Low-Profile Cable Armor for Smooth Pulling Through Studs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing armored cables with pronounced metal armor profiles cause frequent hang-ups during installation, especially when routing through wooden or metal studs, leading to inefficiencies and excessive adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A low-profile armored cable assembly featuring a metal sheath with helically wrapped sections, including curved, planar, and angled free ends, minimizing the depth of valleys between peaks to facilitate smoother installation and reduce tangling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional pronounced metal armor profiles are used, then the cable provides adequate mechanical protection, but the cable experiences frequent hang-ups during installation through studs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the geometric parameters of the metal armor profile by reducing the depth of valleys between peaks and adjusting the curvature radius. This parameter change creates a low-profile configuration that maintains protective function while eliminating hang-ups during installation through studs and conduits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different curvature characteristics to different sections of the armor profile. The valleys between peaks are designed with specific curvature radii that are optimized locally to prevent tangling and hang-ups, while the peaks maintain sufficient height for mechanical protection. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between protection and installability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If traditional pronounced metal armor profiles are used, then the cable maintains structural integrity, but excessive adjustments are required during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the armor profile, specifically reducing valley depth and optimizing peak curvature. This allows the cable to maintain structural integrity while reducing the frequency of hang-ups, thereby decreasing the time required for installation adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The low-profile armor configuration is pre-designed and manufactured before installation. The optimized geometry preemptively eliminates the hang-up problems that would otherwise occur during installation, preventing rather than correcting issues as they arise.
3Strength
If deeper valleys are used in the metal armor profile, then the cable provides enhanced protection, but the cable causes excessive hang-ups when routed through studs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the valley depth parameter to a specific range that provides sufficient protection while preventing excessive hang-ups. The curvature radius of the valleys is also optimized to allow smooth passage through studs without tangling, resolving the contradiction between protection level and routing ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an asymmetric profile where the transition from peak to valley and valley to peak has different curvature characteristics. This asymmetric design allows the valleys to be shallow enough to prevent hang-ups while the peaks maintain adequate protective height, optimizing both protection and routing performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an armored cable assembly which may include a plurality of conductors and a metal sheath disposed over the plurality of conductors. The metal sheath may have a plurality of revolutions extending helically along a lengthwise axis, each of the plurality of revolutions including a first section having a curved profile, a second section extending from the first section, the second section having a planar profile, and a third section extending from the second section. The third section may include a free end angled towards an interior cavity of the metal sheath, the free end extending past a plane defined by a bottom most point of the first section of an adjacent revolution, the plane extending perpendicular to the second section.