GB2464680A

GB2464680A - Cable retention clip.

Info

Publication number: GB2464680A
Application number: GB0819234A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Danny Thijs; Heidi Bleus; Ruth Vandoren; Jonathan Van Outryve
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Raychem BVBA
Current assignee: Commscope Connectivity Belgium BVBA
Priority date: 2008-10-21
Filing date: 2008-10-21
Publication date: 2010-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 2028-10-21
Also published as: GB0819234D0; GB2464680B

Abstract

A cable retention clip 10 attachable to equipment has a cable holder 12 having a number of open sided cable guide members 20 each for receiving a cable therein and a support member 14 into which the cable holder 10 is insertable to close the cable guide members 20 and retain the cables in the clip 10. The holder 12 and support member 14 may be provided with inter-engagement means 28, 34 such as snap-fit connections, for securing the holder 12 and support member 14 together in a closed configuration of the clip 10.

Description

CABLE RETENTION CLIP

This invention relates to a cable retention clip for securing electrical or optical cables to equipment with which the cables are operatively associated, for example a telecommunications patch panel.

Flexible cable ties and/or Velcro (RIM) straps are often used for securing cables to associated equipment, but these can be inconvenient and time consuming to install, 0 and reconfigure and/or remove once installed particularly when more than Iwo or three cables are to be separately secured in close proximity to one another. This may be the case, for example, in known telecommunications patch panels, especially in high density patch panels having perhaps twelve or twenty four closely spaced connection jacks, individually connected to respective electrical or optical cables.

There is a requirement for improved cable management arrangements, particularly in high density telecommunication patch panels, frames and cabinets.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a cable retention clip attached or attachable to equipment with which a plurality of cables are or will be operatively associated, the said clip comprising a cable holder having a plurality of open sided cable guide members each for receiving a cable therein, and a support member into which the cable holder is insertable to close the cable guide members and retain the cables in the clip.

The cable retention clip according to the above aspect of the present invention provides a convenient means by which a plurality of electrical or optical cables may be held together. One or more cables may be inserted in the respective guide members and once the required number of cables have been inserted the holder can be moved into the support member to close the open sides of the cable guide members and retain the cables in the clip and so prevent displacement of the inserted cables. This way a selected group of cables may be held together in the clip for effective cable management, particularly in confined spaces such as in high density telecommunication patch panels and associated equipment. Once installed selected cable or cables may be readily removed from the clip. This is particularly advantageous when it is desired to reconfigure cable distribution in a confined space such as a high density patch panel.

In preferred embodiments the holder and the support member are provided with inter-engagement means for securing the holder and support member together in the closed configuration of the clip. The inter-engagement means may comprise snap-fit connection means for positive location of the holder in the support member. Snap-fit connection means are particularly advantageous for ensuring the quality of connection between the connecting parts, particularly where space may be limited and movement restricted such as in high density telecommunication patch panels and the like. In preferred embodiments the inter-engagements means are reversible so that the respective parts may be detached and parted from each other for cable re- routing or other cable management functions. Preferably the reversible inter-engagement means comprise a reversible snap-fit inter-engagement means.

Preferably, the snap-fit connection means comprises a pair of resilient members on opposite sides of either the cable holder or the support member for engagement with corresponding engagement elements on the other part, ie: holder or support member.

In this way the cable holder and support member are conveniently held together on both side of the cable retention clip.

The resilient members may be provided at one end of the cable holder for engagement with engagement elements at an open end of the support member through which the holder is inserted to close the clip. Conveniently the resilient members are provided on the external side of the clip for ease of manual manipulation of the cable holder when being inserted and/or removed from the support member. In this way the resilient members are easily accessible particularly when the holder is inserted in the support member when the cable retention clip is closed.

The resilient members are preferably of sufficient size to provide respective gripping elements for manual manipulation of the cable holder, for example, so that the gripping elements may be gripped between finger and thumb during installation and/or removal of the cable holder.

