Flexible energy conducting guide chain and process for producing same

A flexible guide chain for supporting energy conduits from an attachment point to a movable consuming load, comprising

• a plurality of protective elements, with each protective element comprising a generally flat body member which is formed in one piece by molding or casting a plastic material so as to define a bottom segment having opposite ends which define a transverse direction therebetween and opposite sides which define a longitudinal direction therebetween, a pair of wall segments joined to respective ends of the bottom segment by means of a deformable bridge so as to extend therefrom in the transverse direction and define a remote end spaced from said bottom segment, and a cover segment joined to the remote end of one of the wall segments by means of a deformable bridge so as to extend therefrom in the transverse direction, wherein the segments may be folded from said flat configuration to form a rectangular closed passage, and a mechanical closure for retaining the segments in said form of a rectangular closed passage,
• said plurality of protective elements being serially arranged in the longitudinal direction with the bottom segments of adjacent protective elements being longitudinally aligned and flexibly interconnected, and so that in the longitudinal direction the closed passages of the protective elements form a duct for supporting energy conduits.

A process for producing a foldable protective element useful for forming a flexible guide chain adapted for supporting energy conduits from an attachment point to a moveable consuming load, comprising the steps of

• molding or casting a plastic material to form a generally flat one piece body member which includes a plurality of segments extending serially in a transverse direction and joined to each other by means of a deformable bridge between adjacent segments,
• folding the adjacent segments with respect to each other at the deformable bridge and so that the body member is configured to form a closed passage which extends in a longitudinal direction which is perpendicular to said transverse direction, and
• wherein said molding or casting step includes forming a mechanical closure integral with the body member for retaining the body member in said form of a closed passage.