IE84242B1 - Multi-wiring system for houses - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT The multi—wiring system provides unique and separately indentifiable cables for each service required in a dwelling. All cables are colour coded, housed, terminated, labelled and tested in a central cabling terminal having terminal points for each cable. Means are provided at the central terminal to activate or deactivate the service provided by each cable.

Description

MULTI-WIRING SYSTEM FOR HOUSES The present invention relates to a multi-wiring system for houses and more particularly to a multi-cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments and other dwellings.

When houses are being built, the responsibility for cabling normally rests with the electrical contractor. Traditionally contractors concentrate on installing basic wiring infrastructures for 220/240 volt power sockets, lights and light switches, down lighters and amp table lamps and wall mounted lights. They may also install cables for telephones and televisions and in some cases for alarm services. These are not currently covered by electrical standards and therefore are not inspected by RECI, the electrical contractor’s body. Because the contractors do not install any hardware they do not commission or test these cables.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the key problems with the current situation including: (1) There is inconsistency of cabling as no standards currently apply. (2) There is no consistency in type of cabling used (3) There is no consistency in where cables are pulled to or where locations for services are organized. (4) Where professionals in particular disciplines are brought in, such as IT Data installers, TV installers, Audio and Home Cinema and CCTV installers, none of these installers liaise with each other and therefore there are a number of distinct subsystems existing in the one house but there is little or no integration of services. (5) The quality of cables varies greatly and many are substandard for modern data and Audio/T V services. (6) Insufficient cables are generally installed for modern digital services. (7) There is a loss of signal quality through poor quality cable joints. *‘~" 84242 (8) There can be safety issues for installers where cables are brought to roof/attic space. (9) Often cable entanglement can occur due to fibre insulation in attic. (10) Electro magnetic interference is a common occurrence due to cables being run alongside power cables.

Some aspects of structured cabling exist for offices and commercial buildings but this is restricted solely to the commercial sector and not for the residential or house and apartment market. Such cabling also only focuses on data and telephones and not on the range of telecommunication and entertainment and security systems proposed in this invention.

Home owners often do not understand their technology requirements at the building stage and so it is much too late when they discover their needs at a later stage and will have to install cables at a later stage when the house is built and walls plastered and painted.

Currently all telephone cables in a house are looped from a master socket inside the hallway of each room. Each phone point is then looped from that socket to the next and so on around the home. This effectively creates a continuous loop where no extra phone lines can be installed and no facility exists to ring from room to room. This configuration of topology does not allow a PABX phone system to be installed at a later stage if required.

There currently exists no facility to have the intercom at the door ring the existing telephones, meaning that separate handsets need to be installed, usually in the hallway.

There also exists no facility for home owners to open a remote door or gate from the phone sets.

Many people want to be able to set up a home office where they can direct a separate business lines and fax line to that room. This means that they have to install new cabling.

Computer points (RJ45s) are different than telephone sockets (R111) and these are not installed in homes thereby meaning that people have to install new cables for linking or networking computers together or connecting PC to an internal LAN network in order to share common files, share printers, or scanners etc.

Cable required for such systems is also different from traditional telephone cable which is currently being installed.

Telecom providers currently install an intemet access point! socket in one location in the home. This means that home owners and their families are restricted to that location and that room only if they want to access the Internet. Given that many homes have more than one PC and that many people have a home office, this is not convenient and so most people are compelled to run additional cables to other rooms, even in new homes.

Many new Digital TV services and two way interactive TV services are being made available. There are insufficient cables being run to allow home owners upgrade seamlessly to avail of these services in homes. The quality of the cables currently being used are cheap and sub standard and because they are individual cables many electricians simply run one cable which is completely insufficient.

TV cables are traditionally installed by the electrical contractor who leaves them coiled up in attic space. They have not been joined or terminated or labeled and have no access to telephone line for the satellite firm to authenticate the phone line for satellite service and pay per view billing etc.

Individual services may not now be rerouted to individual rooms where for example parents may wish to allow some rooms in the house access to some TV services but not other of a more adult nature.

Currently where apartment owners wish to avail of TV services they are compelled to choose a cable service only. If they wish to have satellite services they must install a separate satellite dish on the outside of their apartment and run new cable throughout their new apartment even having to drill a hole in the apartment wall or window to let the satellite cable into the apartment.

Many people, particularly those in apartment complexes or who have long avenues or approaches to their home, would, for security reasons, wish to be able to see who is calling to their homes before allowing entry. No cables are currently installed and no provision for standard cameras or for those which can be viewed remotely over the Internet.

Most homes now have a DVD home cinema system but no cabling is provided for this at the building stage. Many home owners do not install their home cinema equipment until much later after they have moved in and they have no cabling or socket structure to tap into and many have to recable or alternative live with cables laid across the floor of their new homes.

Many new central audio systems exist and these can play different music into different rooms in the home at the same time and can be fully volume controlled etc from each room. These are difficult to cable in advance for future usage as there are no standard sockets and cables simply plugged directly into the hardware. Where people do not initially install the equipment, there is no choice but to leave bundles of cables coiled up in one area or leave cables buried in walls for future usage.

