Abstract:
A support for mounting elongate articles, such as, tubes, pipes, conduits, cables, or the like, comprises a base member having a longitudinal extent, and a plurality of support members disposed transversely across the base member for engaging and supporting the elongate articles. The support members are longitudinally spaced upon the base member and engage opposite sides or regions of the elongate articles, such as, for example, upper regions or surface portions, and lower regions or surface portions. The upper support members comprise a plurality of deformable, resilient, and flexible blade members, and the lower support members comprise either cut-out portions formed within partition members, or similar resiliently flexible and deformable blade members.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention in general terms relates to a support for the holding of long articles and relates particularly to a support for holding long articles forming part of motor vehicle equipment. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The aforenoted type of support can apply, for example, to tubes or pipes necessary for the circulation of any type of hydraulic fluid, such as fuel or brake fluid. 
     However, it can also concern electric cables or, more precisely, bundles of such cables. 
     In practice, these various long articles are located underneath the motor vehicle which they equip, being suspended from the floor of the latter by shackles or other support members acting locally from place to place. 
     To protect the articles from any water splashing, objects which may cause chipping thereof, salt or other debris, it is now being proposed to additionally affix after the articles have been installed underneath the vehicle floor, a housing which, elongate in a channel form, is usually made of a synthetic material. 
     It is now also envisaged to give an additional role to such a housing, giving it the function of supporting such long articles, to allow the production of a complete unified subassembly to be fixed as such under the floor of the motor vehicle when the latter is being assembled. 
     To this end, this housing must obviously have, projecting from its base, fixing means suitable for supporting at least one of the long articles in question. 
     At the same time it is important that the housing should be suitable for a range of different diameters of these long articles and, moreover, some diversity in location of the latter. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is a support and protection housing element which advantageously meets the aforenoted requirements in a particularly simple manner, while being easy and economical to produce and which also has other advantages. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This support and protection housing element is of the type having, projecting from a base portion thereof, fixing means suitable for supporting at least one long article, and it is generally characterised in that these fixing means are formed by the cooperation of two separate elements staggered longitudinally with respect to one another along the base, namely a holding element able to act, from one side of the base, on the article to be held and protected, and a support element able to act on the article from the opposite side. 
     Through the separation thus made of the fixing means into two elements, each one intended to act respectively on two opposite sides of the article or articles to be held and protected, and by the longitudinal staggering of these two elements, it is advantageously possible to obtain parting plane moulding of the entire support and protection housing element according to the invention, without using any slides or other movable parts on the necessary tools. 
     The design of these tools is thereby advantageously simplified, to the benefit of their cost and maintenance. 
     Additionally, the support and protection housing element according to the invention advantageously has at its ends complementary engagement means suitable for its joining to another support and protection housing element of the same type, for the purpose of forming a support and protection housing of greater length. 
     Briefly, the arrangement according to the invention advantageously allows parting plane moulding of a support and protection housing element, and the production, by means of several such elements, of very long support and protection housings, and it also affords, advantageously, an overall reduction in production costs. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will also emerge from the following description given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein; 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view from above of a support and protection housing element according to the invention; 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 are views in transverse section, on a larger scale, of the support and protection housing element of FIG. 1, each respectively along the lines 2--2 and 3--3 in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is, on the scale of FIGS. 2 and 3, a view thereof in partial longitudinal section along the line 4--4 in FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As illustrated in broken lines in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, it is an overall object of the present invention to provide a means for the support and protection of long articles 10 which can be, for example, tubes, pipes or electric cables, in isolation or in bundles, and which, for example, form part of the equipment of a motor vehicle. 
     To provide this support and protection, at least one housing element 11 is used, suitable for being fixed under the floor of the motor vehicle. 
     Such a housing element 11, whose outline in plan view is rectilinear or more or less sinuous, will not be described in every detail here. 
     Only the elements necessary for an understanding of the invention will be described. 
     Overall, this housing element 11 is in the general form of a channel, with a flat base 12 and, along the longitudinal edges of the latter, two flanges 13. 
     It includes projecting from the base 12, fixing means 15 suitable for supporting at least one article 10. 
     According to the invention, these fixing means 15 are formed by the cooperation of two separate elements 15A, 15B and/or 15B&#39; staggered longitudinally with respect to each other along the base 12, parallel to the flanges 13, namely a holding element 15A able to act on the article 10 to be held and protected, along one side thereof; and a support element 15B and/or 15B&#39; able to act on this article 10 from the opposite side thereof. 
     In the embodiment depicted, the holding element 15A has two legs 16 which, aligned transversely with respect to the base 12, project with respect to this base 12, and two elastically deformable blades 17 which, each originating respectively from the legs 16, extend from the faces of the latter and are oriented towards each other and which, in practice, have the same width as them. 
     The two legs 16 of the holding element 15A extend longitudinally from one of two partitions 18 to the other, the partitions extending transversely with respect to the base 12 and, in practice, they are flat walls of a greater height than the flanges 13. 
     The two partitions 18, which are parallel to one another, are made in one piece with the base 12 and extend over only a fraction of the height of the legs 16 from this base 12. 
     In practice there is, transversely with respect to the base 12, at least one line of fixing means 15, and therefore at least one line A 1  of holding elements 15A. 
     In the figures, this line A 1  is designated by broken lines, assuming it to be concentrated in the transverse plane of the assembly passing through the median area of the legs 16. 
     The partitions 18 run continuously from one to the other of the end holding elements 15A of such a line A 1 . 
     With most of the holding elements 15A, the legs 16 are also made in one piece with the base 12, like the partitions 18. 
     However, with at least one of the holding elements 15A, at least one of the legs 16 is suspended above the base 12, made in one piece with each of the partitions 18. 
