Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6290195
-
Patent Number
6,290,195
-
Date Filed
Thursday, September 30, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, September 18, 200122 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 248 2308
- 248 2309
- 248 2184
- 248 2194
- 248 23185
- 024 69 WT
- 024 70 CT
- 024 71 CT
- 254 199
- 254 262
- 254 237
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A system for providing a support for mounting accessories to a generally cylindrical structure, such as a vertical cell tower structure. The system includes a support bracket having a facing surface located in engagement with a surface of the structure. A flexible member extends around the structure and is engaged with opposing ends of the support bracket for holding the support bracket in position on the structure. A first tensioning device is provided and detachably mounts to the support bracket to provide a first, pretension force to the flexible member. A second tensioning device is provided for providing a second force greater than the first force whereby a clamping force is provided to the flexible member to positively clamp the support bracket in position on the structure. The first tensioning device is removed from the support bracket and replaced with an accessory mounting bracket for supporting accessories on the structure at the support bracket. The support bracket is provided with deformable members extending outwardly from the facing surface wherein the deformable members deform in toward the facing surface as tension is applied to the flexible member. The tabs provide two contact points spaced outwardly from the contact point of the facing surface with the structure to provide a stable three point configuration for supporting the accessory on the structure.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a system for providing a support for mounting accessories to a generally cylindrical structure and, more particularly, to a system including a bracket which may be mounted to a wide range of structure diameters and which may be easily mounted to the structure without compromising the structural integrity of the structure.
There is a need for means to provide a mounting bracket on an existing structure, such as a vertically extending cylindrical structure, in order to support equipment or accessories which were not contemplated when the structure was erected. For example, cell towers comprising upwardly tapered, generally cylindrical structures, have been erected throughout the country to facilitate cellular phone usage. As usage of cellular phones and other electronic equipment increases, there is an increasing need for additional equipment and accessories, such as additional antennas and cables, to be placed on the cell towers. Alternatively, in some locations, there is a need to attach additional equipment or accessories to other elevated structures, such as attachment to the cylindrical legs of water towers and the like.
Various mechanisms for supporting the equipment and accessories have been proposed and typically include a support bracket which is attached to the vertical structure. In some instances, holes are drilled in the structure to permit bolts to be used to mount the brackets directly to the structure. However, the structural requirements of the structure are carefully engineered and provision of additional holes, particularly if a large number of brackets must be mounted to the structure, may structurally compromise the structure and therefore often requires reengineering to ensure that the additional holes do not jeopardize the strength of the structure.
In other instances, the brackets may be welded to the structure. Welding has its own limitations in that the welded surfaces must be clean in order to obtain a good weld, and the welding equipment is often heavy and bulky, which is not conducive to operations involving extreme heights.
A further method for supporting brackets on cylindrical structures involves providing a flexible clamping strap extending around the structure and having opposing ends attached to the bracket. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,432,561 shows a bracket which is held to a telephone pole by means of a chain wrapped around the pole and having ends tensioned at the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,995 also shows a tensioned flexible member which forces a clamp assembly into contact with a cylindrical support to thereby hold the clamp assembly at a desired location.
The prior art devices incorporating flexible straps to hold clamp assemblies or brackets at a desired location on a structure are typically designed for a limited size diameter structure and are not designed for universal use on a wide range of structures. Further, it should be noted that on large structures, the frictional forces between the strap and structure are such that it is difficult to manually draw the strap to eliminate all slack in the strap prior to exerting a clamping force through the strap. As a result, it has been found that the mechanism for drawing the clamping force may not have enough travel to both take up the remaining slack in the strap and exert the required clamping force for holding the clamp assembly or bracket at the desired location.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system for providing a support for mounting accessories to generally cylindrical structures. The system includes a support bracket including a facing surface for locating in a position on the cylindrical structure with the facing surface facing toward the surface of the structure. The support bracket includes first and second opposing ends and first and second attachment portions located at each of the first and second ends. A flexible member extends around the structure and attaches to the first and second attachment portions. In addition, a deformable portion is located on and extends from the facing surface for engaging the surface of the structure. The deformable portion deforms in response to tension on the flexible member.
In the preferred embodiment, the deformable portion comprises first and second discrete members formed as lanced tabs extending from the facing surface, and the tabs extend at an obtuse angle relative to the facing surface. When the bracket is initially supported on the cylindrical structure, the tabs hold the facing surface in spaced relation to the structure. As tension is applied to the flexible member, the tabs deform outwardly in opposing directions from each other and toward the facing surface of the bracket, thereby permitting the bracket to move toward contact with the surface of the structure. Upon contact of the facing surface with the structure, three points of contact between the bracket are defined to provide a stable engagement configuration between the bracket and structure which is designed to prevent wobbling or other movement of the bracket.
