Title: Techniques for controlling movement of a set of cables
Abstract: An electronic cabinet has an electronic cabinet frame, and a chassis which slidably mounts to the electronic cabinet frame. The chassis is configured to house electronic equipment. The electronic cabinet further has a cable guide which is configured to guide movement of a set of cables which connects to the electronic equipment. The cable guide includes an arm member that defines a set of support portions and a set of hinges. The set of support portions and the set of hinges are integrated together to form a contiguous, unitary body which is configured to support the set of cables. The cable guide further includes a first attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the electronic cabinet frame, and a second attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the chassis.
Patent Number: 7,022,916 Issued on 04/04/2006 to Cavanaugh, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Cavanaugh; Barry (Douglas, MA);
Goulet; Gary (Pascoag, RI)
|
| Assignee:
|
EMC Corporation (Hopkinton, MA)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
442805 |
| Filed:
|
May 21, 2003 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
174/72A; 174/135; 174/100; 361/683; 361/625; 361/826 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
G05K 7/02 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
174/72A,135,100
361/683,825,826
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lee; Jinhee
Attorney, Agent or Firm: BainwoodHuang, Huang, Esq.; David E.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cable guide, comprising:
an arm member that defines a set of support portions and a set of hinges, the
set of support portions and the set of hinges being integrated together to form
a contiguous, unitary body which is configured to control movement of a set of cables;
a first attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to an electronic cabinet
frame; and
a second attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to a chassis that slidably
mounts to the electronic cabinet frame;
wherein the set of support portions includes:
a first lateral portion,
a second lateral portion, and
a middle portion which is (i) coupled to the first lateral portion by a first
hinge and (ii) coupled to the second lateral portion by a second hinge, the first
and second lateral portions being configured to pivot relative to the middle portion
substantially within a common plane;
wherein the contiguous, unitary body formed by the set of support portions and
the set of hinges includes homogenous plastic material which provides resiliency
and flexibility at the set of hinges to enable the support portions to pivot within
the common plane; and
wherein the second attachment subsystem includes a bracket which is configured
to connect the arm member to the chassis, and wherein the bracket defines multiple
cable slots to direct cable passage along multiple pathways.
2. The cable guide of claim 1 wherein the arm member further includes:
a set of cable retainers which is integrated with the set of support portions
and the set of hinges to form the contiguous, unitary body which is configured
to control movement of the set of cables.
3. The cable guide of claim 1 wherein the homogenous plastic material is substantially
polypropylene; and wherein each of the first lateral portion, the second lateral
portion and the middle portion has an I-beam cross-sectional shape to provide stiffness
to that portion.
4. The cable guide of claim 1 wherein the set of support portions of the arm
member further includes an end portion, and wherein the first attachment subsystem
includes a set of screws which threads into the end portion to retain the set of
screws with the end portion.
5. The cable guide of claim 1 wherein the bracket is formed from sheet metal
stock having a first thickness; and wherein the bracket defines, at each cable
slot, a grommet having a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness.
6. The cable guide of claim 1 wherein the first lateral portion and the second
lateral portion are configured to move toward each other and away from each other,
and wherein the cable guide is configured to hold the set of cables between the
first lateral portion and the second lateral portion when the first lateral portion
and the second lateral portion move toward each other.
7. An electronic cabinet, comprising:
an electronic cabinet frame;
a chassis which slidably mounts to the electronic cabinet frame, the chassis
being configured to support electronic equipment; and
a cable guide having:
an arm member that defines a set of support portions and a set of hinges, the
set of support portions and the set of hinges being integrated together to form
a contiguous, unitary body which is configured to guide movement of a set of cables
configured to connect to the electronic equipment;
a first attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the electronic cabinet
frame; and
a second attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the chassis;
wherein the set of support portions of the arm member of the cable guide includes:
a first lateral portion,
a second lateral portion, and
a middle portion which is (i) coupled to the first lateral portion by a first
hinge and (ii) coupled to the second lateral portion by a second hinge, the first
and second lateral portions being configured to pivot relative to the middle portion
substantially within a common plane;
wherein the contiguous, unitary body formed by the set of support portions and
the set of hinges includes homogenous plastic material which provides resiliency
and flexibility at the set of hinges to enable the support portions to pivot within
the common plane; and
wherein the second attachment subsystem of the cable guide includes a bracket
which is configured to connect the arm member to the chassis, and wherein the bracket
defines multiple cable slots to direct cable passage along multiple pathways.
