Lay-in wireway

Details Lay-in wireway Lay-in wireway

2000-02-04

2001-04-17

Brinson, Patrick (Department: 3752)

Pipes and tubular conduits

Joined sections

C138S158000, C285S121200, C174S068300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06216746

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lay-in wireway, and in particular to an easy to assemble covered wireway.
2. Prior Art
Wireways are well known and used in a variety of industrial type environments. Wireways receive cables, wiring and other lines to protect them from air laden with dust and other harmful compounds that may damage the components if not protected. In some applications, it is absolutely necessary that the wireway be sealed and fluid-tight to protect the lines which are placed in the wireways. However, depending on the use and the environment, it is not always necessary to provide a fluid-tight sealed wireway. Some environments require covering the wiring, but other lines do not necessarily need a fluid-tight seal.
An example of a fluid-tight wireway is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,564. Although this wireway does an excellent job of providing a sealed conduit, it may require extensive assembly time in joining sections and installing the gaskets and other seals necessary to make the wireway fluid-tight. In addition to being more expensive and complicated, the on-site installation time and associated costs may render it a poor choice for some applications. As many installations may require a network of wireways covering great distances, the time and cost of such wireways may be substantial.
Wireways that may not provide the degree of sealing shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,564 are also known. However, such wireways typically include many bolts, screws or other mounting hardware to join individual sections together to create an extended wireway. The time and effort spent in joining the sections may be substantial. Moreover, the wireways typically include added mounting hardware for pivotally mounting the cover.
It can be seen then, that a new improved wireway system is needed. Such a system should provide for a simple design that provides protection from water in industrial and other environments. In addition, such a system should provide a relatively simple design with a minimum number of parts that is quickly and easily installed. Such a wireway should also provide a degree of flexibility for hingedly mounting the cover in a simple manner that allows for orienting the wireway in more than one position for either top loading or front loading. The present invention addresses these, as well as other problems commonly associated with covered lay-in wireways.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a lay-in wireway, and in particular to a wireway having simple construction with easy assembly providing a protection of wiring in outdoor installations against rain and snow or in indoor installations against dripping water.
The wireway of the present invention includes sections that are joined in an end-to-end configuration to form an extended wireway. The sections include channel members with cover members hingedly mounted thereto. The channel members include a front side, bottom sides, and rear side to form a substantially rectangular channel. The front and rear sides include flanges extending laterally outward and angled downward from each edge. The cover members include a center planar portion and angled portions extending over the flanges with a hinge formed in a first angled portion and the rear flange. A retainer device on the front side engages a slot at the front of the cover members. In some embodiments, alternating ones of the cover members include end portions which overlap onto the end of the next adjacent cover member to form a continuous cover.
The channel members are easily cormected by sliding complementary engagement members together. The first end of each channel member includes a connector portion with an outer overlapping section extending to receive an opposite end of an adjacent channel member. The connector portion includes slots formed at an upper edge which receive hooks from the opposite end of the channel member. The second end of the first channel member includes tabs or hooks that slide downward onto the end of the second channel member having slots, so that the channel members are connected and self-aligned. The bottom of the channel members include depressions for spacing the wireway apart from adjacent surfaces and to align with depressions formed in the connector portion. The channel members may also include one or more orifices formed in one of the sides and the bottom receiving connecting hardware to provide a more secure connection and/or for drainage, as may be required.
The cover member hinge includes a first section extending obliquely to the angled portion of the cover and the second section extending rearward and downward relative to the first section. The hinge extends through a slot formed in the flange of the channel member and can be inserted and removed by sliding the hinge outward away from the cover member. When pivoted to an open position, the second section of the hinge engages the side of the channel member to limit further rotation. The hinge also acts as a stop to maintain the cover members in a substantially vertical position when oriented with the open side of the channel member facing upward or in a substantially vertical position when oriented with the open side facing horizontally. The present invention provides for an integral cover member and hinge that does not require additional hardware for mounting to the integrally formed channel member. The cover and hinge are easily assembled without additional hardware and are self-aligning without additional mounting hardware.
These features of novelty and various other advantages which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.


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“Industrial Wireway and Trough” catalog pages, Hoffman Engineering Companypp. 8.00-8.21 (1997).
“Lay-In I Wireway” catalog pages, Hoffman Engineering Company, pp. 7.08-7.17 (1997).
“Wireway” and “Raintight Wireway”,Square D, 10 pgs. (Mar. 1993).

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