Abstract:
A new wire holder design. The holder is installed into a T-shaped or L-shaped hole in substrate such as a sheet metal, printed wiring board, etc. using only a single installation motion. The holder holds wires in place. Because it requires only a single installation motion the holder is easily installed and furthermore cannot rotate once installed. The holder protrudes only about a millimeter below the substrate.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to wire holders that requires only a single installation motion to engage with a non-round hole such as a T-shaped hole in a substrate such as a TV circuit board. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   To hold wires on substrates such as sheet metal surfaces and printed wiring boards (PWB) in electrical components such as TVs, wire clamps can be used. The wires typically are engaged with the clamp and then the clamp is advanced into a hole in the substrate. 
   As understood herein, in large-scale manufacturing it is desirable to minimize the number of movements that must accompany engaging the clamp with the substrate. A round hole can be used to enable a wire clamp that has an engagement post to be installed in the hole using a single downward pushing movement, but as understood herein such clamps can undesirably rotate in the round holes. 
   To prevent clamp rotation after installation, non-round holes such as T-shaped or L-shaped holes may be used. As recognized by the present invention, however, clamps designed for installation in such holes typically require at least two installation movements, namely, a downward push into the hole (typically into the stalk of the “T” or “L”) followed by either a rotating or sliding motion of the clamp (typically into the cross arm of the “T” or “L”). Complicating the situation is that little clearance often exists below the substrate, so that the portion of the clamp that is pushed through the hole typically must not protrude any more than a minimal distance below the substrate. Still further, as understood herein, for robustness a clamp that requires only a single installation movement in a T-shaped hole and that does not protrude more than a minimal distance below the substrate ideally would work with existing holes in which other clamps may also be used. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A method includes engaging one or more wires with a wire holder, and using one and only one installation movement, engaging the wire holder with a T-shaped hole of a substrate. The substrate may be part of a TV. 
   In another aspect, a wire holder engageable with a hole of a substrate includes opposed side walls bounded by a bottom support and two top flaps separated from each other by a slit through which a wire may be moved. The side walls, bottom support, and top flaps define a wire enclosure. Each top flap is joined to a respective side wall by a respective flap hinge, and the top flaps extend toward each other and are slightly canted downward from their respective side walls toward the bottom support such that when a wire is slid through the slit into the enclosure, the top flaps deflect down and away from each other. The top flaps move back toward each other under the influence of material bias once the wire clears the top flaps. 
   In yet another aspect, a wire holder engageable with a hole a substrate includes an anti-rotation guide formed on a bottom support that partially defines a wire enclosure. The guide defines two parallel opposed surfaces that are parallel to the bottom support. Two clips depend down from the bottom support and straddle the guide. Each clip is spaced from the guide by a respective space. Each clip terminates in a respective free end and pivots about a respective hinge point on a side of the substrate that is opposite the side of the substrate with which the free ends are engaged. 
   The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a non-limiting block diagram of an example TV system in which the present wire holder may be used: 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the present wire holder; 
       FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the holder installed in a substrate; and 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the holder installed in a substrate. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   It is to be understood that while for ease of disclosure relative terms of direction such as “upper”, “lower”, “top”, “bottom”, etc. are used, these terms are not limiting. For example, the below-described wire holder might be engaged from below a substrate instead of from above it as shown in the drawings, i.e., it might be positioned upside-down from the orientation shown in the drawings. 
   Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , a system is shown, generally designated  10 , which includes a television  12  defining a TV chassis  14  and receiving, through a TV tuner  16  from a cable or satellite or other source or sources  18  audio video TV programming. The tuner  16  may be contained in the set box described below. The system  10  is a non-limiting example of a system employing a substrate with which the below-described wire holder can be engaged. 
   The TV  12  typically includes a TV processor  20  accessing a tangible computer readable medium  22 . The tangible computer readable medium  22  may be established by, without limitation, solid state storage, optical or hard disk storage, etc. The medium  22  may store software executable by the TV processor  20  to, e.g., control a display driver  24  that drives a TV visual display  26  in accordance with one or more settings such as brightness, contrast, and the like that may be stored in, e.g., the medium  22 . The display  26  may be a flat panel matrix display, cathode ray tube, or other appropriate video display, and typically is associated with one or more audio speakers  27 . The medium  22  may also contain additional code including backend software executable by the TV processor  20  for various non-limiting tasks. One or more of the processors described herein may execute the logic below, which may be stored as computer code on one or more the computer readable media described herein. 
