Cable connector protective cover

Abstract

To solve a problem in a conventional technology in which cables are identified by attaching identification tags to prevent incorrect connection, however, improper checking such as inserting a cable without checking the port table when inerting the cable, leading to incorrect connection of the cable, and when the tag is wrapped around the cable for identification, the tag is often covered by the hand when connecting the cable, making it impossible to see the tag.SOLUTION: A cable connector protective cover protects a connector provided at the end of a cable when the connector is not connected, and includes: a cable connector covering portion that covers the cable connector portion; a locking portion that locks the cable connector covering portion to the cable; a connecting portion that detachably connects the cable connector covering portion from the locking portion; and an identification tag storage portion that is provided between the cable connector covering portion and the locking portion and stores an identification tag for identifying the connector.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE An embodiment of the present invention relates to a cable connector protective cover. [Background technology]

[0002] A LAN (Local Area Network) cable for communication is a cable used to send and receive data between computers or network devices. By connecting different devices with a LAN cable, they can connect to a network and send and receive data.

[0003] A LAN cable may be connected to a router or hub that has multiple LAN ports, and multiple LAN cables must be connected one by one to the correct LAN port.

[0004] According to the identification tag for communication cables described in Patent Document 1, communication cables are identified by wrapping a rotatable spiral tube around the outer surface of the communication cable and using a sheet-like tag that is attached to the surface of the tube.

[0005] Moreover, according to the RJ45 connector protective cap described in Patent Document 2, a protective cap is attached to the tip of an RJ45 LAN connector to prevent deformation and damage. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-9329 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2010-161049 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In conventional technology, cables are identified by attaching identification tags to prevent incorrect connection. However, improper checking, such as inserting a cable without checking the port table, can lead to incorrect connection of the cable. In addition, if the tag is wrapped around the cable to identify it, the tag is likely to be covered by the hand when connecting the cable, making it impossible to see the tag. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the cable connector protective cover of the embodiment protects a connector provided at the end of a cable when the connector is not connected, and includes a cable connector covering portion that covers the cable connector portion, a locking portion that locks the cable connector covering portion to a cable, a connecting portion that detachably connects the cable connector covering portion to the locking portion, and an identification tag storage portion that is provided between the cable connector covering portion and the locking portion and that stores an identification tag for identifying the connector. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a state in which the cable connector protective cover according to the first embodiment is engaged with a cable. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a development view of the cable connector protective cover according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of a state in which a cable connector covering portion is separated from the cable connector protective cover according to the first embodiment engaged with a cable. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a development view of a cable connector protective cover according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a development view of a cable connector protective cover according to a third embodiment. [Figure 6] Schematic diagram of the tip of a LAN cable. [Figure 7] Schematic diagram of a LAN cable plugged into a LAN port. [Figure 8]4 is a flowchart of a cable connection process using the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] (First embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment engaged with a cable, FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment engaged with a cable and with the cable connector covering portion separated from it. The cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment will be described using these drawings.

[0012] In order to provide a supplementary explanation of the cable connector protective cover 10 according to this embodiment, FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the tip of a LAN cable, and FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a LAN cable connected to a LAN port.

[0013] The cable connector protective cover 10 according to this embodiment protects the connector provided at the tip of a cable when the connector is not connected, and is composed of a cable connector covering part 11 that covers the cable connector part, and a locking part 12 that locks the cable connector covering part 11 to the cable. The cable connector covering part 11 and the locking part 12 are integrated by a connecting part 13 to constitute the cable connector protective cover 10.

[0014] The cable connector covering portion 11 includes an identification tag storage portion 14A and fixing portions 15A and 15B. As shown in Fig. 6, the connector 31 of the LAN cable has a complicated structure and may be easily damaged when an external force is applied. In order to protect the connector 31, the cable connector protective cover 10 is attached so that the cable connector covering portion 11 covers the entire connector 31. The attached cable connector covering portion 11 is fixed by the fixing portions 15A and 15B so as not to shift from the connector 31.

[0015] In this embodiment, the fixing parts 15A and 15B are the hook surface and loop surface of a hook-and-loop fastener, respectively. The fixing part 15B is ring-shaped, and the outer surface of the ring is the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener. When attaching the cable connector protective cover 10, the connector 31 is attached by passing it through the ring of the fixing part 15B. The connector 31 is passed through the ring of the fixing part 15B, and the fixing part 15A, which is the hook surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, is adhered and fixed to the outer surface of the fixing part 15B, which is the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, so that the cable connector covering part 11 covers the connector 31. The fixing parts 15A and 15B are not limited to hook-and-loop fasteners, and other fixing methods may be used as long as they are detachable.

