Tsubakimoto Chain Company

Hitachi Cable, Inc.

Masaaki Ikeda

Shoichiro Komiya

Takayuki Matsuda

Akihiko Utaki

Toshio Takahashi

Katsutoshi Shibayama

Koji Tanaka

Takerou Nakagawa

Yasumasa Tsubakimoto

Katsuhide Yamashita

Kouji Tanaka

Kiyotake Tatsuta

Kenji Kose

Kazuo Kishida

Makoto Kanehira

Takashi Koizumi

Toru Wada

Tsutomu Iwami

Hideaki Minami

Shuji Sasamoto

Satoshi Kuriyama

Seiji Kitagawa

Fujio Yamamoto

Mitsuhiro Harada

Hitoshi Chiba

Kazunori Nakayama

Makato Kanehira

Tomofumi Ohtani

Tsuyoshi Ishizuka

The invention provides a multijoint cable protection and guide device that steadily protects and guides cables and the like that assume flexed and straight postures. The device includes a flexible belt member in which a plurality of center tubular portions through which cables are inserted and a pair of right and left side tubular portions disposed in parallel along the center tubular portions. The center tubular portions and the pair of right and left side tubular portions are integrally molded. A pair of right and left multijoint supporting members is inserted through side tubular portions of the flexible belt member. The multijoint supporting member is composed of a large number of block bodies that are flexibly connected together by concave-convex fittings.

Multijoint cable protection and guide device

There is provided an articulated cable protection and guide apparatus that can securely and stably guide a large number of cables, can assure durability of articulated supporting members that operate between straight and bending postures for a long period of time, and can be easily disassembled and assembled at a machine frame-side stationary end-side connector unit or at a moving end-side connector unit. The articulated cable protection and guide apparatus comprises: a stationary end-side connector unit for affixing each stationary end of articulated supporting members, cables and a flexible belt member integrally to a machine frame-side stationary end area; a moving end-side connector unit for affixing each moving end of the articulated supporting members, cables and a flexible belt member integrally to a movable-side moving end area.

Articulated cable protection and guide apparatus

A cable protection and guide device in which wear damage in mounting portions of a mounting bracket is avoided and the mounting bracket is reliably and strongly mounted so that the cable is smoothly protected and guided. The mounting operation of the bracket is easy. A cable protection and guide device includes a mounting bracket having a mounting hole which surrounds and accommodates a tap bolt. A threaded portionof the tap bolt includes a metallic bushand the length Hof the metallic bushin a bolt inserting direction is shorter than the length Hof the mounting holein a bolt inserting direction.

Cable protection and guide device

A closed type cable or the like protection and guide device that reduces noise generation due to the generation of sliding contact sound during operation prevents entry of fine chips and wear powders of metal into the cable or the like protection and guide device. Scattering of contact wear powders, which are generated by sliding contact between components of the cable or the like protection and guide device, into the operation space can be prevented and a maintenance of the device is reduced. A cable or the like is included in a flexible support to be protected and guided from a fixed end side mounting member toward a movable end side mounting member and the entire outer surface of the flexible support except for an inlet and an outlet of the cable or the like is covered with a heat resistant tubular cloth cover.

Closed type cable or the like protection and guide device

A cable protection and guide device in which the number of parts used is reduced and assembly is simplified. Dust generation and bending fatigue is suppressed so that the cable protection and guide device exhibits excellent form stability of the cable accommodating space. Side plate portions and coupling portions are integrally molded from polyamide fatigue resistant resin into the form of a connecting link module. A polyacetal resin stopper link, which holds and limits the linear position and the bending position by engagement with the connecting link module, is inter-fitted with a coupling portion of the connecting link module by a snap-fit mechanism from the cable accommodating space side.

A tube type cable protection and guide device in which the device can be easily manufactured by extrusion molding without changing the size of a mold so that devices of different lengths can be made. Smooth linear and flexional movements can be made while sufficiently ensuring dimensional stability and torsional rigidity of the device thus assuring stability of the cable accommodating space. A tube type cable protection and guide device includes integrally molded inner circumferential wall forming portions. The inner wall forming portions are interdigitatedly fitted in a male-female relationship in a longitudinal direction of the sheet forming a flush inner flat surface.

Tube type cable protection and guide device

A cable protection and guide device in which maintenance of cables is easily performed without completely removing a cable accommodating space extension arm from a side plate is disclosed. Inadvertent disengagement of the cable accommodating space extension arm is prevented because the arm strongly engages the side plates of the device. The cable protection and guide device includes a number of pairs of right and left side plates connected to each other. Cable accommodating space extension arms are bridged over the flexional inner circumferential sides of at least one pair of side plates. D-shaped pin hinge shafts in the hinge ends of the arms are detachably interengaged with a groove in one of the side plates and thus permits the arm to pivot with respect to the side plate. Hinge end side locking pawl pieces of the arms are interlocked to the side plates.

