Multi-joint Cable Guide with Snap-Fit Resin Blocks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-joint cable protection and guide devices face issues with inaccurate radius of flexion, material fatigue, difficulty in replacing components, high labor costs in production, and stress concentration leading to damage and noise, particularly when using stainless steel or leaf spring components.
Innovation Solution
A multi-joint cable protection and guide device featuring a flexible belt member with unitarily molded cable inserting tubular portions and block bodies connected by concave-convex snap-fittings, tapered cut-away fitting portions, and chamfered corners, made from synthetic resin, allowing for easy assembly, disassembly, and stress dispersion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a stainless steel member or leaf spring is used as the flexible member in the assembly supporting member, then the supporting member can maintain structural integrity, but the flexible member experiences fatigue and breakdown over time, becoming useless
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible member is divided into multiple resin pieces (first through fourth pieces) that can be independently replaced. Each piece is injection-molded separately and then assembled together with flexible belts, allowing individual replacement without replacing the entire assembly supporting member structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible member uses a composite structure combining resin pieces with flexible belts. The resin pieces provide structural support while the flexible belts provide flexibility and fatigue resistance, creating a composite material system that overcomes the limitations of pure metal or pure resin construction.
2Strength
If the flexible member is made of stainless steel or leaf spring material, then it can provide necessary support, but it cannot be easily cut or replaced, making the supporting member difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible member is segmented into multiple replaceable resin pieces connected by flexible belts. When one piece becomes damaged or worn, only that specific piece needs to be removed and replaced, rather than replacing the entire supporting member assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The resin pieces are designed to be disposable components that can be easily removed and replaced. The flexible belts are recovered and reused while only the worn resin pieces are discarded and replaced, extending the overall service life of the supporting member.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the assembly supporting member uses intermittent flexions with corners, then it can accommodate movement, but bending stress concentrates at corners, potentially damaging conductor cables or conduit tubes
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible belts are used to connect the resin pieces with continuous curved transitions instead of sharp corners. This curvature distributes bending stress evenly along the flexion path, eliminating stress concentration points that could damage cables or conduits passing through the supporting member.
4Strength
If pieces are injection-molded one at a time with stainless steel member or leaf spring, then the assembly can be manufactured, but the process requires a lot of time and labor, making mass production difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The assembly supporting member is divided into modular resin pieces that can be injection-molded independently using standard mold technology. This segmentation allows parallel production of multiple pieces simultaneously, dramatically increasing productivity compared to molding entire assemblies as single pieces.
Solution Approach 2:
While the resin pieces are manufactured separately through injection molding, they are then assembled together with flexible belts to form the complete assembly supporting member. This combination of separate manufacturing with systematic assembly enables both high productivity and structural integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a multi-joint cable protection and guide device that fits well with a flexible belt member in a flexed posture, that steadily protects and smoothly guides cables that assume the flexed posture, that requires fewer parts and that may be readily connected and disconnected corresponding as desired according to usage. The multi-joint supporting member has the flexible belt member in which cable inserting tubular portions are unitarily molded in parallel and a train comprising a plurality of block bodies flexibly connected with each other by concave-convex snap-fittings. The train of block bodies is inserted through the cable inserting tubular portions to control and support straight and flexed postures of the flexible belt member and each block body has a flexion outer peripheral-side curved surface whose curvature is equal to a radius of a flexed circular arc in the flexed posture.