8. The electronic cabinet of claim 7 wherein the arm member of the cable guide
further includes:
a set of cable retainers which is integrated with the set of support portions
and the set of hinges to form the contiguous, unitary body which is configured
to guide movement of the set of cables.
9. The electronic cabinet of claim 7 wherein the homogenous plastic material
is substantially polypropylene; and wherein each of the first lateral portion,
the second lateral portion and the middle portion has an I-beam cross-sectional
shape to provide stiffness to that portion.
10. The electronic cabinet of claim 7 wherein the set of support portions of
the arm member further includes an end portion, and wherein the first attachment
subsystem includes a set of screws which threads into the end portion to retain
the set of screws with the end portion.
11. The electronic cabinet of claim 7 wherein the bracket is formed from sheet
metal stock having a first thickness; and
wherein the bracket defines, at each cable slot, a grommet having a second thickness
that is greater than the first thickness.
12. The electronic cabinet of claim 7 wherein the first lateral portion and the
second lateral portion are configured to move toward each other and away from each
other, and wherein the cable guide is configured to hold the set of cables between
the first lateral portion and the second lateral portion when the first lateral
portion and the second lateral portion move toward each other.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical electronic cabinet includes a frame, chassis (e.g., housings, card
cages,
etc.) that mount to the frame to support electronic equipment (e.g., general purpose
computer equipment, equipment for a data storage system, network equipment, etc.),
and panels (e.g., side panels, doors, front panels, etc.) that attach to the frame
to protect the electronic equipment. Some electronic cabinets are available in
standard sizes such as a 19-inch equipment rack which enables attachment of standard-sized
19-inch chassis in a vertically-tiered manner within an interior cavity defined
by the frame.
One conventional electronic cabinet includes a chassis that mounts onto a set
of sliding rails (e.g., guide rollers) fastened to the cabinet frame to enable
the chassis to slide out the front of the cabinet from the interior cavity, and
back into the interior cavity. Such a cabinet provides convenient access to the
electronic equipment housed within the chassis. For example, a technician performing
a maintenance or upgrade procedure can easily pull the chassis out of the interior
cavity in order to probe or replace particular circuitry supported by the chassis,
and subsequently push the chassis back into the interior cavity when the procedure
is complete.
For the above-described conventional electronic cabinet, cables (e.g., wires
carrying data signals and power supply signals, fiber optic cables carrying fiber
optic signals, etc.) typically reside at the back of the cabinet. In particular,
the cables typically extend toward the back of the chassis from other areas of
the electronic cabinet (e.g., from power supplies or power buses, from other chassis,
from external locations, etc.).
To prevent tangling and uncontrolled movement of the cables, the above-described
electronic cabinet includes a metallic cable carrier which restricts movement of
the cables when the technician slides the chassis into and out of the cabinet frame.
The metallic cable carrier includes a series of metallic beams and metallic hinges
that extends from a location on the cabinet frame to a location on the slidable
chassis. The metallic cable carrier further includes individual clips which attach
to the metallic beams and which hold the cables onto the metallic beams. When adding
a new cable to the metallic cable carrier, the technician opens each clip, inserts
a portion of the new cable into that clip, and closes that clip to secure that
portion of the new cable to the carrier.
When the technician slides the chassis out of the cabinet frame, the metallic
cable carrier elongates and thus moves the cables from contracted positions to
straightened-out positions in a smooth and orderly manner that allows the cables
to remain connected the electronic equipment within the chassis. In particular,
the metallic beams pivot about the metallic hinges within a common vertical plane
to provide controlled and organized movement of the cables thus minimizing the
chance of unnecessarily stressing the cables in a manner that would result in cable
disconnection or perhaps result in damage to the cables. When the technician slides
the chassis back into the interior cavity, the metallic cable carrier folds up
thus returning the cables back to their original contracted positions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Unfortunately, there are deficiencies to the above-described conventional
electronic cabinet which uses a metallic cable carrier having metallic beams and
metallic hinges. For example, each metallic beam and metallic hinge is a separate
component that requires assembly relative to the other separate components in order
to form the conventional metallic cable carrier. As a result, the cost to manufacture
each individual component and to subsequently assemble the components to form the
conventional metallic cable carrier makes the conventional metallic cable carrier
somewhat expensive and difficult to manufacture.
