Cable Manager Hinged Door With Magnetic Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing horizontal cable managers have aesthetically mismatched designs with vertical cable managers due to shorter finger projections, and their hinge doors require significant force to open and close, making them less user-friendly.
Innovation Solution
The horizontal cable manager features extended finger projections to match vertical cable managers, with a magnetic hinged door that uses rare earth magnets for effortless opening and closing, allowing the door to be attached to hinge pin holders and rotated up to 190 degrees for easy access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If finger projections are extended to match vertical cable managers, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable manager is divided into modular components including the body, extended fingers, hinge mechanism, and door as separate but integrated parts. This segmentation allows the extended fingers to be designed independently to achieve aesthetic matching with vertical cable managers while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through modular assembly.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional plastic snap-in hinge elements are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but ease of operation deteriorates due to considerable force required
Solution Approach 1:
The traditional purely mechanical plastic snap-in hinge system is replaced with a magnetic hinge system that uses magnetic attraction forces to hold the door closed and magnetic repulsion/attraction to assist door opening. This substitution eliminates the need for high mechanical snap forces while maintaining secure door closure, significantly improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge mechanism transitions from relying on mechanical snap-fit parameters to utilizing magnetic field parameters. By changing the holding mechanism from mechanical interlocking to magnetic attraction, the force required to operate the door is reduced while maintaining secure closure.
3Ease of operation
If magnetic hinge mechanism is implemented, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic components are extracted as separate elements (magnetic elements in the hinge pin holder and corresponding magnetic elements in the door) that can be independently sourced and assembled. This extraction simplifies the overall manufacturing process while achieving the desired ease of operation through magnetic assistance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution improves the aesthetics and usability of horizontal cable managers by aligning them with vertical managers and reducing the force required to open and close the door, enhancing cable management accessibility and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
The hinge pin receptacle houses a magnet for enabling the door to attach to the hinge pin holder of the at least one finger to hold the door in a closed position
Data Source
AI summary
A cable manager connected to a network rack that routes cables in and around the network rack. The cable manager includes a body with plurality of fingers extending from the body. The distal end of at least one finger includes a hinge pin holder. The cable manager also includes a door hingedly attached to the fingers extending from the body. The door has a front, a back, edges, and at least one hinge pin receptacle positioned along the edges of the door. The hinge pin receptacle houses a magnet to enable the door to attach to the hinge pin holder of the at least one finger to hold the door in a closed position.