Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
ADJUSTABLE CABLE MANAGER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an adjustable cable manager.
BACKGROUND
The prior reveals a number of devices for guiding and managing cable as it
runs between networking equipment and the racks holding such networking
equipment. These prior art devices typically comprise conduits, channels and
cable guides having predetermined dimensions which are attached to or in
proximity of a networking rack. One drawback of these prior art devices is
that
they are generally of fixed capacity and able to support and guide a fixed
number of cables. As a result, when the capacity of the device is achieved the
device must be either replaced for one of greater capacity or additional
equipment added. Additionally, in a given installation typically a variety of
different devices of different capacities must be provided in order to deal
with
all cabling situations. This would also in many cases require that the cables
interconnecting the networking equipment be disconnected, thereby typically
interrupting operations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to address the above and other drawbacks there is disclosed a cable
manager for guiding a plurality of telecommunications cables terminated at a
network equipment attached to a vertical surface. The manager comprises a
substantially flat back plate adapted for attachment to the vertical surface,
a
first elongate cable stay comprising a retaining member having a surface
opposing the back plate, a mechanism for selectably fixing movement of the
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retaining member relative to the back plate, wherein the vertical surface and
the retaining member define an adjustable cable guiding region there between
and wherein in operation the cables are retained within the cable guiding
region.
There is also disclosed a method for guiding a plurality of telecommunications
terminated at a cross connect assembly attached to a vertical surface. The
method comprises mounting an elongate cable guide support substantially
normally to the vertical surface, mounting an elongate cable guide slideably
to
the cable guide support for movement along a path normal to the vertical
surface, the cable guide comprising a cable retaining member having a
retaining surface opposing the surface at an outer end there of, positioning
the
cables between the retaining surface and the vertical surface, adjusting a
distance between the retaining surface and the vertical surface in order to
accommodate the cables, and fixing movement of the cable guide to the cable
guide support.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a dual cable manager in
accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2(a) is a right raised perspective view of a dual cable manager in
accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention detailing
the manager's adjustable nature;
Figure 2(b) is a right plan view of a cable manager in accordance with an
illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a right raised perspective view of a back plate of a dual cable
manager in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention
installed above a pair.of cross connect assemblies;
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Figure 4 is a right front perspective view of a pair of dual cable managers in
accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention installed
between tow pairs of cross connect assemblies;
Figure 5 is a front perspective view of a cross connect system with cable
managers in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention installed; and
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a dual cable manager in
accordance with an alternative illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to Figure 1, an adjustable cable manager, generally referred to
using the reference numeral 10, will now be described. The cable manager is
comprised of a back plate 12 onto which are mounted a pair of cable stays. The
pair of cable stays are illustratively in the form of a pair of cable guide
supports
14, 16 mounted to the back plate 12 by welding or the like and manufactured
from a rigid material such as steel channel or the like having a U shaped
cross
section. A pair of cable guides 18, 20 are each mounted to an end of a
respective one of the cable guide supports 14, 16. The cable guides 18, 20 are
each comprised of an elongate guiding portion 22, also illustratively
manufactured from a rigid material such as steel channel or the like having a
U
shaped cross section, which is terminated by a disk like retaining member 24
welded or otherwise fastened to an outer distal end of the elongate guiding
portion 22. The surfaces of both the cable guide supports 14, 16 and the cable
guides 18, 20 over which the cables will eventually run are illustratively
bevelled to ensure smooth passage. Alternatively, these surface could be
coated with a suitable coating (not shown) to ensure that cables are not
damaged through contact with either the cable guide supports 14, 16 or the
cable guides 18, 20.
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Still referring to Figure 1, the back plate 12 also comprises one or more
holes
as in 26 machined or otherwise cut therein which can be used to fasten the
back plate 12 to a wall or the like using a suitable fastener (not shown). In
a
particular embodiment the back plate 12 also includes a keyhole shaped
aperture 28 thereby allowing the back plate 12 to be secured to a fastener
preinstalled on a wall or the like (all not shown). The back plate 12 also
includes an elongate centre portion 30 comprising a shaped end 32. As will be
seen below, provision of the shaped end 32 allows mated pairs of cable
managers 10 to be interlocked. Additionally, the back plate is also provided
with
cutaway corners 34, 36.