Additionally, during installation of the cables onto the conventional
metallic cable carrier, the technician must tediously and meticulously open and
close individual clips in order to secure the cables to the carrier. Such a process
is time consuming and thus increases the cost of assembling the final electronic system.
Furthermore, since the conventional metallic cable carrier is composed
of many parts (e.g., separate metallic beams, hinges, clips etc.), the carrier
is susceptible to many potential points of failure. For example, it is possible
for a clip or a hinge to inadvertently detach from a metal beam due to improper
assembly or due to an accidental force applied to the carrier at the back of the
electronic cabinet. Such detachment can result in improper operation of the carrier
when the chassis slides out of or back into place. Moreover, complete detachment
of a carrier component (e.g., the axle of a hinge) could cause damage to another
part of the electronic system (e.g., a metallic part detaching from the carrier
could short other electronic circuitry).
In contrast to the above-described conventional electronic cabinet which uses
a metallic cable carrier having individual metallic beams and hinges, embodiments
of the invention are directed to techniques for guiding movement of a set of cables
(i.e., one or more cables) in an electronic cabinet using a flexible arm member
having a set of support portions and a set of hinges which are integrated together
to form a contiguous, unitary body (e.g., a solid piece of homogenous plastic material).
Utilization of such an arm member provides controlled movement of the set of cables
but enables a reduction in manufacturing costs (e.g., less parts and less time
needed for assembly) and an improvement in reliability (e.g., less possible points
of failure).
One embodiment of the invention is directed to an electronic cabinet having an
electronic cabinet frame, and a chassis which slidably mounts to the electronic
cabinet frame. The chassis is configured to house electronic equipment (e.g., circuit
boards for a general purpose computer or a data storage system, etc.). The electronic
cabinet further includes a cable guide which is configured to guide movement of
a set of cables which connects to the electronic equipment. The cable guide includes
an arm member that defines a set of support portions and a set of hinges. The set
of support portions and the set of hinges are integrated together to form a contiguous,
unitary body which is configured to support the set of cables. The cable guide
further includes a first attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the electronic
cabinet frame, and a second attachment subsystem to attach the arm member to the
chassis. Such a cable guide is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture,
but nevertheless provides robust and reliable control over movement of the set
of cables.
In one arrangement, the arm member of the cable guide further includes a set
of
cable retainers which is integrated with the set of support portions and the set
of hinges to form the contiguous, unitary body which is configured to guide movement
of the set of cables. In this arrangement, each retainer is essentially an extension
of the contiguous, unitary body (e.g., a clip, a hook, a U-shaped or L-shaped portion,
etc.) which, in combination with an associated support portion, defines a bough
or trough into which the set of cables can reside. Accordingly, this arrangement
uses fewer separate components than a conventional metallic cable carrier having
individual metallic beams, metallic hinges and clips.
In one arrangement, the contiguous, unitary body includes homogenous plastic
material
(e.g., polypropylene) which provides resiliency and flexibility at the set of hinges
to enable the support portions to pivot relative to each other within a common
plane. In this arrangement, certain support portions preferably have I-beam-shaped
cross-sections to provide stiffness to those portions. Accordingly, the arm member
is capable of being manufactured in a reliable and inexpensive process such as
supplying molten plastic polymer into a mold that defines the particular features
of the arm member (e.g., an injection molding process).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will
be apparent from the following description of particular embodiments of the invention,
as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters
refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily
to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a top cross-sectional view of an electronic system which is suitable
for use by the invention when a cable guide of the electronic system is in a compressed position.
FIG. 2 is a top cross-sectional view of the electronic system of FIG. 1 when
the cable guide is in an extended position.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the cable guide of FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 4 is a detailed perspective view of the cable guide when in the compressed position.
FIG. 5 is a detailed perspective view of the cable guide when in the extended position.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a procedure for manufacturing the cable guide of FIGS.