In preferred embodiments the cable guide members are arranged in an array, preferably a Iwo dimensional array of two rows of guide members arranged in a back to back arrangement with their respective open sides facing outwards to permit lengths of selected cables to be installed on both sides of the cable holder. By positioning the cable guide members in this way if is possible to minimise the size of the cable retention clip so that the clip of the present invention is suitable for use in high density telecommunications patch panels and the like.

In preferred embodiments the cable guide members are sized to accommodate *cables having a diameter in the range 2-15mm, preferably 5-9mm, most preferably 5.2 -5.9mm. The cable retention clip of the present invention is therefore particularly suitable for use in telecommunications patch panel arrangements. However, the present invention contemplates both larger and smaller embodiments for the management of cables having diameters outside the above mentioned preferred ranges.

In preferred embodiments the array of cable guide members comprises two to twenty four cable guide members, preferably six cables or multiples thereof. Embodiments having six cable guide members or multiples thereof are particularly suitable for use in telecommunications patch panel arrangements.

The support member is preferably an open-sided U-shape element, the open end of which is adapted to receive the cable holder. In preferred embodiments the support member comprises guide means for guiding. and to some extent retaining, the cable holder when inserted.

The support member is preferably provided with mounting means for mounting the clip on associated equipment, for example, structural panels or members of a telecommunications distribution frame, cabinet or the like. The support member mounting means preferably comprises snap-fit engagement means, most preferably reversible snap-fit engagement means so that the support member may be detachably mounted on an appropriate support structure.

The cable retention clip of the present'invention may further comprise a mounting member rotatably attached to the support member for rot atably mounting the support member. Preferably the support member is rotatable through 360° or more so that when the mounting member is attached to an appropriate support structure the support member and cable holder, if inserted, are capable of being moved to any angular position with respect to the supporting structure to accommodate and route the cable or cables installed in the retention clip in a direction which the cable or cables naturally follow as they are routed in the associated equipment. Not only does this provide for ease of installation but the additional degree of rotational freedom avoids unnecessary stressing of the installed cables, cable management is thus improved. 4 S

In preferred embodiments the cable guide members comprise open sided tubular elements, the internal diameter of which is substantially the same as the cables that the clip is intended to be used with.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of a cable retention clip according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cable retention clip of Figure 1 with the component parts assembled together; Figure 3a and 3b show the cable clip of Figures 1 and 2 with installed lengths of cable in a first upright orientation (Figure 3a) and an inclined orientation (Figure 3b); Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an arrangement of cable retention clips according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and, Figure 5 is a View similar to that of Figure 4 but with cable clips according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, a cable retention clip 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a cable holder 12, a support member 14 and.a mounting member 16. The cable holder comprises a 3 X 2 array of open sided cable guide members 18 in which two rows of guide members are arranged in a back to back arrangement with their respective open sides 20 facing outwards to permit lengths of selected cables to be installed on both sides of the holder as shown in the arrangement on Figure 3a. Each cable guide member is in the form of an open sided tubular element, the longitudinal axes of which extend substantially orthogonal to the plane of the cable holder. The six cable holders 18 are connected together by a series of interconnecting cross-shape link elements 22 so that the six cable guide members form an inter-linked structure with a support member 24 at one end thereof.

S

The support member is curved having a convex surface facing the array of cable guide members and corresponding concave surface on the outward facing side of the cable holder. A pair of resilient members 26 extend from the respective ends of the support member 24 towards the cable guide members 18. The resilient members 26 are splayed outwards so as not to interfere with the adjacent cable guide members and also to provide sufficient space to accommodate orthogonal hook like engagement elements 28 which define one part of a snap-fit connection between the holder and the support member 14. the resilient members 26 are effectively cantilevered from the respective ends of the member 24 and as such have inherent resilience capable of flexing both inwardly and outwardly with respect to the cable guide members. The outwards facing surfaces of the resilient members provide gripping surfaces so that the installer can readily manually manipulate the holder, and retention clip as a whole, when installing and/or removing cables form the clip, the dimensions of the retention clip being such that the resilient members 26 can be easily held between finger and thumb to enable selected cables to be inserted in the cable guide members and/or removed therefrom, and the holder to be inserted or removed from the support member 14, as will be further explained below.

