Abstract:
An electrical cord retention device employs a sheath with a first end and a second end and cuffs folded on the first end and second end providing apertures at each end for insertion of a folded or coiled electrical cord.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to the field of restraining electrical cords and more particularly to a woven or mesh flexibly expandable sheath having cuffs for aperture support for receiving a coiled electrical cord and retaining the cord in the coiled condition. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Electrical extension cords or other cabling such as computer component connection cords, overly long lamp or appliance cords can be disorganized and even dangerous when not properly constrained. To provide organization of cords cable ties such as zip ties or cable wraps, encircling bands with hook and loop fasteners on opposite sides or mechanical devices have been employed to hold coiled or folded electrical cords. 
         [0005]    Prior art examples of various cord holders can be found in various patents and patent publications. For example, a rigid “cord organizer” is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,165 to Koppang which employs a rigid cylinder with a restricting inner profile to grasp the folded cord. 
         [0006]    Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,740,817 to Anderson discloses a rigid cylindrical container for receiving a folded electrical cord and restraining the cord with an interior profile of the cylinder or a layered pierceable baffle. 
         [0007]    US patent publication 2010/0192330 to Walker discloses a similar device with a rigid tubular container with interior tactile web material to restrain the cord and inwardly protruding teeth, tabs or fingers to further constrain the cord. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,092 to Platt discloses a rigid hexagonal tube with flared ends to receive a folded electrical cord. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,157 to Witt et al. discloses a bag with drawstring closures for loosely containing a coiled extension cord. An end of the cord may protrude from the closed aperture and the bag has a second aperture to allow a second end of the cord to protrude for use while present in the bag. 
         [0010]    Similarly, US patent publication  2011 / 0203958  to Imburgia et al. discloses a cylindrical bag with mesh end caps which are closable with a drawstring. 
         [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 8,042,232 to Mask et al. discloses a coil container having accordion pleats which are collapsible and secured with encircling hook and loop straps. 
         [0012]    Each of the prior art designs is either overly complex for simple household usage or is limited in size or flexibility due to rigid construction. 
         [0013]    It is therefore desirable to provide a means for containing a coiled electrical cord which is inexpensive to fabricate, flexible for variable sizing and simple to use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    The present invention provides an electrical cord retention device having a sheath with a first end and a second end and cuffs folded on the first end and second end providing apertures at each end for insertion of a folded or coiled electrical cord. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an embodiment of the electrical cord retaining sheath; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the electrical cord retaining sheath with a cord inserted; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary plain weave pattern; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary basket weave pattern; and, 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a side section view of the rolled cuff on one end of the sheath. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    An embodiment of the invention is described herein provides a sheath for constraining electrical cords in a coiled or folded condition. While described herein for electrical cords such as extension cords, the embodiments may be employed to contain coiled or folded cords, cables, wire, rope or other filament type materials. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the sheath  10  is a woven material for longitudinal flexibility and diametric resiliency. The sheath may be fabricated from an elastic material to enhance the resilient expansion. At each end, a rolled cuff  12  at each end of the sheath  10  allows easy insertion of the folded strands of cord  14  into the sheath, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The cuffs  12  additionally prevent fraying of the fabric material and provide limited circumferential rigidity to maintain the apertures  16  in an open condition for insertion of the cord. 
         [0022]    In exemplary embodiments, the sheath  10  is fabricated from woven material such as 10 mil polyethylene terepthalate (PET) monofilament yarns available as FLEXO PET (PT) from Techflex, Inc. 29 Brookfield Drive, Sparta, N.J. 07871. The woven material strands or fibers  17  may be elastic to provide resilient expandability of the sheath in a radial direction  18  with respect to an axis  20  of the sheath shown in  FIG. 1  allowing a bulge in the sheath  10  as shown in  FIG. 2  if required to accommodate the folded cord. The warp and weft of the weave may also provide resilient expandability of the sheath in the radial direction  18  with respect to the axis  20 , with or without elasticity in the strands or fibers themselves. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the warp (represented by line  22 ) and weft (represented by line  24 ) are angled respective to the axis  20 , nominally at 45 degrees in the unflexed position. Radial expansion of the sheath  10  results in deformation of the warp and weft from a substantially square orientation to a diamond shape. Flexing of the sheath  10  inward along axis  20  (ends toward one another) expands the sheath and stretching outward along the axis shrinks the diameter of the sheath. Combination of elastic fibers and angled warp and weft provide maximum expandability for use of the sheath with various cord lengths resulting in varying coiled or folded diameter. 
         [0023]    A plain weave of the fibers in the warp  22  and weft  24  as shown in  FIG. 3  or basket weave as shown in  FIG. 4  are used in example embodiments for maximum mobility of the weave in expanding diagonally with respect to the weave for the desired radial expandability with respect to the axis  20 . In  FIGS. 3 and 4  unshaded portions of the weft are over the warp whereas shaded portions are under the warp. 
         [0024]    In an alternative embodiment, the sheath may be fabricated from a non-woven mesh material having substantially perpendicular warp and weft strands in the mesh. The elasticity of the strands and orientation of the warp and weft with respect to the axis operate comparably to the woven fabric described above for radial expandability of the sheath. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the cuffs  12  on the sheath  10  may be double rolled to cover the fabric termination  26  to further reduce fraying. An adhesive  28  may be applied to assist in retaining the cuffs  12  in the rolled position. For exemplary embodiments, a non-rigid setting glue such as room temperature vulcanizing (RTV), or UL® setting silicon. While a solid layer of adhesive is shown between the outer fold layer and inner fold layer the adhesive may be placed between the inner fold layer and sheath and adhesive may set through the weave and form a single integral layer between the weave folds and sheath or adhesive dots may be distributed along the inner surface of the fold. For materials such as the PET monofilament yarn weave, a heat gun, soldering iron or other heat source may be used to spot weld the rolled material. In alternative embodiments, stitching or stapling of the material may also be employed. 
         [0026]    Having now described the invention in detail as required by the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments disclosed herein. Such modifications are within the scope and intent of the present invention as defined in the following claims.