Modular Cable Sealing Plug with Sawtooth Rib for Easy Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cable sealing systems are inefficient due to issues such as difficulty in cable removal and replacement, inconsistent sealing quality, and degradation over time, especially with temperature changes and creep phenomena, which lead to increased maintenance needs and reduced sealing effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a plate-like holder with conduits and multi-part elastic sealing plugs, featuring sawtooth outer ribs for easy insertion and inner ribs for sliding along cables, allowing for precise cable alignment and sealing without significant slack, and a gasket for circumferential sealing, which can accommodate elastic deformation without moving the cables.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If castable material is applied in annular space around cable, then sealing adapts to available space, but cable removal and replacement becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is divided into separate modular components: a holder structure with conduits and detachable sealing plugs. Each conduit can be independently sealed and accessed, allowing cables to be removed or replaced by simply detaching the sealing plug rather than breaking through castable material that would require complete refurbishment.
2Reliability
If tightening mechanism with rubber rings is used, then axial pressure provides sealing, but sealing quality varies widely
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing plug is designed to automatically self-seal when inserted into the conduit. The elastic material deforms under its own insertion force to conform to the annular space between the conduit inner wall and cable, eliminating the need for worker-dependent tightening operations and ensuring consistent sealing quality regardless of installer skill level.
3Reliability
If tightening systems with rubber rings are used, then sealing is provided, but systems are difficult to install and require large inventory control
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is extracted as a separate, pre-fabricated sealing plug component rather than being integrated into complex tightening systems with multiple parts. The plug is designed as a single-piece elastic element that can be easily stored, transported, and installed without requiring inventory control of multiple components or specialized installation tools.
4Reliability
If rubber is used for tightening, then sealing is provided, but rubber undergoes natural and chemical relaxation over time
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing plug is designed with inherent elastic properties that compensate for relaxation over time. The material and geometry are selected to maintain adequate sealing pressure throughout the service life, and the modular design allows for easy replacement if long-term sealing pressure becomes insufficient, effectively cushioning against the relaxation problem.
5Reliability
If whorls are tightened to provide sealing, then sealing is achieved, but temperature changes cause loosening or overtightening
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system uses elastic material properties that naturally adapt to temperature changes. As temperature varies, the elastic sealing plug expands or contracts to maintain adequate contact pressure with the conduit and cable surfaces, eliminating the loosening or overtightening problems associated with rigid mechanical tightening systems.
6Reliability
If radial inward pressure is applied to plastic cables, then sealing is provided, but cable outer diameter decreases due to creep
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system uses a dynamic elastic sealing plug that can adapt its pressure distribution over time. The elastic material gradually conforms to the cable surface and adjusts to creep deformation, maintaining effective sealing contact even as the cable diameter changes, rather than imposing fixed rigid pressure that would accelerate creep.
7Strength
If thick walls between conduits are used, then high pressure resistance is achieved, but fewer conduits can be placed per opening area
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses thin-walled conduit structures combined with flexible elastic sealing plugs. The sealing function is transferred from the rigid conduit walls to the flexible sealing plugs, allowing the conduit walls to be made much thinner. This enables significantly higher conduit density per opening area while maintaining adequate pressure resistance through the elastic sealing action.
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 system provides a reliable, easy-to-install, and maintainable cable sealing solution that minimizes cable entanglement, maintains sealing integrity over time, and allows for a high density of cables through a small opening, reducing the need for tools and manual tightening.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing plug will be compressed in axial direction and expand somewhat in transverse direction. In such a situation, the sealing plug tightens itself further in the annular space between the inner wall of the conduit and the pipe, cable or duct extending through that conduit sleeve.
Implementation Method 2
Rubber rings may then be applied around the cables, and as a result of a tightening mechanism, axial pressure ensures that the rubber expands in both radial directions, and thus providing a sealing.
Implementation Method 3
As is well-known, rubber has a natural relaxation, occurring over time. If rubber has not been properly saturated or vulcanized, chemical relaxation can also occur. This enhances the overall relaxation of the rubber.
Implementation Method 4
In particular when cables with plastic sheathings are used, it is possible that the outer surfaces of these cables are subjected to such a radial inward pressure that the outer diameter of the plastic cables over time decrease, due to a phenomenon known as 'creep'.
Implementation Method 5
A further problem is that a change in temperature will, due to thermal expansion or shrinkage, result in loosening or overtightening of the whorls etc., resulting respectively in weakening the sealing and irreversible deformation of the rubber.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a system for sealingly holding cables through an opening. The system comprises a holder substantially in the form of a plate having a central portion with a first thickness between a first side and a second side of the plate and a peripheral portion with a second thickness which is smaller than the first thickness, the holder having in the central portion a plurality of conduits extending in the thickness direction of the plate, each conduit being suitable for having one or more cables extending there through, at least one multi-part sealing plug of an elastic material for sealing an annular space between an inner wall of one of the conduits and a cable extending there through and a gasket of an elastic material and of a shape for placement against the peripheral portion so as to provide a sealing in a circumferential direction of the plate. The plug has at least one circumferentially extending outer rib and at least one circumferentially extending inner rib. In an uninserted state, the following conditions apply: the outer rib has a sawtooth shape for easy insertion, the sawtooth is provided with an angled inward bend for facilitating flexing of the sawtooth in a transverse direction, the inner rib has a top surface extending in circumferential and longitudinal direction for facilitating sliding along the cable, and an imaginary straight line extending in a transverse direction coincides with a pivotal point of the angled bend and intersects the top surface.