Cable retaining clip

Abstract

A cable retaining clip 10 comprising at least one cable retaining portion 12 and a boss 14 with a channel 16 that provides an interference or friction fit for receiving a securing element 18 such as a

Description

A cable clip 10 as shown in Figure 1, and typically moulded as one piece from plastics material, comprises an openable cable retaining portion 12 attached to an upright boss 14 with a central channel 16 that grips and secures a metal fixing 18, such as a nail or a screw, by means of an interference fit, as shown in Figure 2. Thus the captive metal fixing 18 is already held in a fixed position relative to cable clip 10 before the cable clip is secured into position by hammering or screwing into a surface. Where fixing 18 is a screw, channel 16 is modified to hold the screw whilst also allowing the screw to be rotated into place when mounting. Cable retaining portion 12 comprises base 20 and flexible curved arm 22 facing away from boss 14 and designed to secure a cable. At open end 24 of arm 22, there is positioned tab 26 extending outwardly from open end 24 and away from boss 16 so as to act as a guide for positioning cables and also grippable to be urged away from base 20 so as to enlarge open end 24 when inserting a cable. A portion 28 of tab 26 extends inwardly to form a barb 28 that fits partially under a cable to hold the cable in place, see Figures 3 and 4. Cable retaining portion 12 is shaped to provide two opposing pairs of arches 30, 30’ and 32, 32’. Each pair of arches is configured with a different height so that cable retaining portion 12 provides a grippable surface for two different profiles of cable as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Arch pair 32, 32’ are formed as higher arches and so are capable of gripping a flat or ovoid profile cable 40, see Figure 3. Arch pair 30, 30’ are formed as shorter arches and so are capable of gripping a circular cross-section cable 42, see Figure 4. As an alternative to the open ended cable clip shown in Figures 1 to 4, Figure 5 shows a second embodiment of the clip being a closed end cable clip where open end 24 of cable retaining portion 44 is positioned facing towards boss 14, with tab 26 extending 5 from open end 24 towards boss 14’. Figure 6 shows an embodiment where two open ended clip retaining portions 12 are attached to and disposed on opposing sides of boss 14, with Figure 7 showing a further embodiment where two closed end clip retaining portions 44 are attached to io and disposed on opposing sides of boss 14’. The clips above are particularly suited for securing round and flat profile fiber optic cables. The clips are pre-mounted to a surface before opening flexible curved arm 22 using tab 26 to insert fiber optic cables, so avoiding risk of damaging the fiber due to is striking with an implement whilst the clip is mounted to a surface.

Claims

1. A cable clip comprising at least one cable retaining portion and a boss formed with a channel for receiving a securing element, wherein the channel is formed to provide an interference fit with the securing element, thereby to hold the securing element in position prior to affixing the cable clip to a surface.

2. A cable clip according to claim 1, wherein the cable clip is configured for use with fiber cable.

3. A cable clip according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the cable clip comprises two cable retaining portions.

4. A cable clip according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the or each cable retaining portion is formed from flexible plastics material.

5. A cable clip according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the or each cable retaining portion comprises a curved arm, a tab depending outwardly from the curved arm so as to enable the curved arm to be opened up to receive a cable.

6. A cable clip according to claim 5, wherein a portion of the tab extends inwardly so as to form a barb to assist with retaining a cable.

7. A cable clip according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the curved arm comprises a first set of two opposing arches and a second set of two opposing arches, each set of opposing arches having a different arch height so that the cable receiving portion is able to receive different profile cables.

8. A cable clip according to claim 7, wherein the first set of two opposing arches is capable of receiving circular cross-section cables and the second set of two opposing arches is capable of receiving rectangular or flattened oval cables.

9. A cable clip according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the tab extends away from the boss.

10. A cable clip according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the tab extends towards the boss.Application No: GB2411080.1Examiner:Mr Jasper RobinsonClaims searched: 1-10Date of search: 28 January 2025Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X Y X: 1-5, 10; Y: 6 GB2344374 A (SPENCER) see figures 3-6 and description. X,Y X: 1-3,4, 5, 7, 8, 10; Y: 6 US2004 / 251392 Al (FRANKS) see figures 1-7 and paragraph 30. X,Y X: 1-5, 9, 10 Y: 6 KR100742595 Bl (DAEYOUNG COMM) see figure 3 and description of figures 1-3. X 1-3, 4 US5411228 A (MORAWA et al) see figures 1-4, 10-12, and column 4 lines 30-46. Y 6 US4655423 A (SCHAVILJE &SWICK) see figure 2. Y 6 US4527759 A (DORNER &MOHRHOLZ) see figure 3. Y 6 US4083523 A (FISHER) note barb at hinge point 30.Categories:v Au Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive step A Document indicating technological background and or state of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if combined with one or more other documents of same category. p Document published on or after the declared priority date but before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:The following online and other databases have been used in the preparation of this search reportSEARCH-PATENTInternational Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From H02G 0003 / 32 01 / 01 / 2006 F16L 0003 / 02 01 / 01 / 2006 F16L 0003 / 08 01 / 01 / 2006 H02G 0003 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006

Images