1 through 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments of the invention are directed to techniques for guiding movement
of a set of cables (i.e., one or more cables) in an electronic system using an
arm member having a set of support portions and a set of hinges which are integrated
together to form a contiguous, unitary body (e.g., a solid piece of homogenous
plastic material). Utilization of such an arm member within the electronic system
provides controlled movement of the set of cables but enables a reduction in manufacturing
costs (e.g., less parts and time required for assembly) and an improvement in reliability
(e.g., less potential points of failure).
FIGS. 1 and 2 show cross-sectional top views of an electronic system
20
which is suitable for use by the invention. The electronic system
20 includes,
among other things, electronic equipment
22 (e.g., circuitry for a data
storage system, a general purpose computer, network equipment, individual electronic
devices, specialized electronics, combinations thereof, etc.) and an electronic
cabinet
24 which supports the electronic equipment
22. The electronic
cabinet
24 includes an electronic cabinet frame
26, a chassis
28
(e.g., a housing, a carrier, a card cage, etc.), a slidable chassis mount
30
(e.g., low friction sliding rails, ball-bearing rollers, etc.), a cable guide
32,
and a set of cables
34 (one or more cables
34 even though only one
cable
34 is shown for simplicity). In one arrangement, the electronic cabinet
24 is a standard-sized 19-inch rack mount assembly which supports a variety
of equipment in a vertically-tiered manner.
The frame
26 of the electronic cabinet
24 includes rigid members
36 (e.g., vertical and horizontal steel trusses) which define an interior
space
38, and support the various parts of the electronic system
20.
For example, the frame
26 includes vertical rigid members
36-A,
36-B,
36-C, and
36-D which substantially define the height of the cabinet
24 in the Z-direction in FIGS. 1 and 2. In particular, the vertical rigid
members
36-A,
36-B define a front
40 of the cabinet
24.
Similarly, the vertical rigid members
36-C,
36-D define a back
42
of the cabinet
24. It should be understood that the vertical rigid members
36-A,
36-B,
36-C, and
36-D are shown cross-sectionally
since FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional top views of the electronic system
20.
It should be further understood that the rigid members
36 of the frame
26
are capable of supporting other items including external panels (e.g., doors, sides,
covers, etc.), power supplies, backplanes, etc., which are not shown in FIGS. 1
and 2 for simplicity.
The chassis
28 supports the electronic equipment
22. The slidable
chassis mount
30 interconnects the chassis
28 with the frame
26
and enables the chassis
28 to move relative to the frame
26. For
example, FIG. 1 shows the chassis
28 residing within the interior space
38 defined by the frame
26. In contrast, FIG. 2 shows the chassis
28 substantially extending from the interior space
38 after a user
has pulled the chassis
28 out the front
40 of the cabinet
24
in a direction
44 (see the arrow
44 extending in the Y-direction
in FIG. 1). When the chassis
28 is in the extended position as shown in
FIG. 2, the user has improved access to the electronic equipment
22 within
the chassis
28 and thus is capable of more-easily performing particular
servicing procedures on the electronic equipment
22 (e.g., testing or probing
particular circuitry, replacing or upgrading a circuit board, etc.). When the user
is through accessing the electronic equipment
22, the user returns the chassis
28 to its original position by pushing the chassis
28 toward the
frame
26 in a direction opposite the arrow
44 (see FIG. 1).
It should be understood that the cable guide
32 attaches to both the chassis
28 and the frame
26, and robustly and reliably supports the set of
cables
34 within the electronic cabinet
24. In particular, the set
of cables
34 provides connectivity between the electronic equipment
22
(e.g., electrical data and power signals, fiber optic signals, etc.) and other
locations
46 (e.g., internal locations within the electronic cabinet
24,
external locations outside the electronic cabinet
24), and the cable guide
32 holds the set of cables
34 in an organized and stable manner to
prevent the set of cables
34 from failing (e.g., to prevent the cables
34
from becoming tangled and/or disconnected from the electronic equipment
22,
to prevent the cables
34 from sustaining damage when a user accesses the
back
42 of the cabinet
24, etc.).
For example, FIG. 1 shows the cable guide
32 in a compressed, U-shaped
position. Here, the set of cables
34 preferably run along the inner side
of the cable guide
32. Since the cable guide
32 runs along the periphery
of the set of cables
34, the cable guide
32 shields the set of cables
32 against inadvertent forces, e.g., against accidental damage from movement
of a user's hand or a sharp tool.
