Patent Description:
More specifically, the invention relates to a support bracket for cable trays, formed by a one-piece body made of a polymer material and comprising:.

A support bar structure which serves to support cable trays, as well as to directly fix some individual cables or small cable bundles to said support bars, is often built to install cables in a technical space, such as an industrial warehouse, for example. This structure usually comprises vertical support bars which are normally used for fixing support brackets on which cable trays are seated. These support brackets are fixed to the vertical support bars by means of fixing screws. The support brackets can also be fixed to other vertical support surfaces, such as a vertical wall, for example. Fixing screws which traverse the through holes of the upper wall of the arm are used to fix a tray of a cable tray to a support bracket. Normally, each fixing screw is screwed into a nut which rests on the lower face of the upper wall of the arm and must be positioned by the user. This operation of positioning the nut and screwing the fixing screw in said nut is not always an easy one. The placement and fixing of a cable tray on/to a support bracket is often performed in hard-to-access places, with space restrictions and possibly at a great height. To that end, it is important for the installation operations to be performed as easily as possible.

<CIT> discloses a support bracket of the type described in the preamble of claim <NUM>.

<CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>disclose different kinds of support brackets with through holes in the upper wall.

<CIT> discloses a support bracket with an upper wall, a lower wall and a central partition.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a support bracket for cable trays of the type indicated above, allowing the installer to more easily perform the operations required for fixing a cable tray to the support bracket, without complicating the manufacture of the support bracket or making it more expensive.

This purpose is achieved by means of a support bracket as defined in claim <NUM>. The through opening thus arranged in the central partition allows the user to introduce his or her finger through same to thereby comfortably access the through holes, below the upper wall of the arm from the two sides of said arm. This considerably facilitates the operation that the user must perform for placing the nut into which the fixing screw is screwed. Furthermore, this configuration allows designing a support bracket in which the through holes take up a centered position in a mid-plane of the arm.

In the present description, the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" must be understood in a usage position of the support bracket, like the one shown in <FIG>, in which the support bracket is fixed by the base thereof to a vertical support surface, such as a vertical support bar like the one shown in said figure, for example. In this usage position, the oblong upper face of the upper wall of the arm is in a horizontal plane.

Preferably, the support bracket is made of an electrically insulating polymer material, such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), for example, with a surface resistivity exceeding <NUM> MΩ (surface resistivity measured according to the EN <NUM>-<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM> standard), and which can optionally be filled with reinforcement fibers.

Preferably, the central partition comprises a transverse wing extending in a cantilever manner on both sides of said central partition and forming a perimetral wall of said through opening. This transverse wing increases the moment of inertia of the arm and thereby compensates for the loss of mechanical strength of the arm caused by the through opening in the central partition. Furthermore, the transverse wing makes it more comfortable for the user to place the nut because the user can rest his or her fingers against the surface of the transverse wing.

Preferably, the transverse wing is continuous and has two ends, each of them attached to the upper wall, such that said transverse wing extends continuously along the entire portion of the perimeter of the through opening arranged in the central partition. The transverse wing thus configured satisfactorily provides the mechanical reinforcement function throughout the entire through opening, and also serves as a support for the user to rest his or her fingers along the entire length of said through opening.

Preferably, the width of the transverse wing, in a direction transverse to the central partition, decreases from each of the two ends of said transverse wing towards a central portion between said two ends. This configuration provides easier access to a central portion of the through opening for the placement of the nut, particularly when the user accesses from a lower position with his or her fingers.

Preferably, said at least one through hole coming into the empty space contained in the through opening is an oblong hole extending on both sides of the central partition in a direction transverse to said central partition. The oblong hole in the transverse direction allows placing the fixing screw in a variable transverse position to align it with the holes available in the cable tray. As a result of the through opening in the central partition, the user can access the corresponding nut with his or her fingers from either of the two sides of the central partition.

The user can thereby manipulate, from one side of the central partition, a nut arranged on the other side of said central partition along the oblong through hole.

Preferably, the support bracket comprises at least two of said through holes coming into the empty space contained in the through opening, said two through holes being separated from one another in the horizontal longitudinal direction of the arm. Therefore, the user has more options for aligning one of these through holes with the holes available in the cable tray.

