The increase in cable fed entertainment and the potential for broadband cable fed communications has led to a great deal of road digging, disruption and cost in order to lay the required cables for services to individual properties.

An object of this invention is to provide a cable management system whereby subsequent cable laying operations can be carried out with minimal disruption.

According to this invention a cable management system involves use of blocks through which cables can be fed, the blocks being formable into an arrangement to direct the cable from one point to another.

The blocks may take various forms. A preferred cable management block has a base with a channel formed therein and a removable cover for closing the channel. The channel may have one or more side channels off the first channel.

The cover will preferably be lockable to the base, such as, for example by means of bolts through the cover into the base. The heads of such bolts may be recessed into the cover. Other suitable locking means to prevent unauthorised removal of the cover may be used in the invention.

The base and cover may be shaped to have complementary mating faces to aid location of the cover on the base. For example, the base may have a top formed of facets extending upwardly towards each other and the cover may have a correspondingly shaped bottom face. The covers are preferably salable to the bases in weatherproof fashion, such as by provision of sealing strips between mating surfaces, such as of rubber or synthetic elastomeric material.

Preferably blocks of the invention will be connectable end to end and such connections may also be made weatherproof.

Some blocks for use in the present invention may simply have a through passage from one end to the other, so that cables can be fed through the passage. The present invention envisages a cable management system in which those blocks together with blocks having removable covers will be used as required.

It is envisaged that blocks of the invention will be usable to form a or part of a paved surface. Thus, top surfaces of blocks of the invention may have surface decoration and/or colouring to enable them to complement an existing paving layout or be usable to form a new integrated paving design. The blocks of the invention may also be provided in different sizes and with different shapes in plan view.

The cable management blocks of the invention may be formed of any suitable material. Ideally the material used will be durable for blocks that are also to be used in forming a road or path surface. The blocks may, for example, be cast in concrete, possibly with internal reinforcement, such as of steel rod or mesh. Alternatively, the blocks may be formed in stone.

This invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 shows a first cable management block according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an alternative cover for the cable management block of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows stages in the use of the cable management block of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a simple cable management system; and Figure 5 shows part of a large-scale cable management system according to the invention.

Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, a cable management block 10 has a base 12 and a cover 14 both of which may be cast in concrete or formed from stone. The base 10 has a channel 16 along its length. The base has sides 18,20 that are initially at right angles to the base and then sloping towards the channel 16. Sloping part 22 of the side 18 has a cutout 24 formed therein providing a side entry to the channel 16. The base also has two boltholes 26 therein for receiving locking bolts (not shown) for the cover 14.

The locking bolts preferably have keyed heads to limit removal thereof to authorised personnel.

The cover 14 has a base 30 shaped to complement the top of the base 12, so that when the cover is in place on the base, it forms a rectangular block.

The cover has a cutout 32 in its side 34 to correspond with the cutout 24 of the base12 providing the side entry to the channel 16. The cutout 32 is provided with a grommet 36 (see Figure 4) of rubber or other suitable material to provide a waterproof seal around a cable or cables fed through the side entry. The cover 14 also has two boltholes 38 for the locking bolts in corresponding positions to the boltholes in the base 12. The boltholes 38 are stepped at 40 to provide seats for the bolt heads.

In Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, an alternative cover 50 is shown, which is the same as cover 14 except that there is no provision of a side entry.

Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings show steps involved in creating a cable management system using blocks 10 either with covers 14 or 50. Bases 12 are laid out in a desired pattern, cables 60 are then placed in the channels 16 and 24/32 and the covers 14 or 50 fixed in place on the bases by means of the locking bolts.

Finally, in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings, a typical residential cable management layout is shown. A main cable 66 is shown running through larger blocks 10 adjacent to pavement 70. Branches 72 off the main cable 66 run to each residence through smaller cable management blocks 10'.