Abstract:
An inexpensive, flexible cable management device is constructed from a thin sheet of flexible material by cutting slits or openings in the material configured to efficiently and compactly route cables within an electrical system. Information such as assembly instructions and wiring diagrams may be printed on the device, and adhesive may be applied to the device to ease installation. The cable management device may be bent to allow three-dimensional routing of cables and to act as a barrier between air flows.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical cables and more specifically to the routing of electrical cables within an electrical system.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Complex electrical systems such as large computers often include a number of electrical cables within their chassis that need to be routed from one electrical connection to another. These cables may be bulky, particularly if they are power supply cables, and if allowed to hang loose within the chassis, may get in the way, or be damaged during use or repairs of the electrical system. Commonly, cable ties are used to bundle the cables together and to attach the bundles of cables to the chassis. However, in some applications, these bundles of cables may have too high of a profile to fit within the open spaces in the chassis. Also, when a single cable needs to be replaced, it is time consuming to open all of the bundles, replace the cable and re-bundle and re-route the cables.  
           [0003]    When cables are routed individually within a system, other problems arise. First, routing individual cables is time consuming and costly since many more clips and clamps are required than would be used with a bundle of cables. Second, cable clips and clamps may be high profile, limiting their use in tight spaces. Lastly, the chassis may not have sufficient locations available for attachment of cable clips and clamps, limiting the number of cables that may be routed within the chassis.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    An inexpensive, flexible cable management device is constructed from a thin sheet of flexible material by cutting slits or openings in the material configured to efficiently and compactly route cables within an electrical system. Information such as assembly instructions and wiring diagrams may be printed on the device, and adhesive may be applied to the device to ease installation. The cable management device may be bent to allow three-dimensional routing of cables and to act as a barrier between air flows.  
           [0005]    Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 shows an example embodiment of the cable management device of FIG. 1 as used in routing cables according to the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 6 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 7 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 8 is an example embodiment of a computer system including a cable management device according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention. A thin, flexible sheet  100  of material such as plastic, is cut with a plurality of pairs of slits. These pairs of slits include horizontal slits  102 , for routing cable vertically, diagonal slits  104 , for routing cable at an angle, and vertical slits  106 , for routing cable horizontally. The slits  102 ,  104 , and  106  shown in FIG. 1 are configured to route three groups of cables from the bottom of the device to the left side of the device. The two slits forming each pair of slits may be substantially parallel to each other in an example embodiment of the present invention. However, other embodiments may not use pairs of slits, but simply weave the cables above and below the sheet through a series of individual slits as shown in FIG. 4. Note that the material used may vary according to needs of the user. A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses static dissipative polypropylene for the thin, flexible sheet  100 . The cable management device may be attached to a chassis by an adhesive layer  108  or other means of attachment such as tabs on the edges of the thin, flexible sheet  100  fitting into chassis holes or slots. Many other means of attachment such as screws, bolts, rivets, snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, glue, cement, silicone, tape, clips, clamps, and nails may be used to attach the cable management device to a chassis or other container. Since the final cable assembly is flexible, it may be bent or curved into a three-dimensional shape to fit the needs of any particular cable routing needs. Further, when installed in a chassis, the finished cable assembly may also act as a barrier between two or more substantially separate air flows. For example, in a computer system it may be used to maintain separation between an incoming air flow, and an outgoing air flow to improve the cooling capability of the fans in the computer system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that control of air flow within a chassis may be desired for multiple reasons, such as a desire to route hot air to an air conditioner return vent, or to route hot air away from adjacent computer systems.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 shows an example embodiment of the cable management device of FIG. 1 as used in routing cables according to the present invention. The cable management device shown in FIG. 2 is the same as shown in FIG. 1 with the addition of a plurality of cables  200  woven through the slits  102 ,  104 , and  106 . In the example embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, three groups of three cables  200  each are shown making a left turn. Note that the ends of the cables  200  may be finished as required for connection to electrical devices, and that the ends are not shown in FIG. 2. The groups of cables may be arranged as needed to match the connections on the electrical devices to which they are attached. Also, in some embodiments of the present invention, they may be arranged as needed to reduce inductive coupling between cables. For example, cables for high-speed data may be interspersed between direct current power supply cables, and away from alternating current power supply cables to reduce cable-to-cable inductive coupling, in much the same way as a ribbon cable is typically used. Since the slits tend to flatten each group of cables, the resulting mass of cables may be used to route cables through areas with very little vertical clearance. This would not be feasible if the same groups of cables were simply bundled together using cable ties.