Device to aid insertion of a cable into a floor-mounted duct with displaceable lid

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device that attaches to a cable in order to facilitate the cable to be inserted into a floor-mounted duct, in particular where the duct has a displaceable lid, and the device pushes open the lid in order to enable the cable to be inserted into the duct without requiring the operator to bend down to floor-level while doing so. This invention is of particular use in the provision of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to users with limited mobility to enable them to safely add EV charging cables into a floor-mounted duct underneath a lid that is flush with the floor surface.

Description

DescriptionTitle of Invention : DEVICE TO AID INSERTION OF A CABLE INTO A FLOOR-MOUNTED DUCT WITH DISPLACEABLE LID

[0001] Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a device that attaches to a cable in order to facilitate the cable to be inserted into a floor-mounted duct, in particular where the duct has a displaceable lid, and the device pushes open the lid in order to enable the cable to be inserted into the duct without requiring the operator to bend down to floor-level while doing so.

[0003] This invention is of particular use in the provision of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to users with limited mobility to enable them to safely add EV charging cables into a floor-mounted duct underneath a lid that is flush with the floor surface.Background

[0004] People rely on publicly available Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers to replenish batteries of their e-vehicles. However, due to higher cost associated with public chargers and further due to their limited availability, people prefer to use home chargers to charge their e-vehicles wherever possible.

[0005] The use of home chargers is a cost-effective option, but it is only currently convenient for residents that have access to off-street parking. Residents that don’t have access to off-street parking and park on the street outside their home and wish to use a home charger must trail their charging cable across the pavement or footway in front of their house. Footways are often between 1 m and 4m wide, sometimes even more. Trailing a cable across the footway, even with a cable cover over the top, creates a bump and a trip hazard for pedestrians and the risk of a personal injury claim against the homeowner.

[0006] To enable the use of home chargers without creating trip hazards a floormounted duct can be added to the pavement to safely contain the cable during charging, with a displaceable lid to open when the cable needs to be put in orremoved. When the cable is present the lid is closed flat and flush with the pavement surface so that pedestrians can walk over the cable, including pedestrians with high heels and walking sticks, or occasional vehicles, without allowing anything to fall into the duct.

[0007] To safely contain the cable, the lid of the channel might be sprung or biased to stay in the closed position, or might be clipped into the closed position. In order to add the cable into the duct, an operator could bend down to open the lid and then add the cable, but this is difficult for operators with reduced mobility that cannot bend down to the floor level, or who do not have sufficient hand strength or dexterity to open the lid and place the cable into it at the same time.

[0008] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to enable operators to add the cable into the floor-mounted duct without the requirement to bend down.Summary of Invention

[0009] The present invention is a device that is clamped onto a cable part way along to facilitate the cable to be inserted into a floor mounted cable duct that has a spring-loaded self-closing duct lid, without requiring the operator to bend down.

[0010] The device once clamped onto the cable can be dangled down at ground level and pulled towards the open end of the floor-mounted duct, and it aligns itself within the entrance to the duct and then as it is pulled along the channel it displaces the duct’s lid upwards like a one-sided agricultural plough in order to make a space for the cable to enter, and then it pulls along the remainder of the cable behind it into the duct.

[0011] The device has the primary advantage that it may be operated by holding the cable using only one hand, and can be operated from any height without requiring the user to bend down.

[0012] The device has the secondary advantage that once attached to the cable, it does not need to be separately interacted with, instead can be operated just by pulling the cable into the correct position relative to the floor-mounted cable duct.Technical Problem

[0013] Without the device it would be very difficult for an operator with certain mobility restrictions to add a cable into the floor-mounted duct with a displaceableand biased lid. This would be especially difficult for users with limited ability to bend down to ground level, or to those that lack two dexterous hands, or those lacking fingers for example.