The support member 14 comprises an open sided U-shape structure which is of sufficient size toaccommodate the cable holder 12. The longitudinal sides 32 of the U-shaped support member splay outwards at the opening 30 to provide the second part of the snap-fit connection for the two parts 12 and 14 of the cable retention clip. The splayed parts 34 of the longitudinal sides 32 are angled outwards by a similar amount to the engagement elements 28 so that positive engagement of the snap-fit connection is readily achieved when the Iwo parts 12 and 14 are brought together to close the retention clip as shown is Figure 2. Further retention of the cable holder 12 in the interior region of the U-shape support member 14 is achieved by means of inward projecting guide members 36 which extend along the length of the respective longitudinal sides 32 to prevent displacement of the cable guide members through the open sides of the U-shape support member when installed.

The mounting member 16 is provided with part of a spigot type connection in the form of an upstanding cylindrical element 38 which projects outwards from the surface of a rectangular plate like element 40, towards the underside of the U of the U-shape support member 14 for engagement with a corresponding part of the spigot connection which rotatably mounts the support member 14 to the mounting member 16. The other, or reverse, side of the rectangular plate 40 is provided with a plurality of snap engagement hooks 42 for mounting the cable retention clip on an appropriate supporting structure, for example, a panel in a telecommunications distribution frame or cabinet.

When it is decided to close the cable retention clip the cable holder 12, with or without installed cable, is inserted into the support member in the direction indicated 44. As the cable guide members enter the internal region of the support member they are guided by the longitudinal guide members 36 and when the engagement elements 28 contact the splayed elements 34 the resilient members 26 deflect outwards until further movement of the cable holder into the support member causes the engagement elements 28 to deflect inwards as they ride over the outer edge of the splayed elements to engage the rearwards facing sides thereof as shown in the drawing of Figure 2.

It is to be understood that lengths of cable to be grouped together are first inserted into the respective cable guide members 18 through the respective side openings 20 before the cable holder 12 is inserted into the support member 14, which may or may.

not at that stage be fastened to a support structure by means of the snap-fit engagement hooks 42. . A cable retention clip according to the first embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 3a and 3b with lengths of cable installed in each of the guide members, with the retention clip shown in it's closed configuration. In Figure 3a the clip and the lengths of cable are orientated in a relatively upright position. However, it will be understood that the rotatable mounting 16 provides for rotation of the installed lengths of cable and cable holder 12 and support member 14 about the rotational axis of the clip defined by the spigot mounting 38 as shown in Figure 3b.

In a second embodiment of the present invention the cable retention clip 10 comprises a cable holder 12, support member 14 but not the rotatable mounting member 16. As shown in the drawing of Figure 4 the snap-fit connection hook elements 42 are provided on the underside of the U-shape support member so that the support member can be directly mounted on a support structure such as the plate 48 at a position where corresponding apertures 50a -c are located in the support plate receiving the snap-fit engagement hooks 42 of a holder 14. In all other respects the cable retention clip shown in Figure 4 is identical to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3. In the drawing of Figure 4 it will be understood that a plurality of support members 14 are secured to the support plate 48 at various locations on the plate's surface so that a cable holder 12 may be located into a selected one of the support members 14.

Referring now to Figure 5 which shows a third embodiment of a cable retention clip according to the present invention. The drawing of Figure 5 is similar to Figure 4 in that it shows various support members 14 attached to support plate 48 with one of the support members accommodating a cable holder constructed in accordance with the third embod!ment of the invention. In this embodiment the cable holder 12' is modified to the extent that the resilient members 26 and adjoining support member 24 are removed so that all that remains is the matrix of the interconnected cable guide members 18.

The support member 14' is also modified and has a different arrangement of snap-fit engagement elements at the opening 30 to the support member. In this embodiment hook like engagement elements 50 are provided on the inward facing surfaces of the limbs of the U-shape support member at the open end thereof to engage and hold the adjacent part of the array of guide members when inserted into the interior region of the support member.

In each of the illustrated embodiments the component parts 12, 12', 14, 14' and 16 are preferably integrally moulded components, preferably plastics moulded components although the present invention contemplates other embodiments where different materials are used.