A cable protection and guide device in which contact impact noise between adjacent side plates is dispersed. The noise is liable to occur at the time of linear position holding and at the time of flexional position restriction when cables accommodated therein are transmitted or moved from a mounting fixed end toward a mounting movable end. A number of pairs of right and left side plate units () are connected from a mounting fixed end to a mounting movable end and side plate unit comprises a side plate front portion () which is connected to a preceding side plate unit (), a side plate rear portion () which is connected to a subsequent side plate unit (), and a flexible coupling portion () integrally intervened between the side plate front portion () and the side plate rear portion (). The side plate unitincludes an outer circumferential side linear position holding mechanism Xo and an outer circumferential side flexional position restricting mechanism Yo at a side plate front portion () on a flexional outer circumferential side rather than the coupling portion (). The side plate also includes an inner circumferential side flexional position restricting mechanism Yi and an inner circumferential side linear position holding mechanism Xi at a side plate rear portion () on a flexional inner circumferential side rather than the coupling portion ().

A cable protection and guide device having a connected link module enables quick assembly and reduces the number or parts and parts management necessary to form the cable The cable protection and guide device includes a plurality of side plate portions formed by connected link modules each integrally molded with coupling portions. Stopper links each incorporated with the coupling portions on the cable accommodating space side by a snap-fit mechanism limit the flexional angles of motion. Connecting arms interengage the stopper links on the outer and inner flexion inner circumferential sides.

The present invention provides a cable or the like protection and guide device which accommodates a cable or the like while allowing for examination of the cable. Smooth linear and flexional movement is achieved while not compromising the form stability of the cable accommodation space. Partial or local wear is suppressed. The device is made of a synthetic resin and accommodates a cable in a rectangular cable accommodating space. The accommodating space is surrounded by the outer circumferential wall portion, which is openable, a pair of side wall portions, and an inner circumferential wall portion. Inserting protrusion mechanisms, engagement mechanisms, slits, opening windows and flexion restricting piece portions contribute to the stability and usefulness of the device.

Cable or the like protection and guide device

A cable or the like protection and guide device is disclosed which prevents inadvertent disconnection due to repeated flexure. Excellent fatigue resistance is exhibited. A cable or the like protection and guide device in which pairs of side plates are respectively formed of a highly-rigid resin front side plate portion connected to a preceding side plate and a highly-rigid resin rear side plate portion is connected to a subsequent side plate. A flexible fatigue resistant resin coupling portion is interposed between the front side plate portion and the rear side plate portion in an integrated manner by using a using two-color molding.

To provide a cable or the like protection and guide device in which even if link frame bodies receive torsion and deflection during a linear movement or a bending movement, a mutual connection can be reliably maintained and a connection and assembly operation for the link frame bodies is easy and a stable molding accuracy and a small cost load on a molding mold can be obtained. In a cable or the like protection and guide devicein which a large number of rectangular link frame bodieseach comprising a pair of spaced link plates, and connecting platesbridged the pair of link platesrespectively are articulately connected to each other, when said link frame bodiesare connected to each other in a linear state, a link disconnection preventing groove portionengaged with an inner circumferential side edgeof the link plateis provided on the both left and right endsof the connecting plate bridged over the bending inner circumferential side of said link frame body, respectively, and when said link frame bodiesare connected to each other in a bending state, a link disconnection preventing cutaway portionengaged with an inner circumferential side edgeof the link plateis provided on the both left and right endsof the connecting plate bridged over the bending inner circumferential side of said link frame body, respectively.

A skate disposed between facing portions of a folded, flexible, cable guide includes a first set of rollers which contact only one of the two facing portions, and a second set of rollers which contact only the other of the two facing portions. A turning member mounted at an end of the skate is in rolling contact with the bent portion of the guide.

Skate unit for cable protection and guide device

Breakage in a coupling portion of a side plate subjected to repeated flexure is prevented by using fatigue resistant resin materials in the side plate. The coupling portion of the side plate due is subjected to repeated flexure. Excellent fatigue resistance is realized. The fatigue resistant resin material is selected from the group of an elastomer&#x2014;or rubber component&#x2014;compounded polyamide resin and polybutylene terephthalate resin. The rubber component is selected from the group of ethylene-propylene rubber (EPDM), nitrile rubber (NBR) and butyl rubber (IIR).

A cable protection and guide device is disclosed which can reliably protect and guide cables without increasing and decreasing the width between link plates even if the height of the link plates of the cable protection and guide device is increased. The cable protection and guide device includes a number of link frame bodies each comprising a pair of right and left spaced link plates and upper and lower connecting rods respectively bridged on upper edge and lower edges of the link plates are connected to each other in the longitudinal direction of the device while restricting a flexion radius to a fixed value. A central connecting rod connects the pair of link plates at substantially the center portion along the height direction of the link plate. The central connecting rod is integrally molded with the pair of link plates.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Masaaki Ikeda