Angled Cable Trough for Rack Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Media cables associated with racks often travel unsupported or insufficiently supported from the front to the rear, leading to inefficiencies and potential damage in data centers and telecommunications rooms.
Innovation Solution
The design of cable troughs with front and rear walls forming a channel to support media cables, featuring an attachment flange with angled attachment members that can be releasably mounted to a rack at various angles, ensuring secure and flexible cable management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cables are allowed to travel freely from front to rear of racks, then installation flexibility is improved, but cable support and protection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cable management system is divided into separate modular components: cable troughs, attachment flanges, and mounting brackets. Each component can be independently installed and positioned along the rack, allowing flexible cable routing while maintaining continuous support. The segmentation enables the system to adapt to different cable lengths and routing requirements without compromising support quality.
Solution Approach 2:
Cable troughs serve as intermediary structures between the rack mounting system and the cables themselves. These troughs provide a dedicated channel that guides and supports cables throughout their journey from front to rear of the rack, preventing cables from sagging or becoming damaged while maintaining installation flexibility through adjustable positioning.
2Ease of manufacture
If fixed-angle mounting is used for cable troughs, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different mounting positions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system transitions from a fixed-angle design to a dynamic, adjustable-angle configuration. The attachment flange incorporates multiple mounting holes positioned at different angles, and the mounting bracket allows rotation to various positions. This dynamic capability enables the cable trough to be mounted at optimal angles depending on cable routing requirements, rack configuration, and access needs, while the standardized components maintain manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment flange and mounting bracket are designed as universal components that can accommodate multiple mounting scenarios. The attachment flange can be mounted at various angles to the cable trough, and the mounting bracket can be attached to different locations on the rack. This multi-functionality allows a single standardized component design to serve diverse installation requirements without compromising manufacturing ease.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple attachment members are provided at different angles, then mounting versatility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment system is segmented into distinct functional elements: the attachment flange with its multiple mounting holes, the mounting bracket with adjustment mechanisms, and the fastening components. This segmentation allows each element to be optimized independently - the flange provides multiple angular options through its hole pattern, while the bracket handles the adjustment and securing functions. The modular segmentation prevents the complexity from becoming unmanageable by distributing functions across separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the attachment system have specialized local qualities optimized for their specific functions. The attachment flange features a pattern of holes with specific local geometries for different mounting angles, the mounting bracket has localized adjustment mechanisms at critical positions, and fastening points have reinforced local structures. This local quality optimization allows the system to achieve high versatility without requiring complex structures throughout the entire assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
Improved cable troughs and related methods of use are provided. The present disclosure provides improved cable troughs configured to support media cables, and related methods of use. More particularly, the present disclosure provides advantageous systems/methods for the design and use of cable troughs configured to support media cables associated with a rack or the like. Disclosed herein is an advantageous cable trough having front and rear walls extending from a bottom wall, with the front, rear and bottom walls defining a channel that is configured and dimensioned to support and/or at least partially house media cables or the like. The exemplary cable trough includes attachment features/structures that are advantageously configured and dimensioned to releasably mount with respect to a supporting structure. Moreover, the attachment features/structures of the cable trough allow the cable trough to be releasably mounted at various angled positions relative to the supporting structure.