Typically in multi-story or high-rise buildings there are wiring closets which provide a continuous shaft between floors for the long hanging electrical cables which extend from the bottom to the top of the building. In the case of telephone lines, a cable which may contain up to 3600 pairs of wires can be about 31/2 inches in diameter and weigh approximately 8 lbs. per lineal foot. Thus, it has been necessary to devise some type of support arrangement that could be installed at least about every fourth floor so that the cummulative weight of the cable extending downwardly from upper floors is not imposed on terminal connections or the wires.
In the past, to keep the cable from descending and supporting the same, a rather complicated, time consuming and hard to install arrangement had been used. Such arrangement involved using a flat woven wire strip that could be wrapped around the cable forming a tube that would be seamed together by a rod inserted through the adjoining looped ends of the wire strip. The formed wire tube would then be taped temporarily to the cable and the lower end of the tube was further fastened with several hose clamps to prevent it from slipping. The upper end of the tube would then be connected to a ceiling or wall with a length of wire and when the weight of the cable through the attachment wire pulled on the tube, the diameter of the tube tended to become reduced to tightly grip the cable. Of course, the required action to cause the tube to squeeze against the cable allowed the cable to lower at least to some extent before making it taut.