Cooling-Fin Cable Retainer for Compact Engine Cable Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Internal combustion engines in hand-held tools face issues with cable management, as loose cables can move relative to the engine and housing, leading to wear and requiring excessive installation space, which complicates their integration into small housings.
Innovation Solution
A cable retainer system that secures cables to the engine by using slots and receptacles with sprung limbs, allowing for defined positioning and routing, and is easily mounted using cooling fins, with an insulating element for secure attachment without additional components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cables are laid loosely and merely secured to one another by cable binders, then the cables can move freely during operation, but this requires excessive installation space and increases the risk of cable wear from contact with adjacent components
Solution Approach 1:
The cable retainer is divided into multiple functional segments: a body portion with receptacles for individual cables, a mounting portion with slots for attachment to cooling fins, and positioning means. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining compact overall dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The cable retainer acts as an intermediary component between the cables and the engine housing/cooling fins. It provides a fixed mounting position on the cooling fin and securely holds the cables in defined positions, preventing both excessive movement and contact with adjacent components that would cause wear.
2Volume of stationary object
If the housing is kept as small as possible for simple handling of hand-held tools, then compactness is improved, but cable management becomes more difficult and cable wear risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable retainer utilizes the third dimension by mounting vertically on the cooling fin surface rather than requiring lateral space within the housing. The slots engage with cooling fins in a perpendicular direction, allowing cable retention without increasing housing footprint, thus maintaining compactness while preventing cable wear.
3Manufacturing precision
If the cable retainer is secured tightly to the internal combustion engine, then cable position is fixed precisely, but tolerance compensation becomes difficult and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slot dimensions are designed with intentional play (clearance) relative to the cooling fin dimensions. This parameter change allows the cable retainer to be mounted with tolerance compensation - the slot can accommodate slight variations in cooling fin positioning while still maintaining sufficient cable position fixation to prevent wear during operation.
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 cable retainer system stabilizes cable positions, prevents wear, and allows for compact installation of internal combustion engines by fixing cables relative to the engine, even under constricted conditions, ensuring reliable operation and reduced complexity in mounting.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of the limbs is sprung. The sprung embodiment of at least one limb allows the cable to be pressed between the limbs and therefore easily mounted in the receptacle. The sprung embodiment of the limbs permits, in particular, clamping of the cable so that the cable cannot move in the receptacle
Data Source
AI summary
An internal combustion engine has a cylinder which has a cylinder longitudinal axis. The internal combustion engine has at least one cooling fin. In order to route the cable in a defined fashion so that the internal combustion engine can be arranged even in a constricted installation space, a cable retainer is provided which is arranged on at least one cooling fin of the internal combustion engine and which retains at least one cable. A cable retainer for securing at least one cable to an internal combustion engine has at least one receptacle for at least one cable and at least one means for positioning the cable retainer on the internal combustion engine.