Referring now to Figure 2(a) and Figure 2(b), the U shaped channel of the
cable guides 18, 20 is dimensioned to fit over the U shaped channel of the
cable guide supports 14, 16. As a result, and in order to install a given one
of
the cable guides 18, 20 on its respective cable guide support 14, 16, the
cable
guides 18, 20 slide onto the cable guide supports 14, 16 until the wished for
distance D between the retaining disk 24 and the back plate 12 is reached. A
means for securing the cable guides 18, 20 to there respective cable guide
supports 14, 16, illustratively comprised of a pair of bolts as in 38 and wing
nuts
40 are provided. The bolts as in 38 which are first inserted through their
respective holes as in 42 machined or otherwise formed in the cable guides 18,
20 and a selected one of one of a series of holes as in 44 machined or
otherwise formed in the cable guide supports 14, 16. As will be apparent now
to
one of ordinary skill in the art, the retaining disk 24 can be held at a
wished for
distance D from the back plate 12 using the securing mechanism.
Referring to Figure 3, in operation the cable manager 10 is illustratively
mounted between a pair of cross connect assemblies 46, 48 with the upper
corners 50, 52 of the cross connect assemblies 46, 48 positioned snugly
against the cutaway corners 34, 36. The cable guide supports 14, 16 are
resultantly positioned immediately above a respective supporting edge 54, 56
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of the cross connect assemblies 46, 48. As a result, cables entering the cross
connect assemblies 46, 48 from above and to the side, as indicated by the
arrows, via the channel 58 defined by the opposing supporting edge 54, 56
must pass over the cable guide supports 14, 16. The cable guides (references
18, 20 in Figure 1) can then be installed over the cable guide supports 14, 16
and the distance D between the back plate 12 and the retaining disk 24
adjusted as desired to accommodate the amount of/number of cables.
Referring now to Figure 4, in installations comprising multiple pairs of cross
connect assemblies as in 46, 48 and 60, 62 arranged vertically above one
another, additional cable managers as in 10 can be added. In particular, in an
installation comprising two pairs of cross connect assemblies as in 46, 48 and
60, 62 arranged vertically above one another, a pair of cable managers 10,
10R( tated) can be used. In this regard, the upper cable guide 10R is rotated
180
and positioned above the lower cable manager 10 such that the ying-yang
shaped ends 32, 32R of the elongate centre portions 30, 30R mate. Cables
entering the upper cross connect assemblies 60, 62 from below in the direction
indicated, via the channel 64 formed by the opposing outer edges of the upper
cross connect assemblies 60, 62, must pass under the cable guide supports
14R, 16R. The cable guides can then be installed over the cable guide supports
14R, 16R and the distance between the back plate 12R and the retaining disks
adjusted as desired to accommodate the amount of/number of cables. A similar
result is achieved for cables entering the lower pair of cross connect
assemblies 46, 48 from above, via the channel 58 formed by the opposing
outer edges of the lower pair of cross connect assemblies 46, 48.
Additionally,
mating of the ends 32, 32R in this fashion ensures that sufficient spacing S
is
maintained between the upper cross connect assemblies 60, 62 and the lower
cross connect assemblies 46, 48.
Referring now to Figure 5, with the cable guides 18, 20 installed, the cables
as
in 66 are held snugly and prevented from moving away from the back plate
12/wall 68 on which the cross connect assemblies 60, 62 are mounted by the
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retaining disks 24. In the event that additional cables are terminated by the
cross connect assemblies 60, 62, the distance between the retaining disks 24
and the back plate 12/wall 68 can be increased to provide additional space and
accommodate additional cables. Alternatively, if the number of cables is
reduced, the distance between the retaining disks 24 and the back plate
12/wall
68 can be reduced to ensure that the snug fit between back plate 12/wall 68
and retaining disk 24 is maintained.
Referring now to Figure 6, in an alternative illustrative embodiment of a
cable
guide 10 according to the present invention, a pair of cable stays 70, 72 are
provided each comprised of a supporting portion as in 74 attached to the back
plate 12 and a retaining portion 76 comprising a disk like retaining member
78.
In order to increase the distance D between the inner surface 80 of the
retaining member 78 and the back plate 12, one or more stackable
intermediate portions 82 are inserted between the supporting portion 74 and
the retaining portion 76. The stackable intermediate portions 82, the
supporting
portion 74 and the retaining portion 76 are interconnected using a suitable
interconnection mechanism. Alternatively, the supporting portion 74,
intermediate portion(s) 82 and the retaining portion 76 could be slideably
engaged and telescope relative to one another.
Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of an
illustrative embodiment thereof, this embodiment can be modified at will
without
departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention. For example,
the
present invention is suitable for use with all types of network cables
including
both those comprised of twisted pair copper conductors and fibre optics.
Additionally, although the present has been described in the context of a
cross
connect system terminating twisted pair telecommunications cables, other
applications including broadcasting, industrial, commercial and data centres
are
also envisaged.