Additionally, when the user moves the chassis
28 in the direction
of the arrow
44 (see FIG. 1), the cable guide
32 guides movement
of the set of cables
32. In particular, as shown in FIG. 2, the cable guide
32 elongates from the compressed, U-shaped position to an extended position.
As the cable guide
32 elongates, the cable guide
32 guides the set
of cables
34 so that the set of cables
34 transitions to a more-straightened-out
position as shown in FIG. 2. During such a transition, the cable guide
32
maintains the set of cables
34 in a steady and secure manner to prevent
the set of cables
34 from tangling or overstressing in a manner that could
otherwise result in a connectivity failure. That is, the smooth and deliberate
movement of the cable guide
32 and, thus, the set of cables
34, minimizes
the likelihood of the set of cables
34 becoming disconnected or fracturing
as the chassis
28 slides out from the frame
26. Similarly, when the
user later moves the chassis
28 in the direction opposite the arrow
44,
the cable guide
32 transitions the set of cables
34 back to its original
compressed position. In particular, the cable guide
32 folds the set of
cables
34 in a smooth and orderly manner. As a result, the set of cables
34 return to its original position in which it is shielded against external
forces by the cable guide
32 (see FIG. 1).
It should be understood that the cable guide
32 includes an arm member
48 that defines a set of support portions
50 and a set of hinges
52 which are integrated together to form a contiguous, unitary body
54
which is configured to control the movement of the set of cables
34. The
use of such an arm member
48 alleviates the need for many individual components
thus reducing manufacturing costs and minimizing points of failure. That is, in
contrast to conventional metallic cable carriers consisting of separate metallic
components (e.g., metallic beams, metallic hinges, clips, etc.), the cable guide
32 has less individual parts. Accordingly, the cable guide
32 is
simpler and takes less time to assemble. Furthermore, since there are fewer pieces,
there are fewer potential points of failure (e.g., vis-à-vis the conventional
metallic cable carrier in which hinge hardware or the hinges themselves could fail
and break off). Further details of the cable guide
32 will now be provided
with reference to FIGS. 3 through 5.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the cable guide
32. In addition to the
arm member
48, the cable guide
32 includes a first attachment subsystem
60 to attach the arm member
48 to the electronic cabinet frame
26,
and a second attachment subsystem
62 to attach the arm member
48
to the chassis
28. Further details of the first and second attachment subsystems
60,
62 will be provided shortly. As shown in FIG. 3, the arm member
48 includes support portions
50-A,
50-B,
50-C,
50-D,
50-E (collectively, support portions
50), and hinges
52-A,
52-B,
52-C,
52-D (collectively, hinges
52) which are
interleaved together to form a solid, unitary body or member
54. The material
of the arm member
48 is narrower at the hinges
52 to enable the support
portions
50 to pivot relative to each other substantially in a common plane
(also see the X-Y plane in FIGS. 1 and 2). In one arrangement, the body
54
includes homogenous plastic material (e.g., injection molded polypropylene) to
provide suitable durability and flexibility. In one arrangement, each support portion
50 has an I-beam cross-section for enhanced strength.
The first attachment subsystem
60 includes a set of screws
64 (e.g.,
two screws). Each screw
64 has a relatively wide head
66 at one end
(e.g., a Phillips head), a narrower threadless shaft portion
68, and a wider
threaded portion
70 at the other end. Each screw
64 is capable of
threading through a corresponding narrow diameter hole
72 defined in the
end support portion
50-A. The head
66 and threaded portion
70
are wider than the hole
72 thus enabling that screw
64 to "self-retain"
onto the arm member
48 without any need for additional hardware. That is,
the head
66s and the threads of the threaded portions
70 are
wider than the holes
72 thus retaining the screws
60 on the support
portion
50-A. The screws
60 are configured to securely thread into
a portion of the cabinet frame
26 (also see FIGS. 1 and 2) in order to attach
the cable guide
32 to the frame
26. Since the screws
60 are
continuously retained on the support portion
50-A of the arm member
48,
there is no loose hardware involved in attaching the cable guide
32 to the
frame
26.