[0014] The process of inserting the cable for an able-bodied operator would involve the following sequence:a) hold the cable in one hand;b) bend down to ground level;c) open one end of the biased lid of the floor-mounted duct with a second hand, pushing against the biasing force that is springing the lid closed;d) while holding the end of the biased lid open against the biasing force that is springing the lid closed, push the first section of the cable into the duct;e) Feed the remaining cable into the channel by either opening further sections of the lid with a second hand, or just by forcing the cable through the gap between the lid and the duct with main force, walking crab-like along the duct so as to push the cable through the gap at ground level.

[0015] The steps above would be very hard if an operator could not easily bend down to interact with objects at floor level and move around at floor level to feed the cable into the whole duct that may extend between 1 m and 4m long if not longer in some extreme cases. The steps would be very hard if they did not have two dexterous hands with fingers on both hands. The steps above would also be challenging if the user didn’t possess much hand strength

[0016] Although many accessibility tools such as extended-reach grabber sticks (often also used as litter-picking grabbers) are made available to users with limited mobility so that they can pick up objects at floor level, these sticks would not easily be able to peel open the biased lid of the floor mounted channel, and then allow a second grabber to manipulate a cable into the gap. Many of the operations carried out by the able-bodied operator would require significant sideways forces to be imparted at the far end of the extended-reach grabber, which would not be easy to impart without significant wrist strength. In fact trying to operate an extended-reach grabber and hold an EV charging cable at the same time is very challenging even for a fully able adult, so solutions based on sticks and extended reach grabbers are not seen as attractive in this scenario.

[0017] Wheelchair users or users with a walking stick will also find it very hard to make both hands available to manipulate a cable and a stick at the same time, so solutions that don’t introduce extra objects to hold or manage would be preferable in this application as EV charging cables can commonly be between 5m and 15m long if not more, and weigh many kilograms.

[0018] Devices designed to work in the environment of a footway will be subjected to water, dirt, grime, chemicals and most critically grit and sand that drain into the duct during bad weather and can make it a high friction environment, which can make any cable or tool generate a lot of resistive force against being pulled through the duct.

[0019] When a cable pulls on any tool off-center it can rotate the tool, placing a torque or turning moment against it, and making the tool start to act like a breakpad against the inside of the duct it is within.

[0020] When trying to get a tool into the duct it can be challenging to align it with the duct.

[0021] When you have inserted a tool into the duct and are pulling on the cable to get it into the length of the duct it will try to pull the tool out of the duct vertically because of the vertical force component to the pull on the cable.Solution to Problem

[0022] The present invention is a device that is clamped onto a cable part way along to facilitate the cable to be inserted into a floor mounted cable duct that has a spring-loaded self-closing duct lid, without requiring the operator to bend down.

[0023] The device once clamped onto the cable can be dangled down at ground level and pulled towards the open end of the floor-mounted duct, and it aligns itself within the entrance to the duct, and then as it is pulled along the channel it displaces the duct’s lid upwards like a one-sided agricultural plough in order to make a space for the cable to enter, and then it pulls along the remainder of the cable behind it into the duct.

[0024] The device has the advantage that it may be operated by holding the cable using only one hand, and can be operated from any height without requiring the user to bend down.

[0025] The device has the advantage that once attached to the cable, it does not need to be separately interacted with, instead can be operated just by pulling the cable into the correct position relative to the floor-mounted cable duct.

[0026] The floor mounted duct is for receiving a cable, suitable for installation in a gully or slot cut into a pavement. The duct comprises a cable receiving portion and a cover that is coupled to the cable receiving portion, wherein the cover is movable between an open position in which the cable receiving portion can receive an e-vehicle charging cable and a closed position, wherein the cover is biased towards the closed position.

[0027] The cover or lid of the duct will often be connected to the cable receiving portion via a hinge, optionally with a separate spring or optionally a living hinge where a flexible material such as a polymer with a wide elastic range is used to connect the displaceable and movable lid to the fixed portions of the cable receiving portion. Alternately simply the weight of the lid may be used to bias it towards a closed position.

[0028] The duct may have more than one cover, and more than one hinge, but a single hinge is more standard.

