Wiring fixture and wiring fixing method

Abstract

The wiring is fixed inside the pipe using a structure that differs from conventional structures. The wiring fixture of the present invention integrally comprises a flexible part 1 that can be wrapped around a wiring and fixed to the wiring, and an engaging part 2 that can be engaged with the inner groove of a bellows-type pipe. The flexible part 1 is wound around the wire and fixed to the wire, and the engaging part 2 provided integrally with the flexible part 1 engages with the inner groove at the bottom of the bellows-type piping due to the weight of the piping. As a result, even if an attempt is made to pull out the wire in the longitudinal direction, the wiring fixture will hold the wire inside the bellows-type piping.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wiring fixture and a wiring fixing method. [Background technology]

[0002] In Japan, the number of solar power plants has rapidly increased since the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme around 2009. These plants require power cables to be laid underground over long distances, and for cost reasons, the commonly used wiring method is "rolled wiring," in which pipes are laid above ground rather than buried.

[0003] At the time, copper wire prices were stable, and theft of wiring was hardly anticipated. However, since 2022, copper prices have risen sharply due to the war in Ukraine and the weak yen, resulting in frequent incidents of copper wire theft from solar power plants nationwide. Theft has become an extremely serious problem, especially at power plants located in out-of-sight suburban or mountainous areas.

[0004] Not only does the theft damage power generation facilities, but in some cases it can take several months to procure the necessary cables for restoration, during which time the loss of power generation can reach several million to over 10 million yen. In recent years, non-life insurance companies have stopped accepting new applications for theft coverage and renewing contracts due to the excessive risk, forcing operators to take defensive measures to prevent theft.

[0005] The wiring in solar power plants is mainly composed of buried piping, rack wiring, or exposed piping, and the piping through which the wiring passes is generally designed to have low internal resistance to improve workability. This makes it easy for thieves to cut both ends of the piping and slide the wiring out of the piping to easily remove it.

[0006] A technique for combating such theft is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1. Paragraphs 0038 to 0042 of Patent Document 1 disclose a method for fixing wiring inside a pipe by compressing the wiring and an elastic sheet wrapped around it between a stopper and the inner wall of the pipe. Paragraphs 0046 to 0048 of the same document also disclose improving the friction between the wiring and the pipe by passing a cable tie through a hole in the pipe and tightening the wiring with the cable tie. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7575650 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, both structures apply relatively high pressure to the piping. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to fix wiring inside a pipe using a structure different from conventional structures. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve this problem, the wiring fixture of the present invention is configured to integrally include a flexible portion that can be wrapped around the wiring and fixed to the wiring, and an engaging portion that can engage with the inner groove of the bellows-type piping.

[0010] In this invention, the flexible part is wrapped around the wire and fixed to the wire, and the engaging part formed integrally with the flexible part engages with the inner groove at the bottom of the bellows-type piping due to the weight of the piping. As a result, even if an attempt is made to pull the wire out in the longitudinal direction, the wire fixing device holds the wire inside the bellows-type piping. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] Therefore, according to the present invention, a novel structure different from conventional structures can prevent wiring from being pulled out from inside the bellows-type piping. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wiring fixture according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of installation of the wiring fixture shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a structural diagram of a wiring fixture in this embodiment. Fig. 1(a) shows a front view. Fig. 1(b) shows a plan view. Fig. 1(c) shows a bottom view. Fig. 1(d) shows a right side view. The rear view is the same as the front view. The left side view is the same as the right side view.

[0014] The wiring fixture shown in FIG. 1 integrally comprises a flexible part 1 that can be wound around a wiring and fixed to the wiring, and an engaging part 2 that can be engaged with the inner groove of a bellows-type pipe.

[0015] In this embodiment, the engagement portion 2 has a higher hardness than the flexible portion 1. The engagement portion 2 is provided around half the circumference of the wire or less. The wiring fixture further has a fastening portion 3 formed adjacent to the engagement portion 2 for attaching a fastener that fastens and holds the flexible portion 1 around the wire. An end portion 4 of the wiring fixture adjacent to the fastening portion 3 is formed in a raised shape.

[0016] To elaborate further, in this embodiment, the wiring fixture is formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole, as can be seen from the front view and the plan view, etc. As shown in the front view, the upper half of this cylinder is the flexible portion 1, and the lower half of the cylinder is the engagement portion 2.

[0017] The entire wiring fixture is molded as a single unit from a urethane material. The engaging part 2 has a convex protrusion 2a at the center of the longitudinal direction of the tube, which extends along the outer periphery of the tube. This protrusion 2a is formed to engage with the inner groove of the bellows-type piping.

[0018] Since the protrusions 2a form the thickness of the engaging portion 2, the engaging portion 2 is set to have a higher hardness than the flexible portion 1. However, in order to make the engaging portion 2 harder than the flexible portion 1, the thickness of the base material of the engaging portion 2 may be set to be thicker than the thickness of the base material of the flexible portion 1.

[0019] The reason why the hardness of the flexible part 1 is set to be softer than that of the engagement part 2 is mainly because the flexible part 1 is to be wound around the wiring inside the tube. A slit 1a is formed in the upper part of the flexible part 1 to allow the wiring to pass through.