It should be understood that the deformation of the tabs will vary depending on the particular diameter of the structure. Thus, the bracket of the present invention may accommodate a wide range of structural diameters.
In a further aspect of the invention, the bracket includes an accessory mounting side facing oppositely from the facing surface wherein the accessory mounting side includes means to detachably mount a first tensioning device for applying a first, pretension force to the flexible member. In addition, at least one of the first and second attachment portions include a second tensioning device for applying a second force to the flexible member greater than the first, pretension force, the second force being a clamping force for maintaining the bracket in a desired position on the structure.
The first tensioning device is removed from the bracket subsequent to application of the first, pretension force, and an accessory is attached to the bracket at the accessory mounting side, such that the same location on the bracket may be used both for a first tensioning device and for an accessory mounting device.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for mounting an accessory to a structure wherein the system may be used with a wide range of structure diameters.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for mounting an accessory to a structure including first and second tensioning devices for tensioning a flexible member holding the system to the structure.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a mechanism for removably mounting a tensioning device for providing a first, pretension force to the flexible member.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a mounting bracket designed to alternatively mount a tensioning device and an accessory supported by the bracket.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of the system of the present invention showing the elements located relative to a cylindrical structure;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view showing the facing side of the support bracket for the present system;
FIG. 3
is a top plan view illustrating an initial position of the system of the present invention prior to tensioning of the flexible member;
FIG. 3A
is an enlarged view of the support bracket shown in
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 4
is a view similar to
FIG. 3
wherein a first, pretension force has been applied to the flexible member;
FIG. 4A
is an enlarged view, partially cut away, of the support bracket shown in
FIG. 4
;
FIG. 5
is a view similar to
FIGS. 3 and 4
wherein the first tensioning device has been removed and a clamping force has been applied to the flexible member by the second tensioning device;
FIG. 6
is a side elevational view showing the present invention used to support vertically extending cables;
FIG. 7
is a top plan view showing the present invention supporting vertically extending cables; and
FIG. 8
is a view showing a cell tower on which two of the support brackets of the present invention are supported to mount an antenna/repeater panel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring initially to
FIG. 1
, the system of the present invention is shown in relation to a cylindrical structure
10
. The system generally includes a support bracket
12
and a flexible member
14
, shown here as a cable, which is attached to opposing ends
16
and
18
of the support bracket
12
at first and second attachment portions defined by respective eye bolts
20
,
22
supported by clevis members
17
,
19
.
The system further includes a first tensioning device
24
, illustrated here as a conventional cable puller device, which includes a ratchet mechanism, such as a ratchet wheel
11
, engaged by a spring biased pawl
13
on an oscillating lever
92
, for drawing a flexible member
26
in tension. The first tensioning device
24
is adapted to be mounted to the support bracket
12
on an accessory mounting side
28
of the support bracket
12
.
One end
30
of the flexible member
14
is affixed to the eye bolt
20
to define a first attachment portion of the flexible member
14
. A second attachment portion
32
of the flexible member
14
is defined at the second eye bolt
22
where the flexible member
14
extends through the eye bolt
22
and around a guide
34
. An end portion
36
of the flexible member
14
doubles back around the structure
10
toward the first attachment portion at the first end
30
of the flexible member
14
. The end portion
36
of the flexible member
14
terminates in a second end
38
which is formed as a loop or eye which receives a hook or other temporary attachment element
40
at the free end of the flexible member
26
of the first tensioning mechanism
24
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, the support bracket
12
is formed as a U-shaped member defined by a facing wall
42
and generally parallel side walls
44
,
46
extending from the facing wall
42
. The clevis members
17
,
19
are pivotally attached to the side walls
44
,
46
by means of threaded fasteners
48
passing through aligned apertures in the side walls
44
and clevis members
17
,
19
, and the fasteners
48
are held in place by means of threaded nuts
50
. It should be noted that each of the clevis members
17
,
19
include a respective end plate
52
,
54
, each of which defines an aperture
56
,
58
for receiving the threaded shank of one of the eye bolts
20
,
22
.
The facing wall
42
defines a facing surface
60
for engaging an outer surface of the structure
10
. Tabs
62
,
64
are provided formed integrally with and extending from the facing surface
60
at the opposing ends
16
,
18
of the support bracket
12
, and are defined as lanced portions of the facing wall
42
. Each of the tabs
62
,
64
extend from a respective interface
66
,
68
with the facing surface
60
at an obtuse angle relative to the facing surface
60
. The tabs
62
,
64
define a deformable portion of the bracket
12
which deform inwardly toward the facing surface
60
of the bracket
12
as the flexible member
14
is tightened around the structure
10
, as will be described in greater detail below.