[0016] In addition, cable connector covering portion 11 is provided with identification tag storage portion 14A, in which a tag for identifying the type, use, etc. of the cable can be stored. Since the identification tag needs to be visible from the outside of cable connector protective cover 10 and the identification tag needs to be prevented from easily falling off, identification tag storage portion 14A is desirably made of a transparent and elastic material such as vinyl or silicone.

[0017] The locking portion 12 includes an identification tag storage portion 14B and locking bands 16A and 16B.

[0018] Like identification tag storage section 14A, identification tag storage section 14B can store a tag for identifying the type, use, etc. of the cable. Because it is necessary to visually recognize the identification tag from the outside of cable connector protective cover 10 and because the identification tag needs to be prevented from easily falling out, identification tag storage section 14B is desirably made of a transparent and elastic material such as vinyl or silicone, like identification tag storage section 14A.

[0019] The locking bands 16A and 16B are bands for locking the cable connector protective cover 10 to the cable, and in this embodiment, are hook-and-loop fasteners. When attaching the cable connector protective cover 10 to the tip of the cable, the hook and loop surfaces of the locking bands 16A and 16B are separated (the hook-and-loop fasteners are peeled off), and the cable connector covering portion 11 is attached to the connector 31 as described above. After the cable connector covering portion 11 is attached to the connector 31, the hook and loop surfaces of the locking bands 16A and 16B are bonded together (the hook-and-loop fasteners are attached), that is, the locking bands 16A and 16B are wrapped around the cable, and the cable connector protective cover 10 is locked to the cable. The locking bands 16A and 16B are not limited to hook-and-loop fasteners, and may be any other locking method as long as they are detachable.

[0020] The connecting portion 13 connects the cable connector covering portion 11 and the locking portion 12 in a separable manner. In this embodiment, the connecting portion 13 has small holes or openings arranged in a continuous perforation pattern. When inserting the connector 31 into a LAN port, the cable connector covering portion 11 can be easily separated from the locking portion 12 by hand. In addition, since visual inspection is required when actually separating the cable connector covering portion 11, the identification tags stored in the identification tag storage portion 14A and the identification tag storage portion 14B are inevitably visually confirmed, and it becomes possible to reliably insert the cable connector covering portion 11 into the target LAN port.

[0021] The connecting portion 13 does not have to be a continuous small hole or opening like a perforation, as long as the cable connector covering portion 11 can be easily separated from the locking portion 12 by hand and the separation needs to be visually observed.

[0022] Next, a flow of cable connection using the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0023] First, the worker checks the port table and stores the identification tags listed on the port table in the identification tag storage units 14A and 14B (S101).

[0024] Next, a cable to be stored with the identification tag is prepared (S102).

[0025] Then, the connector 31 of the target cable is passed through the loop of the fixing part 15B, the outer surface of which is the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener. After that, the fixing part 15A, which is the hook surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, is adhered to the fixing part 15B so that the cable connector covering part 11 covers the connector 31, thereby fixing the cable connector covering part 11 (S103).

[0026] Next, hook-and-loop fastener fastening bands 16A, 16B are wrapped around the cable, and the hook and loop surfaces are bonded to fasten the cable connector protective cover 10 to the cable (S104). As a result, even when the cable connector covering portion 11 is later separated, the fastening portion 12 remains fastened to the cable, and the type of cable can be identified in the identification tag storage portion 14B when viewing the cable.

[0027] When connecting the target cable to a LAN port, the cable connector covering portion 11 must be separated, so the worker peels off the fixing portion 15A, which is the hook surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, from the fixing portion 15B, which is the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, while looking at his or her hands. At this time, the worker is almost forced to visually check the identification tag stored in the identification tag storage portion 14A, 14B, or either one of them, and check whether the port table and the identification tag match (S105). This makes it possible to prevent erroneous connection to a LAN port.

[0028] As a result of checking whether the port table and the identification tag match, if they do not match (No in S106), the process returns to step S101 and repeats the flow.

[0029] If the port table and the identification tag match (Yes in S106), the worker peels off the fixing part 15A, which is the hook surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, from the fixing part 15B, which is the loop surface of the hook-and-loop fastener, and separates the cable connector covering part 11 along the connecting part 13, which is a small perforated hole (S107). As a result, only the cable connector covering part 11 is separated from the cable, and the connector 31 is exposed.