[0020] Both ends 4, 4 of the cylindrical wiring fixture are formed in a shape that protrudes outward along the outer periphery of the tube, thereby providing flat areas between the protrusion 2a and both protruding ends 4, 4 as fastening portions 3, 3 for fastening by the fastener.

[0021] Next, a method of using the wiring fixture according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0022] In this embodiment, a structure is provided that prevents the wiring W from being pulled out of the piping P by installing a urethane wiring fixing device (piece) that fixes the wiring W inside the accordion-type piping P, which is used in most piping for buried or exposed electrical wires.

[0023] Specifically, as shown in Figure 2, a portion of the pipe P through which the wiring W is inserted is cut open, and the wiring fixture of this embodiment is placed between the wiring W and the bellows-type pipe P and wrapped around the wiring W. That is, the relatively soft flexible part 1 is opened from the slit 1a in the flexible part 1, and the wiring W is passed inside the cylinder. Then, the flexible part 1 is wrapped around the wiring W.

[0024] Thereafter, in order to firmly fix the wiring fixture to the wiring W, a cable tie B as a fastener is tightly wound around the fastening parts 3 on both sides of the protrusion 2a, and the wiring fixture is fixed to the wiring W.

[0025] When the wiring fixture is fixed to the wiring W inside the piping P, the weight of the wiring W presses the wiring fixture surrounding the wiring W against the bottom of the bellows piping P. At this time, the engaging portion 2 is positioned so as to face the bottom of the piping P.

[0026] The bundled thick wiring W is very heavy and gets caught in the groove inside the bellows piping P with a force of several tens of kg, so even if a thief targeting the copper wire tries to cut the end of the piping P and pull out the wiring W, the fixed wiring fixture gets caught inside the bellows piping P and it cannot be pulled out to either side.

[0027] Here, the wiring fixture has a structure in which the lower half is thick and strong enough to be firmly hooked onto the inside of the bellows-type piping P, and the upper half is relatively thin and flexible enough to be wrapped around the wiring W.

[0028] Furthermore, on the left and right sides (left and right in the right side view) of the protrusion 2a of the wrapped wiring fixture, there is a margin for the tightening portion 3 for fixing the cable tie B, and furthermore, the longitudinal end 4 of the cylinder is raised to prevent the cable tie B from slipping. Note that the cable tie B may also engage with the inner groove of the bellows piping P and resist pulling out of the wiring W.

[0029] According to the wiring fixture of this embodiment having such a structure, the wiring W can be fixed in the pipe P without applying a relatively high pressure to the pipe P as in the conventional case, due to the structure different from the conventional case.

[0030] Furthermore, since the weight of the wiring W is sufficient for the protrusion 2a to engage with the inner groove at least at the bottom of the bellows piping P, there is no need to prepare many different types of wiring fixtures depending on the diameter of the bellows piping P. For this reason, when the wiring W is wound with one wiring fixture, the excess part of the flexible part 1 can be simply cut off with scissors, making it possible to accommodate various diameters of the piping P and various numbers of wiring W.

[0031] Furthermore, various manufacturers have their own unique standards for bellows-type piping P. For example, there are various types of bellows pitch (the spacing between grooves), groove width, and groove structure (whether the grooves are continuous, diagonal spirals or linear, ring-like grooves). For this reason, to manufacture a wiring fixture that hooks onto the inner grooves of the bellows, it may be necessary for each manufacturer to create a mold and prepare many different types of wiring fixtures.

[0032] In contrast, in this embodiment, the wiring fixture is shaped to fit into only one inner groove, which makes it possible to flexibly accommodate various manufacturers' conditions such as groove width, pitch, spiral / straight, etc. This eliminates the need for customers to be confused when selecting a product, saves on the cost of the vast number of molds required during manufacturing, and prevents the burden of inventorying multiple types and loss of supply opportunities due to stockouts.

[0033] The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, and is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various design changes, including the proportions, shapes, arrangements, and materials of the various parts, are also included in the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1...flexible portion, 1a...slit, 2...engaging portion, 2a...projection portion, 3...fastening portion, 4...end portion

Claims

1. A wiring fixing method using a wiring fixture that is integrally provided with a flexible part that can be wrapped around a wiring and fixed to the wiring, and an engaging part that can be engaged with an inner groove of a bellows-type pipe, A wiring fixing method comprising opening a portion of the bellows-type piping, wrapping the flexible portion around the wiring inside the piping and fixing it, and engaging the engaging portion with the inner groove at the bottom of the bellows-type piping.

2. The wire fixing method according to claim 1 , wherein the engagement portion has a higher hardness than the flexible portion.

3. The wire fixing method according to claim 1 , wherein the engaging portion is provided around half or less of the circumference of the wire.

4. 2. The wire fixing method according to claim 1, wherein a fastening portion is formed adjacent to the engaging portion, for attaching a fastener that fastens and holds the flexible portion around the wire.

5. The wire fixing method according to claim 4, wherein an end of the wire fixing tool adjacent to the fastening portion is raised.

Images