[0029] In this way, a duct can be provided with a cover that can be opened to admit a cable and will close automatically to seal the cable into the cable receiving portion. This improves ease of use because a user does not need to take an active step in closing the cover. It further improves safety for other pavement users and pedestrians as it eliminates the risk that the cover could be left in the open position where it might represent a trip hazard. This also provides an improved protection for cables that are received therein, from external objects.

[0030] Optionally, the cable receiving portion of the duct is open at both ends to allow the cable to pass through from one end to another end of the cable receiving portion of the duct. This is advantageous because the cable can be easily moved inside the duct to adjust the length of the cable required to reach to the e-vehicle without leaving excess spare cable near to the vehicle. Further, it allows users to easily move the cable from the charger to the e-vehicle without obstructing the path of pedestrians on the pavement. Optionally, the cable receiving portion ofthe duct may be opened at one end and closed at the other end if the cable has to exit the duct vertically through an opening or gap in the lid or cover at the top.

[0031] Optionally, one of the side sections of the duct comprises a horizontal ledge that supports a portion of the duct cover in the closed position. In this way, a substantial portion of the duct cover rests on the ledge of the side section of the duct, which again allows distribution of the load being applied on the duct cover, without the cover being displaced down into the duct. Thus, a robust and strong duct is provided which could take high amounts of load, such as a pedestrian stepping on the cover of the duct, a vehicle driving over the duct or a heavy object being placed on the cover of the duct such as a parked vehicle or truck. This ledge prevents the lid from being displaced downwards, necessitating it to be opened upwards to insert the cable.

[0032] In some examples, the duct cover or lid may comprise one or two apertures, wherein the aperture is configured to accommodate a cable, such as an electric vehicle charging cable, through the aperture whilst the cover is in the closed position. Preferably, the aperture is arranged at an end of the cover. Providing an aperture in the duct cover, for example at one or both ends, may be advantageous to allow a cable to exit the duct vertically, rather than horizontally, whilst the cover is in the closed position. Purely as an example, this may be particularly advantageous in cases where the duct is installed into a pavement adjacent to a step, such as a front doorstep, or a wall, such as a garden wall or building. Without the aperture, vertical exit of the cable causes the cover to be biased into the open position in the vicinity of the cable, creating a trip-hazard. This can also strain the hinge of the cover, causing the cover not to close completely even after the cable is fully removed. Providing the aperture in the cover overcomes these problems by enabling vertical exit of the cable without opening the cover relative to the cable receiving portion.

[0033] Optionally, the duct may further comprise a cable guide member arranged adjacent to the biased hinge within the cable receiving portion, wherein the cable guide member is configured to divert a cable away from contacting the biased hinge. This may be advantageous to prevent the cable being pulled against the hinge or close to the hinge during removal of the cable from the duct which can stretch and damage the hinge. The cable guide member may be configured toprevent the cable from travelling directly upwards towards the hinge, instead diverting the cable towards the outer edge of the cover opposite to the hinge so that the cover can be pushed open by the cable without stretching and damaging the hinge.

[0034] Optionally, the duct cover is configured to be flexible, for example wherein the cover is made from a flexible or semi-flexible material. The flexible cover may be configured such that a portion of the cover may remain in the closed position whilst a second portion of the cover is in the open position. This may be advantageous to enable one portion of the cover to be in the open position while the rest is in the closed position, in particular this may reduce the trip hazard to pedestrians on the pavement whilst a cable, such as an e-vehicle charging cable, is fed into, or removed from a section of the cable receiving portion further along the duct. For example, if a long duct, such as but not limited to 3m or longer in length that ran from the road side to the property side, was having the cable put in from the road side and had opened the cover at the road side, then the cover would not be open at the property side and thus not create a trip hazard for pedestrians or wheeled vehicles or mobility devices passing the property side. In the preferred embodiment the flexibility of the cover allows the cable to be fed into the duct and only require a short section of the cover to be deflected from the closed position, for example less than 0.5m worth of cover would be deflected at a time while inserting a cable and the rest would be able to remain closed.

