Cable Extender for Support Hook Reducing Strain
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cable support systems using individual hooks result in long stretches of unsupported cables, leading to strain, damage, and undesirable bending, as well as increased costs and installation complexity due to the need for closer spacing of supports.
Innovation Solution
A cable extender, typically in the form of a tray with upstanding flanges or posts, is anchored to narrower cable support hooks, providing extended support lengths that reduce cable sagging and strain, allowing for fewer and more widely spaced support hooks, and optional features like drainage holes and curved ends for easy installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If individual cable support hooks are used with narrow width and relatively large spacing, then device complexity is reduced and installation is simpler, but cable strain and damage increase due to long unsupported stretches
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is segmented into modular components: individual support hooks remain simple and easy to install, while extenders are added as separate attachments that provide additional support segments along the cable run. This segmentation allows the basic hook structure to remain simple while the extender adds the necessary support length to reduce cable strain.
Solution Approach 2:
The extender acts as an intermediary component between the support hook and the cable. It attaches to the hook and provides an extended support surface that distributes the cable's weight over a longer distance, thereby reducing strain on the cable while maintaining the simplicity of the original hook installation system.
2Reliability
If support hooks are spaced closer together to reduce cable strain, then cable reliability improves, but the number of supports increases leading to higher cost and installation time
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the number of support points along the cable run (one-dimensional solution), the extender adds support in the longitudinal dimension by extending the support length along the direction of the cable run. This allows existing hooks to support cables over longer distances without needing to install additional hooks at closer intervals.
3Strength
If thicker and stronger cables are used to withstand strain from long unsupported stretches, then cable strength is sufficient, but material cost and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The extender provides beforehand cushioning by establishing additional support points along the cable run before the cable can sag or experience excessive strain. This preventive support distribution reduces the mechanical stress on the cable, allowing the use of standard cable specifications rather than requiring heavier, more expensive cables.
4Reliability
If a continuous cable tray is used to provide extended support, then cable strain is reduced, but material usage and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The extender merges the functions of the support hook and the cable tray into a single integrated component. It combines the mounting capability of the hook with the extended support surface of the tray, providing continuous cable support along the run while using less material than a full tray system and requiring simpler installation than separate hook-and-tray assemblies.
Data Source
AI summary
Each spaced apart support for a cable run in a preferred form includes a hook having a relatively narrower width along the direction of the cable run. A respective extender attached above each hook has a greater length along the cable run than the width of the support in the direction of the cable run, and the extenders thereby provide extended support for cable resting on the extenders along the cable run. Each extender has a slight downward curvature. The opposite ends of each extender have a sharp downward curvature so that the extenders will support resting cable passing over the supports and avoid damage to the cable passing off the extender. A plurality of the supports may be spaced apart at a greater interval such that the longitudinal ends of adjacent extenders are spaced apart defining an acceptable length gap over which the cable run passes.