The second attachment subsystem
62 includes a bracket
74 and a
set of fasteners
76 (e.g., a set of rivets) that securely fastens the bracket
74 to the end support portion
50-E through a set of fastener holes
78 defined in the bracket
74 and a corresponding set of holes defined
in the end support portion
50-E. The bracket
74 further defines a
set of chassis attachment holes
80 through which a set of mounting screws
or posts of the chassis
28 can extend in order to secure the bracket
74
to the chassis
28. In one arrangement, the chassis
28 is pre-configured
with the set of mounting screws or posts, and the chassis attachment holes
78
are generally keyhole-shaped so that there is no loose hardware. For this arrangement,
the user hangs the bracket
74 onto heads of the screws or posts by inserting
the heads through the chassis attachment holes
80. The user then tightens
the screws or posts to secure the bracket
74 to the chassis
28. Accordingly,
there is no loose hardware involved in attaching the cable guide
32 to the
chassis
28.
In one arrangement, the electronic system
20 utilizes multiple cable guides
32 (e.g., a first cable guide
32 that mounts adjacent the vertical
rigid member
36-C, and a second cable guide that mount adjacent the vertical
rigid member
36-D, also see FIG. 1) in order to guide movement of more cables
34. For this arrangement, the same bracket design is preferably used for
each cable guide
32, i.e., the holes
78 are preferably keyhole-shaped
in both directions (i.e., there is a small notch at the top and at the bottom of
each chassis attachment hole
80) to enable use of the same bracket design
for both the multiple cable guides
32.
In one arrangement, the bracket
74 defines multiple cable slots or apertures
82 to provide the opportunity for cables
34 to pass in different
directions toward the chassis
28. This arrangement is well-suited for situations
in which connectors are distributed along the back side of the chassis
28.
That is, when a user installs each cable
34, the user is capable of feeding
that cable
34 through either slot
82 depending on the location of
its corresponding connector on the back of the chassis
28. For some cables
34, a particular one of the slots
82 is better suited for retaining
and guiding passage of those cables
34 toward the chassis
28 for
smooth and orderly operation of the cable guide
32.
In one arrangement, the bracket
74 is formed from sheet metal stock having
a first thickness (e.g., an eight of an inch), and the bracket
74 defines,
at each cable slot
82, a grommet
88 having a second thickness that
is greater than the first thickness. A suitable process for manufacturing the grommets
88 is to bend over portions of the sheet metal. The resulting grommets
88
provide a wider and less-sharp bend radius than the original metal stock in order
to minimize the possibility of snagging or cutting the cables
34 passing
through the slots
82.
As further shown in FIG. 3, the arm member
48 further includes a set of
cable retainers
84. Each cable retainer
84 extends toward the inside
region
86 defined by the arm member
48 when the arm member
48
is in the compressed position (also see FIG. 1). Accordingly, the cable retainers
84 hold the cables
34 on the inner side of the arm member
48
thus enabling the arm member
48 to protect the cables
34 against
external forces which could otherwise damage the cables
34, e.g., damage
from inadvertent movement of a user's hand or tool. By way of example only, the
cable retainers
48 are U-shaped with a slot opening at the top to enable
the user to slip the cables
34 therein. Accordingly, once the cables
34
are installed within the cable retainers
84, gravity prevents the cables
34 from inadvertently falling out of the cable guide
32. Moreover,
the user does not need to open and close any clips as is required by the earlier-described
conventional metallic cable carrier which uses individual separate clips to hold
cables in place.
In one arrangement, the cable retainers
84 are evenly distributed along
the support members
50 every few inches (e.g., 2 to 5 inches apart). By
way of example only, the support member
50-B supports three cable retainers
84, the support member
50-D supports three cable retainers
84,
and the support member
50-C which interconnects the support members
50-B
and
50-D supports one cable retainer
84.
In one arrangement, the cable retainers
84 are integrated with the set
of support portions
50 and the set of hinges
52 to form the contiguous,
unitary body
54 of the arm member
48 (i.e., a single, solid piece
of polypropylene). In this arrangement, in contrast to conventional metal carriers
which include an assembly of individual metal beams and hinges fastened together
using separate hardware), the arm member
48 is manufactured as one piece
and thus does not require further time or effort to assembly. This enables manufacture
of the cable guide
32 to be less expensive. Furthermore, the cable guide
32 has fewer separate parts vis-à-vis the conventional metal cable
carrier so that when the cable guide
32 is in operation, there is less likelihood
of a part becoming detached and failing into other equipment. In particular, since
the arm member
48 is preferably made of non-conductive plastic material,
there is no possibility that the arm member
48 can form a short between
electrical connections.