[0035] There is provided a pavement (or sidewalk, or footway, or paving, or asphalt, or concrete, or cement) section comprising the duct and a gully cut in the pavement section for receiving the duct. In this way, an arrangement is provided which allows easy connection of a charger to an e-vehicle without trailing a cable over the pavement and reduces the risk of a trip hazard for a pedestrian. A gully is cut in the pavement which is easy to make and does not require a deep cut in the pavement, thereby retaining aesthetics of the pavement and avoiding the need of heavy construction to be performed.

[0036] Preferably, the duct comprises two side sections with lengths that are substantially matched to a depth of the gully. In this way, the duct is properly aligned with the gully so that the duct could be snugged into the gully, withouthaving any protruding side sections or any vertical displacement up or down between the pavement and duct which could be a trip hazard for pedestrians.

[0037] Preferably, the cover is substantially level with the surface of the pavement section when the duct is received within the gully. This is advantageous because a user can freely step on the duct without requiring the user to carefully tread on the pavement as in case of cables trailing on the pavement. For example, a person wearing high heels, with mobility issues or a person with limited vision could easily walk on the pavement and step on the cover of the duct as it is levelled with the pavement.

[0038] The present invention is a device to facilitate a cable to be added into the floor mounted duct described above without requiring the operator to bend down. The invention is a device that is clamped onto the cable, part way along the cable.

[0039] By being positioned part way along the cable, an operator holding the cable higher up above the device can dangle the device down to floor level and drag the device and remaining cable towards an open end of the duct.

[0040] The device is shaped to enter into an open end of the duct, and has physical features on the device that engage against the inside of the duct so as to cause the device to align with the duct and slide along the inside of the duct and prevent the device from pulling completely out of the top of the duct through the void created when the lid or cover is opened.

[0041] The device has shaped edges and optionally rollers that engage on the inner surfaces of the duct including the duct walls and base and the underside of features within the duct such as the underside of the horizontal ledge described above, and may also engage against other features in the duct such as the cable guide member described above that may be underneath the lid’s hinge. The interaction between the device and the downwards facing elements of the duct prevents the device from being pulled out of the top of the duct while the cable is pulled along with a significant upwards component to the pulling forces. Some of the downward facing surfaces of the inside of the duct may not face directly down, but may for example be roughly 45 degrees from horizontal, and therefore the shaped edges or rollers on the device will be angled in a complimentary manner to engage at the correct angle with those elements of the duct.

[0042] The device may have rollers and / or low friction surfaces to reduce the friction and forces on the device when it is sliding along the duct. These can also help to counter the turning moment on the device caused by the forces from the cable not being applied at the center of the device, and to reduce friction created by dust, dirt, grit, sand and any other debris that may be found within the channel.

[0043] The device is also shaped so that it has a sloped top surface or rollers on the top surface that will start to push and raise up the displaceable lid or cover of the duct as the device moves into the duct through the forces on the cable being pulled by the operator or from the device being pushed into the duct by the operator’s foot or a stick held by the operator.

[0044] The front of the device is deliberately shaped to align the device and it’s rollers or ridges with corresponding features within the duct so that if the initial alignment of the front of the unit, or rotation of the unit does not match the open end of the duct, that the device will be guided and turned or twisted towards the correct alignment.

[0045] The base of the device may not completely cover or contact with the whole of the base of the duct, and the body of the device might not completely fill the duct as gaps around it will allow small amounts of dirt or detritus in the duct to pass under and / or around the device rather than being pushed in front of the device as it advances along the duct.

[0046] The device includes features to allow it to be connected or attached to a point somewhere along a cable.

[0047] The device may include a shaped channel into or onto which a cable can be secured. The shaped channel allows the cable to be aligned in a horizontal manner as it exits behind the device and to be aligned vertically upwards or with a significant vertical angle, angled slightly towards the direction of movement as it gets pulled into the duct. This shaped channel in the device forcing the cable to bend upwards can help where one end of the duct meets a vertical surface, so that the cable is already bent close to vertical and will not be placing any unwanted opening forces on the duct lid, as it is held in that bent angle by the device.