[0030] Finally, as shown in FIG. 7, the connector 31 is connected to the corresponding LAN port (S108), and this flow ends.

[0031] As described above, in this embodiment, the cable connector covering portion 11 prevents the connector 31 from being physically inserted into the LAN port, and by taking the extra step of removing the cable connector covering portion 11 before connecting the cable to the LAN port, the identification tag can be recognized by visually checking the cable connector covering portion 11, thereby preventing erroneous connection of the cable to the LAN port.

[0032] Second Embodiment A development view of the cable connector protective cover 40 according to the second embodiment is shown in Fig. 4, and the cable connector protective cover 40 according to the second embodiment will be described. In Fig. 4, the same components as those of the cable connector protective cover 10 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0033] A cable connector protective cover 40 according to the second embodiment is obtained by replacing the hook-and-loop fasteners of the fixing parts 15A, 15B and the locking bands 16A, 16B in the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment with fixing parts 41A, 41B and locking bands 42A, 42B, which are so-called snap buttons. The type of button is not limited to a snap button, and other types may be used as long as they can be used as fasteners.

[0034] The method of attaching cable connector protective cover 40 to the cable is not significantly different from that described in the first embodiment, but cable connector covering part 11 is fixed by fitting a snap button (convex) of fixing part 41A into a snap button (concave) of fixing part 41B. Similarly, locking bands 42A and 42B can also be wrapped around the cable and locked with the snap buttons, thereby locking cable connector protective cover 40 to the cable.

[0035] According to this embodiment, even if a worker works while wearing cloth gloves such as work gloves, the hook surface of the hook-and-loop fastener will not stick to the cloth gloves, and improved workability can be expected.

[0036] (Third embodiment) A development view of a cable connector protective cover 50 according to the third embodiment is shown in Fig. 5, and the cable connector protective cover 50 according to the third embodiment will be described. In Fig. 5, the same components as those in the cable connector protective cover 10 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

[0037] A cable connector protective cover 50 according to the third embodiment is obtained by replacing the hook-and-loop fasteners of the fixing parts 15A, 15B and the locking bands 16A, 16B in the cable connector protective cover 10 according to the first embodiment with fixing holes 51A, 51B and locking holes 52A, 52B, which are holes for passing a string-like fastener such as a cable tie. The string-like fastener is not limited to a cable tie, and may be of any other type as long as it can be used as a fastener, such as a string or wire.

[0038] The method of attaching the cable connector protective cover 50 to the cable is not significantly different from that described in the first embodiment, but a cable tie or the like is passed continuously through the fixing holes 51A, 51B to tighten and secure the connector 31. Similarly, a cable tie or the like is passed continuously through the locking holes 52A, 52B and wrapped around the cable to tighten it, thereby making it possible to lock the cable connector protective cover 50 to the cable.

[0039] According to this embodiment, the cable connector protective cover 50 can be more firmly locked, making it less likely to slip off, and is expected to provide improved protection for the connector 31 and improved visibility of the identification tag.

[0040] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041]

[0033] 10...cable connector protective cover according to the first embodiment, 11...cable connector covering portion, 12...locking portion, 13...connecting portion, 14A, 14B...identification tag storage portion, 15A, 15B...fixing portion, 16A, 16B...locking band, 31...connector, 40...cable connector protective cover according to the second embodiment, 41A, 41B...fixing portion, 42A, 42B...locking band, 50...cable connector protective cover according to the third embodiment, 51A, 51B...fixing hole, 52A, 52B...locking hole

Claims

1. A cable connector cover that covers the cable connector and protects the connector at the tip of the cable when the connector is not connected; a locking portion for locking the cable connector cover to a cable; a connecting portion that detachably connects the cable connector cover to the locking portion; an identification tag storage section provided on the cable connector covering section and the locking section, the identification tag storage section storing an identification tag for identifying the connector; A cable connector protective cover comprising:

2. The locking portion has a hook-and-loop fastener, and the hook-and-loop fastener is attached to the cable by adhesion.

2. The cable connector protective cover of claim 1.

3. The connecting portion has a continuous small hole or opening in a perforated pattern.

3. The cable connector protective cover according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The locking portion has a snap button, and the locking portion is locked to the cable by adhesion of the snap button.

2. The cable connector protective cover according to claim 1.

5. The locking portion has a locking hole, and a string-like fastener is passed through the locking hole to be locked to the cable.

2. The cable connector protective cover according to claim 1.

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