Device for supporting cables for articulated vehicles
Defined is a device for supporting cables for articulated vehicles, in particular articulated buses, designed for installation above a connecting compartment between two adjacent units and articulated to each other of an articulated vehicle, said device being provided for supporting cables above said connecting compartment between said units, with said device including at least one flexible connecting element fixed to the corresponding ends of said two units, provided with a series of cable-holder elements and each defining at least one receiving seat provided for housing at least one cable, the device further including at least one carriage and a frame, the carriage being supported slidably along said frame and being configured for supporting the flexible connecting element.
1 . A device for supporting at least one cable for articulated vehicles, configured for installation above, or inside, a connecting compartment between two adjacent units articulated to each other of an articulated vehicle, said device configured for supporting the at least one cable above or inside said connecting compartment between said units, said device comprising:
at least one flexible connecting element fixed to corresponding ends of said two units, the at least one flexible connecting element including a series of cable-holder elements with each of the cable-holder elements forming at least one receiving seat configured for housing at least one cable;
at least one carriage and a frame, the at least one carriage being slidably supported along said frame and being configured for supporting said at least one flexible connecting element;
a fork, connected to the at least one flexible connecting element;
the at least one cable having ends thereof fixed to corresponding ends of the fork and connected to the at least one carriage, so that the fork is supported by the at least one carriage.
2 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one carriage is enabled to slide along said frame via a series of first rotatable rollers resting on a horizontal intermediate crosspiece of the frame.
3 . The device according to claim 2 , wherein said first rotatable rollers of the at least one carriage each have a groove formed along an outer circumference of the roller, in which an apex of an intermediate crosspiece of said frame is positioned.
4 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one cable is slidable above a pulley, carried by said at least one carriage, to keep said at least one flexible connecting element substantially lying in a horizontal plane.
5 . The device according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one carriage comprises lobes at a lower part of the at least one carriage and the pulley is rotatably interposed between the lobes.
6 . The device according to claim 1 , and further comprising a further cable, coupled to said at least one carriage by connecting holes made in an upper part of the at least one carriage.
7 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one carriage comprises runners which allow the at least one carriage to slide along a horizontal intermediate crosspiece of the frame by sliding on lateral surfaces of the intermediate crosspiece of the frame.
8 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one flexible connecting element is formed by a series of plates connected to each other by interposing deformable laminar elements, configured to allow elastic deformation of said at least one flexible connecting element.
9 . The device according to claim 8 , wherein the cable-holder elements are joined to the respective plates of said at least one flexible connecting element.
10 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein said cable-holder elements joined to respective plates each comprise at least one U-shaped flat segment forming the respective at least one receiving seat.
11 . The device according to claim 10 , wherein said U-shaped flat segment includes vertical branches and is joined via one of the vertical branches to a corresponding plate.
12 . The device according to claim 8 , wherein said deformable laminar elements each comprise at least one deformable plate, joined to the corresponding plates.
13 . The device according to claim 12 , wherein said deformable laminar elements are joined to the corresponding plates by fasteners, which selectively pass through corresponding holes made in said plates.
14 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one flexible connecting element has a length greater than a minimum distance between the corresponding ends of said two units and extends along a curvilinear path.
15 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the frame is shaped as an inverted “U”, fixed resting on terminal ends of respective vertical branches on a load-bearing structure positioned above said connecting compartment and integral with a platform for connecting between the two units.
16 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one flexible connecting element is fixed to the two units at the respective ends of said two units with rigid elements, positioned above, or inside, said two units.
17 . An articulated vehicle, comprising:
the device according to claim 1 ;
the two units, connected and adjacent to each other, separated by the connecting compartment,
the device being positioned above, or inside, the connecting compartment between the two units,
wherein said at least one flexible connecting element is positioned above each of said two units, rigidly connected to the two units at respective ends of the at least one flexible connecting element.
18 . The articulated vehicle according to claim 17 , where the articulated vehicle is a bus.