   In the non-limiting embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  the TV  12  may receive programming from external components such as but not limited to a video disk player  28  such as a Blu-Ray or DVD player and a personal video recorder (PVR)  30  that can contain audio-video streams on a hard disk drive. 
   Additionally, the TV  12  can communicate via a network such as the Internet with a server  32 . To this end, the TV  12  may be Internet-enabled, although it is to be understood that the server  32  may be combined with the TV program source  18  when the source  18  is a remote entity accessible over a wide area network, in which case no modem need be provided, with the TV sending signals through a reverse link to the source  18 /server  32 . 
   In the non-limiting embodiment shown, the server  32  is separate from the source  18  and the TV  12  communicates with the server  32  through a set-back box (SBB)  34 . In some implementations a set-top box (STB) may be used, and the SBB/STB may itself include the tuner  16  or otherwise communicate with the source  18 . 
   In any case, the SBB  34  shown in  FIG. 1  may include a SBB processor  36  and SBB computer readable medium  38 . The SBB  34  may also include a network interface such as but not limited to a modem  40  to communicate with the server  32  over the Internet. In other implementations the modem  40  may be incorporated into the TV chassis  14 . 
   A wireless remote control  42  can be provided to input commands such as the below-described subtitle position commands into the system  10 . The remote control  42  can be a conventional TV remote control or other portable hand-held device. 
   The present wire holder may be engaged with the system described above, such as with sheet metal parts of the TV or PWBs of the TV. Accordingly, for an understanding of the wire holder and now referring to  FIG. 2 , a wire holder  44  is shown which is formed with a wire enclosure  46  through which wires can pass to constrain or clamp the wires. The wire enclosure  46  is bounded by preferably flat opposed co-parallel side walls  48  that are unitarily joined at their bottom ends by a bottom support  50  that is generally orthogonal to the side walls  48 . In some embodiments the internal surface of the bottom support  50  can be centrally formed with a concavity  52  to accommodate a wire bundle for purposes to be shortly disclosed. 
   In contrast, to substantially complete the enclosure  46 , at their upper ends the side walls  48  unitarily join with respective top flaps  54 . Each top flap  54  may be joined to its respective side wall  48  by a respective flap hinge  56  that may be established by a relatively thin (compared to the thickness of the side walls  48  and top flaps  54 ) pieces of material, with the result of the relative thinness of the flap hinges  56  being that a small space  58  is formed between each top flap  54  and its respective side wall  48 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , the top flaps  54  extend toward each other and are spaced from each other by a slit  60  that is centrally formed on the holder  44 , i.e., on the axis (which would be the vertical axis looking down on  FIG. 3 ) of the holder. The top flaps  54  may be slightly canted downward as shown from their respective side walls  48  toward the bottom support  50 , and a wire or wires  62  can be slid through the slit  60  into the enclosure  46  as indicated by the arrows  64 , with the top flaps deflecting down and away from each other to effectively enlarge the slit  60  and thus better accommodate reception of a bundle of wires or a single thick wire. Once the wire or wires clear the top flaps  54 , the top flaps  54  are materially biased to reassume the configuration shown in  FIG. 2 . It may now be appreciated that the concavity  52  can accommodate wires that have been urged through the slit  60  so that the top flaps can clear the wires and reassume the substantially closed configuration shown. Thus, the wires  62  are simply pushed through the silt into the enclosure  46  without requiring the separate the operate and closing of a clip. 
   The preferred non-limiting structure for engaging the holder  44  with a hole of a substrate is formed on the bottom support  50  opposite the concavity  52 . More specifically and now cross-referencing  FIGS. 2 and 3 , an anti-rotation guide  66  is centrally formed on the outer surface of the bottom support  50 . The guide  66  preferably is somewhat elongated in the same dimension as is the bottom support, and may be generally parallelepiped-shaped as shown or may assume other shapes such as trapezoidal. In any case, the guide  66  defines at least two parallel opposed surfaces that are orthogonal to the side walls  48  of the wire holder  44  as shown. Furthermore, as best shown in  FIG. 3  the guide  66  may be hollow to minimize the amount of material required to form the wire holder  44 . 
