Reversible protective cable chute with cable shield and integral cover plate
A reversible one-piece protective cable chute for routing low voltage cables through walls. The protective cable chute includes a one piece cable shield including a cover plate with a cable shield extending therefrom. The protective cable chute includes two-way mounting apertures therein for mounting directly to a conventional electrical box or conventional low voltage frame. The mounting apertures include a pattern and spacing to match the bores of the electrical box or low voltage frame. An opening and passageway in the protective cable chute are capable of receiving low voltage cables for the purpose of routing them through the wall and into an adjacent room. The cable chute is capable of being mounted to an electrical box or low voltage frame in any of four orientations selectable by the installer.
1. A reversible one-piece protective cable chute for routing cables through a wall comprising:
a cover plate including a first end and a second end and a front surface and a rear surface;
an opening in said cover plate;
a cable shield extending outward from said front surface of said cover plate, said cable shield including two substantially triangular shaped sidewalls and an outer wall, said outer wall and said sidewalls extending to a planar edge;
a cable opening defined by said planar edge;
two-way apertures aligned along a vertical axis through said cover plate, said two-way apertures of a spacing and pattern to match the bores of a conventional electrical box or low voltage frame;
said two-way apertures including countersunk areas on said front surface and on said rear surface of said cover plate; and
a raised periphery around the outer edge of said cover plate, said raised periphery defining a recessed area on each of said front surface and said rear surface of said cover plate.
2. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 including
a thin interior plate portion on said cover plate interior of said raised periphery; and
said recessed area on said front surface of said cover plate extending between said outward extending cable shield and said raised periphery of said cover plate, said recessed area on said rear surface of said cover plate extending between said opening and said raised periphery of said cover plate.
3. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein
said cover plate is oriented vertically; and
said planar edge of said cable shield is angled between 5 and 9 degrees above a horizontal axis extending from said cover plate.
4. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein
said cable shield includes a planar horizontal portion extending from said front surface of said cover plate; and
said cable shield includes a vertical lip extending downward from said outer wall.
5. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein said cable opening is a trapezoidal shape.
6. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 5 wherein said sidewalls of said cable shield slope inward at an angle with respect to an axis perpendicular to said front surface of said cover plate.
7. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 6 wherein said angle of said sidewalls of said cable shield with respect to the axis perpendicular to said front surface of said cover plate is between 10 and 20 degrees.
8. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 2 wherein said recessed area is recessed a depth of at least 0.065 inch from said raised periphery of said cover plate.
9. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein
said cover plate includes two of said two-way apertures; and
said two-way apertures are aligned along a vertical axis through said cover plate.
10. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein
said cover plate includes four of said two-way apertures; and
two of said two-way apertures are aligned along a first vertical axis through said cover plate and two-way apertures are aligned along a second vertical axis through said cover plate.
11. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein said cable chute is mounted to a single-gang electrical box or single-gang low voltage frame.
12. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein said cable chute is mounted to a two-gang electrical box or two-gang low voltage frame.
13. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein said cable chute may be mounted to an electrical box on a wall in any one of four orientations.
14. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 13 wherein said four orientations include
a first orientation with said cable shield extending outward from said electrical box and said cable opening facing downward;
a second orientation with said cable shield extending outward from said electrical box and said cable opening facing upward;
a third orientation with said cable shield extending inward from said electrical box and said cable opening facing downward; and
a fourth orientation with said cable shield extending inward from said electrical box and said cable opening facing upward.
15. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 1 wherein said reversible one-piece protective cable chute is molded in one piece of plastic.
16. The reversible one-piece protective cable chute of claim 15 wherein said plastic is selected from the group including polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene, and polyethylene.