Flexible Cable Durability in Hinged Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hinged electronic devices face challenges in securely routing signals between housing sections due to limited space, leading to exposure and damage of cables from over-bending and foreign particles, which can cause premature failure.
Innovation Solution
A cable assembly with a mandrel surface having variable radii and channels to guide and protect the cable, combined with a particle relief feature that includes channels or a compressible barrier to mitigate pressure from debris, ensuring the cable's integrity and longevity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the cable is routed around the hinge mechanism or through the clutch assembly, then the cable can be protected from exposure to users, but the cable is subjected to over-bending and damage from the actuation of the clutch assembly and hinge mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
A particle relief feature is introduced as an intermediary element positioned between the hinge and the cable. This feature includes channels or a compressible barrier that intercepts particles before they can compress the cable, thereby protecting the cable from particle-induced damage while allowing the cable to maintain its routing around the hinge mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The particle relief feature modifies the physical parameters in the hinge-cable interface by providing channels that alter particle trajectories and a compressible barrier that dynamically adjusts to particle compression forces. This changes the stress distribution on the cable from concentrated particle pressure to distributed forces that the cable can withstand
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the cable is routed through a center hole in the clutch assembly, then the cable can be protected from exposure to users, but the cable is subjected to over-bending caused by the actuation of the clutch assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The particle relief feature acts as a mediator that prevents particles from directly compressing the cable during clutch actuation. The compressible barrier absorbs particle forces before they reach the cable, protecting the cable from combined particle and actuation-induced bending stress
3Volume of moving object
If electronic devices get smaller and thinner, then the device size is reduced, but the amount of space available for clutch assemblies, hinges and cables is constrained, making it more difficult to provide room for and properly protect the cables
Solution Approach 1:
The particle relief feature is nested within the existing hinge assembly structure. The channels and compressible barrier are integrated into the hinge's available volume without requiring additional external space, allowing cable protection functionality to be embedded within the constrained space of smaller and thinner devices
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses and systems can mitigate the ingress of debris such as small foreign particles or fluids passing into a joint of an electronic device. Some aspects of the systems prevent particles from passing between a flexible cable and a mandrel surface used to limit bending of the cable. Other aspects provide particle relief features including gaps, grooves, or reduced-size sections of the mandrel so that particles can pass into them and thereby cause no damage or pass out of the electronic device. Another aspect provides a protective layer configured to limit pressure applied to the cable by particles or other contaminants. These apparatuses and systems can improve the life and durability of the mandrel and cable, thereby improving the reliability of operating the electronic device.