Splice for cable tray and cable tray assembly including same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11923668-B2
Application number	US-202217737509-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2022
Priority date	May 5, 2021
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a cable tray assembly comprising a cable tray splice, first cable tray section, and second cable tray section adjacent the first cable tray section with both sections having a bottom wall. The cable tray splice couples to the bottom walls. The cable tray splice may include at least two fasteners and a splice body configured to engage adjacent cable tray sections. The fasteners are configured to couple the splice body to the adjacent cable tray sections and include a spring producing a biasing force against the splice body. The disclosure provides a method to form a cable tray assembly including positioning the two cable tray sections end-to-end, positioning a splice body on bottom walls of the two cable tray sections, inserting a fastener through aligned openings in the splice body and the bottom walls, and applying a spring biasing force to the splice body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cable tray assembly comprising:
a first cable tray section including a bottom wall;
a second cable tray section adjacent the first cable tray and including a bottom wall defining a keyhole opening having a rectilinear portion and an enlarged rounded end portion;
a cable tray splice defining openings; and
male twist-lock fasteners received in the respective keyhole openings of the first and second cable tray sections and the openings of the cable tray splice to couple the cable tray splice to the bottom walls of the first and second cable tray sections, whereby the first and second cable tray sections are spliced together to form the cable tray assembly, each of the male twist-lock fasteners comprising a stem body having upper and lower portions, wherein the upper portion of the stem body has opposite rounded longitudinal ends and opposite flat side ends, wherein the opposite rounded longitudinal ends are configured to fit snugly within the enlarged rounded end of the keyhole opening by rotating the stem body in the keyhole opening.

2. The cable tray assembly set forth in claim 1 , wherein the cable tray splice comprises a splice body engaging outer surfaces of the bottom walls of the first and second cable tray sections, wherein each of the male twist-lock fasteners includes a spring producing a biasing force against the splice body to inhibit movement of the cable tray splice relative to the first and second cable tray sections.

3. The cable tray assembly set forth in claim 2 , wherein the splice body comprises a bottom wall configured to oppose in face-to-face engagement with the bottom walls of the first and second cable tray sections.

4. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 3 , wherein the first and second cable tray sections comprise opposing side walls and the splice body comprises opposing side walls configured to oppose corresponding opposing side walls of the first and second cable tray sections.

5. A cable tray splice for splicing together cable tray sections to form a cable tray assembly, the cable tray splice comprising:
a splice body configured to engage adjacent cable tray sections, wherein the splice body defines at least two keyhole openings, the keyhole openings each having a rectilinear portion and an enlarged rounded end portion; and
at least two fasteners configured to be inserted into the respective at least two openings to couple the splice body to the adjacent cable tray sections, wherein each of the fasteners includes a spring producing a biasing force against the splice body to inhibit movement of the cable tray splice relative to the adjacent cable tray sections,
wherein each of the least two fasteners comprises a stem and a collar received on the stem and axially slidable along a length of the stem, the stem comprising a stem body having upper and lower portions, wherein the upper portion of the stem body has opposite rounded longitudinal ends and opposite flat side ends, wherein the opposite rounded longitudinal ends are configured to fit snugly within the enlarged rounded end of the keyhole opening as the stem is rotated in the keyhole opening.

6. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 5 , wherein the stem further comprises an upper shoulder having an elongate shape extending laterally outward from the upper portion of the stem body, wherein a lower portion of the upper shoulder defines the opposite rounded longitudinal ends and opposite flat side ends, wherein the upper shoulder further comprises a head at an upper portion of the upper shoulder, the head comprising an elongate shape with a length extending laterally outward from longitudinal ends of the upper shoulder.

7. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 6 , wherein the stem comprises a lower flange extending laterally outward from the lower end portion of the stem body.

8. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 7 , wherein the collar is slidably received on the stem body between the lower flange and the upper shoulder.

9. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 5 , wherein the splice body is configured to engage adjacent cable tray sections on bottom walls of the adjacent cable tray sections to splice the adjacent cable tray sections together.

10. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 9 , wherein the splice body comprises a bottom wall configured to oppose surfaces of the bottom walls of the adjacent cable tray sections.

11. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 10 , wherein the bottom wall of the splice body is configured to oppose in face-to-face engagement with the bottom walls of the adjacent cable tray sections.

12. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 10 , wherein the adjacent cable tray sections comprise opposing side walls wherein the splice body further comprises opposing side walls configured to oppose corresponding side walls of the adjacent cable tray sections.

13. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 10 , wherein at least one fastener is configured to be a male twist-lock insertable through respective openings in the bottom walls of the splice body and adjacent cable tray sections.

14. The cable tray splice set forth in claim 5 , wherein the at least two fasteners are quick-connect fasteners configured to quickly lock the splice body onto the adjacent cable tray sections.

15. A method of splicing together two cable tray sections to form a cable tray assembly using the cable tray splice set forth in claim 5 , the method comprising:
positioning the two cable tray sections end-to-end;
positioning the splice body on bottom walls of the two cable tray sections; and
inserting a fastener of the at least two fasteners through aligned openings in the splice body and the bottom walls of the two cable tray sections,
wherein after said inserting, a spring biasing force is applied to the splice body to inhibit the fastener from moving relative to the splice body.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15 , further comprising locking the fastener to inhibit rotation relative to the two cable tray section.

Assignees

• Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd

Inventors

• Desai Jayram Shivajirao
• Khairnar Lalit Subhash

Classifications

• H02G3/0608 Primary

  Joints for connecting non cylindrical conduits, e.g. channels · CPC title

• F16B7/042

  with a locking element, e.g. pin, ball or pushbutton, engaging in a hole in the wall of at least one tube · CPC title

• F16L3/26

  specially adapted for supporting the pipes all along their length, e.g. pipe channels or ducts · CPC title

• F16B21/02

  Releasable fastening devices locking by rotation (with snap-action F16B21/06; studs or coupling pins with resilient protrusions F16B21/08) · CPC title

• F16B21/09

  Releasable fastening devices with a stud engaging a keyhole slot · CPC title