Flexible carrier for power supply lines - comprises rectangular ducting with interlinked sections each with collar and two U=pieces

摘要

The carrier consists of a ducting of rectangular cross-section made of interlinked sections and joins a fixed supply unit to a moving load. Each section consists of a collar (5) and two U-shaped linking pieces. Each collar has three ridges forming two slots between them. The collar's end faces are at an angle so that the slots are tapered. Ridges on the insides of the arms of the U-pieces locate in these slots. Each U-piece has holes at the ends of its arms through which a pivot pin passes to allow the two U-pieces to pivot w.r.t. one another. The centre ridge of each collar acts as an end stop and has a constant width. It prevents longitudinally adjacent U-pieces touching one another when the carrier is bent. The advantage lies in the two U-pieces in each section being identical and symmetric and in increasing the rigidity of the carrier laterally and rotationally.