Tool Cabinet Drawer Cable Routing with Telescopic Segments

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tool cabinet drawers lack a secure and damage-proof method for managing cable harnesses, leading to tangling, jamming, and damage when storing and retrieving electrical or electronic consumer units.

Innovation Solution

A drawer with a multi-segment, telescopic receiving compartment for cable harnesses, featuring a bendable spring material guide strip and connecting bodies, ensures safe guidance and protection by preventing kinking and accommodating length differences, while maintaining compact storage and secure routing.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If the cable harness is routed freely in the drawer, then ease of installation is improved, but the cable harness becomes tangled and damaged during extension and retraction

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of installationVSAvoidcable harness integrity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The receiving compartment is divided into multiple telescopic segments that can move independently. This segmentation allows the cable harness to be guided through specific paths in a controlled manner, preventing tangling and damage while maintaining ease of installation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A guide strip is introduced as an intermediary element between the cable harness and the drawer structure. This guide strip actively directs the cable harness through the telescopic segments, ensuring proper routing and preventing damage during drawer extension and retraction.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Volume of moving object

If the drawer is made compact for storage, then space utilization is improved, but cable routing becomes constrained and difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedrawer storage volumeVSAvoidcable routing ease
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The receiving compartment is designed with telescopic segments that can dynamically adjust their configuration. When the drawer is retracted, the segments nest compactly to minimize volume. When the drawer is extended, the segments extend to provide adequate space for cable routing and consumer units.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The telescopic segments are arranged in a nested configuration where inner segments can slide within outer segments. This nesting allows the receiving compartment to maintain a compact form factor when not in use while providing extended routing paths when the drawer is pulled out.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Reliability

If the cable harness is protected from damage, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional protective structures

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecable harness protectionVSAvoidprotective structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

A flexible guide strip is used to protect and direct the cable harness. This thin, flexible element provides continuous protection along the cable path without requiring bulky protective enclosures or complex mechanical structures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The protective structure is divided into multiple telescopic segments rather than requiring a single complex protective enclosure. Each segment provides localized protection and guidance, simplifying the overall design while maintaining comprehensive cable harness protection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

4Reliability

If the receiving compartment is separated from the drawer body for tools, then cable harness organization is improved, but drawer space is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecable harness organizationVSAvoiddrawer tool storage area
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSArea of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The receiving compartment for the cable harness is positioned in the vertical dimension (on the drawer bottom) rather than occupying horizontal space within the drawer body. This allows cable harness organization to be achieved without reducing the tool storage area.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Solution Approach 2:

The drawer bottom serves multiple functions: it provides structural support for the drawer body and simultaneously houses the receiving compartment for the cable harness. This multi-functionality achieves cable organization without sacrificing tool storage space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

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 provides a secure, protected, and efficient cable routing system that prevents damage and tangling, ensuring reliable operation and extended lifespan of the cable harnesses, even in compact or extended drawer states.

Implementation Method 1

a flexible spring material guide strip, preferably made of metal or plastic, for the cable harness with a predetermined length is provided in the receiving compartment

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP4491342A1Drawer for a tool cabinet and tool cabinet
Publication Date: 2025.01.15 HOFFMANN ENG SERVICES GMBH
  • EP4491342A1 patent drawingFigure 1a~1b
  • EP4491342A1 patent drawingFigure 2~3a
  • EP4491342A1 patent drawingFigure 3b~3c

AI summary

The invention relates, among other things, to a drawer (10) for a tool cabinet with a drawer body (12) for receiving at least one tool part, wherein a receiving compartment (20), in particular a flat and/or longitudinally extended, for receiving at least one cable harness (40) is provided on the drawer body (12), wherein the receiving compartment (20) has at least two receiving compartment segments (22, 24), preferably arranged one inside the other and/or trough-like, further preferably flat trough-like, and wherein the receiving compartment segments (22, 24) are telescopic.