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention. The example embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 is substantially similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2, except that the cables make a jog to the left and exit at the top of the cable management device.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention. The embodiments of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 3 all include pairs of slits used to route cables. The example embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 uses single slits  400  to accomplish the same task as the cable management device of FIG. 2. Instead of passing the cables under the tabs created by the pairs of slits  102 ,  104 , and  106  in previously described embodiments, the cables are woven through the slits  400  in the sheet.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a cable management device according to the present invention. In a step  500 , a thin, flexible sheet of material is cut to a desired size. In a step  502 , a plurality of slits is cut into the thin, flexible sheet of material. In a step  504 , instructions and other information is printed on to the thin, flexible sheet of material. In a step  506 , attachment means are affixed to the thin, flexible sheet of material. In an example embodiment of the present invention, these attachment means include adhesive applied to one side of the thin, flexible sheet, however, many other attachment means as described in the detailed description of FIG. 1 are included within the scope of the present invention. In a step  508 , the thin flexible sheet of material is bent as needed to produce a three-dimensional cable route. Note that there is no order dependency to these steps. The steps may be performed in any order. In some embodiments of the present invention, the thin, flexible material may be purchased in long rolls, and productivity may dictate printing any information on the material before any cutting is done. Alternatively, the material may be printed at a location, packaged and sent to another location for the cutting steps. In this process, the material may be rolled for shipping after printing, then unrolled for cutting at a later time.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention. A thin, flexible sheet  600  of material such as plastic, is cut with a plurality of pairs of openings. While this example embodiment of the present invention includes oval shaped openings, other shapes of openings, such as circular, square, and rectangular, may be used within the scope of the present invention. These pairs of openings include horizontal openings  602 , for routing cable vertically, diagonal openings  604 , for routing cable at an angle, and vertical openings  606 , for routing cable horizontally. The openings  602 ,  604 , and  606  shown in FIG. 6 are configured to route three groups of cables from the bottom of the device to the left side of the device. The two openings forming each pair of openings may be substantially parallel to each other in an example embodiment of the present invention. However, other embodiments may not use pairs of openings, but simply weave the cables above and below the sheet through a series of individual openings similar to the configuration of slits shown in FIG. 4. Note that the material used may vary according to needs of the user. A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses static dissipative polypropylene for the thin, flexible sheet  600 . The cable management device may be attached to a chassis by an adhesive layer  108  or other means of attachment as described in the detailed description of FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 shows an example embodiment of a cable management device according to the present invention. In some embodiments of the present invention, an opening similar to those shown in FIG. 6 may be desired, but it may also be desirable to avoid the proliferation of the small pieces of plastic removed from the openings. These small pieces of plastic, similar to confetti, may create problems if allowed to get loose within a computer chassis. Instead of cutting openings, slits of a similar shape may be cut, leaving one side of what would be a piece of confetti attached to the thin, flexible sheet  700 . A thin, flexible sheet  700  of material such as plastic, is cut with a plurality of pairs of slits. While this example embodiment of the present invention includes oval shaped slits, other shapes of slits, such as circular, square, and rectangular, may be used within the scope of the present invention. These pairs of slits include horizontal slits  702 , for routing cable vertically, diagonal slits  704 , for routing cable at an angle, and vertical slits  706 , for routing cable horizontally. The slits  702 ,  704 , and  706  shown in FIG. 7 are configured to route three groups of cables from the bottom of the device to the left side of the device. The two slits forming each pair of slits may be substantially parallel to each other in an example embodiment of the present invention. However, other embodiments may not use pairs of slits, but simply weave the cables above and below the sheet through a series of individual slits similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 4. Note that the material used may vary according to needs of the user. A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses static dissipative polypropylene for the thin, flexible sheet  700 . The cable management device may be attached to a chassis by an adhesive layer  108  or other means of attachment as described in the detailed description of FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 is an example embodiment of a computer system including a cable management device according to the present invention. In an example embodiment of a computer system including the present invention, a computer chassis  800  is built including at least one cable management device according to the present invention. The computer receives input from the user via a mouse  806  and a keyboard  804  and outputs information or graphics to a display  802 . Many other uses of the present invention will be apparent to those of skill in the art, this is but one example usage of the present invention.  
         [0022]    The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the appended claims be construed to include other alternative embodiments of the invention except insofar as limited by the prior art.