     In practice, in the embodiment depicted, the same is true for a single leg 16 that two adjacent holding elements 15A have in common. 
     With the majority of the holding elements 15A, the two elastically deformable blades 17 extend in an overhanging manner towards the base 12 from the legs from which they originate, and in doing so they get closer to each other in the direction of the base 12. 
     In practice, in such case, they are joined to the ridge line of the legs 16, and are joined to the latter in a more or less rounded manner. 
     However, for one of the holding elements 15A, which runs immediately alongside one of the flanges 13 and which is intended to hold an article 10 of a relatively large diameter, the elastically deformable blades 17 get closer to each other in the direction opposite to or away from the base 12. 
     They are also shorter and more rigid. 
     In every case, the free end of each elastically deformable blade 17 remains at a distance from the edge of the partitions 18, above the edge. 
     Also in every case, the base 12 has, between the legs 16 of each holding element 15A, a recess 20 which, transversely, extends from one of these legs 16 to the other, which is, crosses such a leg 16 when it is the case of the leg suspended from the partitions 18, and which, transversely, extends from one of these partitions 18 to the other and, therefore, over the entire width at least of the elastically deformable blades 17. 
     The support element 15B associated with a holding element 15A belongs to one or the other or both of the two partitions 18 being, for example, formed by a cut-out which affects the edge of the latter and which is more or less pronounced. 
     With two of the holding elements 15A, which are close to one of the flanges 13 and which have a width greater than the others, no cut-out, however, is provided on the edge of the partitions 18. 
     With the others, the partitions 18 each constitute a line A 2  of support elements 15B, transversely with respect to the base 12. 
     In the figures, this line A 2  has been designated in broken lines, assuming it to be concentrated in the transverse plane of the assembly passing through the median area of the partitions 18. 
     The distance separating it from the line A 1  defines the corresponding longitudinal staggering. 
     The support element 15B&#39;, which may, at the same time, be associated with a holding element 15A, is separate from a partition 18 with respect to the holding element 15A and has, in the embodiment depicted, two legs 21 which, aligned transversely with respect to the base 12, project with respect to the base, and two elastically deformable blades 22 which, each originating respectively from these legs 21, extend over the faces of the latter and are oriented towards each other, and which, in practice, have the same width as them. 
     Like the legs 16 of a holding element 15A, the legs 21 of a support element 15B&#39; constitute flat walls, but they extend over a lesser height, which, in practice, is less than that of the flanges 13 while being slightly greater than that of the partitions 18 at this point. 
     Additionally, they are all made in one piece with the base 12. 
     The elastically deformable blades 22 of the support element 15B&#39; extend in an overhanging manner towards the base 12 from the legs 21 from which they originate, and in doing so they get closer to each other in the direction of this base. 
     However, the angle of the dihedron which they form at rest is, in practice, significantly greater than that of the dihedron which the elastically deformable blades 17 of the holding element 15A form at rest. 
     In the embodiment depicted, the elastically deformable blades 17 of a support element 15B&#39; each have an enlargement 23 along their free edge. 
     They are also each slightly curved, with their concave face turned towards a direction opposite to the base 12. 
     In practice, a support element 15B&#39; is provided for only some of the holding elements 15A. 
     These are the holding elements 15A situated in the median area of the base 12. 
     For each of these holding elements 15A, there is then, concurrently, a support element 15B belonging to one or the other or both of the two partitions 18, and a support element 15B&#39; with legs 21 and elastically deformable blades 22. 
     Like the holding elements 15A, the support elements 15B&#39; form a line A 3 , transversely with respect to the base 12. 
     In the figures, this line A 3  is designated by broken lines, assuming it to be concentrated in the transverse plane of the assembly passing through the median area of the legs 21. 
     The distance which separates it from the line A 1 , which is significantly greater than that which separates the line A 2  of support elements 15B from the line A 1 , defines the corresponding longitudinal staggering. 
     For all the support elements 15B&#39;, the base 12 has, between the legs 21, a recess 24 which, transversely, extends from one of these legs 21 to the other, at least, and which, longitudinally, extends over the entire width of the latter and therefore over the entire width at least of the elastically deformable blades 22. 
     As can easily be understood, by reason of the recesses 20 and 24 in the base 12, the housing element 11 according to the invention can advantageously be moulded with a parting plane, in spite of the presence of the corresponding elastically deformable blades 17 and 22. 
     In the embodiment depicted, the housing element 11 according to the invention has, transversely with respect to the base 12, at least two lines of fixing means 15 disposed at a distance from one another along the base 12. 
     When an article 10 is engaged in such fixing means 15, it elastically deforms the elastically deformable blades 17 from their normal positions upon the holding element 15A comprising the fixing means, until it is engaged under these elastically deformable blades 17 and thus held by them. 
     As can also easily be understood, the elastically deformable blades 22 of the support element 15B&#39; optionally associated with holding element 15A advantageously push, in the direction of the elastically deformable blades 17, the article 10 previously engaged under the latter, thus enabling a range of different diameters for such an article 10 to be catered for, notably when the latter does not come to bear, at the same time, on a support element 15B. 
     Moreover, in the embodiment depicted, the housing element 11 according to the invention also has at its ends complementary engagement means 25A, 25B, suitable for its joining to another housing element 11 of the same type for the purpose of forming a housing of greater length. 
     For example, the engagement means 25A are simple openings and the engagement means 25B are lugs which, hook-shaped, are suitable for being engaged in such openings so as to be crimped, for example by heating, beyond the latter. 
     As a variant, there can be other types of engagement means such as, for example, engagement means suitable for being secured by threading or engagement means suitable for being secured by snap fitting in. 
     The present invention is moreover not limited to the embodiment described and depicted, but includes any variant embodiment. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.