[0048] The cable can be secured into the device in a number of ways for example by using cable ties (zip ties), or affixing a second part over the cable and securing that using plastic clips built into the device or screws and bolts, or using the flexibility of the device to open the shaped channel to admit the cable.

[0049] The shape of the device should ensure that any cable ties or cable affixing features do not stand proud and snag on the duct, so they might have recessed cable-ways to keep the zip-ties in place and recessed below parts of the surface.

[0050] In some cases the duct will be installed where one end, usually the end furthest from the road comes to a vertical step or wall, and the gap for the cable to exit is vertically upwards from the duct rather than horizontally from the duct. In such a case it may be that the device can be left inside the duct where it arrives at the end furthest from the road, and withdrawn in the reverse direction back along the duct towards the road when the cable needs to be removed. If the device needs to be withdrawn from the duct when it reaches the end furthest from the road then a short section of the “ledge” and / or “cable guide member” in the duct will need to be removed so that the device can be pulled up and out of the channel when it reaches the end. Alternately the device may have a mechanism to retract a feature or some wheels to release it vertically from the duct.

[0051] The device might be symmetric and be able to operate with ducts that have the hinge mounted on the left or right hand side of the open end.

[0052] Optionally the device might have an asymmetric shape optimized to work in ducts with the hinge on a particular side of the open end of the duct, such as a right-handed hinge might be better operated with a device that bends the cable out of the left side away from the hinge, and vice-versa to avoid opening the lid as far and thus reduce the force required to force the hinge open.

[0053] Optionally the device may be designed to have significant tolerance gaps between itself and the duct so as to allow for differences in size, curvature of the duct, or detritus and dirt present in the duct.

[0054] Optionally extra clearance from the rollers to the device might be designed to avoid fouling with dirt, sand and gritAdvantageous Effects of Invention

[0055] The device has the advantage that it may be operated by holding the cable using only one hand, and can be operated from any height without requiring the user to bend down.

[0056] The device also enables a foot to be used to push the cable and device into the duct or along the duct to reduce the effort required by the hands of the operator.

[0057] The device has the advantage that once attached to the cable, it does not need to be separately interacted with, instead can be operated just by pulling the cable into the correct position relative to the floor-mounted cable duct.

[0058] The device has the advantage that it can also allow able-bodied users to insert cables into the floor mounted duct more quickly and easily than bending down and opening the duct’s lid manually.

[0059] An asymmetric version of the device has the advantage that it doesn’t need to open the lid of the duct as far, which reduces the forces required to insert the device and cable, and also reduces strain on the duct’s lid’s hinge.

[0060] The device has the advantage that it can cope with significant amounts of debris such as sand, soil and grit that are often found in roadway and outdoor footway environments.

[0061] A device with gaps around it to allow detritus to pass underneath and remain in place when the device moves along the duct, rather than pushing all of the detritus into a pile at the far end, which might block the channel.

[0062] A device with wheels or bearings to run on has the advantage that it takes less muscle force to pull along the duct than one that only has sliding surfaces as the ducts often will contain road and footway dirt, sand and grit that can act as a high friction surface.Brief Description of Drawings

[0063] Fig.1

[0064] [Fig.1 Shows an example device with many rollers.1 shows the raised section of the device to lift the lid.2 shows the aligning and locating feature on the front of the device to assist with inserting the device into the open end of the duct.3 shows one of the lower rollers on the front that will roll on the inside of the base of the duct.4 shows a side roller angled at almost 45 degrees that will roll on the underneath of the ledge of the duct.5 shows the shaped cable receiving portion of the top and back of the device into which the cable will be clamped by zip ties, allowing the cable to exit in an upwards, slightly forwards and direction.6 shows a void allowing detritus to pass underneath the unit7 shows the rear of the device where the back part of the cable is allowed to exit horizontally.8 shows a recessed zip-tie slot]

