Corner post harness assembly apparatus

Claim 1

Harness assembly apparatus for maintaining close grouping of a plurality of flexible elongate objects such as wires as the objects make a turn and are formed into a bundle, said apparatus comprising: retaining means for releasably holding the objects as they make a turn; and support means adapted to be mounted on a panelboard or the like and supporting the retaining means, said retaining means comprising generally rigid abutment means for engaging said bundle and defining the turn therein and further comprising a first arm captively held by said support means and movable relative to said support means between a retaining position wherein said arm is disposed above said abutment means and extends at least partially outside the turn of said bundle and a release position wherein the arm is disposed substantially inside the turn, at least a portion of said abutment means being responsive to movement of said arm towards its release position to move away from the turn of said bundle as defined by said abutment means when said arm is in its retaining position whereby after the objects are formed into said bundle, the bundle can readily be removed from said apparatus after moving said arm towards its release position, said support means comprising a mounting base for securement to said panelboard and further comprising a pair of spaced generally parallel legs extending from said base for holding said retaining means, said retaing means being integral and comprising a generally U-shaped channel having a generally concave inner surface engaging said bundle, said channel further including said first arm, a second arm extending generally parallel to said first arm, and a web portion joining said arms and including a recessed lip disposed between said lips, said lip being pivotally carried between said legs, said web portion including a slot extending generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of said web portion, said mounting base including biasing means comprising a cantilever beam spring extending between said legs and into said slot biasing said first arm to its retaining position wherein it extends generally parallel to said panelboard, said first arm being pivotable to its release position wherein it extends generally normal to said panelboard.