Claims

CLAIMS5.1. A cable retention clip attached or attachable to equipment with which a plurality of cables are or will be operatively associated, the said clip comprising a cable holder having a plurality of open sided cable guide members each for receiving a cable therein, and a support member into which the cable holder is insertable to close the cable guide members and retain the cables in the clip.
2. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the said holder and support member are provided with inter-engagement means for securing the holder and support member together in the closed configuration of the clip.
3. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the said inter-engagement means are reversible.
4. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the said inter-engagement means comprises snap-fit connection means.
5. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the said snap-fit connection means comprises a pair of resilient members on opposite sides of either the cable holder or the support member for engagement with corresponding engagement elements on the other of the holder or support member.
6. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the said resilient members are provided at an end of the cable holder for engagement with engagement elements at an open end of the support member through which the holder is insertable.
7. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein the resilient members are of sufficient size to provide respective griping elements for manual manipulation of the cable holder.
8. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members are arranged in an array, preferably a two dimensional array of two rows of guide members arranged in a back to back arrangement with their respective open sides facing outwards to permit lengths of selected cables to be installed on both sides of the holder.
9. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members are sized to accommodate cables having a diameter in the range 2-15 mm, preferably 5-9 mm, most preferably 5.2-8.9 mm.
10. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said holder comprises 2 to 24 cable guide members, preferably 6 cables or multiples thereof.
11 A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said support member comprises an open-sided U-shape element.S
12. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said support member is provided with mounting means for mounting the clip on associated equipment.
13. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 12 wherein the said mounting means comprises snap-fit engagement means, preferably reversible snap fit engagement means.
14. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising a mounting member for rotatably attached to the support member for rotatably mounting the support member.
15. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 14 wherein the said mounting member is provided with mounting means for mounting the clip on associated equipment.
16. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members each comprise an open sided tubular element.
17. A cable retention clip substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying drawings.Amendments to the claims have been filed as followsCLAIMS1. A cable retention clip attached or attachable to equipment with which a plurality of cables are or will be operatively associated, the said clip comprising a cable holder having a plurality of open sided cable guide members each for receiving a cable therein, and a support member into which the cable holder is insertable to close the cable guide members and retain the cables in the clip, wherein the said holder and support member are provided with inter-engagement means for securing the holder and support member together in the closed configuration of the clip.2. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim wherein the said inter-engagement means are reversible.* .. 15 ** * **** 3. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim lor Claim 2 wherein the said inter-engagement means comprises snap-fit connection means.**** SS * S 4. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the said snap-fit connection means comprises a pair of resilient members on opposite sides of either the cable holder or the support member for engagement with corresponding engagement elements on the other of the holder or support member.5. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the said resilient members are provided at an end of the cable holder for engagement with engagement elements at an open end of the support member through which the holder is insertable.6. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein the resilient members are of sufficient size to provide íespective griping elements for manual manipulation of the cable holder.7. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members are arranged in an array, preferably a two dimensional array of two rows of guide members arranged in a back to back arrangement with their respective open sides facing outwards to permit lengths of selected cables to be installed on both sides of the holder.8. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members are sized to accommodate cables having a diameter in the range 2-15 mm, preferably 5-9 mm, most preferably 5.2-8.9 mm... : 15 9. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said holder comprises 2 to 24 cable guide members, preferably 6 cables or multiples thereof. * S * a S * **10. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said support member comprises an open-sided U-shape element.11. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said support member is provided with mounting means for mounting the clip on associated equipment.12. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the said mounting means comprises snap-fit engagement means, preferably reversible snap fit engagement means.13. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising a mounting member for rofatably attached to the support member for rotatably mounting the support member.14. A cable retention clip as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the said mounting member is provided with mounting means for mounting the clip on associated equipment.15. A cable retention clip as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the said cable guide members each comprise an open sided tubular element.16. A cable retention clip substantially as hereinbef ore described and shown in the accompanying drawings. S... * I S I. S S... * S S... *S S * SS * S.SS..... * S *S * S S *S.