Flexible Vehicle Cable Holder With Break-Away Hooks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle electrical systems face challenges in securely coupling and managing cables, particularly in preventing damage and tangling during vehicle operation, and in ensuring easy installation and removal without causing harm to the vehicle.
Innovation Solution
A cable holder with flexible hooks made from materials like dense foam or flexible plastic, designed to securely engage cables and allow break-away functionality to prevent damage, along with a control system for detecting cable installation and providing visual feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid hooks are used to securely hold cables, then cable holding strength is improved, but damage to the vehicle body during cable removal worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by using flexible hooks made from elastomeric material instead of rigid hooks. The flexible material allows the hooks to deform and flex during cable installation and removal, providing secure holding strength while preventing damage to the vehicle body through controlled deformation rather than rigid force transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies this principle by changing the physical parameter of the hook material from rigid to flexible elastomeric material. This parameter change allows the hooks to maintain adequate holding strength through elastic deformation while reducing the harmful effect of rigid force transmission that could damage the vehicle body during cable removal.
2Ease of operation
If flexible hooks are used to prevent damage, then ease of cable removal is improved, but cable holding strength worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible elastomeric material provides the necessary combination of properties: it is compliant enough to allow easy cable removal through flexing and deformation, yet maintains sufficient elastic recovery to provide secure cable holding strength during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The hooks are formed with curved, rounded contours rather than sharp angles. This curvature allows the flexible material to deform more easily during cable removal while maintaining continuous contact and holding force during normal cable support, resolving the contradiction between ease of removal and holding strength.
3Ease of operation
If cables are allowed to move freely, then ease of installation is improved, but tripping hazards and tangling worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The cable management system divides the cable into segments by providing multiple discrete attachment locations and hooks along the vehicle body. This segmentation allows the cable to be installed easily by connecting at convenient points while preventing tripping hazards through organized, localized cable positioning rather than free movement.
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 holder effectively secures cables without causing damage to the vehicle, reduces tripping hazards, and facilitates easy installation and removal, while the control system ensures proper cable connection and alerts operators to installation status.
Implementation Method 1
hooks that are made from a flexible material. The cable holder is configured to receive a cable and secure the cable between the hooks
Data Source
AI summary
A cable holder for a vehicle comprising a body portion defining an engagement surface and a plurality of holes, and a first hook, a second hook, and a third hook, wherein the first hook, the second hook, and the third hook each define a curved engagement surface. The first hook, the second hook, and the third hook are configured to receive a cable to removably couple the cable with the cable holder by engaging an exterior surface of the cable at the curved engagement surface, where the first hook, the second hook, and the third hook are manufactured from a flexible material such that the cable breaks away from the cable holder when a first force is exerted on the cable to pull the cable away from the cable holder without transferring a second force to a component of the vehicle that the cable holder is coupled to.