Preferably, to facilitate the fixing of a cable tray on the support bracket at several points along the arm thereof, the support bracket comprises at least two of said through openings separated from one another in the horizontal longitudinal direction of the arm, each of said through openings being located below at least one of said through holes and containing said empty space into which said through hole comes.

The invention also comprises other detail features shown in the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention and in the attached figures.

The advantages and features of the invention are apparent from the following description in which preferred embodiments of the invention are described in a non-limiting manner with respect to the scope of the main claim in reference to the figures.

<FIG> show a first embodiment of the support bracket according to the invention. The support bracket <NUM> is formed by a one-piece body made of a polymer material obtained by molding. The polymer material from which the support bracket <NUM> is molded is an electrically insulating material. The polymer material can be a thermoplastic such as PVC or a thermosetting resin, for example. The support bracket <NUM> is mainly intended for being fixed to a vertical support surface, such as the bar <NUM> shown in <FIG> or other bar types, for example. The support bracket <NUM> can also be fixed to other vertical support surfaces, such as a vertical wall, for example.

The support bracket <NUM> comprises a base <NUM> for fixing said support bracket <NUM> to a vertical support surface, such as the vertical support bar <NUM> shown in <FIG>, for example, and an arm <NUM> extending in a cantilever manner from said base <NUM> and intended for supporting a cable tray, such as the cable tray <NUM> shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, for example, which is seated on said arm <NUM>. The base <NUM> can have shapes other than the ones shown in the figures, suitable for fixing the support bracket <NUM> to different types of vertical support surface. The arm <NUM> comprises an upper wall <NUM> with an oblong upper face <NUM> extending in a horizontal plane in a horizontal longitudinal direction of said arm <NUM>, a lower wall <NUM> opposite said upper wall <NUM>, and a central partition <NUM> joining said upper wall <NUM> and said lower wall <NUM>. The oblong upper face <NUM> forms a seating surface for a cable tray which is seated on said upper face <NUM>. The upper wall <NUM> is provided with through holes 6a, 6b for the passage of fixing screws for fixing a cable tray to the support bracket <NUM>. In the first embodiment shown in the figures, the upper wall <NUM> has oblong through holes 6a extending on both sides of the central partition <NUM> in a direction transverse to said central partition <NUM>, and circular through holes 6b. The oblong through holes 6a are grouped in two pairs. The two oblong through holes 6a of each pair are separated from one another in the horizontal longitudinal direction of the arm <NUM>, and a circular through hole 6b is arranged between them. Particularly, the oblong through holes 6a can advantageously be used for fixing to the support bracket <NUM> a cable tray <NUM> like the one shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, having a continuous bottom wall provided with holes uniformly distributed therein. The oblong nature of the through holes 6a allows one of them to be more readily aligned with one of the holes of the cable tray <NUM> for passing the fixing screw <NUM> therethrough. Particularly, the circular through holes 6b can be used for fixing to the support bracket <NUM> a ladder-type cable tray, formed by two parallel longitudinal members joined by a series of cross members forming a discontinuous bottom wall. In this case, a securing device is often used, said device being fixed to the support bracket <NUM> by means of a screw or another fixing element through the circular through hole 6b and applying pressure on a cross member of the cable ladder.