The object of the invention is to alleviate the disadvantages associated with the prior art.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a multi-cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments or other dwellings comprising unique and separately identifiable cables for each service required in a dwelling, separate input cables and separate output cables; the cables being adapted to be installed during construction of the dwelling, and a central cabling terminal having terminal points for each input and output cable and means to activate or deactivate the service provided by each cable, the input cables being connectable between the service input means and the central cabling terminal and the output cables being connectable between the central cabling terminal and the service output means located in the dwelling, the apparatus including a cable management trunking with the central cabling terminal being mounted on the cable management trunking.

The invention thereby provides a cabling solution which can be installed in new homes while they are being built. This system includes the correct number and type of cables to provide access to existing and emerging technologies throughout the home. The system allows home owners to access these technologies either initially or they can be easily accessed at a later date when required with little or no disruption and in particular with no additional cables being required to be pulled or no walls needing to be chased.

The central cabling system of the invention provides the infrastructure for a wide range of services such as telephones, computers, home networking of multiple computers, access to intemet from all rooms simultaneously, aerial, cable and satellite to all rooms with control from each room, home cinema surround sound, provision for Flat Screen Plasma and LCD type television, central music system which can play radios, CD’s, television etc through one central system while allowing full control from other rooms, cameras at front and rear doors and children’s nursery can be made available on all televisions in the home, the ability to have an internal intercom from room to room and the ability to open a door or gate from any phone set in the home.

The invention also provides colour coded and multicore cables and a central distribution unit for integration of multiple telecommunication and audio visual entertainment and security services for installation in the new residential home market.

A number of benefits follow from the use of the present invention: ) Home owners will have the cabling infrastructure in place to allow home owners seamlessly add hardware in the future. 2) All services can now integrate. 3) All cables are routed to the same area.

) The cables are all housed, terminated, labeled and tested in one central connection terminal.

) All cables are standardized for each service. 6) All cables are uniquely colour coded.

) A unique computer drawing of the positions of services in each house is provided for each installation and this drawing matches the colour coding of the installed cables for the different services.

A range of sockets is installed which include a combination of services on one or more sockets such as telephone, computer and networking, intemet, plasma, TV, satellite, audio and home cinema surround sound.

The central connection terminal has computer and telephone outlets so that home owners can re route or commission and decommission services at the central terminal without the need for professional service personnel.

Power services are also included in the central connection terminal to power transformers for amplifiers etc reducing the sight of external power sockets.

The telephone cable services have the following improvements: ) Telephone panels allow home owners patch telephone lines where they are needed.

Extra lines can be added with no additional cabling required. Fax lines can be added and routed to any room.

PABX phone systems can be added for room to room dialing and gate and door HCCCSS.

PCs and networking are enhanced as follows: ) ) Many households now have, or will in the future, have more than one PC. For example a parent may have one for their work-use or the children may have one for doing their studies etc. Providing a network eliminates the need for multiple printers or scanners etc in the home and the added costs and maintenance associated with these etc.

The arrival and reducing price of digital cameras meant that more and more people and families are choosing to store their family photos on their computer and print off only those they choose.

With rising concerns over safety of children, having a network also allows parents who wish, to exercise greater control over their children’s use of the Internet.

A PC network is increasingly becoming a cheaper and more affordable means for young people playing games or much on their PCs as opposed to purchasing expensive gaming and music equipment. The rollout of PC mu1ti—media programmes are also driving this trend.

Broadband and internet service can also be accommodated by the invention: ) 2) ) ) ) With the increased roll out of broadband service and the increasing use of the Internet for shopping, studying, communicating via emails etc. means that more and more people will be using the Internet in the future, particularly as the market opens up and prices drop.

Providing data points throughout the home, without providing the connection panel to share the intemet again means that people can only access the broadband from one point or seek a professional firm to distribute the service within their home.

There are increasing trends in the US where apartment developments are sharing the same broadband services similar to the communal TV service. Cabling for this is important at construction stage. An individual home entertainment cabinet/connection centre in each unit is invaluable in this regard.

Currently Eircom remain the main Internet Service provider in Ireland while many more firms are entering the market via aerial or wireless broadband provision.

Similarly other service providers are seeking to provide a combined TV and broadband service which will be particularly suitable for apartments who have a central TV system. This can be accommodated by the invention and cable provision made for this future option also.

Broadband networks in apartment developments are a suitable route for public information and notices to be made available to all tenants and owners alike. This is particularly important as more and more government services are going on-line while more and more people are banking on-line, booking tickets and holidays etc.

The invention is particularly adapted to accommodate home entertainment systems: ) Home cinema systems attached to the DVD players and main television are now so common and affordable that, most home owners who do not have their living rooms pre-cabled for home cinema will themselves be forced to pull additional cable across floors and skirting boards etc. 2) The best time to install this is also at construction stage.

) Similarly the trend towards flat screen technology means that more and more people are opting to place their television sets on their walls. This is particularly significant in apartments where space is limited and larger deep-based traditional television sets take up so much room.

By means of the invention the signal from a closed circuit television camera can through the central terminal be modulated as a television signal and integrated into the television distribution system and made available to all television sets.

