Patent Publication Number: US-2013233597-A1

Title: Wiring dressing rings

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/609,788, filed Mar. 12, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent that it is not conflicting with the present application. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates a tool for neatly organizing cable bundles. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     When cabling technicians pull cables (or wires) throughout a building, they pull from a computer room for example, and they typically end up with a large bundle of cables. The large bundle of cables, throughout the building, as well as all the cables throughout the computer room, and/or throughout a computer rack, has to be neatly organized so that the job appears professional. It is well known that cables have a natural tendency to entangle themselves, and untangling them is very difficult and tedious work. Furthermore, after the untangling, manually organizing the cables is a tedious and time consuming job as well. Thus, the entire process is also very expensive. 
     While there are some tools available on the market to help cable technicians address these problems, those tools are flawed as they do not sufficiently eliminate the tediousness, frustration and the high cost associated with the process of cable dressing. For example, some of the tools require that the technician untangle and organize all cables, which is a waste of time and money as the inner cables will not be seen, and thus, do not need to be organized. There are other tools on the market that focus on the outer cables only, however, they require the technician to use tape or Velcro to hold the parts of the tools together and hold the cables into the tool. The use of the tape is tedious, frustrating and time consuming itself, and the parts of the tool held by tape or Velcro often make the tool insufficiently robust for the job at hand. Furthermore, a significant amount of experience is needed before a technician can efficiently and effectively dress cable bundles using these tools, which makes the cost of training an apprentice significantly high. Thus, there is a need for an improved tool that addresses the deficiencies of existing tools. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, a cable dressing ring is provided, which is separated in two halves that are associated by a joint mechanism (e.g., a hinge) at one end, such that the ring can be opened and closed by a user as needed, and that are securable to each other by a locking mechanism, such that the user may easily lock and unlock the ring as needed; and having a plurality of locking cable holders on the outside circumference of the ring. Thus, an advantage is that there is no frustration, tediousness, and time wasted associated with the holding of the two halves of the ring together when needed. A simple, quick, and effortless action (e.g., a simple push), by the user, locks the ring, thus obtaining a robust tool to pull on. Another advantage is that the outer cables of a bundle lock into the cable holders, thus eliminating the need for the laborious and frustrating process of securing the cables to the ring using tape or Velcro. 
     The above embodiment and advantages, as well as other embodiments and advantages, will become apparent from the ensuing description and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes, embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1   a  illustrates the perspective view of a wiring dressing ring  100 , according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 1   b  illustrates a partial side view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a  and a pivot  117 . 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the top view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a.    
         FIG. 3  illustrates a partial perspective view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a,  providing a closer view of the joint mechanism  105 . 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a partial perspective view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a,  providing a closer view of locking mechanism  107 . 
         FIG. 5  illustrates various sizes and versions, in closed or open position, of the wiring dressing ring disclosed herein, according to other embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     What follows is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in which the invention may be practiced. Reference will be made to the attached drawings, and the information included in the drawings is part of this detailed description. The specific preferred embodiments of the invention, which will be described herein, are presented for exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes. It should be understood that structural and/or logical modifications could be made by someone of ordinary skills in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. 
     Throughout this disclosure, the term “wiring dressing ring” is used interchangeably with the following synonymous terms: “cable dressing ring,” “dressing ring,” “dress ring,” “cable ring” and “ring.” Furthermore, the term “wire” and its derivatives are used herein interchangeably with the synonymous term “cable” and its derivatives. The wires or cables referred to herein may be of any type, such as coaxial cable, audio cable, data cable, telephone cable, network cable, and so on. 
       FIG. 1   a  illustrates the perspective view of a wiring dressing ring  100 , according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown, the wiring dressing ring  100  resembles a ring (or a sprocket) separated in two halves, a first half  101  and a second half  103 . The two ring halves ( 101  and  103 ) are associated with each other at one end by a joint mechanism  105  (e.g., a hinge) such that the ring can opened and closed by a user (e.g., a technician) as needed, as it will be explained in details below. At the other end, the two halves ( 101 ,  103 ) may be secured to each other by a locking mechanism  107 , such that the user may manually and easily lock and unlock the ring  100  as needed, as it will also be explained in details below. 
