Clickable Cable Tray Assembly Without Bolts or Springs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cable tray connection systems require additional components like bolts, nuts, and springs, making them laborious, time-consuming, and costly to install, especially when surface treatments like hot-dip galvanizing are involved.
Innovation Solution
A cable tray design that allows adjacent trays to be connected without additional components, featuring a first end with barbs and a second end with barb openings, enabling a form-fitted and force-fitted connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If additional components like bolts, nuts, and springs are used to connect cable trays, then connection stability and load bearing capacity are sufficient, but installation becomes laborious, time-consuming, and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The barb and barb opening are integrated directly into the cable tray structure itself, eliminating the need for separate connection components. The barb protrudes from one tray while the barb opening is formed in the adjacent tray, creating a unified connection system that maintains strength while simplifying installation to a single snapping motion
Solution Approach 2:
The cable tray design includes self-contained connection features where the barb and barb opening are built-in elements. The connection mechanism serves itself by using the tray's own structural elements to create the fastening system, eliminating dependency on external components and enabling easy self-installation
2Strength
If additional components are used for cable tray connection, then connection strength is sufficient, but installation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is segmented into two simple integrated features: the barb protrusion and the barb opening. This segmentation allows for rapid assembly by simply aligning and snapping the features together, eliminating the time-consuming process of handling multiple separate components while maintaining connection strength
Solution Approach 2:
The barb and barb opening are pre-formed as integral parts of the cable tray during manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures that no additional components need to be gathered or prepared during installation, reducing installation time while ensuring the connection features are precisely formed for strong connections
3Ease of operation
If spring-based connecting systems are used, then connection is achieved, but compatibility with hot-dip galvanizing surface treatment is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The barb and barb opening connection system uses simple, robust metal features that are compatible with durable surface treatments like hot-dip galvanizing. Instead of using springs that may corrode or fail with certain surface treatments, the design employs simple protrusion-opening geometry that works reliably with galvanized surfaces, maintaining both functionality and surface treatment compatibility
4Stability of the object's composition
If additional components are used for cable tray connection, then connection stability is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system merges the tray structure with the connection mechanism by integrating the barb and barb opening directly into the tray walls. This eliminates the need for separate bolts, nuts, or spring components, reducing system complexity while maintaining connection stability through the interlocking geometry of the integrated features
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 1c
Figure 2Aa~2Ae
AI summary
The present invention provides cable trays which can be pushed inside one another and can be clicked onto one another. Furthermore, assemblies are provided which comprise cable trays, barbs for cable trays and related methods.