140  of the first cable hanger  110 . Likewise, the cable  190  can be secured by inserting the tab  136 ′ of the front arm  132 ′ of the second cable hanger  110 ′ into the hook  146  of the rear arm  142  of the first cable hanger  110 . The resulting assembly  195  of the first and second cable hangers  110 ,  110 ′ can thus mount two cables  180 ,  190  at once. 
     Those of skill in this art will recognize that pairs of cables can be mounted in a “stacked” arrangement by simply continuing to add cable hangers  110  to the assembly, in each instance employing the locking projections  122  to mount the next cable hanger  110  in the mounting hole  126  of the previous cable hanger  110  and mating the front arms  130 ,  132  of the next cable hanger  110  with the rear arms  140 ,  142  of the previous cable hanger  110 . The mounting of each subsequent cable hanger provides the capability of mounting two additional cables. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a blank  100  suitable for use in manufacturing the cable hanger  110  is shown therein. The blank  100  is generally flat and can be stamped from a sheet of material, such as steel, and bent by known methods into the configuration shown in  FIG. 3 . The dotted lines shown in  FIG. 4  indicate where the blank  100  can be bent to form the cable hanger  110 . More specifically, the rear wall  120  is in the center of the blank  100 . The side walls  114 ,  116  extend away from the side edges of the rear wall  120 . The rear arms  140 ,  142 , which are formed in two parts each, also extend away from the edges of the rear wall  120  within the area defined by the side walls  114 ,  116 . The front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b  extend from the edges of the side walls  114 ,  116 . The front arms  130 ,  132  extend from the edges of the front half-walls  118   a ,  118   b . The locking projections  172  are formed within the portions of the blank  100  outlined by the front arms  130 ,  132 . The tabs  134 ,  136  are formed at the lateral ends of the front arms  130 ,  132 , and the hooks  144 ,  146  are formed at the ends of the rear arms  140 ,  142 . In this configuration, the blank  100  can be bent along the broken lines shown in  FIG. 4  into the cable hanger  110 , which enables the cable hanger  110  to be formed as a monolithic component. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an alternative embodiment of a cable hanger  210  that has locking projections  222  with multi-faced surfaces to facilitate insertion and locking. More specifically, the locking projections  222  have guide surfaces  224  that are generally perpendicular to the front wall  214 , ramped surfaces  226  that flare outwardly from the guide surfaces  222 , and locking surfaces  228  that flare outwardly from the ramped surfaces  226  (transition bridges  230  are interposed between the ramped surfaces  226  and the locking surfaces  228 ). The guide surfaces  224  are sized slightly smaller than the mounting hole  272  in the mounting surface  270  to which the cable hanger  210  is to be mounted, thereby guiding the locking projections  222  of the cable hanger  210  into position during mounting. The angled orientations of the ramped and locking surfaces  226 ,  228  enable the locking projections  222  to slide into the mounting hole  272  when the cable hanger  210  is pressed toward the mounting surface. The edges of the locking surfaces  228  are flared sufficiently outwardly as to be larger than the mounting hole  272 , such that the cable hanger  210  is locked into place on the mounting surface  270 . 
     Those skilled in this art will appreciate that the cable hangers  100 ,  200  may take other forms. The base  112  need not be rectangular, but may take other shapes. The rear arms  140 ,  142  may be formed as single beams rather than as two beams each. The front arms  130 ,  132  may be formed as multiple parts. The locking tabs  134 ,  136  and locking hooks  144 ,  146  may be reversed, such that the locking hooks extend from the front arms and the locking tabs extend from the rear arms, or these may be replaced with locking features of a different configuration. Further, in some embodiments the locking features may be omitted entirely. 
     In addition, the front and/or rear arms may include gripping tabs, such as those illustrated at  12  and  16  in the prior cable hanger  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , to facilitate gripping of the cable. Alternative versions of such gripping members are discussed in detail in co-assigned U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/139,057, filed Mar. 27, 2015, and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/081,177, filed Mar. 25, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. Other variations will be apparent to those of skill in this art. 
     The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.