FIG. 4 shows the cable guide
32 in the compressed position. This is the
position of the cable guide
32 when the chassis
28 is fully disposed
within the interior space
38 defined by the cabinet frame
26 (also
see FIG. 1).
When the cable guide
32 is properly installed within the electronic cabinet
frame
26, the bracket
74 fastens to the chassis
28 and the
screws
64 retained by the arm member
48 fasten to the frame
26
(also see FIG. 1). Accordingly, the cable guide
32 opens and closes in response
to movement of the chassis
28 relative to the frame
26. As mentioned
earlier, since the cable retainers
84 extend toward the inner region
86
defined by the arm member
84, the arm member
84 protects the set
of cables
34 which reside within the cable retainers
84 against external forces.
FIG. 5 shows the cable guide in a more-extended position. This is the position
of the cable guide
32 when the chassis
28 extends out from the front
40 of the cabinet frame
26 (also see FIG. 2).
It should be understood that, as the chassis
28 moves from one position
to another relative to the frame
26, the cable guide
32 robustly
and reliably holds the set of cables
34 in a well-organized and safe manner.
Accordingly, there is little or no likelihood of a cable
34 improperly stressing
or failing. In particular, it is unlikely that any cable
34 will disconnect
from a connector or plug, or that any cable
34 will abnormally bend or fracture.
Further details of the cable guide
32 will now be provided with reference
to FIG. 6.
FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a procedure
100 which is performed by a manufacturer
when making the cable guide
32 of FIGS. 3 through 5. In step
102,
the manufacturer provides the arm member
48 having the set of support portions
50, the set of hinges
52 and the set of cable retainers
84.
As mentioned earlier, the various portions
50,
52,
84 of the
arm member
84 are integrated together to form a contiguous, unitary body
which is configured to control movement of the set of cables
32. A process
which is suitable for forming the arm member
48 is molding the arm member
48 from molten plastic material (e.g., supplying molten polypropylene material
into a mold using an injection molding process). The resulting non-conductive arm
member
48 provides flexibility, resiliency and durability which is suitable
controlling movement of the set of cables
34 when used in the cable guide
32.
In step
104, the manufacturer connects the arm member
48 to the
first attachment subsystem
60 which is configured to attach to an electronic
cabinet frame of the electronic cabinet. In particular, the manufacturer threads
the screws
64 onto the support portion
50-A of the arm member
48
(also see FIG. 3).
In step
106, the manufacturer connects the arm member
48 to the
second attachment subsystem
62 which is configured to attach to the chassis
28. Here, the manufacturer secures the bracket
74 to the support
portion
50-E using the fasteners
76. In one arrangement, the fasteners
76 are rivets, and the manufacturer rigidly joins the arm member
48
and the bracket
74 using the rivets.
The resulting cable guide
32 is a reliable and well-designed means for
guiding a set of cables
34. The use of the arm member
48 enables
the cable guide
32 to be manufactured at low cost and in a manner that requires
minimal subsequent time and effort to complete assembly. Furthermore, since there
are less separate components than conventional metal cable carriers, there are
fewer potential points of failure in which a part can detach and cause damage in
another portion of an electronic system.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references
to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
For example, it should be understood that the cable guide
32 was described
above as moving substantially within a horizontal plane by way of example only.
In other applications, the cable guide
32 is well-suited for movement in
other orientations such as a vertical plane, a plane which is neither substantially
horizontal or vertical, etc.
Additionally, it should be understood that, in other arrangements,
the arm member
48 of the cable guide
32 is capable of moving in more
than a single, common plane. For example, in some arrangements, the hinges
52
are oriented relative to the support portions
50 so that the arm member
48 moves in multiple planes in response to movement of the chassis
28
relative to the frame
26 (e.g., movement in two planes, movement in more
than two planes, etc.).
Furthermore, it should be understood that the attachment subsystems
60,
62 were described above as being screws
64 and a bracket
74 by way of example only. Other attachment mechanisms are suitable for
use as well such as grooved or notched interlocking members, captivating teeth
which impinge on the support portions
50, etc. Such modifications and enhancements
are intended to belong to various embodiments of the invention.
*