     As shown, on the outside circumference the dress ring  100  has a plurality of cable holders  109 , placed next to each other and with a gap  110  between them. On the inside, as shown, the dress ring  100  has an opening  115  having a diameter  115   a  sized to accommodate a desired number of inner cables in a bundle (e.g., 10 coaxial cables (not shown)), as it will be explained later herein. It should be noted that, as shown in  FIG. 5 , there is a correlation between the number of cables holders  109  that the dress ring  100  may have and the outer diameter of the ring. Thus, smaller dress rings having, for example, six or seven cable holders on each side, thus a total of twelve or fourteen, (see  560  and  570   a  in  FIG. 5 ), or larger dress rings having eighteen cable holders (see  590  in  FIG. 5 ) or more, may be made, to assist a user in dressing bundles having a various number of cables. It should be apparent that a dress ring with, for example, twelve cable holders, may be used to dress a cable bundle having twelve outer cables or less and a certain number of inner cables (e.g., ten or less). 
     The thickness of the dress ring  100  and its elements described herein may vary depending on the materials used to make the ring. For example, if hard plastic is selected, the base  124  of the dress ring  100  may preferably be approximately between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thick, the thickness of the walls  122  of the cable holders  109  may preferably be approximately between 1/16 and 1/8 of an inch, while the height  126  of the dress ring  100  may preferably be approximately between 1/2 of an inch and 1.0 (one) inch. However, other values for the thicknesses and ring height may be adopted as long as the functionality of the dress ring as described herein is maintained. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1   a,  the cable holders  109  have a cylinder-like shape in which an aperture  111  was cut to allow the forced insertion of a cable in the holder. The inside diameter  113  of cable holders  109  is preferably the same for all cable holders and sized to fit a particular size of the cable for which the dress ring  100  is intended to be used. It should be noted however, that the same dress ring may be used for various cable sizes as long as they may be pushed through aperture  111  into the cable holder  109  without escaping from it. It should be apparent that for this to happen, the approximate diameter of the cable has to be greater than the inside width  111   b  of the aperture  111 , such that the cable cannot escape from the cable holder  109  (i.e., the cable is locked in) once it has been pushed/forced in by the technician. Alternatively, the dress ring  100  may be designed such that it has cable holders  109  of various sizes, such that it may better serve a user/technician who needs to neatly bundle cables of various sizes. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1   a,  the cross-section of the aperture  111  has a trapezoidal or a trapezoid-like shape as the inside width  111   b  is smaller than the outside width  111   a  of the aperture  111 . Because of this configuration, the aperture  111  can easily receives a cable, which is typically of circular shape, and further, it may facilitate cable&#39;s temporary sitting therein, while the cable is being pushed by the user into the cable holder  109 . As shown, the two opposing side surfaces  111   c  of the aperture  111  may be flat. However, they may also be concave, to further facilitate cable&#39;s receipt and temporary sitting therein (while being forced into the cable holder  109 ). 
     Thus, it should be understood that the cable holders  109  are self-locking: once the cable is inside the cable holder, it cannot come out by itself. A user will be able to pull it out however, should the need arise. 
     The gaps  110  between the cable holders  109  may facilitate the forced entry of the cables into the cable holders  109 , especially when a material (e.g., plastic, hard rubber, etc) with a given degree of elasticity/flexibility is chosen to manufacture the dress ring  100 . In that case, each side of the aperture  111  may slightly spring away from the aperture&#39;s center, while the cable is being pushed/forced in, and they will then spring back into the original position, once the cable passed through aperture  111  and is thus inside the cable holder  109 . However, completely rigid materials may be used as well as typically the cables&#39; exterior cover and/or insulation is itself elastic/flexible enough to facilitate the forced entry of the cable into the cable holder  109 , through the aperture  111 , of which, again, at least the inside width  111   b  is smaller than the diameter of the cable. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1   a,  the joint mechanism  105  may have a first joint member  105   a  associated with one of the halves ( 103 ) of the dress ring  100 , and a second joint member  105   b  associated with the other half ( 101 ). Furthermore, as shown, the two members may have a cylindrical shape and each may have a through-hole  105   c  in the middle, to receive, for example, a two-part pivot  117  (see  FIG. 1   b ), having a female-threaded element ( 117   a ) and a male-threaded element ( 117   c ), each having a head ( 117   b  and  117   d ), for creating a secure joint. As shown, each of the joint members ( 105   a  and  105   b ) preferably forms with the respective half of the dress ring  100  a unit which may be obtained by, for example, molding them together as one piece. Other types of pivots and/or joint mechanism may be used as long as secure pivotal movement is permitted such that the dress ring  100  may be easily opened and closed by the user and the joint is strong enough for ring&#39;s application described herein. For example, the joint mechanism may be a separate standard hinge (e.g., a strap hinge) which may be secured via screws to the two halves of the dress ring. However, the joint mechanism disclosed herein has the advantage that it is inexpensive to manufacture and that it provides the necessary strength needed to dress cables using the dress ring  100 , as it will be explained later herein. 