The central partition <NUM> has two through openings <NUM> adjacent to the upper wall <NUM>. Each of these two through openings <NUM> is located below a group formed by two oblong through holes 6a and a circular through hole 6b arranged between them and contains an empty space <NUM> into which the three through holes 6a, 6b of the group come. In order for the user to be able to easily introduce his or her fingers in the through opening <NUM> to place a nut <NUM>, the empty space <NUM> into which the through holes 6a, 6b come is a rectangular parallelepiped with a width W, in the horizontal longitudinal direction of the arm <NUM>, greater than or equal to <NUM>, and a height H, in a vertical direction orthogonal to said horizontal longitudinal direction, greater than or equal to <NUM>. The empty space <NUM> of each through opening <NUM> has been indicated with a discontinuous line in <FIG>. In the first embodiment shown in the figures, the empty space <NUM> has a width W of <NUM> and a height H of <NUM>. The central partition <NUM> comprises, in each through opening <NUM>, a transverse wing <NUM> extending in a cantilever manner on both sides of said central partition <NUM> forming a perimetral wall of said through opening <NUM>. The transverse wing <NUM> is continuous from one of the ends thereof attached to the upper wall <NUM> to the other one of the ends thereof also attached to said upper wall <NUM>. The transverse wing <NUM> thereby extends continuously along the entire portion of the perimeter of the through opening <NUM> arranged in the central partition <NUM>. The width of the transverse wing <NUM>, in a direction transverse to the central partition <NUM>, decreases from each of the two ends thereof towards a central portion between said two ends. In the first embodiment shown in the figures, each through opening <NUM> has an overall rectangular shape, with a lower side facing the upper wall <NUM> and slightly inclined with respect to same, and two lateral sides extending from the upper wall <NUM> orthogonal thereto and forming rounded corners with the lower side. This particular shape of the through opening <NUM> results from a design choice made taking into account esthetic, not technical, criteria, where many different shapes such as, for example, the shape of the third embodiment shown in <FIG>, have been taken into consideration among other possible designs. On the lower side of the through opening <NUM>, the transverse wing <NUM> has a constant width, and this width increases progressively from the corners and along the two lateral sides until intersecting with the upper wall <NUM>, where said width is maximum and is almost the same as the width of the upper wall <NUM>. The lower wall <NUM> forms a rounded elbow and is joined to the upper wall <NUM> at the free end of the arm <NUM>.

<FIG> shows, by way of example, the support bracket <NUM> fixed to a vertical support bar made up of a profile extruded from a polymer material. In this case, fixing is performed by means of screws <NUM> that go through through holes <NUM> provided in the base <NUM>. By way of example, <FIG> and <FIG> show a cable tray <NUM> fixed to the support bracket <NUM>. The cable tray <NUM> is seated on the upper face <NUM> of the arm <NUM> and fixed thereto by means of fixing screws <NUM> going through some of the through holes 6a, 6b of the upper wall <NUM> of said arm <NUM>. Each fixing screw <NUM> is screwed into a nut <NUM> arranged against the lower face of the upper wall <NUM>.

<FIG> show a second embodiment of the support bracket <NUM>. This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment essentially in that the arm <NUM> is longer and has three through openings <NUM>, and in that the through holes 6a, 6b are distributed in a different way.

Claim 1:
A support bracket (<NUM>) for cable trays, said support bracket (<NUM>) being formed by a one-piece body made of a polymer material and comprising:
- a base (<NUM>) for fixing said support bracket (<NUM>) to a vertical support surface; and
- an arm (<NUM>) extending in a cantilever manner from said base (<NUM>) and comprising: an upper wall (<NUM>) with an oblong upper face (<NUM>) extending in a horizontal plane in a horizontal longitudinal direction of said arm (<NUM>), with respect to a usage position of said support bracket (<NUM>) in which said support bracket (<NUM>) is fixed by said base (<NUM>) to said vertical support surface, said upper face (<NUM>) of the arm (<NUM>) forming a seating surface for a cable tray which is seated on said upper face (<NUM>) of the arm;
a lower wall (<NUM>) opposite said upper wall (<NUM>); and a central partition (<NUM>) joining said upper wall (<NUM>) and said lower wall (<NUM>);
wherein said central partition (<NUM>) has at least one through opening (<NUM>) adjacent to said upper wall (<NUM>); characterised in that said upper wall (<NUM>) is provided with through holes (6a, 6b) for the passage of fixing screws for fixing the cable tray to said support bracket (<NUM>); and said at least one through opening (<NUM>) is located below at least one of said through holes (6a, 6b), such that said through opening (<NUM>) contains an empty space (<NUM>) into which said through hole (6a, 6b) comes, said empty space (<NUM>) being a rectangular parallelepiped with a width (W), in said horizontal longitudinal direction of the arm (<NUM>), greater than or equal to <NUM>, and a height (H), in a vertical direction orthogonal to said horizontal longitudinal direction, greater than or equal to <NUM>.