The support bracket
12
further includes a plurality of apertures
70
,
72
,
74
,
76
defined in the side walls
44
and
46
. The apertures
70
,
74
are aligned with each other, and the apertures
72
,
76
are also aligned with each other for receiving elongated fastener members
80
,
82
therethrough to attach the first tensioning device
24
to the support bracket
12
. Specifically, the first tensioning device
24
includes a base portion
78
which is adapted to be received between the side walls
44
,
46
and which includes apertures
84
,
86
for aligning with the pairs of apertures
70
,
74
and
72
,
76
for receiving the elongated fasteners
80
,
82
and thereby detachably mounting the first tensioning device
24
in place on the support bracket
12
. For this purpose the fastener members
80
,
82
are preferably ball detent pins.
Referring to
FIG. 3
, the system of the present invention is used to mount the support bracket
12
to the structure
10
by initially extending the flexible member
14
around the structure
10
wherein the first end
30
of the flexible member
14
is attached to the eye bolt
20
, and the second portion
32
of the flexible member is passed in sliding contact through the eye bolt
22
and around the guide
34
. Further, the first tensioning device
24
is mounted in the bracket
12
and held in place by the fasteners
80
,
82
with the free end
40
of the flexible member
26
engaged with the free end
38
of the flexible member
14
.
In the position shown in
FIG. 3
, and as shown enlarged in
FIG. 3A
, the outer edges
88
,
90
of the tabs
62
,
64
are located in contact with the outer surface of the structure
10
, and the facing surface
60
of the support bracket
12
is located in spaced relation to the structure
10
.
As the handle
92
of the first tensioning device
24
is moved in oscillating movement to actuate the ratchet mechanism, the flexible member
14
is tensioned with a first, pretension force sufficient to overcome any frictional forces between the flexible member
14
and the outer surface of the structure
10
such that the slack in the flexible member
14
is substantially and effectively removed. In addition, during application of the first pretension force by the first tensioning device
24
, the clevis members
17
,
19
pivot to align with the particular diameter of the structure
10
and the support bracket
12
is drawn toward the structure
10
wherein the outer edges
88
,
90
of the tabs
62
,
64
slide outwardly away from each other as the tabs
62
,
64
deform or bend in movement toward the facing surface
60
of the support bracket
12
.
FIGS. 4 and 4A
illustrate the final position of the support bracket
12
on the structure wherein the facing surface
60
of the support bracket
12
engages the structure
10
at a point of contact
94
located between the points of contact defined by the edges
88
,
90
of the tabs
62
,
64
. The support bracket
12
is in three point contact with the surface of the structure
10
to provide a stable support for the bracket
12
which will be resistant to forces tending to move or shift the bracket
12
relative to the structure
10
.
Subsequent to application of the first, pretension force by the first pretensioning device
24
, a pair of cable clamps
96
,
98
clamp overlapping portions of the flexible member
14
together adjacent to the second eye bolt
22
whereby the pretension force in the flexible member
14
is maintained.
Subsequently, as seen in
FIG. 5
, the fasteners
80
,
82
are removed to release the first tensioning device
24
from the support bracket
12
, and the eye bolts
20
,
22
are operated as a second tensioning device wherein respective nuts
23
,
25
(see
FIG. 4A
) are rotated to draw the shanks of the eye bolts
20
,
22
into their respective clevis members
17
,
19
to provide a second, clamping force to the flexible member
14
which is greater than the first, pretension force provided by the first tensioning device
24
. An additional cable clamp
100
is then provided to hold the free end
38
of the flexible member in place on the flexible member
14
.
After the support bracket
12
is tensioned in place with the flexible member
14
, an accessory mounting bracket
102
is mounted to the mounting side
28
of the support bracket
12
, and is typically in the form of a U-shaped bracket having parallel sides
104
(only one shown) wherein each side includes a pair of apertures
106
,
108
for alignment with the pairs of apertures
70
,
74
and
72
,
76
of the support bracket
12
, and the mounting bracket
102
is held in place on the support bracket
12
by means of fasteners passing through the apertures in a manner similar to that described above relating to mounting of the first tensioning device
24
.
It should be noted that the present invention provides a substantial advantage over the prior art in that the first tensioning device
24
substantially takes up all slack in the flexible member whereby application of the second clamping force provided by the second tensioning device
20
,
22
,
23
,
25
can be performed without risk of the shanks of the eye bolts
20
,
22
being fully drawn into the clevis members
17
,
19
prior to the required clamping force on the flexible member
14
being obtained.