A central cabling system, which is installed in new homes at construction phase provides for the orderly management of cables throughout the home. Unlike the traditional adhoc method of cabling, ordinary cheap telephone wire is not used not are cables pulled in a loop around the homes. Instead only high quality and high speed cables are used and each socket is individually wired back to the Central Connection Terminal. Incoming services such as phone, TV, ISDN/Broadband etc are brought to this Central Connection Terminal, typically located in the utility area, and from there they are distributed to every room in the home.

There is also a benefit in using special multi-core cables where a number of cables are bundled together. This increases the access to services around the home while offering protection to cables as they are installed.

With communications technology advancing at an ever increasing rate, it is beneficial to cable with future possibilities in mind. The all-too-familiar picture of cables running across floors, tacked to skirting boards or draped across fireplaces in new homes is a sight that should be overcome by this invention.

There are many things that can be changed in a new home, but wiring is not one of them.

To wire a new home, it is imperative to get it right, not only for now but also for the future.

It is important to install the required cabling in a home during construction to cater not only for the current needs but also for future applications.

The invention will hereinafter be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example only, one embodiment of a multi-wiring system according to the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a house and plurality of services provided in the house and the cabling all linked back to the central cabling terminal of the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the central cabling terminal with its access door open and the individual components.

Figure 3 is a front view of the central cabling terminal with the door removed.

Figure 4 is a side view of the central cabling terminal as shown in Figure 3; Figures 5, 6 and 7 respectively are a front view; plan View and side view of a cable management trunking of the invention and to which the central cabling terminal is mounted; and Figure 8 is a front view of an illustrative example only of a multi service socket arrangement according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the house A is provided with a CCTV camera, an FM aerial, a UHF aerial, a VHF aerial, a satellite dish SAT1 for receiving a transmission from SKY corporation. The signals from all these services are routed back to a central cabling terminal B via a bundled cable C for the CCTV, a cable D for the VHF, UHF and FM signals with a spare cable for an additional signal, and via a bundled cable E for the SAT1 signal with spare cables 2, 3 and 4 for additional signals. These input signals are cabled to the respective connection points labelled for the appropriate services. The television VHF and UHF signals are routed via a TV amplification unit 11 by cables F to all the required rooms where a television apparatus H is installed. The satellite signals from SAT] are routed to a main TV plate I and satellite signal decoder J by cable K.

The central cabling terminal B is shown in greater detail in Figure 2. It includes a telephone host and breakout panel 1 showing a plurality of individual telephone connection outlets 2 and individual computer and data outlets 3. Beneath the telephone panel 1 are computer switch 4 and broad band intemet routing device 5. A recessed power supply unit 6 is provided towards the base of terminal B. On the right hand of the terminal B are located the TV amplification unit 11, incoming TV service panels 12 having a modulated central television input 13 backup satellite points 14, main TV points 15 and CCTV points 16 for video and web cameras. The terminal B can be closed over and accessed by a door 7 with lift off flag hinges. To the side of the terminal B are located entry points 10 for cables covered over by knock out plastic grommets. Located beneath the access opening and door 7 are audio keypad termination sockets 8 and central points 9 for plasma televisions and audio connections for audio stereo speakers, which provide a multizone audio panel. Referring to Figures 5, 6 and 7, the terminal B is mounted on a cable management trunking 20 at a retaining section 21. The audio panel is mounted at retaining section 22.

The socket 30 shown in Figure 8 includes in the top level home cinema surround sound terminal outlets 32, at the middle level incoming television, telephone and data outlets 34 and at the lower level plasma/flat screen television terminal outlets and control sockets 36.

Using this invention, all the services supplied to a dwelling are first routed to the central cabling terminal B by a series of differently coloured cables and the services are supplied to different areas of the dwelling by pre—instal1ed bundles of different coloured cables with the connection being made or broken at the central cabling terminal.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein, which are given by way of example only, and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims (5)

CLAIMS :

1. A multi-cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments or other dwellings comprising unique and separately identifiable cables for each service required in a dwelling, separate input cables and separate output cables; the cables being adapted to be installed during construction of the dwelling, and a central cabling terminal having terminal points for each input and output cable and means to activate or deactivate the service provided by each cable, the input cables being connectable between the service input means and the central cabling terminal, and the output cables being connectable between the central cabling terminal and the service output means located in the dwelling, the apparatus including a cable management trunking with the central cabling terminal being mounted on the cable management trunking.

2. A multi—cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments or other dwellings as claimed in Claim 1, which is installable in a dwelling during construction so as to include the optimum number and type of cables to provide access to current and future technological requirements of a user.

3. A multi—cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments or other dwellings as claimed in any one of Claims 1 and 2, which provides the infrastructure for a wide range of services such as telephones, computers, home networking of a plurality of computers, access to intemet, aerial television, cable television and satellite television, music systems, security systems, alarm monitoring, intercom and camera systems.

4. A multi—cable wiring apparatus for houses, apartments or other dwellings as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including one or more sockets for installation in rooms of the dwelling each of which can accommodate a plurality of services.

5. A multi—cable wiring system for houses, apartments and other dwellings substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.