   Two leg-like clips  68  depend down from the bottom support  50  and straddle the guide  66  as shown. Each clip  68  is slightly spaced from the guide  66  by a respective space  70 . As best shown in  FIG. 3 , opposite the bottom support  50  each clip  68  terminates in a respective bevelled or ramped or rounded free end  72 . It may now be appreciated that as the holder  44  is advanced into a hole  74  of a substrate  76 , the free ends  72 , being contoured as disclosed, ride against the periphery of the hole, urging the clips  68  inwardly toward the guide  66 , with the spaces  70  accommodating this movement of the clips  68 . Once the free ends  72  clear the periphery of the hole, the material resiliency of the clips  68  causes them to move outwardly into the configuration shown in  FIG. 3 , wherein an upper flat lip  78  of each clip  68  abuts the bottom surface of the substrate  76  as shown to retain the wire holder  44  in the hole  74 . 
   It may also be appreciated that the guide  66  prevents rotation of the holder  44  in the hole  74 . This remains true even when the hole  74  is T-shaped as shown, or is L-shaped or otherwise includes at least two orthogonal hole segments. By way of clarity and not limitation, the particular hole  74  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is T-shaped, having a stalk  80  into which the guide  66  and one of the clips  68  are advanced, and a cross-channel  82 , into which parts of the guide  66  and the other clip  68  may be advanced, with the guide  66  cooperating with the walls of the stalk  80  to prevent rotation of the wire holder  44  in the hole  74 . 
   With further respect to  FIG. 3 , the hinge point of each clip  68  is just above the respective space  70 , and thus is above the substrate  76 . This facilitates an advantageously minimal protrusion distance “d” of the holder  44  below the substrate  76  as shown, in some embodiments on the order of a millimeter or less. 
   Completing the description of the substrate engaging structure of the wire holder  44 , outboard of each clip  68  is a respective spring arm  84 . As best shown in  FIG. 3 , each spring arm  84  has a respective inboard end  86  that is integral with the bottom support  50  and that establishes a hinge. Also, each spring arm  84  has a respective outboard end  88  that may be rounded and that contacts the upper surface of the substrate  76  when the wire holder  44  is engaged with the substrate. Looking down on  FIG. 3 , each spring arm  84  slopes downwardly and outboard from the inboard end  86  to the outboard end  88 , extending in the lateral dimension to be substantially coplanar with a respective side wall  48 . When the wire holder  44  is pushed into the hole  74 , the spring arms  84  contact the top of the substrate and as the holder  44  is pushed further into the hole  74  to allow the clips  68  to clear the periphery of the hole, the spring arms  84  pivot about their respective inboard ends  86 , with the material resiliency of the spring arms  84  exerting a force against the substrate  76  to clamp the substrate  76  between the outboard ends  88  of the spring arms  84  and the lips  78  of the clips  68 . It may be appreciated that owing to this material resiliency, the spring arms  84  facilitate engagement of the wire holder  44  with substrates  76  of various thicknesses, e.g., in non-limiting embodiments substrates of between eight-tenths of a millimeter to two millimeters. 
   The holder  44  may be a unitary molded piece of plastic. 
   With the above structure in mind, the wire holder  44  may be engaged with a T-shaped or L-shaped hole  74  of a substrate  76  using one and only one movement, i.e., a simple single downward push of the wire holder  44  into the hole. The above-described structure then cooperates to securely hold the wire holder  44  in the hole without allowing the holder  44  to rotate within the hole. No further installation movement after the downward push, such as sliding or turning the holder  44  from the stalk part of the hole into the cross-bar part of the hole, is required. Indeed, the holder  44  is self-guiding; when it is aligned approximately with the hole, a force applied downward will cause the holder  44  to shift into the correct alignment. 
   The wire holder  44  may be used in any device where wires need to be held in place. Particularly in the case of preexisting T-shaped holes, the holder  44  facilitates easier, faster installation than a two-motion holder while performing as well as such holders. Thus, the present holder  44  may be used as a running change on existing substrates without requiring a change in hole design because it has the same footprint as two-step installation holders. 
   While the particular WIRE HOLDER WITH SINGLE STEP INSTALLATION INTO T-SHAPED HOLE IN SUPPORT SUBSTRATE is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.