A further advantage associated with the system of the present invention relates to the ability of the support bracket
12
to adjust to structures
10
having different diameters, and in particular, may be used on structures having sizes ranging from approximately 18 inches to 10 feet in diameter. Specifically, the clevis members
17
,
19
pivot to conform to the structure
10
and the tabs
62
,
64
will deform toward the facing surface
60
a greater amount with increasing diameter of the structure
10
whereby the support bracket
12
provides a stable mounting for the mounting bracket
102
over a large range of diameters without requiring a specially designed bracket to accommodate the differing diameter sizes.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7
, an application of the system of the present invention is illustrated. In this application, the system is used to support a plurality of support brackets
12
spaced vertically along a vertical cylindrical structure
10
. In this application, the support bracket
12
supports a mounting bracket
102
which in turn engages with a U-shaped conduit clamp
110
for mounting a conduit
112
to the support bracket
12
. The conduit
112
is used to support a plurality of coax cable runs
114
whereby a plurality of coax cables
116
may be supported extending vertically up the structure
10
.
FIG. 8
illustrates a further application of the system of the present invention wherein an antenna/repeater panel
118
is supported by a pair of support brackets
12
on a substantially cylindrical upwardly extending cell tower
120
. It should be noted that in applications such as mounting equipment on upwardly tapered cell towers
120
such as is illustrated in
FIG. 8
, the support bracket
12
of the present invention is particularly useful in that it can accommodate the varying diameters provided on the cell tower
120
.
In view of the above description of the present invention, it should be apparent that the present invention provides a system for effectively mounting accessories or other equipment to structures without requiring structural alteration of the structure. Further, the support bracket of the present system is adapted to be mounted to a variety of structures having different diameters to provide a stable support for a mounted accessory. In addition, the present system provides a method of mounting a support bracket which provides for an initial pretensioning of a flexible member for holding the support bracket to the structure, and application of a further clamping force for providing sufficient force to prevent movement of the bracket from its mounting position.
While the form of apparatus and method herein described constitute preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular apparatus and method, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A system for providing a support for mounting accessories to generally cylindrical structures, said system comprising:a support bracket including a longitudinally extending facing surface for locating in a position on a structure with the facing surface facing a surface of the structure; first and second opposing ends defined by said support bracket; first and second attachment portions located at said first and second ends, respectively; a flexible member for extending around the structure and attaching to the first and second attachment portions a first tensioning device; said bracket including an accessory mounting side facing oppositely from said facing surface, said accessory mounting side including means to detachably mount said first tensioning device for applying a first, pretension force to said flexible member, and said means to detachably mount a first tensioning device comprising an elongated facing wall, defining said facing surface, and a pair of generally parallel side walls to define said support bracket as a U-shaped structure including an open interior area located centrally between said first and second opposing ends, for receiving said first tensioning device; said first tensioning device comprising a base portion supporting a ratchet mechanism actuated by an oscillating handle, and further including a flexible tensioning element connected to said ratchet mechanism and having an end attached to a temporary attachment element which is drawn toward said ratchet mechanism in response to oscillating movement of said handle, said flexible member including an end cooperating with said temporary attachment element whereby tensioning of said flexible tensioning element results in tensioning of said flexible member; said base portion of said first tensioning device fitting between said pair of side walls, said base portion and said side walls including aligned apertures receiving removable pins defining said means to detachably mount said first tensioning device, whereby removal of said pins releases said base portion and ratchet mechanism from said support bracket; each of said attachment portions comprising U-shaped clevis members pivotally attached to said side walls, and each of said clevis member defining an open area facing toward the open interior area of said support bracket; and at least one of said clevis members including a second tensioning device for applying a second force to said flexible member greater than said first, pretension force wherein said second tensioning member comprises a threaded member extending through said at least one clevis member and a nut threadably engaged on said threaded member for drawing said threaded member into said open area of said at least one clevis member to apply said second force to said flexible member.
- 2. The system as in claim 1 wherein said means to detachably mount said first tensioning device comprises removable members for holding the first tensioning device in place on said bracket, and including an accessory for mounting to said bracket in place of said first tensioning device, said accessory comprising means for receiving said removable members when said accessory is mounted to said bracket whereby the accessory is supported on the structure.
- 3. The system as in claim 1 wherein said interior area of said bracket and said open area of said at least one clevis member provide a line of access to said nut on said threaded member located within said at least one clevis member.
- 4. The system as in claim 1 wherein said first tensioning device comprises a ratchet element engaged by a pawl element.
- 5. The system of claim 1 wherein said support bracket includes a deformable portion comprising first and second discrete members defined by lanced tabs located on and extending from said facing surface adjacent said first and second ends, respectively.
- 6. The system of claim 5 wherein said tabs each extend at an obtuse angle relative to said facing surface.
- 7. The system of claim 5 wherein an interface is defined between each of said tabs and said facing surface and including a contact face defined on each said tab for engaging the surface of the structure wherein said tabs deform at said interfaces, and said contact faces slidable across the structure in opposing directions in response to tension applied to said flexible member whereby a center portion of said support bracket facing surface defines a contact point positioned to contact with the surface of the structure to define three points of contact between the support bracket and the structure.
US Referenced Citations (19)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
24467 |
Aug 1930 |
AU |
603493 |
Apr 1960 |
IT |