     As mentioned earlier, at the other ends of the two halves ( 101 ,  103 ) of the dress ring  100 , may be secured to each other by a locking mechanism  107  (e.g., a clasp), such that the user may easily lock and unlock the ring  100  as needed. As shown, the locking mechanism  107  may also have two members: a first locking member  107   a  associated with first half  101  of dress ring  100  and a second locking member  107   b  associated with the second half  103 . 
     Similarly as for the joint mechanism, the two members ( 107   a  and  107   b ) of the locking mechanism may be manufactured as one-piece (a unit) with the respective half of the dress ring, such as by molding them together during manufacturing. Again, this approach is less expensive than later attaching a locking mechanism to the ring by, for example, using screws. The locking mechanism  107  may be a hook-and-loop type or any other type that is secure enough for the ring&#39;s application described herein while facilitating easy and fast engagement-disengagement by the user. 
     Thus, the dress ring  100  may be manufactured by, for example, injecting plastic into a mold. If this manufacturing process is chosen, two molds are preferably needed only, as explained above: one mold for the first half  101  of the ring having a joint member ( 105   b ) at one end, and a locking member ( 107   a ) at the other end; and a second mold for the second half  103  having a joint member ( 105   a ) at one end, and a locking member ( 107   b ) at the other end. Thus, the entire dress ring  100  is preferably made of a first half  101  and second half  103 , which are easily and inexpensively joined together after manufacturing by a pivot  117 . 
     It should be understood that additional materials, such as aluminum, or manufacturing processes, such as machining or extrusion, may be used as well. 
     It should be noted that the number of cable holders  109  shown in  FIG. 1   a  is nine on the second half  103  of the dress ring  100 , and only eight on one first half  101 . This is because the space  108  is preferably needed between the locking mechanism  107  and the immediately adjacent cable holder such that the user can easily and quickly disengage the locking mechanism  107  when needed to open the dress ring  100 . However, alternative configurations may be used such as by adopting a locking mechanism  107  which would permit easy and quick disengagement by the user without the need of space  108 ; thus, an additional cable holder may be then present in space  108 . 
     In order to neatly organize a cable bundle using a dress ring  100 , first, if various sizes of the ring are available as described earlier, a user will typically select a ring that can dress a total number of cables equal to or greater than the total number of cables in the bundle. For example, if the bundle has 24 cables, the user will need a dress ring that can dress 24 cables (or more) such as by having a diameter  115   a  large enough to allow the passage through opening  115  of 10 cables (or more) and having 14 cable holders  109 . Next, the user will open the dress ring  100  by disengaging the locking mechanism  107  (see  570   b  in  FIG. 5 ). Next, the user will clamp the dress ring  100  around the 10 inner cables of the bundle and will engage the locking mechanism  107 , such that the dress ring  100  is in closed/locked position. It should be noted that the inner cables do not need to be untangled by the user/technician, because they will be ultimately hidden by the neatly arranged/dressed outer cables, thus achieving the same positive result, of neatly appearing bundle, in significantly less time. 
     Next, the user will insert the  14  outer cables of the bundle into the  14  cable holders  109  of the dress ring  100 . As explained and described earlier, because of the specific attributes of the cable holders  109 , the cables will be held into the cable holders without the need for any additional securing means. Next, the user will pull the dress ring  100  toward one end of the bundle, and thus, cause the outer cables to neatly organize around the inner cables. As the user pulls the dress ring in the direction selected, the bundle may be wrapped using tape, cable straps, or the like, such that the neatly organized bundle by the dress ring  100  is maintained as such. This process is continued for the entire length of the bundle that needs to be organized. 
     As stated earlier,  FIG. 2  illustrates the top view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a.    FIG. 3  illustrates a partial perspective view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a , providing a closer view of the joint mechanism  105 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a partial perspective view of the wiring dressing ring  100  from  FIG. 1   a,  providing a closer view of locking mechanism  107 .  FIG. 5  illustrates various sizes and versions, in closed or open position, of the wiring dressing ring disclosed herein, according to other embodiments. 
     It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used in this patent document. The term “couple” and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another. The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. The phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for the purpose of disclosing the preferred embodiments, someone of ordinary skills in the art will easily detect alternate embodiments and/or equivalent variations, which may be capable of achieving the same results, and which may be substituted for the specific embodiments illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of this application is intended to cover alternate embodiments and/or equivalent variations of the specific embodiments illustrated and/or described herein. Hence, the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. Furthermore, each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into the specification and the claims are embodiment(s) of the invention.