Fiber Optic Cable Holding Device with Elastic Friction Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing holding devices for fiber optic cables inadequately secure cables against tensile forces, particularly for cables of varying diameters, as they rely on insufficient press fits and lack effective strain relief mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A holding device with obliquely protruding prongs and elastic inserts with high friction coefficients, combined with pivotable flaps and spring arms, ensures secure retention of cables by absorbing tensile forces and accommodating different diameters, featuring a frame with a transverse wall and elastic inserts extending beyond the prong grooves, and spring arms that press against the cables when closed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cables are held in indentations with a slight press fit, then cables can be inserted easily, but cables are insufficiently fixed against tensile forces
Solution Approach 1:
The holding device uses pivotable flaps that can move between an open position (allowing easy cable insertion) and a closed position (providing strong fixation). This dynamic mechanism resolves the contradiction by allowing the device to adapt its state based on the operational phase - insertion versus securing.
Solution Approach 2:
The holding device is divided into separate functional components: wall sections with indentations for cable placement, pivotable flaps for securing, and elastic inserts for friction-based holding. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in one aspect - easy insertion or strong fixation - while working together to resolve the overall contradiction.
2Reliability
If the holding device is designed for a specific cable diameter, then fixation is optimized for that diameter, but it cannot accommodate cables of different diameters
Solution Approach 1:
The holding device is designed with universal features including adjustable pivotable flaps, elastic inserts that adapt to different cable diameters, and prongs with spacing that accommodates various cable sizes. This allows a single device to securely hold cables of different diameters while maintaining reliable fixation through friction and mechanical constraint.
3Reliability
If elastic inserts with high friction coefficients are used, then tensile forces are effectively absorbed, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies using elastic inserts made of cellular rubber (porous material) with high friction coefficients. The porous structure provides both the necessary friction for absorbing tensile forces and the elasticity for accommodating cable diameter variations. This material choice resolves the contradiction by achieving high reliability through a single material property rather than complex mechanical structures.
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 device reliably holds fiber optic cables of various diameters, safely absorbing tensile forces up to 70 N or more, ensuring strain relief and secure fixation without damage.
Implementation Method 1
an insert made of an elastic material with a high coefficient of friction is attached on both sides
Implementation Method 2
an insert made of an elastic material with a high coefficient of friction is attached on both sides
Data Source
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AI summary
The holding device for fixing and pre-sorting fiber optic cables, which are preferably fed to a patch or splice assembly, with a mounting plate to which the holding device is attached, wherein the holding device has a frame part having two spaced-apart wall sections and two pivotable flaps attached at right angles to the wall sections, which close the open sides of the frame part when closed, is characterized in that obliquely upward-pointing prongs project from the lateral edges of the wall sections, between each of which a groove remains, the width of which corresponds at least to the largest diameter of the fiber optic cables to be fixed, in that a transverse wall is formed centrally in the frame part between the wall sections, to which an insert made of an elastic material with a high coefficient of friction is attached on both sides, which is so thick thatthat it protrudes beyond the bottoms of the grooves, and that the pivoting flaps, when closed, extend far enough between the prongs to press the fiber optic cables against the inserts.