[0065] Fig.2 Shows an example device as seen end-on when inserted into the duct, as seen from inside the duct with the device approaching head-on towards the camera with the rear of the cable hidden behind the device. This figure shows the following numbered features:9 shows the front of the cable exiting upwards and asymmetrically sideways away from the hinge side of the duct10 shows the duct lid in the displaced and open position.11 shows the living hinge which is biased towards the closed position and constantly provides a downwards closing force to the lid when it is in any position.12 shows the raised section of the device that contacts with the lid of the duct topush it upwards and open13 shows the “ledge” of the duct which the lid rests on when it is in the closed position14 shows a roller from the device engaging on the sloped under-side of the “ledge” of the duct.15 shows the front of the device, part of the alignment features that have sloped surfaces to guide the device into the open end of the duct

[0066] Fig.3 shows the device and duct obliquely from the side and shows some of the same numbered features as Fig.2 plus16 shows the rear portion of the cable that exits the device in the horizontal direction towards the rear.

[0067] Fig.4 shows another side view of an asymmetric embodiment including:17 shows the sloping front of the alignment feature on the front of the device18 shows the leading edge of the raised section of the device that will first engage with the lid of the duct and start to lift it open as the device enters the open end of the duct19 shows a zip-tie cut-away cable guide that allows the zip-tie to be secured and pass around the cable and device without snagging or obstructing the passage of the device through the duct.20 shows the leading roller in front of the device.Description of Embodiments

[0068] The drawings and figures show some units with rollers and containing many of the optional features, but the same effect can be achieved with sliding surfaces made from hard and low-friction materials instead of rollers.

[0069] The drawings and figures show bearings as rollers, using nuts, bolts and screws to hold them on, but can also be affixed using clips, or threaded inserts, with or without washers. Sufficient clearance from the rollers to the device must be maintained to avoid fouling with dirt, sand and grit.Patent Literature

[0070] PTL1 : PCT / GB2023 / 053357

[0071] PTL2: GB2300261.1

Claims

Claims

1. A device that can be clamped-on part-way along a cable where the device is shaped to force a bend into the cable so that the rearmost part of the cable remains horizontal and the forward part of the cable is bent partially upwards and forwards, and the device includes one or more alignment features to locate the front of the device into an open end of a horizontal cable duct wherein the displaceable lid or cover of the cable duct is biased downwards towards the closed position and a raised section of the device that once aligned, projects upwards beyond the closed position of the duct lid is configured to push upwards and open the displaceable lid or cover of the cable duct as the device is moved into the duct, and the device can slide along the duct when pulled by the forward end of the cable that is ahead of the device and above the device, and pulls the remaining rearward portion of the cable into the duct behind the device.

2. The device of Claim 1 where the device is clamped onto the cable using one or more zip-ties

3. The device of Claim 1 where the device is clamped onto the cable using a cable clamping member secured down by screws, bolts or clips

4. The device of Claim 1 ,2, or 3 where the device has smooth outer surfaces to reduce friction with the duct

5. The device of Claim 1 ,2,3 or 4 where the device has some rollers,bearings or wheels along one or more surfaces to reduce friction with the duct

6. The device of claim 5 where the rollers are aligned with the face of the duct that they will contact when the device is inserted within the duct to reduce friction with the duct.

7. The device of Claim 1 ,2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 where the shape of the device and the position of any rollers and raised portion is asymmetric and designed to be inserted into a duct with the hinge on a specific side

8. The device of claim 7 where the cable is forced to bend to the side furthest from the hinge as it comes up out of the top of the device.

9. The device of claim 1 ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 where it is designed to leave gaps between the device and the duct so that detritus and foreign matter is able to bypass the device as it moves along the channel instead of being pushed ahead of it

10. The device of claim 1 ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 where the device has engaging surfaces or rollers on its sides or upper faces to interact with inward-facing surfaces in the duct that are angled mostly or partially downwards so that the device will resist being pulled up or out of the channel by the cable forces while the device slides along the channel.

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